A week had passed by and Jasper found herself every day poking her head out of the ocean to see if Reese had showed back up.
She hadn't.
Jasper felt a little lonely honestly and she had hoped the human would show back up.
"This is stupid to be waiting."
Her mind shifted to Rose Quartz and the weird form she had taken. A squishy human. Half a gem.
She wondered… Could… could she fuse with a human? Her mind shifted back to Reese. It had to be impossible anyways.
Stupid.
The Rose Quartz had said that she wasn't the same Rose Quartz? That she was a son now?
I don't understand any of that.
Jasper laid on the ocean floor watching the water become brighter. She felt comfort in the water and seeing the fish swim around. She closed her eyes and decided to rest some. She had forever now and nothing to do so why not sleep?
It felt as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt peace.
X
X
Jasper woke with a start. She wasn't bumped by some fish or even a shark. She as staring into the eyes of a human being. They waved at her. Even though Jasper didn't know what they were wearing they were wearing scuba gear. Jasper stared for a few minutes long and realized the eyes were green and Reese had found her.
Reese waved to her and pointed up.
Jasper caught the idea and they swam to the surface together. Jasper brushed her wet hair out of her face to see Reese removing something from her mouth. Neither one said anything but small smiles appeared on their lips. They were happy to see each other. Reese nodded towards shore so they headed that way.
"What is that?" Jasper asked.
"Called scuba gear. It helps humans go under water. Since we can't breathe, we wear a suit and have an oxygen tank."
"Oh."
Reese smiled, "I had to think about lately. I'm sorry for not returning."
Jasper's cheeks turned dark red and she looked away.
"I didn't notice."
Reese let out a laugh. It wasn't her dark humor laugh, it was a light laugh. It made Jasper more embarrassed than she was.
"What did you do being gone so long?" Jasper asked.
The human girl grinned.
"I guess I decided to rethink some things…"
"Ending your life?"
Reese nodded with a cocky grin, "If some alien chick decided to care about talking me out of it, there must be something special about me."
Jasper stared at her blankly.
"I'm twenty-one. I think now is the time to do what I want. My dad was super pissed and disowned me. I guess that was the best feeling in the world."
"Disown?"
"He didn't want me anymore."
Jasper looked lost.
"When a man and a woman get together, they mate and reproduce creating another human being. Oddly enough most come out boy or girl sometimes both. It's a long story for another day. Usually the child born from the woman is loved by the parents that created it. They love it and help it grow.
"Well, my dad is angry because I didn't want what he wanted. I'm ok with him wanting certain things for me and I am an adult or a grown human. I may not know everything but I want to experience everything. So… I am broke and without a home. He cut off all the money from me. I do have my mom's money. It's a good bit for maybe ten years?"
Jasper looked angry, "How can you throw away something that's part of you?!"
Reese looked surprised by her reaction, "People do it all the time. Even animals."
Jasper scratched her head and didn't say anything.
"Well, you sleep in the ocean? Do you guys live forever?" she asked scooting closer to Jasper.
"Yea. We can die. It's called shattering."
"Shattering?"
"Our gems crack and shatter into shards. From what I know it's impossible to be fixed after that."
"I bet it was hard I bet. Seeing battle?"
"It was but it was what we were made to do so how can I fight that?"
Reese unzipped her suit and pulled it of revealing an orange bathing suit.
"Because you can. I fought what one of my creators thought I was made for… why can't you?"
"I never thought of it that way."
"Well, you kind of are now? You aren't destroying people or cities."
"I guess that's true."
Reese smiled and laid back on the sand.
"What are you going to do now?" Jasper asked.
"Nothing."
Jasper raised an eyebrow.
"You're kidding me?"
"As being of this planet we can do whatever we want. I choose to be a bum."
"Don't you have to eat or something? I've noticed that a lot lately with the sea creatures called fish."
"Very observant…"
"Thanks."
"Soooo, what are you going to do now?" Reese asked.
"Nothing."
"Are you waiting for Lapis Lazuli to come back?" the green-eyed girl asked.
Jasper twitched a little.
"I don't know what I'm waiting for."
Reese sat up and grabbed Jasper's large hand then squeezed it.
"Tell me what happened."
Jasper pulled her hand away and hung her head.
"I can't."
X
X
"Stupid!" she screamed throwing the orb.
It landed on the other side of the dark room.
