Chapter 28, you know it occurs to me that we haven't seen much of Rose.

I don't own Steven Universe.


Chapter 28: Purplish

Rose sat alone in her room once more, nothing but her thoughts and the tree, now of the palm verity, to occupy her. Tending to the room-generated plant had a calming effect, allowing Rose to think more clearly as she practiced her pseudo-herbology.

The rebellion for instance, there were times when she really wondered if this was all worth it.

The war's toll had already been terrible. Countless gems who had lived for millennia, shattered in an instant, their long existences brought to a sudden and violent close. All for the sake of beings who were destined to expire one way or the other anyways.

There were times even, when she wanted to go to Pink and just… quit. She didn't want to lead the rebellion any longer, she couldn't, it was too hard, the burden too much for her to bear alone.

And yet, every time that particular thought crossed her mind, she would go out and watch the planet, just… watch it, in all its complexity and simplicity, and it was breathtaking every time. The planet could be so beautiful sometimes that even the nonliving parts of it had their charms. The rush of the air, the crashing of the waves, the coolness of the rain, the warmth of the sun, it was gorgeous, and worth protecting.

Rose's thoughts then turned to her followers and she mused on why they fought for Earth.

There were some who shared her appreciation for life on Earth, but not many. Most who had joined were in it for themselves, seeing it as an opportunity to break away from the rigid confines of the empire. Still, even with that somewhat selfish motive, the gems who came to the rebellion's side often regarded each other very warmly, gaining comradery in their shared desires and goals. Though there were a few who didn't even fight because of that.

Pearl, for instance, had been around since the beginning, but Rose always got the impression that the only reason that Pearl was so dedicated to the rebellion's cause was because it was Rose's cause. Pearl didn't seem bothered by her place as a Pearl, wanting to only serve her master which was she herself, Rose, so it wasn't the prospect of freedom that kept her true to the cause. Neither did the white gem seem particularly attached to the life here, often dismissing it as simple and quaint when Rose asked her what she thought of it. Regardless, she was a loyal soldier and skilled warrior, often taking down much larger gems with her swift and precise strikes. Rose was glad to have called her friend, and thankful for the day Pink had given her to her.


Approximately 500 years earlier…

Four gems stood on a beach, the setting sun making their shadows long.

Rose gave a curious look from Pink Diamond to the small gem practically hiding behind her leg. Pink's own pearl seemed to be whispering something to her and the white gem nodded, coming out, her fellow Pearl holding her by the arm, partly to assure her and partly to make sure she didn't run.

Pink leaned down and pushed her forward, nearly making the white pearl fall over as her balance was upset.

The gem stood stiff and upright Rose raised a brow and looked up to Pink. "My Diamond…?"

Pink smiled her gentle and warm smile. "Rose, meet Pearl."

The white gem stuck out a stiff and shaky hand. "P-P-Pleased to meet you." She said quickly.

A look of sudden remembrance hit her and then Rose took the hand with a reassuring grin. "Oh yes! I do remember now. Sorry for not realizing sooner, and the feeling's mutual, I'm Rose Quartz."

They broke off the handshake and the smaller gem seemed to steady, gaining a nervous smile.

"She's been asking about you." Pink's pearl said stepping forward.

"Oh?" Rose said looking from one pearl to the other. "And why's that?"

"I think she might have some… infatuation with you." Pink said with a knowing smirk.

The white pearl turned around suddenly the bluff blotting out any other color from her face. "MY DIAMOND! PLEASE!"

Pink threw back her head with laughter and Pink's pearl also chuckled a bit. The white pearl seemed to somehow blush even harder, her entire head turning a light blue. Pink finally stopped, wiping a tear form her eye and looked from the now blue faced pearl to Rose. "So, here's the thing Rose, I'm assigning her to you."

Rose raised a brow at this. Only gems held in the highest regard were given their own pearl, and this one seemed especially nice, which made Rose wonder one thing. "That's… thank you Pink, but she wasn't made for me, was she?"

