Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Laramie shut his eyes tightly and prepared to feel either a foot to his side or a fist to his face, both of which he was a little too used to. However, no matter how much he braced himself, it didn’t come. Instead, he heard a thud, a close gasp, a faraway yell and the sound of descending footsteps. Then approaching ones.

He didn’t open his eyes and kept the same submissive posture he’d been forced into earlier by the group of boys who were tormenting him as he walked home from school. Laramie had no idea why they were always after him. Of course, he was scrawny, shy, vulnerable, the new kid and probably one of the easiest targets in his entire school because of all that, so maybe he should’ve expected this kind of treatment. That didn’t mean he had to appreciate it.

“You okay?”

A voice from above startled Laramie, causing him to flinch and cower further away on instinct. But after letting its sound process in his brain, he realized there was something familiar about it.

“Don’t worry! I won’t hurt you!” it spoke again. “I actually just saved your life.”

“H-Huh?” Still cautious, Laramie flipped his head around and cracked his eyes open ever so slightly to make out the voice’s owner. Standing in front of him with a proud smile plastered across his face was a boy with messy blonde hair, freckles and circular-framed glasses. He was a lot shorter and chubbier than Laramie and wore a red t-shirt with what appeared to be a UFO on it.

“Yeah! I used to deal with those creeps all the time,” the boy continued. “One time, when they tried to shove me, I bit the black-haired one’s hand, and they all went running away like little babies!” He laughed. “Now, they’re scared of me. Also, I kind of threw a rock at them just now, so yeah.” He extended a hand to Laramie. “Need help?”

Feeling his wariness melt away at the warm and friendly tone of this boy’s voice, Laramie took the hand offered to him. Once he’d gotten to his feet and brushed the dirt off his jeans, he was able to get a clearer look at the boy who saved him. His eyes lit up when he finally realized just where he recognized his voice from.

“Hey, I know you!” Laramie exclaimed. “You sit behind me in music class, don’t you?”

“Yep! That’s me.”

He honestly didn’t even need to ask to make sure, for he definitely remembered this kid: frequently asking questions no matter how silly they sounded, always volunteering when it was needed, not afraid to do or say anything. Laramie was too scared to talk to him (well, until now), but he’d always admired him from afar. He was so brave. It must be so nice not to care what people think of you.

Laramie found himself getting tongue-tied and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “I’m uhhh…”

“Laramie, right?”

“Oh. You...know my name?”

“Of course, silly,” the boy giggled. “I hear the teacher call roll every day! There’s not that many people in our class.”

“Right.” Laramie felt his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “I guess I don’t really pay attention as much as I should…”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it! It’s just a guy remembering your name.” The boy’s eyes grew a bit wider. “Oh, yeah! Speaking of names, mine’s Ronaldo.”

A small smile began to curl across Laramie’s lips. Ronaldo. What a nice name…

“Uhhhh, sweet! Awesome!” Laramie chuckled again, attempting to rid himself of the nervous feeling in his gut brought upon by social contact and desperately trying to think of something to say that might humor Ronaldo. Almost instinctively, he flashed finger guns at the other boy. “It’s a pleasure meet ya, Ronnie!”

Oh god. Ronnie? And that stupid finger gun thing? Where the heck did that come from!? A thick layer of blush spread across Laramie’s cheeks as what he’d just said sunk in, and he looked away, bringing his hands up to cover his face. “I mean, uh...sorry, Ronaldo-”

An excited gasp from Ronaldo cut him off before he could finish speaking. “Whoa! Nobody’s ever called me that before! I’ve always wanted a nickname.”

Taking a deep breath of relief, Laramie began to feel his anxieties settle down at the other’s approval of what he’d said. “Heh. Glad you like it. Me too, actually. A-About wanting a nickname.”

“Ooh! Maybe I can help you think of something! Let’s see...” Before he could suggest anything, Ronaldo’s eyes nearly shot out of his head for a moment, and his radiant smile turned downward. “Awww, darn it. Actually, I’d better go home now. My mom’s gonna get really mad if I’m out too late again. Where do you live?”

“Just a few blocks away. What about you?”

“The boardwalk.” Ronaldo sighed. “My dad owns the fry shop there. It’s a “family business” or whatever.”

“Wow, really!? My dad takes me there sometimes!” Laramie grinned. “It’s really good.”

“Oh, don’t flatter me,” Ronaldo chuckled. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Laramie was about to wave him off and hastily walk back home as if nothing happened just like he did after every social interaction, but a sudden surge of bravery took him by surprise. “Actually, I think my house is on the way to the boardwalk if you wanna keep walking together until we get there?”

Ronaldo let the offer sink in and flashed Laramie a warm smile when it did. “Okay! I’d love to.”

A warm feeling was coursing through Laramie’s’ body as he walked home next to Ronaldo, both of them chatting about their families, interests and whatever they could think of. And for once, it didn’t make him feel like running away and hiding. It felt...nice. Although Laramie had been in Beach City for a few months now, he didn’t have any friends. Perhaps that was about to change.

Chapter Text

Although she couldn’t remember how long it had been since she'd found herself imprisoned, it felt like ages for Blue Zircon. She’d woken up with little to no memory of the last events she’d faced, just an anxious sensation rushing through her form. Then, she took some time to let her surroundings sink in and realized how different they were to the rooms Zircons were normally sent to after a trial. That was when it all started flooding back.

The trial of Rose Quartz. The realization. The accusation. And then, a cloud of blue smoke that soon faded to black.

There was no way she’d make it out of here in one piece.

Blue Zircon had already accepted her fate. She knew she’d be shattered. After all, she wasn’t of much use to the Diamonds. She’d never been the best Zircon, not even the best Blue Zircon. In fact, she was probably among one of the worst. Blue Diamond would be glad to finally rid Homeworld of her sorry gem. Her anxiety and inability to perform without pressure eating her alive would no longer drag down a trial. It was her time.

However, what she didn’t expect was the sudden screeching voice of another, one that sounded hauntingly familiar, to fill her senses. She was facing away when she heard the loud thud against the wall of the prison cell across from hers, so it took her by surprise. Blue flipped around as quickly as she could, just as two tall Quartz soldiers were walking away and dusting off their hands. Squinting, she tried her hardest to make out who the new imprisoned gem was, but before she managed to do so, a shrill voice told her just that.

“You! I can’t believe you!!!”

“Y-Yellow!?”

“What were you thinking, you imbecile!?” the other Zircon screeched, getting as close to the forcefield holding her back as she could without getting herself zapped.

Blue Zircon couldn’t even think with the overwhelming confusion coursing through her. “I...wh-why are you even here!?”

Seeming almost offended by the question, Yellow Zircon threw her head back before letting another scream loose. “You don’t know!? What do you mean you don’t know!? This is your fault, you traitorous pebble!”

“No, seriously! What do you mean!? I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

This particular Yellow Zircon, one that Blue knew well and honestly, one she’d like to forget, was the prosecuting Zircon in the trial of Rose Quartz. They’d often been chosen to argue against one another in trials, which was odd since the choosing of Zircons to a case was supposed to be randomized. It was a cruel turn of events as well, seeing that Yellow was wonderful at all the things Blue couldn’t seem to get right. She didn’t stand a chance against her and never did.

But that even led to more questions. Yellow had shown nothing but endless loyalty to the Diamonds. During the trial, she had been selected to defend them and did a very good job of it. As much as it pained Blue to admit, she did absolutely nothing wrong. Why would the Diamonds want to punish her?

“Your little slip-up caused us both our gems!” Yellow snapped, voice still shrill with hysteria. “They’re going to shatter me, a beloved and loyal Zircon to Yellow Diamond, because you couldn’t keep your treacherous little mouth shut! Ugggghhhhh!!!” She gave a loud groan and buried her face in her hands, claws dragging down her cheeks in frustration. “I knew if anything like this ever happened, it would be all your fault. And look where we are! Look what happened, Blue!”

For a second, Blue Zircon had no idea what to say. She could only sit there and contemplate why Yellow Zircon, out of all the Zircons, out of all the gems on Homeworld, had found herself in this situation. It made more than enough sense for a gem who'd accused her own Diamond of a crime believed to have been done by a rebel to be imprisoned and shattered, but why was one who simply watched everything unfold meeting the same fate? There was no reason for Yellow to be in trouble whatsoever! The only option she could think of would be if…..

“It’s because you know too much.”

Before the realization could even properly form in Blue’s brain, she found it pouring from her mouth as she stared at the Zircon in the cell across from her. Yellow moved her hands away from her face, revealing the tears streaming from her panicked eyes and looked to the other with an absolutely bewildered expression.

“What!?” 

“You were there when I made that accusation against the Diamonds. They…..feel threatened by that, Yellow. I think….I-I think they might actually be trying to cover something up-”

The sound of the door being kicked open abruptly cut Blue Zircon off, and her head flipped around to try to see who was coming toward her and why they were there. Loud footsteps shook the floor of the imprisonment until two large Quartz soldiers stopped in front of her cell. They were Citrines, and were both wearing wicked smiles on their faces.

“Is this the one?” the Citrine on the left asked.

“Yeah,” the other replied. “The Blue Zircon with the crescent-shaped hair. That’s her.”

Blue gulped and began moving backward in her cage. However, she wasn’t quick enough. At the speed of lightning, the Citrine on the left grabbed her shoulders roughly and pulled her out of the cage. The forcefield didn’t send a shock through her body, assumably because they’d disabled it before reaching for her, but the feeling of being handled so roughly by someone with a much bigger build than her still got a sharp yell out of the Zircon.

“H-Hey!” she gasped. “Stop it! What are you doing!?”

“You got her?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect.” The other Citrine’s gem, placed on her right hand, began to glow as she summoned a large gauntlet around it. The one who grabbed Blue positioned the Zircon in front of her to where her hands were restrained tightly behind her back, leaving her nearly unable to struggle. No matter how much she fought, she failed to free herself from the Quartz soldier’s grasp. Letting one last breath out of her body, she shut her eyes tightly and embraced herself for the weaponed fist that collided with her stomach. When it hit, pain surged through her form until it could no longer withstand it and retreated into her gem with a loud pop, leaving nothing but the square-cut gemstone that was well on its way to destruction.  

Chapter Text

I’m the one that should be in space.

The sentiment echoed throughout Ronaldo’s head as he found himself trudging toward the the lighthouse. He’d tried so hard to sleep in his own room that night as his father wished he would more often, but thoughts were eating away at his brain and making even sitting still for five seconds impossible. Making sure his footsteps were quiet as he got dressed and snuck out of the house, he’d decided to pull an all-nighter at the lighthouse.

It was something he was used to, for he’d often spend so many hours there every day pouring over his research and doing his duty as the official Beach City lookout that he’d often find himself nodding off. He’d installed an old couch of his father’s with a pull-out bed there for this occasion, but a lot of the times he worked so hard and so late that he’d wake up on the floor without even making it to the couch.

Ronaldo turned the doorknob slowly and carefully, a chill running up his spine at how it creaked when he did so. Once inside the lighthouse, he began making his way up the spindly stairs until he was in the lantern room, which served as his main location of study. There were drawers filled with bugling files, a bulletin board covered in pictures he’d taken that might contain some sort of paranormal evidence and a desk where he’d often find himself typing away at his laptop. Ronaldo didn’t bring his laptop this time though. He wouldn’t need it.

At first, he’d planned to simply spend a few extra hours at his lookout position. Although Nanefua had assured him that he wouldn’t need to constantly keep watch and that she understood the importance of “kids his age” getting plenty of rest, there wasn’t much else for him to do right now. He couldn’t sleep, didn’t want to wake anyone he could text, and none of the websites he frequented would be very active at this hour. Ronaldo figured he might as well make himself useful.

However, he didn’t make it to the large telescope waiting for him at the edge of the lighthouse’s balcony before stopping. Instead, his eyes began to wander toward one of the dwarers. It was the lowest one on the left-most metal cabinet and didn’t contain any files. But there was something in it.

Ronaldo tried so hard to fight the urge from opening it away. He hadn’t done so in...was it years now? Was it really that long since the last time he’d talked to Lars? Of course, he’d seen him working at the Big Donut, but he hadn’t had a good conversation with him since that scary movie night with Steven and Sadie. That was when…….

He shuddered. Ronaldo wanted to forget that night. But he knew he never would. Just like he couldn’t just forget what was going on right now.

His thoughts getting the best of him, he walked toward the drawer, held out a shaky hand and pulled its handle toward him. It opened slowly, revealing its contents: a lot of dust, some lint, a paperclip and a small photo, turned over so he couldn’t see what it contained. He’d done that to it the last night he’d checked that drawer, so if he ever accidentally opened it, the photo’s contents wouldn’t catch his eye and upset him. Except he wanted to see it now. Ronaldo was already upset tonight.

Taking in a deep breath, he flipped the picture over and looked at it for the first time in so long. It was him and Lars as kids, standing in front of the beach with Ronaldo’s arm around Lars’ shoulders. Underneath the picture were the words “Beach City Explorer Club.” He couldn’t remember who had written it there and didn’t care to try.

Ronaldo remembered the day it was taken. It was when him and Lars had agreed to become explorers and make all kinds of discoveries about Beach City that no one else had ever found before. That was the least they could do until they were all grown up and ready to expand their exploring to the rest of the world and eventually, the rest of the galaxy. His dad had let him use his old polaroid camera but only after both boys made a strict promise to handle it with care.

It was also the first day he’d been inside the lighthouse. They’d been trying to find a clubhouse for the Beach City Explorer Club. Ronaldo’s dad had made it quite clear that they couldn’t have one at his house, for it was near impossible to make a treehouse when you lived on the boardwalk. Lars’ dad had tried his best to make one for them, but he wasn’t the best carpenter, and it ended up collapsing underneath him when he was adding the finishing touches. Ronaldo couldn’t help but giggle at the memory of getting to sign the cast of the leg he’d broken.

Lars had suggested the lighthouse to begin with. It was a surprise to Ronaldo that he had, seeing that there were all kinds of rumors about it being haunted (which, more or less, ended up being true years later), and Lars had never been the braver of the two. But he’d seemed determined to make this lighthouse his own-no, their own.

That picture was taken right before they’d hiked up the hill and entered what was supposed to be their clubhouse. However, it only ended up being the place where their friendship fell apart mere seconds after he’d said the one thing he’d honestly believed would happen.

We’re gonna take on the world together .

Ronaldo was taken by surprise when a small droplet of water fell onto the photo, right in the middle of Lars’ awkward smile. He didn’t even notice that he’d started crying. Once he did, he immediately brought his hand up to his face and vigorously wiped his eyes.

A deep sigh left Ronaldo’s throat, and despite the tears streaming down his cheeks, he couldn’t help but crack a tired grin. He felt strangely at peace with himself after viewing the photo, more than he’d ever expected to feel in a million years. Of course, he was bitter about Lars doing all the things he’d always wanted to do, but it wasn’t because he hated him. No matter what happened between them, he didn’t think he could ever actually hate Lars.

He just wished he was there with him.

That was the one thing they’d constantly promised each other they would do together. They were gonna go to space. They were gonna go on adventures. They were gonna grow up together and nothing was ever going to tear them apart. Perhaps Ronaldo was stupid and naive for still wanting that to happen, but it was hard not to want it when Lars was out there doing all the stuff they’d always vowed to do with each other all by himself. It made him angry, it confused him, but most importantly…..it hurt.

Wiping his eyes again, he opened the door to place the picture back inside and shut it away for more years to come. However, something stopped him from doing so. Instead, Ronaldo found himself closing the drawer and putting the photo on his desk. Maybe it would do him good to have some more exposure to it since looking at it had snapped him out of his restless confusion. He might even get it framed, but he’d put it up again if anyone ever came over.

Although he felt a little better, Ronaldo still wasn’t tired. Deciding to spend the rest of the night on lookout duty after all, he began to walk toward the telescope until he was standing on the lighthouse’s balcony and could feel the cool wind whistling through his hair. Brushing a few blonde curls away from his eyes, Ronaldo crouched down and held his eye up to the lense of the telescope. He spent the rest of the night looking to the stars for signs of intergalactic danger and unable to help himself from wondering exactly what Lars was doing right now.

Perhaps his old friend was thinking of him too.

Chapter Text

Steven’s eyes shot open at the sound of his phone vibrating on his bedside table. He yawned, sitting upward and rubbing his eyes. Was it time to get up already? He didn’t even remember setting an alarm or why he would have needed to in the first place.

However, when he finally managed to reach out and grasp his cellphone, he realized that it wasn’t an alarm but a call. A video call. Someone was trying to video chat with him at 5 in the morning. And he didn’t even have to think for a second before instantly knowing who it was.

Sighing and giggling to himself, Steven accepted the call. As he’d assumed, Peridot was on the other end. But something seemed off. Her expression wasn’t excited as it normally was when she called him to show him something. Instead, she looked…..pretty terrified.

Steven frowned. “Hey, Peridot.”

“Steven!” she shrieked almost instantly, causing him to wince and reach for his phone’s volume button. “Come quick! Something’s going on!”

A lump began to form in the boy’s throat. “What?”

“Earth is under attack! I don’t know how much longer we have left before it covers us all and suffocates the entire planet!” she whined.

A look of confusion crossed Steven’s face. “Wait….is Homeworld attacking the barn?”

“I don’t know!” Peridot continued to ramble. “I’ve never seen anything like this! I was just sitting outside where the television is, continuing my rewatch of CPH season 5, and I was right at the scene where Percy admits that he misses Pierre after he moved to the rival campsite, which is like my favorite scene in the entire show by the way, but that’s not the point! Suddenly, out of nowhere, this wet, cold, white substance starts slowly falling from the sky! The first bit of it landed on my shoulder, but then, it was coming down even faster and trying to suffocate me, and that’s when I ran in the barn to alert you!” She whimpered, clearly panicking. “It must be some sort of adhesive sent by Homeworld to smother the Earth and everything in it after the failure of the cluster! I should have known they’d try something new. Ohhhh, what are we gonna do, Steven!?”

At first, Steven was even more confused than he was to begin with. Wet, cold, white substance? What could she be….

Oh.

“Hold on a second, Peridot.” The half-gem boy got out of bed and stretched a bit before heading downstairs, Peridot intently watching every move he made from her tablet screen. Once he’d reached the door and made for the doorknob, she shrieked again.

“Steven! What are you doing!? You’ll could be blown to bits by an enemy warship!”

“What? No! Peridot, look!” And with that, Steven opened the temple’s door, much to Peridot’s dismay and found himself walking out into a beautiful winter wonderland. Gentle snowflakes steadily fell from the night sky and covered Beach City in a slick, glistening blanket. He couldn’t help but stand there in silence for a while to take in the beautiful sight.

“Hello!?” Peridot’s voice rang from the phone. “Steven!? Are you dead yet!? Lapis, Pumpkin, we need to go to the temple right now and-”

“No, no, no! Peridot, I’m fine!” Steven held the phone up over his head, showing Peridot the amazing scenery. “It’s just snow.”

“But y-wait, what?”

“Oh, yeah.” Sometimes he forgot that Peridot was still learning and that there was a lot about Earth she didn’t know yet. “It’s…..well, it’s kind of like rain but just a little bit frozen.”

“Steven, it’s not frozen! I told you, it was wet.”

“No! Just….think of rain, but….” He really wasn’t the best at explaining this, was he? “Never mind. It doesn’t matter how it’s made, but what I’m trying to say is that it’s perfectly harmless! It’s actually really fun!”

“Fun? How is kind of but not really frozen water fun?” Peridot scoffed. “If I want to get cold and wet for fun, I can just come over and stick my head in the refrigerator again. Now I almost wish it was an attack from Homeworld! At least that’s exciting!”

Steven sighed. He began racking his brain for all the fun snow things he did with his dad when winter came around. Suddenly, something popped into his mind.

“I know what you can do!” he announced.

“Really?” Peridot cocked her eyebrow, visibly intrigued.

“Yeah!” Steven thought for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to explain this to the green gem. “Okay, so first you have to go outside-”

“What!?”

“Just do it! Like I said, it’s completely safe.”

“Okaaaaay…….” Peridot sucked in a deep breath, and Steven watched as the background of her surroundings changed from the chestnut-colored wood paneling of his uncle’s barn to the beautiful fields outside. Snow clung to the trees like soft sheets, and he caught a glimpse of the “average-than-smaller lake” Peridot had made for Lapis, except right now it was more of an “average-than-smaller ice skating rink.”

He watched as Peridot’s expression changed. At first, she looked uncomfortable and scrunched up her face as the small white droplets started to beat down on her form. However, after a while, her pupils dilated, and she began taking in her surroundings, coming to the realization that snow was actually quite pretty..

Steven grinned. “Not so bad, huh?”

“No….not really.”

“Alright,” he continued, “now stick out your tongue.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me! Stick out your tongue, and snowflakes will fall on it!”

“You’re supposed to eat it!?”

“Well, you don’t have to, but it’s fun. Watch!” Steven shut his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he’d ordered Peridot to do, unable to stop himself from laughing as a flake of snow floated down on top of it. It quickly melted as it met the warm texture. “See? Now you try!”

“Ooooh….” Peridot looked upward nervously, studying the falling snowflakes. “Um….okay. I guess it wouldn’t hurt, uh….”

And with that, the green grem slowly and awkwardly stuck out her tongue, making a “bleh” noise as she did so. She shut her eyes tightly, and her free fist was clenched, as if she was awaiting to be punched in the stomach rather than for snow to fall. After a while of her standing there, a small flake finally made its way down on top of her tongue, melting there just as it had done with Steven’s. Once it turned to liquid, Peridot’s eyes opened again, and she smacked her lips, relishing the taste.

“Hmmm….bland.”

“It’s not exactly something that’s supposed to taste good,” Steven laughed. “Just something fun to do in the snow.”

“I suppose you’re right….” Peridot shut her eyes again, repeating the motion with a different snowflake. And another. And then another. Steven couldn’t help but burst into a fit of soft giggles as he watched his friend frantically flick her tongue out to catch snowflakes on it like a frog catching flies.

After a while, another voice was heard over the phone’s speakers. “Peridot! You out here?”

Peridot’s eyes flew open, and she looked like a deer caught in headlights for a second, the tip of her tongue still visible between her lips. She soon snapped out of her daze when a taller blue figure floated down beside her.

“Hey, Lapis!” Steven greeted his other friend. A bark responded to his voice, and although he couldn’t see her, he knew who it belonged to. “And pumpkin!”

“Oh, hey there, Steven!” Lapis grinned warmly at him and waved before turning back to Peridot. “What are you doing out here?”

“Lapis!” Peridot cheered. “Steven was telling me all I need to know about one of Earth’s most beautiful wonders: snow! Look at it! Isn’t it such a marvelous sight?”

“Uh….I guess? It’s just half-frozen water. I can do that.”

“Oh….right.” She shrugged. “Anyway, wanna help me catch snowflakes on my tongue?”

Peridot demonstrated the act for Lapis, who watched for a bit before turning to look at the tablet’s screen to give Steven a slightly confused smile. He returned it for a moment before mimicking Peridot’s actions, hoping that would give her the urge she needed. And just as he’d expected, Lapis let out a snort of laughter and shut her eyes, sticking her tongue out and waiting for a snowflake to fall there so she could see what all the fuss was about.

Chapter Text

The sound of the temple door creaking open was almost eerie in the troubled atmosphere. Footsteps slowly beating against the wooden floor didn’t sound any less foreboding, as three of the Crystal Gems stepped into their home. They were short one. And they had no idea if they’d ever seen him again.

All three of the gems were quiet for a while, not even daring to look at one another. Pearl was clutching her chest a little and still had tears flowing steadily from her eyes, making no attempt to hide them possibly because she was unable to. Amethyst immediately made for the couch and slowly brought herself down on it, the springs squeaking in the room’s silence. She sighed, looking up at the ceiling while a few teardrops made their way down her cheek and rolled over, trying to hide them.

Garnet, however, was frozen. She hadn’t said a word to anyone since she’d watched the scene unfold. It had shocked her possibly like nothing had ever done before, so much that she didn’t even know if she could speak. Her mind was racing in the same direction no matter how hard she tried to bring herself out of it.

After a while of sitting and staring at the door to the temple’s rooms, her fists began to clench, and it felt as if her whole form was on fire. Garnet brought a hand up to her aching head, air hissing out from beneath her gritted teeth as she did so. Something wasn’t right, and she knew exactly what it was.

A slender finger suddenly tapped the fusion’s shoulder, but she didn’t even have it in her to turn around. The voice she heard soon after gave who it was away anyway.

“Garnet….what do we do now?”

She wanted to turn to Pearl. She wanted to offer her advice just as she had so many other times. She wanted to give her and Amethyst a pep talk about the events, make them see that while yes, Steven had sacrificed himself to Homeworld and might never come back, there were several likely outcomes where he came home (mostly) unscathed. She wanted to use her future vision to give them helpful hints and lead them down the road to success in bringing the fourth member of the Crystal Gems home where he belonged. She wanted to be the strong leader she was supposed to be.

But she couldn’t. Her vision was hazy, and her mind felt as if it would explode any second. There was only one thing she could do, and it was something she normally wouldn’t have even thought about.

“I-I….have to go to my room.”

