Pearl

Today the temple was blissfully quiet. Steven was at the barn with Peridot and Lapis Lazuli. Garnet was on a mission and Amethyst was helping Greg at the car wash, at least that's what Amethyst had said.

Pearl however had decided to stay at the temple. For the last week she was constantly trying to avoid the temple, since she was afraid that Jasper could return and smash everything and everyone around her. But Jasper still remained in her gem. She had talked to Garnet about this and they both were unsure, if Jasper would come back at all. As a quartz it shouldn't have taken her longer then a day or two to regain her energy. Then again, Jasper certainly had been through a lot since she arrived on earth.

Pearl couldn't stand Jaspers. Not after the war and after she'd seen what those gems were capable of. Yet she didn't wished for Jasper to become corrupted. No gem should suffer that much. And it was her fault even though she knew that it wasn't. It was an accident, wasn't it? She would never destroy another gem on purpose. Even when this gem happens to be a Jasper.

Pearl looked out of the window and at the beach. 'It was just an accident.' She assured herself. But what if Jasper would really come back as a corrupted gem? She didn't want to see Steven's face when he would realise that his healing power didn't work on Jasper. And then there was Amethyst... She made up with her friend but she knew that Amethyst was still being angry at her for poofing Jasper.

Pearl steadied herself. Maybe cleaning the house would distract her a little. Yes! That was a great idea! She would start with-

BAM

Pearl flinched, turned around and saw none other than Jasper, standing in the kitchen where she had left her gem in a bowl, which was now lying on the ground. A mix of relief and fear ran through Pearl's body. The huge quartz turned to her with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Jasper

"You again!", Jasper growled, when she spotted the Pearl.

Jasper glanced around the room surreptitiously, searching for the rest of the Crystal Gems but the Pearl seemed to be alone.

Where was she anyway? Was this the base of the Crystal Gems? But why would they bring her to this odd place? And why was she still alive?

"Um, hello Jasper. It's..." The Pearl cleared her throat. "It nice to see you again."

Jasper turned her eyes back to the Pearl. "You're the one, who dared to poof me!"

"Y- yes, well... I can asure you, it was just an accident. You see-"

"I've been under too much stress lately", Jasper interrupted in a casual tone and made a step towards her. "Poofing you should be a good remedy."

She saw the Pearl's eyes widened with fear and with each of Jasper's steps towards her, the Pearl took a step backwards. Jasper smirked at this reaction. That was the way it was supposed to be. Pearls should fear her not attack and talk to her, as if they were equals. What would they think back on Homeworld if they would find out that a Pearl had poofed her?! No, she couldn't let that happen! She would just poof every last one of the Crystal Gems and no one would ever find out about this.

"You just came back. I really think you should spare your strength and get some rest", the Pearl said, seemingly trying to sound polite.

"Oh, don't you worry about my strength. I have plenty."

"Jasper, please, this is rediculous. There is no need to fight. See?" She waved her hands before her. "I don't even summon my weapon. So, there is no reason for you to attack me."

"Ha! Are you being serious?", Jasper asked in disbelief. "You poofed me. There you have a reason." She gave the smaller gem a devious grin. "Revenge!"

"Alright then", Pearl said and sighed. "What can I do so that you listen to what I have to say?!"

Jasper paused for a second and smirked. "Proof me wrong. Show me, that Pearls aren't just fancy pets that can't do anything but serving their masters."

Pearl's face fell grim. "Fine." She summoned her weapon. "If this is the only way you understand, then so be it!"

Before Pearl's spear could connect with her chest, Jasper spin dashed forward, lifted a hand almost casually and smacked Pearl's throwing arm away as if it were a fly buzzing around her face. Pearl spun nearly a half circle, roaring with pain and fell to the ground. But she stood up almost immidiantly and came at Jasper again. Jasper let out a long sigh. She didn't even bother to summon her own weapon. She wouldn't need it for this fight. Jasper brought her fist through the air slowly, indifferently, as if she intended Pearl to inspect it for her. Crack. Her fist connected with Pearl's belly like a thunderbolt. Pearl flew backward, crashing though the table and leaving it in splinters.

"Do you have enough? A Pearl can never beat a Jasper. Do you realize that now? Give up already!"

"No! I'm not going to give up! I need to know where I stand... So I will fight, until I can't fight anymore!"

Jasper couldn't help but be a little impressed by this Pearl. She had a strong spirit and Jasper could respect that. Was it this planet that changed all those gems? Rose, Lapis, the fusion, the Amethyst, the Peridot and this Pearl here? She was very different from all the Pearls she had met on Homeworld...

"Alright then", Jasper said grinning. "Show me what you got."