Pink's smile faded her face becoming a hard line as she gazed down. "No, she…" she sighted deeply. "She was for my sister but, White Diamond won't be having any need of her. Not for a long time, I imagine. Blue Diamond had me watch over her, but I already have my own, so I'm passing her down to you."

The white pearl bent her knee in front of Rose. "I swear to serve you to the upmost of my ability, now and forever." She said solemnly.

Rose felt a bit uncomfortable at that. "I… am honored to accept." She said hesitantly.

Rose walked over and knelt between them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, which was rather large so it more or less draped over them. "I can tell you two will be the best of friends in no time." She said beaming at them both.


There were some in the rebellion however that weren't quite as ideal. Lapis was one whose circumstance had weighed heavy on Rose. She'd been one of the first-generation rebels, wanting to break away from her duty of destroying habitable planets with their own oceans. However, she was also quick to turn, not out of malice for the rebellion but out of fear of retribution from the Diamonds. Not that Rose could blame her for that, but she still had to be… dealt with. There had been a few more such circumstances over the years, but none as hard as that first time. Lapis had the potential to be a great asset to rebellion, and a great friend to Rose, more's the pity.

But she had a feeling, the worst was yet to come.

As if on cue, as soon as the though passed through Rose's mind she could feel someone accessing the dimension. She got up and turned around expecting to see Pink Diamond's form at any moment. But through the mists, she saw only Pink's pearl walking towards her, la frown upon her features.

"Pearl, it's good to see you." Rose greeted, before looking behind her through the mists. "Is Pink Diamond lagging behind?" she asked.

Pearl shook her head. "No, she's not coming. Not ever again even, I imagine."

Rose looked confused. "Why? What's happened?"

As an answer, Pearl pulled out a small holographic recorder and pressed a button. The pale blue image of Pink appeared before her, small in the Pearl's palm, it mirrored the sadness on her Pearl's face. "Hello Rose, you're doing well I hope?"

The hologram went silent for a few moments as if expecting an answer before continuing.

"Well, I hope you are. Anyways, to be brief, things are accelerating. Yellow Diamond has plans for the Earth and she refuses to be deterred despite our best efforts. In fact, if anything she seems even more determined to wipe out the rebellion. But luckily, I was able to delay her plans for half a millennium. However, to ensure imperial plans are no longer impeded, she has sent Blue Diamond to ensure the empire's victory here. And with her now being so close, I'm afraid that our meetings together are at an end. At best, only Pearl now will be able to meet with you to give you updates, I hope you understand."

Another pause.

"There is one more thing." Pearl then pulled out what looked to be some sort of computerized black box. "This is all the data I've collected on curing the corruption Rose, I entrust it to you. With Blue so near, my work on it will have to be passed on to you to finish." Rose took the drive carefully, looking at it for a moment before looking back towards the hologram. It seemed to take on a look of shame as it continued. "I know that this isn't what you wanted to hear Rose, and I'm sorry. But for what it's worth, I'm glad that it's you, and I couldn't be prouder of all you've done. I want you to know that. Stay safe, Pink Diamond, signing off." The hologram faded and Pearl put it away.

Rose took another glance to the black box and then to Pearl. "Thank you, Pearl."

Pearl was about to turn to leave but then stopped. "Was there anything you wanted me to tell her?"

There was plenty Rose wanted to say to Pink Diamond. But as worn and rickety and the bridge was, Rose wasn't going to burn it, not over this. "Tell her I understand. And that I hope to hear from her again soon."

Pearl could sense the unease in Rose and took a step forward taking her hand. "Rose, I've known Pink Diamond for tens of thousands of years. I know what she's asked of you, and what you know she's asked of others may seem selfish on her part but let me tell you one thing. There is no gem in all the cosmos who has tried harder for the sake of gems, for the sake of all life. And if she asks you to do something it's because she trusts you to do it, no matter how hard it may seem. She has faith in you, is it really so hard to do the same for her?"

Rose blinked in surprise, then chuckled lightly. "Heheheh. No, I suppose not. I sometimes forget how wise you can be, Pearl."

