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“Thanks for all your help with the van Pearl,” Greg said as Pearl gave the engine one last inspection before nodding and closing the hood. She studiously wiped her hands of grease with a white cloth as she finished up.
“I don't know why you don't just get a replacement, what with your new found financial independence,” Pearl replied as she bent down to put away her tools. It was getting dark out, the late afternoon sun washing the sandy beach down the way from the Temple in warm hues.
“You kidding? This baby is home to me. Plus...Rose and I spent a lot of time together here.”
There was a brief, somewhat awkward silence in which Pearl found herself staring at a suddenly much more somber Greg. Then she reached over and gently placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “Of course. I understand Greg.”
“Yeah, you might be the only other person who does,” Greg replied, reaching up to lay his own hand over Pearl's while giving her a slight smile.
Pearl smiled back as she broke the light touch and reached down for her tool box which she then stored in her gem. “Well, I suppose I'll be getting back to the Temple now. Just remember to keep going easy on second gear.”
“Uh hold up a sec, we got a pretty nice sunset going on here. Wanna sit down and catch up for a bit before you head back?” Greg offered with an awkward gesture.
Pearl once again found herself staring at Greg as she processed the invitation. A few months ago she would have immediately refused and left on the spot. But now...now things were different between them. Better. “That sounds lovely,” she answered with a genuine smile.
“Great! Be right back,” Greg said as he walked around to the back of the van. After a few minutes of rummaging and what Pearl was sure were various colorful curses Greg returned with a cooler and two beach chairs which he set up on the sand just in front of the van.
“Thank you Greg,” Pearl said as she took the left most seat and leaned back, taking in the view of the ocean. It was afire with reds and oranges as the last rays of the day reached out to grasp it.
“I'd offer you something but I know how you feel about eating and drinking....” Greg said as he grabbed an orange juice out of the cooler.
“Actually I've been trying various beverages since I started seeing Sheena. Drinking is...okay.”
“Really? Well what'll ya have? Chateau de Universe serves only the finest apple, grape and orange juice,” Greg said enthusiastically as he opened up the cooler.
“I don't think I've had grape yet?” Pearl replied hesitantly. Greg handed her a bottle of a dark purple liquid. Drinking still made her uneasy but she popped the cap and took an experimental sip. It was sweet, a little too sweet, but she very much enjoyed the tartness that went along with it.
“This Sheena girl must really be something if she's got you of all gems trying out things like drinking,” Greg said in a half playful, half nervous tone. Things were better between them now, but they were still feeling each other out.
“Yes. She certainly is something,” Pearl responded with what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she took another sip of her grape juice.
“What's she like? If you don't mind my asking?” Greg asked as he took another swig of orange juice and leaned back into his chair.
“Well. She's quite tall. Broad shoulders, very solidly built and she has the most lovely pink hair...” Pearl answered, a wistful look coming over her face as she described her girlfriend.
“Sounds pretty familiar,” Greg said with a grin. Pearl flushed to her neck and began fiddling with the bottle of juice in her hands anxiously.
“I...I know what it looks like. But I'm not using Sheena as some sort of replacement for Rose. I like her for her and—”
“Whoa, whoa Pearl calm down,” Greg interrupted in a soothing tone while holding up his hands. “It's okay to have a type. It doesn't mean you're trying to replace Rose with Sheena.” Pearl settled back in her chair and took a rather large gulp of her juice. She frowned at the bottle when she realized what she'd done.
“I'm sorry. It's just when we first met, Steven and Amethyst pointed out how much she looked like Rose and I suppose...I suppose I've been worrying that's what you all would think ever since,” Pearl said quietly. The sun was nearly down now, the sky was a gentle mix of deep purple and soft pink as twilight took hold.
“Nah. No one thinks that Pearl, promise,” Greg reassured her with a wide grin. “Uh oh, getting dark, gimme me a sec. I'm gonna rummage up some light.” Greg dove once again into the back of his van while Pearl sat quietly and took in the sounds of the beach in twilight. The soft murmur of gently breaking waves dominated, accented by a few high-pitched gull cries as the boardwalk menaces settled in for the evening.
