Peridot felt like she had done a lot of running just this morning. Throughout her body, she can feel all of that taking a toll. The adrenaline of the fusion had long since waned, replaced with an exhaustion that she was dragging her down. And like with Green Apatite, she had no clue as where she would wind up. Even with all of her time on Earth, she failed to gather memory of the extended geography. Let alone the one surrounding Beach City. If only.

The sound of footsteps behind her rose. Closer and closer. She gritted her teeth, with sweat pooling around her forehead. "Stop following me!" Peridot shouted.

"Only if you slow down!" Amethyst called from the back. Still approaching.

"No!"

Mere seconds later, she felt a sudden weight against her back, and her feet lost touch with the ground. Arms wrapped around her thin waist. Both of them flew midair for a split moment before they toppled to the ground. They had ended up on a small hill and tumbled downward until they reached the bottom. Peridot's head was spinning.

Once her head stopped spinning, Peridot gained focus. Amethyst seemed to have gained the upper hand and sat atop her. Though panting heavily, she straddled Peridot's legs with her own. Peridot's eyes shifted from Amethyst's hands clasped around her elbows to Amethyst's own annoyed gaze.

"If you could get off of me, Amethyst, that would be wonderful," Peridot jeered. She struggled to so much as sit up, but Amethyst's strength far dominated her own. She simply could not move.

"I needed to get you to stop somehow. 'Cause we need to talk about this."

"No, we don't. Now please get off!" she repeated through her teeth.

"C'mon, Peridot, there's no way to ignore all of this! I—you..." Amethyst sighed, her panting lessening. Her muscles slacked. "We both need to chill."

"I refuse to chill!"

Amethyst's eyebrows narrowed. "You can't just run away from this."

"I was actually doing that just fine until you stopped me," Peridot pointed out. Granted, all that running had begun taking a toll, but she had certainty that she could last another half mile before finally collapsing. As in, incredibly far away from Beach City! "So I can!"

"No, you can't!" Amethyst's voice boomed firmness, and Peridot's eyes focused on her. The Quartz's features softened as she added in a gentler tone, "Trust me."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Peridot snapped, feeling her anger dissipate because deep down, she knew that she couldn't be too angry with Amethyst. That her barriers were breaking apart.

"I dunno, we sit down and talk about this. About what we saw."

Peridot's eyes grew. This time, she really looked at Amethyst. She hardly looked mad; if anything, merely tired. Peridot's stubbornness faded.

"I didn't want you to see any of that. It was embarrassing," she said, avoiding Amethyst's gaze. She worried about any tears escaping if she looked at her for too long.

Amethyst gave Peridot a quirk of a smile before getting off of her body. Resting on her knees, she extended a hand out. Peridot took it, their fingers interlocking as Amethyst pulled Peridot in a sitting position. For a minute, they simply sat beside one another, exchanging looks but failing to speak up.

Clearing her throat, Amethyst broke the tension. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You know that, right?"

"Well, I still feel that way," Peridot grumbled. She glanced down at her hand, and realizing they were still holding hands, pulled her own away from Amethyst's. "What happened, exactly?"

"I don't know. I'm not exactly an expert on fusions, but I guess when fusions aren't…" Amethyst looped her hands around as she struggled to find the words, "synced up or something or their emotions get too intense, the fusion reacts pretty badly."

Peridot stayed silent, wondering where in that vision those problems could have settled. Her thinking did not have to last long. Before she could say anything, however, Amethyst spoke up first.

"So was that, like, your nightmare? The one you were talking about?"

The truth was, no, some pieces were missing, but as if Peridot could bring that up. "For the most part. It certainly didn't happen in the kindergarten." Her gaze shifted to Amethyst. "That was yours, then."

Amethyst averted her gaze to the side. "Well… yeah, but I've dealt with that for years. It's nothing I'd worry about right now." When she glanced back at Peridot, her shy gaze sharpened. "But I can tell that whole Yellow Diamond thing is seriously messing with you. You can't tell me that everything's okay right now."

