A/N: Writing out of order is bad. I know this, but I did it anyway. That's why I'm updating so late today; I literally just finished writing this just now (so I apologize for any typos). Also, you may have noticed that I'm still avoiding addressing the electricity headcanon thing. I'm thinking I will probably just go back and edit it out, substituting for ice. Or I might just let Sapphire have both. Still debating.

Otherwise, you might see that I'm giving into my relatively new love for writing combat scenes. ;P

Containment Unit 6 isn't a very exciting place. Things tend to follow a pretty formulaic day to day pattern.

That's probably why word spreads so quickly when blabber-mouthed Tourmaline hears that Sapphire and Ruby are going to spar again.

"Do you think they'll add to the dents?"

"Hey, yeah, I don't know. Have you heard whether or not those things are ever going to be fixed, by the way?"

"I thought they were friends? Isn't this—you know—a bad idea?"

"Who cares if it's a bad idea! They're good, and watching them fight is the most entertaining thing I've ever seen."

Ruby mutters something under her breath about damned gossips, but Sapphire doesn't catch it all. She doesn't have to, to get the gist of it.

"Did you honestly expect this not to happen?" she wonders. The poorly muffled talk doesn't bother her. In comparison to the whispers that used to follow her around in other containment units, this is downright flattering.

"I knew it would be something like this," says Ruby, talking through gritted teeth. "Just didn't think it would aggravate me this much."

"We can call it off, if you want."

"No. We're doing this."

Sapphire doesn't quite understand the air of determination that has suddenly surrounded Ruby, but she acquiesces anyway. By now they've reached the exercise mat, and a solid two-thirds of the recreation center's occupants have followed them, eager to see how this sparring match will turn out. Plagioclase is one of them, Sapphire notes. That might have some… interesting repercussions. She doesn't have the time or the focus to consult her future vision on it, but she's already preparing for the worst.

Ruby jumps up and down and shakes her arms and shoulders, visibly loosening up. She summons her boxing gloves with a new air of focus and smirks at Sapphire. "Are you sure you want to keep the skirt for this?"

"If I didn't have this dress, you'd never be able to see me, much less catch up to me," Sapphire replies, summoning her knuckledusters and sinking into a stance. "I've got to let you think you have a chance, don't I?"

Ruby's smirk becomes a grin. Clearly, she is enjoying the banter—which is good, because so is Sapphire. "Oh, we'll see about that." She brings her gloves up and starts bouncing on the balls of her feet—and just like that, the match has begun.

It already feels different from the first time they fought. This is far lighter, friendlier. Sapphire can already tell that this one won't end with either of them losing control.

Ruby won't be making the first move, that much is obvious. She knows better.

Sapphire darts in, only to be met with a kick that sweeps wide and has her backing off before she can make contact. She tries again, and is met with the same tactic. That's when she understands: Ruby's eyes are on the hem of her skirts. Ruby may not know exactly where she is aiming, specifically, but she doesn't have to if she can defend the general area Sapphire seems to be honing in on. The kicks are preemptive, inspired not by Sapphire's direct advance but by the swishes and sways of her petticoats as she tenses and prepares for a quick burst of movement.

Clever.

Sapphire counters by what might be considered cheating. Levitation has the advantage of not only making her even faster, but also of creating constant skirt movement. She didn't do this the last time they fought because she had been too provoked and incensed to think about it, but this time is completely different. That friendly atmosphere is still present, and Sapphire is calm and levelheaded. Besides, it's not like she hasn't used this ability in front of Ruby before; she's usually just a little more subtle about it.

Ruby realizes what she's doing a split second before Sapphire claims the first strike of the match. "Oh, come on! Are you kidding me?"

"I don't recall there being any rules against this," Sapphire replies as she hovers an inch or so off of the ground.

"Because I didn't think there would have to be! Who does that?"

Sapphire doesn't feel the need to answer that. Instead she simply flashes in for another strike. It lands, but Ruby's body is hot. She's practically steaming. The heat transfers from her and to the metal of Sapphire's knuckledusters instantly, scalding her hands. She sucks in a breath and quickly cools them down with her own powers, but her knuckles are still tender.

Elemental connections are rare amongst gems—what are the odds that she and Ruby can both do it? That being said, however, there really isn't any other element that suits Ruby better, so in that sense this isn't terribly surprising. It's also not surprising that it's taken them this long to reveal this to each other. Gems with powers like this tend to be challenged for the simple sport of seeing them use their unique abilities, especially here in the Containment Units. Sapphire knows—it's what happened to her in Unit 2.

Doesn't make her knuckles any less raw, though.

Well, she started this. No sense complaining about it now.

Ruby sees her reaction, and smirks. The air ripples around her, and the exercise mat is melting a little bit more with every brief contact with her bouncing feet. "Can't take the heat, huh?"

This sparring match has suddenly become much more interesting. Like hell Sapphire is going to lose.

"I think you need to cool down," she replies—and yes, it's an incredibly kitschy line, but all things considered it feels appropriate.