“Aha! Knew I had some buried in here somewhere,” Greg exclaimed as he returned and began arranging a pile of wood between their two chairs.
“You carry firewood around in your van?” Pearl asked rather skeptically.
“Sure! Never know when the occasion will call for a beach night campfire! I kinda gather it here and there whenever I take strolls down the shoreline,” Greg answered as he held a couple matches to the dry tender. With a crackling burst of embers they soon had a fire burning merrily away between them. Pearl smiled as she stared into the dancing flames. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither wanting to break the spell of the blaze or the newly born night, before Greg broached a new topic of conversation.
“So, when do I get to meet your mysterious girlfriend? Amethyst hinted that she's probably into my type of music. Wouldn't mind someone else to nerd it up with about obscure bands,” Greg asked with a teasing grin.
“Last time you met my girlfriend you ended up stealing her away from me,” Pearl said with a hollow laugh before taking another drink of grape juice. It was supposed to be a joke, a tease, but from the way Greg was looking at her something more must have slipped into her voice. Oh dear, that really was improper after all the progress they'd made. And she didn't really mean it did she? Of course not. She turned to Greg to apologize but before she could begin forming the words...
“Pearl...you know Rose never stopped loving you right? She talked about you constantly. No matter how hard... No matter how hard I tried to make her forget you,” Greg said quietly. “Neither of us could see it at the time, or maybe we didn't want to, but I don't think being with both of us was ever a problem in Rose's mind. And for some people it wouldn't be, but everyone involved in that kinda relationship has to be on the same page. We weren't even reading the same book! I guess my point is, I don't think Rose ever understood how much she was hurting you...” Greg ran a hand through his long hair as he finished and then took a lengthy pull from his orange juice. Seeming unsure if he'd said the right thing.
Pearl simply sat for a few moments, staring down at her pale fingers as they played over the firelight licked edges of her juice bottle. She knew Rose had never stopped loving her. But Rose had been with so many suitors over the centuries and each time it'd torn at Pearl. Each time Pearl had been there when Rose would eventually come to her. Crying because another one of her humans died or simply left, no longer able to deal with all of what Rose was. Each time she'd offered kind words, warm embraces and tender kisses of comfort. Only to endure the pain of her finding a new playmate again and again. But at least she could take solace in the fact that she'd always come back to her. Always come back to her Pearl.
But Greg had been different. She'd felt discarded, abandoned. Early on she'd thought little more of their relationship than all the others. But slowly, terrifyingly, she realized it was becoming more. And she'd been so jealous. So hurt...so desperate. She could hardly fault Greg for trying to sway Rose away from her back then considering how she'd treated him. Because she certainly did her best to move Rose away from him. But if she was honest...if she looked back and really thought about it. Even though Greg had been different it still never changed Rose's love for Pearl. She'd still taken time for their long walks together. They'd still spent hours cuddling and exchanging soft touches and kisses amongst endless pink clouds. They'd still shared the pure joy and bliss of Rainbow Quartz whenever they could. Right up until the very end Rose had still made time for her. Had still loved her as fiercely as the day they'd set into motion the first sparks of the Rebellion.
Right up until the very end...
Greg's thoughts on Rose never understanding how much she was hurting Pearl echoed through her mind and then sent it careening back to words spoken to her by Rose. To the very last words Rose had ever said to her.
Pearl. I'm...I'm so sorry. I love you more than I could ever express. Please. Please watch over him for me. Please be there for Steven. My Pearl...
Her vision wavered and distorted as tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled and reached a hand up to wipe at her face. Maybe Rose had understood she was hurting Pearl after all in the end. At least a little.
“Pearl...Are you okay?” Greg asked. He was leaning towards her with an earnest expression of concern painted across his shaggy face. And that. That just made Pearl laugh happily through her tears. That he of all people could show such caring towards her. That the two of them, after all their past together, would be sitting by a campfire and sharing juice as...as friends. It was comical. And it was wonderful.