This time the lithe gem chuckled herself. "Well, I've been advising for thousands of years, one would hope to be good at it after so long." She then bowed. "Take care of yourself, Rose Quartz." She then turned around and disappeared back into the mists.


Blue Diamond was silent as she sifted through the files on the computer, many were data sheets on battles, locations casualties, etc., etc. She seemed less than pleased, but it was hard to tell with her sometimes. Even as Pink stood beside her and reached out with her empathy power she could feel what could only be described as a pensive mood, but not if she had already formulated an opinion or not.

Finally, Blue shut off the console and put a hand to her chin in continued thought. "You know, when I heard there was a rebellion here, I didn't think much of it. The closest we had ever come to something like this was thousands of years ago, and that was the work of only four gems, five if you count that traitorous pearl. We put that down in under 3 months, start to finish. So, when I got that broadcast I thought you'd be able to take care of it just as quickly. But then over the years I've had to listen to Yellow complain to me every odd month about how you're not doing everything you can do put down these rebels. But she has no idea, does she? These rebels, their tactics, their battle strategies, it must have been all you could do to keep them from driving you off the planet entirely."

Pink was impressed. She hadn't often thought Blue had much a mind for war, that was Yellow's forte, but she had managed to get a precise sense of how the war was going in less than half an hour of reading. "So, what's our next move?"

"That's an excellent question, and who better to ask a question about the future than one who can see it?" Blue asked.

The younger Diamond immediately knew to what Blue was referring. "You want to bring in a sapphire."

Blue grinned. "That's right." Sapphires were one of Blue's go-to gems. With their ability to foresee coming events they often made great leaders on colony worlds, able to come up with the exact solution to any given problem. In fact, the only gems with higher authority than them, were the Diamonds themselves. But, they were also exceedingly rare. When Blue had first made them, they had impressed both Yellow and White, but both the elder gems agreed to quickly stem their production, after all who else but the Diamonds need to know about coming events? So there were never more than thirty in the entire galaxy at one time.

Pink still remembered when they had last consulted a sapphire for advice and Pink had to admit their ability to perceive the future was incredible, and now a possible threat to the rebellion. "Are you sure that's wise, sister?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean you've always been a little… over reliant on them." Pink replied. "What if the predictions she gives you come out wrong? It's not like it hasn't happened before."

Blue shook her head. "You and Yellow are always doubting them. I mean they can see they future! What's the worst that could happen?"


One month later…


Pink teleported with Pearl to the sky area, she'd just gotten news that something big had happened here and she came to investigate herself. As she walked through the halls many of them gems she recognized to be part of not her court, but of Blue's, seeming far more regal and fancy than Pink's own troops.

She could hear shouting in the distance and started to trot towards its source. At the center of the arena Blue was inside her palanquin hunched over facing away from Pink as dozens of gems surrounded her.

"My Diamond please-" one started.

She suddenly whipped her head around wildly, looking to all within her range. "ENOUGH! GET OUT! ALL OFYOU!" she screamed at them. The gems quickly dispersed, some avoiding eye contact with Pink as they passed while those that did saluted without breaking pace. Within a few moments all who were left within the area were the Diamonds and their respective pearls. The blue pearl stood apart from the palanquin, not leaving her Diamond but staying a respective distance away as she fumed.

Pink waited a few more moments before taking steps towards the palanquin. Blue jerked her head to the side but didn't turn around. "ARE YOU DEAF?! I SAID 'GET OUT'! BEFORE I HAVE YOU SHATTERED!" Pink hesitated for a moment before continuing on, though Pink motioned for Pearl to stay back, if only to prevent her from getting caught in the crossfire.

Hearing more footsteps. Blue Diamond got from her palanquin and violently turned around. Her eyes were hidden but her mouth was a tight from of rage. However, once she recognized the figure standing before her, she quickly threw off her hood and her rage dissipated, leaving only a look of shock. "Pink! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she trailed off.

"It's fine, Blue, though I could hear you clear form the other side of the area. What happened?"

Blue's face immediately scrunched up with rage once more. "That… that Rose Quartz, she was here!"

Pink was caught off guard by that. "Rose Quartz? Here?"

