Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yellow peered down at the little bundle of blankets in Pink’s arms, intrigued by the thing wiggling inside its protective pastel pink cocoon. Something so tiny that it had Yellow transfixed, curiosity peaked at whatever creature Pink had taken to now, cradling it protectively against her chest and grinning at it, the fondness blatant on her face. Bending closer, she squinted her eyes, seeing the thing clear enough to make out its upper half as Pink attempted to placate it by pulling its soft little shell back, tucking the blanket under its still squirming little body, making it much easier for her to see its tiny features even as it continued its pointless fidgeting. Yellow’s head tilted as she made out its now bare upper half; it had a head, two chubby arms, and a bare chest that was partially covered by two long tufts of orange hair that fell from in front of it’s small ears.

“Why is it so small? Is it defective?” She questioned, unable to keep her lip from curling in disgust as she stood back up. Pink was the smallest diamond of them, but even she towered over the tallest Quartz, this…thing, it was barely bigger than a ruby!

“She’s supposed to be small!” Pink defended, her eyebrows pulled together as she glared up at Yellow, “She’s going to grow bigger.”

“Grow? What exactly is this thing you’ve…created, Pink? What purpose could it possibly fill?”

“I wanted to see if the organics from my colony could be helped.” The youngest of them explained, “They're so fragile, and live such a short time. If they could live longer, like us, I know they could be amazing.” Pink’s smile widened as the tiny thing in her arms reached up towards her, incited by her voice as she lowered her face to level it with a soft look, her hand that wasn’t supporting its body rested on top of the blankets as she allowed it to grab ahold of one of her fingers with both of it's hands.

Yellow groaned at the display, head falling forward as her hand reached up, pinching the bridge of her nose, “You’re wasting your time, Pink. You shouldn’t concern yourself with lesser life forms like that, and now look!” she gestured harshly towards the soft orange creature in her arms, “We have this thing to deal with, and-“

“She isn't a thing, Yellow!”  Pink interrupted, her voice raised in indignation as she turned her body away from her, as if that would protect the mewling being in her arms from further ridicule as she continued to glare up at her, “Stop calling her that.”

Yellow couldn’t stop from childishly rolling her eyes, “Don’t tell me you’ve named it.”

“Of course I have!” Pink stamped her foot, her arms tightening defensively around the small creature, pressing her a little tighter to her chest, “She’s just like us, Yellow, she deserves a name.”

Blue spoke up for the first time since Pink had introduced them to the small being in her arms, her voice low and calm in an attempt to mollify the quickly rising tension between her fellow Diamonds. “What is it, Pink?”

Pink hesitated to answer, her eyes regarding Blue for a moment before she answered, “Zirconia.”

“Oh Pink.” Blue’s head tilted to the side as she sighed, her tone a light mix between adoration and sympathy.

“How exactly,” the contempt in Yellow’s voice was obvious as she crossed her arms over her chest, ”was it even made?”

“The scientist in my court are so incredible, they can do such wonderful things. They managed to combine a human and gem. I don’t completely understand it myself, but that matters little to me. She really is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

“She’s a fusion?” Blue balked at the notion, her attempt to hide her revulsion futile as her face contorted with the offending word.

Pink shook her head, “No Blue, she’s just...Zirconia.”

“Fantastic!” Yellow scoffed, hand shooting up in frustration towards the ceiling, “She’s a fused monstrosity of organics and a gem.” She paused, pointing a finger at Pink in chastisement as she ordered,  “I want whatever research done to make this thing destroyed, Pink. We can’t waste anymore precious resources on making more things like it.” Giving Pink this colony was really starting to prove itself to be Yellow’s worst decision yet.

“Her!” Pink angrily corrected, startlingly the tiny gemling in her arms and causing her to start fussing loudly. Pink immediately turned her attention to her, curling her other arm under her as she attempted to shush her growing cries.

“Whatever!” Yellow yelled back, the headache forming between Pink’s foolishness and the now full on crying coming from the small creature pushing her over the edge, “IT doesn’t matter, you should just get rid of it, put it with its own kind.”

Blue placed a calming hand on Yellow’s shoulder, pulling her counterpart’s attention to her as she nodded towards their youngest, “look at her, Yellow,”

“Not you too.” Yellow grunted, pulling away from Blue’s hand as she covered her eyes with one of her gloved hands.

“Her gem, Yellow, look.”

Peering out from her fingers, Yellow looked back at Pink and her creation to see Pink making little faces at it, it's crying now being replaced with periodic fits of giggles as she wiggled her fingers against its bare stomach, the too-large diamond shaped gem on her chest reflecting the light of the room with each flail of her body in response to the stimulation. Yellow’s eyes narrowed and her hand fell away from her face to clench into a fist at her side, “Unbelievable. Don’t tell me, Pink, is she-“

“Just like us.” Pink repeated with a smile at the grinning gemling.

“Stars above, Pink! you made…you made a-“

Yellow’s words died as the doors to their meeting room opened and Yellow tensed as all three of them turned to look over their shoulders, everyone of them tense to see none other than White Diamond standing there, taking up the entire doorway with her pearl at her feet.

“White Diamond.” Blue called in greeting and Yellow felt herself jolt physically out of her stunned silence and she straightened herself, pulling her arms behind her back as she acknowledged White with a respectful nod of her head, “White.”

“Yellow. Blue.” White responded in kind, that seemingly permanent smile spitting her black painted lips. “So much yelling, it can be heard in the halls. I’m sure you’re aware how unseemly that is for a Diamond. What is all this about?” she spoke as she moved into the room, the doors closed behind her and Yellow experienced the familiar feeling of being trapped and cornered that came with being in White Diamond’s presence.

Yellow immediately felt a need to protect Pink from White’s approach, and unconsciously stepped closer to her and Blue, the two of them somewhat managing to block White’s view of Pink and her creation. However, this did not deter White and as she stepped uncomfortably closer, the two unwillingly moved apart to allow White to see the youngest of them. Pink looked up at White as she bent over slightly, mimicking Yellow’s earlier actions, “What have you got there, Starlight?”

Pink held Zirconia tighter to her chest, attempting to hiding her even as she began to squirm, as if she were attempting to get out of her grip. Glancing down, she realized her squirming was in reaction to her attention suddenly being captivated by the giant radiant woman smiling down at her, chunky arms reaching up past Pink to grasp at air as she attempted to make her wishes known.

“Oh my, it’s so tiny.” White commented but made no move to touch Zirconia, even as the babe made a shriek of displeasure, now becoming frustrated with White's lack of response to her wordless demand.

“She…she’s going to grow.” Pink supplied, her once raised voice now meek under White’s unblinking stare.

“Grow?” White repeated, voice taking on a surprised happy note, "So she won’t stay like that? That's good, Starlight. ”

Suddenly Zirconia let out a loud wail, tears forming in her eyes that Pink tried to quiet down franticly, though no matter how much Pink cooed or rocked her, she would not quiet for the youngest diamond. Pudgy fingers now balled into tight fists that still occasionally tried once more to reach out and grab for White, only to come up short and scrunch back up, thwacking Pink in the chest as she fought against her efforts, adding to Pink’s distress and seeming to agitate the small gem even more.

“Can she not speak?” Blue questioned, now very curious, though it was obvious she was on edge with White being so close. Her voice, however, caught the crying gemling’s attention and she turned large, round, watery eyes to Blue, sobs quieting to sniffles as she observed her.

Pink took this moment of relative silence to answer, her words rushing out with a shaking breath, “Not yet, I apparently have to teach her how to.”

“Teach her?” Yellow frowned, feeling that headache once more, “It can’t walk, it can’t speak, it can’t even look you in the eyes without you to told its head up. Why even have it made? What’s the use? It isn't a gem, and it's not one of your silly animals. If anyone were so inclined, it could be considered an abomination.”

“Use? Abomination!?” Pink snarled at Yellow, teeth bared and her eyes blazing with true anger now, no longer concerned that White stood between them. “My little gem doesn’t-“

“Now now,” White interrupted and everyone but the gemling in Pink’s arms grew quiet, the anger quickly draining from Pink’s face as White’s hand came down to touch one pointed finger against Zirconia, who quickly and happily grasped it like she had done Pink’s. “stop this yelling. Let me see her, my dear Pink.”

Pink stood still as Zirconia held onto White’s finger, who in turned studied her. The tense silence that had been building was suddenly broken by Zirconia’s peels of laughter as the very tip of White finger moved to touch her gem, the diamond on her chest sparking to life as it glowed and cast White’s hand and Pink’s face in brilliant orange light.

Pink stared down in awe of her little gem, “She's never done that before!” Her eyes shined with adoration, and this seemed to appease something in Zirconia, who released White finger in favor of reaching once more for Pink’s face.

“Hmm,” White hummed as she righted herself, “I see. This little one has a great future ahead of her. So much potential,” White commented as she cocked her head to look at Yellow, "I wouldn’t dismiss her yet, Yellow.”

“But she’s not even a real gem! We can’t treat her like-“ Yellow snapped before she could restrain herself, but abruptly stopped when White held out her hand in a gesture for silence and Yellow did not challenge this, even as she seethed inside.

“Regardless of her origins, she is a Diamond. Look and see. Does that gem on her chest not prove it so?”

“I…I will have nothing to do with her-it!” Yellow growled, “I have better things to do than teach it what it should already know.” Her hands clenched at her sides in frustration.

Instead of reacting in anger to Yellow words, Pink simply smiled at the little one in her arms, her gem still softly glowing as the light dimmed down, a single finger gently petting a chubby cheek as she finally began to doze off, “You’ll see Yellow, she’s worth our time. You'll love her.”

Yellow simply grunted and turned, all but stomping from the room, her little pearl running to catch up with her.

“Indeed.” White turned from watching Yellow leave to look at Pink, “I expect great things from our little Orange Diamond.”

“Zirconia.”

“What?” White questioned, a slight tilt of her head towards Pink.

“Her name,” Pink said quietly, “she's not quite a Diamond, but she isn't human either. I named her Zirconia.”

“ I see…” White was quiet for an uncomfortably long moment, “very well, but I must urge you to understand, to the rest of the empire she must be known as a Diamond. No one else may know just what she is. We need not make such unnecessary unrest in our courts. You understand, right, Starlight?”

“I…” Pink looked up at White, wide-eyed and uncertain before looking down, staring at the sleeping being protected in her arms. Yellow was right, she was neither a gem, nor one of her beloved humans. She was something special, but she was also something others would take advantage of if they knew she was anything but one of them. She was at risk, and Pink would not allow her to be hurt. She looked up into White’s eyes, determination shining brightly in her own, “I understand.”

The eldest Diamond nodded and turned to follow where Yellow had gone, before stopping. “Also, I would like to see these notes on how Orange Diamond was made, and meet with these scientist. Truly, she is incredible.”

“Yellow wants me to destroy them.” Pink said, suddenly feeling weary as White looked at her from over her shoulder.

“I will take care of it after I have seen it myself.”

“Of course,” Pink hesitantly agreed, “I’ll have my pearl send you everything.”

“Excellent. Take care, Starlight.”

Pink watched as White left, Blue lingering for a moment to look them over before leaving as well, and Pearl joined her side as Pink turned her attention to Zirconia, the small gemling oblivious in her sleep as to what had just occurred. “Great things.” Pink repeated in a whisper, “She’s right. You'll be amazing. I know it.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Yellow held the smallest ‘diamond’ she had ever had the displeasure of seeing in the palm of her hand. Large orange eyes blinked at her with innocent curiosity as it reached out to her with chubby arms and hands, but she made no move to lay it against her chest as she had seen Blue do when it had made a similar gesture. Instead, Yellow rolled her eyes at this…gem that Pink had made. It didn’t speak more than a few words that were thrown around seemingly at random, serving to confuse her gem handlers more often than they aided and tended to communicate with its hands, making wild and hard to decipher gestures, though they were mainly narrowed down to simple grabbing motions. Yellow was absolutely at a loss as to what to do with it, but did not dare to cross White when she had ordered for the gemling to be passed around between them, the four being White, Blue, Pink, and herself, so that she could learn how to be a diamond as well as be properly looked after while she ‘grew'. Of course, a select few gems had been hand picked to aid in Orange’s care and handling, sworn to secrecy and threatened with a fate worse than shattering if they spoke of Orange to anyone outside of those who already knew of it, but that hardly made this easier for Yellow now. Yellow simply had no idea how this thing was supposed to learn how to be anything when it couldn’t even walk on its feet properly without a pearl to hold it up by its hands.

“Pearl, take care of this.” Yellow ordered, leaning down and placing the young diamond against Pearl’s chest, not even waiting for her to fully wrap her arms around it before she let go, making Pearl scramble to catch the chubby gem and remain holding it while she tried to find her balance at the sudden weight added to her front with a gasped, “Wuh- oh!”

Orange, while relatively tiny in comparison to Yellow, was nearly half of Pearl’s size and incredibly heavy. She was no quartz, and Pearl had to pull at everything she had to keep from dropping the Diamond that now clung to her, reaching up with curious hands to grab and tug at her hair, unaware, or perhaps just uncaring, of how strong she was.

Leaning her head back so she wouldn’t have it tugged to one side by her hair, she tried to give her Diamond an alarmed and confused look, a futile attempt to convey just how lost she was on her orders, but Yellow only had eyes for the screens projected in front of her. IF Yellow Diamond had said ‘take care of this’ about any other gem, Pearl would have assumed she meant to either send them away or perhaps even have them be repurposed or, at worst, shattered. However, she had a feeling her Diamond would be less than pleased if she attempted to do away with the…confusing diamond in her arms.

“I, uh, my Diamond, I’m not sure what-“ Pearl began but was abruptly cut off as Orange had finally managed to grab ahold of her hair and gave another inquisitive tug. “OW, Hey! Uh, I mean,” she paused as her mind quickly realized she was yelling at a Diamond, but at the same time she wasn’t? Oh stars, she was not made for this.

“Just entertain it,” Yellow glared at Pearl from the corners of her eyes, a throughly displeased frown on her lips that had Pearl feeling fear blooming in her stomach, and she decided she much rather deal with hair pulling than Yellow Diamond’s wrath.

“Right, yes, of course, my Diamond.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Yellow had been deep into her work, going over reports from one of her many asteroid mines. Repetitive complaints and acceptable results of minerals harvested from the head Agate filled her view, when she distractedly noted it had been some time since she had heard a single noise from the tiny gem in her care. It took her a moment to decide if this realization was worth her precious time, ultimately deciding it indeed was, before she looked up from her screen to where her ward normally stayed in the general view in front of her. Expecting to see her still staring through the panel, transfixed on her colony and the Gems under her command, or at least beside her being entertained by Pearl, she was annoyed to instead be met with the sight of decorative stone and the planet surface beyond her base. Looking to her right, her Pearl was doing work of her own, but no gemling to be seen.

Yellow would never admit to the small burst of panic that bloomed in her chest at the lack of bright wild orange hair somewhere in her sight. Standing up quickly, her screen fizzing away as she knocked them out of her way while ignoring her pearl’s startled reaction at her sudden movement, she used her superior height to her advantage as she looked around the room. There wasn’t much to obstruct her view except her chair in the center and Pearl’s own tiny seating next to it, so there was no place for the gem to hide. She took the two steps it required for her long stride to reach the side of her chair and look behind it just to be sure, it wouldn’t be the first time Orange had hidden behind it just for something to lean against, or to play some ridiculous game only she found amusing. When she came up Orange-less, Yellow moved for the stairs, that small feeling of panic growing. If she had made it down the stairs without her seeing, then she could have possibly made it outside the base. It’s not like any of the gems that worked inside her personal base would try to stop her, though she would have hoped those idiots would have informed her she had left the base! Stars help her if that brat had left the safety of her base and had wandered into the untamed wild of the nearby forest. Blue would have her ass on a silver platter for ‘letting her out of her sights’, as if she didn’t have anything more important to do besides wasting her time babysitting.

Descending the winding staircase in quick strides, Yellow came to a halt halfway down. Below her, at the center of the room, lay Orange on her side, her head resting on an outstretched arm and long orange hair spread out around her. The large observation orb was lit up and projecting a view of one of the kindergartens planet-side. The blue light it cast around the dimmed room gave Orange a softer tint than her normal bright hue and long shadows were drawn from her body across the floor.  Now knowing Orange was still safe inside the base, Yellow’s panic subsided into anger. She didn’t have time for this, and she had explicitly told the young gem that, and yet here she was, on a hunt for her supposedly missing ward.

Completing her decent of the stairs, Yellow made a b-line for her, “Orange! What I have I told you about touching-“ her voice trailed off when she saw her tiny face up close. Soft, chubby features scrunched up, her cheeks were wet with tears, but she appeared to be inactive. Yellow’s first instinct was to find out what had made Orange upset enough to cry and destroy it, but she pushed this aside quickly, it was the erratic and over emotional actions she expected from Blue or Pink. She had more self control than that, and it was most likely a simple dream that had made her cry, it’s not like Yellow Diamond could punish nightmares. Just as well, she did not dare wake her up to find out and Yellow was sure Orange had exhausted herself in her fit, and she was in no mood to deal with a cranky child. Turning off the orb, uninterested in the view it offered her, she bent down and gently picked Orange up off the floor, cradling the smaller gem in her hand. She straightened slowly as not to jolt her awake and set her against her chest, pausing when she felt the odd sensation of warmth against her gem as Orange’s cheek rested on it. As quietly as she could, she went back up the staircase to return to the control room, one hand protectively holding the tiniest diamond’s unconscious body to her, soft whimpers making her look down occasionally to ensure she was all right. ‘Bad dream’, she thought again.

