Chapter Four: Life of Solace

"Space really is beautiful. I've mentioned that before, right?"

Blue Diamond laughed. "A couple of times, yes."

Greg tore his eyes away from the vista of swirling clouds below to see her face, glowing with amusement. She knew as well as he did that about forty percent of the songs he wrote was about how beautiful space was.

Another forty percent was about how wonderful she was.

(The remaining twenty percent was about a wide assortment of topics, including flowers, herons, magic, self-discovery, vans, barbecue, Korean talk-show hosts, and The Balloon Incident.)

Greg leaned into Blue's side, and she leaned into his, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. It was very, very different than a human embrace. Cold, like being hugged by an autumn breeze. Not unpleasant, though. Even if it made the hair on his arms stick up with goosebumps, he was more than content then to just stand there, staring out the window of the spaceship, marvelling at the roiling swirls of storms raging far below on Jupiter's surface.

"Thanks for bringing me up here," he said.

"It is my pleasure," said Blue. "And hardly difficult. I should have done it far sooner."

"You did, remember? The very first day we first met."

He elbowed her gently in the ribs (or where the ribs would be on a human). She felt… stiff. Looking at her, Greg realized that wasn't just the usual hardness of her constructed form. Her lips were pressed together, and her eyes had grown distant.

"Blue?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, voice low. "Yes. I remember."

Greg pulled away to face her properly. "Blue, hun, what's wrong?"

"... Just remembering."

Greg wanted to say something then— make a glib remark, or pry a little— but in the years he'd known her, he'd learned that sometimes Blue just needed a little time. Time to collect her thoughts, to open up. So he waited, and she did.

"I almost made a grave mistake that day," she said.

"What?"

Blue looked down at the floor. "I nearly stole you."

Greg stared at her.

And they he laughed.

" Stole me ?" he repeated, shaking his head. "Really?"

She was shocked. "Yes!"

"Wow," said Greg, and he laughed again. " That's why you brought me onto your ship? To abduct me? Like a campy 60s sci-fi flick?"

"You're… not mad?"

Greg shook his head again. "I just… wow. I hadn't even realized." He rubbed his eyes— man, he had been pretty naive. "What were you gonna do with me, then? Keep at the bottom of your throne or something?"

"I was going to put you in a specifically designed facility, if you must know," Blue said, sounding affronted. "And I hardly think this is a laughing matter. If I'd taken you then— if I hadn't stayed on Earth— I never would have learned about it, about you— I would have—"

He seized her by the hand, stopping her before she could get too overwhelmed. He looked her straight in the eyes. "It's okay," he told her. "Blue, it's okay. It didn't happen."

"But— I could have—"

"But you didn't. And anyway, it's in the past." He leaned forward, and pressed a quick kiss on her lips. "I forgive you."

She blinked at him. Her brilliant blue eyes were misty. "You're so quick to forgive, Greg. I don't know how you do it."

He shrugged. He'd never been one to hang onto problems of the past. "Heh, honestly, in retrospect, it makes for one of those cute couple stories."

"... couple stories?"

"Yeah, you know. The kind you tell friends, or your kids. Funny stories 'bout how you met, kinda thing. Like, with me and Monica."

"Monica," Blue repeated, looking thoughtful. "She is the girl you dated in 'high school', correct?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Met her in chemistry class. My beaker boiled over and completely ruined all the experimental results she'd written up." He laughed. "I spent all weekend helping her out with the assignment, to make it up to her. Worked out, though, because once we were done, she asked me out."

Blue smiled. "That is a good story."

"Thanks." Greg smiled at the memory— it hadn't lasted with Monica, but he'd liked her. He wondered what she was up to now.

He felt Blue's hand slip into his, like a glass sculpture against his skin. He squeezed. He gazed out the window again, admiring Jupiter's big red spot as he passed below.