Blue nodded. "No doubt about it. My sapphire, she had just arrived, predicted Rose Quartze's arrival and we were supposed to have been able to capture her but…" She paused, clenching her teeth and seething. "She got away."

"That's… terrible." Pink said trying to sound as disappointed as possible about the news.

Bleu relaxed her jaw, looking Pink dead in the eye. "That's not even the worst of it. The sapphire she… she fused with one of her ruby guards, and just as I was about to order the shattering for such blasphemy the sapphire runs off with the ruby and they escaped into the forests below."

The younger Diamond wasn't quite where to start with all of that. "Wait, how many gems did Rose bring with her? Why aren't there more signs of battle here?"

"One, Rose Quartz herself and that pearl she stole."

"She only came with a single soldier?" Pink asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. She announced herself and demanded I leave Earth." Blue recalled.

"So why did the ruby and the sapphire…?"

"the sapphire said she would lose her physical form, but she was wrong and the ruby saved her by fusing together. Then when I demanded retribution for such heresy she and the ruby fled."

"So, to summarize, Rose Quartz attacked with nearly no backup and in the process of attacking you also attacked the sapphire which resulted with her fusing with a ruby which led to them fleeing?"

Blue nodded.

"If it were anyone but you telling me this, I'd say they were trying to mess with me." Which was true. In all the years the rebellion had been going on, the events that had just been described had broken Pink's top ten strangest.

The anger finally faded for the last time and Blue walked over to the edge of the arena, sitting down. Pink walked over and joined her and for a few seconds allowed the silence to hand in the air as they looked down on the planet below.

"So, now the rebellion may have a fortune teller on their side." Pink said.

The elder Diamond nodded. "So it would seem."

"This is going to be a long war."


Rose had only just entered her room when she saw a silhouette of Pink's pearl in the distance.

"Pearl, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." Rose said, walking towards her. But as she neared she noticed something… off about her. For one, there was a huge frown on her face and her arms were crossed, she looked angry. And in the years Rose had known Rose's Pearl, she'd never known her to make a face like that, it was practically surreal. "Pearl…?"

"Are you out of your star-burned mind?" She asked calmly, completely throwing off Rose who blinked in astonishment.

"What?"

"Attacking my sister? Surrounded by her own court?! With a gem that could SEE THE FUTURE?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Pear shouted.

"Your sister…? What? Pearl, what are you talking about?" Rose asked, absolutely bewildered.

"I'm not Pearl, I'm Pink Diamond!" Pearl shouted back as Rose looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Look, I got no time to explain the details, but it is me, Pink Diamond, I've just taken over Pearl's body so I can speak to you."

"Ooookay." Rose replied, trying to play along. "So… 'Pink' the reason that I attacked Blue Diamond is because I thought that if we attacked Blue in her own court, it would show her that we're not afraid to attack even a Diamond on her home turf."

"And that didn't strike you as being completely unnecessarily dangerous?" Pearl asked.

"Hey, we can handle ourselves." Rose shot back. "And as you can see not only did we come out unscathed, but now we have a gem who can see the future fighting for us. Oh, and get this, she likes to stay fused permanently. Isn't that wild?"

Pearl sighed. "Look, just… don't do anything like that again alright? If you get captured or hurt the entire rebellion falls apart."

"Alright, alright. I got it." The quartz relented, holding up her hands.

Pearl nodded. "Good, now help Pearl up."

Rose looked confused and was about to inquire about that until Pearl fell to her knees, slumped over and ran over to her, shaking her. "Pearl! Are you alright?"

Pearl nodded. "Fine, just a little woozy. I… never like it when she does that." She said, standing up and turning to leave, only to be caught by Rose at the shoulder.

"Hold on, before you go, what was that?"


Pink's eyes fluttered open and she stood up from her seat. She had gotten somewhat better at the control of her mind-transfer power, but It was still temperamental, unstable, unreliable.