It was still such a weird thing to her, dropping into an unexpected state of inactivity and dreaming. What use it served and why Orange needed it still baffled the gem matriarch. Dropping out of unconscious for bits of time like that without retreating into her gem was alarming at first, but she chalked it up to being a part of Orange’s weaker organic nature and thought perhaps it was something she might outgrow, like a bad habit, given the time and correct guidance. Though, for the time being, it meant a much easier way to watch Orange and Yellow didn’t find it so unfavorable as she first had when she initially had to accommodate for it.

When she finally returned to the control room, she was greeted by her Pearl standing up and giving her a confused and curious look as she took in the sight of her Diamond holding the smaller one.

“My Diamond?”

Yellow silenced any other words she had with an intense glare. If she woke Orange up she would pay dearly. This was, after all, an opportune time to get work done. That is to say, there were no unending questions, distracting laughs as she and Pearl drew absurd things together, or even long stretches of silence when she wanted to simply watch the compound at work with its many gems moving about, which often ended up with Yellow looking up constantly just to make sure she was still there. It just so happened this time she had not been. A first, and what she hoped to make the last.

Sitting down, she carefully angled her upper body forward, using both her hands to gently remove her from her chest and placed her in her lap after she had comfortably crossed her legs, watching as Orange curled up and pressed her face into her thigh, a small hand grasping the fabric of her pants. Orange had once sat there when she was two centuries younger, when she had been much smaller and more helpless than she was now, unable to really move around on her own and almost dangerously small for a gem of her size to handle, but almost too big for Pearl to properly carry. She had been growing in size rapidly, enough that she wondered if she would only be as tall as Pink when she stopped, or would she remain smaller, too inhibited by her organic side to be like the rest of them.

Yellow pushed the thought away, currently it didn’t matter, for that question would only be answered in time, and the gemling in question was fast asleep and resting in her lap where she could keep watch and finish her work in peace. She was already behind schedule and would scold Orange later for it.

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

“Yellow?”

Yellow made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded a lot more like ‘Hnn’ than any proper response as she continued to type away at her screen. Orange stood, hands safely out of sight as they fidgeted behind her back while she waited anxiously for her to finish whatever it was she was doing. After a few moments of silence, filled only with the soft beep of the screen as it accepted commands, was she rewarded by Yellow turning her eyes from the screen to where she stood a few paces away from her command chair, easily enough seen without invading her space by her feet.

Yellow looked at her expectantly, voice tinged with irritation for being pulled away from her work, “What is it?”

“Will you teach me how to be a diamond?” Orange ask, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. She wasn’t even sure Yellow was able to hear her until her lips pursed and Orange knew she had been heard.

Out of her peripheral, Orange could see Yellow’s pearl turning her head rapidly from looking at her, then up to Yellow Diamond, and back again. Her hands had pulled away from her own screen that she had been doodling on, the misshapen stick figures being visible from the backside of the translucent yellow screen. Her hands were curled up in front of her, the apprehensive expression on her face made Orange think she was expecting something to happen. Her reaction only served to fuel Orange’s nervousness, her chest tightening in response. Was that something she’s not supposed to say? Did she phrase that wrong?

Yellow blinked and then her brow pinched, as if just now fully processing what she had said. One dark eyebrow rose, giving the smaller gem a questioning look, though Orange found it to be more condescending than inquisitive as she spoke, “What do you think you’ve been doing here, if not learning how to be a diamond?”

“Staring at windows and watching you work.” Orange responded honestly in a sudden rush of boldness, but couldn’t ignore or hide the underlying fear of talking to Yellow like that. The last thing she wanted was to make Yellow angry with her, she was scary to be around when she was mad. Generally, Yellow was civil when she was around, not exactly caring like her mother, but she could always tell she wasn’t exactly wanted around by the elder matriarch. However, when she was, she got to witness more of Yellow’s short range of emotions, including her anger, which was mainly directed at her underlings, and while she understood that anger wasn’t for her, it could still be terrifying to witness such sudden rage from someone she had been reassured would never hurt her, especially when she was younger. She could vaguely remember crying a lot then, and Yellow, exasperated with her, had made her pearl escort her from the room in an attempt to calm her down. They weren’t happy memories, and somewhat embarrassing to recall that crying had been her go-to reaction, but Orange had grown since then and she didn’t cry when Yellow yelled, at least at other people. If anything, Orange had witnessed from her own mother that yelling and whining usually got you what you wanted, if you did so often enough, though she didn’t think it would work well on Yellow.

Initially, the only real reason Orange had for being frightened by Yellow was because she was so much bigger than her Mama, and she explicitly had told her to be careful around the older Diamonds because they could hurt her if she made them mad. But Yellow had never laid a finger on her, nor had any of the others, except to move her around much faster than her little legs could take her, which always meant fun rides on Yellow’s shoulder.

However, instead of being angry, Yellow simply sighed and pushed at her screen, which obediently turned to the side and Orange caught glimpses of words and a picture of a ship, but didn’t remain focused on them long as she watched Yellow lean forward to look at her more directly.

Yellow’s expression remained placid and her posture, while not lax, was non threatening to her small ward, “And just what is it you want me to teach you?”

“To do what you do.” She answered simply.

To her surprise, Yellow let out a small burst of genuine laugher that had her leaning back as she cover her mouth with her hand. It was a shock to both Orange and Pearl, who took a moment to glance at one another as if to confirm that they were witnessing the same thing before returning their attention to the much larger gem in front of them. Calming, Yellow looked back at her, eyes squinted from lingering amusement that clung to even her words as she responded, “I command entire legions of Gemkind, I rule over billions, I manage resources and the creation of new gems altogether, and you think I should teach you how to do all that?”

Orange’s hopeful eyes dimmed and she cast her gaze to the ground in shame, not wanting to see Yellow’s mocking amusement any longer than she had to. She tried really hard not too get in her way, she knew Yellow was essential to their empire, she had commented she did the work of two Diamonds and that her free time was sparse. It had been a stupid idea to ask Yellow for some of that time to herself, selfish even, but she really just wanted to help. She was a diamond too, but she didn’t know how she could help Yellow, or Blue, or even her mother. They just set her aside and told her to keep out of the way. Half the time she felt more like an ornamental pearl than a diamond. 

“I wanted to help.” Was all Orange could say, her voice sounded tiny even to her. It wasn’t the voice of a diamond.

A loud sigh from above made her glance up in time to see Yellow reach out, her hand settling down near her, palm facing up. Orange didn’t move, eyes wide and staring up at her in confusion, unwilling to get her hopes up as she waited to see what it was that Yellow expected of her. 

When she didn’t immediately move, only continuing to stare up at her, did Yellow’s eyes narrowed, “Well?”

Quickly, Orange scurried onto her handing, holding on to her thumb as she was lifted up, up, up, and then placed gently onto Yellow’s lap. She held on as Yellow moved backwards in the chair, leaning fully against the hard back and reaching out to adjust the screen in front of her, tilting it ever so slightly so Orange could see better from her lower position. Orange relaxed against Yellow’s lower belly while she crossed her legs, captivated by what was happening on the holographic screen above her.

Yellow looked down, ensuring she was looking at the screen, “Now pay attention, I will not repeat myself, understood?”

With Orange’s rapid nods, Yellow turned to face the screen and pointed, beginning their first lesson together, “This is my direct line to my ship’s captain. Captains of a ship like this are most always a Nephrite.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

With one leg folded over the other, Yellow’s chin rested on the back of her hand as she leaned to the side of her command chair, watching from the corners of her eyes as Orange moved sluggishly over to the two Amethyst guards that she had assigned to be her escorts while she was with her. While certainly not the most competent of gems, the two did well with Orange, and Orange never complained about them before, so Yellow assumed they were at least doing their job adequately.

Orange stopped in her lead-foot shuffle to cover a large yawn with the back of her hand, which made the two guards give her twin wide, toothy grins.

“Lookin’ worn there, my diamond.”

“‘Course she is, unlike you she actually works.” The second jabbed and her counterpart turned to playfully hit her in the shoulder. “Hey!”

“Shut it 9X! I work too!”

“Annoying the peridots with gossip hardly counts as work.”

Yellow narrowed her eyes at their loud banter, which they must have sensed because they both turned to look up at her at the same time, meeting her stare and immediately stood at attention, waiting for Orange to reach them and parted to allow her to walk in-between them so they flanked her.

It was well past time for a rest period, but her ward had been adamant in continuing their lesson until she was practically unconscious in her lap. Yellow admired her determination to learn at least, but her stubbornness could be tedious and grating, and it only became more prominent when she was tired. It was at these times that Yellow would have flashbacks of Pink hanging from the arms of her chair, constantly calling her name for attention, and generally being a nuisance. Yellow could see the odd similarity between Orange and Pink in those rare moments and be reminded she was indeed Pink’s creation and hadn’t actually been made like the rest of them.

Yellow continued to watch as the three made their way from her command room, the two Amethysts' banter picking right back up from where it left off. Orange seemed to be ignoring it all in favor of staring at the ground in front of her feet as she walked. They must have assumed they were safe from their Diamond’s scrutiny because their friendly ribbing had turned into a pushing match.

Yellow wished she could say she had yelled at them, had decided then she would be replacing the two childish guards with more experienced Citrines, or had done something to dissuade their behavior, but she couldn’t, because she hadn’t. Instead, she had prepared to return to her work in favor of ignoring them and punishing them later if it happened again, merely rolling her eyes as she prepared to settle in for a long cycle of work.

But before she could even pull her display up she had heard a shout and a sharp gasp and her head snapped back to the three, prepared to reprimand their foolish behavior, only she had turned just in time to see what was happening. The three had moved past the opened doors of her command room and stood on the upper platform, prepared to descend the side staircase to go to Orange’s chambers, only the guard’s roughhousing had picked up, Orange completely oblivious to this as she neared the edge of the platform, too tired to care what was happening behind her.

It was then that Yellow felt fear that she hadn’t felt in a long time. The kind of fear that left you paralyzed and filled with a sort of cold that made you want to move but you couldn’t, nothing would work, even as your mind panicked with the realization of what was happening, and the only thing she could do was feel her eyes widen, the event happened so fast.

She saw the two Quartz delinquents continue their shoving match, laughing as they continued to shove one another harder with each exchange. Unfortunately, one of the quartz had pushed the other hard enough to send them stumbling, tripping over their own feet and crashing into Orange with a look of panic on her face, the youngest Diamond completely unprepared for the sudden hit to her back and was knocked off the platform as the quartz landed face first on the floor only to quickly scramble on her stomach to the edge to peer over. Her partner rushed to look over as well, standing over her, the two surveying the floors below in quiet terror.

It felt like a century, but logically she knew was only a few seconds, before her senses came back to her and she was on her feet and rushing towards them. She ignored their panicked faces when they looked up at her, rage and terror at war inside her, caught between needing to know if Orange was all right and wanting to smash these gems under her boot for their idiocy.

Her form towered well over theirs, looking over the platforms edge where she could see the lower floors, all connected by the spiraling staircase. Down below, a far drop even to her, many gems that had been going about their business now stood in stunned silence, staring at the place where Orange had fallen, or rather, been pushed. Yellow’s sharp eyes took only seconds to located her, or more precisely, her gem, laying untouched on the floor where no one dared to move closer to it.

It was in that moment that the rage won and she turned on her heel, static and lighting surged around her light form.

“M-my diamond!” the standing quartz soldier stuttered, taking a step back in fear. 

The other, either more brave, or perhaps stupid, got to her knees and bowed her head, speaking with a pleading tone that was completely lost on Matriarch, “it was an accident! we're sorry, it-”

Her hand reached out towards them, her power surging from her fingertips and hitting the two quartz soldier so hard their forms dissipated instantly, their gems hit the floor with a twin tinks. She would see them harvested for this. The lighting had barely started to vanish from her form when she began to descend the stairs in bounds, reaching the lower landing in record time. All the gem that had once been in frozen animation suddenly came to life, scurrying into lines and saluting her. She ignored them too as she all but ran to where Orange’s gem was, the niggling thought to keep at least a shred of decorum about her as she approached the deathly still gem, lying untouched on the marble floor until her approach. She had been given a wide berth because no one had dared to move to touch her, which was good because Yellow knew she would have dissipated their forms as well.

Carefully, with a gentleness that was perhaps uncharacteristic for her, she picked up the tiny gem, unsure if it had sustained any damage in the fall, and if it had she did not wish to make it worse. Turning the gem over in her palm, she inspected it for any cracks and only breathed a sigh of relief when she could not spot a single crack on its delicate facets. Orange had simply sustained too much damage to her form and hadn’t actually injured her gem, that was good news at least. What was not good was the thought that she’d have to report this to the other diamonds.

It looked bad on her that Orange had not only been injured, but hurt so badly she had had to retreat into her gem, all on her watch. She could already feel the headache forming at the knowledge that she was going to get an earful from a hysterical Pink, not to mention Blue, whom would have her own lecture to give. Yellow cradled the gem in her palm as she returned to her command room at a much calmer pace than she had left it, stopping only to order the two destabilized guards be bubbled and sent to homeworld for their punishment. After it had been taken care of, she sat heavily in her chair, suddenly feeling drained herself and pinched the bridge of her nose more in habit of a frustrating situation than anything. She leaned back, placing Orange’s gem in her lap, staring at it with an unfamiliar feeling of guilt, but pushed it away to be dealt with later, or more preferably never.

She went to cross her legs only to remember the gem she had placed there and quickly decided to bubble the gem as she didn’t think Orange would be returning any time soon and she didn’t wish to risk her falling from her lap or being knocked off. Wouldn’t that be the cherry on top of her already wonderful day. With that, she attempted to ignore the bubble now floating above her chair, out of sight as it bobbed over her head, a reminder that she had failed quite terribly in her duties.

With Orange safe in her bubble, she made the decision to write up a quick report and then she’d make the call, preparing herself to deal with three diamond’s wrath that awaited her.

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Watery, deep orange-rimmed eyes were cast down to her hands as they laid facing up in her lap, warm tears freely falling onto her palms and the bottom of her tunic as they rolled off her wobbling chin, her shoulders shaking as she tried to push back her tears unsuccessfully. Two large, light blue hands encircled her, fingers meeting behind her and holding her in place on the larger gem’s lap, a silent comfort as she cried.

Her voice was thick and trembled when she finally managed to speak, “She doesn’t want me around anymore.”

“Oh Orange,” One of Blue’s hands moved from behind her, one large finger was placed under her chin and gently tilted her head up to meet her lowered gaze, “That isn’t true. Pink loves you, but this is her first colony. She doesn’t know how to split her attention between you and it. Just give it some time.”

Orange gave a loud sniff, her brows twisted together, accentuating the lines of stress on her reddened face as she pushed her finger away, her head turned to glare at the wall to her right and angrily wiped at the tears still freely sliding down her face with the back of her hand. “All she ever does is talk about those stupid organics and how wonderful her colony is. She cares more about those organics than she does about me. If I was shattered, she wouldn’t even notice until you or Yellow told her.”

“Don’t say such things, Orange!” Blue’s voice was oddly high pitched as she scolded her, eyes wide and alarmed. Blue’s felt like her gem had plummeted into ice, twisting her stomach into knots at the image of a tiny orange gem in broken pieces at her feet that formed in her mind. It twisted her gut more to imagine Yellow’s pinched face as she buried her feelings behind a stoic façade, Pink’s large eyes sad and watery, reddened from crying so much, and herself hunched over and crying into her hands over the little pieces of the smallest diamond. It took great effort to push the images away and not dwell on how the very thought hurt her deeply. She did not wish to live to see a day that one of them died.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, her expression turned into something more calm, hoping to soothe the young gem in need with her own soft and serene emotions. Her aura slowly and gently reached out to touch at the flickering orange aura before her, orange flames snapped and pushed back, hissing and unyielding to her efforts, and for a moment it worked. The flames kept the large body of sloshing blue emotion that was her own at bay. Though it was subconscious, they were only natural mental barriers that lacked any conviction to keep her out and thus eventually relented under her constant prodding, it was still a surprise to have such a fight put up against her for that long. Ultimately, Orange’s mental strength was no match for hers and those flames were eventually engulfed in the watery blue, turning a once wild, rapidly moving blaze into a languid flickering flame, rolling slowly around her.

She watched as it took a moment to actually take effect, but Orange slumped slightly against her, looking less angry and simply worn out, but even the tight pinch of her brow and clenched fists showed she still fought against it. Orange was so strongly willed, or maybe it was simply a unique ability of her own that she was able to block and fight against Blue for so long, either way, it could only be expected from a fellow Diamond. It was simply another thing Blue could mark down on a list that proved Orange was just like them. But as much as she was a Diamond, she was still so young and inexperienced in what she could potentially do, it was no surprise to Blue that she could only resist for so long.

Once she deemed Orange was sufficiently subdued she continued to speak in that same gentle tone she had used before, “Orange, you know that isn’t true. Pink would be absolutely devastated if you were shattered.” She moved her hand to stroke the soft tangerine colored hair that stuck up oddly on her head, tacking on, “We all would be.”

Orange was quiet while she brushed her hair with her fingers, her flushed cheeks pushed into her lower belly as she grabbed fist fulls of her robe. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and she sounded so lost and unsure, Blue’s hand paused briefly at the heartbreaking sound of it.

“Really?”

“Truly.” Her hand resumed carding through her long hair, “You are one of us, one day you’ll be apart of our Authority and you’ll share the same responsibilities that Pink does now, that Yellow, White, and I have. We diamonds must stay together, for our own sake, as well as for all of gemkind.”

“Sometimes….” Orange’s voice quivered, dying for a moment before coming back as a whisper that Blue had to strain to hear as she spoke into her robe, like she hoped the words would be lost in there, “Sometimes I don’t feel like a diamond.”

