Reese knocked on the screen door. Jasper stood off on the far side of the porch like she was afraid to get near the door for some reason. She wasn't sure if it was just her, but Jasper was giving off tense vibes like she was angry or upset about something. She didn't want to upset her when Jasper was entering enemy territory so she stayed quiet.

The front door opened and it was the fusion Garnet standing there.

"Hello Reese. I take it Jasper is off to the side then?"

Reese nodded with a smile.

"You both can come on in. Steven likes making new friends," she said with a smile.

Reese couldn't help but grin widely at her.

They walked inside and they looked around. It was pretty nice inside and had a nice open floor plan. There was a weird door with a star on it in the back and some type of crystal like platform. Steven came running down the stairs from his bedroom and jumped up in front them scaring Reese slightly.

"Hi Reese! Hi Jasper!" he said excitedly.

"Hello Rose Quartz."

Reese looked at Jasper then at Steven who gave her a weird smile.

"My name is Steven, but it's ok."

They sat down on the couch when the door to the rock wall opened up and Amethyst popped out with Peridot who looked pissed off. Her eyes landed on Reese and she just continued to stare like she hated the green-eyed girl with all her being. Reese had not expected that kind of reaction but she didn't mind it either; she was used to it. Reese just flashed her a smile and Peridot's face turned dark green.

"Why the hell is she here?!" Peridot yelled pointing at her.

"Language," Amethyst said with a tired smile.

"She can be here if she wants," Jasper growled.

"I'm here for Jasper."

"No one wants you here," the little green gem spat.

Reese rolled her eyes and looked over at the doorway seeing a large painting of a woman with pink hair. She looked quite pretty and she had a gem on her belly. She looked over at Steven who was reaching for a bag of chips and saw he had the same gem. She smiled; so they were different people/gems.

"Jasper."

"Hmm?"

"Steven is telling you the truth. Look at the painting."

Jasper looked up to where Reese was pointing and saw the old leader of the Crystal Gems there. She bit her lip.

"Steven… how are you half gem?" Reese asked with a smile.

The boy handed her a pop and a small bag of chips.

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"My mom shapeshifted the parts to have me. Then she turned into the gem on my belly."

Steven pulled up his shirt.

"How is that possible?" Jasper asked looking annoyed.

"Because it is," Pearl said with a sharp tone.

"If you don't mind me saying, I think that is pretty amazing."

Steven grinned proudly, "Thank you."

Jasper looked at Reese weirdly.

"Why is that amazing?"

Reese smirked and blushed, "You should be able to reproduce and create a child with the one you love or you can adopt one. I think it's great to love someone regardless of their gender or where they came from or what they are. Love is one of the greatest things in the universe even if it just a chemical reaction in our brains."

Jasper blushed and looked out the window.

"You're smarter than I thought," Peridot said looking annoyed.

"I am and I don't allow my emotions to plague my mind," the human girl stated pissing Peridot off even more.

"Well, if you're so damn smart how about you make the fuc-

Amethyst slapped a hand over her mouth with an embarrassed smile.

"Um… Jasper we would like to mention something," Garnet said walking in front of them.

"What?" she said flatly, already annoyed by Peridot.

"Lapis Lazuli will be at the barn too, to help in making the drill."

The color drained from Jasper's face and Reese looked down at her lap. Lapis Lazuli was a sore topic for Jasper. If she would have known that Lapis was going to be there, she would have never came. Reese placed a hand on her arm and patted it, trying to comfort her.

"You're kidding me?!" Jasper bellowed.

"Calm down-

"No! I was already trapped down there for so long with her! I don't want to be around her anymore!" the quartz soldier yelled scaring everyone.

Reese felt even worse than Jasper. To Reese, it was like Lapis Lazuli was like the evil ex-girlfriend that she would have to face sooner or later. Suddenly, it felt like her heart wasn't working correctly and she wanted to vomit. She knew the type of relationship they had but deep down, Reese was jealous of it no matter how bad it was.

"Everything will be alright," Pearl said, "Lapis has been staying to herself in the trees mostly. She's still trying to adjust herself."

"Still?" Jasper said in amazement.

"She only really likes Steven and considering Peridot had kidnapped her and everything…" Pearl said trailing off.

She wouldn't look Jasper in the eye.

"Everything will be fine," Reese said smiling, "I'll be there with you after all."

Jasper's mouth twitched into a half smile, "I suppose that's true."

"Ugh, barf," Peridot said and Jasper's head snapped to the side giving her a murderous stare.

"What? I can't believe you even like a human being. I can tolerate Steven only because he's half."

"I can't believe anyone would tolerate such a short condescending gem who thinks they know everything," Reese stated taking a sip of her pop.

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't stutter."

Jasper covered her face to cover the stupid grin going on her face. It was one of the reasons she like Reese, she bold about things.

"You want to fight?"

Reese stood up and walked over to her. She crouched down getting down to Peridot's eye level.

"Anytime, anywhere. Save it after the drill is built ok?"

Peridot blushed and looked away.

"What?" Reese asked.

"I like your eyes. They're green."

Jasper grabbed Reese and picked her up carrying her away from Peridot.

She likes my eyes?

"Stay away from Reese. She's… she's mine."

Everyone just stared at Jasper. She never seemed like the jealous type.

"Well, um… let's go!" Pearl declared and hurried to the warp pad.