Without even waiting for Pearl to protest, the fusion rushed toward the door to the temple and unlocked her room, watching as the star symbol twirled around and opened to a red-toned room with vein-like tunnels and bubbled gems surrounding the space. Once she’d stepped inside, she shut the door and almost immediately began to convulse, her form fading into bouts of pink light and eventually bursting. Two smaller gems thudded to the ground on opposite sides of one another, one letting out a yelp and the other remaining silent even as her frail body collided with stone.

Ruby, who had fallen on her back when Garnet unfused, quickly sat upright, wincing and rubbing her forehead. “Wh….”

Shaking her head, the red gem was alerted to a noise in front of her. Squinting her eyes that were still trying to focus, she finally caught sight of Sapphire. She was sitting a few feet in front of her, hunched over with her back turned. Her powder blue hair covered up nearly everything from Ruby’s point of view, but she could hear her long, guttural sobs choking from her throat as if she was being suffocated.

Eyes shooting wide open and heart lurching at the sight, Ruby clambered to her feet and ran toward the other gem. “Sapphire!” she called, immediately pulling her into a comforting embrace from behind.

Sapphire didn’t even turn around to look at Ruby. For once, she couldn’t even do that. Shards of ice began to form around the end of her dress, showing that she was becoming physically and emotionally frozen in place. All she could do was wail as her partner held her close, trying her hardest not to tear up as well and risk upsetting Sapphire even more than she already was.

After stroking her arm and nuzzling her face into her neck, Ruby decided to whisper some comforting words to her partner. “It’s gonna be, okay, Sapphire. I’m sure we’ll find Steven…..right?”

Still sobbing, Sapphire tried her hardest to reply. “I-I….I hope so….but I don’t know.”

Her reaction caused a dread to creep upon Ruby, and she gulped, feeling the ground underneath her grow hot at her discomfort. “Wh-What do you mean by that….? Is he….gonna….y-y’know-”

“I don’t know.”

It wasn’t the answer she was expecting, but it still sent a chill of confusion and fear through the red gem’s form. “You don’t know….?”

A sigh left Sapphire’s throat, and she gently wriggled ever so slightly out of Ruby’s embrace so she could turn around. She moved her bangs away from her face to reveal her single blue eye, bloodshot from crying already and tears still running from it like a rainstorm.

“I don’t know,” she whimpered, holding back more sobs. “I….can’t see anything. It’s all a blur. I….I didn’t even know he was going to….” Sapphire failed at concealing a loud, choking noise, bringing her hand to her mouth to avoid more. “My future vision just….stopped.”

The burning sensation in Ruby’s feet only grew at the other gem’s confession, and she found herself at a loss for words. “I….it….wh-what?”

“It isn’t working,” Sapphire spoke again, trying to calm herself but not doing a very good job of it. “I noticed it was a little hazy when Steven let that Topaz fusion take him, but I didn’t think much of it. There was still an outcome where we won, but now that I look back on it, maybe that was just me hoping for the best.” She looked down at her hands, balling them into fists. “Garnet should have been able to stop this. I should have been able to stop this. I let this happen. I-It’s….all my fault.”

“No, no, no! Sapphire! I….that’s….uhhhh….” Ruby was quick to speak as her partner erupted into more sobs but found herself getting lost among her own words due to her boiling nerves. The red gem took a deep breath to cool herself down (quite literally) before reaching a hand out to gently touch the other’s shoulder.

“Sapphire…..look at me.”

The blue gem did so, slowly bringing her face up to stare into Ruby’s eyes with her own large icy one. Her partner used this as an opportunity to reach out her other hand, positioning it right under Sapphire’s chin so that their gazes would remain locked. She found her thumb gently rubbing the side of her cheek, feeling the tear stains there.

“It’s not your fault,” Ruby reassured her. “None of this is. Nobody saw this coming.”

“B-But….I should have.” Sapphire’s lip quivered as she replied. “This is what I was made for, and I failed to do it. How is it not my fault?”

Ruby looked appalled at the response. “Because you just said your future vision wasn’t working!”

“But it should have been.”

“That’s out of your control!”

“It normally isn’t.”

“But it was this time! Didn’t you try to see more outcomes?”

“Yes, but I should have tried harder.”

“You were under a lot of stress! I’m sure you tried as hard as you could.”

“No, I didn’t. It didn’t work, so I obviously wasn’t trying hard enough.”

“B-But….you didn’t mean for this to happen, Sapphire. It’s not your fault!”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t, Ruby. Can you see that I’ve-”

“Why won’t you just listen to me!?” Ruby’s voice exploded, tall flames bursting around her form for a brief second like fireworks. Sapphire gasped and took a step backward, flinching away from her partner’s burning touch.

After the outburst, Ruby was quick to realize that she’d lost her temper. The fire around her instantly burned out, leaving nothing but smoke cascading from the scorched ground. Sapphire was covering her mouth, and her hair was still pushed out of the way to reveal her eye, single pupil round and staring at the red gem in shock. A wave of guilt washed over Ruby, and she anxiously brought a hand up to her chin, chewing at her lip.

“O-Oh no….” she breathed, feeling her body sink to the ground until she was on her knees and tears were forming at the corners of her eyes. “I….I’m so sorry, Sapphire. I….I didn’t mean to….o-oh stars….I’m-”

“It’s okay.”

“H-Huh?” Ruby looked up to face Sapphire, who was now looking at her with a different expression.

“I understand now,” she spoke quietly. “Literally no one could have seen this coming, not even someone who can look at possible outcomes of the future. It really was impossible to predict.”

“O-Oh?”

A small smile began to spread across the blue gem’s face, and she walked toward her partner, keeping their gazes locked. “It’s no one’s fault that this happened. Sometimes things are too shocking even for me to predict. I guess I was focusing too hard on what I could have done and beating myself up over it, when in reality, I should have been thinking of what I can do now to solve the problem, future vision or not.”

Ruby, still rather ashamed of herself, brought a hand up to wipe the small tears dripping down her face and half-forced a smile. “Y-Yeah. That sounds like it….”

“And I mean,” Sapphire said with a small giggle, “this isn’t the first time something outside of my realm of possibilities took me by surprise, eh Ruby?”

Now that was something she couldn’t help but blush at, feeling herself heat up again but with an entirely different feeling. “Heh! N-Nope….”

However, Ruby’s little smile soon fell, and she anxiously began to rub her arm. “I really am sorry for blowing up at you like that though. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s alright.” The blue gem grinned, bringing a hand up to touch Ruby’s face as she had done to her earlier. “I was being stubborn. And you helped me realize that I was overreacting.”

“O-Okay-”

Before Ruby could say much else, she found herself being pulled into a tight but loving embrace. Sighing, she shut her eyes and combed her fingers through Sapphire’s hair, holding her as closely as she could for what felt like several minutes. After a while, both gems pulled back to look at one another again.

“Should we go back to Pearl and Amethyst?” asked Ruby, fingers still entwined in her partner’s hair.

“Yes. But first….” Sapphire leaned in to give the other gem a gentle kiss. It surprised Ruby to begin with, but she soon returned it, shutting her eyes and feeling the warmth of their love surround her.

------

When Garnet stepped back into the main room of the temple, Pearl was sitting on the couch with Amethyst. They appeared to be venting to one another before the sound of the fusion’s footsteps jolted them to attention. As soon as she was in sight, both of her teammates jumped to their feet and walked over to her.

“Garnet!” Pearl exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

“We were getting kinda worried there,” Amethyst followed up.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“Thank the stars!” Pearl sighed, and Amethyst nodded to signal that she felt the same.

The Crystal Gems stood there together for a moment in silence, all knowing what one another was thinking but too shaken to acknowledge it. Finally, Amethyst spoke up.

“So….any plans on how we’re gonna get Steven home?”

Pearl shut her eyes, as if fighting back more tears. “I honestly have no idea. I wish I did, trust me, but-”

“We’re going to get him back.”

Both gems turned to Garnet after she spoke, hope flashing in their eyes.

“Did you see any outcomes of it happening?” Pearl asked eagerly.

“No.”

A disappointed sigh left the other two gems’ throats, and Amethyst was going to speak, but Garnet held up a finger to silence her.

“But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any out there. We just have to try our best to come up with a plan to get Steven back and put faith in it. We’re a team, and we’re going to do this. Future vision or not.” She positioned her glasses downward to reveal her three eyes and winked at her teammates.

Amethyst smiled again, raising her fist in victory. “Alright! That’s the spirit!”

Pearl grinned as well, the positive words from the fusion clearly calming her down at least somewhat. “Well, a little hope never hurt anyone! So where should we begin?”

“Hmmmmm….” Garnet thought for a moment, and a knowing smile soon spread across her face. “The abandoned drop ship we found the other day while tracking that corrupted Tourmaline could prove useful.”

“Of course!” Pearl cheered, relieved. “Goodness, why didn’t I think of that old thing?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Garnet said, beaming. “Let’s just worry about getting Steven home.”

Chapter Text

From the first day their gems pop out of the crust of whatever planet they were made on, Rubies have one goal: to protect. They aren’t soldiers, such as Quartzes like Amethysts and Jaspers, but bodyguards. Although it is important that Rubies are present in certain situations, they are rather disposable. Tons of Rubies exist, millions actually, and they’re being made every second of the day.

All in all, a single Ruby doesn’t have much individuality. They normally have a short fuse, which is useful for a gem that needs to be handy in battle. If the smallest things set them into battle mode, their chances of failing are slim. However, intelligence isn’t a key factor in the role of a Ruby, unlike it is with gems such as Zircons and Aquamarines. Many actually consider them to be dull. This isn’t true in every case.

Perhaps one of the key traits to a Ruby’s existence is their desire to fuse. Since it’s always better for bodyguards to be as big as possible, fusion is an important role in these gems’ lives. Even though their tempers are short, and they might not be the brightest cut of gem, Rubies are compassionate and loyal. They get attached to those they work for and work with, for positive feelings are what creates a stable fusion. Without this protective nature, their fusions would fall apart, and they would fail at doing anything possible to protect the higher-up gems they are assigned to.

And last but not least, Rubies are warm. They are so warm that if they’re feeling a lot of emotions at once, their forms will begin to heat up. This sometimes results in mini-fires, which can be useful during battles. These gems are often referred to as the flame that surrounds and protects those it is meant to. But in order for a flame to burn, someone must light it.

Today was an important day in the life of Ruby Facet-3R2S Cut-9XG, who looked just about the same as any other gem of her type save for an outfit that had a diamond cut out of the middle of it to show off the gemstone on her naval. After she and the group of Rubies she was assigned to fight alongside had finished their Ruby-specific training sessions that began from the moment they’d all emerged, they were now making their way over to the gem they’d spend the rest of their lives protecting.

There were four other Rubies in this particular group, all of which this Ruby felt a connection to. However, they always seemed much more willing to fight and less soft-spoken. She was mostly just listening to conversation they were having on their way instead of attempting to join.

“I can’t believe we got assigned to a Morganite!” exclaimed Ruby Facet-3R2D Cut-9XV, whose gemstone was on her chest. “They’re apparently one of the most high-class, most rare, most awesome gems in all of Homeworld!”

“I know, right?” a Ruby with a gem placed over her nose known as Facet-3R2B Cut-9XC replied. “Why, I don’t even think I’ve ever even seen one!”

“You say that like we haven’t only seen other Rubies until today,” laughed 9XV.

“Ohhhh, right.”  

The other two Rubies, Facet-3R2L Cut-9XF and Facet-3R2A Cut-9XP, who had gemstones on their left and right legs respectively, giggled in response.

“We must be really good at what we do, huh?” 9XF said, nudging the gem next to her.

9XP replied with a smile. “Yeah! I mean, we’ve always been really good at keeping our fusion stable. Especially 9XG.”

The little Ruby with the gem on her navel felt her face turn warmer than it already was at her friend’s compliment, and she stifled a laugh. “Awww, stop it! You guys are just as good.”

“We’re alright,” 9XV cut in, “but you’re by far the best at the whole fusion thing. I still find myself having trouble keeping in synch sometimes, and when I do, I can just look to you and feel confident to keep going!”

“Yeah! I do that too,” 9XC laughed. “You really are the heart of our fusion, 9XG.”

“I bet it’s one hundred percent because of you that we got assigned to such a high-ranking gem,” 9XF said with a gentle smile.

All these compliments were starting to get to be a little much for the shy, sweet Ruby. “Guuuuuys,” she whined, “you’re just as good as I am! Don’t flatter me so much.”

“But why not?” 9XV asked. “You deserve it!”

Before 9XG could open her mouth, she felt herself collide with something-no, someone. She yelped, jumping backward as quickly as she could upon realizing what she’d done.

“I’m sorry!” she was quick to apologize. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I just kind of-”

Her voice was cut off abruptly as the gem who she’d run into turned around, revealing herself to the Ruby. She was tall and slender, with rose-colored skin and short bright pink hair that spiked up around the front and edges. Her outfit was a magenta leotard with see-through pale carnation shawl around her shoulders that covered the circular gem on her chest. When she turned around, her fuschia eyes opened and instantly locked with the Ruby’s brown ones.

Flustered by this gem’s appearance, 9XG felt herself freeze, or perhaps that wouldn’t be the correct term to use seeing that she was starting to scorch the ground underneath her feet as her form heated up more than usual. But how could she help herself? The gem in front of her was unlike any she had ever seen before. She was so elegant, so tall, so….beautiful. This had to be Morganite.

Snapping back to reality, the Ruby shook her head to collect her thoughts. “I-I’m sorry, Morganite!” she gasped, saluting to the gem in front of her.

The pink gem looked confused for a few second, narrowing her eyes and cocking her head to the side. 9XG only grew warmer, heating up with anxiety that she’d done something wrong on the first day. Then, a lightbulb seemed to go off in the gem’s head, and she let a small, sing-songy laugh escape from her throat.

“O-Oh! Stars, I’m not my Morganite,” she giggled. “I’m just her Pearl. I’ve come to collect the Rubies who have recently been assigned to her.”

A Pearl!? This gem was a Pearl !? Although the newly hired Ruby had never seen a Pearl, she’d heard about their role in Homeworld’s society. They were among the lowest ranking of gems, ones that were mass produced and treated more as objects. Sure, she’d heard that they were meant to sit around and look pretty, but she never knew that a Pearl could be that pretty. Maybe it was because she’d spent her only moments alive strictly around Rubies, but this was by far the most gorgeous gem she’d ever laid eyes on and would be pretty hard to beat.

While contemplating what she’d heard, 9XG felt a tap on her shoulder and heard 9XV whisper to her. “Pssst, 9XG. The ground.”

“H-Huh?” she squeaked, flipping around only to realize the smoke starting to cascade from her feet. Leaping into the air, the Ruby let out another sharp squeal and tried her hardest to cool down in every sense of the word. Once the small flames had stopped spreading, she panted and looked back up at the Pearl, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of everything she’d done in front of her. However, the pink gem only looked amused.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Uhhhh….yes! I am. Alright. Heh.” The little Ruby laughed nervously and grinned.

The Pearl let out another small chuckle. “That’s good. Follow me.” She motioned for the surrounding Rubies to walk after her, and they did so.

As the group of red gems followed the Pearl, 9XG found herself making an effort to walk more alongside her than her fellow teammates. Maybe it was because she was suddenly interested in talking to other types of gems or because she felt the need to make up for their rather awkward introduction, but she wanted another chance to say more to her.

“S-So….” she began, drumming her fingers together, “what’s Morganite like?”

The pink gem’s eyes grew wide and magenta blush spread across her face. She looked as if she wasn’t expecting any of the Rubies to speak to her. “She’s….wonderful. Working for her is a joy,” the Pearl answered, but something seemed off about her reply, as if there was underlying tension she didn’t want to speak of.

Frowning, 9XG decided to change the subject. “I’m excited to see more of Homeworld. I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“It certainly is something.” The Pearl flashed 9XG a smile that made her feel like she might set the floor on fire again.

“That’s good,” she sighed happily. “Is there a chance that we’ll, uh….see one another often?”

When the Ruby asked that question, the Pearl’s eyes seemed to light up. “I….I’m not sure. But I hope so. Y-You’re….nice to talk to. I don’t get to talk much.”

“Awww, why not?” asked 9XG. “I talk to the other Rubies all the time! Don’t you talk to Morganite?”

“Well….I-”

“Pearl!”

A shrill voice sounded from in front of the gems, causing the Pearl and Rubies to lurch in fear and surprise. Moving her gaze toward the voice’s source, 9XG found herself standing in front of a gem much taller and much more intimidating than any she’d ever seen. She wore a long frilly dress with a bow in the back, had skin a slightly darker shade of pink than the Pearl’s, and her dusty rose-colored hair was styled into a bun. Her eyes were narrowed and staring downward disapprovingly, right at the Pearl.

“M-My Morganite!” the Pearl yelped in shock, immediately giving her a curtsey.

“What did I tell you about being chatty?” she sneered.

The pink gem’s expression fell, and she looked to the ground, crestfallen. “I’m sorry, my Morganite.”

“Good.” The intimidating gem, now revealed to be the Morganite 9XG and the other Rubies were assigned to, turned her stare to scorch the little red gems surrounding her Pearl. “And you must be the new Rubies. You will instantly take your posts outside my door until it is time for us to travel to a meeting with the rest of Blue Diamond’s court. Understood?”

“Yes, Morganite,” the Rubies replied in unison, 9XG coming in a little too late which she could tell Morganite noticed.

“Very well. Come.” Turning around and motioning for the Rubies to follow, Morganite led them to her door. The Pearl gave one last shy glance toward 9XG before taking her place beside the taller gem, looking nowhere else but ahead.

As they traveled to their posts, 9XG found herself fixated on the Pearl again, even after meeting the gem who she was meant to be a bodyguard to. Although Morganite definitely had a powerful aura, she wasn’t quite what the Ruby had been expecting. When she heard of a gem that she’d spend her life fighting for, she pictured someone kind and gentle who treated her with the same respect she got from her teammates. The gem she’d been assigned to….scared her. She also wasn’t too fond of the way she’d spoken to her Pearl. 9XG couldn’t understand the idea of having such a beautiful gem by your side at all times and not cherishing her every existence.

The Ruby sighed, still staring at the Pearl. She wanted so badly to continue their conversation but didn’t want to get her in trouble again. Something told 9XG that she wanted to talk to her too.

“Checking out that Pearl, huh 9XG?” The voice of her teammate startled her, and the little Ruby turned around to see 9XV giving her a smirk.

“Oh! Yeah….she’s really nice.” 9XG felt her face start to grow warmer again.

“Heh. Isn’t she? I’d shatter someone for a Pearl like that,” 9XV snickered. “But hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll get your own someday.”

Frowning, she looked away from the other Ruby. “Yeah. Maybe.”

But 9XG didn’t want this Pearl. Not in that way at least. She didn’t want to own her as if she was some sort of object, but instead, she wanted to be there for her and show her the kindness that it seemed nobody else ever had. This Pearl was beautiful and so very nice. She deserved to be told that. She deserved to be treated like her own gem. She deserved to experience friendship, fusion, everything the Rubies had with one another and more. She deserved to be loved. And this little Ruby wanted to be the one to give her all of that.

Although Ruby Facet-3R2S Cut-9XG was meant to be part of the flame that would protect Morganite, all she could think about was how she would do absolutely anything for the gem she was assigned to’s Pearl.

Chapter Text

Lars was never really one for fancy clothes. Sure, he’d wear a suit if he absolutely had to or put on a Barong to make his dad happy, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He’d even find himself skipping out on events that require dressing up, such as his high school prom. Okay, maybe he didn’t go to prom because he knew he’d spend the whole time feeling anxious and awkward beyond belief, but the suit thing still played a small part in it. The point was that he knew next to nothing about any kind of formal wear whatsoever unless it were cool space pirate clothes.

Maybe he should’ve thought about that before agreeing to marry Ronaldo.

Well, of course he didn’t want to back out of the wedding because he didn’t know how to pick an outfit. He loved this guy with all his heart and wanted to spend the rest of his life, however long that might last, with him. But part of him wished it was socially acceptable to get married in a t-shirt and jeans. Maybe a cape if he felt like it.

“What about these?” Ronaldo asked, sitting at their kitchen table and using his laptop to scroll through the website they would be ordering their suits from. “The colors seem to match up with what we have in mind.”

“Oh, those are beautiful!” Martha chimed in, looking over her soon-to-be son-in-law’s shoulder. “Lars, you would look so wonderful in that tux.”

Screwing up his face, Lars began to scan the page. Displayed in front of him were the images of two tuxedos, one with a purple tie and the other with a blue one, a perfect match for their space-themed wedding. However, they still didn’t satisfy him.

“I call dibs on the purple one,” Ronaldo snickered, turning his gaze to Lars. “What do you think?”

Lars frowned. “They uh….sure do look like suits.”

“You’ve said that about everything we’ve seen,” Dante said with a frown, piping up from behind his son.

“Well, am I wrong?” he spat, sinking down in the chair he’d pulled up and placed next to his fiance’s.

“No, but they’re supposed to be suits,” his father continued. “Why are you acting like this? Finding out what to wear was one of the funnest parts of planning your mother and I’s wedding.”

“Oh, can I show him our pictures again?” Martha requested.

“Mom, I’ve seen those things a thousand times,” Lars sighed. “You’re wearing that flowery hippie dress, and dad has on a Baraong, and you look like you’re about to give birth to me before the two of you can even tie the knot.”

“And I almost did,” she replied with a smile.

“Nice to know that.” The space pirate rolled his eyes before turning back to Ronaldo. “Find anything else?”

“Hmmmm….well, if you don’t like the classic black tuxes, we could go with some colored ones! Look at these.” He clicked on a link that pulled up images of two tacky bright purple and cyan tuxes.

Lars grimaced. “Ugh, no. We’d blind everyone.”

“I’m sure I can find something darker-”

“Ronnieeeee,” Lars whined, burying his head in his fiance’s shoulder, “can we do this laaateeer?”

“You said that yesterday, Lars,” the blond boy sighed, looking down at the other and adjusting his glasses.

A long groan left his throat in response, the kind that a bored little boy would give after his mom told him he couldn’t buy candy, and he threw his head back dramatically.

“Laramie,” his dad scolded, “don’t do this.”

“But this is taking so loooong!”

“That’s because you keep shooting down everything he offers!”

“It’s not my fault Ron’s showing me lame suits!” He crossed his arms. “Then again, I don’t know what I expected from someone who still wears a fedora sometimes.”

“Hey!” Ronaldo retorted. “I’m right here.”

“Lars,” Martha spoke calmly, cutting Dante off before he could say anything else, “why don’t you look for something yourself then?”

“Because I wouldn’t know what to look for.”

“Just type some key words of what you want in the search bar and hit the enter key,” Ronaldo explained, scooting his chair over to let Lars take control of his laptop.

“Ugh, fine.” The space captain rolled his eyes and placed his hands on the keyboard, letting them drum against it while thinking of what he wanted to type. “Let’s see….cool….comfortable….blue….suit….with skulls on it. And a glow-in-the-dark bowtie. And a cape. There.”

He tapped the enter key and smiled smugly while the screen processed his request. However, that grin soon turned into a disappointed scowl when they came up with nothing. Frustrated beyond belief, Lars let out another long, angry moan.

“What the fuck!? How is there nothing like that out there if they have soooo many options?!”

“Laramie! Watch your language!” Dante gasped.

“I’m 24 years old and getting married, dad. I can say fu-”

“Lars, honey, I don’t think you’re going to find anything like what you typed in,” Martha cut in, glancing to her husband as if this was something he wanted her to say. “Although that sounds like a very….interesting request and something you would look very nice in, it’s not exactly….wedding attire.”

“Your mother’s right,” his dad followed up. “You need a nice suit, Laramie. You can’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt or….whatever that is you looked up to your own wedding! You’re going to-”

“Why not?”

A voice startled Dante mid-sentence. However, it wasn’t who he thought it would be. Both him and his wife turned to look at Ronaldo, who was glaring them both down.

“That’s….just….I mean-”

“I don’t see why it really matters what we wear,” Ronaldo continued, giving Lars a small grin. “I’m not too big on suits either. Sure, I’ll wear them if I have to, but I don’t have a huge attachment to them or anything. Honestly, I’d rather wear something more personal to us, and if that’s something with skulls and glow-in-the-dark stuff all over it, then hey. That’s fine with me!”

Pleasantly shocked by the sentiment, Lars glanced up at his fiance. “Ronnie, are you sure you really want to do this?”

Ronaldo almost immediately burst into laughter. “Lars, please! I literally run a blog called Keep Beach City Weird . Now that you mention it, I feel like it’d be a crime for me to wear something traditional to my own wedding.”

The pink boy couldn’t help but laugh along with his partner, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the agreement. However, Dante was still looking down at them with what was somewhere in-between disappointment and confusion.

“Okay, I know it’s your wedding and all, but if you don’t like any of these options, then where are you going to find more?” he said with a scowl. “This is the most selective website for this stuff I could find! I don’t know anywhere that has capes or skulls or-”

“Honey, you seem to have forgotten a very important detail here,” Martha interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you remember how many clothes I’ve made myself? Even ones for you and Lars! It’d be an honor for me to make something my baby boy could wear to his wedding.”

“Ooh, you sew, Mrs. Barriga!?” Ronaldo exclaimed, eyes glistening with excitement. “So do I! I don’t like to brag, but I’m quite the master of all things cosplay, if I might say so myself.”