“Has someone told you that you’re not?” She tensed and if it had not been for both her hands touching Orange, Blue knew they would have clenched in anger. The very thought someone might have insinuated to her that she was anything but the very diamond she had been made to be did not sit well with her at all. Fleetingly, Yellow came to mind, but it was pushed aside. Yellow would not say such things to Orange, she knew her fellow diamond may not be so vocal about it, but it was obvious to them that she saw Orange much differently than she had mere centuries ago when she had labeled her as useless. She was a growing being, learning from them no differently than Pink had, as they had to do, even if she changed in appearance occasionally.

‘A part of the process.’ White Diamond had commented once, a sentence that had stuck with Blue. It always struck her as odd how well informed and knowing White was when it came to Orange, but than again, this was White. She had always come across as…almost omniscient. She knew things that you never expected her to know, did things before you ever knew it needed to be done. It was something that had taken Blue a long time to get used to.

“No.”

Orange broke her from her thoughts and she looked down, though Orange’s face was still turned from her. Blue’s hand continued moving through her hair, which seemed to be calming her, as it had done when she was smaller and was easily upset by the simplest things. After this, when it was just her and Orange had laid down for a rest, Blue thought she might make a call to Pink, perhaps to the other Diamonds as well. They would need to know about this, to help Orange if it ever occurred again. Whatever was happening between Orange and Pink was having an adverse effect on the youngest diamond and that would eventually effect them all.

She spoke in a light, questioning tone, “Then why would you think such silly things?”

“Because i’m not like any of you.” She briefly looked up to meet her gaze before it turned back down to her lap, “Why am I so small, and why does everyone treat me like I’m so fragile? If I’m a diamond, shouldn’t I be harder to break?” Her hands twisted the fabric of her dress and tears came back to the corners of her eyes, “And why do I need to rest when you guys don’t? I don’t understand it. White says it takes time to understand certain things, but how long do I have to wait before I understand why I’m so different?” her eyes clenched shut as the tears leaked from he eyes and her voice lowered again, “I don’t want to be different.”

Blue waited until she finished, letting Orange vent all that had built up and burdened her, driving doubt into her being. It hurt to hear just how much Orange was questioning herself. Where had they gone wrong? What had they not done to reassure Orange she was perfect just as she was, that she was just as she was meant to be? These were questions for another time, however, and she resolved to help Orange now.

Gradually, with a gentleness that had been perfected over a long time of having to be cautious with Pink and now Orange, Blue pried her small hands from her robe and picked her up from her lap, bring her up to rest against her shoulder while she pressed her cheek into her head and nearly half her back, truly Orange was so small in comparison. she felt her arms spread out to hold her in her own version of a hug, and Blue smiled as she moved to curl up slightly against her chest, one hand still supporting Orange to keep her from falling.

“I can’t answer all of your questions,” Blue lowered her voice since Orange was so much closer to her face now, “but know this, you are so different from everyone because you are you, my little Orange. You are unique, just as any of us are. I am not like Yellow, and Yellow is not like Pink nor she like White. We are different, it is a part of what makes us effective as separate rulers. You are still so young, and White is correct, it will take time to understand, even if you want to know right now. In time, you’ll see that these differences make us stronger as diamonds, and when you have your own court, I have no doubt that it will be nothing like mine, or even Pink’s, but it will be strong and you’ll have gems who follow you because you are perfect, just as you are.”

As she spoke she could feel the tension and fight leaving Orange, her body becoming heavy and limp against her and Blue knew it was time for Orange’s rest period, especially when Orange spoke and her words came out slow and drawn out, “Do you think my court will like me?”

The question made Blue giggle, and she looked down at Orange with so much love in her eyes, she wished she could keep her just like this forever.

“Yes, Orange. They will adore you.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

White turned her head, her eyes searching her pristine white room as tiny wails bounced around the ornate walls. She knew the sound, and exactly who it was coming from, but could not find hide nor hair of the little gemling she knew it was originating from.

“Pearl?” she called and her little pearl appeared before her, smiling as she bowed in respect. Without so much as a prompt from her, Pearl turned her head in the direction to the hall to her left.

“She is there, my Diamond.”

“Ah, of course.” Standing up, White Diamond moved elegantly across the floor, so fluid in her steps it was almost like she was floating, a feat to behold considering her size, as she followed the wails of her cute little ward. She gave Orange free rein to wander around her palace to her heart’s content, instead of keeping her firmly in her sights at all times like Blue and Yellow did. Orange was a diamond, no matter how unconventionally she was made, and White herself had deemed her flawless. As a diamond, she had to learn how to act and be a diamond before she could take her rule as one and she would never learn how if she was constantly at her side doing nothing. What safer place could Orange be to learn than her palace?

Entering the hall, she looked from open archway to archway, thought stained glass and open rooms as she passed by each one. Her search did not continue for long, however, as she came upon the sight of little Orange, sitting undignified on the floor as three large gems crowed around her, looking quite panicked as they flailed their hands at her, heads turning as they franticly looked around, attempting to get the young diamond to quiet down with little success. Her little gemling had quite the set of vocals on her, it seemed, if she could hear her from all the way in her room from here.

Once her imposing figure had been noticed, so focused on trying to calm Orange down, did the three gems, two Amethyst and an Agate, stand up straight and formed a line behind the wailing diamond, saluting to her as they bowed their heads. They were no longer concerned with their previous attempts at quieting their charge, no doubt before she herself would come to investigate. How unfortunate for them Orange was quite the stubborn one.

“Oh, my little Orange, why are you crying?” She questioned, tilting her head and waiting for Orange to get her rushed breathing and tears under control, her head tilting back to look up at her with those adorable bright eyes.

“My Diamond-“ the Amethyst on the right started to say before being cut off by the Agate in the middle hitting them in the chest hard enough that they stumbled back a step. White narrowed her eyes at the three of them and they stood ramrod straight, and if at all possible, preformed their Diamond’s salute even harder. She had not asked them and did not wish to hear any of them speak, and thus any other mishaps would be looked upon even more harshly than finding the youngest diamond sat on the floor and wailing with only them as her company had been.

“Orange?” she coaxed again, bending down and reaching for her with one large hand. The moment her fingers touched her, Orange cracked open her eyes to look at her through tears, seemingly realizing she was here just now before turning and latching onto her finger, not putting up any resistance as White picked her up and cradled her in her hand. It was almost odd, dealing with a gem that hadn’t come out of the ground, ready and knowing what it was to do. Instead, she had a small diamond in her hand, one that would continue to grow and learn, molded by the diamonds who cared for her. White recognized how unique and special this circumstance was, how if they did this right, Orange could be the best of them, the most perfect gem since she herself had emerged.

“Tell me what happened.” She didn’t quite order, but her tone left no room for Orange to question if she could ignore her request.

“Amethyst hit me in the face and called me a crybaby!” she wailed, once again crying large tears and her hands, balled into fist, rubbed at her eyes, reddening them even more.

The very air around them seemed to thicken and turn cold, the three gems below her remained perfectly still, but the look of fear was perfectly etched into their features as White’s angular eyes looked down at them, her expression no longer smiling for Orange. Instead of the punishment they were expecting, White turned her head, placing one very pointed fingertip to Orange’s head and petted her head, “Its alright, little one. I’m here, and you're alright.”

This combination seemed to alleviate the worst of her tears, satisfying White Diamond for the moment. ”Pearl?”

Her pearl appeared beside her from the wall, her bubble partially lowered, allowing her to remain floating in the air as she bowed to her. “Yes, My Diamond?”

“Take Orange and return her to my room. See to it she has everything she needs.” She ordered, tenderly placing the gemling onto the platform beside her Pearl, though she had to gently shake off Orange’s hands when she didn’t want to let go. It warmed her heart how attached she was to the littlest diamond, and she to her. Orange did not fear her like the other three did, she trusted and loved her, perhaps almost naively so, but it endeared her to White all the same.

Orange’s large eyes widened as the bubble reformed and she turned to look at White’s pearl, who had her eyes closed and a soft smile on her lips, the expression she always had, never changing. Or at least from what she had seen. A moment later, the bubble collapsed and she found herself back in one of White’s palace rooms, seated on an open marble floor. To a smaller gem the room must have looked abnormally large, sparsely filled with proportionately large furniture, considering it had been made for a Diamond. She herself was barely taller than White’s pearl, but she could remember being smaller than her at one point. She wanted to be even taller, to see what White saw when she stood up and looked down at her court, to see every loyal face of every gem who was made to serve just her in one swoop of her eyes instead of the hopping she had to do just to see a little bit in front of her, over Quartz soldiers, or requiring one of the other Diamonds to lift her where she had to join their pearls, who Yellow said was beneath her, and yet she had to stay with them? It confused Orange, and made her wish she would grow quicker. She didn’t have White’s patience.

Tears still occasionally leaked from her eyes, and her cheek really hurt, but she did her best to ignore it as Pearl lead her to an angular chair, one that had been made specifically for her when she stayed with White. She didn’t comment on how she was outgrowing it as she sat down, legs being forced together a little more than they had last time she sat there.

“Are you alright, my Diamond?” Pearl asked as she turned her now open eyes to look at her in concern.

Orange liked the soft color of her eyes, and how kind she was to her, even if she was just a pearl and it was her purpose to attend to her betters. She wondered what her own pearl would be like when she finally got one. 'Hopefully like her.’ Orange thought, ‘Or maybe Blue’s’. Orange also wondered if any pearl could do that bubble thing Pearl did to get around White’s palace, or was that something unique just to her? She had a million questions building, but thought it wrong to start interrogating Pearl when she was trying to follow White’s orders. Instead of asking, she favored to reach up and touch the cheek that had been hit by that brute of a gem. Her light, exploratory touch made pain bloom in her face and she felt tears slip from her eyes, flinching away on instinct.

Without a word, Pearl leaned in, placing her hands either side of her jaw without actually putting them against her. “May I touch you, My Diamond?” She questioned.

Orange gave a small nod and felt cool hands cup her jaw, turning her head so the offending cheek was in her direct line of sight. Orange said nothing as she inspected it.

“Oh, my poor Diamond,” she said and made a ‘tsk’ sound, shaking her head, “I can hardly believe those beasts hurt you. The nerve them to ever lay a hand on you, My Clarity.”

Orange felt a strange sense of pride at Pearl’s words. Only she and occasionally Blue Diamond’s pearl talked to her like that, addressing her with all the titles and formal words she would to any of the other Diamonds. It made her feel like she actually was one for a change. Yellow’s Pearl would call her ‘My Diamond’, but rarely interacted with her given how long she was with Yellow, and her mother’s Pearl, while formal with her, was skittish, and almost seemed scared of her. It was only when her mother ordered Pearl to look after her that she stayed near her, and it was often in awkward silence until they were rescued by her mother’s return.

“How is she, Pearl?”

Orange was brought out of her thoughts as she looked up, suddenly very happy when she met White’s shining eyes. White was so nice to her, like Blue, but didn’t keep her trapped like a pet. White let her do her own thing, putting trust in her not to make trouble and Orange did her best to stay out of any. It was a fear of hers to disappoint White Diamond. She never wanted to make her upset, if anything, she wanted to be like her. She wanted to be regal and commanding like her, with all the intelligence and toughness of Yellow, understanding but firm rule of Blue, and the loving and curious nature of her mother’s. She wanted to be all these things, but she didn’t know how to yet.

Patience. It will come.

“She has an injury on her face, My Diamond.” Pearl answered, turning to look at White before back to the marks on Orange’s cheek, her voice lowered as she added, “Those shallow-cut clods deserve worse than harvesting for what they did to her.”

Orange liked that Pearl seemed to take offense for her, though she was wondering what harvesting was. She had heard Yellow’s pearl call someone shallow-cut before and understood it was an insult, but harvesting had never been said in her presence before. Was that some kind of physical punishment? Really hard work for bad gems maybe? She would ask Yellow next time she was due to be in her care, that sounded like something she was in charge of, and she could count on Yellow to be straight forward with her without sugar coating it.

“Let’s see.” Orange watched as White drifted across the room from the archway entrance, notably without her previous guards in tow. Orange really hoped they got punished for hurting her. When White reached her, she bent down, her hand reaching out as the very tips of her fingers touched under her jaw. Unlike Pearl, White did not ask permission to touch her, but Orange did not pull away and instead allowed her to repeat Pearl’s earlier act of turning her head in inspection. “My, that is bad. It looks worse than it had before. You must be in such pain, my little Orange.”

Orange shook her head in the negative, wanting to seem much tougher than she felt. Stars, yes her face hurt, but White didn’t need to know that. This earned her a giggle from White, a sound Orange didn’t hear often but liked all the same, it meant she had done something good, she believed.

“So brave. But, it would be unseemly for a Diamond to go around with such a scuff on her face. Hold still, my little Orange.”

The little gem watched out of the corner of her eyes as White pulled the hand away that had been touching her chin and her fingers started to sparkle, a soft light glowing from them before she reached back down and pressed them ever so slightly against her cheek, like she would break if she wasn’t careful. Orange was hardly some amber who scratched easily, but she wasn’t going to begrudge White’s caution when dealing with her. White was the strongest of them, and she could easily hurt her if she really wanted to.

Orange felt an unexpected tingle against her skin and gasped in surprise, feeling the heat that had pooled under her eye vanish, taking all the pain and aches with it. Orange waited until White had pulled her hand away to touch her face, and she was happy when she felt no pain as she touched her cheek. White had never done that before. Or any of the other diamonds for that matter.

“Thats amazing.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at White’s hand in awe, which had stopped glowing now, before looking up at her. “Can you teach me to do that too?”

This earned her an airy laugh, “Of course, my little Orange. I’d be happy to show you.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

“Pearl?” she spoke in a hushed tone, low to try and keep it from being heard outside the ornate doors where she had ordered her citrine guards to stay, but Orange’s voice still carried in the large room, bouncing off bare white walls.

She was currently sitting with said Pearl, assigned to look after her while White was on a call, and instead of walking the palace halls like she normally liked to do, she sat in a room that overlooked the city. Homeworld was always breathtaking and she couldn’t wait until she got to actually be a part of it, have her own colony, title as ruler, a pearl, everything. She was destined for greatness, now if only it could arrive sooner.

“Yes, my Diamond?” Pearl responded, her ever present smile turned towards the small diamond in front of her as she stood obediently behind her while she looked out the large glass window.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You do not have to ask my permission, my Diamond. I serve you, just as I serve White Diamond.”

“Oh…well, did you always serve White? Or did you do something before this?”

“I…” White Pearl’s smile fell and her voice trailed before picking back up, now soft and almost hesitant, like her words were not something she should say, but she pushed on anyway at Orange’s insistent stare, “I have always served the Diamonds, but not always White.”

“So you weren’t made for White Diamond?” Orange turned fully in her seat to look at Pearl, expression fully showing her curiosity now.

“No, My Diamond.”

“Come on, Pearl!” Orange whined, gripping the side of her chair and leaning forward towards her companion, “Don’t leave it like that, you have to tell me, I-“ Orange stopped for a moment before she raised her head a little higher and pushed her shoulders back, a forced look of superiority on her face that she was sure Pearl saw right through based on the way her lips turned up, like Orange was making a silly face at her, which she probably was because it certainly didn’t feel right. “I'm a diamond after all. Who did you work for before?”

“I was originally Pink diamond’s Pearl. I was later swapped for a more…mature pearl. I will be forever grateful to my Diamond, White Diamond,” she gave a little bow of her head, as if she was bowing to said diamond in person, “for allowing me to continue to serve the Diamonds as her own.”

“Oh…” Orange’s smug facade dropped and she blinked at Pearl, her head cocking slightly to the side, “but you seem so mature now, I don’t understand.”

“I was expected to curve Pink Diamond’s more…eccentric nature, and I was unfortunately not capable of doing so. I understand my Diamond’s reasons for replacing me.”

“Hmmm….I think,” Orange sat back down in her seat, legs dangling over and arms crossing as her brow furrowed in thought, which had caught Pearl’s attention as she focused on her words, “I think if you were my pearl, I wouldn’t have let you go so easily.” she glanced at Pearl, a little smile forming on her lips at Pearl’s surprised expression, with her wide gray eyes and slightly agape mouth. Pearl was the first person that was really nice to her, really treated her like she was already a great diamond and not some oddity that they were unsure of how to interact with properly, or even who to pass her off onto. She couldn’t imagine what she’d be like now if Pearl had been gotten rid of simply because she couldn’t contain her mother’s large personality. “Im glad you're still with us, Pearl.”

Pearl’s chin tucked down against her chest, a light blush dusted her cheeks as she smiled, looking up as Orange turned back to the bright cityscape, eyes twinkling with something she had never seen before. “As am I, my Diamond.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Orange sat on the high sill of the room she had been confined in, not allowed to be at yet another party Pink Diamond was hosting. If she was seen by one of the aristocracy she’d be in a lot of trouble, but Pearl had yet to stop her from leaning over the edge and pressing her face to the glass for a better look. Orange was determined to at least watch the ongoings down below if she couldn’t join in the fun personally.

All four Diamonds she normally stayed with were attending, and thus Orange had been generously allowed by White to remain in an upper room of the palace, her only company being White’s pearl, who remained quiet and smiling all while she watched everything moving down below. It was almost like watching Yellow’s soldier while high up in her command tower.

Except these were not soldiers, but the highest and grandest of gems, talking and dancing, and yet Orange could tell there was more going on than just the fun social event it appeared to be. She had watched gems who were not partaking in the systematic dancing with their peers go from group to group, whispering conspiratorially behind hands with one another, casting glances at others they thought were going unnoticed. But they weren’t, Orange saw everything. At first, Orange had not understood why they would be gossiping, they were at a party, hosted by a Diamond no less, they should be living it up! But Orange realized quickly this was merely another one of those political moves for them, grandstanding and rumor spreading. Each gem trying to get ahead of a rival, trying to gain favor, and working to bring down anyone who had ever rubbed them the wrong way. A rather dry lesson from Blue, but a lesson she had (kinda-sorta) payed attention to nonetheless, and it was finally coming in use.

