Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pink Diamond beamed. Almost all of the Gems from her section of Homeworld's Kindergarten had emerged, the Nephrites Yellow loaned her reported that the planet's life would be no match against them, and the Galaxy Warp was just about finished.

Soon, colonization of the planet, her planet, could begin.

Finally, finally she could prove to the other Diamonds that she was ready for this.

Her own planet, her own army, her own Pearl, everything!

This was going to be the smoothest colonization Homeworld's ever had, and Pink was going to make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Blue Diamond loomed over the Zircon, her expression unreadable.

"Zircon."

This was it.

Thousands of years of service all for naught.

She was going to die.

"Do you think the other Diamonds would really shatter Pink Diamond?"

Wh... What?

Was this a trick question?

Trying and failing to maintain at least some composure, Defense Zircon stammered out, "Well, my Diamond, my opinion doesn't really matter when the evidence for it is there!", finishing with a very nervous chuckle.

Stars, that was terrible. There was no way she could salvage this, was there?

Moments that felt like millennia passed before Blue Diamond let out a small sigh. Finally, she spoke again, eyes locked on Defense Zircon.

"I'm assigning you to an Aquamarine and two Topazes. You are to go to Pink's palanquin on Earth and search it and the surrounding area for evidence of the culprit."

"Do not fail me."

"Y-yes, my Diamond," she replied, instinctively saluting her.

Blue Diamond's eyes moved from the Zircon and onto her Pearl.

"Pearl, take her to a holding cell for the time being."

"Yes, my Diamond."

The Pearl opened the door and stepped outside, Defense Zircon following suit.

As the two began their trek to her cell, Defense Zircon had only one thing on her mind;

What just happened?

Chapter Text

Yellowtail stared into the ocean and cast out his line.

He couldn't sleep, and not wanting to stare at his boat's ceiling until the sun came up, decided to get a head start on fishing.

In a few hours, the sun would rise, marking his first day back out at sea after...

After his son was almost taken into space.

Had it been up to him, Yellowtail would've stayed longer; he tried, of course, but they still had to make money somehow.

He knew his family could take care of themselves. That wasn't what he was worried about.

He had been out to sea and back a million times, and was sure to do it a million more.

The thought that one of those times would be him coming back to a destroyed town and a missing family was what scared him the most.

Chapter Text

What had started as a simple snowball fight quickly escalated. Steven and Connie were taking shelter behind a snow barricade getting pelted with snowballs, Amethyst shapeshifted her arms into catapults to return fire as Peridot dodged the onslaught, screaming all the while, Pearl and Garnet were... somewhere, and Lapis was standing on Steven's roof, laughing maniacally as she sent wave after wave of snowballs against the four.

At this point, they shouldn't have expected anything less.

Chapter Text

Peedee silently watched the rain, sheltered by the fry shop's awning.

He had decided to take the day off - well, not a day off per se, but just a day to do stock and not take orders. The rain and heavy fog made it very unlikely that anyone would come by anyway, so now would be a better time than any, he thought.

He glanced at the food truck - his food truck. The place of business he managed all by himself.

That being a true sentence still mystified him. Putting it lightly, the past few weeks have been nuts. A third of the town almost got kidnapped, Steven and Lars actually DID get kidnapped, Mayor Dewey isn't mayor, Sadie isn't working at the Big Donut, Connie has short hair...

So many things have changed in such a short amount of time that Peedee isn't sure he can comprehend it all.

...And yet, things seem to be much better off than before. Everyone's a lot happier. More close knit. They have an actual evacuation plan besides "just drive and hope for the best".

Even Lars is apparently having a good time, despite being stuck in space.

Peedee has conflicting opinions about change. But these ones aren't so bad, he thinks.

He hears footsteps and turns, squinting at Steven and Connie's silhouettes approaching in the mist. He smiles and rolls his eyes before moving to grab some fry bits.

But some things will never change, and Peedee's glad for that.

Chapter Text

Will you go out with me?

She read it again. And again. And one more time, just to be sure.

Pearl was asking her out on a date. She wanted to go beyond flirty-friend texting and actually start something.

She did too, really. Pearl was really cute, and really dorky, and really her type.

But her last relationship ended in such a trainwreck.

She couldn't know if this would be any different.

