"Wait, you can see? How? It was hypothesized that-" Sodalite stuttered before getting interrupted.
"Who cares? Oh, I'm so relieved!" It was the first time Howlite had smiled really big in a long time. Howlite reached out her hand and felt around Sodalite's face and rustled her hair. "You must be Sodalite! The shadow stranger who talked to me! And this must be the rehabilitation room, what is the rest of Earth like? You have to show me!" Howlite was so excited that she was shaking.
"Are you sure you're ready? I mean, I don't want to be a buzzkill, but I...you may have forgotten how to function without my help. And you are really far from your Homeworld and-" Sodalite began.
"That's why you need to show me! You can help me!" Howlite shouted, grabbing Sodalite's hand. "Please?"
"Okay, but take it slow," Sodalite replied as she helped Howlite stand up. Howlite was still a bit unbalanced, like a baby deer learning how to walk. No matter how excited Howlite was, there was a small bit of fear in this new experience. How would the other Crystal Gems react to her presence? What if her augmentation acted up again and this disappeared? What if the base got attacked? However, those fears were not the ones controlling her. It may sound small, but Howlite had this weird fear, the kind you get when introduced to a strange new place or topic, she wasn't entirely sure what to do actually, and it was this constant guard, this constant fear of the future, that kept her from completely having fun.
The two Gems walked out of the rehabilitation center and out into the lobby-type area. It reminded Howlite of her old barracks, which made her feel better, as well as Sodalite's hand wrapped around hers.
"Say, who's the new Gem, Soda?" A red Gem asked.
"This is Howlite, Spinel. She just got out of the rehab center." Sodalite replied. Howlite diverted her gaze from Sodalite and Spinel. She had lost her usual confidence during her time in the center and had become quite shy and anxious.
"White Diamond, I see." Spinel looked at the emblem on Howlite's clothes. "Don't worry, though, we'll get that changed in no time." Spinel smiled.
"C-changed?" Howlite stuttered quietly, looking at down at her clothes.
Spinel chuckled. "Don't worry about it!" She dove in to try and playfully punch Howlite on the arm, but Howlite flinched hard and lightly gasped. She backed away, almost hiding behind Sodalite.
"Whoa...easy." Sodalite grabbed Howlite's hand and clenched it.
"She's a little touchy, are you sure she should be out of the center so early?" Spinel asked.
"Yeah, she's fine, just needs to get back in the swing of things, and what better way to do that then show her how we swing the things!" Sodalite said.
"I guess so. Good luck!" Spinel replied and waved them away.
Howlite was beginning to not be so close to Sodalite the more she showed her things. However, they still held hands. It was nighttime now, and Howlite sort of liked walking underneath a different sky. Sodalite wasn't sure what it was about the beach, but she liked taking newcomers there. Sodalite had taken the time to show Howlite around the base, around the beach, and she educated her on some Earth things. Now the two were sitting on the beach, careful not to let the water touch them, for it would cause Howlite's augmentation to short-circuit.
"Thanks...for helping me," Howlite said quietly.
"You would've forced me to anyway," Sodalite replied before chortling.
"Very funny, but I'm being serious," Howlite said.
"Argh, you Homeworld Gems are always serious. You aren't the first, you know." Sodalite smiled.
"How can I be laid-back? Don't you realize that this is a war?" Howlite shouted, raising her arms.
"Yeah." Sodalite shrugged, then laid back in the sand, looking at the stars.
"Ugh, how are you so relaxed? Don't you realize that tomorrow, you could be blown to oblivion by a Homeworld attack? Or stabbed by a traitor? That you are constantly in harm's way all the time? How can you lay down like that with that knowledge?" Howlite said loudly.
Sodalite shrugged again. "I don't know. Why are you so stressed about everything?"
"You have to know something! Besides, I'm not stressed...I'm perfectly fine." Howlite crossed her arms.
"I know you're stressed, and I know it's not because of the war, you are making this bigger than it already is, and that is completely your doing," Sodalite said calmly.
"I'm not making things bigger than they already are, you're making things smaller!" Howlite argued.
"Calm down, lay on the sand, it's nice and cold," Sodalite replied in a seductive way, patting a place for her on the sand.
"Fine, but if I get sand in my circuits it's your fault." Howlite laid down on her back next to Sodalite. "I mean, how is this my fault? You have no idea what I've had to go through, I bet all you had to do was sign-up for Rose's army, or catch a ship to Earth. I was thrown here against my will!"
"I didn't catch a ship, in fact, I didn't sign up. I stole a ship, and Rose found me, same as you. It's your fault because you are choosing to let these things linger in your mind, and you won't last very long out here if you let the past and all these fears clog your mind all the time. Get it?" Sodalite explained.
"I understand," Howlite replied.
The two sat in silence for a bit and admired the calm. From the light crashing of the waves, to the lively cricket rhapsodies, to Sodalite's light humming, which suddenly pierced the quiet.
The humming turned to singing, and Sodalite's eyes were closed relaxedly:
Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting, right there where you left it laying upside down...
When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded, the underside is lighter when you turn it around...
Everything stays, right where you left it, everything stays, but it still changes...
Ever so slightly, daily and nightly, in little ways, when everything stays...
"Where'd you hear that?" Howlite asked.
"A human taught it to me," Sodalite replied, opening her eye to look at Howlite.
"It's nice...but what is it?" Howlite answered with a question.
"You've never heard music before? Oh, I forgot, Homeworld doesn't know how to have fun." Sodalite lightly chuckled.
Howlite giggled. "I can second that." Howlite closed her eyes, and the white diamond emblem on her clothes glowed and quickly morphed into a star.
"You changed it?" Sodalite sat up slightly to look at Howlite.
"Yep, I'm staying here." Howlite smiled.
Life and Death and Love and Birth and Peace and War on the Planet Earth,
Is the anything that's worth more than Peace and Love on the Planet Earth.
I guess we're already here, I guess we already know.
We've all got something to fear, we've all got nowhere to go.
I think you're all insane, but I guess I am too.
Anybody would be if they were stuck on Earth with you!
Meh, felt like it fit the story.
I couldn't write a song to fill in for Sodalite's part, so I just picked a favorite of mine that I used to play in my head during anxiety attacks.
This is a random sketch I wrote, back when Howlite suddenly regained her vision. After the events of Story for Sodalite, Howlite is a shell of her usual, confident self. She was always the kind to constantly be stressed, but now that she's plunging into the unknown like this...she becomes this lost, scared, little Gem. I'm sure every Crystal Gem can relate.