This may not have been a battlefield with soldiers, but it was certainly a bloody war raging below, and she was captivated by it.

 Orange, upon this significant realization of the dealings going below, had felt like she had something over everyone else for the first time, as if she was finally the one with a secret that she could keep and hold over the others. But it was short lived when she also realized that it must have been obvious to White, Blue, and Yellow as well. The three sat at the front of the room in their giant thrones, obviously made to be the center of attention even when not at the center of the room. Pink Diamond was in the smallest throne, situated below White, looking like she’d rather be on the dance floor than surrounded by her own peers.

For once, Orange had to agree. Just looking at everyone mingling and turning together looked so much better than sitting there, simply watching. They weren’t even talking to one another to pass the time.

“It looks like they’re having a lot of fun down there, doesn’t it?” Orange said, tossing the question over her shoulder to Pearl, who stepped up beside her to look at the scene below when she addressed her.

“Indeed, my Diamond.”

Orange stood up from her kneeling position on the sill to stand beside Pearl. It was evident now just how much Orange had grown when she stood almost a head and a half taller than Pearl. Orange was not nearly as thin as Pearl either, built rather thickly in comparison, though it was hidden some under her flowy tunic and leggings. Soon, Orange figured she might be able to pass as a quartz soldier.

The music was so loud it carried up to their room, slightly muted from the thick glass and grand walls, but still pleasantly audible. Orange turned to Pearl, her hand outstretched to the slighter gem, “Dance with me.”

Pearl blinked, eyes rounded more than normal in surprise. “What?”

“Dance,” Orange wiggled her fingers, a grin forming on her face at Pearl’s owlish look, “With me.”

“But, but...my Clarity,” Pearl’s hands folded up against her chest and she took a step back from Orange, “dancing is for the courts, lower gems than yourself. If anyone were to see you dancing-or me-!“

“If anyone were to see me dancing, it’d be one of the guards, and the guards don’t gossip with the aristocracy. And besides, who is going to see us? No one will know.”

“My Diamond-“

“I told you to call me Orange.” The young diamond grinned, “I’m not White Diamond, so I’m not really your diamond, am I?”

“Orange.” She said in a whisper, testing the name, before saying it once more out loud. “Orange. Are you sure you wish to dance with...with a pearl?”

“If that pearl is you, then, yes.”

Pearl’s white cheeks dusted gray, and she took a moment before she took a deep breath, her smile returned in full force and she bowed to Orange, her hand reached out to be placed into hers. “It would be my honor to dance with you, Orange Diamond.”

“I believe the honor is mine, since I asked, Pearl.” Orange pulled her into a similar hold she had seen the jades uses earlier and immediately realized it might not work exactly for them when they did not fit together well. Pearl giggled and gently guided Orange into a new configuration where they were holding each other’s hands.

“Perhaps this will be better.”

Orange nodded, looking down at her feet as pearl took a step back, then forward, allowing Orange to move with her slowly. “I’ll follow your lead then.”

Pearl put one foot towards Orange, and Orange mimicked her, moving her opposite foot to her and the two turned together, switching places as Pearl lead Orange by the hand to make her move subtly in a new direction. The two moved slowly to the rhythm of music flitting into the room until Orange was more confident and started to move on her own.

Soon the two of them were twirling together on the floor, laughing freely as they made up their own steps together, clasped hands pulling and pushing each other into new moves, dips and steps until both of them were breathing heavy from laughing and exertion.

When they finally slowed to a stop even as the music played on, Orange remained holding Pearl’s hands, a large toothy grin splitting her face and cheeks flushed a deeper orange than normal, she looked down at her dance mate. “That was a lot more fun than I thought it’d be. We have to do that again.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Orange followed Pearl as she lead the way inside the moon base, only stopping to order her escorts to wait in the entrance hall and then for Pearl to open the doors for her. The pearl stood to the side of the door, hands clasped in front of her and head bowed in respect as the young diamond passed her and then scurried to keep up with her longer stride. Entering the command room, Orange looked around, the only thing of notice in the room was Pink’s command chair and desk, situated up on a platform, accessible only by the stairs that were built into all side of the square dais. Outwardly, the view of the white moon the base was built on and the stars above could be seen, and if she went to the glass, she knew she would see that blue colony that she couldn’t wait to be finished.

She looked up when she heard the familiar gasp of Pink Diamond, her mother, standing up from her command chair to smile down at her, which Orange only returned with a well practiced neutral expression so as not to frown.

Pink came barreling down the stairs, three at a time and was at her in seconds, kneeling down on the floor just so she was at her height. Pink smiled widely down at her little Gemling, “Oh my! Look at you, you’ve changed so much since I last saw you. You look so adorable. I like this new look.” She gushed as she ran her fingers over Orange’s hair, two new tufts of hair were now over her ears, looking like little horns poking out from the rest of her thick hair, as well as the multiple spikes of hair that made up her bangs had been condensed into a few spikes that now stood up instead of falling down.

A dissatisfied frown formed on her lips before she could stop it, one that Pink found early familiar, as Orange responded by swatting her hand away from messing up her hair any more than she already had, “I’ve looked like this for almost a decade, mother. You’ve seen me like this, remember?”

A hurt expression crossed Pink’s face, and she tried to recall her last memory of her time with the young gem. She had been so preoccupied with the Earth and her time spent in the disguise as a Rose Quartz, that her time with Zirconia was becoming farther and farther apart. Had it been that long already? Or had she forgotten one of her recent visits with Zirconia, so swept up in it all. A pang of sadness hit her that she hadn’t been ready for. 

“I’m so sorry, Zirconia. It must have slipped my mind. I’ve just been so caught up in the Earth and the humans!” a smile spread on her lips again, “Oh, you’d love them. They’re so interesting.”

Orange’s expression morphed into something more neutral once again, but her bright eyes had turned away from Pink’s face and her brow pinched, showing she was anything but pleased with her mother’s apology, let alone interested in her appraisal of the organic life of her colony. Orange crossed her arms, “Whats so interesting about humans? They're nothing compared to us.”

Pink blinked, taken aback by her hostile tone. “They…Zirconia, look at me?” When Orange refused to look at her, she gently put a hand under her chin, “My little Zirconia, please look at me?”

That got her to look at her, Orange’s arms remained crossed but she willingly looked Pink in the eyes ad huffed out a harsh, “What?”

“Is something the matter, sweetie? You seem upset, did something happen?”

“No.”

Orange looked away again, and Pink realized she was angrier now because Pink didn’t know what she was upset about, an enigma that wasn’t all too uncommon with her daughter nowadays. “Zirconia, i’m sorry. I know I’ve been really busy lately, and you’ve had to spend a lot more time with Blue and Yellow, but I promise, i’ll make it up to you. We'll have more time together, alright?”

Orange’s eyes were slightly watery when she finished and she looked up at Pink with uncertainty, “Really?”

“Really.”

“Promise?”

Pink laughed, pulling her Zirconia into a tight hug, “I promise.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Orange’s feet swayed back and forth, making a tap tap every time the heel of her shoes hit the chair. She sat hunched over, staring around the overly pink washed color of the room. She was sitting in her mother’s chair where she had left her with only her pearl for company while she had a meeting with the other Diamonds, one that she had been pointedly told she wasn’t allowed to attend, no matter how much she had begged.

Tap Tap

They were on one of her Mother’s stations, near her Earth colony’s system. She hadn’t been allowed to wander the new station yet, not even with her pearl escort, having only caught a glimpse of it’s exterior as they docked, the wait was driving her crazy. It was a new model, updated and made just for Pink Diamond, with the finest bismuths working on it. Pearl had babbled about how grand it was, perhaps simply to entertain her, but Orange would rather see it than be told.

Mother had gushed about how beautiful Earth was the entire way and Orange wondered if she would get the chance to actually see it herself or if her mother’s overly exaggerated tales of it would be all she had to go on. She had personally seen one of Blue’s colonies after a lot of begging (something she knew worked well after witnessing her mother throw a fit on more than one occasion), and the promise to remain with the guard detail Blue gave her. It had been more gems in her way than she had originally planned, but she still got to set foot on the soil and rock that was growing more gems, see what a planet under the wise and knowing command of a Diamond looked like. How the wild and untamed worlds had been terraformed to suit the life and growth of gems. It was spectacular to see, a sight she would never forget. With all of her Mother’s talk about Earth, she wondered what kind of gem quality it must make. They must be beautiful and grand gems indeed.

 Tap Tap

She knew it was because she wasn’t supposed to go out into the public eye just yet, only a handful knew who she was, otherwise it was assumed she was a no name gem or she was blocked from view altogether by her guards. She noted that after the last two incidents, Amethysts were no longer apart of her guard detail, which was somewhat upsetting, considering they were a lively bunch to talk to in comparison to the Citrine and Prase escorts that were normally at her side nowadays.

Tap Tap

If it wasn’t for Pearl standing beside her, she might have tried to sneak a peak outside. Just a little one.

Tap Tap

Orange began to hum, if nothing else but to make noise in the awkward silence that always came when it was just her and her mother’s pearl. It was at this point she realized her silliness. She was with a pearl, most of their sole reason for existence was to entertain and be a showpiece!  She turned to her left where Pearl stood with her hands in front of her, respectful and quiet as she should be. “Pearl?”

Said pearl turned fully to look at her, “Yes, your Clarity?”

“I’m bored. Sing for me.”

It was not said as a request, and Pearl bowed to Orange with no question as to if she would obey, “Ah! Yes, at once, My Diamond.”

Orange leaned back on her arms as she watched as Pearl’s clasped hands raised to her chest and she began to hum a tune before opening her mouth wider and making louder, more harmonious sounds, all while Orange continued to tap her feet against the chair.

After a few minutes Pearl’s song ended and she bowed to Orange once more, a little out of breath. “Was that satisfactory, my Diamond?”

“I guess.” Orange shrugged, now looking around the room again, trying to find anything that might tide her over until Pink’s return. Too many pillows lined the room for her liking, and the pink bubbles were starting to bother her nose as they drifted around her.

Pearl blinked before her eyes grew wide, concerned, “Was…was something wrong?”

“You were a little pitchy.” Orange shrugged, her eyes following a particularly large bubble as it hovered overhead, "Blue’s pearl doesn’t warble like you.”

“I-oh.” Pearl’s face darkened to a deep blue and she bowed her head, “um, forgive me, my Diamond, I-“

“Zirconia!”

Orange had never been so glad then when Pink Diamond came through the veiled doorway, a smile on her face.

“Mother, you’re back!” Orange launched off the chair, running to Pink as she knelt on the floor just in time to receive a tackled hug from the excited gem.

“Yes, my little gem.” Pink pulled back from the hug to look at her pearl over Orange’s head who had remained at her position by the chair. “And Pearl, that was lovely, I could hear you just outside.”

Pearl’s face once again flushed blue, though this time in something that was not embrassed shame, “Thank you, my Diamond.”

Pink gently held Orange’s chin as she tilted her head up to place a kiss on her forehead, “Didn’t you think it was lovely, Zirconia?”

“Not really.” Orange answered, unperturbed as Pink suddenly pulled back to look at her with a confused expression.

“What?”

“I think something might be wrong with her.” Orange answered, glancing over at Pearl who now looked highly alarmed, not that it stopped Orange, who then turned back to Pink with a curious expression, “Aren’t pearls supposed to be able to sing perfectly when they’re made? She makes these awful-“

“Zirconia!”

Orange became quiet, her eyes rounding in shock at her mother’s raised voice and the sudden angry look on her face. “M-mother?”

“That is terribly disrespectful!” Pink grabbed one of Orange’s shoulders, turning her slightly and pointing to Pearl with the other, “Apologize to Pearl at once.”

“What? Mother, I don’t understand.” Orange turned her head to Pink, alarmed herself and starting to feel upset. She was only answering her question, what was wrong with that? Why was she suddenly so mad at her, and her grip on her shoulder hurt. She was confused and could feel tears threatening to form in her eyes.

“Pearl did something nice for you, and then you were terribly rude.” Pink explained, her expression still stern, “Just because she isn’t another Diamond doesn’t mean you should talk like that.”

“But it's true!” Orange pulled away from her mother’s grasp, freeing her shoulder and took a step away, her hands forming fists as they came up to her chest, “And Yellow says that the other gems are beneath us, they're made to serve us. I shouldn’t have to apologize for that.” Orange challenged, her brows furrowing in growing frustration.

“Zirconia,” Pink’s voice remained pointed and showed she wanted no more arguing from her, “I want you to apologize to Pearl.”

“My Diamond, really, it’s alright-“ Pearl spoke up, trying to defuse the situation, only to be cut off by Pink as well.

“No, it isn’t.” Pink looked expectantly at Orange, “Zirconia?”

“I-I…” Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes as she looked up at her’s mother’s angry expression. Her chest and head hurt, and she hated this. She didn’t do anything wrong, she was a diamond, and it's not like she was being cruel, she was only speaking the truth, something White praised her for, and her mother wouldn’t listen to. Now she wanted her to apologize for something that wasn’t her fault, and it was all just too much. Too much!

“No!” she yelled, startling herself with her own volume, “I’m not going to apologize to some servant! I'm not wrong, you’re wrong! She's just a pearl!”

“Enough!”

Orange sniffed loudly, tears spilling from her eyes that she could no longer hold back, but she still managed to glare up at her mother clear enough that Pink could see the anger on her face and the hurt in her eyes, “I’m not wrong, and I’m not sorry! I’m a diamond, and i’m more important than any pearl.”

“Zirconia.” Pink’s voice was low, steely and almost threatening to Orange, a tone Orange had never heard her use towards her before, or anyone for that matter. It made Orange cry harder, so she turned her back to the larger Diamond so she couldn’t see just how heavily the tears were spilling from her eyes now, embarrassed that she could do nothing to stop the little noises she made as she sobbed.

“I want to go back to Blue’s! I don’t want to stay here anymore.”

“I…” Pink’s expression morphed into one of shock and hurt, “Zirconia, you don’t mean that.”

“I do! I do!” Orange yelled, stomping her foot, "I mean it, I want to go back to Blue Diamond! She doesn’t treat me like this.”

“That’s enough. When we return to the Moon Base, I want you to go to your room.”

“What?” Zirconia turned around with a look of confusion and anger, “but-“

“Enough. Just…enough, Zirconia.”

Orange made a loud, dramatic sob before she could cover her mouth and nose with both her hands and took off for the door, dodging around Pink and running out of it before anyone could stop her, the two Quartz guards standing just outside immediately taking off after her. it was then that Pearl stepped forward to Pink as she sat down on the floor, her head falling into her hands as she hid her face to hide her own tears.

“Are…are you okay, my Diamond?” Pearl questioned as she reached out a hand to Pink, almost touching her shoulder before she froze and pulled it away.

Pink peered up from her hands and Pearl’s heart stuttered at the sight of her large, sad eyes. Her Diamond should never look so sad, it just wasn’t right.

“Oh Pearl, I’m so sorry. Please forgive her, she just doesn’t understand.”

“Its quite alright, my Diamond.” Pearl gave her a small smile. In truth, she was quiet offended and hurt by Orange’s words, they had never gotten on exactly well, but never had she been so insulted by her either.

“I can’t believe how she’s acting…has she…” Pink paused, looking down at her hands as they rested in her lap before looking back at Pearl, “has she ever done something like that to you before?”

“Oh no, my diamond!” Pearl shook both her head and hands for emphasis, surprised by her Diamond’s look of worry, “She’s normally very quiet. We don’t really…” Pearl took a deep breath and clasped her hands in front of her, giving Pink a respectful bow of her head, “It isn’t my place to judge what is right or wrong for a Diamond to say. She is correct, I am just a pearl.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Orange was folded into herself, laying on her side with her knees tucked under her chin and arms wrapped around her legs, sinking into the middle of an extra large pillow on the floor that threatened to engulf her in its soft fluff. Orange hadn’t moved since she had curled up there and cried until her entire body ached from the exertion of it, eyes puffy and wet from tears that kept coming, even when she didn’t think she could possibly cry anymore. She was upset, and even angry, but she was mostly just tired. Not just physically, but mentally tired, and rest seemed to be eluding her tonight. Which meant she had spent more time staring blindly at the far wall that was irritatingly pink and bright. 

It was this sight Pink was greeted with when she walked into the room, stopping in the doorway, eyes wide and looking startled as if she had expected to find an entirely different scene behind the door. Orange made no move to to acknowledge her and Pink stood awkwardly in the doorway, uncertainty wavering on her face as her hands fidgeted together in front of her before one dropped to her side and she knocked lightly on the side of the entrance.

“May I come in?”

Orange didn’t so much as blink, continuing to stare blankly at the wall and keeping her back to Pink. “It’s your station.”

“And your room.” Pink reminded gently.

“Hmm.”

Pink took a deep breath and moved into the room, the door closing automatically behind her, as she stepped towards the younger Diamond, “Zirconia?”

Orange responded with a snappish “What?”, her arms tightening around her legs as she tensed when Pink’s shadow fell over her as she came to stand beside her makeshift bed.

Pink glanced around the room, it looked very much like her own, pink pillows of various sizes, from large and heavy to small and decorative, all puffy and full, made of simplistic designs and styles littered the room. A dresser, some chairs, and a shelf were what made up actual furniture in the room. Here and there were carefully placed objects, knickknacks and souvenirs, gifts from their fellow diamonds from one point in time or another. A pretty rock that looked like it had come from an ancient asteroid, pockmarked and glittering with some unknown mineral. A small doll, handmade based on the off-placed stitching, one she remembered Zirconia carrying around for a time before she had decided to put it away so as not to damage it further in her travels going between them. A glowing orb, pulsing with colors and casting the far wall in rainbow light. A crystal figure, carved with a delicate hand so as to make the fine details of a face and figure of an unknown gem, weapon drawn and poised to defend or attack. Little things, scattered and on display, a showcase of love and thoughtfulness the others had for Zirconia. They were the only real proof she had that Zirconia had actually lived here when she was gone.

