This story won't be as long as the other one I wrote. So, there's a few chapters left before it's over. I hope you enjoyed this story :)

Lapis stared down at the ground as the tremors were coming more frequent.

"I don't think those are earthquakes anymore."

The ocean gem said nothing.

"Maybe we should head back?" Reese said scratching her head, "I can't exactly help you if you get into trouble."

"Peridot should be taking care of the Cluster anyways by destroying it."

"I thought it would be very huge for being at the center of the Earth," Reese said, "Even with that drill… they'll have to think of something else to do it…"

"The others had said you were really smart."

The green-eyed girl said nothing.

"I think that's why they asked Jasper to come along to help with the heavy stuff because they knew you would come along too."

"Of course, I would. I would follow Jasper anywhere."

"I wish someone could like me that much."

Reese smiled at her, "Give it time and someone will. Sometimes when you almost give up… they'll appear when the time is right."

"I guess," Lapis said but she was smiling.

Another tremor hit, but it was stronger this time.

"Hang on tight," Lapis said and lifted her into the air.

The ground below started to crack in places. Reese watched as some of the ground fell through the cracks with some bushes and some trees. She wondered if she would be able to find Jasper after all. It sounded too stupid for Jasper to be in the same place they met and Lapis had said she already looked. Jasper wouldn't go someplace obvious if she wanted time to herself.

They landed onto the warp pad and Lapis warped them back to Beach City. They had visited six places in the last three hours of searching. Lapis had mentioned something about the Beta Kindergarten but that seemed like a long shot. They stepped foot into the house and looked outside seeing the water crashing against the beach harder than normal and the waves were a lot bigger.

"I suppose the Beta Kindergarten is next?"

"Yea… What other choice do we have?" Reese said looking worried and defeated.

X

X

(Two Hours Earlier)

"We can't hold our shape for that long if it's going to take time getting to the center of the Earth," Pearl said looking lost for an answer.

"I think Steven and Peridot can do it," Garnet said with a knowing smile.

"What about you guys?!" Steven cried looking worried.

"We'll be fine ok? Don't worry. Be safe Steven, we believe in you," the fusion said rubbing his hair.

"We have to make sure things don't go to crap up here," Amethyst said with a grin.

Peridot and Steven boarded the drill and disappeared quickly to set out with the mission that they had. They needed to stop the cluster to save the world that his mom tried so hard to save. Steven wasn't sure how they were going to beat it but Garnet seemed like she trusted them to do it and succeed. She was hardly ever wrong.

X

X

Jasper sat there in the Beta Kindergarten in her hole. She didn't want to help or see anyone. She just wanted time alone to think. Maybe it would be better if she did go back to Homeworld. It was her fault for making Lapis do what she did. It was her fault they were trapped under the ocean for months… it was all because she wanted power to beat the Crystal Gems.

She hugged her knees to her chest. There was no telling what they would do to her if she returned without Peridot. She acted like she hated them, but the little green gem joked with Amethyst and built the drill with the pearl. She listened to them while she sat outside of that house deciding what to do with herself.

Peridot had friends now, she wouldn't return to Homeworld. She was accepted for who she was.

What about her? She had someone… She said such terrible things even if they weren't directed at her. She did say she didn't care… Jasper almost wanted to slap herself. She had someone who cared for her, fed her cake and coffee- literally let her move in without asking for anything. Someone who would hug her if she felt upset.

I've gone soft, she thought to herself, But I can't give up the way I feel about her. I don't know how to deal with it if she dies.

Realization slapped her in the face. They had met the night Jasper stopped her from jumping off the cliff… so who's to say she didn't try again?

Jasper punched the wall of her hole cracking it. What good would it do if she went back to Beach City and look for Reese? Jasper hopped down and sprinted towards the warp pad. She needed too, she had to look for her. Maybe she would be looking for her too?

X

X

Reese and Lapis warped to the bigger Kindergarten first just as a precaution. They walked through the eerie place slowly making sure nothing popped out and attacked them since it would just be Lapis fighting making Reese a liability. The place felt… dead. The holes were organized in clean, neat rows.

