CHAPTER 2: WELCOME HOME
"Steven…" Lapis whispered as she kneeled down and embraced him tightly.
"D-does this mean t-that you'll stay?" Steven said as he gently pulled away from the embrace and looked at her.
"Of course…" Lapis said as she ruffled his hair.
"Yay! Now we are even a bigger team!" Steven said bouncing happily, but eventually calmed down.
"Ehm… I mean… if… if you want… to be part of… our team…" Steven said as Lapis looked at Garnet who nodded.
Lapis stood up and closed her eyes, she placed her hands on her chest and suddenly, a light blue star appeared on the top of her dress. Steven looked at her with stars in his eyes as she slightly chuckled. She knew that it wouldn't have been easy at first, being around the gems who kept her in that mirror for ages, but she also knew that being with them, she could have helped them protecting Steven, and this was the only thing she cared about now. Steven, Garnet and Lapis entered the house shortly after the discussion. As they entered, Pearl and Amethyst's eyes went wide as they saw Lapis, who was now wearing the Crystal Gems's symbol. Pearl quickly got up from the couch.
"W-why is she wearing Rose's symbol?!" Pearl hissed between her teeth.
"Because now she is part of our team…" Garnet replied calmly.
"WHAT?!" Pearl cried in disbelief.
"Pearl…" Garnet said, trying to calm her down.
"No! She hurt Steven! H-how can you let her wear Rose's symbol after what she had done to her son!" Pearl cried angrily.
"You mean after she saved all of us from Jasper trapping herself under the ocean? Or after she fought against Yellow Diamond and risked her life for Steven?" Garnet replied calmly.
"I mean after she almost drowned him!" Pearl yelled clenching her fists to her sides.
"I already said I was sorry for that! I wasn't myself! I was scared because of you attacking me for no reason! Steven forgave me so why can't you do that?! I forgave you for what you have done!" Lapis yelled back.
"I kept you in that mirror because you are a Homeworld gem! I had my rights! But you tried to kill my baby!" Pearl shouted, she knew that Lapis only wanted to protect Steven and was conscious of what she had done for him, but even if she was going to sacrifice her own life for him, she couldn't just forgive her for having hurt Steven.
"Pearl please stop!" Steven said reaching her.
"Steven stay out of this!" Pearl said gesturing his room.
"No! This is about me! Listen… it's true… Lapis tried to hurt me but she did it only because she was scared… I know how much you care about me but, please Pearl, she risked her own life… just like you did for my mom… don't… don't you think she would have forgiven her?" Steven asked as tears began to stream down Pearl's face, she knew that Steven was right, but hearing him talking about Rose, she just couldn't bear it.
"S-she doesn't even care about the Earth!" Pearl screamed, but a deadly silence fell in the room when everyone heard what Garnet said.
"And you fought alongside Rose because you cared about the Earth right?" Garnet said as Pearl's eyes went wide.
Pearl ran towards the temple's door, disappearing into her room, her face buried in her hands. Steven tried to catch her but wasn't fast enough. As he reached the door, he began to pound on it.
"Pearl please! I'm sorry!" Steven shouted but stopped when Garnet placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Steven… she knows you are right… she just needs her time…" Garnet said giving him a weak smile.
Steven tried to convince himself of that, as Garnet began to cook something, after all, it was dinner time, Amethyst went to her room after thanking Lapis for what she had done. She admitted that without her, they probably would have been already dead. After dinner Garnet greeted Lapis and Steven and entered her room, needing a break after all what had happened.
"So… ehm… Lapis… d-do you want to stay here or-" Steven tried to ask but Lapis cut him off with a soft giggle.
"I'll just stay down here for tonight Steven, thank you…" Lapis said laying down on the couch.
"Oh… ok… good night Lapis!" Steven said before hugging her.
"Good night Steven…" Lapis whispered before letting him go.