“Really? Then you’ll have to help me out! It is your wedding, after all,” she laughed before glancing back to her husband. “So, what do you say, Dante? Wanna let these kids have fun for once?”

Everyone looked to him with pleading faces and large eyes that resembled those of a sad puppy. At first, his expression stayed as stubborn as ever, but after a while, it began to soften. Finally, a smile spread across his lips, and he chuckled lightheartedly.

“Oh, what the heck! We’d probably save a fortune doing this that could go to other parts of the wedding, so how could I be against it? And besides, I suppose it’d be a little out of character if the wedding for a spaceman like you was one hundred percent normal.”

“Alright!” Lars said, beaming and leaping upright in his chair. “Thanks dad! You’re the best.”

A thick layer of blush stretched across Dante’s face upon receiving his son’s compliment, as if it was something he didn’t hear a lot.

“So, should we start looking up fabrics to work with?” Ronaldo asked, glancing to Martha.

“Did you forget who owns the fabric store, Ronnie?” She cocked an eyebrow and motioned to herself in case he really did.

“Ohhhh, right! Wow, this really is the perfect idea.”

“Yep!” Her eyes suddenly grew even wider as if a thought was creeping into her head. “I’ve got something in mind already, actually. Let me go get our catalogue!”

Martha got to her feet and walked toward her room, Dante following suit but only after giving his son a firm pat on the shoulder. Once the two of them were gone, Lars looked to Ronaldo a little nervously.

“Sorry for making such a big deal out of this,” he sighed. “I’m just not the biggest fan of suits and stuff. They make my legs look boney.”

“Babe, your legs look boney with or without a suit,” Ronaldo joked, earning him a playful nudge to the side from Lars. “But really, it’s fine! I mean, like your dad said, our wedding is space-themed, and the groomsmaids are a bunch of aliens. Whatever we come up with will fit its general aesthetic better than anything that crummy old site has to offer.”

Lars smiled warmly, leaning his head onto his fiance’s shoulder again and nuzzling into his neck. “Awww, thanks Ron. You really are a sweetheart.”

“Takes one to know one,” he chuckled, kissing Lars’ forehead.

They sat there like that for a few more seconds, waiting for Martha to return with the catalogue, but Lars suddenly broke the silence.

“Hey Ronnie?”

“Yeah?”

“.......I can wear a cape to our wedding, right?”

“You can wear whatever your heart desires.”

“Sweet.”

Chapter Text

Steven gasped for air as his head poked out from the portal, breathing in the sweet relief of not feeling smothered by a thousand pink hairs. He eventually found himself tumbling onto something soft that bounced when he hit it, definitely a mattress. And of course, he couldn’t ignore the disgruntled screech from the friend whose hair he’d just emerged from.

“Steven!?” Lars yelled, panicked. He’d been sitting on his bed when the other magical boy dropped in, thankfully with clothes on but just a t-shirt and sweatpants, nothing he’d wear outside or in space. “What are you doing here, man!? Are you gonna keep doing this to me on Earth too?”

“No!” Steven was quick to defend himself, hopping to his feet. “I just realized you left these at the temple yesterday when you and the Off Colors came to visit.” He reached into his pocket, fishing around until he eventually pulled out Lars’ beloved skull gauges. Smiling, he offered them to his friend. “You must’ve forgot to put them in your pocket after taking them off to wear those pink ones I got you.”

The space pirate took the two glow-in-the-dark accessories from the boy’s hand and put them on his bedside table, right next to the glistening rose gauges Steven had mentioned. “Thanks,” he sighed, trying to fake a smile. However, his friend was quick to catch on to how his eyes looked red and puffy and how his voice sounded drained and tired.

“Wait,” Steven said, looking a little confused, “are you alright, Lars?”

Noticing his emotions had been read, Lars almost instantly spat back a cover-up. “Of course I’m alright! What makes you think I’m not? I’m just….startled after you burst out of my head without warning. That’s all.” He looked away and sniffed up a drop of snot that had been about to fall from his nostril.

Steven didn’t even say anything. The younger boy just gave his friend a look that told him he hadn’t believed a word he said, and Lars immediately knew he wouldn’t be getting any alone time until he explained what was eating away at him. He heaved a deep sigh, glaring down to the ground.

“Okay, fine. I’m sad. Happy now?” he grumbled, wiping mostly dried tears from his face with his right sleeve.

The younger boy frowned, climbing up to sit next to Lars and pat him on the back. “Awww, what’s wrong? Did you miss your skull gauges?”

Lars couldn’t help but chuckle at the question, shaking his head. “Nah. It’s just….pink zombie stuff.”

“What do you mean pink zombie stuff?”

The space pirate opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it, turning away slightly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Lars, trust me, as the only half-gem half-human hybrid in the galaxy, I think I’ll understand more than you think,” Steven assured him.

Thinking for a moment, Lars blinked and rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t help at all! You’re still different from me.”

Steven’s mouth gaped open a bit as he started to realize what his friend might be getting at. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just….I don’t fit in on Earth anymore, Steven.” Lars sighed again, holding his head in his hands and staring at his feet. “I mean, I never did anyway, but now it’s even worse! I’m not a human, I’m not a gem, I’m just….whatever this is. Hanging out with Sadie and the cool kids and even freakin’ Ronaldo is so weird now because of how different I am from them! They still need to eat and sleep every day and do all the human stuff that I haven’t done in months. Try having to tell someone that you’re too full to go out for pizza because you ate a little under a week ago and see how they react. It ain’t fun.”

“What about the Off Colors?” Steven suggested. “They don’t need to eat or sleep or do human stuff. Plus, you hung out with them for a long time in space!”

“I don’t know,” he replied, running a hand through the poof of hair on his head. “Ever since they’ve had a chance to meet other gems, it seems like they’re drawn to them more. It makes sense because they’re just like them, but sometimes it feels like they don’t need me now. They have friends of their own kind. Why would they?”

Gasping at what Lars said, Steven was quick to cut in. “Lars! You know that’s not true! The Off Colors love you! You’re their captain and friend and so much more. And so do the Crystal Gems! And your parents, Sadie, the cool kids and….wait, actually, I don’t know about Ronaldo-”

“We talked it out.”

“Then him too! And me! You’re really important to me Lars. So what if I need to eat and sleep more than you, and so what if I’m kind of a gem? Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we can’t be friends!” Steven smiled at him, hoping to get a similar reaction.

For a fraction of a second, a grin began to spread across the pink boy’s lips. However, it didn’t take long for it to fall and for him to glance away from Steven again.

“I appreciate that, but it’s still not the same. It’d just be nice to at least know one other person like me, y’know? Then maybe I could stop feeling so….weird.” He looked down to his hands, flexing his fingers and studying their pink hue.

Steven was going to lean over and offer another comforting pat to Lars’ shoulder, but before he could, the perfect idea popped into his head. Gasping upon the thought, he jumped off the bed as a sudden excitement and urgency took over his body. The space pirate noticed this and appeared confused.

“What?”

“Laaaaaaars!” Steven yelled in delight, grabbing the older boy’s hands and dragging him up to stand on his feet. “I know what’ll cheer you up! Come with me! Now!”

“Whoa, wait a sec!” Lars yanked his hands back and away from the other’s grasp. “Where are you going to find another pink undead portal person or whatever I am? I thought I was the only human you’ve ever brought back to life.”

“It’s not a person, don’t worry! Well, I mean, it kind of is, but it’s….just trust me!” Steven held out a hand to Lars and raised his eyebrows. “I doubt you’ll be disappointed.”

Although this whole ordeal seemed just a little sketchy, saying no to Steven was getting harder and harder for Lars. Sighing in defeat, he took the hand of the younger boy and immediately felt himself being dragged down the stairs as quickly as he could be.

Waving to Mr. and Mrs. Barriga as he pulled their son out the door at the speed of light, Steven raced down the boardwalk with Lars trailing behind him. He thought he heard his friend say something about his wrist breaking, but he didn’t have time to stop and make sure. This was a very important mission to cheer up a very important person!

Once they’d reached the outside of the temple, Steven stopped and let go of the pink boy’s hand. Lars gripped it almost immediately, hissing. “What the heck, Steven!? I think you just broke my arm!”

“Oh. Sorry about that. I just got really excited,” the boy laughed, running a hand down his neck.

“Yeah, I can tell.” Lars, still clutching his strained hand, began to search the shore with his eyes. “So why’d you bring me out here? Did you wanna watch the sunset or something? Because that’s not for another hour or two.”

“Nope! I just want you to meet one of my best friends who you have quite a bit in common with.” Steven looked around for who he wanted Lars to meet but couldn’t make out any traces of him. Oh well. He knew exactly how to get him to appear.

“Where are they?” asked Lars, interrupting his thoughts.

“Hold on!” And with that, Steven cupped his hands around his mouth and let loose with a loud call. “Liiiiiioooooon!!!”

On cue, the ground beneath Lars began to shake a little, and he jumped back in fear and confusion as he noticed something running up behind Steven. Before he could warn his friend, believing it to be a corrupted gem or something dangerous, he realized that it was something a little more familiar.

“Wait! Is that….?”

“Lars, I want you to meet my friend, Lion! Well, I know you’ve already seen him around, but I want you to get to know him!” Steven announced as a big pink lion strutted up right behind him, nuzzling Steven’s shoulder with his face and licking his cheek. The boy began to giggle, petting the big cat underneath his chin. “No, silly! Go talk to Lars!”

The lion heard his owner’s request and turned around, slowly stalking toward the older boy. Although he was sure this animal was (somehow) domesticated, a surge of fear still spiked at Lars’ spine when he saw an actual lion staring him down. He held out his hand, hoping petting him would work just like it did with any other cat. Thankfully, Lion took this offer as a chance to sniff at the pink boy’s fingers, familiarizing himself with his scent. After a bit of sniffing, he began to lap his tongue over Lars’ hand.

“H-Hey!” he gasped, unable to stop himself from chuckling at the tickling sensation. “Stop i-AHH!!!”

Lars suddenly felt a huge paw around his back and found himself being flung into the big cat’s grasp. He started to panic at first, unsure of what as to come but calmed down slightly when he instead felt the tongue that had previously been slurping his fingers move to his head, grooming his poof of rose pink hair.

“Awwww!” Steven exclaimed. “He thinks you’re a little kitten!”

Unable to stop himself from laughing again at Lion’s antics and realizing that this experience wasn’t that bad after all, he balanced himself by putting a hand on the animal’s chest. “H-Heh! You sure do like licking people, huh?” Getting a little nervous again, Lars looked back to Steven. “He doesn’t bite, does he?”

“Not at all!” the boy reassured him, grinning widely and walking over to give the big cat a pet on the main. “I met Lion a few years ago in a magical desert. Back when I found him, I had no idea where he came from other than knowing he used to belong to my mom.”

“How did you know that?” Lars asked, feeling his heart warm up when he heard a deep purr rumbling in Lion’s chest.

The question made Steven smile. “Because one day, I discovered that he had a little dimension in his mane with a lot of my mom’s stuff in it! And that dimension happens to be the same one I use to get to you!”

It didn’t take long for what Steven was saying to sink in. During his time on Earth before the abduction, Lars had seen him hanging around with his pet pink lion. He’d always assumed it was some kind of weird gem creature he knew nothing about and didn’t think too much of it.

Then his mind wandered to the day he was revived, when Steven was explaining just how he could get to him from Earth. He had to admit the whole thing was a blur, and that he kind of just went with the fact that it was something the boy could do without reading into it too much until now. But looking back on it, he remembered Steven’s long-winded explanation involving a lion. And now, he was finally getting a chance to meet that lion or at least do so after they had something in common.

Lion stopped giving Lars a tongue bath, allowing the pink human to look up and stare into the animal’s eyes. He looked back at him, staring for a while before blinking, a sign of acceptance among cats and humans. Then, he lowered his head to snuggle against Lars’ shoulder, letting out a content snort and closing his eyes. Feeling a tear slide down his cheek and not knowing if it was from the touching situation or just because cute cats made him emotional, the pink human gently touched his head to the pink lion’s and started to stroke the soft fur of his mane.

“I guess I spoke too soon when I said there isn’t anything like me, huh?” he said, glancing back up at Steven.

“Nope!” The boy sat down next to his two pink friends. “If you’re ever feeling lonely and need to talk to someone about pink zombie stuff, feel free to come visit Lion any time. You just have to stand out here and call his name, and if he doesn’t come right away, get me. He always comes when I call him. Well, most of the time.”

Lars glanced back to Lion, who was starting to doze off with his paws wrapped about him. Not that he minded. He didn’t have anywhere to be, and although it wasn’t time for the sun to set yet, he kind of wanted to stick around until it did. Who could pass up the chance to watch the sunset with a good friend and his super cuddly pet lion?

He turned his attention back to Steven, who had nuzzled against Lion’s belly. “Hey, Steven?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for doing this for me. I know I kinda got on your case for helping me in the past, but stuff like this is….honestly kinda nice.” Lars flashed his friend a warm grin.

Steven returned his friendly smile. “No prob, Lars! I’m always down to help you out. From one not-really-a-human, not-really-a-gem thing to another!”

Lars chuckled lightheartedly, looking back to the gentle blue sky and quiet sea in front of him and leaning back against Lion’s furry chest. “Yeah….oh, and Steven?”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry, but I think I might have to steal your lion.”

Chapter Text

Space was cold. Of course, Lapis knew that. She’d been more or less stranded here countless times before, more than she cared to remember. Perhaps it was because Earth was so warm when she’d left. She missed that warmth.

Not wanting to stray too far from the planet she’d been living on yet, Lapis had picked a spot on one of Earth’s moons to dwell. She’d carefully lodged the barn in a crater, making sure it would stay put. Sure, once the Diamonds did come to attack, she would have to move farther away from the planet, but she didn’t want to until she had to. Her new location was far away enough to give her the right amount of escape time before anything like that happened.

It had been a few days since she’d fled with the barn, leaving her friends behind. A pang of worry still struck her every time she thought about them. She wished she’d been able to convince them to come with her, and that they could all be together now, safe and sound. Part of her almost felt like she’d failed to save them.

But after thinking on it for a while, she realized that wasn’t true. Steven was very capable of fighting his own battles, especially with the rest of the Crystal Gems there with him. She wasn’t sure if Peridot could, however. She’d never really been given the chance. However, she remembered how determined her friend sounded before she’d left her there and thinking of that calmed her down.

Lapis couldn’t fight, though. There was so way. If anything, she’d just freeze on the battlefield and bring the team down with her whining and panicking. Her friends didn’t need her there. It was better for everyone that she left. Hopefully, they realized that by now.

The water gem was currently inside the barn, lying across the hammock she’d put there in order to get some rest. Sleep was perhaps her favorite thing about Earth, but she could still do that in space. Maybe. She hadn’t been able to for a few days, always on edge or too cold or thinking she heard something that could possibly be a ship coming to wipe her off the Earth moon just as they would have wiped her off the planet itself.

There was too much on her mind as well. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the faces of Peridot and Steven when she’d taken one last look at them. As much as she loved and wanted to remember her friends on Earth, she wished she could forget that. Their eyes had been wide with shock and disappointment, staring up at her as if they thought she was going to turn around any second, and everything would be okay.

They wanted nothing more than for her to stay on Earth and fight alongside them and the rest of the Crystal Gems. Both her roommate and her best friend loved her, and they actually believed in her. Nobody had ever said anything like what Peridot had told her before she left. She’d never had anyone openly believe in her so much, and she just knew Steven felt the same way. Those two really did care about her.

But they shouldn’t. She’d let them down. She hurt them, just like she’d hurt Steven’s dad and Jasper and so many others. It didn’t matter how much they believed in her because she didn’t deserve it. She deserved to be out here in space with nothing but the stars and a barn full of memories to keep her company.

Lapis heaved a sigh, looking around at the various structures her and Peridot had created to decorate the barn they once called home. She did feel a little bad for taking her friend’s living space, but there was no way she could’ve left without anything to remember her times on Earth by. It was either this or Pumpkin, and her vegetable pet clearly didn’t want to go with her and seemed much happier with Peridot. It was a shame, though. She really did miss hearing the excited yips of the small sentient pumpkin, no matter how much they annoyed her with she was trying to sleep.

After she found herself so far away from her old home in the countryside, Lapis realized that she missed a lot of things about Earth. She missed the scenery, of course. There was always something relaxing about living somewhere with so much organic life. She really missed their crops, although Peridot had been the one to maintain them mostly. All Lapis did was water them, but it was apparently enough to get her attached to the rows of vegetables.

She missed flying too. Of course, she could fly all around the galaxy, but it wasn’t like flying all around Earth. There was just so much to see there: the tall buildings, the large bodies of water, the leafy forests that changed with the seasons….out here it was just a bunch of stars and planets that always stayed the same. It was beautiful in space but not as beautiful to the water gem as everything her old planet had to offer.

Most importantly, Lapis missed her friends. When she was on Earth, she really only ever referred to Steven and Peridot as such, but after leaving, she began to realize that she actually missed the other Crystal Gems too. Sure, she saw them less, but they still had a presence. She’d been meaning to get to know them better. Sure it didn’t seem like they hated her, but it was obvious that Peridot had more of a relationship with them, and it kind of made Lapis feel left out.

Mere days before she decided to move on to space, she’d been meaning to ask if she could hang out with Peridot and Amethyst. The purple Quartz and her roommate seemed close, so Lapis felt like she had more of a chance warming up to her first. Then she’d talk to Pearl. And then Garnet, whose ability to stay fused at all times kind of intimidated her to begin with, but she knew the leader of the Crystal Gems was kind by what Steven had told her.

There really were a lot of opportunities she’d missed out on. She was just starting to actually move on and recover from her many years trapped in the mirror and many months trapped in a toxic fusion. She was ready to take all her problems by the reins and change her life for good. She was going to open up to more gems and make friends other than the two she already had. She was so determined to get better. She was almost better….

But then this happened. And now she was back to square one.

She would never get better now.

Groaning, Lapis suddenly spread her wings and flew from her hammock as quickly as she could, leaving the barn behind for a few minutes. She needed some fresh atmosphere. Shuddering as the chill of space pricked at her form, the water gem flew into the starry background and looked down at what was orbiting below her. There it was. The planet she had abandoned.

She looked down at the orb of greens, blues, browns and white, flapping her wings occasionally to keep her balance. It looked so wonderful down there, so freeing and beautiful. And she knew by experience that it was. Every fiber of her being wanted to fly down to the planet with the barn and reunite with the friends she left and try to get to know the ones she wasn’t sure about, but of course, she could never do that. It was too late.

They probably hate me now anyway….not that they shouldn’t.

Fighting back tears, Lapis floated in the atmosphere for a while, staring down at the planet she wanted so much to call her home but couldn’t. At least she could still look at it and hope that everything on it was alright.

Chapter Text

“Did you find anything, Lars?”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but I don’t see any.”

“Then you’re not looking hard enough!”

The space captain groaned. He was standing over the large chair in the middle of his ship that he normally sat in. However, he wasn’t the one who occupied it at the moment. Martha was sitting there and having her son carefully comb through her long, ginger hair with his fingers.

When Steven let it slip that Lars’ mother seemed down lately, he was quick to request that she come visit him and the Off Colors for a while. Of course, she couldn’t stay for more than an hour for her own safety, but he assumed that a visit to see him might cheer her up. Perhaps she was so sad because she missed having her son around the house. Although that was true, he soon found out that it wasn’t what was really messing with her head.

When asked about her current state of melancholy, Martha told her son and his crew a story that took place about a week ago, when Steven had first brought up her change in demeanor. The other day, when she was combing her hair to get ready for work at the fabric shop she owned, his mother had noticed something in her hairbrush that would send her into a week-long panic. Something she dreaded. Something she never wanted to see. Something….gray.

“Are you sure you found a gray hair?” Lars asked again, crossing his arms. “I’ve been looking at your hair for like thirty minutes, and it looks as red as ever!”

“First of all, Lars, it’s silver . Not gray.”

“Oh. Right.”

“And second of all, there’s no way it was anyone else’s! Your father doesn’t have enough hair left to brush.” She sunk down into the chair, sighing. “It’s time to face it. My glory days are coming to an end. Your ma’s turning into an old woman.”

“Awwww, c’mon!” Lars gave his mom’s shoulder a gentle pat. “You’re not that old! I mean, you’re only like….what, somewhere in your late 60’s?”

A sudden frown spread across her lips. “I’m 57….”

“Ohhh….oopsie! Sorry ‘bout that.”

Martha groaned again, giving her son a cold stare. “Sure you are.”

Lars gritted his teeth, momentarily panicked. He wanted to help his mother just as she’d helped him through many a crisis in the past, but he had no idea what to say. What would he know about age? According to Steven, he could very well still look like a teenager when he turned 75!

After racking his brain for a moment, something popped into the captain’s head. “Hey! Even if you’re getting a little older, that doesn’t mean your life’s over! I mean, look at these guys.” Lars gestured toward the gems sitting at their positions around him and his mom. “They’re like thousands of years old, and they’re all fearsome, heroic space pirates!”

A look of surprise became present on Martha’s face, and a small gasp left her throat while her eyes darted from one gem to another. “What? Are you all seriously that old!?”

“Yeeeeeah,” Rhodonite answered, blushing in embarrassment. “We are.”

“By what I understand, gems don’t physically age like humans,” one of the Rutiles piped up.

“However,” the other followed, “that doesn’t change the fact that we have been around for quite a while.”

“ And  even accounting  for human years, ” Fluorite’s leisurely voice spoke up as she peeked her head out of the engine room, startling Martha, “ I  believe  I would be  rather old. Probably  much older than you,  dearie. ”

“Captain Lars, your mother is 57 years old!” Padparadscha gasped from her seat. “You should know that!”

“Okay, okay, I get it Padparadscha,” he hissed, feeling his cheeks grow hot in humiliation before turning back to face his mother. “But yeah! See, ma? It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve got under your belt. You’re still pretty much capable of anything you set your mind to.”

“ Even  being a  space rebel  feared by millions, ” Fluorite added with a wink in Martha’s direction.

The kind words from her son and his crew seemed to make the situation a lot easier to deal with. The redheaded woman gave them a genuine smile. “Wow, do you all really mean that?”

“Of course we do!” Lars reassured her, smiling back.

However, after a pause, Martha’s grin began to change. It was still a solid smile, but instead of being soft and warm, it contoured into something a little more….devious.

“Oh, thank you all so much!” she cheered, clasping her hands together and getting to her feet. “You’re all so kind to little ol’ me!”

“Don’t even mention it,” Rhodonite chuckled.

“Being nice is the least we can do,” a Rutile said, beaming.

“After all, you gave us Lars!” Her twin looked in the distance after speaking. “Well, at least that’s what he told us.”

“Kind of. It didn’t really make sense.”

“ We  are always  willing to help  our captain and any  of his friends, ” Fluorite spoke with a gentle tone, “ or  family. ”

“I am approximately 5,000 years old!” Padparadscha yelled, earning awkward stares from her crewmates.

“Awwww!” Martha’s gaze suddenly flipped back to her son. “Lars, how much longer do you think we have before Steven comes to take me home? I’ve lost track of time!”

“Hmmmm….well, I don’t have a watch on me, but I’d say we have at least twenty minutes,” he said, thinking. “Why?”

“Oh! That’s plenty of time for you to show your ma what you’ve been working on up here,” she announced with another grin.

Lars whipped around, slightly confused. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Steven told me you’ve been programming and creating all kinds of little ships and shuttles and who knows what up here!”

“Oh….” The captain felt his face get hot again. He’d told him not to tell anyone about that! “Yeah….I mean, they’re not the best, but-”

“Laramie Antonio Barriga, are you kidding me!?” Martha scolded, causing him to flinch slightly at the use of his middle name. “You will not speak so lowly of yourself around me, mister! You’re out here programming space shuttles! That’s absolutely incredible! And it’s only fair if you let your mother see what you’ve got so far.”

Lars’ face had turned more red than pink, strangely flattered by his mother’s compliments. Perhaps it was because it had been a while since he’d heard one. However, his stubborn expression softened, and he let out a gentle laugh.

“Awww, mom! When you put it like that, how could I resist to show you a few prototypes I’ve been tinkering with?” With a flick of his cape, he began heading toward the back of the ship, motioning for his mother to follow him. “C’mon!”

“With pleasure,” she giggled, following her son.

When they’d reached the room where Lars worked on his shuttles, he opened the door to reveal a cluttered space with metal parts, tools and screws scattered all over the floor. He motioned for his mother to follow him inside, hearing her gasps of awe as he led her through the area. While he was giving her a tour of the room, he found himself offering a commentary.

“Sorry it’s kind of a mess right now, but this is where I make personal shuttles for myself,” he began. “The one I made in the past proved to be a little too flimsy, so I’m trying to incorporate some new mechanics into the second model I’m working on.”

“Ooh!” Martha clapped in glee. “How far have you come on this new ship of yours?”

“Pretty darn far!” Lars sighed happily, leading her over to what appeared to be the shuttle he spoke of. It was rather small, definitely only providing room for one person, but the structure was still very impressive. The exterior was sleek and a rosy pink color, just like Lars’ skin, and by what Martha could see, the interior of it was very similar to that of a car.

