Chapter Five: Water Droplets
Peridot didn't come back to the Temple until late in the night. She entered the home and looked around. Steven was fast asleep and Garnet wasn't standing guard. Lapis Lazuli was the only one up and she perched on the couch, looking up at Peridot with mystified eyes.
The green gem sighed and sat in her normal spot. It felt strange not being confined or watched. Lapis kept her eyes on Peridot and it aggravated Peridot. She crossed her arms and arched her eyebrows.
"What?" She snipped. Lapis recoiled in embarrassment.
"I just didn't expect you to do that. At least, not that quickly," Lapis whispered.
Peridot gave an empty glare towards the gem before she closed her eyes, leaning back into the couch.
"I told you. You know nothing about me," Peridot stated in an icy voice.
"...You're right.. I'm sorry," Lapis said, folding her hands in her lap.
A deafening silence folded over the living area. Usually silence comforted Peridot but her thoughts were unnerving her. She needed idle conversation to distract her.
"Earth is insufferable," Peridot stated. Lapis looked at Peridot and nodded.
"Ya, It is a pretty miserable place...," Lapis said, her sentence trailing off. Peridot glanced at the blue gem.
"But?" Peridot urged.
"But it's not all bad," Lapis said, tucking a stray piece of indigo hair behind her ear.
"The ocean.. It's incredible," Lapis commented.
"What's so fascinating about it?" Peridot asked. Her guard was slowly falling and she even felt the knots in her stomach loosen.
"It's..It's hard to explain," Lapis said, lost for words.
"Can I show you?" Lapis asked, her gaze on Peridot. Peridot thought about the consequences of humoring the gem and saw none. She nodded in agreement and Lapis gave a small, oddly soothing, smile.
Lapis stood from the couch and walked her way to the screen door. She looked back waiting for the ex-Homeworld gem to follow her. Peridot stood up and walked to the door. The two left the temple and walked down the large stairs.
As Lapis lead Peridot to the beach shore, Peridot noticed something strange. Lapis carried herself in a different manor then anyone Peridot ever knew. She was delicate in her steps and barely made holes in the sand. Her shoulders were relaxed and it seemed as if she was one with the beach.
Peridot looked at her own posture. She, unlike Lapis, stood hunched but alert, while her feet hammered into the sand. It was an ungraceful, almost brute-like, way of walking. She tried to walk lightly but her mechanic legs knew no such grace.
Lapis looked behind her, noticing the gem's clamored steps. She suppressed a smile as she turned back to the ocean.
The moon danced on the water's surface and Lapis breathed in deeply. The salty air entered her nose, her lungs, and exited her mouth. This was the one place that Lapis found comfort in. She took a step towards the water and let her feet dip into the one inch of water.
The chill of the ocean surrounded her feet and the sand squished in between her toes. Lapis looked back at Peridot. The green gem looked un-amused.
"Come on. Try it," Lapis urged. Peridot stepped into the water her mechanical boots sinking into the ocean floor. The muddy sand entered her shoes and the feel of the water disgusted her.
She crossed her arms as she tried prying her boot out of the water.
"Amazing," Peridot said, sarcastically. Her foot came out of the ocean floor with a plop. Lapis gave a small frown. She looked down at the water and spotted a mino.
Lapis smiled, bending over and cupping her hands under the skiddish fish. She lifted her hands with the fish swimming in the small pool of the water in her hands.
Lapis showed Peridot with a warm smile.
Peridot eyed the pathetic creature and had an instant thought that it would only take Lapis closing her hand to kill it.
Peridot gave a bored expression. Lapis frowned again, getting slightly agitated. She put the mino back in the water.
"What about this?" Lapis said, rising the water in a small tower. Ocean creatures swam in the allusionary fish tank. Peridot looked at the tower. She was uninterested with the water.
Lapis looked at Peridot, seeing the same uninterested face. She puffed out her cheeks, letting the water fall back to the ocean.
"Well, I like the ocean," Lapis said, huffing. She took a few steps further in the ocean. She walked to where it went up to her waist and sat on the ocean's surface like a bench.
She could do this since her body was only a allusion, like every other gem.
"So, what do you like then?" Lapis asked, playing with the water. Peridot still stood ankle deep in the water and kept her arms crossed.
"Nothing," Peridot responded. Lapis rolled her dark blue eyes.
"You have to like something," Lapis said, with an encouraging smile.
"Nope," Peridot said.
"Not even on Homeworld?" Lapis asked, swaying her legs in the water.
"Espically Homeworld.. Unessinetal emotions like that aren't prohibited on Homeworld," Peridot stated. She began trodding through the sandy water to Lapis. She wasn't sure if it was because of the distraction from her thoughts or because it was a way to vent, but she liked the simple conversation.
Peridot sat on the ocean surface next to Lapis.
"What do you mean?" Lapis asked. Peridot looked at her.
"Fondness. Friendship. Happiness. Love. They are all restricted at Homeworld. It gets in the way of work," Peridot explained.
"Is that something you disagreed with?" Lapis asked with curiosity.
"No," Peridot stated, blankly.
"Why?" Lapis asked.
"Emotions only cloud a person's judgement," Peridot said.
"That's not true. They can make a person stronger too," Lapis said. Peridot looked unconvinced at Lapis.
"If someone truly cares for another person, nothing in the galaxy will stop them from protecting that person," Lapis said as the moon shined on her blue face.
"Do you have someone like that?" Peridot asked, resting her hands in her lap. Lapis moved her knees to her chest and glanced into the water.
"I use to," Lapis whispered.
"What happened to them?" Peridot questioned.
"They died during the rebellion," Lapis said. She let her hand glide over the water. Peridot grew silent.
Lapis took in a deep breath and regained her composure. It had been a long time since then. The wounds had healed but sometimes the scars on her heart still hurt.
"Do you have anyone like that?" Lapis asked with a half smile.
Peridot shook her head.
"I most likely never will," Peridot said, realistically.
"Why?" Lapis asked.
"It's just better to look out for myself," Peridot said. She bawled her fist, slightly. There had been many times when Peridot had to abondanded a gem during a battle for her own sake.
"Don't you ever get lonely?" Lapis asked, looking at Peridot. The question hit Peridot hard and her wall immediately went back up.
"That's irrelevant to you," Peridot snipped. She stood up on the Ocean's surface and walked back to the Temple. Lapis watched the green gem march away before she laid back in the water.
End. Chapter 6 coming soon. I'm having allot of fun writing this. :) -N.S