When Ruby bounces down this time, she does it on a thin sheet of ice. She slips, but quickly recovers and melts the water under her.

Sapphire fortifies her knuckledusters with ice when she glides in now. Her strikes are landing better with the buffer (well, they aren't hurting her every time, anyway), but she knows that this is not nearly enough to take Ruby down.

Sapphire just dodges a smoking fist, but the scent of her singed hair is in the air now.

The inmates of Containment Unit 6 are absolutely loving this. Distantly, Sapphire can hear them whooping and chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

"This is even better than their first fight!"

"Did you know they had elemental powers? I certainly didn't."

"How are we going to explain the damage to the exercise mat?"

A boiling hot leg catches Sapphire in the gut, and her levitation works against her as she sails smoothly through the air and bumps hard into the wall next to one of her dents. She's allowing herself to get distracted.

Even Ruby looks shocked at the results of that kick. She hangs back, still hopping about and peering at Sapphire through her gloved fists, but she seems concerned.

Sapphire's feet touch the ground as she regains her bearings. The front of her dress is singed and smoking, with tiny embers creeping up the bodice like hot, glowing embroidery; she promptly pats it out. Ice creeps over her fists, encapsulating them in hardened gloves of her own, reinforcing the spikes on her knuckledusters and soothing the burns on her hands. On an afterthought, she banishes her poor dress in favor of an outfit that is less lightly to catch fire on a stray spark. It feels strange to be wearing a skintight bodysuit with a white diamond symbol again, but there is no point in dwelling on that now.

"Oh, I thought the dress was to even the odds?" taunts Ruby, albeit still good naturedly.

"That was before you started setting things on fire," she replies dryly. "Namely, me."

Ruby laughs despite herself, but that doesn't stop her from charging in. Sapphire's ice glove immediately volatizes where she blocks the punch, but that's easily fixed. For several tight minutes, they dodge, parry, and block each blow the other throws at them. Nobody manages to land anything, but the strain of keeping it that way quickly becomes evident in both of them. They are, after all, both out of shape. Nevertheless, while every move is spontaneous, their equally spontaneous responses are beginning to almost feel coordinated, as if they're moving to a rhythm that they both implicitly feel. Sapphire tries for an overhead strike, and Ruby counters her perfectly, and she can only marvel at how in sync she feels.

Steam is now billowing around them in thick, humid clouds, and it's for that very reason that Sapphire manages to create a shin guard out of ice and duck out of sight to sweep Ruby off of her feet. She thinks she hears their synchronicity shatter as the shin guard hisses and melts, but they can't keep this up forever. Inevitably, something has to change.

The red gem falls with a loud grunt, and the steam shields her inadvertent retaliation from view. Sapphire literally does not see Ruby kipping to her feet, and so cannot block or otherwise avoid the foot that smashes into her. Unfortunately, she is also levitating to keep Ruby from noticing where she is, so once again Sapphire finds herself sailing across the room. She bursts out of the mass of steam and drops herself to the ground so she can duck and roll upright instead of crash into the wall for a second time today.

Whew. Sapphire shudders at the sudden difference in temperature. It was a lot warmer in that steam than she realized.

"I can't see!" that disappointed declaration sounds a lot like Tourmaline. "What happened? Where did Ruby go?"

No, not listening to the crowd again. Remember what happened last time?

Sapphire sinks into a stance and waits. Ruby will eventually figure out that her sparring partner is no longer in the steam—or the steam will dissipate, whichever comes first. Either way, Sapphire is ready for it.

She doesn't even realize that she's smiling. When was the last time she had this much fun during combat? Has she ever?

She doesn't have time to mull it over any more than that, because that's when Ruby reappears. Sapphire ducks her left hook and uppercuts her reinforced spikes into Ruby's torso. The red gem stumbles backwards, apparently to find just enough space to crash one scorching foot into the back of Sapphire's leg. She goes down, rolls up to one knee, and produces a sinister spike of ice like a sword. It stops just short of piercing Ruby through the chest, which is just as well because Ruby has one glove poised just short of cracking her across the jaw. They're both breathing hard, and Sapphire is sweating profusely enough that she has hair plastered awkwardly across her face, but they're both grinning. Truly, Sapphire can't remember a time where she has felt so full of energy, so alive.

Why haven't they done this sooner?

Ruby's eyes flick to the icicle poised in front of her. The heat that's radiating from her boxing glove abruptly fades, and just as her glove disappears and her arm falls Sapphire allows her ice and weapons to fade as well. She grasps her friend's hand and allows herself to be hauled to her feet. Ruby's skin is still hot to the touch, and Sapphire knows that hers is still chilly, but together it all evens out.

"What, that's it?"

"There's going to be a round two, isn't there?"

"Just as it was getting good!"

"I'm still one win ahead of you," Ruby informs her with playful loftiness.

"Wait until tomorrow," Sapphire replies primly as she fixes her hair and brings her dress back—sans burns, of course. It takes some effort to keep from smiling. "You won't be saying that then."

Who knew fighting could be so much fun?