Pink turned from the items, looking to the younger gem curled up and looking more miserable than she had ever seen her. It caused a pain in her chest to know she had been a cause to this state. “I want to talk about what happened.”

Orange finally turned to look at her, craning her neck to glare at her over her shoulder, “What’s there to talk about? You made it pretty clear your pearl means more to you than I do.”

“Zirconia!” She took a deep breath, eyes closing for a beat and then opening to settle her with a significantly calmer look and started again in a softer tone, “Zirconia...you know that’s not true.”

She cut her eyes away as Pink sat down on the pillow, her weight shifting the pillow and causing her to slide closer to her mother. “Isn’t it?” 

Pink’s hand pinched the bridge of her nose, “Zirconia, I’m trying here. Please.”

“Fine.” Orange huffed.

“I understand you and Pearl don’t exactly-” Pink paused, thinking carefully about what she was going to say, before continuing on, “…get along. But Pearl is my friend, and you did say some pretty hurtful things. Would you say those things to Blue? Or Yellow?”

Orange hesitated before giving her a gruff, “No.”

“Then why is it okay to say those things to Pearl?”

Orange finally turned over, using her arm to push herself up so she could look directly at Pink, her eyebrows pinched and her voice was becoming strained as she spoke, “She’s just a servant.”

Pink lowered her face, chin tilted down so she could meet Orange’s eyes, “Yes, Pearl does serve me, but that does not mean she is beneath me.”

Despite still being mad, Orange still raised an eyebrow, her face screwed up in confusion, “You're a Diamond, doesn’t that make you automatically superior?”

“Oh Orange...I wish...” Pink had to pause to wipe a fresh set of tears from her eyes, “I wish you could just understand, see it how I do.”

“But why can’t you see it how I see it?” Orange threw both her hands up in the air in exasperation, “Why do I have to see it from your point of view?”

“That...that is a good point.” Pink nodded, pulling her legs up beside her so she was leaning on the pillow across from Orange. “Your right Zirconia, maybe I should have seen it from your point of view. I was defending Pearl, and that must have come across to you as siding against you.”

Orange sat up so she was facing Pink fully, her legs crossing in front of her and her arms falling back down, settling into her lap.

“Yellow says we’re superior, as Diamonds.” Orange’s head fell, her chin tucked to her chest as she looked down at her palms in her lap, “I’ve never had to apologize to a servant.”

“You’ve never had to apologize to Yellow’s pearl?”

Orange’s mouth morphed into something akin to a frown, “She doesn’t really talk much if Yellow’s not ordering her to do something.”

Pink’s head tilted to the side, racking her brain for people she knew she must interact with often, “Then how about Blue’s pearl? Or White’s?”

Orange’s frown morphed into a small smile, “White’s pearl is nice. She isn’t really like the others.”

Pink couldn’t stop the smile from curling on her lips at the way her tone had changed. “She’s nice, huh?”

“Yeah. She’s really nice to me, and she respects what I have to say. She...”

Orange’s eyes cut away from Pink’s, and Pink tilted her head down to catch Orange’s eyes again. “She treats you like you want to be treated?”

“Yeah.” Orange cleared her throat and looked back up at Pink, “Yes. She...I see how the pearls act with you guys, and I...I don’t have that. Yellow and White are always telling me what it’s going to be like when I’m finally apart of the authority, when I get to command armies and hold court, but It’s always me listening, I’m always the one following the orders.” Orange waved her hand around, mimicking the deeper, commanding tones of the older diamonds, “Orange, do this. No Orange, that’s wrong, Do it again. Or wait with Pearl, Orange. Diamond business.”

Orange’s hand fell heavily back into her lap with a smack, and her shoulders slumped from her suddenly animated gestures, “White’s Pearl...I actually feel like I’m listened to. She’s...she’s a good friend.”

“Aren’t I your friend? Or the other Diamonds? You seem friendly with your guards.”

“Of course you guys are my friends, but at the same time you’re...you. There’s always some other report to go over, another lesson, something else that’s more important. And I like the lessons, I like seeing the colonies, and the gems. I like visiting everyone. But sometimes I want...” Orange looked to the side as her voice trailed away, unwilling to meet Pink’s eyes anymore.

“Zirconia?” Pink prodded after a moment.

Orange slowly looked back up at Pink through her eyelashes, her hesitation clear in her voice, “If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?“

“I promise.”

With a deep breath, the smaller gem continued on, “Do you remember when you held that party for when Yellow finally completed that last system?”

“The party a few months back?” Pink’s head tilted back as she recalled that last party she threw. They were becoming fewer and far between now that she had Earth to attend to. “Yes, I remember.”

“I got to stay in one of the upper rooms this time, White’s treat. I got to watch the ball, and see everyone dancing and everyone was having fun below while I was in a room where no one knew I existed.”

A pang of guilt and sadness hit Pink, and she reached out to cup the smaller gem’s face in a gesture of comfort, “Oh, Zirconia. I’m so sorry.”

Orange simply shrugged, allowing Pink to shift a lock of hair behind her ear as she talked, “But I wasn’t alone. White had left her pearl there to keep me company.”

“Did she? Was her pearl nice to you?”

Orange gave her a look that told her it should have been obviously to her, “Of course she was. She’s always...” a pause before the words came rushing out of her, like if she didn’t say them now she never would, “We danced.”

A heavy pause when Pink could see the tension leave Orange’s shoulders, and she wondered how long Orange had been keeping this in. ”I was watching everything below, and it looked like so much fun and we could hear the music, so we danced. I’ve never had so much fun before. We talk, and Pearl listens to me, and she calls me all those titles that the other gems call you. She taught me how to dance, even though she could have gotten in a lot of trouble…” she gave Pink a pleading look with big, imploring eyes that she was sure was meant to tug on her heartstrings, “Please don’t tell White.”

“My sweet, little Zirconia,” she swept some more hair from her face, “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“Thanks. I don’t want to get Pearl in trouble. She said it’d be bad if anyone found out, so I don’t think I was really supposed to tell you.”

Pink giggled at that, “Thank you for telling me anyway.” She lightly bumped her nose with her index finger, making the younger gem smile, “I’m glad at least one of use had fun at that party. And I think I understand what happened earlier better.”

Orange let out a long, shaky breath and nodded, “I still don’t get it, but I’m sorry I insulted Pearl. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Pink gave her a reassuring smile, pulling her into a hug that was returned with surprising strength on the younger Diamond’s part, “I know. I know you didn’t, and I’m sorry too.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

“Come on, at least think about it!” Pink pleaded, looking up at Yellow and Blue, her hands balled up into fists at her sides to keep from making rude gestures at them. ‘Talks’ with them always left her wanting to kick something and cry in frustration and demand a hug from her pearl all at once. Why couldn’t they just listen for once in their lives!?

“Pink-“

“Orange needs someone to attend to her and be with her constantly. This switching back and forth between us isn’t good for her.” Pink continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

“Absolutely not.” Yellow immediately shot her down, her brow furrowed in frustration as she glared down at her, her arms crossed over her chest as they always were when discussions of any kind happened with Pink. “She doesn’t need a pearl, when she’s old enough and starting her first colony, in a few millennia,” she quickly added with narrowed eyes at Pink, “then she can have a pearl.”

“But yellow-“

“You coddle her too much, Pink.” Yellow said in exasperation, “She's fine, and a pearl is not given out to just anyone.”

“But she’s a diamond, and she deserves a pearl!” Pink’s foot stomped on the ground, this situation was all too familiar to her, and she hated it and Yellow’s refusal to listen to her.

“Like you?” Yellow sneered, “At least she doesn’t demand things. She hasn’t asked for one, so this entire conversation is pointless and a waste of our time.”

Pink watched as Yellow turned from her, getting the familiar feeling she was being dismissed, and Pink wished she was larger just so she could punch Yellow in her high-up stupid face. How dare she. How. Dare. She. “Just because you prefer to be alone, Yellow, doesn’t mean she does.”

“Do not presume to know what I prefer, Pink, and she isn’t alone. She is constantly in the presence of one of us, or our own pearls. She has her own guard! That hardly seems alone to me.”

“I believe she is right, Yellow.” Blue finally cut into their bickering, a tired look on her face, no doubt done with their back and forth arguments that never got anywhere when they were angry with each other. Which was always.

Yellow let out a loud groan and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Not you too.”

Pink watched expectantly as Blue turned to Yellow, “She is constantly being moved between us, it would do her some good to have someone who is always by her side. It would also mean someone to keep her out of trouble while we work.”

This seemed to perk Yellow’s interest, who turned to look at Blue now, a look of contemplation crossing her features, “So, we would give her a pearl as a babysitter?”

“As a guardian,” Blue amended, “and having a pearl will teach her some responsibility. How can she rule over millions of gems in a court if she does not have the experience of even one?”

Yellow hummed, her hand cupping her chin as she looked deep in thought. Pink nearly jumped in joy when she let out a sigh and looked away from both of them to glare at the wall beside her, “Very well. We shall get her a pearl. Not a new one,” Yellow quickly added, head snapping to look at Pink who happily ignored her in favor of grinning widely and rocking back and forth on her feet. “A pearl isn’t a toy, and I will not waste resources to make one for a child.”

Pink squealed nonetheless, “Thank you, Yellow! She’ll be so happy, I just know it. You’ll see, this will be good, for all of us.”

Blue smiled gently down at her, and Pink was glad to at least have her on her side in this matter. “ I hope so, Pink.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

“M-my Diamond?” Pearl meekly said, her head bowed and her arms held in front of her, an unconscious shield between herself and her diamond. When her Diamond‘s eyes cut from the screen in front of her to her, she clenched her hands together nervously.

“I am trying to work Pearl, what is it?”

“It’s….Theres a message for you, My Diamond.”

“Well? What does it say?” Yellow’s tone was clipped, and almost threatening. There had been a snag in one of her colonies progress, an uprising of organics that had messed with a kindergarten, resulting in the loss of at least 60 gems and she was still dealing with the aftermath, her Pearl’s interruptions were not welcome.

“It’s a message from,” the small gem gulped, as if her words were trying to choke her to stay unsaid, “from White Diamond.”

Yellow’s hand paused over the buttons of her screen, her bright predatory eyes hid the flash of fear she felt just from hearing that name as she turned to look at her pearl, “What does she want?”

Pearl straightened up under her gaze, her hands moving behind her back as she got down to business, “She is inquiring about the pearl you are looking for,” she gave a crooked grin as if to counter her Diamond’s growing frown, “for Orange Diamond.” She added, as if Yellow could have forgotten the 'special' task she had been given.

With a wave of her hand the screen in front of her disappeared and she stood up, “Why does White want to know about that?” she said and Pearl held her tongue, aware her Diamond was merely thinking out loud and she would not be punished for answering such an obvious rhetorical question.”Why would she bother herself with such a trivial thing?” she paused in her pacing, “did Pink mention something to her? has she gone behind my back and…?”

There was a pause as Yellow Diamond’s eyes narrowed and then she turned on her heel to face Pearl, “Pearl, call White at once.”

“Yes, my Diamond.” Pearl wasted no time to gather her communicator, the one specially made for the Diamonds to speak with one another, and made the necessary adjustments before it rose into the air, widening and becoming a screen not unlike the one she worked, made up of diamond shapes stacked on top of each other, only this one was much larger and fit for someone of a Diamond’s size.

After a few moments, the other end was picked up and Pearl came face to face with another Pearl, this one with a white parlor and gray hair curled into buns on either side of her head. Her eyes were large and gray like her hair, and she smiled widely at her counterpart. “White Diamond’s control room.”

“This is Yellow Diamond’s Pearl. She wishes to speak with White Diamond.” Pearl answered and her fellow pearl nodded.

“One moment please.” She turned to look behind her for but a moment before she was looking at pearl again, “White Diamond will speak with Yellow Diamond.”

With that, the pearl disappeared from view and Pearl herself stepped back and looked up to her own Diamond. She said nothing as Yellow stepped forward and took the communicator from her, it widened further, and no sooner than she had taken it did another face appear on the translucent screen.

“Yellow.” The voice of White Diamond crooned, the image of White’s face seen almost blindingly on the screen. “It's such a pleasure to hear from you.”

“White.” Yellow gave her a respectful nod, and was glad the trimmer of fear she felt from meeting those eyes didn’t appear in her voice. “I’m calling because of your message,” she informed her, “about the pearl.”

“Always down to business.” White quipped, “Yes, I’ve gotten word you are looking for a pearl for our precious little gemling.”

Orange hated to be called that, but Yellow didn’t dare correct her. White could call her whatever she pleased and Yellow would not attempt to stop her, it was not worth potentially upsetting White and having her wrath pointed solely at her. “Yes, Pink has requested a companion for her. I assumed she is the one who told you?”

“Blue, actually,” White’s smile sent a chill down her spine, it was hardly charming nor comforting, “and I believe it's a fantastic idea. It’s why I was inquiring actually. I believe I have the perfect pearl for her.”

Yellow hadn’t wanted to get Orange a new pearl, let alone a fancy one from White. She had planned a simple hand-me-down, a reassigned one from one of the aristocrats from either her or Blue’s court, and she voiced such, “I don’t know if that is a good idea, White.” she said cautiously, her words picked as carefully as she did a battle strategy, “Orange doesn’t need something new or something ornamental. she-“

“I am aware what Orange does and doesn’t need, Yellow.” White’s tone was thin and dismissive, warning that Yellow had, despite her caution, stepped on some toes, so to speak. “That is why I will have one of my pearls given to her. I have a very special one in mind.”

“Very well.” Yellow was long since ready for this call to be over, “Shall I send someone to pick it up or will you be sending it yourself?”

“Not necessary. I want to hand it over myself.”

Yellow’s eyes would have bulged out of her head is she didn’t have the fine restraints over herself that she did, as it was she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening or the way her throat restricted, “But she is with Blue, and she is away at one of her colonies.”

“I am aware, thank you Yellow.” And with that the call ended, and the communicator returned to its solid form in her hand. From any other gem Yellow would have been furious to be hung up on, however all she felt was relief to have the palest diamond out of her sight. She wasn’t even physically there and her very presence suffocated her. But then it occurred to her, White was going to give Orange a pearl from her personal collection, in person. She hoped Blue knew ahead of time, for she could only imagine her reaction to seeing White in person. They all knew to be cautious with White, even Pink was subdued in her presence. Well, all of them except Orange. She only hoped her naivety towards White would not get her shattered. 

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Blue glanced down at her side, watching as Orange Diamond walked beside her and her Pearl, a little happy skip to her step. Orange had insisted on walking herself instead of allowing Blue to carry her, even if it was quicker do so. Against her better judgement, Blue had obliged, patiently walking slowly to allow Orange to keep step with her. Orange was slowly becoming more independent, starting to demand to do things by herself and it warmed Blue to see Orange taking control. They had been summoned by White, which meant a trip to her headship, which was almost always docked on Homeworld now. Blue was aware of why they were going, but Orange hadn’t been told a thing, she was simply happy for the trip and the impromptu visit with White.

A surprise, White had said. Blue wasn’t foolish enough to risk White’s anger by going against her wishes. If she wanted this to be a surprise for Orange, Blue would keep quiet, even if Orange’s constant questions could border on annoying, Blue always managed a little extra patience for her. As it was, Orange was incredibly excited to see White, especially since this was a spontaneous visit, and not to drop her off with only her Citrine escorts as company. Orange was perhaps the only one who would be so excited to go see White, it was almost like Orange had no fear. Ah, the ignorance of youth.

It was not a long trip to get to White’s inner sanctum, only filled with Orange’s humming as she looked around. When they reached the inner most doors, they were greeted by White’s personal Pearl, who Orange smiled widely at, offering a wave in greeting.

“Blue Diamond,” White’s Pearl bowed to her, turning to give a smile to Orange and a bow of her own, “Orange Diamond.” She glanced at Blue’s pearl, a quick nod of acknowledgement passing between them before attention was returned to Blue, “White Diamond awaits you inside, my Diamonds.”

They waited as this pearl opened the door and escorted them inside. White stood inside, waiting for them and she greeted Blue first, “Blue Diamond, it is good to see you so well.”

“White Diamond,” Blue gave her a respectful bow of her head, “it is good to see you as well.” Blue turned to look at Orange, about to instruct her to bow to White as well, to show respect to the sole superior to every other Diamond, only to find her charging to White, “Orange!“

Orange either didn’t hear her or ignored her and leapt at White, landing only part way up to hug her leg, laughing loudly, “White!”

White, who Blue looked at in worry for the smallest Diamond, merely bent over to pick her up before she slid from her place on her dress, holding her up in an open faced palm, “Hello little one. You should be more careful.” Her eyes flicked towards Blue, “You scared Blue diamond.”

Orange turned in her spot where she had been kneeling in White’s palm to look at her, “Sorry!” she yelled, her voice carrying in the large room. Immediately after, she turned back to White, “Im just so happy to see you!”

This made White’s smile widen, teeth and curled lips that made Blue’s spine tingle in warning, but only made Orange giggle happily. “Thats good to hear, my dear little gem. I have something special for you.”

Orange was leaning forward on her knees again, an excited grin breaking out on her face, “What? Really?”

“Yes,” White motioned towards her pearl and they all turned to look at her as she brought something forward, a bubble, that she most definitely hadn’t had before. When she reached the base of White’s platform, White bent over and took the bubble from her, holding Orange in one hand and the bubble in between two pointed fingers of the other. “This,” she held the bubble out to her, “is for you.”