Pearl sprang up and sprinted towards her. She was light on her feet, what made her very fast. Jasper rushed in, throwing strike after strike. But now Pearl was able to dodge each one expertly and was trying to deliver a few counters with her spear here and there, though Jasper was still too fast to get actually hit by the Pearl. Jasper saw a new spear coming at her chest and slipped into a defensive stance. She deftly swatted away the Pearl's strike. But then, at the corner of her eyes she saw, that the Pearl was throwing a second spear right at her belly, while she was still being busy with the first spear. At the last second Jasper managed it to avoid the strike, but fell against the wall behind her, causing the big picture of Rose to fall down.

Jasper took the picture and held it before her. Rose looked just like she did thousands of years ago. Still wearing this silly dress...

"Don't you dare-", came the panting voice of the Pearl behind her. Jasper blinked, noticing that her thoughts had drifted away but the Pearl had brought her back to reality. Jasper turned around to see the Pearl, who was leaning on her spear, heavily breathing. But even so she looked as if she could hardly stand, she stared right at Jasper, showing no fear at all. "I won't allow you to destroy the painting!" The Pearl said in a hard voice.

"Why... What is it with you? With all of you? Why are you so different from what you are supposed to be?", Jasper asked and looked confused at the fearless Pearl.

For some odd reason, the Pearl began to smile and let her weapon disappear.

"Why are you smiling?" Jasper asked.

"Because you are willing to learn", the Pearl said in a gentle voice.

"Willing to learn?" Jasper replied. "Now what is that supposed to mean? As if a Pearl could teach a Jasper anything. I just beat you, didn't I?"

"Jasper, you don't have to fight us. Being a warrior for Homeworld is a choice, not your destiny."

"That choice was made for me a long time ago."

"Stop it alreay! I can't hear this Homeworld nonsense anymore!"

"Who do you think you're talking to here? A pathetic and lost Pearl like you should know her place!" Jasper barked angrily.

"I am not lost. You're the one who's lost and we've found you!", Pearl said.

Jasper gave a bitter laugh. "You are beneath me. With a behavior like that, you wouldn't last five minutes back on Homeworld."

"But we're not on Homeworld. We're on earth. Be a little grateful, that we didn't just put you in a bubble."

"Oh, I am sooo sorry", Jasper said. "I am so thankful for you guys to wreck Yellow Diamond's ship, to turn Lapis and Peridot in to traitors, to let me stay for months on end in a fusion with Lapis, to let me rot for who knows how long on this garbage planet, and thank you Pearl, thank you for poofing me, while my gem was cracked." As Jasper said this, she remembered that she should actually feel weak and vulnerable right now. But her body felt perfectly fine.

She put the painting with one hand on the ground, but was still holding it and carefully touched with the other hand her gem. "I'm healed...", she muttered and glanced at the Pearl in confusion. "Why?"

The Pearl made a long sigh. "Steven, he healed you", she replied in a tired voice. "He believes in you and that is why we will also believe in you."

Jasper remained silent. Not knowing what to answer or what to do. If it was true that Yellow Diamond wanted to see her shattered, then there was really no place she could go. But staying here with these traitors? Out of the question. The only reason she could think of on why this quartz boy had healed her, was because he probably thought she could be useful in a battle against Homeworld. But she would never betray Yellow Diamond, even if Yellow Diamond didn't trust her anymore. She just had to find a way to reagain her honor so she would be allowed to return to Homeworld.

As if the Pearl had read her mind she said: "Jasper, you can't just go by somebody else's rules. If you let yourself be controlled like that, you'll just become a puppet that can't make decisions on it's own. You have to live by your own rules."

"I don't understand..."

"There was a time when I was just like you, Jasper. We were taught that Homeworld was the greatest civilization in the universe and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was! The creatures of the world are terrified by Homeworld! They don't see our greatness – they hate us! And we deserve it."

Jasper frowned and her brows narrowed but then she sighed, simply out of exhaustion. She didn't understand the earth. She didn't understand the Crystal Gems. She didn't know anymore what she should do. She was just so exhausted but she saw this Pearl like no other Pearl she had ever seen before. This Pearl was actually pretty good in battle and might actually be able to defeat some quartzes that made the mistake to underestimate her and Jasper could respect that. Even though her pride would never allow her to openly admit that. "I suppose, I owe you gems one, for not shattering me. So..." Jasper took the painting with both hands and hung it back on it's former place over the door. "So I won't destroy your precious little painting."

She turned back at the Pearl, who, for some reason, had tears in her eyes, which made Jasper extremly uncomfortable. On Homeworld this behavior would have been punished, at least for quartzes, so Jasper wasn't really custom to those open emotions and she didn't have any clue how to handle it.