Peridot, through narrowed eyebrows, shot a glare at the ground.

"I know you're listening." Amethyst's voice was laced with a touch of anger.

A long silence lingered. The air felt cold.

"What do we do about this?" Peridot looked at her fingers. They couldn't drop this and fake happiness. Now that they both saw. They saw something, but the answer as to what exactly it was and what it meant still a mystery. Either way, this was one thing they could not leave be.

Amethyst sighed, pushing a bundle of hair away from her face. "Fusion isn't all that healthy when there are… secrets you're hiding from each other." She turned away and hissed under her breath. "It gets nasty fast. Not just the fusion, either."

She didn't need to clarify what else, exactly. The idea of her relationship with Amethyst hurting in the process made Peridot's body tighten. However, she caught the look in Amethyst's eyes, that glint of someone pondering. "So what are you thinking about?"

Amethyst blinked at Peridot before she looked back to the side. For a while, she said nothing. Then, she slapped her hands onto her knees and cleared her throat. "Right here, right now. No more secrets. We don't have to tell anyone else; it'll just be the two of us."

"Secrets?" Peridot squeaked.

Amethyst scooted closer to her. "I want you to talk to me about these things. Or, I want you to… want to talk to me about these things. I dunno, you know what I mean?" She gave Peridot an uncertain look, like she had trouble figuring out her own words.

"Well, talking to you wouldn't have made it go away."

"Okay, yeah, probably not," Amethyst sighed, "but it just… makes you feel better to let it all out to someone you completely trust. Doesn't that make sense?"

Peridot stared at Amethyst, processing what she said. And she realized something. "Okay, but that includes you, too."

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to say anything until you promise to tell me you'll talk to me whenever you need me… for something. I want you to trust me!" she exclaimed, her chest pounding.

Amethyst stared at her for a moment. Peridot couldn't quite put her finger on the expression. Her eyes were wide, mouth opened just slightly. When Amethyst let out a shaky breath, Peridot stopped. "Alright…" A small smile graced Amethyst's face. "Yeah, I promise." She leaned her head against Peridot's. The green gem stomach churned. "Man, I really screwed up that one."

"The... fusion?" You?!

"Hmm, yup." Amethyst's laugh was hollow. "I know the whole thing was an accident, but… but I liked it. It was also pretty fun. Well, for the most part."

Peridot pulled her head away from Amethyst's, though the distance between them was still severely lacking. "Amethyst, I want to clarify. I didn't mean it when I said it was a mistake. That was just me reacting negatively to the vision we had. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I swear!"

"It's cool." She shook her head. "It was not fun. I wish it was different. It could've been great." Amethyst's whispers brought breath onto Peridot's face, and Peridot struggled with every code in her being to fight off the shivers.

"You think so?" Peridot's pitch rose.

"Totally."

The memories of their fusion resurfaced, from the thrill to the terror. She shut her eyes. "It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"It's not, though. It's not something you should apolo—"

"But I am sorry!" Peridot interrupted in a clear, in-control voice. Her body directed itself away from Amethyst's. "The fusion broke apart because I was holding back and not syncing with you properly. This isn't me trying to take the blame. This is fact."

"But it was your first fusion! I should've been more careful with, I dunno, guiding you through it or something." Amethyst groaned, then distracted herself with pulling little pieces of grass. "Garnet said she couldn't stop Green Apatite, but maybe I should've."

"That doesn't mean it should've been as bad as it was," Peridot pointed out with crossed arms. "I doubt most first fusions are like that."

"If I stopped her, maybe it wouldn't have been."

Peridot growled, patience snapping apart. "Then maybe we're both to blame here! How about that? We both screwed up the whole thing, and now we're here."

Despite herself, Amethyst let out a quick snicker. With a shake of her head, she said, "If you insist. I was just a bad first fusion for ya, that's all."

"You say that as if I would want it to be with any of the other gems!"

