Chapter 5: Tears

"You sit here, and you sit there," Garnet commands with her arms crossed. Pearl sits at the kitchen counter while Amethyst sits across from her on the couch. "This has gone far enough. What is going on between you two?"

"She attacked me first!" Amethyst yells, pointing at Pearl.

"That thing from the warp pad attacked me and made me do it!" Pearl replies, astonished, hand on chest.

"This?" Garnet says, holding up the thing. It has shriveled into a ball, blackened by Garnet's electricity. "This is a mind louse, Amethyst. If they latch on to your head, they can take control of you if you don't take it off soon enough. Pearl is not at fault here." Garnet drops the monster and crushes it under her foot.

"See, Amethyst," Pearl says haughtily, "I was controlled."

"Oh, there you go again, acting like nothing is your fault! You shouldn't have been controlled by that thing in the first place! You're supposed to be the smart one!"

"Now really, Amethyst? We're going to go there? You should have noticed there was something wrong with me! It was on my face! How could you not see it?!"

"I don't know, I—"

"Exactly," Pearl interrupts, sitting back, "you don't know." That tears it. Amethyst jumps at Pearl. Before she can start ripping her hair out, Garnet subdues her, shape-shifting her hand to catch her. Garnet throws Amethyst back on the couch.

"Don't get out your seat, at all, Amethyst," Garnet says with a violent tone. Amethyst crosses her arms. "Where is all this coming from?"

"Yes, Amethyst, where?" Pearl says, lowering her eyes.

"Pearl." Pearl looks at Garnet. "Shut up." Pearl gulps and lets Amethyst speak.

"Pearl's the one who changed, Garnet. You know that. You know how she used to be—just like me, except she was still clean. I just want my old pal back. I miss the old, P." Amethyst brings her knees to her chest and buries her face in them. She starts shaking. "Is that so hard to ask?!" Amethyst lifts her head, voice shaking. Snot dribbles down her nose, tears fall in waterfalls down her face. "You were never like this until Rose left us!"

"Amethyst...I-I-I—I didn't know you felt this way," Pearl says, wide-eyed.

"I've always felt this way! I just don't show it to you because you're—you're…" She can't finish. She runs to the Temple's door. She opens the door with her gem. The line of purple goo splits the door, it opens, and she runs inside, and it closes after her.

"Amethyst…"

"So…it's my fault you two are fighting? When I was born?"

The hairs on the back of Pearl's neck stands up. She looks at Steven, worried. "No, Steven! Don't you ever say that! We love you, and Rose giving up her physical form to have you was a beautiful thing! We just miss Rose and wish she was here with us, that's all." Pearl gives Steven a hug.

Later, inside the temple, Pearl finds Amethyst rearranging her room. She's throwing things here and stacking things there. She knows Pearl is standing behind her, but she doesn't acknowledge her. Pearl, rubs her arms, looking down.

"If you're not gonna speak, move. I've got dirtying to do." Amethyst throws a broken lamp behind her towards Pearl. She sidesteps out of the way.

"I-I am, Amethyst," Pearl says. "I'm just gathering my thoughts."

"Well gather them faster."

Pearl lets out a deep sigh and starts. "Look, Amethyst…I'm—I'm sorry for mistreating you like that all these years. When Rose left us and Steven was born, I felt I had to change for the betterment of him, be the best motherly figure he could have for a child. I didn't think how it would make you feel because I thought you would have changed too. I was," she pauses, "upset by the way you still acted, like you didn't want to change. Look, after all these years, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I put you through so much distress, and I understand if you don't want to speak to me again. I'll be outside."

Amethyst raises her head. She hears the shuffling of Pearl's feet behind her and the door of the Temple opening. "Pearl, wait." Pearl stops. She turns around, looking at Amethyst walking towards her. She hugs her. She squeezes her waist as tight as she can and Pearl hugs her back. "I'm sorry too, Pearl. For everything."

"It's okay, Amethyst. It's okay. It'll be a slow recovery, but I'm sure we can do this."

"Yeah," Amethyst says with a smile.

(Author's note: This is the last chapter for this character development I wanted to do with Amethyst and Pearl. If you have any questions about it, PM me or write it in a review and I'll answer it as soon as possible.)