The two gems sat there for a long time. So long that they were still holding onto each other when the sun passed over the house. It was as if the concept of time was meaningless to them. When they finally separated, Pearl wiping her own tears that accumulated during their hug and Amethyst wiping hers, the taller gem smiled.
"So.. tell me about Garnet and Steven's mission.." Amethyst smiled as well, though hers was larger, more childish even. She excitedly stood on top of the counter she was on.
"Okay, so they just got out of the temple, right, then there's this giant bee.."
Garnet and Steven walked through the door of the house to find the other two gems laughing together on the couch. Garnet smiled, and Steven, being oblivious to the situation, ran up to Pearl and Amethyst.
"Guys, I had so much fun at Funland! Well, that's the name of the place, so it's to be expected, but still! Garnet even used the test your might thingy where you use a hammer to try and hit the bell. She sent it flying and that got us kicked out, but it was so awesome!" The boy said all of this excitedly, glad to finally be able to talk to his other two acting mothers.
"Hey there, Shrimp." Amethyst greeted, raising a hand in the air. She had one foot up on the couch, her arm resting on her knee as her other foot swung on the side of the couch.
"I'm glad you had so much fun, Steven." Pearl was sat professionally, her legs held together with both hands resting in her lap. "But I'm sure Garnet knows how to control her strength.. right Garnet?" She asked, looking up at the stoic gem.
"Nope. I broke it." Amethyst snorted in laughter while Pearl laughed nervously, wondering how much the damages were going to cost..
Going through two straight days of adventuring and 'adventuring', Steven was obviously physically drained. Pearl could tell because he was breathing rather heavily, and bouncing from one foot to the other. He couldn't possibly..
"Steven, take off your sandals and show me your feet."
"My feet..? Why do you wanna see my feet?"
"Do they hurt?" Garnet asked from behind Steven, who turned around.
"A little.. but I'm sure they're fine." Pearl wasn't going to have any of it though. She got down from the couch, kneeling to Steven's level of height.
"Steven.." She started, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to turn him back around. "You don't know because you can't see the bottoms of your feet. Please take off your sandals."
Steven nodded and reluctantly, very reluctantly, sat down and slipped off his right sandal with a wince.
"Oh dear.." Garnet stayed quiet as usual while Amethyst let out a low whistle. Steven's foot was covered over the bottom with blisters, ranging in degree from one to Holy Hell. Pearl gingerly took Steven's other foot in her hand, slipping off the sandal so as not to disturb the blisters. "Garnet." Pearl said over her shoulder to the tallest gem. "How did Steven even get like this? What about your future vision?"
"Kid's a runner." Garnet said with a shrug, earning another snort of laughter from Amethyst.
"Chill, Pearl. it's not like we have to cut his feet off." Amethyst said with a wave of her hand. Steven reflexively clutched at his feet while Pearl shot the shorter gem a dirty look.. the all too familiar look that made Amethyst question whether Pearl hated her or not in the first place. Amethyst instantly slouched back into the couch, her smile turning into a frown. She averted her eyes, crossing her arms.
"Sorry.." Was all she said afterward. Pearl sighed, picking Steven up at his waist.
"It's alright Amethyst.. I'm going to treat Steven's feet in the bathroom. And you are not to stand and walk around for at least three days, young man." Pearl directed her attention to Steven who let out a whine of 'Come on!' as he was carried to the bathroom.
Garnet crossed her arms, turning her attention toward Amethyst.
"So.. how'd it go?"
"It went great.." Amethyst admitted, a small smile forming. "She came up to me and was about to say something but chickened out. If I didn't over hear you guys last night, nothing would have gotten done. But you already know that, I bet." Amethyst looked up at Garnet, who nodded in response.
"You breathe when you sleep. You hardly do when you're awake."
"Right.. well I told her I didn't hate her.. admitted to being awake last night. She got kinda pissed, but other than tha-"
"Language."
"Come on, Steven's in the other room!" Amethyst protested, gesturing to the bathroom, but Garnet shook her head. The purple gem crossed her arms again, giving up. "She got kinda mad, but other than that, things went pretty well."
"It went well for you, or for Pearl?" That question sent Amethyst's thoughts spinning. She was positive that Pearl and herself were cool, but then that look came up again..
"I don't know.." Amethyst admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "She said she was sorry.. And I did too. But she just.. there's this one look she gives me that just makes me feel like garbage, like she doesn't think anything of me! I mean, I know it's not true, I do, it's just.. it always feels like it's meant to hurt me, you know?"
"I don't think so.." Garnet sad beside Amethyst, putting a hand on the purple gem's shoulder. "You're a valuable member of this team. You're her teammate, her friend. I'm positive she doesn't feel wrongly toward you."
"I know, I know.. it just feels like she does.."
"Well maybe you should talk to her about it, like she did with you.." The smaller gem chuckled, looking up at Garnet in the seat beside her.
"It's just an endless cycle of talking things over, isn't it..?"
Author's Notes: Hey guys, I think I'm gonna end this little story here. I'm definitely going to make a sequel to this, and it may have a higher rating. I'm not gonna do anything too severe, like nothing sexual or anything, but I feel like if I change the genre of this particular story from 'friendship' to 'romance' in later chapters, then that would ruin the whole point of this story I've made. That won't be my only reason for raising the rating, as I might add some 'advanced' language, so to speak. It's still just a maybe, so it could just as easily stay at a K+ rating. I'm thinking of naming the sequel to this "She Doesn't Hate Me!", so be on the lookout for it. I also want to thank you all so much for sticking with me and giving my first fanfiction such support. I've found that I absolutely love writing, and am excited to continue the second part of this story. You guys are amazing. So long for now.