Steven went under his covers and quickly fell asleep, but not Lapis, she never enjoyed sleep, she always dreamed about her imprisonment, so she just laid on the couch for a while. After some hours, Lapis got up and silently climbed the ladder of Steven's bedroom. As she reached his bed, she gently sat down and looked at him with a slight smile, he seemed so peaceful, even after all what had happened. Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from behind her, she turned around and noticed Pearl, who was standing on the top of the ladder, staring back at her. Lapis began to stand up but Pearl stopped her gesturing her to remain seated.
"No… stay…" Pearl said as she sighed and sat down next to her.
"I'm… I'm sorry for the way I acted before…" Pearl said staring at the ground.
"I don't blame you for that…" Lapis replied coldly.
"No… no… but… you should… to many times I questioned Steven's decisions and every time I did… something bad happened to him… I'm… I'm sorry…" Pearl said lowering her head, but as she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder, she suddenly raised it and stared at Lapis.
"If… if there is a thing that Steven taught me… it is to watch beyond people's faults and forgive them… even if their faults seem to be unforgivable…" Lapis said lowering for a moment her head.
"He… he… he is amazing… isn't he?" Pearl said smiling softly at him.
"He sure is…" Lapis whispered laying gently her hand on his hair.
The day after, Steven met his dad, who had just come back to town after the evacuation that morning. Greg spent almost an hour hugging Steven and checking him for injuries, and the same did Connie, during that afternoon, when Steven opened the door and found himself on the ground, arms wrapped around him, the small girl sobbing slightly with her face buried in his neck. As the days passed, Lapis began to become nearer to the gems and finally, with a little help from his beach summer buddy, she became friends with them as they earned her trust, and she earned theirs. She finally saw the Earth as her new home, she didn't really like it all that much, but as long as Steven would have been there, she would have never wanted to be elsewhere. One evening, Steven was sitting on the beach, looking at the sea.
"Steven?" Pearl said as Steven turned around.
"Oh, hi Pearl…" Steven said smiling weakly.
"Is something wrong?" Pearl said kneeling down beside him.
"No… it's all right…" Steven said as he looked down.
"Are you… sad because of Peridot?" Pearl asked smiling weakly to him.
"I just wish… she didn't… I wish she was here with us now… she was good…" Steven said looking at Pearl.
"I know Steven… I was wrong… she cared about you and none of us will never forget what she had done for us…" Pearl said as she caressed his hair.
"Thank you Pearl…" Steven said as a small smile grew on his face.
"Do you want to come in with us? We were thinking about creating a room for Lapis in the temple… we would really like you to help us…" Pearl said hoping to cheer him up. "I'd like to help… I'll reach you…" Steven said smiling to her, as she did the same and began to walk towards the house. "Thank you Peridot…" Steven whispered as he smiled, looking at the sea… and his smile grew even bigger… when he noticed a green light… coming from the waters.
"P-Peridot?!" Steven yelled in disbelief as he saw the green light coming from the sea.
Steven ran as fast as he could towards the source of the light, he plunged into the waters up to the neck and finally sunk his head underwater. What he saw… made him happier than even… a green gem, enlightened by a bright light… a thin silhouette forming around it… but… something… wasn't right… Steven quickly grasper the green gem by her shoulders and dragged her on the beach.
"Peridot?! Peridot can you hear me?!" Steven yelled as he gently shook her by her shoulders.
"S-Steven?" Peridot whispered as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Steven!" She yelled as she fully woke up and understood who was holding her, but as she tried to get up, she fell back groaning in pain and, suddenly, her body form glitched.
"Peridot… your gem!" Steven yelped as he noticed a crack in her gem.
"Oh… oh m-m-my… i-i-is it c-c-cracked?!" Peridot began to panic after Steven said that.
"D-don't worry! I can heal you!" Steven said as he licked his hand and moved it towards Peridot's forehead, which was still without her visor.
"S-Steven wh-what a-are y-" Peridot tried to talk but was cut off by a strange sensation on her gem, she shivered but after some moment… she felt extreme relief as her gem returned intact… but there was something wrong.
"W-wait… I… I healed you… why… why are y-your arms and l-legs still missing?" Steven asked raising her head gently, noticing that the gem didn't have forearms or the lower part of both her legs.