She drummed her fingers against her chin. “So, do you just drive it like a car?”

“Pretty much,” the captain said, gently tapping the side of the shuttle. “I’m not that familiar with much else. You don’t need a key, though. See that button?” He pointed to a green button on the left-hand side of the small ship’s control panel. “That’s what starts it. Everything else is really car-like. For example, the brakes and gas pedal are the same. And the steering wheel, but that’s self-explanatory. Now for things that aren’t anything like a car, let me show you how I got the cannons to work-”

“Hold on!” Martha cut him off. “Before you explain anything else, can I get a picture of you leaning up against it? I need to show your father all you’ve accomplished up here. He’s gonna be so proud of you!”

A flattered smile and more blush became present on Lars’ face. “Awww, shucks. Sure.” He walked around to the font of the shuttle and put a hand on it’s hood, posing next to it like a teenager showing off their first car. “How’s this?”

“Perfect! Just let me…..” His mother began to frantically pat the sides of her dress, before recoiling slightly in shock and disappointment. “Oh fiddlesticks!”

Lars frowned. “What’s up?”

“I think I left my phone in your chair. Would you be a dear and go grab it for me?”

“Oh, yeah! Of course.” The captain broke the pose and began to speed-walk out of the room, looking back as he did so. “Just watch the shuttle for me, okay?”

“Sure thing, sweetie!” Martha waved to him. “I’ll watch it!”

Lars ran back into the main room of the ship as quickly as he could and went right to his chair, looking down at it in hopes to find his mother’s phone. However, there was nothing. Confused, he bent over to search on the floor around it. Although he hadn’t felt the ship lurch or anything, perhaps it could have fallen somehow. But there was nothing on the floor either.

Raising an eyebrow, the captain turned to his crew. “Hey, have any of you seen my mom’s phone? She said she left it in the chair, but I can’t find it.”

“Noooo….?” Rhodonite spoke rather cautiously, looking to the Rutiles.

“I haven’t,” one of them answered, turning to her twin. “You?”

“Nope.”

“ Maybe  it fell  on the floor  somewhere, ” Fluorite suggested.

“Hmmm….” Lars scratched his chin. “Well, it’s nowhere around my chair, but I guess it could have been-”

“Oh dear!” Padparadscha’s voice rang out, startling the captain from his sentence. “I predict that the mother of Captain Lars is going to trick him into leaving her alone with his personal shuttle, so she can steal it for herself!”

The Sapphire’s words put equally bewildered looks on all of the Off Colors, especially Lars himself.

“Wh-”

He couldn’t even get a proper word out before the ship began to shake, and the control panel in front of them flashed a warning that the captain’s personal shuttle was indeed in use. At first, everyone was too stunned to even move a muscle. Then, as quickly as flipping a switch, Lars began to panic.

“Oh. My. GOD. Are you freakin’ kidding me!?”

“What are we gonna do!?” Rhodonite screeched, her lower set of arms reaching up to grasp her face.

“I can’t freakin’ believe this!!!” Lars screeched at the top of his lungs, pacing frantically.

“Captain,” one of the Rutiles cut in, trying her best to be calm, “it’s okay!”

“I mean, I’d expect this crap from Emerald, but my own mother!? ”

“We can track it with no problem!”

“Ohhhh man, it’s the eighth grade science fair all over again!!!”

“...The what?”

“My mom! Just….she just…. oh my GOD!!! ” Giving up on forming a sentence and throwing his hands up in the air, Lars simultaneously exploded and ran as fast as his boney legs could carry him down the ship’s hallway. “MOOOOOOOM!!!”

As soon as the captain was gone, Rhodonite turned to Fluorite with a tired and anxious expression. “You really shouldn’t have put the idea of being a space pirate in her head.”

The fusion sighed and nervously glanced to the side. “ I  was  just trying  to be supportive… ”

While Lars was rushing to the room where he’d last seen his mother, a small pink shuttle whizzed past the Sun Incinerator at what seemed like the speed of light, currently piloted by a woman who, despite her gray-no, silver-hairs, still had plenty of fire left in her heart….and was laughing like an absolute maniac.

Chapter Text

When Amethyst entered the temple, finishing off the bear claw she’d been eating while she walked back home from the Big Donut, she almost instantly collided with a frantic Pearl. Stepping backward, the purple gem looked up at her taller teammate with surprise.

“Whoa!” she gasped. “Watch it, P!”

However, Pearl didn’t reply to her and actually didn’t even seem to register that she’d come home. That was when Amethyst began to pick up on something. The other gem was pacing back and forth, whispering inaudible sentences under her breath in a panicked tone. As if that wasn’t strange enough, she wasn’t dressed normally either. Instead, she was wearing a leather jacket with a popped collar and jeans.

Amethyst squinted, immediately recognizing her outfit change as something familiar. Deciding to try to get her attention again, she spoke up. “Helloooo? Earth to Pearl?”

A sharp squeak left the taller gem’s mouth, and she jumped in the air like a frightened cat. Flipping around, her pale blue gaze settled in on her teammate, and she sighed in relief, wiping her forehead as she calmed down. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Uhhh, yeah.” Amethyst’s eyes wandered up and down Pearl, studying her outfit. “And you’re all dressed up. What’s going on?”

Periwinkle blush began to spread across the cheeks of the lanky gem, and she turned back around, facing away from Amethyst. “That’s none of your business!”

“Oh, really?” The Quartz cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes. Really.” Pearl stuck her nose up in the air.

Amethyst couldn’t help but chuckle at the front her teammate was putting on. “You sure you don’t want my help or anything? Because it kinda looks like you need someone to talk to.”

Pearl’s face heated up even more, and eventually, she let out a loud, distressed squawk and threw her hands up in the air. “Alright, fine! I need your help.”

“Sweet!” Amethyst’s demeanor was quick to change from judgmental to cheery as soon as Pearl admitted defeat. She plopped down on the couch, feeling it squeak underneath her as she did so and patted the spot next to her, smirking at her friend. “Sit. Let’s talk about it.”

Sighing, the tall gem rolled her eyes and reluctantly took a seat next to the other, refusing to look her in the eyes. She held her head in her hands and stared down at the floor, anxiously tapping her foot. The two sat there in silence, Amethyst waiting as patiently as she could and Pearl too stubborn to speak.

After a while, the silence was broken by the purple gem’s rash voice. “I thought you needed to talk, not just sit there and tap your foot.”

“Agh!” Pearl snarled. “Fine! It’s….I’m….” There was a moment of anticipation, Amethyst leaning in closer and closer in an attempt to pry the sentence out of the other gem. “I’m going on a date! There, you happy!?”

Well, that wasn’t what Amethyst was expecting to hear. For a second, she didn’t even know how to react. Staring right at her friend seemed to be the only thing she could think to do. Pearl, noticing this, opened her mouth, but she was cut off by a sudden explosion from the Quartz.

“WHAAAAT!? A DATE!? ”

“Well….yes, but-”

“AHHHHHH!!!” Suddenly, Amethyst sprung upward and clung tightly to Pearl, pulling her friend into an embrace so tight that breathing became difficult. “I knew you had it in ya, P! So tell me, who’s the lucky gal?”

Blushing even more than before now, the taller gem gently shoved her friend off of her and straightened up, adjusting the collar of her jacket. “It’s um….the girl who we met at that concert you and Steven took me to. The one we chased.”

This only made the Quartz’s excitement grow, and she gave another loud cheer. “Whoa, what!? Are you serious!? Wow, Pearl! I didn’t know you had it in ya.” She snorted. “We gotta go tell Garnet!”

Amethyst leapt to her feet and planned on making a beeline toward the fusion’s room, but a sudden grip on her arm halted her. She sat back down on the couch and looked up to Pearl, who was still staring away from her despite grasping her arm.

“Please don’t,” she sighed.

“Why not?” Amethyst asked, taking a seat once more.

“Because….agh!” Pearl buried her face in her hands, leaning backward and letting her body sink further into the couch. “I don’t know if I’m ready….”

All the excitement that was once flooding through the smaller gem came to an abrupt halt upon hearing her friend’s words, and she finally properly began to settle down. Of course. She should have known that she was being too pushy with this.

There was another moment of silence between the two, both of them unsure of what to say next. In an attempt to break the tension, Amethyst comfortingly moved her hand to Pearl’s knee and gave it a pat. The taller gem took this as a cue to finally turn her head and make eye contact with the other.

“I’m sorry,” Amethyst said, tone sincere. “I shouldn’t have freaked out like that. I just wasn’t thinking and got all excited because I thought you….that….I-”

“It’s not about Rose,” Pearl cut her off, glancing up at the ceiling. She always wasn’t the biggest fan of looking at someone when she spilled her guts out to them, especially Amethyst. “I think I’m actually over her. Well, not entirely but enough to see someone else. That’s not the problem.”

“Oh….” The Quartz appeared shocked. “Then what is it?”

“It’s just….I don’t think I’ve ever been ready for something like this!” A small groan left the gem’s throat. “I keep doing everything I can to prepare myself. I’ve been looking up what to say, what to wear, how to act, and I never feel good enough about any of it! I mean, it takes me nearly a whole day just to send one text message to her because I have to make sure that it’s perfect so she won’t lose interest! It’s all so stressful!”

Sighing again, Pearl shut her eyes, and Amethyst could tell she was fighting back tears. “I can’t let myself screw everything up this time. I want this to work out so badly. I-I….I really feel things for her! But how do I let her know that without being too much? How do I know things won’t just turn out like they did with-”

“Pearl. Stop.”

Amethyst’s cool tone and another pat on her knee caught Pearl off-guard. She cautiously blinked her eyes open again, looking down to the small Quartz who was sitting next to her and giving her a serious look.

“You shouldn’t have to change everything about yourself in order to get someone to like you.”

“I’m not changing myself!” Pearl retorted. “I’m just trying to be the most perfect version of myself I can possibly be. It’s different!”

“Not really.” Amethyst sighed in frustration. “Look, I know you’re scared of messing up. I know how that feels. But if you just spend all this time focusing on everything that could go wrong, you’re gonna mess up on the most important part of this whole deal.”

“What’s that?”

“Having fun! I mean, I’m no Garnet, but I’m pretty sure going on dates and being all lovey-dovey with someone is supposed to make you feel good. It’s not supposed to stress you out.” Amethyst made sure she was making eye contact with the other gem. “Pearl, you gotta stop being so hard on yourself! Trust me, that’s not gonna get you anywhere. If she likes you, and I mean really likes you, she’ll like the real you, mistakes and all. And if she doesn’t? Then, hey. Her loss.”

Pearl blinked, not knowing what to say for some time. But soon, a warm smile spread across her face, and much to the other gem’s surprise, she pulled Amethyst into a tight hug. The purple gem tensed up at first but returned the tender embrace, patting her friend on the back comfortingly. After a few seconds, they broke apart to look each other in the eyes again.

Before either of them could speak, the sound of an engine revving blared from outdoors, causing Pearl to lurch upright and almost instantly spring off the couch. It was pretty obvious where it came from. She took a deep breath, starting to feel herself tense up again. However, before it got too bad, she did the one thing she knew would calm her: turned around to look at Amethyst.

“So….how do I look?”

The Quartz put a finger to her chin in thought. “Hmmmmm….lose the jacket and the jeans.”

“But….t-that’s just-”

“It’s you. And that’s who she needs to see.” A smile spread across her face, and it was soon returned by Pearl as what she was saying sunk in.

A sudden burst of confidence surging through her, the once-nervous gem threw her jacket off and practically ripped the jeans from her legs, throwing both articles of clothing on the couch next to Amethyst. The purple gem gave a delightful whoop in response, pumping her fist in the air. Suddenly, there was a faint voice from outside.

“Hey, Pearl! You in there?”

“O-Oh! Yes, I’m coming!” Pearl yelled back, putting a hand forward to turn the doorknob. Before doing so, she took another deep breath of preparation and glanced at Amethyst one last time, who was giving her a wide smile and two thumbs up.

“You’ve got this, P!” she cheered her on. “You’re the coolest gem I know!”

Smiling warmly at her friend, Pearl turned the knob but not before saying one more thing.

“Thank you, Amethyst.”

And with that, she slammed the screen door shut behind her, walking out of the temple and hopefully, into a new chapter of her life as a more confident gem.

Amethyst was watching Pearl leave when a voice to the right of her caught her by surprise.

“You did good, Amethyst. That was solid advice.”

The Quartz turned around to see Garnet standing next to the couch and giving her an approving smile. Feeling her own face turn a dark purple, she shyly ran a few fingers through her hair, twirling it. “Awwww, shucks. I tried my best. I just hope it goes well for her. She needs something like this, y’know?”

“Oh, I know. And don’t worry. It will.” Garnet chuckled, leaning on the couch and sighing. “Trust me.”

Chapter Text

Lars had been shocked to find out that the Off Colors didn’t know what a compliment was. When Steven had brought his caretaker Garnet for a visit, she’d been quick to tell every one of his trusty crewmates just how wonderful they were. However, it didn’t go over well. Due to the lack of acceptance in their lives, they thought she was poking fun at them. Just thinking about it made his heart ache. He was no stranger to how they felt.

Therefore, the Off Colors’ captain made it his job to tell them all the wonderful things they deserved to hear as often as he possibly could. Even if they just completed a simple task, he’d remind them of how talented they were and how lucky he was to have them on board. Soon, as they began to open up to him, the compliments became more personal.

Rhodonite would often tell stories about her counterparts, Ruby and Pearl. He’d smile at every one, not even by choice but because they were always so beautiful. And of course, he would make sure to tell her how amazing he thought it was that they quite literally completed one another.

As for the Rutiles, it was no question that they were incredible pilots. But sometimes, he noticed they felt more at ease if they got reassurance they they would be just as loved and respected on Earth as they were with him, which he provided because it was true. Who wouldn’t love such kind and overall wonderful gems?

Padparadscha was an absolute darling. This was apparent to the captain during their first few seconds together. Even though he saw a good majority of her visions before she predicted them, there were times where they actually proved useful. For example, if someone was trying to secretly follow them, she was quick to alert the crew before they could be snuck up on! Of course, he complimented all her visions, no matter if he saw them coming or not.

And Fluorite? What wasn’t to love about her! Like Rhodonite, she had a very interesting story behind her creation that all the other Off Colors would beg her to retell. Although he hated to admit it, the tale brought tears to Lars’ eyes every time it was told. He was extremely upset to find out that so many other gems thought she was a monster. She had one of the kindest hearts he’d ever known, and he tried to remind her every day.

The Off Colors had a lot in common, in the sense that they were all kind, loyal, accepting and basically the most perfect friends Lars ever had. The only problem was that they didn’t realize this, and he would make damn sure they’d recognize how incredible they were or die again trying.

After Stevonnie had crashed his personal shuttle on the jungle moon, the captain was quick to begin work on another one. When he first started this little side project, it was mostly just him trying to familiarize himself with Homeworld tech. He hadn’t done much coding back on Earth, and everything he had done was self-taught and just for fun. Sure, he considered taking some classes for it, but his high school didn’t have any, and he knew he’d never have gone to college. Therefore, he just did what he could in a short amount of time.

But there was something different about working with Homeworld tech. Perhaps it was a side effect of Steven’s magic that made him understand this stuff, but Lars was a natural at it. He’d expected it to go horribly wrong and leave him sobbing in a heap on the floor over his inability to do anything right, but it was the exact opposite. The captain was actually quite pleased that it proved to be useful because even though his first prototype had crashed and burned, he had an excuse to make a new one. And this time, he thought he could fix at least some of the things that made his first try a dud. Practice really did make perfect or at least perfect enough.

Lars had been working in a medium-sized room aboard the Sun Incinerator which had sort of turned into his ship-making room. There was just enough space for him to work with in there, and according to Fluorite, it was probably used in the past to store shuttles similar to the ones he was creating. He normally worked alone and left his crew at their stations in case of an emergency. It was at times like this when he wished they had a tape deck or something that played music. Maybe he could ask Steven to get him one the next time he visited.

He was plugging in coordinates that would prove useful in the shuttle’s programming, such as his own ship’s. That way he could video call with his crew while using it to make sure everything was good on board. It was one of the things that needed the most work. His signal had been quick to cut out when Stevonnie was using the shuttle, so it definitely had to be sturdier in this prototype.

While typing in the Sun Incinerator’s coordinates, however, Lars realized something: he had no idea what they were. He groaned, feeling a little silly about it. He’d never been good at remembering words and numbers or whatever. Sometimes he even forgot the address to his own house back on Earth.

Getting to his feet and wiping his hands on his knees, the captain exited the room and made his way into the main part of the ship. On the way out, he’d grabbed a small notepad so he could write them down.

His crewmates appeared to be having a conversation before Lars walked into the room. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but whatever it was came to an abrupt stop when they noticed their company.

“There you are!” one of the Rutiles cheered, smiling.

“Hello, Captain!” the other followed, a grin on her face as well.

“Oh!” Rhodonite turned around and waved gleefully. “Hey there, Captain!”

“How  is  everything  going  down there? ” asked Fluorite, head sticking out from the engine room.

Lars gave a small wave to his crew. “Heya! It’s going pretty great.”

“That’s wonderful!” Rhodonite said, beaming.

“Are you done?” asked one of the twins.

“Can we see?”

He chuckled, running a hand down his neck. “I’m not done at all, actually. I’ve still got a lot to do before it’s ready. I just came by to ask what the coordinates of the Sun Incinerator are again. I know you’ve said before, but I kind of forgot-”

“Oh yes!” Padparadscha suddenly chirped. “I do agree that Captain Lars is tremendously intelligent! In fact, he might be among the smartest I’ve ever met.”

The Sapphire’s words sent a jolt through Lars’ body, as if he was struck by lightning. His surrounding crewmates all blushed and shied away, appearing quite embarrassed by Padparadscha’s sudden compliment toward their captain.

Although he was mostly at a loss for words, Lars opened his mouth to speak. “I….why….w-what did she say?”

Rhodonite sighed, locking eyes with her captain and nervously drumming her fingers together. “Well….we were kind of possibly maybe having a conversation about you right before you walked in the door.”

Her confession made Lars’ cheeks heat up until his face was more of a blood red color than pink, and his slowly beating heart’s pace quickened so much that it could be considered normal. They were talking about him?

“Oh….y-you were, huh?”

“Yes…. ” Fluorite’s sudden voice startled Lars, causing him to jump. “We  were  in  the  middle  of  discussing your  intelligence.”

A look of confusion fell across the pink boy’s face. “Wait, what?”

“Rhodonite brought up how quickly you’re picking up on all the technology of Homeworld,” a Rutile informed him, “as well as how we’ve never seen anyone learn all that stuff so quickly.”

“It’s remarkable,” her twin continued. “Not even the brightest of gems created for tech are able to familiarize themselves with all of it enough to create and program their own shuttles.”

“Hello, Captain Lars!” Padparadscha’s cheery voice suddenly exploded. “We were just talking about how smart you are!”

There was a long pause. All of their eyes were fixated on Lars and waiting for a response from him. The captain stood still for a while, taking everything in. Finally, he exhaled and forced a small laugh, nervously bringing a hand up to his forehead.

“Heh….thanks guys, but I….I can’t accept that.”

The Off Colors almost all gasped in unison, save for Padapradscha who would probably do so in a little while.

“What!?” Rhodonite almost instantly shot back. “What do you mean, Captain?”

Lars swallowed a lump in his throat before talking again. “I mean, I appreciate it and all, but I’m really not any of those things.”

“Of course you are!” one of the Rutiles said, brows furrowed with worry.

“How could you say that?”

Feeling all the familiar anxiety start to smother him, the pink boy started to take a few steps backward. “Guys, listen. I know what I’m talking about. Now, can you stop-”

“Captain,  why  can’t  you  accept  something  that’s  clearly -”

“I’M NOT SMART, OKAY!?”

Nobody was expecting the sudden outburst, not even Lars himself. He didn’t even realize how uncomfortable he was getting until it was boiling in his gut and ready to burst through his mouth. Covering the bottom half of his face and feeling tears form at the corners of his eyes, the captain was frozen. Who-knows-how-many eyes were staring back at him with a mixture of confusion and fear and shock and….disappointment.

Oh no….

“Was I not supposed to tell Captain Lars that we were discussing his extreme intelligence?” the concerned voice of Padparadscha suddenly broke the tension. “I’m sure he will love to hear it!”

Almost as if on a cue after the Sapphire spoke, tears began to stream from Lars’ eyes, and he failed to choke back sobs. He almost collapsed, falling quickly onto to the ground and attempting to hide the shameful display from his crew. More silence ensued, and the Off Colors began to look at one another for a sign of what to do. It was Fluorite who finally talked to him.

“Captain….are  you  alright? ”

“We’re terribly sorry that we upset you,” one of the Rutiles nervously piped up, looking to her twin.

“We just didn’t know that smart could be seen as an insult….”

“It’s not,” Lars choked out, bringing an arm up to wipe the tears and snot off his face as he spoke between sniffles. “At all, actually. I just know you’re only saying that because you don’t want to upset me, and I appreciate it, but really, I’m not smart.”

“We’re not though!” Rhodonite spoke up, slightly nervous still. “Why would we say something if we don’t really meant it?”

“Isn’t  that….” The Rutile looked to her twin to continue the sentence.

“Lying?”

The captain took a moment to stare at the sincere faces all around him with bloodshot eyes before answering. “Yeah, but it’s what everyone back on Earth does. Especially at school.”

“Why  do they  do that? ” questioned Fluorite, seeming shocked at the mere thought of it.

“And where is….school?” Rhodonite asked.

Lars sighed, realizing he’d never exactly explained that part of Earth to his crew, partially because it was one thing he longed to forget. “School is like….do you guys do any training on Homeworld before you go to your jobs?”

“Some of us do,” Rhodonite replied. “I know Rubies have to.”

“Quartzes  as  well,” Fluorite added.

“And Rutiles normally do,” a twin said.

“Well, it’s kind of like that but probably a lot more boring. You go to this place with a bunch of people your age, and you all sit in this small, stuffy room called a classroom for nearly eight hours. There’s a person who teaches you stuff called a teacher, and you just kind of listen to them talk the whole time. Then, you go home and spend all night doing work the teacher gave you, and you have to get it completed by the next day. Also, this goes on for about twelve years of your life, which is a long time for humans.”

“Ohhhh.” The Rutiles nodded. “That….makes sense.”

“What kind of stuff for you learn about?”

Lars scoffed. “Boring stuff. But the worst thing about school is that you can’t really do much else on Earth until you graduate from there. I mean, I suppose you can, but it’s a lot harder.”

Rhodonite cocked her head to the side. “When did you graduate?”

There was another small moment of silence, as if Lars needed time to collect himself before speaking again. “I….didn’t, actually.”

“Huh? You didn’t?” The fusion seemed even more confused for a second before coming to what she thought was a realization. “Oh, right! You probably got abducted before you could.”

Lars rubbed his arm anxiously. “Actually….that’s not it either.”

“Oh no, Captain Lars!” Padparadscha gasped. “Please don’t cry! I’m sorry I said you were smart!”

The crew grimaced at the Sapphire’s awkward reply, and although it was meant for a while back in the conversation, it made Lars’ already twisted stomach knot up even more. He bit hard into his lip, trying to stop another sobbing breakdown. “I just….didn’t. I should have a year ago, but I got held back.”

“What  does  it  mean  to  be  held  back? ” Fluorite asked.

“Were you such a delight that everyone wanted you to stay another year?” Rhodonite added a little too cheerfully, hoping she was right.

More tears were starting to fall from the pink human’s face, and he was quick to swab them off his cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt. “No. It’s actually the opposite.” He sighed, looking at the ground as he continued. “It means I was too stupid to graduate. My grades were awful, and I could never do anything to fix them no matter how hard I tried. I don’t even know why I couldn’t. The teachers would always tell me they didn’t think I was an idiot but then go around and treat me like one which just made me even more angry. And that was only if I got lucky. Sometimes they’d get frustrated with how stupid I was and how I couldn’t change that and straight-up yell at me. Tell me to my face that I’d never go anywhere in life. That I was a lost cause. A failure.”

Lars didn’t realize how much he was starting to shake or that his eyes were still leaking with tears, ones he didn’t even try to wipe from his face. “One time, one of my teachers even brought my parents in to talk about how dumb I was, and they more or less agreed with everything she said to them! I mean, they didn’t straight-up say I was a moron, but it was heavily implied. And when I tried to talk to them about it afterwards, they just kinda brushed it off….”

His voice was cracking now, and the Off Colors were becoming visibly concerned. Rhodonite made an attempt to reach out and comfort him.

“C-Captain, it’s-”

“I don’t even know why anyone pretended to see something worth….well, anything in me!” he continued to choke out, cutting the fusion off. “That’s why I didn’t even really care that I got abducted and killed by that robonoid. I was nothing on Earth! If I’d stayed in school instead of dying in space, I probably would have just eventually dropped out. It’s not like anyone would have believed in me enough to make me stay….” Letting out a shaky sob, Lars curled up in a ball, clutching his knees and burying his head in-between them. “How the hell am I supposed to believe I’m even remotely smart after thirteen years of that? ”

There was an even longer pause this time, filled with nothing but the sounds of the pink human bawling. The surrounding gems all looked to one another again, not knowing what to do. They didn’t understand what school was beside what they’d just been told. How were they supposed to help?

