Garnet had known sending Pearl to find Amethyst and Steven would be the right thing to do in the end. But she'd also known what would possibly come with it. The fight, as Pearl had confirmed upon returning with the two youngest Gems, had been something that Amethyst needed, something to get all those pent up emotions out and start to reconcile with her origins, and what she thought the others thought of her. What she often still thought of herself.
A mistake.
A parasite.
A product of the Kindergarten.
An embarrassment.
Bad.
Garnet wondered how long she'd unwittingly allowed Amethyst to feel that way. Had she always felt that way? She had in the beginning, Garnet knew having been around when a lot of her self-esteem was dependent of how Pearl saw her. But she had hoped, with her and Rose's help, and Pearl's later acceptance, that she'd grown into her own.
But then Rose...died... And Pearl and Garnet had never asked how Amethyst felt about it. Garnet knew that Pearl had most likely taken it the hardest, she was after all the one that had known Rose the longest, and had this severe, almost unhealthy love for her. Garnet herself had been saddened, Ruby and Sapphire having split apart for a bit to process.
And though it was obvious Amethyst was just as sad, no one had asked how bad it was. Garnet pondered if Rose's death had been the catalyst. It was certainly the new beginning of Pearl and Amethyst's almost constant bickering. It was certainly the starting point of Amethyst acting even more reckless, even more obnoxious, even more of a goof off. She'd hidden behind jokes and smiles and carelessness.
Garnet was the leader. She should have known. Rose would have known. But she wasn't Rose.
"Garnet?"
The tallest Gem turned her head to see Steven standing beside the couch where she sat. He was rubbing one arm uncertainly, biting his lip. "Yes, Steven?"
"Is Amethyst...gonna be ok?"
The purple Gem had disappeared a couple hours ago, but Garnet knew she hadn't gone far. She just needed a moment to herself after what had happened at the Kindergarten.
"Amethyst will be ok. It will just take some time."
Steven hopped up on the couch and crawled over so that he was sitting sideways in Garnet's lap, and her hand came down to sit on his hair as he leaned his head on her chest. "Is there anyway that we can help? I mean... she was really sad at the Kindergarten. And really mad. It was...scary."
Garnet internally sighed. Yes, she imagined it was very scary for Steven to see one of the Gems he loved attack the other, for them to be so angry. Steven was a sweet, kind hearted soul. He didn't like to see those he cared about in pain.
"Just give her time," she repeated, knowing that it was for the best, even when she herself wanted to find the younger Gem and tell her everything was going to be okay.
I think this may be the shortest one yet, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't really been thinking about how I would write something related to On the Run. I could've tackled it from Amethyst or Pearl's perspectives, but I felt that the episode itself had summed their reactions so beautifully, so much so that you could see every emotion on their faces so perfectly. So I went with Garnet. I figured there had to be something there, her being the leader, being responsible for everyone and her knowing the outcomes because of future vision. It's not my best work, and again, it's rather short.
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I'm out. Peace.