Peridot looked away from him, ashamed of having showed Steven her true form… in fact… after the production of the pearls had been stopped on Homeworld after the rebellion… a new type of technician was created… the peridots… but due to the lack of resources after Rose's rebellion… her gem was manufactured in such a way… to cause a malformation of the body structure… at first Homeworld's scientists wanted to obliterate such a failure… in fact, the malformation affected not only the body… but the gem's base abilities too… like the one of summoning a weapon… but Yellow Diamond noticed something… peridots's incredibly advanced mind… so… in order to permit the technicians to use their abilities… Yellow Diamond gave Homeworld's scientists the order to mass produce robotic body parts equipped with weapons in order to allow the harmless gems to defend themselves.
"T-they must be still somewhere underwater…" Peridot whispered, she always considered herself like a normal gem… but deep down… she had been always ashamed of her... form.
"D-don't worry Peridot! Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl! Help!" Steven cried.
"Steven!" Garnet yelled as she opened the door and jumped down on the beach.
"G-Garnet please! You have to help her! H-her a-arms and l-legs… they are still underwater!" Steven panicked as Garnet remained motionless and stared at Peridot.
"Garnet please! I'm begging you!" Steven pleaded as Garnet looked at him.
Garnet slowly nodded and got up. She knew that Peridot was their enemy and that she even tried to eliminate them… but she also knew that without her not only Steven but all of them would be gone. She walked towards the sea and jumped in the water. Steven continued to comfort Peridot as he waited for Garnet to return. After some moments… Garnet jumped out the water holding four, busted, robotic limbs.
"Steven… take these… I'll help her…" Garnet said as she gave Steven the robotic parts and put her arms under Peridot, raising and holding her as they moved towards the house.
Needless to say, everyone in the house was shocked when they saw Garnet holding the familiar Homeworld gem. Pearl and Lapis jumped off the couch and Amethyst let the sandwich she had in her hands fall on the ground.
"G-Garnet?" Pearl questioned as Garnet approached her.
"Pearl… I know this will be hard… but you are the only one who knows and understands something about Homeworld's technology… can you help her?" Garnet asked as Pearl's eyes went wide.
"Pearl… please…" Steven asked as Pearl hesitated, but then, as all what had happened before came to her mind, she sighed and nodded.
While Amethyst and Lapis stomped away and entered their rooms, unable to bear the presence of the gem who imprisoned and tried to kill them, Garnet laid Peridot on the couch, then she leaved the room, leaving Pearl and Peridot alone. Before leaving, Garnet reassured Steven, saying that Peridot would be okay, but that Pearl needed to concentrate so, maybe he could have gone to Greg, or called Connie to spend some time with her, and maybe talk to them about Lapis and Peridot, since both of them still didn't know about their presence in Steven's house. Steven slowly nodded and went out the house. Pearl silently materialized out of her gem some of the tools she used to help Greg fixing his van, after all the times she helped him, she decided to keep some tools for her, especially after Greg forgot them during the last three times he asked for her help. Pearl kneeled down beside her and began to work. After some hours, Pearl managed to attach the robotic limbs to Peridot, also fixing the broken components. As she was going to finish her work, fixing the last broken cables in Peridot's left arm, she raised her gaze and saw the green gem looking at her with wide eyes.
'How can she be so capable in this kind of operations?' Peridot thought looking at Pearl with bewilderment in her eyes.
"So… am I still a clod?" Pearl asked giving her a teasing smile as Peridot looked away and whispered something.
"I'm sorry… I think I didn't hear you…" Pearl said as Peridot clenched her teeth.
"I said… thank you…" Peridot whispered as she heard the white gem slightly chuckle.
Here we go with the second chapter guys! Hehe you thought we wouldn't have given it to you until another week? Well here it is, I hope you have liked it and I think I'm talking even for my collaborator when I'm saying thank you very much for your appreciation, you have become so many after just one chapter and this is simply marvelous, for any question just ask in the reviews, and as always, we'll see you, in the next chapter! Bye!