"Pearl!"
The pale Crystal Gem come back to her senses when she heard a familiar voice calling for her, how much time had passed since she had lost counsciousness?
Pearl slowly got back on her feet answering weakly to Amethyst's constant calling:
"...Amethyst."
Behind the wall the purple gem stopped shouting her name in order to ask her:
"I'm so happy you're still with me P!
I was worried that Jasper had done some permanent damage, I've kept calling you for a while, how do you feel?"
Pearl's body had gone back to it's usual look, the yellow lines were no more and the great pain she had felt before had now turned into a weak sore sensation diffused to her body, however the memories were still as strong as before but she didn't feel like burdening Amethyst with them so she answered:
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry."
Amethyst's answer surprised her:
"Don't need to worry!?
That monster did something horrible to you and I shouldn't worry?!"
The purple gem sounded very angry but she calmed down quickly assuming a more worried tone:
"P, I don't know what Jasper did to you but you were in a lot of pain and that scared me, if only she picked me..."
Pearl quickly interrupted her slamming a fist on the metal wall separating them:
"Don't you even think about it!
Doing that for me would've been a mistake, I don't deserve your compassion!"
Amethyst's tone grew even more worried when she replied:
"What do you mean?
We don't always see eye to eye but seeing you broken like that felt too painful than every thing Jasper might do to me..."
Pearl felt even more disgusted by her toughts during the questioning, when she wished that Jasper would've chosed Amethyst instead of her.
She began to yell, cutting off her friend's words:
"S-stop it!
When Jasper was torturing me I wished that you were chosen instead of me, I considered telling everything I knew to that monster just to stop the pain, I don't deserve your pity!"
For a while there was just silence while Pearl's words sinked in Amethyst, the only sound that was audible were the quiet sobs of the pale Crystal Gem.
She felt horrible but she couldn't keep facing Amethyst after what she had tought, this way she felt like a very heavy weight was lifted from her chest, but she knew that now Amethyst would never have anything to do with her again.
Pearl crouched on the ground waiting for Amethyst's rage, but when she spoke, she did it with a low and reassuring tone:
"You considered giving up to the pain but you didn't, you grinded your teeth and kept suffering not only for Steven but for all of us, this is what makes you stronger than that monster."
Pearl stopped sobbing and looked in complete and total shock to the wall separating her from Amethyst, she got closer to it and quietly she said:
"Do...do you really think that?"
"Of course P!
I didn't feel your pain and as far as I know I've might've cracked under her questioning, for me it's easy to say that I will take your place, it's just a way to not feel bad about that little voice that told me that I was lucky to not be the one in pain on Jasper's shoulder!"
Pearl begun to understand what Amethyst was trying to say:
"You mean..."
"I mean that it doesn't matter who was picked by Jasper, I would hate the pain like you and you would've felt as guilty as me right now for having been unable to stop this from happening."
"Oh Amethyst..."
Pearl would've liked to hug the purple gem but in their situation this was impossible, they got closer to each other and sit quietly, knowing that other words would've been usless right now.
Even if their situation was desperate they still had each other and that was a powerful source of strenght, she closed her eyes thinking about Steven and how much stronger he had became, she tought about his voice and how all her pain was for his sake, he was important and she had to protect him at all costs.
"Hey you guys!"
She was even beginning to hear his voice, Jasper had done quite the number on her-
"Guys it's me, Steven!"
She opened her eyes and when she saw her precious little Steven smiling at her she felt like a ray of light just pierced the darkness engoulfing her.
She worried about his black eye and when he touched the barrier she worried that he might've been hurt by it.
They all got in a tight embrace before going to the control room, Amethyst smiled at Pearl and asked her with a low tone of voice:
"Are you able to run P?"
Pearl's answer was confident:
"Yes, I still feel a little sore but this won't certainly stop me, not now that we both can do something about our situation."
The two Crystal Gems exchanged a quick smile before following Steven to the main deck of the ship.
With this chapter we go back to the main series as we all know what happens from this point on in the show, I will add a few extra chapters considering other events related to this story in other points of the show.
I hope you enjoyed this little story and thanks for all your support!