A/N: This was written prior to Stevenbomb 3.0, before we found out about Sapphire's ice and Ruby's fire. Nonetheless, I've developed a way to go around editing those powers into this scene. It's explained in a future Unit 6 chapter.
It's hard to say whether Ruby's orders take precedence, or if she's simply the type to let things go once they blow over, but the next day she finds Sapphire in the recreation center and acts as if nothing happened. Either way, she appears to be in good health, so Sapphire can only assume that she ran from Onyx while she still could, regardless of her opinions on the advice. Sapphire doesn't ask for details, and Ruby doesn't contribute any. They just pretend as if nothing happened.
Sapphire doesn't know why she doesn't bring any of it up right then and there. Maybe it's because she really hopes she's made a friend, and she wants to work to preserve whatever is left of that. Maybe it's because being alone just doesn't feel good right now. Either way, the point remains that she's letting this happen, and she lets it happen after most every argument that follows. She lets it happen for years without ever saying a word about what she's known almost from the start. She allows for it to go on so long that she doesn't even notice the anger and hurt that's piling up and up within her anymore.
Are we really friends, or are you just following orders?
The worst part is, the more time passes the less Sapphire can tell.
"Do you want to spar?"
At first Ruby laughs, but then she seems to notice Sapphire's demeanor. The amusement fading from her, she says, "But… why would we do that?"
"Because we're allowed to train here, and I know I haven't done it in a while." The occasional confrontations with Onyx and a handful of other inmates that Ruby doesn't get along with—the fuel for most of their arguments—don't count.
"And because I'm shorter than you—" it took at least six other gems all saying the same thing, but now Ruby is more or less resigned to this "—I'll be the best sparring partner?"
"You act like there's an error in my logic."
Ruby grins despite her uncharacteristic reservations, understanding Sapphire's dry inflection as a joke. She never backs down from a fight in typical circumstances, but because she's supposed to be Sapphire's handler this is a grey area for her.
"Yeah, well, I just don't want to hurt you." She gestures to Sapphire's bangs. "Look at you. Can you even see? It's bad luck to hit a person who can't even see."
Sapphire raises her eyebrows from behind said bangs. Maybe that remark would have made sense in the first year or two, but it's been a few decades now. "You know I'm not blind."
"Yeah, but what if you get a vision in the middle of the match? Am I just supposed to take a break until you come back to the land of the living?"
There is a pause before Sapphire says quietly, "I've never told you about having visions."
To be fair, her constant excuse of getting lost in her own thoughts isn't the most convincing. Nevertheless, even if Ruby had her suspicions there is no way she can know with certainty that Sapphire has spontaneous visions. Not through observation alone, and definitely not with enough conviction to use it as an excuse to avoid sparring with her.
"What? Of course you have. I wouldn't have known any other way." Ruby says it, but she's visibly flustered. A noise of either distress or anger is building up in her throat.
"Who told you about me? Who's making you watch me like this?" demands Sapphire. Her tone is far colder and sharper than she intends, but right now she just doesn't have it in herself to feel sorry about that. "What authority are you answering to?"
A full-fledged growl rips out of Ruby's throat. She springs to her feet and pushes Sapphire by the shoulders to get her out of her face. "That's none of your business!"
"None of my business?" Sapphire lets out a cruel, incredulous laugh. "It is precisely my business to know who put a tail on me. Wouldn't you say so, if it were you?"
Ruby's silence—and her flush—is only too telling.
Sapphire doesn't know why it makes her so livid—Ruby isn't the one to get mad at, it's whoever put her here that's to blame—but damn if she doesn't get into her alleged handler's face and whisper coldly, "You think I'm weak? Spar me and find out."
She doesn't wait for a response before whirling about in a flurry of petticoats and stalking off to the corner of the recreation center that's open for training. She keeps her eyes forward, ignoring the fact that they've drawn a crowd and that's the last thing she wanted to do. Three out of five possible scenarios feature Ruby participating, and right now Sapphire's willing to bet on those odds.
It isn't until she reaches the far end of the exercise mat that Sapphire looks back. She holds her hands up, but doesn't turn them into fists or summon her weapons. Not yet.
At this point, Ruby is receiving a lot of pressure from her friends to put the little blue gem in her place already. She's rubbing at her face and barking at them all to shut up and let her think, but Sapphire can see that they're wearing her down. Good. Let it happen, Ruby.