Amethyst looked as if she had the wind knocked right out of her body. Peridot stopped, thought over the words that came out of her mouth, and regretted them. Not because they were wrong (they clearly weren't), but now wasn't the time! Flushing, and before Amethyst could toss a remark out, Peridot added in haste, "Maybe talking about that vision would help us come to a conclusion as to what exactly happened."

Still appearing confused and lost beyond belief, Amethyst didn't press on. "Uh, alright. Where exactly do you wanna start?" She shrugged as if with uncertainty. When Peridot was not immediately responsive, she scratched her nose and again scooted herself closer to Peridot. "What about Yellow Dumpster—"

"Dumpster?"

Amethyst's smirk shined before her face fell back into a more serious countenance. "Are you really that scared of her?"

Peridot considered her response for a long time, even drawing out another worried look from Amethyst. Amethyst waited with patience this time, however. Peridot cast her eyes over her hands, which rested on her lap. With a collapsed sigh, she said, "The worst part of the dream wasn't even Yellow Diamond."

"Then what was?" Amethyst persisted emphasizing her words. Peridot stayed quiet, but Amethyst leaned in just a touch to say, "Whatever it was couldn't be that bad."

Peridot shut her eyes to say it, despite worrying that she'd see it all over again. "Shattered."

"Huh?"

"You were shattered!" Peridot's gaze, upon opening her eyes, sharpened on Amethyst, and her hands tightened into almost painfully held fists. "Your shards were in this small pile on the ground, and from what I could guess, Yellow Diamond was responsible."

Amethyst looked stupefied. "O-oh…" was all she could utter.

"And the worst part was that I couldn't do anything about it. They were just… there!" Peridot gestured to the ground in front of her as if the tiny hill of purple remains rested there. Fingers digging into her palm, she buried her hands under her armpits. "That was why I was at the Temple at such an odd time of the day."

"What, you were… seeing if it happened?" Amethyst said at a slow pace, as if still processing everything said.

"Yes!" Peridot exclaimed, her voice shuddering. Her voice lowered as she continued. "Or… no, because I had figured it was a dream. It was impossible, all things considering. The facts didn't add up, but…" Her body slouched. "I wanted to be certain."

"Peridot, I... I had no idea. I—" Amethyst cut herself off.

Peridot wiped under her visor in fear of staining the material with tears (among other reasons). She directed her head away from Amethyst, unable to see her reaction. Recounting her dreams only made her feel like they were still there, in her head, waiting to see all of that all over again. Whatever Amethyst had expected to come out of this, Peridot doubted this was part of it.

"Tch," Amethyst uttered after a few long moments, voice a mite chipper, "like I'm going down that easily. I'm not gonna let Yellow D get rid of me that easily. Let me at her, P-Pod. I'll take her on."

Something in Peridot snapped. The pain of her memories practically exploded, and she jumped up to her feet as she shouted, "Are you nuts?!" She waved at Amethyst with one hand, the other firmly at her side. "Do you have any idea what you are up against here? What we're up against?"

Amethyst's mood shifted, and the grin she wore might as well have been smacked away. Raising a hand in defense, she said, "Whoa, P-dot, I—"

"Say we defeat the Cluster—"

"C'mon, we're totally beating that thing!"

Peridot rolled her eyes. "Even so, Yellow Diamond will soon notice that Earth is still active on Homeworld's star maps, that it's still not… well, blown up!" Peridot threw her arms out. "She'll be furious beyond anything I've ever heard of."

"Worse than when you called her a clod?"

Peridot shot her a burning glare.

"Hey, it was still awesome, but uh..." Amethyst averted her gaze from Peridot. "Continue."

Shaking her head, Peridot restarted her train of thought. "She's going to find out, and you saw how she clearly despises Earth and wants to get rid of it. I highly doubt she'll just ignore it. She could send an army over here, or-or find other ways to destroy this planet!"

"I guess you got a point." Amethyst's reluctant response barely came out above a murmur.

"The idea of her coming here to destroy it—and very likely us…" Peridot shuddered. "What if she does?"

"Well, I mean… I don't know," Amethyst replied, exasperated and appearing so, at that. "What am I supposed to say? I'm not good at the whole planning thing. Garnet's better with that stuff."