“Yes, yes I'm fine Greg. And...thank you,” she replied as she mastered her tears and her laughter. Time to lighten the mood again. “So, she talked about me constantly? Nothing embarrassing I hope?”
Greg looked a bit bewildered for a moment but quickly picked up on the cue for a change of topic. “I mostly got stories here and there of how amazing you were. You know, the exploits of the Terrifying Renegade Pearl. It was actually kinda scary. I half expected to wake up in my van one night to find you glaring at me with a sword to my throat,” he said nervously, absently rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
Pearl let out a genuine laugh at that. “I tried. Garnet always caught me when I was trying to slip away. Future vision can be quite bothersome at times.”
Greg froze and just stared at her.
“That...that was a joke Greg,” Pearl said sheepishly. She never had had the best sense of humor.
“Oh. Oh! Of course!” Greg responded with a shaky laugh. He took another long drink of orange juice and seemed to relax. Then a mischievous grin spread across his face. “You know, she did tell me one story that you might call kinda embarrassing. Well, she told me to never tell you she'd told me anyway.”
Pearl's mind was suddenly racing. Stars, what had Rose told him? She'd never had any real sense of modesty to speak of. It could be anything... Her cheeks flushed a deep teal as several potentially mortifying situations sprang to mind. “Oh really? And what might that be?” Pearl said, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.
“The first time you two fused,” Greg answered with a teasing tone and a smile.
The first time they'd fused...the first time they'd become Rainbow Quartz together... That was not what Pearl had been expecting. Although in hindsight she supposed it was a touch embarrassing. But it'd been mostly wonderful. They'd spent hours together practicing with Garnet by one of their favorite spots. A cascading waterfall that fittingly enough produced a near constant rainbow over the falls. And finally after many, many failures she and Rose had come together in a tinkling, warm and wondrous wash of light. They'd become something entirely new...for a few moments at least.
“Yes, I suppose that was a touch awkward. Rainbow was around just long enough to say 'What?' before we came undone in a giggling heap. Garnet teased us about it for ages,” Pearl said with a fond smile and a wistful, far off look in her eyes.
“Hard to imagine Rainbow ever being awkward from the one time I saw her,” Greg said absently as he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the stars. His appreciation of the heavens sparked a thought in Pearl's mind.
“You know. Rose talked a lot about you too. Mostly about how adorable she found it that you used space as your gimmick.”
“Hah. Got me there. I bet it did seem pretty silly from the perspective of a bunch of aliens who'd actually been to space. But I've always loved it. Just felt natural to let it inspire my music ya know?”
“Yes. I find space quite inspiring myself. I've grown to love the Earth, but I still miss the vastness of the stars.”
“Makes me wish I'd taken more time to enjoy the view when I was space-napped by old Big Blue. I mean how many humans get that kinda chance?” Greg mused with a wistful sigh. “Before I decided to leave home and pursue my music I even took a few astronomy courses in college. I always wanted to catch a glimpse of what was out there.”
Pearl looked on at Greg thoughtfully. She'd honestly never thought he'd taken space seriously in any way. But she'd been wrong about a lot of things when it came to Greg Universe. “If you like, I could give you a glimpse of what's out there,” Pearl offered.
Greg stiffened slightly and sat up abruptly in his chair. “Uh...No offense Pearl but the last time you tried to show space to Steven it didn't go so well...”
“First, my engineering of that spacecraft was perfectly sound. The inferiority of the materials is what caused it to fail. Second, that's not what I meant,” Pearl said flatly as her gem began to glow. A moment later a projection of a swath of stars entirely different from the ones above them filled the space over their beach chairs.
“Whoa...I don't recognize any of those. Where is that?” Greg said in a breathy rush, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Those are the stars as seen from Homeworld. You wouldn't see any of them here unless you had a very powerful telescope,” Pearl said in a voice that was somewhere between wistful and sad.
