CHAPTER IV: TELLING A FRIEND
"Do we need anything else?" Lars whispered, looking around to spot any possible threat.
"No, I think we got all the parts we need." The Twins of Rutile answered.
"Good. Let's get back to the ship before anyone notice."
"I still think this was a terrible idea, this is one of Yellow Diamond's asteroid mines, it's already a miracle that we managed to get inside this hangar without being noticed!" Rhodonite muttered keeping her eyes glued on the front door of the building.
After Steven's last visit, Lars and the Off Colors managed to land unnoticed on one of Yellow Diamond's asteroid mines. While Lars, Padparadscha, Rhodonite and the Twins decided to search for the parts they needed, Flourite decided to stay on board, fearing that her size would have made the group much more noticeable. While the security was high, thanks to Lars not being a gem, they managed to get past most of the scanners easily. The last thing they had to do was to find the pieces they needed to finally repair the Sun Incinerator's nova thrusters. Fortunately, they managed to get inside a hangar through the back door, which had been left unguarded. Lars slipped past the gem scanner and deactivated it as soon as he got inside the building. There weren't as many ships as they thought, just some private shuttles and patrol ships, but they'd do. At least, they hoped so. As quietly as they could, they managed to dismantle all the parts they needed.
"Captain Lars?" Padparadscha quietly whispered.
"Not now Padparadscha, we need to make sure no one notice us, we have to be silent. Are we absolutely sure we have everything?" Lars asked one last time.
"I think so…" Rhodonite said, double checking the pieces they retrieved.
"Yes, these are all the pieces we need." The Twins added securely.
"Captain Lars?" Padparadscha repeated.
"Padparadscha you know how much I regard your opinion, but we really have to go now, or we could be discovered." Lars murmured.
"I predict a Peridot who's been checking on one of the shuttles will discover us."
The entire group went pale. They all turned around to notice the green gem staring at them with wide eyes from behind the glass of the private shuttle on the other side of the hangar. Moments passed as neither the group nor the peridot moved a muscle, then, suddenly, the engineer got of the shuttle and sprinted towards the main entrance.
"We have to block her!" Lars yelled.
But it was too late. The green gem managed to get to the door first, pressing a button and opening it. The quartz soldiers on the outside immediately turned around, noticing the terrified look on the peridot's face and the group of clearly unauthorized gems standing behind her.
"Give the alarm." One of the quartzes growled before summoning her weapon and running towards the trespassers.
"What do we do?!" Rhodonite cried as the quartz got nearer and nearer.
"Run!" Lars yelled, picking up Padparadscha, turning around and rushing towards the back door of the hangar.
As they ran out, the sound of the alarm sirens could be heard coming from everywhere around them. Lars turned his head only to see that now the quartz soldiers had become ten.
"Captain! We can't outrun them!" Rhodonite yelled as the group of quartzes began to gain terrain.
"Come on, come on hurry up!" Lars said under his breath.
Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, the Sun Incinerator made its appearance. The spaceship flew over them and turned around, opening fire and poofing instantly all of its captain's chasers. After the smoke cleared, it landed near the almost out of breath crew.
"Fluorite… at… your… service… Captain… Lars…" Fluorite spoke slowly as the door panel slid open.
"Thank the stars you've arrived, I don't know for how much longer-" Lars tried to thank the fusion but was suddenly interrupted.
"What took you so long?!" Rhodonite yelled, clutching securely both of her gems.
"I… came… as… fast… as…" Fluorite started to explain but Lars intervened.
"Thanks Fluorite, we know you did your best." Lars said, smiling at the fusion as he jumped on the spaceship, before putting Padparadscha gently on the ground. "Now let's get out of here!"
"Maybe that's not such a good idea." The Rutile Twins spoke timidly.
"Why is that?" Lars asked.
"All of the mine's security guards must be on high alert. If we leave now, without the nova thrusters, they'll catch us immediately."
"But we can't make the repairs here! They'll find us sooner or later!"
"Probably more sooner than later." Rhodonite muttered.
Lars began to slightly panic. They couldn't leave but neither they could stay. What were they going to do? What was he supposed to do?
"I… don't… think… so…" Fluorite chimed in.
