While waiting for Amethyst to return with Peridot Connie sits petting a sleeping Lion, Greg sits on the couch, chin resting on his clasped hands and knee bouncing with anxious energy. Pearl paces throughout the whole house, and Garnet stares at the warp pad, tapping a finger against her crossed arms.
Suddenly Garnet straightens, walks around the warp pad and opens the temple door into the burning room where they store all the bubbles. Pearl stops her pacing and, along with Connie and Greg, watches her disappear within, only to emerge a moment later with a pink bubble in her hands.
"Garnet, wait!" Pearl gasps.
Garnet shakes her head, "We're going to need all the help we can get if we want to rescue Steven."
"But, Bismuth? Are you certain?"
Connie perks up at that name. "Isn't Bismuth the gem Steven bubbled after she tried to shatter him?"
Greg pales in horror. He had no idea something like that had happened, why did no one tell him? Why hadn't Steven told him? He thought Steven told him everything… Not to mention the one who attacked him was just in another room in a fragile little bubble!? A shudder travels down his spine. How was Steven even able to sleep knowing she was there? No one notices Gregs internal turmoil unfortunately.
Garnet nods, "We were keeping her bubbled until Steven felt comfortable letting her out again so we could talk."
Without waiting for any more questions she pops the bubble and carefully sets Bismuth's gem on the floor. She quickly reforms, her gem floating and covered in light. Her new form is very similar to her old one, though her star on her apron is less pronounced and she no longer has shoulder straps. She lands on the floor, onto her stomach, hard. Standing straight she squints her eyes open and looks around the room, taking everyone in.
"Garnet, Pearl I, uh…"
Garnet holds up a hand to quiet her. "We know what happened. Steven told us."
Bismuth looks away in shame, "I'm sorry. I know I messed up bad-"
"Steven's been kidnapped and taken to Homeworld!" Pearl interrupted frantically.
"Wha-" Bismuth's eyes widen, immediate fear for the little meatball shuddering through her form.
Between Garnet, Pearl and Connie they explain what happened and why; how Lars escaped and showed up a short while ago with a ship and what the current plan is.
"Once Amethyst gets back with Peridot we'll get the ship running and we're going after him. It's been a few days, but he's still alive, that much I know for sure." Garnet finishes.
"Wait. What does that mean? 'That much you know for sure'?" Bismuth asks right as the warp pad activates, revealing Amethyst, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.
The three new gems stand in surprised silence as they see another new gem with Garnet and Pearl, so they're able to hear Garnet's response clearly.
"Steven's made so many choices I never saw coming. He's made decisions that were so improbable I couldn't hope to predict them. Now I have no idea where this timeline is going."
She sighs, "I can still see some small things, such as Steven sitting in a room with a pearl, but I can no longer predict anything major or with any sort of certainty."
The silence in the room is palpable, weighing heavily, like a blanket on everyone there. It's frightening, not knowing what's going to happen, not having the guide they've grown to rely upon anymore. Garnet herself is having a difficult time holding herself together, she hasn't felt this lost since she was new… Only Ruby and Sapphire's love and determination, and her own love and desire to rescue Steven whatever the cost, keeps Garnet from simply falling apart at the seams. Amethyst feels like she wants to go to her room to break something, just when things start looking up they get more news that shoves them right back down. She hates feeling uncertain. If it were possible to poof from fear alone, Pearl would probably have poofed several times over by now. Fear for Steven, fear for the Crystal Gems, and now fear of an uncertain future, zip through her form like electricity. Bismuth feels as though she walked from the heat of her forge into the fires of war, willing to do whatever it takes to rescue a fellow Crystal Gem from the clutches of the enemy.
"Well I know one thing for certain." Greg says, breaking the silence "Steven needs us, so instead of worrying about not knowing what's gonna happen, let's pick what we know we want to happen and work towards that."
The energy in the room is still palpable, still full of stress and fear, but it's not nearly so heavy anymore. "Thank you Greg." Garnet gives him a small smile. He returns with a grin of his own. It occurs to her how much Steven looks like him, and how often they failed to notice before. They always see Rose in Steven, in his kind and gentle nature, but now she can clearly see Greg in Steven as well. She can see where Steven gets his charming smile, and clever way with words, always knowing just what to say and when. Steven really is someone special, a beautiful combination of two wonderful and amazing beings. A fusion of love in his own way.
Pearl claps her hands, "Yes! Thank you Greg, that was very insightful!"
"I think I see where Steven gets it from." Amethyst says as she hops off the warp pad.
Garnet's smile grows a little, knowing her fellow Crystal Gems had similar thoughts as her.
Amethyst gestures to Bismuth, "So, you let her out?"
