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For the first time in centuries upon centuries, Rutile was broken. Deep cracks ran across their body, becoming visible on their face, which was frozen in an expression of horror and anger. Despite this, their body stayed together as they raced from the school at a speed not even Yellow Diamond, who had regained the title of the fastest of all the lustrous, could beat. But even at that speed blazed by their burning betrayal, they could not reach Phosphophyllite or the other gems that were leaving. Padparadscha among them.
As partners of other gems that were on the Lunarian cloud headed to the moon ran after them, Jade saw Rutile slowly fall to their knees. A lot of yelling and action was going on, but Jade couldn’t hear or process any of it. The strategist, charged with the task of knowing how everyone was doing and their next actions, could only watch as several of their beloved friends were carried away, no plan of how to go after them even beginning to form in their shocked mind. Euclase had said something about being concerned about how Phos was talking about the moon, almost in a manipulative manner, and Euclase was the secretary, not the strategist. A horrible, swirling cloud of failure began to engulf the figure of Jade crouched in the grass. Rutile had once told them that they were too trusting, hadn’t they? Too naïve. No idea of what plots were at work, simply blindly believing in their comrades.
Rutile.
At the thought, Jade lifts their head to see where the doctor was now. They hadn’t moved. Rutile’s neck was craned at the angle where the Lunarian cloud had been when their legs had collapsed and hadn’t budged, as if it were stuck. Their eyes were open, but what they were seeing probably wasn’t the sights that were actually there in front of them.
Right. Jade had failed, terribly, but that was even more reason to do their best to pull the remaining lustrous together now. Except for Bortz and Rutile, the rest had returned back to the school, presumably to speak to Sensei, who was nowhere to be seen. The prolocutor’s legs felt as if they were made out of heavy marble as they took trudging steps to first meet the gem that might not even be capable of walking back to the infirmary to treat their injuries. A faint, eerie cracking noise began to fade in as Jade’s ears struggled to shake of the numbness of shock and work again. Rutile was still breaking. The psychological feeling of weight on their legs shook off as Jade ran over with urgency to Rutile, gently grabbing their shoulders. Jade’s hardness ranged from 6 to 7, while Rutile’s was from 6 to 6.5. They wouldn’t break the doctor unless they were rough, but Rutile was already cracked and Jade needed to be very careful.
“Rutile. Rutile, can you hear me?”
Rutile’s eyes move towards the source of their voice, but it’s doubtful that they actually see the spokesperson at all.
“It’s Jade. I don’t think you can walk,” Jade says, looking down at Rutile’s misshapen legs that were all but a pile of jagged shards, “but we need to get back. It’s not good for you to stay out here. Come on…I’ll help take you back.”
“Padparadscha…” Rutile’s voice comes out as a whisper. They don’t resist or say anything else as Jade lifts their torso up and carries them back to their own doctor’s office. When Jade comes back from getting their legs and other broken-off pieces, Rutile’s eyes tell them their mind has emerged from the fog.
Asking them “are you okay?” would be absolutely ridiculous, especially when they were clearly not, so Jade decided the most they could do to help right now would be putting their legs and pieces back on. Having watched Rutile perform operations many times before, Jade was able to locate the paste and powder as well as the medical tools rather quickly, although their confidence wasn’t too high when it came to the actual procedure. What if they mixed up their right and left legs? What if some of the pieces refused to fit together even if they were the correct ones?
“Are you okay?”
Jade jumped. At first they wondered if their mouth had actually said exactly what they had resolved not to say, but then it hit them that it was actually Rutile who had spoken. Jade hesitantly met their eyes. Was their anxiety that obvious?
“N-no. But,” Jade picks up a piece and frowns at it. Their hands are shaking slightly, damn them. “Don’t worry. I’m going to help you.”
“You look like you’re the one who needs help.” Rutile sighs. A very faint smile appears on their face. “Thank you. It might be better if I do it myself, though. Who knows what you’ll build out of those pieces?”