Peridot's eyebrows slanted down. "Are you even aware of what the Diamond's are capable of? We retreat into our gemstones whenever our forms are too weak to hold and require time to heal. Except the Diamonds. Not once has a Diamond poofed—ever!" Peridot jumped a few inches into the air, then clenched her fists. "They're too strong, too powerful. And if we're captured, we're as good as harvested, if we're lucky! And this planet is probably going to end up as nothing more than a bunch of debris drifting through space!"

"Do you seriously think I don't worry about that stuff, too!?" Amethyst thundered suddenly, standing up to meet Peridot at eye level.

She had been looking at Amethyst, but failed to really look at her. Only now did she see the rush of emotions shifting through Amethyst's face, likely formed as she spoke. Anger wrinkled her eyes, and Peridot shut her mouth. She took a step back.

"Dealing with your precious Homeworld hasn't been easy for any of us! Ever since we had to fight Lapis when she took the whole dang ocean away. It all started there, and it's been pure garbage ever since!" Her head bowed. "All I want to do is live on Earth and maybe kick Gem mutant buts every once in a while. Not have to deal with all this war and rebellion junk that I wasn't even part of!"

"So, what, you want to ignore all of that?" Peridot snapped with some toxicity to her words.

Amethyst gnashed at her teeth for a curt second. "Well, no, but…" She hissed. "Ignoring what Homeworld throws at us won't make it go away. And it's terrifying for us, too! But we gotta try not to let it get to our heads—'cause we can't!" She gradually approached Peridot, whose feet were glued to the grass. "We deal with all of that somehow to protect our home." At the final emphasis, she gestured not just to herself, but Peridot.

Peridot stopped her recoil, and she crossed her arms firmly. "You mean your home."

Anger blinked away from Amethyst's face, replaced with shock. "I mean, it's yours, too."

"It's better than nothing, I suppose," Peridot scoffed. "But without Homeworld…" She sighed. "I have nowhere else to go."

"Neither do we!" Amethyst cried out, arms spread out as if to gesture to the world surrounding them. "I mean, I sure as heck know nothing about Homeworld. I've been told stuff about it, I guess, but I don't… even feel anything about it. Without Earth, I… I don't have anything. I don't—" she breathed out heavily, "I don't have anywhere else to go. None of us do, honestly, but I was made here, Peridot! I've been here ever since I came out of my hole in the ground!" Through gritted teeth, Amethyst pulled her head away from Peridot's gaze.

Peridot nearly jumped at the sound of sniffling. "Amethyst…"

Amethyst stuck her hand out, palm facing Peridot. "But you know what, P-dot?" Her head snapped directly at Peridot, who flinched at the change of tone and the seriousness lurking within her eyes. "It isn't just about where you live. Home is about who you're with. We've always had each other, even when things got really awful and we got into huge fights and all kinds of bad stuff like that. That's what home is."

Peridot considered those words and nodded. "Your company—as well as the rest of the Crystal Gems—has been more pleasing than anything I've experienced in Homeworld."

"I guess, but if you're really not totally comfortable here, did…" Amethyst did not look convinced. "Did we do something wrong?"

Peridot thought her chest would explode. "What? No no no!" She shook her hands in front of Amethyst violently, and Amethyst's frown wiped from her face, replaced with a straight lipped expression. Peridot began reaching out to her… but stopped. Though they were closer than before, she couldn't bring herself to initiate contact. "I want to fully understand what Earth has to offer. And you're helping me with that. I love seeing all the differences to this world and spending time with you while doing so." Her rambling, brimmed with excitement as she spoke, dimmed. "But to completely embrace it as a new home—" Words failed her, and she stumbled with the next part.

"You're... not exactly there yet." Amethyst beat her to the punch.

"It feels surreal sometimes." She glanced up at the sky, which looked so clear and so nice. A part of her wished they could enjoy the view rather than argue because it all made her feel so bitter and upset. The other part was still fumbling in her head as this argument continued. She sat down and folded her hands nicely in her lap. "Realizing that I can't go back to Homeworld, considering… you know." She paused, brushing the back of her hand. "I miss it."