Reese looked around her college classroom thinking about how boring everything was. The way the seats lined up perfectly, the way everything was so neat it made her even more tired than she was. It was like home was the same way; he father wanted everything perfect. She had no idea what he ever expected everything to so… organized; he lacked friends just like she did.

It didn't matter how good her grades were or what awards she achieved- he was always disappointed in her. Maybe she looked like her mother or he was just dissatisfied with his own life. She was unsure what his problems were but she never wanted to ask. Even with her college knowledge, she wouldn't be able to help him.

Life she had always pictured it would be a lot more exciting instead of being restricted to the same boring thing every day. She wanted to see the world and sail the oceans. Study water life, not stare at the insides of people. She closed her book and left the classroom. She was done with life and she would do what she wanted now.

She remembered that day because later that night Jasper appeared. Her boring black and white world was shaded in hues of color she had never thought possible. She could be ok with baking numerous cakes and pots of coffee then walking on the beach. Jasper could help do things she couldn't do by herself and all the while being by her side.

"I don't think she's here… She would've yelled at us by now," Lapis said.

"That's true. So, to the next one?"

Lapis nodded. The ground started to shake there too now.

"Shit, it's here too," Lapis said.

"I wonder how far they got or if they were able to stop it…?" Reese said looking at the ground as the shaking subsided.

"I don't know but let's go."

X

X

Jasper ran out of the beach house and went towards the direction of the cliff. If she did… then there might be people there around. She had seen a few TV shows about investigations so they would have to collect her body if she did do it. In fifteen minutes, Jasper reached the cliff but no one was around. Instead the cliff was falling into the water in big chunks.

The ground started to shake violently and a big wave came in crashing into her almost knocking her down.

"What the hell… I figured they would've went after the Cluster already. What is taking them so long?" she said to herself.

"Jasper!"

The Crystal Gems came running. She looked really surprised to see them.

"Why aren't you destroying the Cluster?" the quartz soldier asked.

"We all couldn't fit and maintain a small size that long to reach there," Pearl said, "Peridot and Steven have been gone a while. We are back on our way to the barn. Some of the city is falling apart but nothing to do about old buildings."

"Lapis and Reese were looking for you," Amethyst said.

"They were?" surprise in her voice.

"Lapis is trying to make up for what she did. They've been everywhere."

Jasper bit her lip.

"I think they might go to the Beta Kindergarten… Lapis never mentioned them going there but that's the only place I can think that you would be at?" Amethyst said with a devious smile.

"I guess I should go there huh?"

"Yea," Garnet said, "You might want to get there quickly."

Jasper took off running towards the beach house again. The Crystal Gems trailed behind her. Jasper left for the Beta Kindergarten with the Crystal Gems going back to the barn to wait on Steven and Peridot.

X

X

Jasper got into the Beta Kindergarten and sandstone was falling everywhere. The ground had split some. The quartz soldier walked slowly around the cracks afraid she was going to fall through. She frowned hearing something that sounded like water rushing through the kindergarten. The water appeared and Jasper climbed up using the odd shaped holes in the walls.

"Lapis! Reese!" Jasper yelled.

There was no answer over the rushing water.

The water level started to drop some and Jasper jumped down trying to hurry through the wet ground. The ground started to shake again, but this time it was a lot more violent than before. When are they going to stop it?! Was the only thing she could think of. Another tremor came splitting the left wall of the Beta Kindergarten and rocks started to fall. The ground split in half and rock started to cave into that.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"REESE! LAPIS! REESE!" Jasper screamed fear filling her mind.

She jumped over the fissures in the ground until she saw Lapis flying in the sky above a large fissure. Lapis swooped down and grabbed Jasper as the rock below collapsed where she was standing. The ocean gem tossed her into a big hole since she was too heavy to carry for a long period of time. Jasper looked down hoping to see Reese but she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Reese?!" Jasper asked looking frantic.

"She fell but I couldn't find her and more rocks collapsed inward…" she said her face full of fear.

"What do you mean you couldn't find her?!"

"I can't do much now. Even with the water here it'll be hard to maneuver in that small space. We can go down there and look together."

Jasper jumped down and Lapis followed her into the giant fissure.