The young Diamond walked out of her room and began the trek up the spire tower. Having Blue Diamond here to help her and been somewhat of a mixed blessing. For one, Yellow finally seemed to be letting up, not calling as often, whether that was because Pink had proven herself to her or she simply trusted Blue to get things done here was up for debate. Unfortunately, this also meant that Blue was constantly buzzing around her, leaving Pink with virtually no time for herself. Even the body-takeover of Pearl was risky, after all what would Blue think of Pink being unconscious?

As she sat back down at her console she noticed a call coming in, accessing it she saw the smiling face of Jasper.

"My Diamond! An honor to speak to you, as always." She greeted.

"Jasper, I assume everything has been taken care of?" Pink asked.

Jasper only grinned wider. "Of course, with me here was there any ever doubt?"

Pink smiled back. "No, I suppose not." And why should there have been? Jasper's battle record had been nearly spotless since she was made a commander of her own unit. She reminded her a lot of Flint, in fact, which got Pink to wondering, if she could bring Jasper into her fold. The quartz was certainly strong, there was little doubt of that, but that wasn't all she was looking for, perhaps she should set some time aside to get to know this gem better. "Jasper, my dear, would you care to meet up with me? I'd like to speak with your privately."

Jasper seemed elated. "Yes, of course, my Diamond! Just send me the coordinates of where to meet you."


Pink was standing in a grassy plane when she saw a small transport ship approach her. Jumping out and running over to salute, Jasper made her entrance.

Pink greeted her kindly. "Hello Jasper, thank you for joining me."

The quartz nodded. "It was no trouble at all."

Pink waved her hand as she turned and walked through the field. "Walk with me." Jasper at first kept a respectful pace behind the Diamond but after a glance back form Pink caught up and walked by her side.

"So Jasper, what should we talk about?" Pink asked.

The soldier gem shrugged her shoulders. "I… I'm not sure my Diamond. I thought you called me to talk about something in particular."

Pink returned the shrug. "Yes well, it wouldn't be much of a conversation if only one of us talked about things we liked, right?" Pink said jokingly.

"I suppose not, my Diamond." Jasper replied stiffly.

Perhaps it was better just to get to the heart of things. "Jasper, what do you think of this planet?"

"I… dunno. It's as good a place to be made as any, I guess." She replied gruffly.

"But what about the life here?" Rose asked.

Jasper looked up at her curiously. "What about it, my Diamond?"

"What do you think of it?" she asked.

"I don't, my Diamond." She answered simply.

"You… don't?" Pink said, making sure she had heard right.

Jasper nodded. "I don't think about it. Not one bit."

"But what about how beautiful and interesting everything around us is?" Pink asked, motioning all around her.

Jasper looked at the grass, the animal roaming in the distance, and then back to Pink. "All I see are organics who are in the way of making this another colony for out empire." She replied flatly.

Pink's heart sank at that. "You don't care about it? Or even think about any of the life here?"

"What's the point? It'll all be gone sooner or later anyways. But, if I may, my Diamond, wasn't it that kind of questioning that lead to the rebellion breaking out in the first place?" she asked.

The diamond consented. "Yes, Rose held an appreciation for life here, and didn't want to see it destroyed, which is why she betrayed me."

"I heard she used to be one of your closest generals." Jasper added.

Pink nodded. "She was."

"And see, right there is the problem." Jasper pointed out. "She was a soldier who refused to follow orders, now we have an entire planet running amok with war and for what? For this?" she asked leaving down and pulling a section of grass out of the ground and throwing it away carelessly. "Or so that some gems could do whatever they wanted instead of helping our expanding empire? It's all just disgraceful." She said shaking her head.

This wasn't good, Jasper had so far displayed none of the qualities Pink had hoped she had. She didn't care about life here and she didn't think gems who wanted freedom were doing the right thing. If anything, it seemed that this conversation was making Jasper seem even less sympathetic to the rebellion than Pink had guessed.

There was no doubt in Pink's mind, there was no place for Jasper in her inner circle. Such a shame, really.

"Thank you, Jasper, I needed some… outside perspective and you've provided that for me. You may return to the front." Jasper grinned saluted and got back on the ship before blasting off.

As pink watched the craft leave only one thought occupied her mind. Jasper had to go.


Done. Review please.