“C-Captain Lars….” Padparadscha whispered after a while, reaching out a hand weakly.

After a few more seconds, an idea popped into Fluorite’s head. She turned to glance at Lars, moving as close to him as she possibly could in the slightly cramped space.

“What  kind  of  training  was  offered  at  this  school? ” she asked, voice gentle.

Lars lifted his head up to look at the large fusion, eyes and nose still wet from his second breakdown. “Uhhh….not many. We were forced to take English, math, history, y’know. Nothing I was good at.”

“Wait,” Rhodonite suddenly said, “forced to take!? You mean you couldn’t pick your own classes?”

“Heh, yeah. Not really.” The captain sniffled and sat more upright. “You could only pick like one of your classes I think. I picked art. It was actually the one thing I was kind of okay at. I had a B before I was abducted, which is the second best you can do.” He sighed again. “Sure was a lot better than any of my other grades, that’s for sure….”

“Why don’t they let you take all art classes then?” one of the Rutiles asked.

“Yeah!” her twin cut in. “Shouldn’t you focus on building the skills you’re good at instead of forcing yourself to do something you don’t like?”

A look of realization spread across the captain’s face, and he blinked. “Huh….I never thought of it that way.”

“Yeah, exactly! That’s like trying to get an Aquamarine to do an Amethyst’s job!” Rhodonite huffed. “Your school or whatever it is doesn’t sound very fair.”

“It’s….not actually. But on Earth, it basically determines how successful you’ll be at anything.”

“Well,  that’s  absolutely  nonsensical,” Fluorite said, sounding angrier than Lars had ever heard her before. “Just  because  you  aren’t  good  at  one  thing  doesn’t mean  you’re  a  complete  failure  at  everything  else.”

Lars looked around at the gentle and welcoming faces surrounding him, and almost felt more tears come to his eyes. Not because he was feeling hopeless and embarrassed and awful about himself, but because for the first time in years, he actually genuinely believed that someone was proud of him. Well, five someones. Technically eleven. That was a lot of someones.

“Thanks guys,” the captain sighed. “You’re right.”

“Don’t even mention it!” Rhodonite said, grinning warmly at Lars.

The captain let out a small chuckle. “I guess I just never really sat down and thought about how dumb it all was. Heh, maybe if they had classes on how to work with Homeworld gem technology, I’d have been valedictorian.”

A snarl came from one of the Rutiles. “I say, once we get to Earth, we dismantle the oppressive structure of all schools!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” her twin replied. “We’ll do it for our Captain!”

“Now, now,” Lars laughed, getting to his feet, “that’s going a bit too far. You’d have to try really hard to make that big of a change on Earth.”

“Who  said  we  weren’t  up  for  a  challenge? ” Fluorite jided.

“I say we at least try!” Rhodonite cheered, sounding triumphant. “Let’s overthrow every single school on Earth!”

The remaining Off Colors all whooped in unison, save for Padparadscha who gasped and said, “I predict that the Earth schools are forcing Captain Lars to partake in things he doesn’t want to do! I won’t allow this!”

“Whoa, calm down there, guys!” Lars said before almost busting a gut as he erupted into uncontrollable laughter. “I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but geez! Okay, how about we make an online petition and see where it goes from there?”

“Sounds like a bold start,” Rhodonite mused. “Let’s do it!”

As the captain regained his senses from laughing, a sudden tight embrace surprised him. He turned around as much as he could to see the Rutile twins hugging him close from behind and looking at him with warm grins on their faces.

“You’re the smartest Captain we know,” one told him.

“No matter what Earth school says!”

A second body was pressed up against his, and he glanced upward to see that Rhodonite had joined the hug as well. “I second that notion!”

“And  I  third  it,” Fluorite spoke slowly, wrapping her long body around the four of them. It was the closest thing to a hug she could offer.

After about a minute, Padparadscha leaped from her seat. “I predict that we’re all going to show Captain Lars how much we love him!” she exclaimed and instantly began running over to the rest of the crew, wrapping her arms snugly around Lars’ leg. “How fun!”

Just as the Off Colors didn’t know what it was like to receive a compliment, Lars had no idea how it felt for someone to tell him they genuinely believed he was intelligent. However, now, for the first time in his life, he did. Perhaps they all had some learning to do when it came to accepting their worth. Luckily, they all had each other to help with that.

Chapter Text

Blue Zircon loved stargazing. It wasn’t something she’d expected to enjoy once she got to Earth. On Homeworld, the stars weren’t only visible but in reach all the time. Looking at them wasn’t something relaxing to do when she felt like taking a breather, but something she had to do every day rather she liked it or not. This planet really did make even the most mundane experience seem so beautiful, and she still had no idea how.

Ever since that pink human and his group of gems had rescued them from Homeworld’s prisons, they’d managed to make an abandoned spacecraft a few miles out from Beach City their home. Sure, it was far away, but anyone who wanted to see them, which was mostly Steven, could visit them through the warp pad. At first, it had been occupied by a friendly Topaz fusion who was rescued earlier. She’d been eager to share her space with Blue Zircon, as well as the other Zircon who came to Earth with her.

Where was Yellow anyway? Blue turned around, looking behind herself to search for traces of the gem who’d come to the peaceful planet alongside her. Realizing she didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby, she sighed and looked back to the night sky.

Although the two were always at each other’s throats back on Homeworld, she couldn’t just leave her long-time rival there to meet the unfair fight she was signed up for. Sure, Yellow had been a lot harder to turn over to their side, still believing there was some sort of mistake, and that she could convince her Diamond to take her back. However, those thoughts had eventually been abandoned, and now, she seemed content with her situation.

Blue Zircon had dreaded living with the other, knowing she’d do anything to make her life miserable, and at first, she hadn’t been too wrong. But with time, it got a lot better. Once Yellow slowly abandoned all the Homeworld ideals she’d carried for so long, she became significantly easier to get along with. At times, Blue even found herself, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, enjoying the company of the other Zircon.

“There you are! I’d been looking all over for you.”

A voice startled the blue gem from her stargazing, and she turned around, eyes like saucers, to see Yellow Zircon. Noticing this, she started to calm down from the surprise.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Blue squawked, secretly very relieved to see the other gem.

“But it’s fuuuun,” Yellow complained, slowly taking a seat. Suddenly having her so close when she wasn’t expecting it made the blue gem heat up in embarrassment.

“Why are you sitting down?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yellow turned to face her. “Why not? Do you want me to go away?”

“No, no, not at all!” Blue anxiously swallowed. “I just….wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“Hmmm. Fair enough.” The other Zircon sighed. “I only wanted to talk to someone.”

“Oh….what’s wrong with Topaz?”

A small laugh left Yellow’s mouth, golden blush coating her cheeks. “Oh, please, you can’t possibly enjoy sitting out here and staring at the sky all by yourself, can you?”

Blue tried her hardest to return the laughter, nervously letting out a half-forced chuckle. “Heh. I don’t know. It is rather pretty out here.”

The other gem took a moment to think on what she was saying before looking to the sky herself. She squinted. “It just looks like space but tiny.”

“That’s literally what it is,” the other Zircon said, sighing and turning her gaze toward the stars as well.

“I know, captain obvious.” Yellow stared a little longer, narrowing her eyes as if she was searching for something and cocking her head to the side. Her behavior got a small giggle out of the blue gem next to her.

“Are you trying to find Homeworld or something?”

“What? No! I was trying to look harder, so I could perhaps see what’s so beautiful about it.” She shrugged. “Unfortunately, I still can’t. It only looks like a bunch of faraway stars to me.”

Blue frowned and honestly started to feel a little silly for finding so much beauty in the night sky. She started to anxiously drum her fingers together. “Oh….w-well, maybe you’re right. I’m sorry.”

However, instead of simply laughing at her and saying something insulting, Yellow leaned in curiously. Blue tried to not let how nervous it made her show.

“I’m not saying I’m right,” she said. “I just want to know why you feel that way.”

The yellow gem’s response shocked her. Out of all the things Yellow could have said at that moment, something that showed the other wanted to understand how Blue felt was the last thing she expected to hear. Sitting more upright and straightening her cravat, the Zircon racked her brain for how to respond.

“Uhhh….wait, are you just going to make fun of me for whatever I say? Because if that’s your plan, I’ll have you know-”

“Oh my stars, Blue, I’m being serious!” Blue stopped speaking and locked eyes with the other gem, who was staring at her with a look that didn’t contain even a hint of mischief. “I really want to actually….y’know….try this time. But hey, if you don’t want to tell me, I can leave and-”

“No!” Without even thinking about what she was doing, Blue grabbed the other Zircon’s arm before she could make an attempt to get up. This made their locked gaze even more nerve-racking, as Yellow cocked a brow and smirked gently at her. Her face to turned a deep royal blue. “I mean….please stay. I’ll tell you.”

“Okay then.” The smirk on Yellow’s face settled down into a genuine grin. “Tell me, stargazer.”

The new nickname made the blue gem’s face flush even more. “Well…..it’s relaxing. That’s one thing.” Wow, she was bad at this.

“Go on.”

“And uh….” Blue sighed, turning her eyes back to the stars she spoke of, “it’s refreshing.”

“How so?”

“This might sound silly or weird or something like that, but it’s kind of a reminder of how far we’ve come? I mean, just days ago, we were up there rotting in a bubble and waiting to be shattered to bits, and now, that’s not gonna happen. We’re….safe.” Blue glanced downward to her hands, studying them and moving her fingers. It was a habit she’d picked up on simply because it acted as a reminder that she was still here. “It makes me feel safe.”

For a moment, neither of the Zircons said anything. They both spent time staring at space from a distance, thoughts of what was almost their fate running through their heads. But none of that mattered anymore. They were okay. They were safe and on Earth and with one another. Just like Blue said, looking at the stars they once lived amongst was a reminder of how far they’d come away from that awful place.

Yellow blinked slowly, the smile stretching even wider across her face. “I understand now.”

The other Zircon flipped around to look at her, surprised. “You do? Because I thought that was kind of a lousy explanation of-”

“Shhhhh.” Blue was cut off suddenly as Yellow moved her finger toward her lips, touching it to them. This made the blue gem freeze, so much that she couldn’t have even said anything if she wanted to. “I get it now.”

She removed her finger, leaving the other a flustered and stuttering mess. “I…..y-you….we-”

“The stars are beautiful because they remind me of you.”

Blue didn’t even have time to process what the other gem said before she suddenly leaped upward, smile fading into a look of pure panic and the same golden blush from earlier returning with a vengeance. “I mean-! Uhhh….I….gotta….go do….a thing that doesn’t involve you; I’m sorry; goodbye!”

And with that, Yellow rapidly rushed away, all the while walking as if her back was stiff as a board, and her legs were made of plasma. Blue stared after her as she left, feeling almost exactly the same. Why did she say that? They were hardly to basic compliments of one another’s work, and she had the nerve to say something like that?

Was she…. flirting!?

And if she was, then why did Blue love every second of it and want her to do it again?

---

Yellow Zircon let out a loud wail of embarrassment as she entered the ship she called home, running her hands down her massively flushed face in frustration. Topaz was quick to notice her return and almost immediately ran to her when she walked in the door, a look of pure excitement spread across her golden face.

“So, how’d it go!?” the fusion asked cheerfully, hands clenched into fists of anticipation.

Starting to compose herself by taking deep breaths, Yellow spoke as calmly as she could. “It went….alright. We talked about stars or something like that. And then I humiliated myself and ran away.”

“What did you say?” Topaz asked, confused.

“I told her, uh….she was beautiful.” The Zircon grimaced as she spoke, as if repeating the words was going to kill her.

Topaz, hardly able to contain her excitement, wrapped her strong arms around Yellow and pulled her into a hug so tight she feared she might poof. “Oh my stars, Yellow Zircon! That’s amaaaaziiiiiing!!! ”

“Ahhh! Y-Yes, it is!” Yellow squeaked out, squirming. “Now, put me down! Please”

“Oh.” Embarrassed when the strength of her hug was pointed out, Topaz was quick to drop the Zircon as gently as she could. “Sorry about that.”

“Yeah,” Yellow groaned, dusting herself off and walking away as confidently as she could. “But nonetheless, she seems….easy to please.” She hummed. “I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends one day, but who knows?”

Her words dragged a low growl of frustration out of the Topaz fusion, and she threw her hands up “Are you serious!? You’re still saying that?”

Confused, Yellow flipped around. “What?”

“That you just want to be friends with her!?”

It took it a while to sink in, but once it did, Yellow was quick to react. “Um, yes! That’s what this is about, Topaz! I want to be her friend, not anything more, okay!?”

“You looked at the stars with her and called her beautiful,” Topaz deadpanned, crossing her arms.

As the facts caught up with her, all the Zircon could do was bite into her lip and eventually storm away, screaming back a reply as she did. “Friends, Topaz! We. Are. Friends!!! ”

While watching Yellow Zircon walk away, Topaz couldn’t help but smile, shake her head and chuckle softly to herself. “Sure you are, Yellow Zircon. Sure you are.”

Chapter Text

Ronaldo couldn’t have picked a worse day to put up flyers. A storm was brewing in the sky and not just a little shower. The clouds overhead were grey, waves crashed against the beach’s shoreline, thunder shook the windows of nearby buildings, and the wind was stronger than ever.

Normally, the curly-haired boy would have waited until the weather was less severe to walk around town with a stack of papers under his arm, but people needed to be aware of the vampire spaceship he’d seen over the ocean a few days ago, and what better way to warn civilians than to tape sheets of paper to lamp posts and windows all around the city? After all, people never ignored those things!

However, doing this was proving to be more difficult than anticipated. The wind was blowing so intensely that tables and chairs of outside establishments were starting to fall flat on the ground, and all the flags looked like they’d free themselves from their poles. Ronaldo did his best to secure the remaining flyers underneath his right arm, clutching them tightly against his body and kept the roll of tape in his shorts pocket so they wouldn’t get too hard to hold. He’d already hung up a little over half of them and was searching against the roaring air for his next location.

Fish Stew Pizza and the Shirt Shop were the last buildings he’d taped one to. If he continued his straight path, his next stop was the Big Donut. They always had all kinds of flyers on their outside windows, and a lot of people went there for breakfast or a snack. It was perfect.

Ronaldo had almost reached his destination when an especially strong gust of wind struck him, causing him to lose his balance and the papers he was holding soon after. Luckily, he caught himself before he fell on the sidewalk and cracked his skull open. Unluckily, he lost his grip on of the flyers and watched helplessly as they began to fly away.

“Nooooooo!” he wailed, immediately rushing after the runaway papers. “My flyeeeers!!!”

He was quick on his feet and not a stranger to this situation. Thankfully, Ronaldo was able to catch just about every one of the flyers that escaped his grasp. Except for one. Kicking it into full speed, he ran as fast as he could to retrieve it, not even realizing how close he was getting to the-

“Ahhhh!!!”

Ronaldo let out a cry of shock as the door of the Big Donut suddenly flew open and hit him right in the face, causing a few more of the flyers he held to fall to the ground. He let out a groan of disappointment as he watched them and the one he’d been desperately trying to get back float away into the stormy air. Reaching his free hand up to rub his nose, which he could tell would be bruised in a few minutes, and adjust his glasses back on his face, he whipped around angrily to give the person who’d done this to him a piece of his mind.

“Hey! Watch where you’re….”

His voice trailed off when he found himself face to face with the culprit. Although it had been a few months since Ronaldo had seen him in person, he immediately recognized who it was. The Big Donut uniform. The poofy red hair with shaved sides. The stretched ears. The shocked expression of old fears and anxieties flooding back as soon as he found out who he’d hit in the face with the door.

Damnit. Why did it have to be Lars?

Out of all the people he wanted to see today, this guy was easily the last on his list. Not only because their relationship was so strained, but because every single time Ronaldo so much as thought of Lars, he got this weird choking sensation in his chest that made his heart beat really fast and created the illusion that he was going to vomit or pass out or do something like that. He wasn’t even quite sure why. All the stuff that happened between them took place years ago when they were kids and really didn’t matter now. It was over. Done with. They had nothing to do with each other anymore.

Unfortunately, Ronaldo learned that didn’t exactly change much. Thinking about how Lars made him feel so special for so long and threw it all away because of a minor disagreement still hurt. It hurt so much that he hadn’t even trusted him enough to accept any apology he gave him after it happened. If he left him once, it’d probably just end up happening again, so what was the point of trying to salvage anything they could have?

And now, it all mattered even less than it did all those years ago. Lars wanted nothing to do with him, and he wanted nothing to do with Lars, but for some reason, the world just decided to bring them together for one more moment today. A moment that involved Ronaldo getting hit in the face with a damn ass door. Perfect.

For a while, the two just stared at one another, both extremely nervous and awkward. Neither of them had any idea what to say to the other or knew if there was even anything to say. However, it eventually got to be too uncomfortable, and Ronaldo realized one of them had to break the silence.

“Hello, Lars,” he grumbled barely loud enough for the other to hear.

Lars looked away, as if staring into his ex-best friend’s eyes was going to turn him into stone. “Hey.”

There was another awkward silence, filled with nothing but the two of them staring away from each other and a sudden crack of thunder in the air. Finally, Lars rolled his eyes and huffed, shutting the door behind him and starting to walk away. That was when Ronaldo seemed to completely lose control of his body and do something he hadn’t even thought of wanting to do.

He reached for Lars’ hand, grasping it tightly in his much larger one and holding him back.

Instead of immediately recoiling and pulling backwards while cursing as expected, the other boy glanced over his shoulder to glare right into Ronaldo’s eyes. The two of them stood like that for what had to be a few seconds, stares locked and piercing one another with mostly unreadable expressions. But neither of them looked angry.

Soon, what he was doing clicked in, and Ronaldo quickly let go of Lars’ hand, holding his own back as if he’d just touched a hot stove. This was what finally made his ex-friend explode.

“The hell was that, man!?” he screeched, glaring daggers at the other boy.

Ronaldo’s lip curled into a snarl at Lars’ tone. “I kind of wanted you to apologize for smacking me in the face with a door.”

“Ugh, whatever. I don’t have time for this.” Rolling his eyes and giving him one last stabbing glance, Lars whipped around and walked away, slouching and dragging his feet.

As soon as his old friend was a few feet away, a single raindrop hit the bridge of Ronaldo’s definitely bruised nose. Then another. And another. And then he was standing in the middle of a thunderstorm like a freakin’ moron, holding a bunch of soaked paper under his arm and watching as someone who hadn’t been in his life for a long time walked away from him just as he had so many years ago. Yet he didn’t even think about moving.

Maybe it was because he knew it was the only view he’d ever get of Lars for more than a few seconds, and even then, it was rare.

Chapter Text

Lars and the Off Colors had only been on Earth for two days, but the pink human was trying his hardest to introduce them to all the wonderful things his home planet had to offer. After reuniting with his friends and family, he had been quick to drag his new friends to all the sites he’d missed so dearly during his time away: his house, the beach, the forest, just about everything. Although they loved just about everything he’d shown them so far, among their favorite things about the planet was food.

Their first meal, that Lars had wanted to make special, had been an ube roll he whipped up almost as soon as he’d come home. Steven had been bragging about the one he’d made for him and Sadie back before the abduction, and they’d been begging their captain non-stop to make one for them as soon as they got back. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint and made a wonderful first meal for all of them.

For their second meal, he’d stopped by his old workplace and brought them back a box of his favorite donuts. The Off Colors had devoured each and every one of them before he could even explain what flavors they were. Lars even purchased one of the donuts named after him to eat. It was pretty great but a little too sweet for his liking. He’d settle with the blueberry cake donuts he normally got.

Today, Lars and the Off Colors would be going on their third food-related adventure, one that he’d talked up throughout the whole trip and got his entire crew overly excited for. They were going to a fast food restaurant. Pepe’s Burgers to be exact. Sure, it wasn’t the fanciest place to eat, but something about the word “fast food” had fascinated the gems so much that they wouldn’t stop bothering Lars until he’d showed them the wonders of it.

The Pepe’s in Beach City was thankfully in walking distance from Lars' house. He used to go there after school and take his order home since screaming kids seemed to always be in the play area around that time. There was nothing quite like a nice bacon burger after eight hours of sitting in a desk and listening to old people lecture about boring crap. Sure, it was a simple pleasure, and he could cook much better food himself, but it was one he’d missed during his time in space and something he was glad to have the opportunity to do with his crew.

Once they arrived at the establishment, the pink human was quick to point it out. “There it is!”

“Are those fuel pumps?” one of the Rutiles asked, confused.

“How does one eat from those?” her twin followed.

Lars chuckled. “No, that’s a gas station. Pepe’s is the big red and yellow building to the left of it.”

“Oh!”

“It looks nice,” Rhodonite said, smiling.

“Awwww! I predict we will meet a creature that Captain Lars will refer to as an Earth kitten!” Padparadscha suddenly cheered. “It shall be quite adorable but will try to climb up Captain Lars’ pants.”

“Thanks, Padparadscha,” Lars sighed, wincing at the feeling of fresh claw marks on his leg.

As the crew made their way toward the building, Fluorite spoke up, seeming rather nervous as she did so.

“ Captain,  I  don’t  wish  to  be  a  bother,  but  I’m  not  quite  sure  I  can  fit  inside  of  that  building. ”

Lars stopped in his tracks and whistled when he realized how right she was. “Ohhh, darn. Huh….”

While racking his brain for a way around the issue the large fusion had pointed out, a certain sign near the back of the building caught his eye.  “Of course! We’ll just use the drive-thru.”

“What’s that?” Rhodonite asked.

“It’s what people use when they want to order food but don’t feel like getting out of their car.”

“Ooh. I see,” one of the Rutiles mused.

“But we don’t have a car,” the other pointed out.

“Oh. Well….” He looked to the drive-thru, noticing that there weren’t any cars in line at the moment. A slightly bolder idea formed in his brain. “Never mind the car part. It’ll just be a walk-thru for us. C’mon!”

Lars motioned for the gems to follow him to the large lit-up menu just past the sign he’d pointed out earlier. Once they were all gathered around it, he began his explanation of what they were to do.

“Alright guys, see this big thing with all the pictures of food on it? That’s called a menu. You just pick something to order and pretty soon, someone’s gonna start talking to you from that speaker. Just tell the voice what you want, and then it'll appear on the screen right here so you can see if they got it right. After everyone is done ordering, we’ll go up to the window over there to get it!” He clapped his hands together. “Easy peasy, right?”

The group of gems all stared at Lars with bewildered expressions on their faces, as if he was speaking a foreign language.

“I predict Fluorite will be unable to fit through the doors of that building,” Padparadscha said, causing Fluorite to blush in embarrassment.

The captain sighed and was about to open his mouth, but a muffled voice from behind cut him off.

“Welcome to Pepe’s. How can I help you?”

The Off Colors, save for Padparadscha, all jumped backward in surprise. Lars couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

“Here, just watch me do it,” he ordered gently, turning around to where he was level with the loudspeaker. “Can I get a number 5 with no mayo, onion rings and a large Choka Cola?”

His order quickly appeared on the screen next to the loudspeaker, so he could double-check it.

“Sure. Anything else?”

All of Lars’ crewmates still looked pretty unsure about what they were supposed to do. He frowned and moved over, trying his hardest to urge one of the gems toward the speaker.

“Hello?” asked the voice.

“We’ll go!” the Rutiles spoke in unison, walking up to where their captain stood.

“Let’s see….” one of the twins spoke, looking up at the glowing menu displayed in front of them. “Hmmmm….can we please get a number 3 with-"

“Wait, no,” her twin quickly cut her off, “we want a number 7.”

The first Rutile who spoke whipped her head toward the other. “What? I want a number 3!”

“But I want a number 7.”

“Uhhhh, okay. What’s a number 7?”

The other Rutile looked to the barbecue cheeseburger with bacon and onion rings that she had her mind on. “I don’t know, but it looks nice.”

“No, it really doesn’t,” her twin gagged. “I don’t think I could handle all that red goop traveling through me.”

“I like goop!” The other Rutile frowned.

“Excuse me, which one was that again?” the voice questioned.

“Look, why don’t we just order a number 3 and a number 7?”

“Because I don’t want to put that gooey stuff in my body!”

“But it’s also my body, and I want to!”

“Well, I don’t!”

“I do!”

The two’s words soon became almost inaudible as they started an argument, speaking over one another and raising their voices gradually. The other crew members were visibly anxious, all exchanging concerned glances while Lars tapped his foot. When he saw the headlights of a car approaching from behind, he knew it was time to speed things up.

“Okay, okay!” Lars gently pushed the Rutiles out of the way, cackling to himself. “Someone else go while they make up their minds. Padparadscha?”

The Sapphire pointed in front of her. “That is a menu.”

“Okay, maybe not.” His gaze fell on Rhodonite. “You ready?”

“I….think so.” The fusion gulped, moving around the arguing twins and to the speaker, tapping it gently with a finger.

“Yeeeeah?” the voice asked, sounding a little strained.

“Um….hello.”

“Hello?”

“H-How’s your day going so far?”

“Uh….okay, I guess.”

“No!” Lars whispered to Rhodonite. “You’re supposed to pick something from the menu and order it!”

“The men-ohhhhh!” She finally caught on, looking up at the broad sign in front of her and squinting a little. “Hmmmm….okay, let’s see here….ooh! I like the number 2!”