Bismuth blushes, and clears her throat in shame and looks away again. Garnet nods, so Amethyst just shrugs and makes her way to the fridge. Bismuth is caught off guard, not expecting Amethyst to just… accept Garnet's decision after everything. Nonetheless she won't let this opportunity go. She'll help rescue Steven, fight her hardest to make up for what she did and hopefully earn their forgiveness. A small green raised hand catches her attention.
"Ahem." She clears her throat as if about to give an important speech, "I am Peridot, friend to Steven, savior of the earth and the greatest and most lovable Crystal Gem! You are?"
Bismuth can't help the giggle she lets slip, "Bismuth. One of the original Crystal Gems, but I messed up real bad some time ago and was bubbled."
Lapis steps forward, arms crossed, scowl on her face, "Lapis Lazuli. Why were you bubbled?"
"I-uh…"
"She tried to shatter Steven a while back." Amethyst says with her head in the fridge.
"You what?" Lapis scowls, fists clenched and ready to beat the grit out of the much larger gem in front of her.
"Lapis, technically you and I both tried to kill Steven at one point." Peridot points out, " We messed up, but received a second chance and earned our places here. Who's to say this Bismuth can't do the same."
Lapis' fists loosen a little, a part of her calmed by her logical friend, though the scowl on her face is just as fierce. "You're going to help rescue Steven?"
When Bismuth nods her scowl lightens somewhat. Peridot is right, she was given a second chance, Bismuth deserves the same.
"Alright! Where is this ship? I need to make sure it's properly configured. I wouldn't want you to experience the same issue as last time you tried to fly." Peridot places her hands on her hips, ready to get to work.
Amethyst snorts around a mouthful of half expired fridge junk, remembering how funny that flight to the zoo had been. "C'mon P, I'll show ya."
Together they leave the beach house and head toward the Big Donut, Lapis trailing behind them. The others opt to spar on the beach while waiting for Peridot to do her thing. Connie joins for a short while, earning praise from Bismuth for her skill with Rose's sword. She fights with all she's got, eager to burn off some nervous energy. The stress of everything has been really starting to get to her. She's barely slept since Steven refused her help, then practically threw her and the others from the ship. Constantly plagued by nightmares of "what if". What if she'd been stronger, faster, better? What if she hadn't let herself get captured so easily? So many what ifs, and they've constantly tormented her. She stops sparring after a few minutes, seeing Greg sitting on the steps petting Lion forlornly. He's been so much worse off than her. At least she can go home to the comfort of her mom and dad, he's been alone this whole time. The gems were constantly working on ways to rescue Steven, and often left Greg on his own. Judging by the bags under his eyes, he hasn't exactly been sleeping any better than Connie has.
"Are you okay Mr. Universe?" she asks as she walks up to him.
He gives her a sad smile, "I'm alright, just worried about Steven."
"Me too. We all are." she gestures to the group of sparring gems, "We'll get him back though. Don't you worry."
He smiles a bit more genuinely this time, "Thanks Connie. Hey, have you talked to your parents yet?"
Connie cringes, "Not yet. I kind of just jumped right into sparring with the others…"
"Better do that kiddo."
"But what if they won't let me go?" Tears form in her eyes.
"Then we'll stay here, and wait." He shrugs, not sure what to say to comfort the worried kid. If he were in her parents' place, and he had the choice, there's no way he'd let Steven just fly off into space with the gems on a rescue mission, no matter how mad Steven might get with him. After today's revelations about Bismuth, he's beginning to think he should've been playing a more active role in Steven's gem life anyways… I've really failed him haven't I?
"I'd better make a call then." Connie sighs, filled with utter dread at the impending conversation.
Connie steps away from Greg, and the group of sparring gems, pulls out her phone and dials her mom, secretly hoping she'll be busy and won't answer so she can just leave a vague voicemail, then head off to space.
"Absolutely not." Dr. Maheshwaran states firmly after Connie explains the situation.
"But Mom, Steven needs me!"
"Connie, take a deep breath and think about this. Will there be food and water?"
"I can pack some."
"How long will this trip take? Can you guarantee you'll have enough? What about clothes? How will you keep in contact with us?"
"Mom, I can figure that out!" Connie's voice raises in panic. She needs to be there for Steven. "Steven and Lars have both flown in this kind of ship, so it's safe for humans! Please mom! Please! I need to-to be there for him!" she sobs.
Dr. Maheshwaran sighs, "Tell you what Connie, we'll compromise."
Connie frowns, her mom's not usually one for compromises, even after pulling back on the rules and trying to be more supportive. Usually once she makes up her mind, there's almost no changing it, which is why she's so desperate to convince her now, before she's completely set.
"You're not going to space."
"But Mom!"
"Let me finish. You're not going to space, however you may stay in Beach City, at Steven's house until the gems return. You may skip your studying and extra curriculars activities, we'll excuse you from all of it, until they return. Your father and I will take some time off work and come as well."