"What?" The small group turned towards Fluorite, who was grinning, seemingly satisfied with herself.
"Let… me… show… you… what… I… found…" The fusion said as she descended the ladder to the lower floor.
"Ehm… Captain Lars? A patrol of robonoids is approaching our position…" The Rutile Twins looked at the ship's radar, noticing the approaching and probably not very friendly group of drones.
"Fluorite? This would be a very good moment to show us what you discovered!" Lars yelled as he kept his eyes on the radar, in a matter of seconds, they would have been discovered.
"F-Fluorite!" Rhodonite cried.
"They're going to discover us! We have to move!" The Rutile Twins were going to start the ship when Fluorite's voice came from the lower floor.
"Done… and… done…" Fluorite said.
"Done what?! Nothing happened!" Rhodonite yelled in panic.
"Look… at… the… robonoids…"
The small group looked outside, seeing the drones approach. But when they reached them, the drones simply flew over them, ignoring the Sun Incinerator completely.
"How… how is that possible?" The Twins wondered aloud.
"Stealth… mode… activated…" Fluorite emerged from downstairs, proudly smiling at her companions.
"That's amazing Fluorite!" Lars exclaimed, realizing that the ship was now completely invisible.
"But… it won't… last… for… long… the system… got… damaged… during… Emerald's… last… attack…"
The group's enthusiasm dropped down, even if they were safe for now, according to Fluorite the stealth mode wouldn't last forever.
"So we're going to be shattered anyway!" Rhodonite cried, waving her arms in the air.
"No, we're not. We're going to repair the nova thrusters right here!" Lars said, dramatically closing his fist in the air.
"D-do you think we'll manage?" Rhodonite asked, her tone of voice a little more hopeful than before.
"I know we can do it!" Lars answered.
"I predict that the robonoids won't notice us." Padparadscha spoke, making Lars snicker as he patted her head.
"Thank you Pad, now let's go, there's not even one second to lose!" Lars pointed at the stairs for the core's room.
Meanwhile, on Earth:
"Steven?" Connie called as she entered the boy's house.
Steven had called her one hour ago, asking if she could come over. He said he had something very important to tell her and some other thing he wanted to discuss with her. What made Connie put aside her homework and even decide to skip tennis practice had been Steven's tone of voice. Sad, confused, lost. She never heard him talk like that and she immediately accepted. She had to convince her mom but once Priyanka saw the worried look in her daughter's eyes she couldn't say no. She knew how much Steven was important to her and remembered her promise to pull back with the rules.
"Hey Connie…" Steven said, trying to smile at her.
Connie quickly reached him and sat beside him on the couch.
"Steven? What's wrong?" Connie asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Steven remained silent for some moments. His family now knew the truth about who his mom really was, except for his dad and he knew that sooner or later he would have had to tell him. Then there was Connie, his best friend, and he knew he had to tell her too, but it scared him. How would Connie react? Would the truth change things between them? But he couldn't not tell her, she had to know, even if it meant for things to change. Steven exhaled a long breath, then, he talked.
"Connie… do you remember the dream we had on the alien moon? When we were fused?" Steven asked, raising her gaze to meet Connie's eyes.
"Yes… what about it?"
"I know why we had it, why we saw through… Pink Diamond's eyes…"
"Really?" Connie felt now both nervous and curious.
"Recently I had another dream… I saw the Diamonds talking. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond were telling Pink Diamond that she had to act like the leader she was, and not to worry about the Crystal Gems' rebellion. They told her that soon it would all be over, then they left and then…" Steven hesitated.
"And then?" Connie asked, holding her breath.
"Then I saw Pearl… she crept behind Pink Diamond and pulled out my mom's sword…"
"Oh… oh no… Steven, did she…?" Connie's hands immediately covered Steven's, holding them securely.
"No… no she didn't shatter Pink Diamond…" Steven replied, seeing Connie give a slight sigh of relief.
But Steven didn't continue, he remained silent, until he felt Connie's grasp on his hands tighten.
"Steven, you can tell me. You know you can trust me, aren't we best buds?" Connie's smile was enough to convince him.
"Pink Diamond wasn't shattered."