“Okay!” the voice said, sounding relieved. “Would you like fries with-”

“No, no, no, actually, I changed my mind!” Rhodonite was quick to cut the guy behind the loudspeaker off. “I want the number 8.”

“Oh. Alright. Now, would you-”

“Ahhhh, wait! Don’t put that down! I think I wanna try the number 1 instead. Or maybe the number 10. Or 13. Or 7.”

“Get a number 7!!!” one of the arguing Rutiles called out, quickly silenced by her twin rambling over her.

“Or 4-no, wait, that says 14. Oh no, never mind, 15 might be better. How many of these are there? 17? Wait, what’s a dollar menu?”

The order on the screen was rapidly changing as Rhodonite failed to make up her mind, and eventually, Lars could tell that the employee was having a hard time keeping up with what she was saying. A loud honk sounded from nearby, and he whipped around to see at least three cars behind them. Panicking, he grabbed the fusion by the arm and pulled her aside.

“Rhodonite, why don’t you go do some thinking with the Rutiles!” Lars laughed, cutting her off again before she had the chance to protest and glancing down to the Sapphire standing next to him. “You ready yet, Padparadscha?”

The orange gem lit up. “I believe I understand how to receive food from this establishment! How wonderful!”

The captain beamed at her words. “Awesome! So-”

“Now, I just need to decide what I want to order! Therefore, I will allow the twins of Rutile to go first.”

Lars was about to yell in frustration, before a tap on his shoulder distracted him. He looked up to see Fluorite’s smiling face.

“ Allow  me  to  go, ” she spoke slowly.

A small breath of relief left the pink human, and he moved to the side to leave enough room for the large fusion to get close to the speaker.

“ Hello, ” she greeted the employee on the other side.

“What do you want? Please, just tell me!” the voice groaned, sounding ready to rip their hair out.

“ Hmmmmmm…. ” Fluorite looked up at the menu and studied it with her many eyes, “ can  I  get  a  uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- ”

“Ma’am?”

“ -hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- ”

“ Ma’am? ”

“ -hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- ”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but could you PLEASE- ”

The exasperated voice over the speaker was silenced as the Rutile twins, slapping at each other, shoved their faces next to it while continuing their loud argument.

“We want a number 3!”

“Don’t listen to her! She means a number 7!”

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!”

“Wait! I think I figured it out! I want a number 16! Although, that number 5 the Captain ordered sure does look good….”

“ -hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-”

“Number 3!”

“Number 7!”

“3!”

“7!”

“Ahhhhh, this is so stressful! Can I just get one of everything? Wait, no, don’t actually do that-”

“ -hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-”

“Oh no! I predict that a single car will arrive to the drive-thru! We’d better hurry up.”

“JUST GIVE ME FOUR HAMBURGER PEPPY MEALS WITH APPLE SLICES AND CHOCOLATE MILK!!!”

The outburst from Lars caused even the several cars lined up behind them that were originally ferociously honking among the mayhem to go silent. As soon as the once cluttered display screen showed only what the captain had just requested and his previous order, the voice spoke again.

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Girl toys or-”

“Just give me the freakin’ Crying Breakfast Friends ones!"

“Okay. Please pull up to the window.

“Thanks.”

The captain walked forward, cueing his friends to do the same. The guy behind the loudspeaker’s voice was waiting for them at the window, revealing himself to be a boy about Lars' age, wearing a red and yellow uniform with a silly hat, a headset and a nametag on his chest that read “Derek.” 

He had been slumping against the window with his eyes half-closed before they arrived, clearly exhausted from the experience. As soon as the tired employee heard something approaching, he held out his hand.

“That’ll be 12 dollars and-AHHH!”

Derek, probably not expecting to see a pink human and a bunch of aliens, including one the size of a large school bus, jumped upright and fell to the floor in a state of shock. Lars and the Off Colors blinked, watching as the poor boy’s hands gripped for the counter, and he stumbled to his feet. Rubbing his forehead, he reached out his free hand.

“Uhhh….2 dollars and 86 cents, sir.”

“Gotcha.” The captain thrust a hand into his pocket and pulled out some cash, giving it to the dazed employee. In exchange, he was handed four cutely-decorated boxes, a paper sack, a soda and four small cartons.

Once everyone had been handed their meals, Lars waved to his best ability. “Sorry about all that, man. Have a good day!”

“Yeah….y-you to….”

As the space pirate and his alien friends left the site, making way for the next car in line, Derek watched them leave with a look of utter confusion on his face. Perhaps he needed to stop drinking coffee in the afternoons.

While Lars and the Off Colors were headed back to his house, the first ones to break the tension-filled silence were the Rutiles.

“We’re terribly sorry about how we acted, Captain,” one of them sighed.

“Yes, very,” her twin added. “It was silly to fight over Earth food.”

“Me too. I should’ve just made up my mind,” Rhodonite said, looking down nervously.

“ And  me, ” Fluorite piped up. “ It  just  takes  all  of  us  a  while  to  decide  on  things. ”

“I think I finally know what I want!” Padparadscha chimed in, only to frown seconds after. “Oh. Never mind. Captain Lars is going to get frustrated with us for taking so long and will order everything himself.”

A pang of guilt fell over Lars for his outburst as he heard his crew apologize, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Guys, seriously, don’t worry about it. That was your first time ordering food.”

“But we made a huge mess back there,” Rhodonite fretted.

“You think that was a big mess?” Lars giggled. “You should’ve seen some of the stuff I got into at Pepe’s during my first few times there. One time, they had to kick me and my old friend out because we were playing murder mystery in the playground, and I smeared ketchup all over the slide to make it look like a crime scene.”

The gems around him looked to one another and laughed awkwardly.

“What’s ketchup?” one of the Rutiles asked.

"Basically tomato paste,” he explained. “People put it on burgers a lot. It’s okay.”

“Is it that goopy stuff?” The other twin grimaced at the thought.

“Yeah, it’s sauce, but I think the stuff on that burger you wanted was barbecue sauce. That's different, and in my opinion, much better.”

“Oh….” She frowned, seeming disappointed in herself.

“I guess we really don’t know anything about Earth."

“We’re sorry.”

“Oh my gosh, please, you’ve only been here for two days! Stop beating yourself up over stuff you’re still learning.” Lars, realizing they were right next to the driveway leading to his house, turned around to flash his crewmates a warm smile. “Now, who’s ready to discover the wonders of fast food?”

The Off Colors glanced to one another again and similar grins spread across their faces.

“We are!”

“Oh, I guess so.”

“ Count  me  in. ”

“I had a vision of us scaring the human who will gift us with Earth food. Perhaps Captain Lars should go first.”

“Then let’s go!”

And with that, Lars and the Off Colors ended their adventure of the day in the most rewarding way possible: eating a cheap yet delicious meal from Pepe’s Burgers.

Chapter Text

Even after spending time on the planet in a positive context, a lot of things about Earth still confused Lapis. Of course, it would be a while before she’d completely warm up to everything about a planet where she was held prisoner on two different occasions, but there were some things she honestly felt like she’d never get used to. One of those was how oddly hospitable everyone was.

She understood the concept of one person being nicer than anyone else, namely Steven. When she’d first met him, the familiar tense feeling in her gut that’s always present when she knows someone shouldn’t be trusted wasn’t there in the slightest. There was truly something different about this small human. Or was he a gem? Lapis was still unsure of how to refer to him, but she did know one thing: he would never harm her.

However, when everyone suddenly started being nice to her despite having fought with her not too long ago? That’s when it got a little uncomfortable. The Crystal Gems were an example. They hadn’t even bothered trying to free her from that mirror for who who-knows-how-many decades, and all of a sudden, they expected her to be okay with them because they were friends with Steven? Why didn’t they see how hard it was for someone to go from enemies to friends?

Perhaps the most confusing of these interactions had been the ones she’d had with Peridot, the gem she shared her home with. Being her roommate wasn’t something Lapis had planned or honestly, something she even wanted, but Steven had been eager to see the two of them get along, so she’d decided to at least try it out. Although it was going better than expected, it was still odd and sometimes a little uncomfortable.

Why did someone who helped bring her back to the planet she’d originally been so miserable on want to be her friend? Lapis understood that going against the Diamonds’ orders was stressful at the least and dangerous at the most, but Peridot hadn’t even shown the tiniest bit of remorse for anything until now.

It was almost smothering: how much she’d try to converse with her, give her things, make her watch that dumb Earth show about humans who had a weird fixation on maple syrup and crying. Lapis just couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Maybe she should be less wary of the other gem’s advances, but it was growing harder and harder not to be at least a little on edge.

Most nights, Lapis tried to keep to herself as much as she could and only talk to Peridot if she absolutely had to. Even if something was wrong, she didn’t want her to know. Normally, she was good at hiding that, so she wouldn’t worry this strange gem who had so suddenly been drawn to her.

But this night was different.

Lapis should’ve known something would go wrong when Steven said he wanted to take her out on the ocean. Her and the ocean never mixed, ironic as that was. Sure, she had expected to be plagued with countless visions of what it was like to be fused with Jasper and stuck under the sea for so long, but even with her paranoid and pessimistic nature, she never expected to actually run into her ex-fusion partner. And to be asked to fuse with her again.

She had a feeling Jasper would eventually catch up with them. That was something she’d accepted long ago, since Steven said he had no idea where the Quartz had gone when they unfused. However, she definitely hadn’t expected Jasper to ask if they could be Malachite again.

Why would she ever want that? Lapis had been awful to her! Even if it was a mutually unhealthy relationship, she acknowledged how terrible her half of it had been. She’d given up the power she had over Jasper long ago and wanted to forget about the whole ordeal, to grow from it and never make the same mistakes again. She wanted to change and didn’t understand why anyone, especially someone she’d kept forcefully bound to her, would want her to reverse the progress she’d made and hurt them again.

Steven said Jasper had just been trying to get to her head, but she wasn’t sure of that. There was something about the desperation in her eyes when she’d asked, something Lapis had never seen from her throughout all the time they’d spend with one another, that made her think otherwise. It made her feel sick. She needed some sleep.

Luckily, the water gem had been quick to pick up on that Earth thing. Sleeping almost came naturally to her, and she wished she’d known how to do it sooner. It was like she could shut off the crippling exhaustion she faced on a near-daily basis for a little while. Not forever, but hey, it was enough sometimes. Although it probably wouldn’t be this time, she didn’t want to be awake for another second.

Once Lapis had flown into the barn, she expected to collide face-first with her hammock and hope she didn’t dream about the terrifying encounter on board the ship. Unfortunately, right before she was about to jump into the hammock and make herself comfortable, a shrill screech and approaching footsteps distracted her.

“Lazuli!!! There you are!”

Feeling a rock sink in her stomach, Lapis whipped around to see Peridot standing directly behind her, a large, toothy grin present on her face. She gulped in both anxiety and annoyance, wondering why she even thought for a second that she wouldn’t immediately be stopped by her roommate before she had a chance to pass out.

“Heh….” She tried her hardest to put on a facade, not wanting the other to pick up on any traces of discomfort. “Yeah. Hi.”

“I’ve been waiting all night for you to get back!” the green gem announced, beaming.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because your favorite roommate and Crystal Gem, that’s me, just learned an incredible new trick to perform with her metal powers! I won’t spoil anything, but let me give you a hint: it involves a spoon. Come over here!” She reached a hand out to grab Lapis’ arm, instantly causing the other to recoil backwards and out of her grasp.

“Actually, Peridot, I need to sleep,” she spoke, gritting her teeth and trying her hardest to weasel her way out of the conversation. “You can show me when I wake up.”

However, her roommate didn’t seem to know how to listen. “Oh, Lazuli. Technically, you don’t need to sleep. None of us do! Plus, it’ll just take a few seconds. I promise!”

Lapis sighed, realizing this would be a lot harder than expected. “Well, I want to sleep then. Just….go practice it, and then it’ll be perfect by the time you’re able to show me.”

“But it’s perfect noooow!” Peridot frowned. “Please, Lazuli. I’ve been excited to show you all daaaay!”

As she was getting rather tense, air hissed in-between Lapis’ teeth. “Peridot, I said no. Now leave me alone.”

“Oh, come on! It’ll take ten seconds! Fifteen max!”

Trying her hardest to keep calm and visibly shaking from it, the water gem choked out her words. “Not. Right. Now.”

“But Lazuli, I’ve-”

“I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

Whipping around with an icy anger clouding her eyes, her teeth bared and her fists clenched so hard that she could feel her fingernails digging into her hands, Lapis glared daggers at peridot as she exploded. In that moment, a familiar surge of power coursed through her, bringing back all sorts of old feelings. She no longer felt vulnerable, weak and exhausted. She felt invincible. She felt strong. She felt in control.

Oh…no…

As quickly as she’d lashed out, the blue gem came down from her explosion. Her brain began to register Peridot’s expression: eyes wide, mouth agape, hands held protectively against her face, body cowering backwards, utter shock with a little bit of terror….she recognized that look. It was the look she’d worn when Jasper had grabbed her from the sky, begging her to fuse with her and making Lapis feel as if she had no choice. And it was the look Jasper had given her when she’d taken her anger out on her, everything she’d made her feel in that one moment and stuff that didn’t even have anything to with her in the first place.

Words she’d heard seconds earlier began to flood through her mind until all she could hear were their echoes.

“She’s the one you should be afraid of.”

“I’m the only one who can handle your kind of power .”

“I thought I was a brute, but you? You’re a monster. ”

Almost instantly, Lapis shook her head and came back down to reality. A look of pain frozen on her face, she slowly began to reach a hand out to the other gem. “P-Peridot, I’m-”

“No, it’s okay,” she spoke, voice quiet and hand halfway covering her mouth. “Don’t worry. I’ll go.”

“B-But….” The water gem racked her brain for something to say as she watched her roommate turn around. Desperate to right what she’d done wrong, Lapis cut to the chase. “I’m sorry, Peridot. Please, don’t go.”

Hearing those words was enough to get Peridot to stop in her tracks. She turned around, slowly and cautiously, with a confused look on her face. “I thought you wanted me to leave you alone?”

“No! I mean, I did, but I….listen, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I’m really, really sorry. I just….a lot happened tonight.” Sighing, Lapis sunk to the wooden floor, sitting to where she could bury her face in her legs.

Peridot frowned, suddenly even more concerned than she was to begin with. Carefully, she made her way back over to Lapis and sat down next to her. It clearly wasn’t the time for spoon tricks, but she clearly did need someone to talk to and had asked her to stay.

“Do you….wanna talk about it?”

A shocked expression made its way across Lapis’ face, and she jolted upright slightly, turning her head to look at the gem sitting next to her. Earlier, the last thing she’d wanted to do was open up to anyone, let alone the gem she’d been half-forced to share her space with. But as she was looking into the other’s olivine eyes, wide and sincere, a feeling crept over her that she’d never had around Peridot: she trusted her.

“Yes. I do.”

Peridot’s expression softened, and she scooted a bit closer to Lapis. “Okay. What happened?”

“I saw Jasper again.”

A panicked gasp left Peridot’s throat. “Wait, the Jasper!? The one who went on the Earth mission with us!? The one you fused with!?”

Lapis nodded.

“Oh my stars!” the smaller gem yelped, gripping her hair. “What happened!? Did she hurt Steven!? Did she hurt you!?”

“No, no, I’m not hurt! Neither is Steven. Don’t worry.” She sighed. “I, um….got rid of her for now.”

Peridot screwed up her face in worry. “For now!?”

“Yep.” Lapis looked to the ceiling as she continued. “But it wasn’t just seeing her that upset me. She….asked if I wanted to fuse with her again.”

The other gem almost fell over in shock the minutes those words registered in her mind. “She WHAT!? B-But….wasn’t it like….didn’t you-”

“Yeah. It was horrible . For both of us.” Another pained sigh left Lapis’ throat. “I told her no and stopped her from attacking Steven on my behalf, but….”

“But….?”

“Ugh, I just don’t understand!” She threw her head back in frustration. “I’ve been trying so hard to make sure I’m never in control of anything ever again, so I don’t make the same mistakes and hurt anyone else, but after this, I feel like it doesn’t even matter. No matter where I go or what I do to make up for it, I’m always gonna be followed around by stealing the ocean and breaking Steven’s dad’s leg and trying to drown his friend and keeping Malachite fused for so long and….” Lapis sucked in a breath of air, as well as a few tears that were dangerously close to falling. “I’m a lost cause.”

Peridot had clearly been listening to everything her roommate said rather intently, and once she’d finished, was quick to shoot back. “No, you’re not! Lazuli-”

“Please, just call me Lapis,” the water gem corrected.

“O-Okay, Lapis….you’re not a lost cause at all.” She locked eyes with her, tone sincere as she spoke. “I mean, just look at me! Back when I still followed Homeworld’s orders, I tried to kill the Crystal Gems numerous times. I was terrible to them! I was the gem who reported them to the Diamonds to begin with! I….” Her voice trailed off, and her expression faltered. “I’m the reason you had to come back to this planet.”

Lapis nodded. She didn’t know what to say to the statement, but part of her felt refreshed that Peridot had acknowledged it.

“But I would never do any of that stuff now,” the green gem resumed. “I learned. I know better. And even if I do slip up and make a few rather off-color remarks here and there, that doesn’t take back all the progress I’ve made. It’s the same thing for you.”

Her words caused Lapis’ eyes to grow wide as saucers, and she blinked, unfamiliar to being spoken to with such sincerity.

“Who cares if you did things you aren’t proud of in the past? This is the present! What matters is that you acknowledge what you’ve done wrong, own up to it and apologize. Just like you did to me a few minutes ago.” Peridot flashed her a genuine smile.

There were so many things she could have said back, that she wanted to say back. But they just wouldn’t come out of Lapis’ mouth, so she settled for the best she could: returning her roommate’s smile and a compliment.

“Y’know….you really aren’t that bad after all.”

A jade blush coated Peridot’s cheeks, and she chuckled modestly. “Heh. Wow, thanks.”

Lapis raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“Huh?”

“Wow, thanks? You say it a lot. Is it like….thank you but stronger?”

“Oh!” Peridot giggled and looked to the side. “Steven taught it to me. It’s what you say when someone does something to make you feel good. For example, when you said something nice about me, it made me feel very good. Therefore, I said “wow thanks” in response.” She grinned awkwardly. “Hopefully, that makes sense-”

“Peridot?” Lapis cut the other gem off.

“Huh?”

“Wow, thanks.”

Chapter Text

It had been a few months since Lars blasted off into space once more. He’d managed to find his way home from Earth after being abducted and stranded but soon realized that he missed the life of a space pirate. There was just something about it that gave him a rush of confidence he couldn’t even come close to getting out of anything on his home planet. And as much as they enjoyed living somewhere peaceful, he was relieved to learn that the Off Colors felt the same.

Therefore, they’d officially decided to make frequent trips to space. Did they have a purpose? Well, not yet, other than flying around and looking for off-colored gems to rescue or stuffy Homeworld gems to mess with. Still, it was very refreshing to get back into the groove of being a space pirate. There was no question that Lars had missed Earth dearly during his time away, but that didn’t mean he still couldn’t get bored of it after a while.

And it’s not like they’d never come back! Both the Off Colors and their captain were hard to kill, so they weren’t super worried. Lars wasn’t even sure if he could be killed, but he’d worry about that another day. Plus, Steven could visit whenever he’d like, as well as bring anyone with him as long as they weren’t too big. The point was that they were probably just as safe in space as they were back on Earth with all the gem drama that plagued the daily lives of the Crystal Gems.

Today was the first day Lars would be coming home after his return to space. It had been a pretty successful one, filled with dashing chases, taunting Homeworld elites and basking in the life of being a rebel. However, it was definitely time to go back to Earth for a while. He was growing rather tired from his wild life and needed a well-deserved break. The Off Colors quickly agreed to it as well.

The captain wasn’t expecting much when he got home. Sure, he’d probably get hugs from his friends and family and talk to them about what he’d missed, but other than that, it wouldn’t be the dramatic reunion he’d received last time brought upon by everyone realizing how much space had changed him. Actually, not much had changed since he’d left again. Or so he thought.

There was one thing Earth had that space couldn’t offer: haircuts. Perhaps it had been something to do with the Rose Quartz magic that now took control of his body, but Lars’ hair had grown out at a faster rate than normal. What was once just a tiny ginger tuft on top of a mostly shaved head was now curly, flowing pale pink locks that draped a little past his shoulders.

It wasn’t that Lars wanted to get his hair chopped off at all. He actually enjoyed being able to grow it out during his adventures and thought it made him look more like a cool space pirate. Steven and his crew had even reassured him that it looked wonderful. However, he’d become so used to having long, rose-colored hair, that he’d forgotten most of his friends on Earth had no idea what he looked like with hair past a small poof.

When he arrived in Beach City, the Off Colors had parked the ship a little outside Steven’s house. The crew had planned to stop by the temple first to tell the Crystal Gems they’d come back and then head for Lars’ parents’ house, but right as he was preparing himself to walk toward the beach house they’d landed by, a noise coming from the beach caught the captain off-guard. He looked down to see four figures sitting on the shore in lawn chairs with various instruments, playing them while one sang along. Lars instantly knew who they were and smiled excitedly.

“Actually,” he said, stopping the gems he’d arrived with, “you guys go on to the temple. I’m gonna go down to the beach for a sec. I’ll meet you in a bit, and we can head over to my place, ‘kay?”

“Alright!” One of the Rutiles nodded, waving him off.

“We’ll see you in a bit, Captain,” the other followed up.

“You too!” Lars replied, giving them finger guns before running to the shore as quickly as he could to reunite with his friends.

As soon as he’d made his way down to the beach, the pink human nervously approached Sadie and her friends. Although he was comfortable around the person he’d called his best friend for so many years, the cool kids did still make him a bit nervous. They were just wrapping up a song when Sour Cream, who was holding a laptop hooked up to rather loud speakers, noticed his arrival.

“Hey, man!” he called out, waving to Lars and causing everyone else to turn and look at him.

“Ummm….hey guys!” the captain chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I’m home-”

“You lost or something?”

The DJ’s question caught Lars off-guard. Why did they think he was lost? He tried to say something back, but his face was growing hot with embarrassment and confusion, making it hard to form words.

“Are you one of Steven’s friends?” Jenny asked, putting her guitar to the side. “He lives just a little up that hill.”

“N-No?” Lars replied, stuttering. “I-I mean, I am friends with Steven, but I’m-”

“Maybe he’s one of our adoring fans,” Buck suggested, moving his sunglasses down to make eye contact with the pink human. “Don’t be shy. You can ask for our autographs. We’re people too.”

“I….” Finding himself at a loss for words once more, especially because his mind turned to mush every time he looked into Buck’s unfortunately dreamy eyes, Lars desperately tried to think of something to say before someone beat him to it.

“Wait….Lars?”

Of course Sadie was the first person to recognize him, even if she did look a little bewildered! The pink human clapped his hands together, pointing to her with a nod. “There ya go!”

The cool kids’ expressions suddenly changed to ones of extreme shock, and Jenny almost fell out of her chair.

“Lars!?” Sour Cream gasped.

“I don’t believe it,” Buck said in a whisper.

“What did you do with your hair!?” Jenny exclaimed.

Ohhhhh. Right.

Embarrassed, Lars looked up, as if trying to get a glimpse of his hair although he knew what it looked like. “Y-Yeah. I kinda grew it out. Hopefully, it looks okay because-”

“It looks fantastic!!! ” Jenny cut him off, getting up and running over to him. “I would do anything for hair like this!”

The pink human’s face was turning almost entirely magenta. “R-Really?”

“Um, yeah! Can I touch it?” She looked to him with excited yet pleading eyes.

“Yeeeeah, sure. Why not?” Lars bit his lip awkwardly. “Just don’t fall in.”

Jenny did just as she’d asked, immediately running her fingers through the captain’s curly locks. “Ooooh, and it’s so soft! What kind of conditioner do they have in space? Because you might have to bring me some back!”

“Heh.” He looked to Sadie, smiling while Jenny continued to feel of his hair. “How’s it been?”

“Good,” the blonde replied, grinning back. “We decided to practice on the beach today because it was nice outside. Sorry I didn’t hear you come up. Sour Cream’s speakers are really loud.”

“Hell yeah, they are!” the DJ piped up, winking.

This got a small snicker out of Sadie, cueing Lars to do the same. He was about to ask her she’d been up to, but a sudden tap on his shoulder startled him from doing so. Thinking it was just Jenny, he didn’t turn around at first. However, when he felt the absence of her hands thumbing through his now-lengthy locks and noticed that the others seemed to be glancing behind him as well, he realized something might be up. The voice he heard confirmed it.

“Ummmmm….h-hello.”

Flipping around, Lars expected to see a person he’d never met before in his life. Instead, he found himself face-to-face with someone he definitely knew but wasn’t expecting to see at all. Standing there in front of him, looking more nervous and awkward and sweaty than Lars had ever seen him before, which was really saying something, was no other than his old friend, Ronaldo Fryman.

Wondering less about why he’d approached him in the first place and more about why he looked so tense and flustered, the captain cocked his head to the side. “Uh….hey there, Ronaldo. What’s up?”

A sudden wide, anxious smile appeared on the other boy’s face, and he began to run a hand through his curly hair as he spoke. “I-I just….well, I saw you, and….I was going to uhhhhh….ask if I could perhaps get your num-wait, how do you know my name?”