"Seriously?" Amethyst could not veil her shock.

Peridot gave Amethyst a look to say 'of course.' "How can I not? What if you were forced away from Earth, and couldn't find any way?"

Amethyst, as if she did not anticipate the question back, took a step away as she sorted through her thoughts. Then she shook her head. "Yeah… yeah, I suppose." As she plopped herself onto the grass, she continued in disbelief, "Do you really miss all of that, though? Every time I hear about it, it makes me never want to get near that place!"

"It was all I had for years." Her eyes wandered back to the sky. She wondered what was happening on Homeworld right at that moment. What the Diamonds were doing. Her Diamond (ex-Diamond, she reminded herself) was doing, whether she was ordering her people around or searching her files in hopes of seeing Earth wiped from the maps. What project her fellow Peridots were working on and how they were doing (besides trying to outdo each other, of course).

"Now you have us." Amethyst's voice softened. A hand pressed on Peridot's shoulder. When she gazed back at Amethyst, the latter shrugged.

"And they may try to destroy you—us. All of this." Peridot shut her eyes and grumbled to herself. She dug her fingers into her hair. "It's… immensely complicated."

Amethyst's hand remained on her shoulder, and she leaned in toward Peridot, who was staring forward. "Hey, I get it, alright? You're scared. It's okay to be. But you don't gotta hide it from us! 'Cause we all understand how you feel." She hesitated, then added, "Even if we don't… we'll be there for you."

Peridot stared at her for the longest time. The lack of distance between them was noticeable, and something about the way Amethyst looked at her with such sincerity made her stomach knot up. She turned away. "Homeworld was all I had," she admitted in a small voice, "and I can't even go back."

"And that sucks, but... you're here now. And we won't let Homestink ruin that."

Peridot shook her shoulder, and Amethyst's hand slipped from her arm. "What if they come back for us? To destroy the planet?"

"We'll think of something." Amethyst tossed her a casual shrug, her hand now messing with her hair.

"I'd much prefer a plan, to be honest." Peridot dug a toe into the grass.

"I know, but eh. Sometimes a plan can go wrong, you know?"

"What about multiple?"

Amethyst smirked despite herself, and snickered under her breath. "Stop. Look, I just kinda… go with it. Follow the funky flow—" She made an odd wavy motion with her arms, but stopped both while looking at Peridot's confused face and to add, "Steven's words, not mine. But still!"

"That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!" Peridot exclaimed, voice mixed with shock and exasperation.

"Gotta try something, because…" She sighed. "Thinking too much about the future can be a real pain. It ruins the fun you're having now. Like… literally right now."

Peridot felt warmth across her hand, and looked down. Amethyst held her hand atop her own. When their eyes locked, Peridot felt lost for a moment. The sun shined, cast a glow on Amethyst like earlier today but this time, Amethyst was looking at her and she wondered if the purple gem noticed her staring. Peridot gulped. "But what if… what if Yellow Diamond—"

"Peridot."

Peridot shivered. "Amethyst."

Amethyst leaned in, and Peridot felt that warmth from her hand spread to the rest of her body. "No matter what'll happen, you've got us. And we'll work things out. We always do."

The conviction in her voice nearly made Peridot shudder once more. Instead, she said numbly, "All of us?"

Amethyst nodded, flashing a grin. "Yup. And you can, like, trust m—" Her gaze faltered, and she flushed very lightly for a quick moment before turning back. "Er, us with… well, anything, for the most part." Though she continued to smile, it was a much softer one, one filled with so much emotion and beauty that Peridot could not stop staring with an near dumbfounded look.

Peridot shifted her body so while sitting, their bodies were directed at one another. Yet she made sure their hands were still touching. Amethyst looked confused but said nothing. Peridot's fingers shook as she contemplated. Her train of thought stopped, glancing at the grass tickling her feet.

"Peridot? Are you—?"