Orange hesitantly took the bubble, inspecting it. Inside was a perfectly round gem, except the simple band that wrapped around its middle. Orange’s eyes widened from it to look up at White with wonder and excitement brighting her eyes, “Is-is this…a pearl? My own pearl?”

“Oh yes…as a Diamond, it is long over due for you to have your own. She will serve you well.” White told her, and then leaned down once more, allowing Orange to climb down carefully from her hand, the bubbled pearl still clutched in her hands. “why don’t you let her out, so you can meet her.” White suggested.

Orange looked up at Blue, her wide eyes made the older Diamond smile and she nodded at Orange, who looked down in fascination as she held the bubble in one hand and used a single digit of the other to pop the bubble. She caught the gem between her hands before it could fall and a moment later it lifted in the air, bright light shining on her as the gem reformed. Orange never looked away, even when the light left spots dancing across her eyes, as she had never seen a gem reform before. After the gem had filled out from its pure light form, she floated to the floor, instantly dropping into a low bow to Orange.

“My Diamond, it is my honor to serve you.” The gem’s voice was soft and she glanced up at Orange with a smile, but did not lift up from her respectful bow.

Orange’s mouth hung open, obviously stunned while looking at this new gem that served her, her, before coming back to herself and turned to White, all toothy smile and large awe filled eyes, hands clenched as she laughed excitedly, “Thank you!”

“You are most welcome,”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Orange glanced over her shoulder, checking again that, yes, that pearl was still there behind her. She stood there with her hands clasped together in front of her, a small smile stretched on her thin lips with her eyes closed and head bowed. She looked content to just stand there behind Orange as the young Diamond sat, very undignified for someone of her rank, on the ground, just in front of the glass wall so she could look out at the city. Only, unlike all the other times she had discreetly looked over her shoulder at the gem that now apparently served her, said gem opened their eyes to meet hers and Orange immediately turned back around, red cheeked with embarrassment to have been caught.

“Is there something you need, my Diamond?”

“Wuh…what?” Orange turned her head slightly towards her to show she was listening, but didn’t dare to turn around fully until she felt the heat of the blush on her cheeks begin to disappear.

“You have been turning to look at me every few moments, my Clarity. If there is something you wish me to do, you need only say.”

“I…Ive never had someone to serve just me before.” Orange glanced back to the city view before turning on the spot to face Pearl’s direction, and patted the floor in front of her, “Sit with me?”

Her pearl did not hesitate, not like the other Diamond’s pearls would have. She knew Yellow hated when she sat on the floor, a Diamond shouldn’t lower herself to sit like that, she would say. Standing was tiring, but the view wasn’t. Orange loved to look out at the cities of Homeworld wherever she might be, so she sat when it was just her or only a pearl or her quartz escorts to keep her company. Pearl sat beside her, legs tucked to the side of her as she used one hand to balance herself in her new position.

“You're my pearl now, so I can ask you anything I want.” Orange said, though it hadn’t been phrased like a question, the uncertainty in her voice must have showed because Pearl nodded to her.

“I live to serve you, my Diamond. Anything you want or need. I will answer anything you ask, if I can.”

Orange didn’t know how she felt having a servant of her own. It was one thing when it was one of the other Diamond’s, she knew it was their job, their sole purpose really. But this one, this one was hers, all hers, only hers, and she would do anything Orange said. She was used to her escorts having to listen to what she said, so long as it didn’t contradict some order given to them by their Diamond superiors, but this was just a whole other level. Having someone who served her and her alone made her feel…well, powerful. Important. Needed.

Only the most important of gems of Homeworld got pearls, and now she was one of them. Not only that, but this pearl had come from White herself, so she was a fancy pearl and must have been quite well made if she had been in White’s service before her. As it was, her pearl still looked like she belonged to White, which Orange was not overly fond of. She was of a very pale blue color, her hair a much darker shade than her skin, short and wavy, bangs falling to one side to partially cover her right eye. she wore a dress, the top of which was a dark gray and had a diamond shape cut from the chest, exposing the polished gem of a pearl. the lower part of her dress was a lighter shade of gray, matching the elbow length gloves she wore. she had dark leggings and no shoes. A white, see-through ruffle wrapped around her neck, puffing out around her chin and shoulders. The only sign she belonged to Orange was the small diamond that sat below the cut in her dress, the same color as Orange’s gem.

It was almost like it was an afterthought, what should have been something that showed everyone that she served her was barely there, and Orange found she didn’t like that. She wasn’t an afterthought, but it was something that could be changed later, not while she was waiting for Blue.

“Where were you made?” was the first question Orange deemed good enough to ask, out of the many that were piling up, some of them silly, others she doubted this pearl knew the answer to.

“I was made on one of Blue Diamond’s many colonies, nearly five hundred years ago, my Clarity.” Her voice was soft, a trait Orange noted was similar to Blue’s own pearl.

“So you were originally made for Blue?”

“Yes,” Pearl nodded her head, “and I was given to White as an offering. It is not uncommon for a pearl to be given to White Diamond as a gift.” Not unlike how White had given her this pearl, Orange thought. “I was lucky and proud to be chosen to serve her, as I do now for you, My Diamond.”

“I see. What did you do for her?”

“I served her, as any pearl does.”

“I meant what did you do?” Orange pushed, frowning.

“I…I cannot say, My Diamond.” Pearl lowered her head, but this only annoyed Orange. She couldn’t say? It was a simple question.

Orange decided she’d prod Pearl more, “Why not?”

“Any servant of White diamond is forbidden to speak of what they do for her, no matter what it is. Please, forgive me, My Diamond. I can not say what I did for her before I was made to serve you.”

Pearl lowered herself more, bowing deeply to Orange now, which Orange noted must have been awkward if not painful because of how she was sitting and thus wave her off so she would sit back up, “it’s fine.”

So anyone who served White couldn’t talk about it? Interesting. Could she make her own servants do that? Could she make her pearl swear silence for whatever Orange commanded her to do? She made note to find out later as well. As it was, she doubted this pearl actually did anything of real interest for White Diamond, not like White’s main pearl, whom Orange interacted with when she was there. Orange was quite fond of White’s pearl, more so than any other Diamond’s. She hoped her pearl turned out to be like her.

“Orange.”

Orange looked up, looking away from her pearl to see Blue Diamond, her hood pulled up to cast her face in shadow, her own pearl standing by her side, looking in her direction, or maybe it was at the only other pearl in the room. Orange wondered if she would look so mysterious and cool as Blue did, the magnificent height of a diamond and her Pearl by her side, flaunting to everyone just how important she was.

“Blue!” Orange stood up, moving to join her before she remembered her own pearl and turned, “Come along Pearl.” She called, and did not wait for her to get up as she skipped over to Blue with a large smile. “can we go now?”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

“Orange,” White called, “let's talk.”

Orange held her breath, fearing she was in trouble, especially so when White’s Pearl, who had been standing next to her, made to leave the room, beckoning her own pearl to follow her, leaving just the two of them alone. She waited as White offered her hand and Orange climbed on, holding onto her thumb as she always did, her nervousness growing even though White continued to smile at her.

“Is something wrong?” Orange asked once she was about eye level with White, before adding a little meekly, “Did I do something bad?”

“It’s about Pink Diamond.” White informed and Orange’s eyes widened.

“Is she alright? Did mother get hurt?”

White gave a shake of her head, “No, she’s fine. What I mean is, I want you to stop referring to Pink Diamond as your mother.”

Orange’s eyebrows bunched up and her eyes conveyed her confusion to White, “W-what? But White-“

“Shush.”

Orange’s mouth snapped shut and she looked up at White with slight fear. She had never heard that tone used before and it alarmed her.

“You are a Diamond, a gem. We do not have families the way Pink’s organics do. You may have been made with the material of one, but you aren’t apart of them, even if Pink has insisted on treating you like one of them would. You are a gem, a Diamond, and if you want a family, you will find it with other Diamonds, but it is time to stop calling Pink your mother, because she isn’t.”

“But…But she created me.”

“As I have created many gems, as do Yellow and Blue, and even Pink. Does that make them mothers as well?” White proposed and waited patiently as Orange tilted her head down, brow pinching in thought.

After a moment, Orange looked back up at her, “No. they’re not mothers, they’re  Diamonds, who made gems to serve them. But I don’t serve Pink.”

“No, no you do not, Orange. Your only superiors are your fellow diamonds, until you have your own court and colonies.”

“And then…and then only you’ll be my superior?” White seemed pleased with her revelation, and it made Orange smile proudly.

“Yes, my pretty little gemling. Do you understand now why I have asked what I have?”

A part of Orange wished to tell White no, Pink had always been Mama to her, even if things were becoming more strained than usual between them. Blue said that would change after Pink’s colony was finished. And yet, a larger part of her, one that Orange wasn’t so sure she was ready to accept, agreed with White. While she had been perfectly fine calling Pink mama when she had first been made, it was now something Orange did sparsely, more of an appeasement for the older diamond than a personal want. If anything, Orange always felt an overwhelming sense of embarrassment when she referred to Pink this way in front of others, especially the other diamonds. It was simply another thing that she wanted to change. And changing was good, wasn’t it? After another moments hesitation, Orange gave a sharp nod to White, “I understand. I won’t do it anymore.”

“That’s a good girl.”

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]

Yellow’s foot tapped the floor impatiently as she waited for the Diamond’s personal line to connect for the third time.

“Where in the blazes is she!?” The matriarch’s voice echoed in her command room, her pearl shrunk away slightly, gazing up at her in fear as she slammed her hand down onto her desk, surprisingly not leaving the dent Pearl expected. There was another intense glare at the waiting call when the screen filled with static, sound coming through before the picture cleared to show a rather frazzled looking Pink Diamond as she hurriedly sat down at her throne. 

“oh thank goodness.” Pearl whispered.

“Ahh! Uh, Yellow.” Pink glanced away from the screen to something to her left before returning to meet Yellow’s narrowed eyes, “This is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting a call.”

“Obviously not! Where were you?”

Pink’s lips quirked up in an awkward smile as she gave a force laugh, “I, you know, with that rebellion on my colony, I’ve just been so busy-“

Yellow’s whole face contorted in barely contained anger, “You mean you’re still on your moon base!?”

“Yellow, why are you yelling?”

“You were supposedto get Orange Diamond today!”

Pink’s eyes widened as recognition dawned on her face, “What? Today? But Pearl hasn’t reminded me-“

“Then obviously your pearl is slacking in her duties, and should be punished!” Yellow banged her hand down on her desk once more, making Pearl jump at the unexpected sound so close to her. ”Never mind your Pearl’s abysmal failures in her sole purpose, how could youforget what today was? You should have left yesterday and been here already. Orange and I have been waiting.”

The screen moved as Pink got up from her chair, following her as she moved to reach for the communicator and pick it up, “I’m sorry, yellow. It’s just so hectic with everything going on. I’ll prepare my ship and come get her.”

“Don’t bother.” Yellow waved at her flippantly, turning away from her to look momentarily at another screen with many lines of gem script scrolling downward, typing a command in and sending it away only to be replaced with another.

“What?” Pink paused, halfway down the steps that led to her command chair, Pearl following suit behind her, stopping to look up at her with concern.

Yellow took a moment before turning back to look at Pink, her lips turned down in indignation, “Orange Diamond has requested to go to White Diamond instead of waiting, and White has accepted.”

The screen shook as Pink stamped her foot down on the ground, her brows knitted together as she yelled, “Yellow! This is my time with Orange, you can’t just-“

“This is your own fault, Pink.” Yellow pointed a patronizing finger at her fellow diamond, “Those silly gems shouldn’t be giving you such a hard time. Destroy them, already. This is unacceptable.”

The anger fell from Pink’s face, leaving tears shimmering in her eyes, “Yellow. Please, I can come now and-“

“It’s already been decided Pink. Take care of whatever it is that’s going on with that colony of yours, and do it fast. Goodbye.”

Orange was laying on her side, head supported by one hand while the other held loosely onto a display that she was supposed to be working on, but had since abandoned in favor of interacting with her Pearl. Or more precisely, the news she had brought with her from the archives, at her DIamond’s request. Around them was a holographic scene that illuminated the room in off-white and light blue constructs, canceling out the natural orange tint of the chamber walls, all being projected from Pearl’s gem. Giant marble obelisks jutted up into low hanging clouds, polished slabs of stone made up the floors, reflecting the white light that represented the sunlight breaking through the clouds. All around the room were the vague shapes of pastel colored light forms, representing various gems with few of them having much detail, all of them moving about and mingling, unseeing of Pearl as she knelt on the floor in concentration, multiple holographic gems moving through her in their natural walking path.

 It was a recording of a recording, overlaid with commentary of the one who had taken the recordings in the first place. It was blurry from movement and choppy, as if certain things had been omitted. It was one step away from being hearsay, but because of what was caught in that recount is what made it the talk of the moment. Even White seemed to be somewhat agitated about the gossip spreading through her own courts, and it hadn’t even happened here on Homeworld!

Depicted in the white-blue scene was the procession of a court gathering, aristocratic gems grouped together. From the prospective of where the recording had started, one could quickly derive that this person was also one of them, as the view seen turned from face to face of one royal or another, until it came to stop on a palanquin of deep blue, decorated in delicate silks and intricate lattice work. It was this that made it clear to any watcher that this was Blue Diamond’s court.

From there, they watched as a small Ruby squad marched through the center of the cleared walkway, their charge was a Sapphire, one Orange noted was familiar but she couldn't quite place where she knew her from. Said gem moved forward, briefly being stopped by massive Prase soldiers that guarded Blue’s palanquin, and then she was being spoken to by Blue Diamond herself. However, their recountant was not nearly close enough to them to pick up what was being said. Rolling her eyes, Orange motioned to her Pearl to move the scene forward.

It was only slightly more amusing to see everything skipping forward, fast movements, jaws moving so rapidly but with no clear audio to be heard, before suddenly all hell broke loose, rubies were sent flying and Prase guards were being destabilized by something that moved incredibly fast.

“Stop!” Orange shouted and the footage Pearl was projecting halted to a standstill, and Orange was momentarily awestruck by the image of a new gem she had never seen before. She was tall and broad, built like one of the finest Quartz soldiers that could only be produced on Homeworld itself, but dressed in an incredibly large and flowy white dress. Her curly hair was just as large as everything else about her seemed to be, hanging off her shoulders and cascading down her back en masse. In one hand was a round, pink shield and in the other a pink sword, and it certainly looked like no toy. She had a smug look about her, perhaps amused by the ruckus she dared cause right in front of Blue Diamond, or maybe it was the way she put the high class gems around her into a panic, especially when her speedy little friend had started poofing gems like it was some kind of game. Orange half expected to see them graphically shattering these gems at some point in the recording.

Orange remained staring at the still of this gem, this over glorified rebel, who unknowingly stared back into her eyes, that same smug expression now turned on Orange. The scene itself upset her, sparking a want to jump into a fight that had long since been over, but it was the smug grin of this shallow cut clod as she and her party crasher cohort spread fear into gems that were far more important than they could ever have hoped to be is what really set Orange’s blood to boiling point. She hardly noticed when the display she had been fidgeting with shattered and crunched in her hand, sparking briefly before the light faded from it.

Tossing it to the side, she pointed at her Pearl who had been keeping any comments on Orange’s actions or of the video to herself, “go back! I want to see their entrance.”

“At once, My Diamond.”

Diligently, Pearl returned the scene back to before the quartz rebel had invaded the arena, and with a nod from her Diamond, she restarted the recording. Together they watched again as this quartz and an unknown pearl dispatched two of the rubies and both praise guards, before turning to the sole sapphire, who appeared to be at peace with what would happen next. However, instead of being run through with the Pearl’s sword, she had been knocked away by the remaining ruby, the two temporally disappearing in a flash of light.

Orange’s brow knit together as she stared at the new gem in the projection. She was a mix of blue and pinks throughout her physical appearance, from her curly hair to her patchwork tunic and bodysuit. “What,” Orange paused, eyes running up and down the gem as it moved to look around at everyone, “what is that?”

“That is a fusion, my diamond. It is made of the sapphire and ruby you saw before.”

Orange turned to her with a bewildered look, “Since when can two gems that are not of the same type fuse?”

Pearl did not respond and Orange turned back to the image just in time to see the strange fusion fall apart, leaving two very confused looking gems in its wake. Orange’s eyes sparkled with awe and fascination, “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“it is forbidden, my diamond.” Pearl informed, but the spark of fascination never left her diamond’s eyes.

The scene continued on, ignorant to their conversation, with the crowd of aristocrats growing angry at the two gems that had fused before them, and in the uproar they caused, Orange and Pearl watched as the two rebels took the distraction as a chance to escape.

“Cowards.” Orange whispered, eyes tracking the two gems as they jumped from the arena, and out of the recorder’s view. What happened next was of no interest to Orange, and she turned from her Pearl towards the large windows that made up the far wall of her room. “thats enough Pearl.”

Pearl bowed her head, her gem dimmed and the hologram vanished, leaving the room to be washed back in its natural orange light. When she wasn’t given another order, Pearl moved to stand behind her, hands clasped before her as they normally were.

“So that is the mysterious rebel Rose Quartz.”

“My diamond?”

“Thats what all this nonsense is about? What’s so special about her?” Orange looked at Pearl, but it was clear she didn’t expect a response. “she’s just a quartz. i suppose I can see why Yellow and Blue are frustrated with Pink’s lack of progress with her colony.”

“Perhaps she is causing more trouble than Pink Diamond is reporting. She may not wish to trouble the other Diamonds any more than she has to.”

“That is possible,” Orange rubbed at her cheek in thought, “But that does not change the fact this has been going on since i was made. That’s more than 200 years, Pearl. Pink should have been able to squash whatever rebellion is going on in her colony. I simply don’t understand why a Diamond is having such issues. Then again, I don’t understand the rebels.”