And yet, that was years ago. She's not who she was then, and Pearl is definitely not Kevin.

And she wouldn't know if she didn't try.

She sighed, typed out a reply, and hit send. Hopefully, this wouldn't end in a disaster.

Sure.

Chapter Text

Amethyst walked into the house. Thankfully, it was quiet; everyone was trying to find a seat or greet or congratulate or whatever and she just wanted a little peace before the wedding.

"Dang it! Come on you little-"

A small shout and the sound of something falling and Amethyst quickly hurried over to find Ruby on the bathroom floor, a flower on her face and a knocked over stool at her feet.

"You okay, dude?" Amethyst asked.

"No."

Amethyst offered her hand and pulled Ruby up to her feet.

Ruby sighed and pulled the flower off her face. "It's this stupid flower. It won't stay on my headband."

"Here, lemme see." Ruby handed the flower over and Amethyst inspected it before easily clipping it onto her headband.

Ruby gasped. "How'd you do that?!"

"There was a little push clip on the back."

"Oh."

Awkward silence.

"Wait, why are you even here?"

"Eh, thought I'd just chill in here for a bit," Amethyst said, "Get some bearings before you guys get hitched, y'know?"

"Yeah..."

"What, you getting cold feet?"

"No! And that's not even a good pun!"

Amethyst shrugged. Ruby looked away.

"I just... I can't stop thinking about us getting into another fight and breaking up for good, that all of this is just gonna be for nothing, and-"

"Ruby. If you guys got through this, then there's nothing you can't get through."

"And even if you guys do break up again, that's then, and this," She points her finger at Ruby, "is now. And now, you're gonna walk down that isle, say your vows, and give her a kiss."

Blush spreads onto Ruby's cheeks. "I-I..." She nods. "Okay. Okay! Let's do this!"

Amethyst cracks a grin, and the two head out the bathroom and out the door.

Seconds before the door, Ruby grinds to a halt. "Wait, where's my bouquet?"

A small meow from behind and the two turn to see Cat Steven holding the bouquet in her mouth.

"C'mere you little fuzzball," Ruby chuckled, picking the cat up and gently pulling the flowers out of her mouth.

"I'll show her to her seat," Amethyst joked, and took Cat Steven from Ruby. "Knock 'em dead, Ruby."

"Mm!"

Amethyst went out the door. Ruby followed, before stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

In the distance she could spot everyone gathered for the wedding; Greg was already behind the alter and Sapphire under the arbor.

Ruby breathed, and started walking.

Chapter Text

The Gems were going on a mission, leaving Lion, Cat Steven, and Pumpkin to their own devices.

"Watch over them," Garnet said.

"See ya, Lion!" Steven said, and away they warped.

Lion looked over. Pumpkin and Cat Steven were happily playing with a toy Garnet bought for the latter. He yawned, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Lion awoke to the sound of clattering. Looking around, Pumpkin and Cat Steven were gone, multiple things were on the floor, the cupboards were open... and a bag of cheesy barbecue Chaaaps were on the counter.

Intently eyeing the bag, Lion walked over and opened his mouth, only stopping when he heard hisses and barks from the bathroom. Inside, he found Pumpkin and Cat Steven yipping and meowing at a small boy hanging from the shower rod. The boy swung from the rod, jumped off Lion, and bolted out the door, the little critters quickly giving chase.

The three were already down the beach when Lion got to the front door, which had a big hole in the bottom screen. He roared it away, jumped onto the sand, and dashed into town.

Lion continued his pursuit, stopping only to glace at Funland Guy slipping on some skee balls while shouting at the boy, and arrived at the garage of some house. Pumpkin and Cat Steven were circling and jumping at the kid, now in the arms of his mother, as she told them to stop. They froze when a small, fuzzy thing fell out of the boy's pocket.

It was the toy.

Pumpkin barked happily as Cat Steven grabbed the toy, shot a glare at the child, and walked out with her head held high, Pumpkin following behind.

Lion shared a look with the boy and his mother. He then sighed, shook his head, and walked away.

"Hey Lion, we're - awww!" the Gems warped in to a sleeping Lion with Cat Steven on his back and Pumpkin nestled into his mane, Steven gushing over the sight of it.

Pearl, however, was aghast as she looked around.

"What happened to the house?!"