Man, if sixteen year old him had known where he'd be in ten years' time…

Blue's grip against his was very tight, almost uncomfortably so. She was still tense from their discussion, and Greg set it upon himself to distract her. "Hey," he said. "That song I've been working on. I've still been having some trouble with the lyrics. Wanna help?"

Blue eagerly told him that yes, she would.

They hit a bit of a snag, since Greg had left his guitar at home (on Earth), which meant he couldn't play out the tune to really get it into his head. Thankfully, Blue had heard him composing the other day, and sung it for him from memory, her voice high and pure and sharp—

"Great," Greg said, once she'd run through the notes once. "Now I just need some kind of theme…"

"Stars?" Blue suggested, a playful smile on her face.

"Well, now that you mention it, that was on my list, yeah."

"You truly do have niche," she teased. She had turned away now, and brought up a holographic console from the wall, and was using it to steer the ship away from Jupiter.

"I do, and I'm proud of it. I get to write about the two most spectacular things in the cosmos."

He winked at her, and she blushed.

"Okay, seriously," Greg said, turning back to the matter at hand. "I do want to write something about us. And I don't know… just 'bout how lucky we are to have met. I mean, it's just so unlikely, you know? That I ended up hiking in the mountains on the day you were visiting? It feels like…"

"Fate," finished Blue.

"Yeah," Greg agreed. "Written in the stars."

Blue gave him a curious look, and then turned to look out the window, which was now filled with the void of space, and the light of galaxies many thousands of lightyears away. "That is a human idiom, yes?"

"Yeah," Greg agreed. "I guess it must seem rather silly to you guys. You've known for millennia that stars are just big balls of hot plasma."

"That is true. But we Gems have great respect for stars, regardless. They are the power sources of the universe. Their heat forges new elements, draws planets into solar systems, and gives them the energy for life to form on their surface." Her eyes seemed to glitter as she stared out across the void. "They are powerful, and they are ancient. I am as young to a star as you are to me."

Greg really, really wished he had a notebook on him, because that stuff was gold.

Blue turned back to him. "So yes. My people have beliefs about stars as well. Though nothing quite as fanciful as your constellations."

He grinned, recalling the night he'd attempted to show Blue the constellations, only to discover once they'd been lying down and staring up at the dark sky that Greg didn't actually recognize any of them on Korea's side of the planet. They'd later taken a trip to somewhere in the middle of The Great White North just so he could point out the Big Dipper and Ursa Major, but that night, Greg had drawn pictures as best he could in Blue's notebooks and told the stories from memory. Then they'd lay back down, and made up their own constellations, and myths to go with them.

Greg began to sing:

" To my consternation
I can't rhyme constellation… "

"Nation," suggested Blue. "Station, ration, carnation, elation."

" So how do I write those into my song? ~" Greg sung.

"I believe that's your job," she teased.

"That's no help!" joked Greg. But she had a point. He'd learned from experience that usually, if you had to try and force a rhyme, it usually wasn't meant to be. "Hmm… maybe I'll try with Zodiac, instead…"

"Is that supposed to be easier to rhyme with?"

"Sure. There's, uh, black, and back, and… whack?"

He tried a few lines on for size ("Brilliant white against deepest black/My celestial Zodiac", "Guiding light like a Zodiac, somehow you brought me back…") but those, too, didn't quite seem to be working. Still, Blue was patient. The two of them worked together, bouncing ideas off one another, joining in a two part chorus. By the time the spaceship slipped back into Earth's atmosphere, the song had begun to take shape…

"It seemed unlikely, and yet here we are

A pair too different, it's real bizarre

But up above the world so high

Our destiny's writt'n in the sky

Throughout the darkness, you brighten my days

No matter what, I'll love you always

Twinkle, twinkle, my beloved star

Since crossing paths with you, we've come so far

Twinkle, twinkle, my beloved star

Oh how I wonder who you are..."

oOo

Authors' Note: A big shout-out to our wonderful editor AiramCG, who in addition to doing their usual polishing, also wrote the lyrics (and indeed, the musical chords) to this song featured in this chapter!