Pearl followed Orange’s gaze out the window before them, the tops of the buildings were beginning to reflect the pink and purple light of dawn breaking through their planet’s atmosphere, creating a scene of a shining cityscape, illuminating the tops of spires and crystalline shaped towers. Pearl’s eyes followed the dark outline of three warships as they slowly traveled over the horizon towards an unknown destination. “I believe they wish to live a life without the diamond’s rule. A life free from Homeworld’s law.”

“How could they believe they could find any kind of real life without a diamond to guide them?” Orange turned around to her pearl, pausing a moment to look upon her face before her eyes narrowed. “Tell me, do you sympathize with these rebels?”

Bowing her head, Pearl’s cheek lit up under her intense gaze, “Of course not, my diamond. forgive me, i have misspoke.”

“I prefer you to speak your mind with me. If you have an insight to something that I don’t, I always welcome it, you know that pearl.”

“Of course. I apologize again, my diamond. I am not used to such….White Diamond would never have tolerated a pearl with such a tongue.”

Orange smiled, “Then it's a good thing i'm not White Diamond.”

“I can’t believe you!” Pink yelled, pointing a finger between the two much taller Diamonds, both of which stood in front of her overly cushioned chair, having arrived before her, and thus waiting for her and Orange to get to the station at the far reaches of the system. “You can’t just take gems from my court! From my kindergartens!”

“They are threats,” Blue said, her tone diplomatic and soothing, trying to calm the raging Pink Diamond before this all got out of hand. “They are just like the one who started the rebellion on your Colony. It's only a matter of time-“

“How dare you make that decision for me!”

“You were doing nothing about it, Pink. It was for your own protection.”

“I don’t need protecting, and you can’t just- just…steal Gems from Earth! You went behind myback, to mycolony, and rounded up my soldiers and did what? Where are those Rose Quartz? What else did you take, in the name of my protection?”

Orange lowered her head, gritting her teeth as Pink continued to verbally assault the other Diamonds, her cheeks growing hot in embarrassment. How could she just drag her here, just so she could watch as she belittled their fellow Diamonds efforts to help her. She was the one who she had witnessed on more than one occasion to her begging for help with her colony, pleading that she just couldn’t stop this rebellion. The simple Quartz soldier that outsmarted her at every turn was just too great for her to handle, and they should just leave the colony unfinished and move on. As if that was really an option, for a Diamondto turn tail, as if that wouldn’t cause issues back on Homeworld. Now her moth- Pinkhad the audacity to stand here yelling at Yellow and Blue who had only attempted to help her without doing her job for her. What kind of Diamond was she? Was this the person Orange had looked up to for so long? 

“Thats enough,” Yellow finally cut Pink off, but even though she had been silenced for the moment, Orange still wished to disappear into the shadows, not believing this was happening. How could Pink be so ignorant to everything, and then yell at the ones who cared for her, and put up with her stupid games? “First you whine about wanting a colony, and then you don’t want to do the work, and suddenly, oh no, the organics need to be saved! Well Pink, we’ve done that. We’ve made a place for your organics, we’ve aid you in starting your colony, we’ve even entertained helping stop this ridiculous charade of a rebellion. Enough is enough, Pink. What more do you want?”

“I want you to stay away from my colony!” Pink bared her teeth and stomped a foot, pointing at Yellow while she clenched her other hand into fist, “You have no right-“

“You asked for out help,” Blue, ever the calmer presence said, “You have to finish the colony, Pink. Your humans are safe in your zoo. There are no more excuses.”

“E-excuses? You think I’m putting off finishing my colony? You think I’m not trying!?“

Pink was once again cut off by Yellow, who took an aggressive step towards Pink, but seemed to restrain herself from doing much more, “You need to grow up, Pink! You wanted this colony, so finish it!” She took a breath and righted herself, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Pink a much more scornful look than she had before, “What kind of example are you setting for Orange?”

That seemed to set something off in Pink, who instead of saying anything simply made a loud ‘arg’ noise, she turned away from them and began stomping towards the door. As she passed Orange, she grabbed her rather forcefully by the upper arm. “Come on, Orange, we’re leaving.”

Orange, in a burst of anger, leaned her body back, ignoring the close proximity of her pearl behind her, and as hard as she could, pulled her arm from Pink’s grasp, “I don’t want to go with you!”

A flare of bright light colored the room as a rush of energy forcefully pushed on everyone inside, oppressive and stifling. Pink, Blue, and Yellow’s Pearls slid to their knees, Yellow’s Pearl eyes rounded as tears collected in the corners with obvious fear, and Pink’s pearl grasped at her chest with a look of panic rounding her eyes. Yellow blinked in surprise of the sudden feeling pressing in on her, taking a step back while Blue gasped, a hand flying over her gem, eyes squeezing shut.

Pink, bewildered by Orange’s sudden outburst, turned and was struck by the sudden wave of hot energy that hit her, but she remained unscathed, simply covering her face with her arm and closing her eyes to avoid the warm air that rushed past her. When it passed and the stifling feeling bogging the air down had dissipated, she blinked open her eyes. First, seeing her pearl down on her knees, and then turning fully to look at Orange only to stop in shock, her eyes widening.

The bright aura surround Orange floated around her like a liquid, snapping quick points into the air as she glared at her with the most heated look she had ever seen her give her, and a hand clapped over her mouth when she looked behind Orange.

Orange, in her hazy rage, took a moment to recognize the fear and sadness in Pink’s eyes, the unfamiliar sight snapped Orange out of her daze as she realized she wasn’t looking at her, but behind her. It hit her like a Topaz's punch in the gut. Pearl.

Orange whipped around, the glowing power around her form fading as she stared unblinking at the little opaque oval on the floor, its pearlescent shine reflected the pink lighting of the room and the remaining flickers of her manifested powers.

Pearl lay in pieces on the marble floor, or more accurately, her gem. Her entire light form had vanished, leaving behind only the broken remains of a once perfect oval-shaped gem.

The three other pearls in the room stared in silent horror at the pieces of their once sister gem, scattered bits settled in an arch from where she had been hit so hard by the blast of energy that it had left pieces of her laying around like crumpled petals of a flower that had been blown away by a harsh wind.

“I..I” Orange breathed out as she turned to look up at the two diamonds standing in front of her, “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to, I-“ a tear slipped from her eye as she looked between their faces. Yellow met her gaze, looking unimpressed with a raised eyebrow, while Blue’s eyes were wide and surprised. Turning her head, Pink was staring at her now with an emotion Orange could only describe as horror.

“Orange,” Blue called and the little gem turned to her with watery eyes, afraid she was going to be scared of her too. Instead, she bent down with her arms open, and Orange ran to her, being scooped up into her hand and being brought to rest against her chest where she began to cry into her neck.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Orange sobbed, “I didn’t mean it.”

Blue placed her chin on top of orange’s head, patting her back as she continued to cry, “I know, Orange. I know you didn’t mean it.”

Yellow made an exasperated sigh, “I told you she didn’t need a pearl. Now look.”

“Yellow!” Blue scolded in a hushed tone, glaring at her counterpart, “It was an accident.”

“Be that as it may,  she destroyed a pearl, the one you said that would help her, one that White gave her no less. How do we explain that?”

“Im sorry!” Orange wailed, “I’m sorry.”

Blue hushed her, “Calm down, Orange. Its alright, you’re not in trouble. She can be replaced.”

“She is not getting another Pearl.” Yellow grunted, “Especially not until that little temper is under control. Look at the damage.” Yellow made a sweeping motion with her hand toward the scattered remains of gem fragments at their feet.

“That’s enough, Yellow.” Blue gently pulled Orange from her chest where her sobs had been slowly dying, “It’s okay, Orange. You just have to be careful.”

“I don’t know what happened.” Orange rubbed at her puffy eyes, making a pitiful sniffling noise as she looked up at her, “I just got angry. You and Yellow were being nice and getting yelled at and I couldn’t stand it and then-then…” She hiccuped, holding back another wave of sobs.

“Oh Orange,” Blue’s eyes shined with her own tears.

“You have to learn to control yourself,” Yellow said, stepping closer to them, and Orange cautiously turned to look at her, her frazzled nerves calming some when she saw Yellow’s eyes had softened when they turned on her, “Thats a part of being a diamond too.”

“White has decided Orange won’t receive another Pearl until she has finished her lessons with her personally.”

“Good,” Yellow sat back heavily in her chair, a hand sweeping over her face, “that incident was unacceptable. We should be so glad that there was no audience to such a display.”

“It was an accident, Yellow. She was clearly upset.”

“I saw an out of control gem, not an emotional breakdown. I told all of you she was not ready for a pearl.” Yellow turned to the diamond display where her fellow gem was shown, “What was she thinking, snapping like that? What if she had hurt Pink? Or one of us?”

Blue narrowed her eyes at Yellow, disapproval clear on her face, “You can’t blame Orange, she couldn’t have known she could do that. None of us have shown her.”

“Which is why we can’t keep coddling her.”

Blue sighed, turning away from Yellow to look at something in the distance, “Maybe…” she wiped at a tear that had collected in her eye before turning back to Yellow who had been watching her, “She reacted quite hysterically to Pink, didn’t she?”

“i noted that as well.” Yellow pursed her lips, “Whatever is going on is obviously effecting Orange negatively. I had not expected her to manifest her abilities so…violently. It should have happened in a controlled environment, with one of us guiding her.”

“Perhaps we have been holding Orange back.” Blue proposed,” We have never been too sure just what is the correct approach for her, she grows and learns at such a sporadic pace.”

“True, but her growth has been fluctuating recently. Some days she excels, and others she seems to be going nowhere. And it helps neither of us when she is in one of her moods. I do not think I can handle another yelling match between us so soon.”

“She has been arguing with you?” Blue’s eyes showed concern that yellow was quick to wave away.

“Nothing i can not handle.” After a pause, she leaned forward and Yellow met Blue’s eyes, a seriousness settling on her features, “She had been with you before she had gone to stay with Pink. How would you evaluate her emotional status then?”

“She was perfectly fine, Yellow.” Blue’s head fell into her hand, covering her eyes as her hair fell to partially obscure part of her face, and Yellow could clearly see the fatigue Blue normally managed to hide well, “She was as she always is, happy, interested in our work, a little mischievous with the guards and much more outspoken then the last time I saw her, but that is simply Orange.”

“Mmmh, She is certainly not as compliant as she used to be, is she?” Yellow couldn’t stop the small smile that formed on her lips while Blue looked up at her, mirroring her expression with a wistful one.

“She is much more decisive than she used to be. She no longer wishes to be by my side constantly and likes to do whatever she can to get out of her lessons. I believe she is growing discontent with her confinements to us. She speaks often now of how White allows her to do things we don’t.”

Yellow rolled her eyes, “Yes, I have heard more than I care to about how White has given her so much free reign.”

“But it has made her so independent. She will not want our guiding hand much longer.”

“i can only imagine how long it will be until she is demanding a colony of her own.”

Blue paled, her eyebrows shooting up in alarm, “Do you believe White would allow that?”

Yellow grimaced, “With how Pink’s success has gone? Stars no. Besides, she isn’t even half a millennia in age yet. Pink was at least well into her third by the time we caved.”

“Is it possible that is why she is failing, Yellow? Had we held her back too long?”

“Do not place her failures at our feet, Blue.” Yellow’s tone came out more harsh then she had intended but she continued on, “the faults in Pink’s colony are her own.”

“i suppose you are correct. i just wish it had turned out better for her. she had wanted a colony so badly.”

“And we gave her the easiest planet she could ask for.” Yellow’s voice softened as Blue’s eyes fell to the floor, “There is nothing more we can do but wait for her to sort things out. In the mean time, we have our own colonies to further, and Orange to deal with.”

“Not until she has finished with White, at least.” Blue reminded, looking back up at Yellow, he brow becoming pinched, "Pink was quite upset about that as well. She so looks forward to spending time with her.”

“What Pink wants is irrelevant in this case.”

“Its still upsetting, Yellow. Have some compassion.”

“And maybe you should have a little less.” Yellow sneered, “It will do Pink some good to have time on her own. No distractions, so she can’t blame Orange needing her attention this time.”

A pause in the conversation formed as Blue hesitated a long moment before finally speaking,  “…i did not say anything to Orange, but have you noticed she no longer calls Pink by that organic title?”

“Mother?” Yellow’s eyebrow rose in question and Blue nodded an affirmative, “yes, but i wasn’t going to bring it up. I for one am glad she has broken that silly habit. I assumed you had said something?”

“No, i thought you might have.”

Yellow’s eyes fell closed for a moment as she let out a deep sigh, “…White, of course. It was only a matter of time before she stepped in, i suppose.”

Blue visibly winced at White’s name, “I hope she was gentle with her.”

“whatever she was, it worked, and i can accept those results.”

“You know how White can be, Yellow. what if she-“

“We both know White has shown favoritism with her, and her way seems to be highly effective. I doubt she would change her manner of dealing with Orange now.” Yellow reminded her, “Which is why i believe it might very well be for the best it is White taking Orange’s lessons in her own hands at the moment. ”

“I hope you are correct, Yellow.”

“You’ll see, Blue. I generally am.”

Takes place between Chapter 16 and 17

Orange followed Pink as she lead her up to her command chair, the two talking animatedly to one another and bursting out into raucous laughter. Pink took a moment to bring up a holographic display over her desk and the two became emerged in what it played, leaving their two Pearls to their own devices.

Orange’s Pearl remained standing next to Pink’s at the base of the platform, the two Pearl’s mirroring each other as they stood by while their Diamond conversed, hands folded in front of them and both pointedly looking away from the two gems as they spoke, trying to give them as much privacy as they could without actually leaving their sides.

Pink’s Pearl looked out the glass cage of the upper part of the moon base, and Orange’s pearl followed her line of sight. Before them was the vast void of space, bright white stars dotted the blackness haphazardly, the image only slightly blurred by the light being reflected off the moon they were on. Just a little beyond that was the sight of a blue planet, green and yellow colored continents could be seen through thick clouds and atmosphere that reflected the light from this system’s sun, casting a portion of the clouds into pink and yellow hues.

“So That is Earth.” The brighter gem spoke softly, her pearl counterpart turning her head to look at her before going back to the planet.

“Yes. It’s something, isn’t it?”

“Yes. My Diamond speaks of it sometimes. Or, more accurately, of Pink Diamond and how it is a lot of trouble.”

Pink’s pearl frowned, “I wouldn’t say trouble-“

“No, not the planet. The Rebels.”

“Ah, Yes. Them.” Pearl adverted her eyes, turning to briefly look up at the Diamonds then back at Earth, ignoring her fellow’s eyes that looked to her with an unknown emotion that made her uneasy. Nervous.

“It is unfortunate they are causing so much trouble. My Diamond would like to visit more often, but it seems Pink Diamond is always busy now, trying to deal with this…what was it?”

“Rose Quartz.” Pearl supplied hotly before she could stop herself, her mouth clamping shut and her jaw showing strain as she endeavored to keep from meeting eyes with the inquisitive Pearl.

“Rose Quartz.” Orange’s Pearl drew out her name, “The lowly Quartz soldier that dares defy Pink Diamond and our Great Diamond Authority. Very sneaky, that one.”

Pink’s pearl turned to Orange’s with narrowed eyes, “Are you trying to say something, or does your Diamond require you to speak in riddles?”

Pearl chuckled, “There is no reason to be so hostile, I am only being curious. No Diamond before has had to deal with such rowdy gems. I can’t imagine it is easy as her Pearl. A job I do not envy you.”

“It is a great honor to aid Pink Diamond in squashing these upstarts. She does her best with what she has. No other Diamond can say they have done what she has.”

“No, I don’t believe they can. I imagine by the end of it, there will be a story to share for centuries on Homeworld.”

“I’m sure the aristocracy will be beside themselves with so much action to talk about in one sitting.”

“You think little of our betters?”

“I think,” Pink’s pear paused, “that they have no idea what it’s actually like to aid a Diamond in their work as our leaders, to further our cause and staying true to our diamonds and the work they do…I think they have more time to gossip than a gem of our status.”

“And that is the burden of a Pearl to bear in silence. As is doing what we must for our Diamonds. How are you holding up, assisting Pink Diamond? This rebellion has been happening for some time. Do you believe there is an end in sight?”

“You know, if I did not know your Diamond so well, I would believe you were attempting to collect intel for her.”

“And what intel would I get, that hasn’t been placed in a report that could be gotten in the Diamond’s archives? But, as you say, you know my Diamond, so you know she would have no interest in Pink Diamond’s colony beyond its completion.”

“Yes. But you haven’t always been Orange Diamond’s pearl, have you?”

“And you have always been Pink Diamond’s Pearl?”

“Pearl, are you two arguing?”

Both Pearl’s turned to look up in time to see Orange and Pink descending the stairs to them, Orange Diamond skipping down steps faster than Pink Diamond could keep up with.

“Oh no, is everything alright?” Pink’s eyebrows knitted together in concern as she looked between the two.

“No, My Diamond, everything is perfectly fine.” Orange’s pearl bowed, giving the two a perfect salute, “we were just discussing a mission report.”

“Ehh, no more work right now, Pearl.” Orange smiled as she came to stop beside them, “come on, we’re return to my room for some rest, its been a long trip.”

“As you wish, my Diamond.”

Pink and her Pearl watched as Orange lead her own pearl from the room, Pink’s pearl following the other pearl until she was out of site.

“Pearl?” Pink called softly, noting the tension in her stance. “Is everything okay?”

Pearl hesitated a moment before nodding, giving Pink a small smile, “Everything is fine, my Diamond.”

“Again.”

Orange’s legs shook as she squeezed her eyes shut, one hand out in front of her as she concentrated on trying to find that familiar tug, trying to force something, anything, to the surface. “I...I can’t.”