Connie thinks for a moment, she could sneak onto the ship before her parents show up. She could lie to the gems and say she has her parents' permission… A light nudge at her elbow catches her attention. She jumps and turns to see Lion staring her down. Lion nudges her again, and gives her a slow blink. She sighs. Clearly she's outnumbered here.
"Okay Mom. I'll stay here. Thanks. For compromising I mean."
Dr Maheshwaran sighs, "I know how much Steven means to you Connie, but I still have to look out for your safety and well being. I'll see you soon. I love you."
"Love you to Mom." Connie hangs up and looks back at Lion. "I guess you and I will just have to protect Beach City for the gems. I've done it once before after all, and I guess… technically the reason I started learning sword fighting was to help protect the Earth… alongside Steven…"
Lion rumbles in response and the two walk back to the beach house to tell Greg the news.
"Honestly, that's a relief." Some tension leaves Gregs shoulders she hadn't noticed before. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened and you got hurt."
Connie frowns, she hadn't thought about that. What if she went along and got hurt? There's no hospitals in space and if they don't have Steven to heal her… She doesn't want to think about it. She hopes Steven's not hurt either. He's more resilient than most humans, but he could still be injured.
"Plus! It'll be nice to get this chance to get to know your folks better!" Greg continues, not noticing Connie's thoughtful expression, "I haven't gotten to chat with them much since that dinner a while back. This'll be a good thing I'm sure!" Also having some other humans to talk to around the beach house will be nice. Vidalia is amazing, but he feels bad for invading her home, and life, with his problems.
They continue to chat for a while, figuring out where Connie and her parents will sleep. Greg offers for her to take Steven's bed, mentioning that someone will need to snuggle with Lion, who loves to take over the bed. Pearl, Garnet and Bismuth join them after a while. Pearl is disappointed her student won't be joining them, but begrudgingly admits it's probably for the best since they don't know what situation they'll be walking into. She barely avoids mentioning her concern for Steven's health, given Homeworld's lack of food and potable water…
Amethyst appears across the beach, running up to the group, "Guys, Peri says we have a problem."
The group of gems and humans gather around the ship's entrance. The ship is upright now, instead of at an angle and slightly buried in the sand, with Lapis reclining on top enjoying watching the clouds and listening to Peridot grumbling and muttering to herself inside. She sits up as the group gathers around the entrance and Peridot steps out, muttering to herself some more.
She claps her hands together, "So I've got good news and bad news."
"Just lay it on us Greenie." Bismuth says, never one to enjoy mincing words and beating around the bush, so to speak.
Peridot huffs then takes a breath before continuing, "Alright, well… It'll fly without much problem. You'll be able to get to Homeworld. Unfortunately the main warp drive and weapons systems are completely offline."
"What does that mean exactly?" Pearl asks.
"Basically, it means it'll be a slow trip, and you're out of luck if you encounter any trouble, since you won't have any means of defending yourselves."
She begins pacing and gesturing as she continues, "Lucky for you all you have me! With my skills I was able to redirect power reserves normally for the main warp and weapon systems, to the auxiliary drive. Essentially "souping up" the engine, as Steven would say. Though I fail to understand what extra power has to do with the humans meat and vegetation liquid sustenance…"
Everyone stares at her, most with semi blank faces. They barely understood what she meant. Amethyst and Greg in particular look completely lost. Peridot huffs to herself about "ignorant clods"
"Okay, so, thanks to my genius skills, instead of it taking centuries to reach Homeworld, I've been able to fix it so it should only take a month, or two."
"A MONTH!?" "CENTURIES!?" Pearl and Greg shriek at the same time.
"Or two." Peridot holds up two fingers to emphasize.
"Additionally lucky for you, I intend to pilot. I'm not going to leave this ship, and Steven's rescue, in your muddy grubby touch stumps. I'll get us there, quickly and uncracked."
Lapis stares in shock at her small green best friend. She had no idea Peridot was even considering going along. She'd considered going herself, of course she did. When she first heard what happened she nearly flew to Homeworld right then and there, but her fear of being captured kept her rooted. She's still got so much to work through, the last thing she's able to even consider is going back there. It's not that she doesn't want to help Steven, she does, so, so much, but how can she be of any help if she can't even get out of her own head to do it. Honestly? The thought of Peridot going along brings her relief. She still has a hard time trusting the Crystal Gems, but Peridot? Peridot she's learned to love and trust, and she knows with her going along, these crazy gems definitely have a great chance at success. She'll stick around here, take care of Pumpkin and maybe hang out with the humans some, and help protect Beach City.
Garnet kneels before Peridot and places a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you Peridot."
She then stands and turns to the gems, "Everyone who's coming, get ready. Soon as Peridot gives the all clear, we're leaving."
Bismuth, Pearl, Amethyst and Peridot nod.
"Let's save Steven."