Oh dear.

“Oh god,” Lars whistled between his teeth, sucking in air before continuing the awkward encounter. “I’m uh….it’s….me, Ronaldo.”

The curly-haired boy still seemed rather confused. “You? What do you mean it’s-oh my god, you’re Lars, aren’t you?”

Rocking back in forth a little and clapping his hand together, Lars gave his old friend an awkward smile. “Yep! I sure am Lars....”

“Oh….my god,” Ronaldo breathed out, tugging at his hair with the hand that had previously been idly messing with it. “You’re….you’re Lars….”

“I’m Lars.”

“You’re….o-oh my god, I am soooo sorry. I just-”

“No, no, it’s okay! I get it. My hair’s like….yeah, it’s long.”

“It definitely is. And it, uh….looks kinda nice? I mean, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, yeah! It does, huh? Well, thanks man….”

“Yeeeeah. I’m gonna….go. I gotta like….do that thing, y’know? Like….where I-”

“Go to work?”

“Yep! That’s the one! So I’ll….see you around….Lars.” Ronaldo, who was now even more of a blushing wreck than he’d previously been, waved awkwardly at the pink human.

He returned the wave, trying his best to avoid direct eye contact. “You too, Ronaldo!”

Once the other boy had disappeared, Lars slowly turned around to look at Sadie, who was wearing an equally nervous expression. “That was….weird.”

She chuckled. “Yeeeeeah.”

Suddenly, two more voices from nearby caught the captain’s attention.

“But Martha, isn’t that illegal?”

“Has that stopped me before?”

He turned his head to see his parents walking along the beach with their arms intertwined. Joy flooded through him at the sight, and he turned back to Sadie and her band for a second.

“Hold up! I’m gonna go see mom and dad,” he informed them, rushing in the directions of his parents soon after Sadie nodded in understanding.

Perhaps it was because he was just so excited to see them, but for some reason, Lars’ first instinct was to immediately go in for a hug. Knowing his parents, especially his mom, they wouldn’t be against it at all!

“Mom! Dad!” he called out to them when he was only a few feet away, causing the couple to whip around and look straight at him. “Hey!!! I’m ho-”

“Look out, Martha! There’s a mugger!”

Before Lars could even get a few words out, his mother was wielding her purse protectively, threatening to strike him. “Get away from me, you scoundrel!” she screeched, Dante protectively grabbing her shoulder. “I’ll knock you in the head so hard it’ll-”

“Mom, no! It’s me! Your son!?”

Martha and Dante became completely awestruck, and Lars’ mother lowered her purse slowly, adjusting her glasses. “.....Lars?”

“Yes!” he gasped, catching his breath. “Geez, I grow my hair out once, and-”

He was cut off by his mom’s arms suddenly hugging him tight around the middle. Chuckling, he returned it, and his dad walked over to smirk at him and give him a pat on the back.

“Nice hair, Laramie.”

“Heh….” Lars blushed, looking away. “I guess.”

Chapter Text

Summertime was always the best part of the year to Sour Cream, as well as for just about any other young adult. Many took May rolling around as a cue to immediately rush to their cars and drive off to a beach somewhere for a day of relaxing under the sun. Living next to the beach was that all the time, except instead of driving you just got out of bed, called up your friends, put on shorts and a loose T-shirt and walked out the doorway to meet said friends by the local pizza shop.

And that was just how Sour Cream had started off the morning. It was the first day that both him and his two best friends were officially done with their classes. Every summer, they’d always go down to the beach together as soon as possible to celebrate wrapping up a year of hard work. This time was no different, and the DJ had been looking forward to it for weeks.

He arrived at Fish Stew Pizza right when Jenny was walking out its door. Buck was already leaning against the wall, listening to music and tapping his hand to the beat. As soon as he saw his friends approaching, he removed his earbuds and flashed them both a gentle smile.

“Heyo,” he greeted them.

“Hey, guys!” Jenny exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “Ready for our first beach day of the summer?”

“Hell yeah!” Sour Cream piped up. “I’ve been ready for ages.”

“Me too,” Buck said, tucking the earbuds he held away into his pants pocket. “You bring the lounge chairs?”

A frown suddenly fell across Sour Cream’s face. “Aw, rats. I totally forgot.”

“That’s cool!” Jenny was quick to cut in. “My dad has at least two of them around here somewhere. Either of you guys mind sharing if we can’t find three?”

“Jenny, please, all three of us have shared one before,” he laughed, blushing a little as he remembered the time in question.

“Works for me,” Buck said with a shrug.

“Okay! I might need at least one other person to help carry them though.”

Sour Cream was about to offer to do it himself since he was the reason Jenny needed to get them in the first place, but Buck was quick to take up her offer. “I’ll do it. I wanna say hi to your grandma. She’s cool.”

“Of course,” Jenny laughed. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.” She focused her glance on Sour Cream. “You wanna come with?”

“Actually, I think I’ll go on down if that’s cool,” he answered. “I was thinking about getting one of those snow cones from that new place, and I can grab two more for you guys if you’ll tell me what you want.”

“Oooh, yeah! I could go for a snow cone.” She thought for a moment before coming to a decision. “Get me a cherry one.”

“And I want tiger’s blood,” Buck followed up.

“Nice choices!” Sour Cream waved to them. “I’ll see you on the beach with your cones!”

“See ya!” Buck called to him.

“Don’t get run over or something,” Jenny laughed, walking into the back room of Fish Stew Pizza with Buck following close behind her.

“I’ll try not to,” Sour Cream replied with a snicker. He then turned around and began to head toward the beach, walking past a few shops before he went to cross the street. However, right when he was in the middle of it, the sound of screeching tires and smell of strong exhaust fumes filled his senses, and he looked up to see a yellow sports car racing toward him.

The DJ didn’t think too much of it at first. Sure, they were going pretty fast, but they’d stop for him, right? Wrong. When he realized the fancy car was showing no signs of even remotely slowing down, Sour Cream gasped and jumped backwards mere seconds before he would have been flattened against the pavement. The owner of the car honked its horn, causing him to wince at the loud, obnoxious noise.

Although his best interests were telling him to run after whoever the hell was in that thing and give them a piece of his mind, Sour Cream didn’t want to start anything. It was best he just got the snowcones, headed down to the beach and waited for his friends. Unfortunately, after walking a few steps in the opposite direction, the sudden sound of a car door slamming open stopped him in his tracks.

“HEY!!!” a bitter voice yelled at him. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING, YOU LITTLE WEIRDO! I’M DRIVING HERE!”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” Sour Cream mumbled under his breath before whipping around to glare at the nutjob who almost ran him over. “HEY! PEDESTRIANS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, YOU…..huh?”

Squinting and allowing his insult to trail off, the DJ noticed that something was hauntingly familiar about this guy. He was a boy who appeared to be around his age, and he wore a red t-shirt, jeans and a white scarf around his neck. His hair was so dark brown that it was almost black, and he had piercing hazel eyes. It definitely didn’t fit the description of anyone in Beach City, but Sour Cream couldn’t help but feel like he knew this person.

“Why the hell are you just staring at me, punk?” the boy spat, walking toward him angrily. “I asked you why you walked out in front of my….whoa, wait.” He stopped in his tracks only a few feet away, suddenly looking like he’d seen a ghost. “.....Sour Cream? Is that you?”

The memory of who was standing in front of him hit like a ton of bricks, and Sour Cream was surprised that he hadn’t found himself at a complete loss for words. “Wait…. Kevin!? ”

The bewildered expression on Kevin’s face soon changed as he tried to make himself appear more collected. “Pffft. Of course it’s me,” the other replied, looking him up and down.

“Oh my god!” Beaming in excitement and almost forgetting this guy almost hit him with a car mere seconds ago, the DJ laughed in delight. “I can’t believe it!”

Kevin snickered. “Well, you’ve better start believing it.”

His small chuckle got a bit more laughter out of Sour Cream. “Dude, it’s been ages since I’ve last seen you. What are you doing all the way back in Beach City? Vacation?”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Ew. You seriously think I’d come back to this garbage heap by choice? Dad retired, so we moved back.” He sighed. “I just came to the boardwalk because it’s the only thing to do around here.”

“Wait, you moved back?” Sour Cream raised his brows in shock. “Since when?”

“Uhhhhhh, a few months ago?” The other boy looked suspiciously at him. “Why?”

“Months ago!? Why didn’t you try to get a hold of me? We totally could’ve hung out!” He laughed lightheartedly, the excitement of having his old friend back filling his mind with all sorts of ideas.

However, Kevin didn’t seem nearly as thrilled. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah!” he continued. “Oh man, you’ve gotta meet my new friends! They’d love you!” An idea formed in his head as he spoke. “Wait, actually….they’re gonna be back any second. Do you wanna stick around and say hi? We were gonna get snow cones and chill at the beach for the rest of the day. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a fourth person. Well, unless you mind sharing a lounge chair.”

“Wait….” An odd expression was forming on his old friend’s face. “Are you serious?”

“Uh, of course!” Sour Cream smiled warmly. It had been so long since he’d seen Kevin face-to-face. In fact, the last time he could remember doing so was in elementary school. Sure, they’d called each other frequently a year or two after he moved, but that eventually came to a stop for unknown reasons. Although they’d failed to keep in touch, he really did miss hanging out with him from time to time, and now, he actually had the chance to again. “So, what do ya say?”

Kevin hesitated for a moment, as if he was contemplating something. For a second, Sour Cream wondered if he was perhaps a little worried that Buck and Jenny wouldn’t like him. He was rather shy as a kid, after all. But before he could reassure him one more time, Kevin did something he wasn’t expecting.

He burst into laughter. Not the kind of laughter you explode into when you’re having fun with your friends. Cold, menacing laughter, as if he was mocking him. He was mocking him.

“Oh my god,” Kevin gasped, catching his breath. “I can’t believe it! Wow, you really haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

A lump catching in his throat, the DJ lowered his eyebrows. “What….?”

“You seriously think I wanna hang out with you and your loser friends on that run-down beach! Ohhh my god, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week!” He wiped a few tears from his eyes. “You crack me up, Sour Cream.”

Hurt and confusion flooding through his mind, Sour Cream was frozen. Why was his old friend saying this stuff to him? Didn’t he still care about him at all? Even just a little bit? It sure didn’t look like it, but why?

Kevin ran a hand through his hair and looked down at his wrist, assumedly studying a watch. “Welp, I’m gonna get outta here and go back to my place. Have fun on the beach with your little pals, Sour Cream!” He shook his head, snickering through his teeth and turned to leave. But he wasn’t getting away that easily.

“Wait!”

Not expecting the sudden voice from behind him, the brown-haired boy halted, jumping a bit in surprise. He whipped around quickly, clearly annoyed. “The hell do you want?”

Biting so hard into his lip that he feared it might bleed, Sour Cream took a deep, shaky breath before speaking again. “Kevin….what’s wrong with you?”

Narrowing his eyes, Kevin stepped back a little bit more. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“B-But….” He shook his head. “Yeah, there is! Why are you being such a….s-such a jerk? ”

The words were spat from his mouth like venom, and for half of a second, Sour Cream swore he saw a bit of a genuine falter in Kevin’s expression. However, it soon molded itself into an angry glare, and he looked away from his old friend. “Listen, you little weirdo. I have better things to do than hang out with you. We’re two different people now, Sour Cream. To put it frankly, I’m way out of your league. We aren’t in fuckin’ elementary school anymore, okay? So get over it, and leave me the hell alone.”

Kevin was going to turn and actually walk away this time, but again, he was stopped by more words. “What do you have to do?”

“Pardon?”

“You heard me.” Sour Cream clenched his fists, and he tried as hard as he could to keep any potential tears from falling. “What do you have to do that’s so much more important than hanging out with me?”

“Uhhhhh….” Kevin chewed at his lower lip and shoved his hands into his pocket, as if trying to form an excuse. After a while, he seemed to give up. “That’s none of your business.”

Sighing, the DJ walked closer to the other boy. He locked eyes with him, keeping their gazes in contact with each other to his best ability, before talking in a more gentle tone. “Kevin….you don’t have to be alone.”

He thought he saw the hazel eyes of his old friend soften for maybe a fraction of a second. But it didn’t matter because they soon hardened once more, and with an annoyed snarl, Kevin flipped around, sauntering off to his car.

“Whatever,” he grumbled to himself, hardly loud enough for Sour Cream to hear.

Once the other boy got into his yellow sports car, he started it back up and drove away just as recklessly as earlier. Not once did Sour Cream tear his gaze away from Kevin’s car, watching it descend down the streets until it was nothing but a faraway dot. His chest felt tight with something he couldn’t explain as he watched him drive away, knowing that if he ever did see him again, it wouldn’t be on good terms.

“Sour Cream!”

A voice startled him, almost causing him to jump out of his skin. He turned his head to see Buck and Jenny running at him, concerned expressions on their faces. Waving weakly, he tried his hardest to crack a smile at his friends.

“Heh. Hey, guys.” He frowned, realizing that he didn’t do anything he said he was going to before they returned. “Sorry, I didn’t get the snow cones yet. I got uhhhh….held up by-”

“We know,” Buck cut him off, moving his sunglasses down a bit to properly look at his friend. A deep worry clouded his dark brown eyes.

“Oh….” A deep sigh left Sour Cream’s throat, and he grew a bit hot with embarrassment.

“Was that creep bothering you?” Jenny asked, looking as if she was ready to tear Kevin a new one.

“No, not really,” he replied.

“Ugh, I hate that guy!” she snarled, surprising Sour Cream.

“Wait, you know him?”

“Unfortunately.” Jenny rolled her eyes. “He came over to Fish Stew Pizza once and gave all of us hell. The jerk said his pizza was “way too cold” because it didn’t burn his mouth. Things got kinda messy, and dad had to kick him out.”

“Ohhhhh….darn.” The DJ winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she chuckled. “Guys like him don’t deserve your time.”

Something about what she said hit a little too close to home for him. “Yeah.”

Jenny gave him a comforting pat to the shoulder. “You know him?”

Sour Cream opened his mouth but stopped himself, thinking his response over. A small laugh left his throat before he spoke. “Nah. I don’t.”

Not anymore.

He looked to his two best friends, exchanging glances and smiles with them as if to silently let them know how much they meant to him. They were quick to look at him in the exact same way, reminding him that the feelings were mutual.

“We left the chairs by the door when we saw that guy messing with you,” Buck piped up.

“Okay,” Sour Cream replied. “Wanna go grab em?”

“Yeah!”

“Then we can just all go get the snow cones together!” Jenny suggested.

“Perfect!”

“C’mon, then!” Buck motioned for them to follow. “Let’s start our beach day!”

“Yeah!!!” Jenny and Sour Cream both cheered in unison. “Beach day!!!”

Wrapping their arms around one another’s shoulders, the three of them walked toward the door of Fish Stew Pizza together. Sour Cream began to feel all the stress and worry that the conversation with Kevin brought him slip away. For now, he was just glad to have amazing people like Buck and Jenny in his life, who without a doubt cared about him just as much as he cared about them. He might not be on good terms with his childhood best friend, but hey, at least he wasn’t alone.

In fact, he was far from it.

Chapter Text

“Ummm, if you could just….”

“Oh! Yeah.”

Lars bent over, shutting his eyes in anticipation for the uncomfortable feeling of Steven traveling through the newly opened portal that was….well, his own head. Before he could feel it, a gentle tap on his shoulder alerted him, and he looked up to his friend, who was wearing a proud smile.

“Hey, Lars?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

With that, the two exchanged similar grins of compassion, and Lars winced as he felt his friend exit through his head until he could no longer sense his presence at all. Steven was gone. Although he never would have thought being without the kid who often bugged him back on Earth would have this effect on him, it made his chest feel tight with a feeling he couldn’t quite place.

But thankfully, he wasn’t alone.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the pink human stood up and stared in front of him at the group of gems he’d just met who called themselves the Off Colors. While doing so, he almost wanted to smile at least a little bit. Usually it took Lars ages to warm up to others this much, but this was different. From the moment he’d met these gems, he felt a strong connection with them and immediately wanted to do absolutely anything to keep them out of danger. Which is exactly what he’d done.

And it had cost him his life.

“So, uhhhh….what are we going to do next?”

A voice spoke up from behind him, causing Lars to jump. However, he turned to realize it was just one of the Off Colors, Rhodonite.

He thought her question over, looking down at his feet and trying to process everything that just happened to him. “I….don’t know.”

However, his eyes wandered over to his hands, which were now a rosy pink hue. Looking at them made Lars’ head feel like it was spinning. He flexed his fingers, as if trying to remind himself that yes, this was his body, and yes, he was pink and some kind of magical portal zombie now.

But he didn’t feel like he thought being undead would feel. The movies he’d watched with Sadie made it sound awful and torturous. This was none of those things. In fact, he almost felt refreshed.

“ We  should  probably  be  on  our  way, ” the large caterpillar-like gem, Fluorite, spoke up.

“Fluorite’s right,” one of the twins of Rutile added.

“The robonoids will be back any time,” her twin followed.

“Goodbye, Steven!” the small orange gem, Pad….something, he would have to ask later, cheered. “Have a safe trip home!”

Lars looked up at the surrounding gems, nodding his head. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get outta here. Which way should we go?”

“Hmmmm….” Rhodonite tapped a finger against her chin in thought. “Well, there’s a place up ahead that’s pretty sheltered. We hide there sometimes. It’s a bit of a walk though.”

“I’ve literally got the rest of my second life, and it just started,” the pink human replied, trying to crack a joke to calm his nerves. “Plus, we can go there for now and plan an escape route.”

“Oh, yeah!” The fusion perked up a bit. “You’re right. We can do that.”

“It’s just left from here,” a Rutile informed him.

“Follow us.”

The gems all began to walk ahead. Lars hesitated at first, still having trouble taking in exactly what he’d just been through, but when the Rutile twins turned around to look at him, he took it as his cue to follow.

During their first few minutes of walking, it was completely silent, but the Off Colors seemed to be making some sort of conversation with themselves by glances and gestures. Lars frowned, feeling a strange anxiety creep over him at this. The awkwardness in the air was almost smothering to the pink human, who was considering asking what they were talking about but not wishing to appear rude. Luckily, he didn’t have to break the silence himself.

“Hey….” Rhodonite’s nervous voice piped up as they continued their trek toward the hiding place.

“Huh?” Lars whipped around to face the fusion, who was looking away from him and wringing both sets of her hands.

“I just….wanted to ask, uh….” She gulped and looked to her friends, as if anxious to ask the question herself.

“What is it?” The pink human raised an eyebrow, becoming even more unsettled from the tension.

Fluorite heaved a very deep and very long sigh before opening every set of her eyes to lock with Lars’. “ We  were  wondering  what  happened  to  you. ”

“Oh….”

He looked down to his hands, studying them again. What had happened to him? He’d be glad to answer the question if he knew exactly how. Of course, Steven had explained that he died when a robonoid exploded underneath him and came back to life thanks to….something his friend had done. He was so shocked when he was listening to everything that he failed to take a lot of it in.

Fluorite’s voice suddenly cut into his thoughts. “ I  didn’t  mean to  offend  you- ”

“No, you didn’t!” Lars was quick to reassure her. “It’s just….I don’t really know what happened to me. In all honesty, you guys probably know a lot more than I do. Apparently, I like….died or something? Did you see that?”

The Off Colors stared at him for a while, some of them cocking their heads to the side as if they didn’t understand what he was saying. Then they all looked to one another again, as if asking silent questions they didn’t yet want to say.

Air hissed through Lars’ teeth. Originally, he’d been thankful that he didn’t remember anything about his own apparent death, but now it was really messing with his head. Maybe he didn’t even die in the first place? It was possible that he could have just been knocked out or something, and Steven only thought he was dead. But if that was the case, then why was he pink?

Opening his mouth to say something, the human boy was cut off by another question from Fluorite.

“ What  does  it  mean  to  die? ”

The question shocked Lars, and for a moment, he was even more unsure about how to answer it than ones involving his current state. He thought for a while, eventually thinking of an explanation. “Well….it’s what those robonoids were going to do to you.”

“Shattering?” one of the Rutiles asked him.

“But you weren’t shattered!”

“Your body just collided really hard with a pillar of stone, and you fell.”

“Then you just….lay there and didn’t move until Steven’s tears fell on your face,” Rhodonite picked up. “And then your hue changed, and you got up.”

“ I  thought  it  was regeneration  at  first, but  it  appears  to  be  something  specific  to  humans, ” Fluorite explained.

Almost as soon as one of the Rutiles said the thing about his body being flung into a pillar, a sudden ache flared up in his spine. Lars winced, grabbing his back as a vague memory of what happened came flooding back to him. As he ran his fingers up and down the inflicted area, something didn’t feel entirely right.

“O-Oh….” His thoughts racing at the revelation, the human boy tried his hardest to collect himself enough to explain the answer. “You see, death is….basically the same thing as shattering, but we don’t physically shatter. I mean, we can, but we don’t all the time.”

Rhodonite screwed up her face as she tried to wrap her head around the concept. “So, you kind of just….stop moving forever?”

Lars sighed. “Yeah. Unless you’re me, I guess.”

“I predict that Fluorite will ask Lars a rather awkward question,” Padparadscha said, causing the other Off Colors to wince.

“It’s okay, guys,” he reassured them. “Let’s just….keep moving.”

They all nodded and resumed their walk toward the hideout. As they did so, the human boy took time to glance over his new surroundings. He angled his head upward, looking at Homeworld’s sky. For a place that had been so colorful when he’d flown through it in that big thing Steven stole from those angry giant gems, it sure did look bleak down here. It was nothing compared to the beautiful blue sky of his home planet.

Feeling his heart become heavy as thoughts of Earth and how much he missed it flooded his head, Lars attempted to make small talk among the Off Colors.

“So….are there any more of you?”

“Huh?” Rhodonite turned around to look at him.

“Off Colors. Is it just you five?”

The gems exchanged solemn gazes with one another, as if there was something they didn’t want to say. Eventually, the Rutiles spoke.

“Well, yes.”

“There are more of us.”

A sudden surge of excitement took over Lars at the thought of meeting more gems just like the ones he’d already become so close to. “Oh, sweet. Where are they?”

The Rutiles looked to one another with melancholic expressions, Rhodonite glanced at the ground, and Fluorite closed every one of her eyes. None of the gems would answer his question, causing another rather long moment of silence to fall over the group. Before the human could ask why, Padparadscha interrupted.

“The rest of us have unfortunately been shattered.”

The relezation settled in slowly, and Lars felt his heart ache upon hearing the news. He mentally kicked himself for not picking up on it sooner, but in his defense, he did have quite a bit on his mind at the moment.

“Oh….I’m….sorry, guys.”

“It’s okay,” one of the Rutiles answered him.

“We did our best to protect them.”

“ Some  of  them  were  even  shattered  to  protect  us, ” Fluorite informed, smiling a tiny bit afterward. “ Just  as  you  did. ”

“Yeah,” Rhodonite said, looking as warmly as she could to Lars. “At least you got brought back.” Her smile fell almost immediately after she spoke. “But….we do still miss them. A lot.”

Fluorite and the Rutiles nodded in agreement to what the fusion said.

The pink human felt a shudder of sorrow pass through him, and he looked to them with a sympathetic expression. “I understand. I mean….I miss my friends, too.”

“Wait,” a Rutile gasped, “your friends were also shattered?”

“Or did they died like you?” asked her twin.

Unable to stop himself from grinning at the gem’s grammatical error, Lars shook his head. “Nah. They didn’t get shattered or die or anything like that. They’re just….really far away from me now, and I don’t know when I’ll get to see them again.” He had to stop himself from choking out a sob or two when he spoke about all the people he missed so dearly, tears forming in his eyes.

“Oh!” Rhodonite clued in. “You’re talking about your Earth friends. Are they all humans?”

“Yeah,” he affirmed with a nod. “All except for Steven, and you know him.”

“Wow!” a Rutile gasped in excitement.

“What are the names of your friends?”

“Oh man, that’s a hard one. Let’s see….like I said, you know Steven. And then, there’s Sadie. I think I hung out with her the most. She’s super nice. And my parents! That’s an Earth term I’ll have to teach to you guys later on, but they’re absolute sweethearts. And hmmmmm….well, things are kinda iffy with us right now, but back in the day, I was friends with-”

A thought suddenly slid into his mind, cutting him off mid-sentence. “Hey, I just thought of something! When I do see them again, so will you. I’ll have to introduce you guys to all my friends back on Earth. I’m sure they’ll love all of you to bits!”

“ I  would  love  to  meet  your  human friends, ” Fluorite said with a pleased grin.

“Me too!” a Rutile said, lighting up.

“Me three!”

A sharp gasp came from Padparadscha, causing everyone to turn to her. “I predict that Lars misses his friends and wishes that they were here with him.” She moved over to the human to give him a gentle pat on the hand. “It’s okay, Lars! I’m sure you will see them all again some day. I will alert you of any possibilities of the situation as soon as they arise.”

The orange gem’s kindness made his heart swell, and he brought a hand up to his eyes to wipe a few tears from them. “Awwww. Thanks a lot, Pap….pappa….pal.” He’d have to work on that. “I appreciate it.”

