I don't remember when I lost control of myself, but I didn't really care either.
Looking around now, the space around me holds dented walls, broken glass and cracks all around the top of the building. I look down at my hands, panting and seeing some scars and cuts all around my knuckles. My gem has suffered as I see a small crack within it. Oh well, some of my stress has gone away so it helped. But I'm still stuck with the stupid ears and tail. Just walk it off, Ruby. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…
"There you are."
My heart almost leaps out of my chest as I see an all-too-familiar blue gem somehow standing with me on the roof.
"H-how-w-when did you… what?" I fumble over my words, both confused and embarrassed. I'm frozen in place as I see Sapphire looking around at the devastation I caused. She slowly steps closer to me, causing me to step further away. She remained silent the entire time we were cancelling each other's steps out, which was driving me crazy. Why wasn't she talking? What is she thinking? Why is she here?
"Careful."
I feel my back bump against a wall and turn to see I'm practically a cornered animal. I keep my eyes from looking at her, searching for something else to concentrate on but it was to no avail. She's kept a small distance between us and looked at me.
"Your hands…"
"It's nothing." I say hiding my hands behind me. She takes one step closer.
"You've cracked your gem, we need to treat you."
"How… How did you know that? You couldn't have seen my gem my fists were clenched!"
She doesn't say anything; instead she takes hold of my hand and turns it over. Lying has gone straight out the window. I see her hand reach down into her dress, quickly averting my gaze. I feel something drip onto my gem and turn back to see her pouring some water onto it. My gem glistens and begins to repair, the crack soon disappearing. I look up to see her holding a smile.
"Rose's tears; she gave each of us a small bottle full encase of emergencies in which she wasn't present. She said you already used yours before and forgot to get a refill."
"Oh… yeah…" I nervously chuckle and scratch the back of my head. I feel the stupid ears brush against my arm and feel my anger and embarrassment and all negative feelings coming back. My temperature rises and I see steam rising, yet Sapphire still has a hold of my hand. I snatch mine away and apologise. She smiles at me again and holds her own hands in front of me, revealing both her gem and small ice shards covering her palms. I can't help but laugh.
"By the laws of the universe, you and I should be on separate planets!"
She laughs with me and I'm taken aback. Her laugh was beautiful. And I caused that beautiful sound. Wow…
"Someone's happy."
I stare at her for a moment before I feel something thumping behind me. It's the stupid tail and it's going absolutely crazy! Why now? Stupid thing! I hear her laugh even more as I try like a lunatic to catch the darn thing and make it stop. Despite the utter humiliation I feel, Sapphire's laugh almost made it worth it. Almost.
"I need to get rid of these stupid things! How do I do that?"
Returning the bottle back into her dress, Sapphire takes a hold of my hand again and looks up at me smiling. I stare for a moment, attempting to understand what she's doing or thinking, but soon feel myself flying in the air with the wind coming at me at full pelt. My whole body is being pulled left and right until we come to an abrupt stop, me bumping into Sapphire. I shake my head and see we somehow made it back into the classroom, minus the students. Well, as soon as I think that, Rose and Pearl make their way in and shut the door behind them.
"Sapphire, you're not allowed to run in the hallway! You're lucky no teacher was around." Pearl scolded.
"I didn't run, I levitated; two very different things.
Sapphire shot Pearl a coy smile and received a huff of annoyance, making Rose and I share a giggle.
"Anywho, Rose, perhaps you could help Ruby in her current situation?"
"It's quite simple really; don't focus so hard on actually getting rid of them, instead envision what you looked like before-hand calmly and they should disappear no problem!"
"The key word here is 'calmly', Ruby. Please don't burn down the place.' Pearl says while holding a worried look, to which Rose places her hand on her shoulder in reassurance. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, attempting to focus but not too much. Just envision what I looked like before this stupid mess. Me. A simple Ruby without the added delight of dog, that's all. I can do that. Just breathe, relax, and remember what you're supposed to look like Ruby. Come on…
"Woohoo! Score for The Crystal Gems!"
I open my eyes to see Rose with her arms in the air cheering while Pearl smiles and sighs with relief and Sapphire grins at me. I feel the top of my head and no longer feel those stupid ears! And turning back, I no longer have a tail!
"Yes! Alright! Woo!"
"Rose, we have to be quiet! We're not even supposed to be in here-"
Rose lifts Pearl up in a hug and twirls her around, continuing to cheer. Pearl doesn't seem to mind the volume anymore as she's smiling just as much as Rose and even begins to cheer a little herself. I join in cheering as loud as I can while jumping around, looking at Sapphire who's laughing at this point. I close the distance between us a little and hold up my hand.
"High five!"
She raises her own hand and is more than happy to comply, before with both hear a crack. We both freeze and soon everything is silent around us. Rose places Pearl down and walks up to both of us, still holding a huge grin.
"For a gem with future vision, I'm surprised you didn't see that coming!"
Me, Sapphire and Pearl let out a groan and smack our hands to our foreheads while Rose grins and laughs proudly.