Peridot stood beside of Reese, looking up at her with a weird look. Reese was aware she was being stared at but she decided to ignore it. Suddenly the warp pad started to glow and they were off. The feeling of teleporting wasn't bad but it wasn't all that great either. It was strange but it was over shortly.

They were in a field of grass and flowers. Reese took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The fresh air was nice. It smelled different than being on the beach. Everyone started walking off but Reese and Jasper. Just as Reese stepped off Jasper grabbed her arm giving her a worried look.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't think I can face her."

Reese's expression softened, "Why not?"

"I'm afraid of her."

Her eyes widened, "What?"

"She doesn't look strong but she is. She's done terrible things and I know what she could do to me if she was mad enough. If I knew she was going to be here I would have made you stay at home."

"You think… she would hurt me?" Reese whispered.

"I don't know but… I don't want you hurt."

Reese took a breath. She had some idea being Jasper's strange life there would be risks involved and this was one of them. Jasper wasn't the type to be scare so easily but the fact she was shaken by this Lapis Lazuli was enough to scare her too. She scratched her head thinking but nothing came to mind but pushing forward regardless.

"I'm here for you right?" Reese said with a smile holding out a hand.

Jasper's mind flickered over to the day that their ship crashed on the shore after Garnet beat her. The way Jasper had talked to Lapis, trying to convince her that the Crystal Gems were her enemy and to fuse with her to beat them. Lapis held out her hand the same exact way that Reese was now. Jasper grabbed and pulled at her hair trying to forget the memory.

"Jasper are you ok?"

Without warning, something flew by Reese and hit Jasper throwing her into the woods.

"Jasper!" Reese screamed.

She started running towards the woods. She could hear trees cracking and some yelling. She reached the first few trees and saw that the ground was wet with water. Her heart was pounding. She was scared. What was it that flew by her at such speed that it almost broke the sound barrier?

"Jasper!"

"I HATE YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" yelled an unfamiliar voice.

Reese thought her heart was going to give out since it was pounding so hard.

"I WILL DRAG YOU BACK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" the voice bellowed in anger.

"Lapis Lazuli!" Reese yelled rushing forward.

"Lapis she's with us!" called Steven's voice, but it was faint.

Right in a small clearing there was Lapis Lazuli on top of Jasper. There was water holding her down and Jasper looked scared shitless. To Reese, Lapis looked like a water fairy- well an angry one. Reese grabbed Lapis' thin blue arms and jerked her away. Lapis looked shocked at first but then recovered just as quickly.

"Who are you!" Lapis hissed, "Do you even know how bad she is?!"

"I know you're just as bad!" Reese screamed jumping in front of Jasper.

"You don't even know me!" Lapis screamed.

"You don't know Jasper!" she whispered.

"She tried to hurt Steven! I won't let her hurt him again!

"She wasn't after anyone! Steven asked for our help!" Reese yelled.

"It's true Lapis, we did," Garnet said.

Lapis whipped around to stare at the fusion with cold, angry eyes.

Reese tried prying at the water that was holding Jasper down but it was no use. Jasper looked scared but she was staying as calm as she could. She looked at Reese with pleading eyes and she felt useless. Tears started to creep down Reese's pale cheeks. She turned to the Crystal Gems upset.

"Please let her go, she never hurt anyone!" Reese cried.

Lapis stared at the human girl for a few minutes then released Jasper. She didn't know why she was so mad and Jasper would never tell her but she didn't want anyone to be hurt. Jasper sat up and rubbed her wrists where the water shackles were at. It brought back painful memories she didn't want to think about.

Lapis was still holding onto hers.

"Why do you care about someone so evil?" Lapis hissed, "Do you know what she did?!"

Reese shook her head, "I don't care! She's not the same as you think she is!"

Lapis' eyes widened in shock, "No one like that changes!"

Reese buried her face in Jasper's neck afraid to let go of her.

"Maybe for today, you guys can go home and relax. We can work on the drill right Peridot?" Steven asked with pleading eyes.

"Sure!" Peridot said, scared.

Jasper got up and charged out of the woods without waiting on Reese. Reese stood there unable to move her legs. What if Jasper decided to leave after this? What if she never saw her again? What if she was gone and left her all alone with the horrible thoughts in her head. Her eyes teared up some more.

I can't do that again.

X

X

Steven took Reese back to the beach house. He apologized at least a hundred times but Reese tried to reassure him everything was fine. Reese walked out onto the porch as Steven teleported back to the barn to help with the drill. She looked over to the side and saw Jasper was sitting there with her face in her knees. Reese walked up to her but Jasper flinched away.

That stung.

"Jasper… I…"

"I don't care."

Reese felt her heart drop in her chest.

"Fine, you can come home when you care."

"I have no home," Jasper stated.

Reese ran down the stairs. She didn't stop until she reached their apartment. She tried pulling out the key but couldn't get it into the key hole to open it up. She collapsed to her knees and started to cry with her arms up the door. Why did it hurt so much? Jasper never spoke of how she felt towards Reese so why did she hurt so much?

It never hurt this bad when Dad disowned me. Why does it feel like I want to fall into a million pieces?

After ten minutes, she unlocked the door with shaking hands. She shut the door and dragged her feet to the couch. She plopped down and grabbed a pillow to lay her head on. She started to cry again. She looked over at the door wishing the orange soldier would walk through the door but she didn't.