Peridot cut the gap between them and leaned forward. She slipped her arms under Amethyst's shoulders, hands curled into fists against Amethyst's back. Her chin secured itself neatly onto the other gem's shoulder, light colored hair brushing her nose. Peridot felt her tense up for a short second, almost having to fight back upset—what if now wasn't the appropriate time for hugging? Then Amethyst returned the embrace, and Peridot felt large arms tighten around her. She once more felt warm throughout, but it was different from the previous two times. It brought a welcoming joy, and she sighed.

"That's more like it," Amethyst muttered into her ear with equal content.

When they pulled apart, Peridot already missed that embracing warmth that had vanished along with the contact. She smiled at Amethyst, who grinned back. "Hey, no crying while I'm around."

Peridot blinked and only then noticed the tears rolling down her face. Face burning, she tilted her head aside. "I'm not crying." She didn't know why she said it, because everything certainly pointed to this.

Amethyst chuckled. "Yeah, sure, nerd," she teased, but she leaned in to brush a finger at a tear on Peridot's cheek. Peridot flinched but did not move away. Rather than pull away, Amethyst cupped the side of Peridot's face.

"You gonna be alright?"

Peridot smiled and nodded. They sat in silence for a minute, and she rubbed her hand against the one on her cheek.

"Think we should head back?" Amethyst offered. Her hand left Peridot's face, and Peridot's hand landed in her lap. She grinned but it wasn't filled with much confidence. "Since we kiiiinda left Steven and Garnet at a bad time. Pretty awkward, actually."

Peridot struggled not to pout and complain that no, she did want to go back. That she wanted time with Amethyst all to herself, time that wasn't consumed with yelling and just feeling awful.

So she stopped fighting it. "Or perhaps we can spend a bit more time out here. I doubt they'll be too concerned, considering Garnet has her future vision." Peridot added a hint of mocking to her tone at those last words. "They'll figure out that everything has gotten better at this point."

A wide smirk grew on Amethyst's face. "Well, if you say so…"

Peridot glanced to the sky. With a sigh through her nose, she lay back entirely on the grass. It felt cold against her back. Her eyes wandered across the blue sky and the white streaks that were the clouds.

"What'chu thinking about now?" Amethyst asked, laying down beside her. Her hair splayed out all around her.

"Just... thinking," Peridot explained. She shrugged. Her mind was still reeling, as if running and not knowing now was the time to stop. She glanced up at the sky, but the stars were not out at the moment. The glorious stars that twinkled and shined, creating a show despite being so far away. And maybe, just maybe, one of them was part of Homeworld.

Amethyst looked around, making a noise implying deep concentration. Peridot watched her until her face perked up, and she pointed up. "Oh, see that cloud right there?" With her available hand, she wrapped her fingers around Peridot's. "That one right there… looks like a duck... wearing a cowboy hat."

Peridot followed the position where Amethyst pointed and observed it. She stared up with a doubtful look. "What?"

"C'mon! The clouds, they can sorta be shaped like other things. Just look! That's the bill, and it's got that dumb hat on its head..."

Once she finally spotted the cloud, this expression did not faltered. "But it's not the same. Ducks have two legs, correct? That one only has one!"

Amethyst let out a noise under her breath. She said nothing a few moments before she felt something weight down against her hair. "Don't think too much about it, Per-bear," Amethyst muttered into her hair. She inhaled, then let out a long breath as she added, "Just have fun with it."

Peridot glanced at her, and Amethyst was looking square at her. It was with a most tender look that send Peridot's brain reeling. Peridot's throat tightened, but all the tension within her lessened when Amethyst giggled.

She smiled and looked back up. "Then perhaps... up there." She pointed. "I see a Coccinellidae."

"Can I get a less nerdy translation, Peridot?"

"You also call them ladybugs."

"... Oh, yeah, I see it."

They lasted an hour staring at the morning sky, hand-in-hand, and finding things and animals and everything in between and Amethyst swore she saw the shape of Peridot's head, but Peridot failed to see it. Peridot was smiling, and when she looked at Amethyst, as was she.