CHAPTER 19: TOGETHER FOREVER

"Where's Peridot?" Garnet asked as she noticed that the green gem was not there with them.

"She was with us back at the Kindergarten… but when she saw Jet she became scared and tried to shoot her… then she ran away…" Steven explained as he turned towards the warp pad, hoping to see the beam of light appear and with it his lost friend.

"Do you have any idea of where she could have gone?" Garnet asked as Amethyst turned away and began to walk towards the temple door.

"Don't know, don't care…" Amethyst said as she disappeared into her room.

"Did something happen between those two?" Pearl asked as she approached Steven.

"Ehm… well… I don't really know, I wasn't with them in that moment… but… I think we should go find her… it's not safe to be around alone… maybe she's still at the Kindergarten…" Steven said as he approached the warp pad.

"Alright gems… I'll go with Steven and we'll bring Peridot back, tomorrow we'll begin building the drill machine… Jet… I'd like you to come with us…" Garnet said, standing by Steven's side.

"O-oh… alright…" Jet muttered as she hesitantly reached the duo.

"B-but… Garnet… are you sure?" Pearl asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry Pearl… she made more than clear the fact that the only thing she wants to do is to protect Steven… he trusts her… and so do I…" Garnet said as they disappeared into the beam of light.

Pearl stared at the warp pad for some moments before stepping towards the couch and sitting on it as she sighed heavily. Too much was occurring in these last days, too many things that could cause them problems but most importantly that could hurt Steven, the return of Yellow Diamond, the Cluster and now this gem… she was too lost in her thoughts too notice someone sitting near to her.

"Boo!" Lapis yelled as she sat down next to Pearl.

"Gah!" Pearl screamed as she jumped up from the couch.

"I'm sorry… it just looked… so irresistible…" Lapis said as she tried to stifle her giggles, since she became friends with the white gem, she could tell that she was easily frustrated and seeing her like this wasn't something she liked, after some time spent with Amethyst, she thought that a little joke was the perfect thing to cheer her up, but that didn't work pretty well.

"Lapis! That was really immature from you! I think Amethyst's behavior is having bad effects on you…" Pearl said as she crossed her arms.

"Oh Pearl… I'm really sorry if I scared you… you… have been acting differently lately… I think you should try to relax…" Lapis said as Pearl frowned and turned around.

"How could you say that after all what happened in these last days... you should be ready for everything if you really care about any of us..." Pearl hissed without looking at her, the comment made Lapis suddenly stop giggling an become serious.

"Pearl… I'm serious… you should-" Lapis was cut off by the white gem, who turned around and pointed her finger at her.

"No! I shouldn't do anything of what you said! Have you noticed the situation we're in Lapis?! A giant fusion could destroy the Earth at any time, a Homeworld's leader is out there somewhere and she even got an ally and now one of those… those monsters come here claiming that she wants to protect Steven a-and we just let her go with him when we know perfectly that she's just some Homewolrd's sick creation?! Don't you even care?!" Pearl yelled angrily… but as soon as she pronounced the last words, Lapis stood up from the couch, fists tightened, after all what she had suffered, no one could cast doubts on the fact that she cared, no one, not even a friend.

"You're asking me if I care?! If you didn't notice I'm the one who kept Jasper at the bottom of the ocean to keep Steven safe! And… are you serious?! Just because she has been created by Homeworld you think she can't be trusted?! You were created to be a slav-" Lapis covered her own mouth before she could finish the sentence, but it was too late, Pearl had already tears in the corners of her eyes as she pushed Lapis aside and ran outside on the beach.

"Pearl wait!" Lapis called her as she chased after her.

Meanwhile, at the Kindergarten:

"Peridot!" Steven called as he kept looking around, followed by Jet and Garnet.

"Jet?" Garnet called as she distanced herself a little from Steven.

"Y-yes Garnet?" Jet answered as she reached the leader's side, even if she made clear that she trusted her, and despite the fact that Jet was slightly taller than her, she couldn't help but being a little frightened by Garnet's authoritarian figure.

"I… I asked you to come with us… because I wanted to talk with you… I wanted to ask you things that I don't think you would have liked to talk about with everyone else being around… and don't get me wrong… if you don't want to talk about it… I won't force you to do it…" Garnet said as Jet tensed up a little.

"Is… is there something wrong?" Jet asked, wondering what Garnet wanted her say.

"No… it's… it's… just… I don't know if you noticed Jet… but I'm a fusion…" Garnet said as she turned towards Jet and took off her visor, showing the gem her three eyes.

"Oh… I didn't know…" Jet said, a little startled by the revelation.

"When we first discovered about Homeworld's experiments… I was terrified by them… but not because of their appearance… I… couldn't believe Homeworld could be so cruel… forcing gems to fuse… fusion should be a choice but the gems who were shattered during the rebellion… they didn't have a choice… Homeworld couldn't even let them rest in peace… it isn't fair… and… I'm sorry if they did this to you… is… is it painful? To be… like this?" Garnet said gesturing towards Jet… tears streaming down her cheeks, fusion was something really important for her, fusion was what she was and fusion, for her meant the power of love which allowed two gems to become one, single thing… but this wasn't the kind of fusion Jet was…

"It… it's not Garnet… please don't worry about me…" Jet replied sadly.

"Do you… remember anything of who you were before the rebellion?" Garnet asked.

"I… I remember only fragments… if I try to remember… I can… see someone fighting with a shiny, silver sword… then… someone with long, winged spear… I… I can't see clearly who they are but… when a blow comes towards one of them… the other is there to protect them… I remember someone… someone telling the two gems that… the bond between them was something abominable… something wrong… and then… Rose… telling them that it wasn't something wrong… but the most beautiful thing that could happen to two of our kind… that it would have given them the possibility to stay together forever… t-the last thing I remember is… those two gems… laying on the ground… hand in hand… as swords came down on them… it's all what I can remember… but… it doesn't matter who I was… the only thing that matters is the present… and in the present there is someone I have to protect… that's the only important thing for me…" Jet said as she wiped a small tear away.

"I'm glad you want to protect him Jet… thank you… and… even if you think it's not important… remember what those two gems felt for one another… I think… I think it's what allowed you to be as you are now and… I think it's what really gives you power…" Garnet said smiling as she put back her visor.

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay but we had some problems, now that it is all solved, we hope you are all doing fine and that you enjoyed this chapter, and obviously the story so far! We wanted to thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows and I wanted to remember you that if you have any question or request just write them in the reviews or in a message, another chapter will be updated very soon, just like I said! Bye!