"Can you not do that?", Jasper said and tried to avoid the Pearl's watery eyes.

"Do what?" Pearl sniffed.

"Crying. It's extremly irritating."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just... I'm just thankful that you don't destroy the painting. It means a lot to me... I learned so much from Rose. She taught me how to fight, even though I'm just a Pearl. She gave me so much..."

"Well, uh-" 'This is so stupid', Jasper thought. "You know, you're not so bad... for a Pearl."

"Why, thank you. Coming from you, I take that as a compliment", said Pearl and smiled.

"Ugh, take it as you want. We're done here. I'm leaving." Jasper turned around and headed for the warp pad she had spotted earlier. But the Pearl ran before her and blocked the way.

"Step aside, filth!"

"And where do you wish to go to?"

"That's none of your buisness! Step aside."

"I'm serious. You can't return to Homeworld. Yellow Diamond wants to see you shattered, besides, all the warp pads back to Homeworld are destroyed anyway. So where would you like to go?"

Jasper hesitated. She had absolutly no idea where to go. Maybe she should stick around for a little longer. If she could poof the Crystal Gems one by one and present their gems to Yellow Diamond, maybe then she would be forgiven for her failure. And this way, maybe she would finally get her revenge on Lapis as well, since she would probably meet her again. Sooner or later... A strange feeling overcame Jasper all of a sudden. Was it fear? She touched her wrist, remembering all those months trapped inside this awefull fusion... So much darkness...

"Jasper?... Jasper, we're here for you. We protect eachother. You don't have to be alone anymore."

The Pearl's voice brought Jasper back to reality. Jasper's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, as she noticed that the Pearl had laid her hand on Jasper's arm. The Pearl's touch was so soft and her own mind had been so distant, remembering Malachite, that she hadn't noticed the Pearl's movement. She did not know why, but her fear grew even bigger and she slapped the Pearl's hand off her arm.

"Don't touch me! Nobody touches me!", she yelled in panic and made a step backwards, before she realised just how pathetic she must look right now and she quickly steadied herself again.

She crossed her arms and avoided the Pearl's worried look. "As if I would need protection from the likes of you! Besides, you only want me to join your little team because I can be useful to you", she muttered.

"No. It's not like that", Pearl said and then slowly started to grin. "I mean, it's sure handy to have a nice tall gem around to reach the high places." She waited, as if she was expecting Jasper to laugh.

"Yeah", Jasper said after a while of awkward silence. "I'm good at being tall" 'Sure. My only use is being tall. It can't be the fact, that I'm way stronger than all of you... except for Lapis maybe, when she's around water. Was the Pearl trying to be funny?'

Jasper looked at the Pearl, who had a stupidly big grin on her face. But after a while the grin faded.

"I know you don't see us as equals", Pearl said softly, "I know that back on Homeworld I'm nothing special at all. I would be just someone else's servant and considered as weak and-"

"I know that things are different here on earth", Jasper interrupted her and gave the Pearl an annoyed look. "Believe it or not, but I've noticed that. However, what you're saying about yourself is wrong. You actually couldn't be more special, if you wanna call it that way. But that's the problem, isn't it? We're not supposed to be special. I'm supposed to act like a Jasper and you're supposed to act like a Pearl, yet you're fighting like a true warrior." Jasper paused for a little while. "This place is so confusing..." She thought of Lapis. "Still, I can't let things beat me down. I have to take a stand against anything that would try to keep me down. I will never surrender to you traitors or anyone else."

Pearl gave her a tired chuckle. "Stop being difficult, Jasper."

"Pff!" Jasper raised an eyebrow and studied the Pearl for a moment. "I can't tell if you are just very stupid or very brave. Talking to me like that."

"Why don't you find out for yourself?" Pearl said and gave her a challenging smile.

Jasper glanced back at the Pearl and without thinking about it, her lips formed a small grin as well. "Yeah... maybe I will."

The earth was such an odd place. Jasper just didn't know how to think about it anymore. But the more she talked to those Crystal Gems, the more their strange behavior started to fascinate her. Was this Pearl really trying to befriend her?

"I really don't know why Lapis Lazuli is talking so bad about you", Pearl said suddenly. "You're nicer than I thought."

'Moment is over. Back to being mortal enemies.' Jasper thought, feeling a familiar burning hate as she heard Lapis' name.

Suddenly the door slammed open and a human sprang in to the temple. Out of reflex Jasper turned around and jumped backwards to avoid the threat. Unfortunately for Pearl, Jasper accidently jumped right into her, causing the two to fall down. Jasper's heavy body landed on top of Pearl's. Jasper could hear the already exhausted smaller gem poof. 'Oops', she thought and took Pearl's gem in her hand before she stood up again and faced the human before her.