Lars gave Padparadscha a gentle pat on the shoulder before looking back to the rest of the Off Colors. “Okay, we should get-”

His voice halted when he noticed a certain structure just a few feet away. It was almost like some sort of tall, skinny, robotic spider, with a big red gemstone at the top. The sides appeared to be made of glass or some other reflective structure.

“What is that thing?” he asked, turning to the Off Colors.

“That?” Rhodonite asked, pointing to it. Lars nodded.

“It’s an injector,” one of the Rutiles told him.

“They’re used to embed gems in the planet’s crust, so they can grow and emerge later,” her twin followed up.

“Ohhhh….huh.” The human squinted, studying the injector. However, as he grew closer, he began to see a strange pinkish tint in the glass. He narrowed his eyes, noticing that as he got closer, the image became clearer. It almost looked like….

Oh.

Lars stopped in his tracks, face-to-face with the strange Homeworld tech. But he wasn’t looking at the build of the object anymore. Instead, he was looking straight into the reflective glass and right into the eyes of someone almost unfamiliar. Himself.

It didn’t even register that he hadn’t seen his full reflection after Steven brought him back to life. All he had seen was his hand and arms and whatever skin was visible through his ripped jeans. Now, he was looking right at it.

The human studied every detail of his new form. His skin, as confirmed earlier by his hands, was rose-colored, almost the exact same as Steven’s gem. The poof of hair on top of his head that was now apparently some sort of portal for his half-gem friend was pink as well but a much paler color than the rest of him. His eyes, which had once been a dark brown, were now crimson, and the one on the left side of his face now had a fresh scar running directly through it.

He brought a hand up to touch his reflection, taking in everything that had led to this. He’d been taken from his home planet, trapped inside of a large yellow gem for days, unable to escape when the other humans who’d met a similar fate did, put on trial with his head in a bubble, flung out of the sky and onto the ground of a hostile area of an alien planet, introduced to gems who he felt strangely connected to despite them not even being human, put in the face of danger when something threatened those gems and someone who was, as much as he hated to admit it, the closest thing to a brother he’d ever had and killed risking his life for them. He had been killed .

But he’d also been brought back to life. Sure, he didn’t look the same as he did when he’d lived on Earth, but he had just cheated death . After years of feeling useless and stupid and horrible and unable to do even the smallest thing right, he’d thrown himself in the face of his inevitable demise to save a group of gems he’d just met that day. At the time, part of him was convinced that he only did it because he saw himself as disposable, but looking back on it, that wasn’t it at all. He’d done it because he wanted to do anything in his power to make sure his friends were safe, even if it meant he wasn’t.

This pink magical human staring back at him looked like an entirely different new being, but Lars was starting to accept that it was him. Normally, when he looked in the mirror, he wanted to be anyone except for the person in that reflection, but now, he actually felt content with himself. He’d done something good, something right, something brave and didn’t mess it up.

Lars wasn’t a coward like he thought. He was a hero. And after looking at his new form and letting everything that happened settle in his brain, he couldn’t deny that anymore.

Soon, other reflections started to crowd around the one he was staring so intently at, and the Rutiles’ voices piped up from behind.

“Lars?”

“Are you okay?”

The human smiled, not taking his eyes away from what was reflected in front of him as he spoke. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

He actually meant it that time.

Chapter Text

The salty waves of the ocean beat against the shore, making a soft slapping noise. Although everything was winding down, there were still a few people on the beach. Most of them appeared to be settling down for the night as well, rolling up their beach towels and taking their beach umbrellas underneath their arms. The day was ending, but for Sadie, the best part of it was just about to begin.

She was standing beside the bench right outside of Beach Citywalk Fries and Fish Stew Pizza. Of course, she could have sat down, but she wanted to watch the sunset that would have otherwise been behind her. The beautiful oranges, reds and yellows melting together on the horizon of deep blue waters and white sand was always one of her favorite times of day. When she worked at the Big Donut, Lars would handle the shop so she could go outside and watch it every now and then. It was one of the only things she missed about it.

In fact, it had been a while since she’d been outside for it because her band always practiced around sunset. However, they’d agreed to take the night off on a very special occasion, one that involved Sadie and another one of their members, as well as exactly who she was waiting for. She was going on her first date with Jenny.

It was no question that there had been a certain chemistry between her and her fellow band member. Sour Cream and Buck had apparently picked up on it before either of them did, and she began to slowly recognize the feelings when they questioned her on when she planned on asking their friend out. Sadie’s first reaction was to get incredibly flustered at the notion and shoot them down, claiming that her and Jenny were just friends. But then she spent the night thinking about it and slowly came to the realization that she probably did have feelings for her. Therefore, she’d asked her on a date a few days later, an invitation Jenny almost immediately accepted.

They’d agreed to meet by the bench at exactly 7:30. When Jenny arrived, they would stop by the crab shack for dinner, and then, at 9:00, they would go to the movie theater for their weekly horror night, where they’d ironically be showing The Lurch. As soon as she found out they had a chance to see the movie that brought them closer together on their first date, she’d been quick to alert Jenny so they wouldn’t pass it up.

And now, Sadie was waiting for her to show up. She reached into her pocket, eventually pulling out her phone and checking the time. 7:25 and a text from Jenny that said she just got off work and would be there as soon as she changed with a bunch of little heart emojis. God, she was cute. Putting her phone back into her pants pocket, she took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, allowing her gaze to focus on the sunset once more.

There really was something almost magical about watching the sun retire for the night in front of a beach. It was both breathtaking and strangely nostalgic, like she’d seen it a thousand times before but would still go back because she couldn’t get enough of it. Yet, at the same time, it made her look back on how things were when she’d see it every day at work. Specifically, how things were before Lars went away.

She didn’t exactly meet Lars at work. They’d gone to the same high school, and although she was a grade ahead of him, they would see one another in the hallways from time to time. But they didn’t get close until they started working together, and even then, it was a rocky start. When he was first employed, Sadie could hardly stand him and his pessimistic attitude toward….well, everything. However, she slowly began to enjoy his company, and over time, they started making plans to meet up outside of work.

It really wasn’t hard to fall for Lars once she got to know him. Of course, now she realized that her feelings very well could have been brought upon by her not having any other friends, but they definitely existed. She started going out of her way to do everything for him, even if he didn’t particularly ask. When he didn’t have time for her, it hurt. Sometimes, she would lash out at him for it. She didn’t know why, and she always felt bad when it happened. But she really liked him, and sometimes, rather it be true or not, it felt like he knew and took advantage of it.

Sadie became so attached to the attention this boy gave her that she kind of stopped trying to see anyone else. It seemed like no matter who she met, they wouldn’t be Lars, so it didn’t matter. Plus, why would she need anyone else if she had him? That was when things really started to go south: the fire salt, the island, the ignored problems, the passive aggressive replies. Everything was so rough between them that sometimes, she found herself starting to resent him rather than love him.

The whole time, it seemed like he just wanted to hang out with her because she would do stuff for him and feed his ego. Every time they had fun, he always forgot about it the next morning, especially if the cool kids were involved. A pang of regret struck her heart when she thought about how many nights she would mentally curse the people who were now her closest friends while curled up and crying into her pillow because they got Lars’ love and attention, and she didn’t.

Luckily, after the rather awkward incident where Steven had somehow hijacked Lars’ body, things started to steadily go uphill. They’d hang out almost every day, and he stopped acting embarrassed to be seen with her in public. It was turning out to be everything she’d ever dreamed of, and to this day, she still considered it some of the best moments of her life. Perhaps it was because it was the last time they got to spend so much time together.

Now, it had been almost two years since Lars was abducted. Sadie remembered the nights she stayed up waiting for him to come home, overworking herself and wallowing in the misery of not having anyone to talk to. And then, when Steven told her what happened, that Lars had actually died ….that took more of a toll on her than anything. Although he was okay, it was when she finally realized that things would never be the same between them or even in general.

But things started to change for her, too. She found amazing friends, quit her job and started living her lifelong dream. After a few weeks of being in the band, she realized that having something to do with new people who always wanted to hang out with her was making her happier than she’d been in a long time. Even if it didn’t involve Lars.

When her old co-worker finally returned to Earth with his new look and crew of gems, that put the final nail on the coffin. They had a rather emotional reunion and caught each other up on what they’d missed and everything that had changed on both sides. And then, he finally addressed what she’d been wanting him to for so many years: what their relationship exactly was.

Sadie knew well that if this conversation had come up a few years earlier, she would have instantly poured her heart out to him and hoped he felt the same, but now, things really were different. Ever since she got a taste of life outside of Lars, the old feelings that once kept her up at night and made her feel horrible in all sorts of ways had almost vanished and turned into something different: just wanting to be the best friend she could be to him. And that’s what she told him, hoping he wouldn’t be upset.

He wasn’t. The conversation had gone well and ended with a hug of mutual understand. Once they’d crossed that obstacle, the next few days were filled with him hanging out with her and the band, all five of them having fun together as friends, and it felt a lot better than constantly pining. Sadie finally realized that perhaps it was better if her and Lars remained friends, and no matter how much they’d been through as more, it was alright for them both to move on, which is exactly what they did.

When Lars told her that he missed going on adventures in space with his friends, she’d immediately understood. If she suddenly had to stop being in her band, she would have felt the exact same way. It was no surprise when he decided to make his visits to space a frequent thing, although he would come back to visit Earth from time to time. He’d kept that promise well, and every time he flew back into Beach City, she was the first person he’d call to hang out with.

And now, she was moving on in every way possible. Jenny was the second person to Lars that she had these kind of feelings for, and right now, she wanted nothing more for their date to go well. But if it didn’t, hey, at least she knew they could still make it as friends. That’s the thing about being close with someone.

She looked back to the sunset, and a thought crossed her mind, causing her to giggle with irony. It sure was funny that she was making this change in her life during a time that represented the change between day and night. If Buck was here, he’d say something about how it was “beautifully symbolic” of her, but since he wasn’t, she took the opportunity to have the thought herself.

“Hey, Sadie! I’m here!”

A voice startled the blonde from her thoughts, and she whipped around to face Jenny. She was wearing a fancy black shirt with ripped jeans and boots, complete with her black earrings and a dark lipstick. Sadie’s face heated up with crimson blush when she saw just how gorgeous her date looked.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jenny said, laughing a little. “Daddy had to give me the date talk. You know how he is.”

“Heh, yeah,” Sadie chuckled. “I didn’t even tell my mom we were going on a date tonight. She would’ve freaked! But like, in a good yet very embarrassing way.”

“Oh, I can imagine! I love your mom, though.” She nudged Sadie’s arm, as if asking for her hand. “Soooo, wanna head over to the crab shack? I’m starving! Being around food all day but unable to eat any of it reeeeally makes you hungry.”

“Tell me about it. I worked with donuts, remember?” She took Jenny’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Let’s go!”

Before they could walk away, a buzz in Sadie’s pocket distracted her. “Wait a second,” she gasped, using her free hand to fish her phone out and read what it said.

It was a message from Steven. Of course. She’d told him about the date, and he probably wanted to wish her good luck! However, when she opened and read it, she was surprised at the context.

“ hey sadie! It’s your old binch Lars lololollllllll. steven’s visiting me and I stole his phone to type a message to you for him to send when he gets back to earth since there’s no reception in space hghghghhhhhhh

Anywho heard u FIIIINALLY asked Jenny out like I was totally egging you on about doing. I mean IM GUESSING you asked because if she asked you im pretty sure you would have fuggin died of shock.  And omg im freakin the heckk out i hope youre having fun and it goes awesome and stuff. Im only super jealous that im not there to hide in the bushes with an accordion and serenade you two. Just invite me to your eventual wedding if im not in space prison by then and we good haha

Also if she breaks ur heart, say the word and i’ll boycott the pizza place

Ok bye have fun ;p ”

A laugh so hard that it was accompanied with a loud snort left Sadie’s mouth when she read the message. It was soon followed by a warm smile. She stuck her phone back in her pocket, mentally promising herself to reply as soon as she had two free hands.

“Watcha laughing at?” Jenny asked curiously.

“Nothing,” the blonde giggled. “It’s just….Lars sent me a really funny message through Steven wishing us luck on the date.”

“Awww! He is such a sweet friend!”

“Yeah.” Sadie sighed happily. “He is.”

As Sadie walked away hand-in-hand with Jenny, signalling her start into a second chapter of her romantic life, the sun finally set behind them, marking the end of the day and the transition into a new, possibly even better one.

Chapter Text

“ Is  everyone   here?  ”

“Yes.”

“Present.”

“I’m here! Don’t worry.”

“Wait.”

“Where is-”

“Ooh! I predict that Fluorite will call us all together for a meeting! How fun!”

“Oh, phew! There she is.”

The largest of the Off Colors, a caterpillar-like fusion named Fluorite, had called the rest of the group together for a quick meeting. When the Rutiles were alerted to this, they’d been inside of an exit hole keeping to themselves. They had a lot on their mind and had been spending quite a bit of time alone with just each other for company. Hopefully this meeting wasn’t called due to the others growing concerned about their well-being, but it was mostly likely just to discuss what’s going on and pick who would be going into the tunnels to look for gems today.

For now, they had secured themselves in a section of the abandoned kindergarten they’d been banished to that seemed closed off from the robonoids that were sure to shatter them just as they’d done to so many of their friends. The only challenge was not being followed back.

It had likely been a thousand years since the Rutile twins had been abandoned by Homeworld for their defectivity. They had originally been ready to face their demise and hadn’t even bothered hiding until they were found and brought to shelter. Of course, the group of gems they’d met that day was significantly smaller now, since Homeworld had upped the number of shattering robonoids that frequented the area, and that shelter had changed, several times.

But luckily, they were still there. The Off Colors, which had once been a massive group consisting of several different gems who were rejected by Homeworld for a multitude of reasons, now only consisted of Fluorite, a six-gemed fusion, Rhodonite, a fusion of a Ruby and Pearl who had fallen in love, Padparadscha, a Sapphire whose future vision was delayed, and the Rutile twins, two gems who came out conjoined with each other and weren’t shattered on site simply because the other Rutiles were terrified of them.

Since their group had grown so small, they’d taken extra precautions to make sure they didn’t lose any more members. They tried to stay in one place as much as possible and had taken to strictly using the tunnels that circled the kindergarten for when they went to look for any new gems to take in. Also, they tried their hardest to send as few gems as possible, meaning the responsibility often fell on either the Rutiles or Rhodonite since Fluorite was too big to fit in the tunnels, and Padparadscha’s delayed sight meant she would need assistance. So far, nothing had happened on the new route, so they were feeling pretty good about it. And if anything did, they would simply relocate again and find a way out of it. The Rutiles knew this.

Yet they still weren’t satisfied.

“ Now  that  we  are  all  present, ” Fluorite began slowly, “ we  should  discuss  our  plans  for  the  day.  Who  will  be  searching  for  gems  today? ”

“Well, I went yesterday, so I thought maybe the Rutiles would go?” Rhodonite asked, flashing them a nervous smile. “Of course, that’s not for me to decide, but-”

Expecting this, one of the twins nodded. “We’ll go.”

“It’s no problem.”

“Great!” Rhodonite clapped both sets of her hands together. “So, I guess that concludes the meeting?”

“ It  does, ” Fluorite said with a nod. “ That  is,  unless  someone  has  something  else  to  suggest. ”

Rhodonite looked over at Padparadscha and shrugged. “Not me!”

“Quiet! The meeting is about to start,” the Sapphire piped up.

However, the Rutiles seemed uncertain and as if they had something on their minds. They glanced to each other, knowing automatically what the other wanted to ask.

Fluorite picked up on this. “ Rutiles?  Is  something  wrong?  ”

Sighing and holding each other’s hand as they spoke, the twins decided to get out what had been racking at their brains for so long.

“Yes, actually,” one spoke, giving the other one last look of uncertainty to which she nodded an encouragement.

“We….have a suggestion.”

“ Oh?  ” The leisurely fusion’s eyes all opened in interest. “ Well,  let’s  hear  it. ”

Gulping, the twin who had been a little unsure opened her mouth. “We’ve been talking with each other, and we think….um, we’ve been meaning to suggest that….it’s been a while since….we….we want to try-”

“We think we should try to escape again.” The other Rutile, noticing that her twin was struggling, finished the thought for her and gave her a trusting smile.

Nodding her thanks, the other Rutile continued. “It’s been a while since our last attempt to find a route out of the kindergarten, and although that….didn’t go well, we believe our hiding skills have improved enough for another try.”

“Plus, we can’t stay here forever!” her twin added. “Just think of how many gems we’ve lost in this exact location over the thousand years we’ve been stuck here. We need to leave for our own safety.”

“It will be hard but rewarding.”

“We can find a ship to steal and navigate to a non-hostile planet.”

“And then, we will be safe.”

“No more hiding.”

“No more robonoids.”

“No more losses.”

“We’ll be….”

“Free.”

The Rutiles, who were beaming at one another as they spoke, turned to face the rest of the surrounding gems with determined looks on both their faces.

“So, what do you say?”

All of the other Off Colors were staring at them, eyes unblinking, mouths agape, completely frozen. A pang of worry shot both the Rutiles as they took in their reactions and anxiously waited for one of them to speak. When it didn’t happen, they decided to break the tension themselves.

“Now, I know this proposal was rather sudden, but we-”

“Oh dear!” Padparadscha interrupted. “The twins of Rutile are going to ask a question will make everyone rather uncomfortable. I wonder what it will be!”

Worry flooded the shared body of the Rutile twins, and they glanced to one another once more, gritting their teeth.

“Are you two mad!? ” Rhodonite finally squeaked out. “That’s just asking for all of us to be blown to bits by robonoids! Or caught by Homeworld soldiers! Or taken to the Diamonds for our shattering! Or….oh my stars, I don’t even want to think about what else!”

“You’re missing the point!” one of the Rutiles retorted. “We can take extra precautions to not be caught.”

“After all the hard work we’ve been doing, I’m sure we’ll be fine if we’re careful,” her twin added.

“We can do this!”

“No, we can’t!” the fusion shrieked back, becoming a little frustrated with their offers. “Look, I know you two want to get out of here. We all want to get out of here. But we can’t! You think life here is bad? Just wait until you see what it’s like out there! We wouldn’t last five seconds.”

“You don’t know that!” one of the twins gasped, getting defensive.

“We have to try! It’s been a thousand years, and we haven’t-”

“And it could have been less than a thousand if we pulled stunts like that all the time!” The fusion crossed her arms, turning away. “We can’t.”

One of the Rutiles clenched her fist, and her twin brought her hand up to comfortingly touch her shoulder. “B-But, Rhodonite-”

Suddenly, Padparadscha squeaked in shock. “Oh no! We can’t try to leave again! Not after what happened to Kunzite!”

A silence fell over the group at the Sapphire’s panicked words. Rhodonite brought her lower set of arms up to grip the others, looking away with a mournful look. Fluorite’s hand came up to cover her mouth in shock as her eyes slowly wandered toward Padparadscha. The Rutiles, however, looked as if someone had just speared them directly in the gem. The one who had first proposed the idea was trying desperately not to cry, while the other comfortingly wrapped an arm around her, glaring at the others with a hurt expression.

Noticing this, Fluorite took the hand that was previously hiding her mouth away from it and gently began to stretch it toward the Rutiles. “ I’m  sorry,  but  what. Rhodonite  said  is- ”

“Forget it,” the Rutile who was comforting the other said, her and her twin turning their back on the other Off Colors and walking toward the entrance that led toward the tunnel. “We’re going to look for gems now.”

As the two left the rest of the Off Colors behind, they trekked in silence through the rocky structures they’d called home all their lives, neither saying a word. The Rutile who had been trying not to cry had failed, small tears welling in her eyes as she stared coldly at the silty groundt. Concerned, her twin reached out to her once more.

“Are you okay?”

She heaved a sigh. “Okay as I’ve been in a thousand years.”

Her defeated tone made her twin’s heart ache. “I’m sure Padparadscha wasn’t thinking. We shouldn’t be angry with her.”

“I’m not,” the other Rutile said, blinking the tears away. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

It wasn’t like they hadn’t thought of Kunzite in a while. In fact, they both thought of her just about every day. Even if they didn’t discuss her, they knew thinking about her was inevitable. Not only was what happened to her recent, but it had hit them especially hard since they were very close to her.

Kunzite was the gem who found them when they’d first been left in the abandoned kindergarten. She was a light pink gem with rather short, poofy hair and had met a similar fate a few years prior to finding them. Her gem was defective and could not perform any of the acts it was intended to. It also functioned as one of her eyes, leaving her only able to see out the one that wasn’t a gemstone. However, she never let anything show her down.

When the Rutiles first became part of the Off Colors, Rhodonite, Padparadscha and Fluorite were already there, but many other misfit gems were as well. There was a fusion between a Garnet and her beloved Amethyst named Sugilite, a wingless Lapis Lazuli, a Carnelian who refused to fight and several more. There were so many more. But now, they were gone for good.

Although they never really had a group-proclaimed leader, if they did, it would have been Kunzite. She was so bold and unafraid to take any risk possible. Both of the Rutiles looked up to her, and they would often plan out and perform strategies together. She’d tell them almost every day that she admired their strength and boldness, and it made them feel more special than they ever thought they would.

Suddenly, the number of robonoids meant to shatter the gems residing in the kindergarten increased significantly, which caused more shatterings than they’d ever imagined seeing. Gems stopped coming to the abandoned kindergarten less frequently as well, meaning that the Diamonds were starting to just shatter defective ones on site. Pretty soon, the only Off Colors left were Kunzite and the ones that remain now. It was no surprise that she was the one who eventually decided they needed to escape in order to survive.

They’d made a plan they thought would succeed, one that would definitely at least get them to a ship they could hijack. Kunzite and the Rutiles were the main gems who had come up with it, for Rhodonite, Fluorite and Padparadscha were all a bit too nervous. However, they’d decided on roles for each of them when they were finally able to reach the ship and make it to a safer planet: Padparadscha would be the technical adviser, Fluorite would be the chief engineer, Rhodonite would be the head of strategic operations, the Rutiles would be the pilots, and Kunzite would definitely be their captain. She more or less already was.

When the day they would finally make a run from the kindergarten arrived, the Off Colors were all ecstatic. And for a while, it was going well. They’d managed to get further than ever before. Unfortunately, the robonoids still eventually sensed them, and pretty soon, they found themselves completely outnumbered. Although they tried their hardest to make themselves invisible by hiding in exit holes, it was no use.

The Rutiles were the first gems to be found. As they saw the red glow of two robonoids nearing toward them until it was blinding them, they knew it was no use. All they could do now was hold onto one another, their hands clutched together as the whirring noise that would soon bring about their demise became all they could hear.

Then, another noise was heard. A loud thud. The light subdued, but the noise was still there. Curious as to what happened, the Rutiles cautiously cracked their eyes open to stare in front of them. Looking back on it, they wished they had at least kept them closed for a few more seconds.

As soon as their teary eyes became focused enough to see what was going on, there was a loud blast, and they saw as the gem they’d looked up to for so long was blown to bits right in front of their faces. And on their behalf.

One of the Rutiles noticed a choking noise coming from her twin and angled her head to face her. Tears were openly streaming from her eyes, and her hand was shaking. Sighing, her twin raised her hand to cup her face, making eye contact with her.

“It’s not our fault, you know.”

The Rutile nodded, wiping away her tears. “I know.” She smiled warmly at her twin, as if to signal that she was glad she was there. The other Rutile nodded, grinning back.

Their touching moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of voices. At first, the two recoiled in fear but then began to listen closely to what they were saying. They couldn’t make out exact words, save for what sounded like “run,” “scared” and “hiding.” Something told the Rutiles that whoever these voices belonged to, they weren’t Homeworld elites sent to put out more robonoids.

Then, the dreaded whirring sound was heard, along with two sharp screams. The twins looked to each other. They had to act quick. Rapidly, they located the bolder that would open up the tunnels to those overhead and reached a hand out, motioning for whoever was on the other side to follow them down.

“Quickly!”

“Down here!”

As the whirring grew closer and a dreaded red light became visible, the voices were still talking with one another. It sounded as if they were unsure. The Rutiles frowned, hoping they’d trust their guts and follow them down the hole. Luckily, with some persuasion, the two slided down into the tunnels, putting the boulder back over its entrance as soon as they could.

Taking a step back so the strangers would have enough room, the Rutiles tried hard to make out the two shadowy figures that had joined them underground. It was rather dark, but the basic shapes of whoever they were could be seen. One was much smaller and stockier than the other and appeared to have curly hair. Perhaps it was a Ruby?

Shrugging, the two gems’ eyes fell onto the second figure. They were tall, especially compared to the other and lanky, and on top of their head was a short poof of hair. This silhouette almost looked familiar….

The Rutiles gasped, almost in unison and glanced to each other, neither wanting to speak but obviously thinking the same thing. Was it…..? No. It couldn’t be….

Soon, the two figures began to speak. What they said wasn’t registered in the Rutiles’ minds, half because of the initial shock of the one’s familiarity and half because they were focusing on nearing closer to them. Nodding to one another one last time, as if to confirm they both had an odd feeling that whoever they’d found was about to change their lives somehow, they spoke in a comforting tone, words that had been passed down to them when they’d been in the same situation as these two strangers.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

“We’re not gonna hurt you.”