She knows the instant that Ruby gives in. The set of her shoulders completely changes, and then she's marching to the edge of the mat. "You really want to do this?" She asks the question, but her tone is well and truly provoked and she's already got her boxing gloves out, so there's no doubt in anyone's mind about what will happen next.
"Oh," Sapphire lets out a small, humorless laugh as her knuckledusters replace the pretty, elbow-length gloves on her hands. "You know I do."
She still has to make the first move. The crowd piles up at the edge of the mat as Ruby ducks Sapphire's first punch, and interrupts the flow of the second with a roundhouse that sends her stumbling backwards.
"Oh no," Sapphire growls, electricity sparking around her spiked knuckles. "You don't get to hold back!"
Ruby's preferred combat style is clearly kickboxing. She's constantly bouncing on the balls of her feet, never in the same place long. She keeps her guard high, and doesn't bother protecting anything below her ribcage, because that's space her legs need. It's a good system for her, and she wears it well.
That being said, Sapphire has found that even the most airtight guards become patchy if you move fast enough. Ruby's is no different. Sapphire might not be as strong, but that point becomes moot when she can sneak three strikes in for every one of her opponent's. And by the time Ruby's hand or foot lands, Sapphire is already long gone.
"Do, not, hold, back, on, me!" she shouts as she darts in. Each pause is punctuated by a jab. Some are at pressure points, others at vulnerable joints, and most are electric. On 'me' she catches Ruby on the jaw. The red gem's curly head snaps back from the force of it, and the next thing Sapphire knows she is facing a very different opponent.
One thing becomes clear as a near-miss knocks her bangs clear out of the way, and their eyes really meet for the first time since they met nearly a century ago: Ruby is not holding back anymore. Her strikes are no longer reactionary, and they are certainly no longer thought through. She doesn't bounce neatly on the balls of her feet anymore, but rather moves like she plans to barrel right through Sapphire without any thought to how it might hurt either of them.
When Ruby's roundhouse catches her this time, Sapphire flies through the air and smashes into a wall. The sheet metal groans as it bends to form a Sapphire-shaped dent. She's disoriented, to be sure, but she jumps to her feet anyway—only to be caught by the skirt and thrown into the wall adjacent to the first. She manages to zap Ruby just before her dress is released, and in the stunned split-second of aftermath Sapphire smashes her spiked fist into the stunned red gem's abdomen.
She realizes that the blunt force trauma has slowed her way down when Ruby grabs her by the wrist. In the part that has inadvertently formed in her sweaty, mussed up bangs, Sapphire peers into the smoldering eyes of a berserker. Whatever friend she's managed to make in Ruby these last few decades is long gone, and in her place is only a writhing volcano of wrath and red.
This isn't the catharsis she was hoping for.
Sapphire whispers "What have I done?" just before she is kicked clear across the room, towards the crowd. The other inmates are still cheering them on (and decidedly not calling for any sort of disciplinary action), and they part only to allow Sapphire to skid past them in a flurry of sparks and ruffled skirts.
That last kick hurt, and it's not easy to get to her feet again, but Sapphire does it anyway. This time, she's prepared for what's coming, and blocks the blow that's aiming for her torso. "Okay, I get it!" she cries, her arm trembling under the sheer strength Ruby is still feeding into the strike. Who knew it was possible for one gem to be this strong? Sapphire has only a few seconds left to hold out, if that. "I get it now, just stop it!"
This time, she strikes out in self-defense, her movements wild and her range wide. She needs to put some distance between them, because another blow like that last one might just be enough to send her into her gem.
The only problem is, she's hurt and tired now. Her speed has been compromised, and to be honest at this point it's her only advantage. She can only dance around Ruby for so much long longer, and when she inevitably can't do it anymore she blocks the fist that's headed towards her face with both arms, and slides across the mat so hard that she cracks her head into the wall next to the second Sapphire-shaped dent anyway.
Sapphire slides to the floor in a heap, staring dazed and incredulous at the stars that seem to be orbiting her now. Just before she falls unconscious and retreats into her gem, Ruby squats and takes a fat fistful of Sapphire's hair to hold her up at eye level. When she speaks, her voice is spikes and fire, sharp and heated, but her eyes are wet with tears.
"Don't do this to me again."