“Wow. The universe as seen from another world. All new constellations. What were Homeworld's names for them?”
“Homeworld didn't bother with naming constellations Greg. Stars were categorized and assigned a reference number. Nothing more.”
“Oh...” Greg said, disappointment seeping into his voice. Pearl frowned slightly.
“But...I did name a few myself,” she said in a small, slightly embarrassed tone.
“Really? Tell me!” Greg exclaimed. And his enthusiasm and excitement was so similar to Steven's that Pearl couldn't help but laugh.
“Alright. See this one here? That's The Dancing Pearls,” Pearl said pointing to a small cluster of stars within her projection. As she did thin silver lines began to connect them accenting an image of three humanoid figures standing side by side with arms overhead. Like all constellations it took some creative thinking to really grasp the image but Greg could see it.
“This formation over here is Pearls at Rest,” Pearl continued as she changed the focus of her projection from constellation to constellation. “And this one is called “A Slave's Resolve.” This went on for a time, her projection moving from one group of stars to the next while she explained their names. It was nice. Pearl rarely had occasion to share something like this and judging by his enraptured expression Greg was genuinely enjoying it.
“Wow. This is amazing,” Greg said. “And I love the running theme of Pearls.”
“Yes, well. Pearls were never really allowed to own anything. We were owned ourselves. So my thought was I'd give us the stars. As silly as that sounds.”
“It's not silly at all, it's beautiful,” Greg said turning to look Pearl in the eyes with a rather serious expression on his face.
“Well, I'm glad you think so. Now how about I show you a few planets no human has ever seen?” Pearl replied with a grateful smile. Then her projection began to shift rapidly. Dozens of worlds passing, the image lingering only long enough for one to fully appreciate it. Planets with ring systems, planets with dozens of moons, worlds made entirely of water, globes larger than any of Earth's neighbors. Through it all Greg stared on in wonder, gasping and making appreciative noises at regular intervals.
“Pearl! That's incredible! How many worlds have you visited?” Greg exclaimed, his eyes wide and full of stars.
“Hundreds, thousands perhaps. My former...mistress traveled often. I saw many worlds. More than most. It was one of my few pleasures during that period in my life,” Pearl replied, a sadder note entering her voice. Greg's expression changed to one of concern as he reached over and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you Pearl. I wish I had something that could measure up to all this that I could share with you,” Greg said as he made a gesture at her projections.
Pearl smiled as inspiration struck her and she shook away her bout of melancholy. “How about a song?” Pearl said. Her projection flickered and vanished as she reached a slender hand up to her gem and produced her violin.
Greg's face broke out in a smile of his own as he reached behind his beach chair for his guitar, the musical instrument never seeming to be far from his reach. “Sure! Have anything specific in mind?” He asked as he struck a few experimental cords.
Pearl ran her bow across the strings of her violin in the opening notes and took some pleasure in seeing Greg's eyes light up in recognition. “Palling around don't cost nothin',” she sang out in her high, clear voice while looking at Greg expectantly.
Greg took up the familiar tune on his guitar and with sparkling eyes continued from where Pearl left off. “Singing a song don't cost nothin'. How do I spend all this money?”
“I'd rather just spend time with you,” they both sang out together as Pearl rejoined the song.
The pair of them broke down into a bout of laughter then, unable to continue their singing. Pearl looked over at Greg as he wiped at his eyes. It really was amazing what could change over so short a period of time. But then if she'd learned one thing from Earth it was the propensity for change.
“Up for another,” Pearl asked once they'd both calmed down, placing her violin back under her chin.
“You betcha,” Greg replied as he adjusted the strings of his guitar slightly.
The pair of them sat there until their fire burned down to smoldering cinders, singing to the moon touched ocean waves and just generally enjoying one another's company. It was...nice Pearl thought. Part of her wished they'd done this a long time ago. But oh well.
Better late than never as humans liked to say.