"What?!" Connie was now more confused than ever.
"My mom couldn't have shattered her, nor could have Pearl. They were both known war criminals when Pink Diamond was shattered, they couldn't have reached her, not when she was always surrounded by her guards."
"Then… how did… what happened?"
"They didn't have to reach her… they were already there Connie…" Steven lowered his gaze.
"Steven, I don't… I don't understand…" Connie muttered.
"My mom was already there, and so was Pearl. They were inside her palanquin shortly before it happened… because…"
And then Connie realized. Her eyes went wide, her mouth agape.
"Your mom… your mom was…" Connie stammered.
"My mom was Pink Diamond Connie, and Pearl… she was her pearl. They orchestrated the all thing. Maybe mom didn't want to face her sisters directly, I don't know, but they realized that as long as Pink Diamond lived, the rebellion would have never won and the Earth would have never been safe." Steven explained.
"She… faked her own death and assumed the identity of Rose Quartz… permanently…"
Steven simply nodded.
"But how did you find out?" Connie asked timidly.
"Pearl showed me, through her gem. She couldn't tell me, mom told her not to tell anyone, because she never wanted to look back. She was so sad Connie, she told she wanted to tell me for so long… but…"
"But she couldn't." Connie realized.
And then, both of them became silent. Steven felt like he shouldn't have told her. Maybe it had been to much, maybe now she felt like she didn't know him anymore, maybe-
Steven's fears and doubts were immediately shattered as he felt a pair of arms around his neck, holding him close. The young boy did the same, he needed that. He definitely needed that.
"Thank you for telling me. I know it must have been… hard." Connie murmured.
"Yeah… I thought it would make you feel uncomfortable around me." Steven admitted.
"Well… next time we see each other… should I bow to you?"
Both Steven and Connie burst out laughing, and the tension was gone.
"Oh no please, don't do that." Steven said, catching his breath.
Some moments passed, then, Connie remembered.
"Wait, there was something else you had to tell me right?"
"Oh… yes… it's a strange idea. Okay it's a dangerous idea but I think that it's the right thing to do." Steven said.
"Okay… tell me."
"Okay so… like, two hours ago I learned that I can cure corrupted gems." Steven said.
"Steven that's-" Connie was going to congratulate with him when suddenly she understood what he had in mind. "Steven… if what you want to do is what I'm thinking about, that's going to be really dangerous."
"I know… but I think she deserves the most to know the truth…" Steven spoke holding his gem.
"But what about all the bad things she did to you? To the gems? What about all the horrible things she said to Amethyst? Jasper isn't a nice person." Connie asked, a worried expression on her face.
"I think she was just really angry about what she thought the Crystal Gems had done to her Diamond. She created her, so she was basically… her mom…" Steven never thought about it this way.
"Well… if you put it that way… but she was still cruel."
"I know, but I want to give her another chance, knowing the truth, she might change idea Connie! She might want to stay here, and to help us!" Steven said hopefully.
"Maybe you're right… I hope you're right." Connie smiled at him, she wasn't totally convinced, but she was going to help him, everyone deserved a second chance.
"Now we just have to wait for-" Steven tried to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the temple's door opening.
Steven and Connie turned around to see Garnet appear from the temple. She was hugging herself, as to hold herself together.
"Garnet… are you alright?" Steven asked, glancing worryingly at the fusion.
"I need to talk to Pearl." Garnet replied.
He had to talk with the gems, to tell them about what he wanted to do. To tell them about Jasper. But he saw that now the most important thing was for Garnet and Pearl to sort things out. Then, he would tell them. He just hoped they would understand. If they didn't… well… he wasn't going to let go of his idea that easily.
Wooooo, longer chapter! But absolutely nothing happened! Yeyyyy! I'm planning for Steven's talk with the gems to happen in the next chapter, and maybe even to show our favorite Homeworld's captain appearance. I hope you liked my story so far, and I hope you'll enjoy what I have in mind. It won't be a very long story, because there aren't as many things left to explain or to tell, still, I hope I'll manage to write at least ten chapters. As always, thanks for all the kind comments, follows and favs, you're great guys. Yes, Jasper will appear very shortly, I promise. See you in the next chapter! Bye!