Peridot was angry; beyond angry, she was furious. She couldn't believe they were stranded on some stupid planet now. She had no idea where Jasper was at and it didn't matter anymore. They would never make it out of this miserable planet and the planet was going to be destroyed.
Her robonoids just sat in the corner waiting on her command.
"ARGH!" she yelled pulling at her yellow hair.
She had tried repairing the galaxy warp a few times already and it was destroyed the second time.
"We… we were supposed to retrieve that stupid Rose Quartz. We were supposed to ensure the Cluster destroyed the Earth… Here I am stuck. Most of my trip was with Jasper and that didn't make this any better. I'm going to die alone."
The robonoids just stood there waiting for any direction from Peridot but they weren't going to get any. She was in the middle of a mental break down.
Who knew how much longer she would be able to escape the Crystal Gems…
X
X
"Where are you going?" Jasper asked as Reese stood up.
"I have to return the suit to the ocean front store. Then I'll get something to eat."
Reese began walking away when Jasper got up to go after her. The quartz soldier had no idea why she was following her but she didn't want to be by herself. Reese was the best thing for her at the moment, otherwise she would lose her mind. She had despised everything in her life until now.
"You're actually gonna be around other people?"
"I…" Jasper stopped in her tracks.
"You don't have to answer. I don't mind if you come with."
Jasper and Reese walked all the way to a small well put together shack. It was a lavender color with white trim and fish painted on the front. Jasper touched the paintings since it looked so life like. Reese walked back out and smiled at Jasper.
"Nice fish huh?"
Jasper jumped and nodded.
"Well, I have to eat and get an apartment. Do you want me to take you back to your stop?"
"No, I'll…uh… come with."
Reese hooked her arm around Jasper's and they walked into the main part of town.
Amethyst was a hundred feet away from them. She dumped her ice cream cone on the ground in shock. It had been a long time since they had seen or heard anything from Jasper and here she was hanging out with some human girl walking into town. It wasn't like Jasper looked like she was going to destroy the whole town… She looked like she as enjoying herself.
"Holy crap… I don't know what to say about… that."
She picked up her half melted ice cream and ate it anyways.
She had to tell them what she just saw.
X
X
"She was with a human?!" Pearl screeched, "WAS SHE HOLDING HER AGAINST HER WILL?!"
Amethyst rolled her eyes, "If that was the case, I would have done something Pearl."
"I wonder why she would be with someone like that?" Garnet said sitting on the couch.
"Is she going to use her?" Pearl asked looking more panicked by the minute.
"We can just watch her from afar. Make sure she's not doing anything."
"How are we going to do that without her seeing us?" Amethyst asked.
"Well… Amethyst you could shapeshift and watch them," Garnet said.
The purple gem shrugged in response and grabbed a bag of chaaaaps.
"Hey guys!" Steven yelled walking into the house.
"Hello Steven. Have you seen anything interesting today?" Garnet asked.
Steven thought about it for a few minutes, "No. Nothing I can think of. Why what's up?"
The three gems looked at each other for a few seconds unsure whether to tell him or not.
"I saw Jasper with a human girl today."
Steven frowned, "Is everything ok?"
"Yea… We weren't sure what her motive is though."
"You think maybe she changed?" Steven asked.
"We aren't sure, but we have to find Peridot. She's still out there."
Steven looked at the screen door.
"Lapis hasn't been to talkative lately. It seems she's still depressed."
"Life here must be complicated for her," Garnet said with a smile, "Give her time."
"You think I should ask her for a sleep over?" Steven asked.
"Yea that sounds like a great idea," the fusion said placing a hand on Steven's head.
X
X
"What's that?" Jasper asked looking disgusted by the cheeseburger, fries and pop.
"Food. Living things get energy from food. I wish I didn't have to eat but humans have too."
"It looks gross."
Reese grinned, "Really?"
"Is that amusing to you?" the orange quartz asked.
"It is," she said taking a bite.
"What is an apartment?"
"A small space for one or two people sometimes four depending on the situation. It's a place to live in. There's houses, trailer, condos, RVs and studios. I'm sure there's more different ones but those are a few."
"You have to pay for all that? I find it odd that you pay with paper to get things."
Reese smirked, "It sounds stupid when you say it."
Jasper gave her a grin, "I'm glad you see it that way; it is stupid."
They both started laughing.
"Well do you… do you wanna help me look?" she asked.
"I-I… sure I have nothing else better to do," Jasper said her face turning red.