Rutile takes a few shards and easily begins to fit them together, quiet sounds of clacking and clicking filling the room. Their hair, normally neat and tied back impeccably, hung around their face in loose strands. Without thinking, Jade brushes some of it back, then jolts their hand back when the doctor gives them a quizzical look.
“Um…I may not have any experience or be as good as you, but please…let me help. You always do things all by yourself without much help from anybody. You shouldn’t have to deal with alone, especially now, when you’re hurting.” Jade’s face was red by the end due to not being used to saying such things, especially to Rutile of all people.
The soft clicking noises stopped, and Jade looked up to see that Rutile’s hands had stopped moving.
“I began doing this…for their sake.” No name is mentioned, but it doesn’t need to be. “Every day…and every night. Each time I had a spare moment, I would go back to work trying to bring them back. I didn’t get enough sleep. And I don’t really have many memories of the past hundreds of years that aren’t of working on them. And yet…” Rutile’s gaze is fixed where Padparadscha’s box used to be. Remaining, like a rainbow of ghosts, were all the sparkling jewels perfectly and intricately cut to fit the holes in Padparadscha’s chest. “Now that I look at them, I wonder what all my lost time had been worth, now that they were snatched away from me. And what I will be worth, if they don’t come back.”
Poff. Jade brushes powder on Rutile’s face without any warning; the cracks beginning to fade.
“You…had use before becoming a doctor, didn’t you?” Trying not to look into Rutile’s eyes lest they lose their nerve, Jade continued to brush powder on Rutile’s face to repair the wounds. “And you were always excellent at it, no matter what your job was. As a fighter…and as a doctor. You saved us so many times, all of us here are grateful to you, and care for you very much. Even if you were annoying about it sometimes, I appreciate every time you put me back together, too. I really don’t think I could do it myself. I don’t seem to have much innate talent for it.”
You’d probably even be better at my job than I am.
Rutile lets out a small chuckle but doesn’t say anything, so Jade carries on, somewhat unable to stop now that they’ve started.
“Padparadscha, too…I can’t say I know their feelings, but I do know that they cherish you. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to hear you imply that you’re useless without them. But even so, you won’t have to think that way.” Jade lowers the brush and looks Rutile directly in the eyes. “Because we’re getting Padparadscha back. Together.”
A long moment passes with the two staring into each other’s eyes, and it begins to make the green gem very nervous. “W-with, Sensei, and the others, of course. Not just you and me. But I’ll be there, you know. Helping you.” Jade lifts the brush again, but Rutile catches their wrist.
“You’re putting on way too much powder.” Rutile smiles again, this time more genuine. “I never thought I’d be getting a pep talk from you. It was sweet, Jade. Thank you.”
Feeling their face turn red again, Jade clumsily closes the lid on the powder and almost drops it trying to put it away. “I know I’m not good at it, but…after what happened today…”
“…wasn’t your fault,” Rutile finishes. “Unless you convinced several people to recklessly go to the moon with Phos and also made them steal my life’s work and purpose, it’s not your fault. And you know, what you’re doing right now, that’s part of your job, too. You’re doing well at it. Repair work not included.”
Jade makes a face, and Rutile laughs. They sound exhausted, drained, and sad, with the anger not fully gone either, but a little bit of their usual self has returned. A sense of relief washes over Jade at that.
“Fine, I won’t get in your way.” Jade stands, brushing powder off their hands and their shirt as they gentle noises of gem shards fitting together resumed. “But you’re probably still going to need help fixing those one, so I’ll stay for that. In the meantime, I’ll start thinking up a plan…to get everyone to work together, and…”
Looking out the glassless windows, the night sky is unforgivingly wide and empty. As if taunting them, the moons glow brighter than ever before. “Get the rest of us back. All of them.”
Jade didn’t avert their gaze from the moons for a while, as if accepting their challenge. It was easy to fall into a pit of hopelessness now, a deep and dark pit that would easily break your legs if you fell in, but part of Jade’s job was to help the gems out of that pit. And get rid of it. They may have not done as much as they could have or should have, but they were now going to do all they can.
Their friends and comrades deserve it.