White’s ever constant smile appeared more condescending than its usual loving when it was turned on Orange. “You can and you will.”

Sweat peppered and slid down from Orange’s forehead, her skin a much paler Orange than it normally was, appearing almost light peach in the presence of White Diamond. Blinking open her eyes, Orange breathed heavier with the exertion being put on her body. “White, please. I’m so tired. My head feels like it’s going to explode”

“Oh my little Gemling, our little Orange Diamond.” White’s tone took on a sickly sweet tone, “Is this the best you think you can do?”

Orange’s eyes widened as she looked up at White, taking a step back when she met her eyes and saw the amusement dancing across her face. “W-White? Your scaring me.”

“If this is all you can manage, how do you think you’ll ever hope to help our wonderful Empire? Surely this isn’t the best a diamond of your cut can manage.”

“I’m trying!” Orange grit her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, “I just...I don’t know how! I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know how I did it.”

“Then think back, what did you do?”

“I just got angry!” She startled herself with her raised voice, as she hadn’t meant to yell at White. "And I...” her voice became rough as tears formed in the corners of her eyes, “I destroyed my Pearl. I shattered Pearl.”

“Orange, That is enough. I don’t want to hear one more word about that Pearl!” White shouted, her voice penetrating and thundering in the vast room, “She is insignificant, a servant. She did her job, and she will be replaced. In time, that is. We can not get ahead of ourselves.”

Orange glared up at white, “But I don’t want to replace her! I...”her eyes fell to the floor between them, “I don’t want to hurt anyone else, White. I’m scared.”

“Scared of what? Of your potienial? Of being the most perfect you, you can be? Think of what you will become, my dear, when you master that power of yours. It’s going to take time, yes, but it will happen. So, let’s start again.”

Orange shook her head, her eyes pleading with White as she looked back up at her, “Please, no. No.”

“Orange.” White’s said her name in warning, Try again.”

“No!”

“Do it again!”

“I said no!” Orange screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt a tug in her chest. The very air around them rapidly heated up, a bright orange light surrounded her as snapping energy that took the vague, contorted shape of a dome pushed out from where she was, the very air popping and hissing as it expanded in the small radius around her before blinking out of existence. Around her, the floor was scorched, black marks streaked across the white marble outward, leaving a small untouched area where Orange had been in the center of the dome.

White laughed heartily, her voice returning to its normally soft tone when she was speaking with Orange. “See? You can do it, you just have to figure out how.”

Sweat dripped off of Orange’s nose as she wobbled, fighting to stay standing upright, a ringing in her ears that told her something wasn’t quite right. “White...I don’t feel so good.”

“Orange? What are you-“ White was cut off as Orange Diamond fell to her knees and then flat on the floor, limbs sprawled out as she remained unmoving,”…Orange!”

White’s Pearl was quick to get to the smaller Diamond’s side, sliding down to the floor beside her and gently placing a hand to her head, and turning it so she could see her face. Through the simple contact with the younger gems body, she could feel the heat still radiating off of her, even through her glove. Inspecting her, she noted the way her long hair stuck to her skin, her cheeks were a deep orange color, a prominent shade against her unusually pale skin tone. Dark, almost gray circles were under her eyes that she could tell hadn’t been developed in the time she had been in this session. Pushing on her shoulder, Pearl managed to move the heavier gem’s body onto her back where both she and White Diamond could see Orange’s gem in the natural bright light of the eldest diamond. No hairline cracks or discoloration, there was no issues Pearl could find, so she turned to look up at her Diamond’s concerned face. “Her Gem is untouched. I believe she is only temporally inactive, my Diamond.”

“I see. Very well, take her back to her chambers, Pearl, so she can rest.”

Pearl stood up, saluting to White as she gave a short bow of her head, “At once, my Diamond.”

Orange stretched out over the soft white bed in her chambers aboard White’s head ship. The pillows that normally littered the bed when she inhabited the space were stacked on one side to allow room for both her and Pearl as they lounged together, her head on Pearl’s lap while they talked. Her Pearl’s hand ran lightly over her hair, smoothing at fly away pieces while Orange talked, quietly listening and speaking up when it was appropriate of her to, otherwise she was perfectly content to simply listen to her Diamond speak lazily about an event that happened before her time with her.

It was becoming a rare occurrence that they had such downtime together, that did not involve Orange Diamond completing a lesson task given to her by one of the other Diamonds, or even being in the presence of one, or one of her fellow Pearl’s. Any time away from them was spent with her Diamond resting in an inactive state, and while it had been alarming to her at first, she had simply become used to and associated it to her Diamond’s own unique characteristics.

She was aware her Diamond was special, the exact circumstances of why and what exactly made her different was not privy to her, a result of being a simple Pearl and thus not important enough to know such a thing, but she had been supplied with enough information to know how to meet her Diamond’s needs. And while her needs where not too far from any other gem, she realized that her need to replace minerals for her physical form, as well as the time she required to be inactive, set her apart from her peers. Her Diamond was special, and as her Pearl, she would serve her as best she could, while guarding her Diamond’s unique traits from any other gem that was not in the older Diamonds’ approved gems that already knew about Orange. She knew this uniqueness would not be so welcomed in Homeworld’s society, and Pearl could not bare to see it possibly snuffed out.

“Pearl? Pearrrl? Hello, are you listening?”

Pearl blinked as a hand was waved in her face and she laughed, pushing it away, “Yes, Orange. I am.”

A wide smile stretched across her face, “you called me Orange again.”

“You did request I only call you Orange when it is just us.” Pearl reminded her softly.

“Well, Yeah. But you normally don’t.”

“And it is normally not just us.”

“It has been a while since we could just spend time alone, hasn’t it?” Orange asked softly, gazing up at her through strands of hair that had fallen onto her face when Pearl had ceased moving her fingers through it.

“It has. But you are a Diamond, and it is expected you will constantly be busy.”

“I’ll only get busier when I’m a real Diamond.”

“I do believe you already are a real diamond, aren’t you? You did not go and become a Jasper while I was away getting your supplement, did you?”

Orange laughed, her shoulders shaking with her mirth, “you know what I mean, Pearl!”

“Yes, I do. But I wanted you to laugh.”

“You're always trying to make me laugh. Your going to get me in real trouble one of these days.”

Pearl grinned, “I don’t believe it is my fault if you happen to burst out laughing in the middle of one of Yellow Diamond’s discussions.”

“Oh, no, because you were totally not making faces at me behind her back.”

“You looked like you could use the distraction. If I remember correctly, you said Yellow’s discussions can become drier than a peridot’s mission report on a gamma kindergarten.”

“Oh Star! That’s right! But Yellow was so angry, I thought she was going to explode right out of her boots when I couldn’t stop laughing. I was so glad you were there, though. Having my ear lectured off wasn’t so bad.”

Pearl’s smile widened, her hand resuming its light brush through her Diamond’s hair, “So than how could you do it?”

“Haha, yeah I- what?” The large smile on Orange’s face fell slightly as she raised an eyebrow in question at Pearl.

Pearl’s hand stopped moving as she turned to look into Orange’s eyes, all the amusement draining from her face. “How could you kill me?”

“What? No, no, no!” Orange sat up, turning to look at her pearl in alarm, “Pearl, I didn’t-“

“I trusted you! You said I was your friend!” Pearl shouted, and quicker than Orange could react, she was grabbing her by her tunic, the two of them tumbling from the bed together. Orange, in a panic, managed to wrestle Pearl’s strangely strong grasp from her clothes and using her legs to propel herself out from under Pearl and scoot away from her on the polished stone floor.

Pearl did not immediantly move after her, remaining in a heap on the floor where they fell and Orange took the moment of motionless to shake her head, tears clouding her eyes as she was hit with a wave of fear and sadness at the blank look she could see on Pearl’s normally soft, serene features, “No, Pearl, please! You are my friend, I-“

Pearl, with speed that should have been impossible for her, was moving towards her on her hands and knees, and managed to overtake Orange before she could scurry away out of her reach, climbing on top of her and pinning her down by her shoulders as her knees dug into her arms to hold them at her sides. “You’re just like the rest of them! Destroying anything you consider beneath you.”

Shaking her head, Orange squeezed her eyes shut as tears poured down her face, a sob racking her body as Pearl’s fingers dug harshly into her skin, “I didn’t mean to. I never meant to hurt you!”

“And now I’m dead. What about the others? The other pearls? The Diamonds? How long before you break them too?”

“I would never- Pearl, you were my best friend! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry I hurt you!” Orange opened her eyes to meet Pearl’s, anger and malice she had never seen twisted her features.

“Maybe...” Pearl released one of her shoulders, but try as she might Orange could not throw her off or grab her arm to stop her as she traced a finger over the gem on her chest, “maybe I should shatter you too, before you hurt anyone else.”

“No, don’t! Pearl-“ Orange’s jaw fell open, no words left her lips except the shrill gasp of a strangled scream. She couldn’t breath as she felt her Pearl grab at her gem, her nimble fingers and crazy strength coming together to tighten around the raised portions of her gem. Pain radiated from her gem, spreading across her chest and tightening her throat, her limbs were starting to go numb as she applied greater pressure to her gem until fragmented lines cracked across the reflective surface, starting to chip into pieces where the jagged lines crisscrossed over each other. 

“Goodbye, Orange Diamond.”

“Don’t!” Orange found herself screaming out as she forcefully sat up, nearly rolling herself out of the bed in one singular motion. She gasped for air, her lungs burning as tears and sweat ran down her cheeks, her eyes wide as they searched the room, but Pearl was no where in sight. A sob wrenched from her lips before she could even think to stop it, starting her into a string of strangled whimpers and tears, her fingers digging into the sheets beneath her. 

“Pearl! Pearl...” her shoulders shook as she cried harder, her hands moved to cover her eyes but all she could see behind her eyelids were those dull, blue-gray eyes that conveyed so much hatred for her, it made her breath hitch in her throat. When she forced her eyes open in an attempt to rid herself of the haunting image, she looked to see the bed, the one she and Pearl had spent so much time talking on, bonding. The one Pearl had pushed her out of and then attempted to shatter her in the most painful way possible. Orange slipped her legs off the side of the bed, launching herself to her feet before stumbling on wobbly legs and falling to her hands and knees. The familiar square bed behind her, the white tiles that showed the reflection of her as she knelt on the floor in tears, and the open wall of windows, the darkened view of the city. All too painfully familiar.

Forcing her sore body to cooperate, she jumped to her feet and bolted for the door, slamming her hand down on the scanner and dashing through the doors as soon as they had slid open wide enough for her to fit through. She didn’t stop for the guards on the other side, who yelled for the diamond to wait, or for them to catch up as they gave chase. She turned corner after corner, easily losing the two bulkier gems through her ample knowledge of White’s ship’s layout, and her body that was running on what must have been obscene levels of adrenaline.

Dashing down another clear hallway that looked vaguely similar to the rest of the halls she had sprinted through, Orange skid to a stop at a door in the middle, hitting the scanner and slipping into the room, leaning heavily against the doors when they shut. Closing her eyes, Orange caught her breath as she listened to the noises beyond the door. After a minute of nothing but silence and no guards yelling her name, orange blinked open her eyes, looking around the room. The light in the room was relatively low, perhaps to conserve the power used, the only real light source came from a row of lights built into the floor near the bottom of the wall, and along where it met the ceiling. The ceiling itself was high, but did not look like it would have nearly enough clearance for someone as tall as the other Diamonds. There were many geometric shaped couches near the wall, fluffed and full and covered in a fine material that she would have expected to be seen more on a Pearl to upgrade her appearance, rather than to decorate a couch.

This was more than likely a waiting room, set aside for any visiting gems of high status to wait in until they were called to meet with their Diamond. Something that was more common to see in one of the Diamond’s personal buildings instead of their ships, but considering White never left her’s, it must have made sense at the time to have them here. Though it was something Orange had never known White to entertain, but was much more familiar with in Blue’s case, having watched many interactions between Blue and her court's gems without them ever knowing. Ignoring the furniture, Orange moved over to the windows, staring blankly out at the sight of the city below. She had never seen this view from White’s ship, so this must have been to a line of rooms and observatories Orange was unfamiliar with. The skyline was still dark, where it had been day when she was with White. She could remember that feeling, just barely tapping into her powers, could see the wall of heat and energy that she had formed around herself, but had not felt. She could remember seeing the damage to the floor and the smell of melted and charred stone that burned her nose to breath in. And then she was slipping, the floor coming up at her face before that memory stopped. That was when she had started to dream of Pearl.

A new set of tears slipped from her eyes, her lip quivering and snot starting to plug up her nose as she tried her best not to cry again, only to fail miserably, breaking down into loud, heavy sobs. She cried until she started dry heaving, an unpleasant feeling that made her only cry harder, which only made her throat tighten worse and her stomach to churn. Falling to her knees, she wrapped a arm around her stomach as she leaned her head down against the cool floor, squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to calm herself down.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Repeat.

 When she no longer though her stomach might come up her throat, she blinked open her eyes, staring blearily at the hazy reflection of herself in the polished stone. Her eyes looked dull even in the polished surface that left every visible part of her with an extra shine. Dark circles were under her eyes, ones that had been steadily getting worse since the nightmares started. Right now that made her look almost sick and deranged, with her long hair sticking up in so many places, tangled and matted with sweat at the nape of her neck and around her face. She did not look as pale as she last did when she saw her reflection, but she knew she still wasn’t the right color.

Taking an extra moment, Orange pulled herself from her hunched position and righted herself enough to turn over and fall onto her butt. Orange sat, folded in on herself as she sat hugging her knees to her chest, staring out the window. She recognized, in the back of her mind through hazy thoughts that White would be angry with her later, or maybe it was her guards that would be punished for allowing her to slip away, but Orange simply wanted to be alone at the moment.

Ever since she had accidentally shattered Pearl on Pink’s station, she had attempted to keep her distance from every gem she normally interacted with, least they too meet the same fate. The only time she forced herself to really be near anyone was when White summoned her to start her lessons, and even then she had asked White's Pearl to remain on the far side of the room away from her, which White acquiescence to, if only so they could begin instead of arguing. Not that she and White argued. She and White had a certain understanding, she and her could talk about anything and everything, unless that everything became anything White was either uncomfortable discussing, couldn’t discuss with her, or simply did not want to. 

If Orange ever toed a line too much, White would caution her with a tone she recognized before she crossed it. White was open with her, and Orange did not have to try and guess what she could or couldn’t talk with her about, she did not make Orange feel like she was performing for one of Pink’s parties and jumping through hoops. Orange appreciated the open honestly they had, the level of trust White must have placed in her to talk about things the way they did, and tell her honestly when she couldn’t.

But today’s lessons, the way White pushed her even when she said she didn’t want to continue, the way she implied Orange was failing not only as a Diamond, but Homeworld as well, hurt. It felt like the dynamic they shared, and she had come to love and rely on, had been shifted completely right from under her feet, leaving her to trip and stumble in a new, unrecognized pattern. And when she hadn’t been able to exactly find her way, White had pushed her through it again. Had forced her to tap into whatever it was inside her that sparked alive when she was pushed too far. It had felt so wrong, like the tug she remembers feeling had become a taut tether around her that was being pulled from her grasp even as she tried to stop it, a burning that scorched her but left no visible marks for her to count off, only a dull ache in her chest and uncomfortably heated skin.

She trusted White to help her through this, even if it scared her. But, sitting here alone, Orange only felt tired, and questioned why she should be learning this at all. What if it didn’t work? What if she never managed to control this...awful power. What if she hurt one of the other Diamonds? It seemed smarter to just lock her away, where she couldn’t hurt anyone else. Maybe she could ask to stay in a room like this, so she could at least see the sun rising over Homeworld. Everyone could be safe, and happy, without her.

She wasn't sure when White’s Pearl had entered the room, but she hadn’t noticed until Pearl had nearly touched her shoulder to get her attention. “My Diamond-“

Orange was quick to scoot away as soon as she realized how close she was, her eyes wide with fear and surprise, her teeth clenched together in alarm. “Get away!”

From the look on Pearl’s face, she was as surprised by her outburst as Orange was.

Surprise quickly morphed into concern, “My Diamond, what’s wrong? Are you okay? The guards were worried when they could not find you and reported your absence immediately.”

“Please stay back. I...I don’t want you to end up like her.”

It took Pearl only a moment to understand what Orange meant, her eyes softening at the young Diamond’s concern.

“Please do not be afraid. You won’t hurt me.”

“How would you know? I hurt my pearl. I could hurt you.“

“You were angry, you didn’t mean to…Do you want to hurt me?” 

Pearl’s voice was small, quiet, and the way she had said it made Orange tense, “of course not! I would never...”

“Then why would you think I would end up like her?”

“I didn’t mean to do it, I lost control.” Orange looked down at her hands, the smooth Orange skin that showed no sign that it had been the one that had ended the life of someone she had considered to be her best friend. Her own pearl, shattered by someone who she had trusted.

“It was an accident. You can not blame yourself for the death of one pearl.”

“How can you say that? You're a pearl too.”

“I am, and i know where my place is in our society. And i also know not all Pearls are equal, and the loss of one can not be compared to another.”

Orange’s eyes narrowed at Pearl and her rather callous words. “I never considered Pearl beneath me. She didn’t deserve to die.”

“I never said she did.” Pearl remained silent, even as Orange gave her a surly look and then turn to look out the window, making it obvious she intended to ignore her. With only a brief moment of hesitation, Pearl moved to sit beside Orange on the floor, giving her an arms length between them.

Orange was rigid as Pearl sat next to her, the slighter gem sitting with her legs folded opposite to Orange as she stared out to the city below, remaining quiet as she simply sat next to her. She glanced over at her multiple times, the tension never quite leaving her as the quiet stretched on and the longer Pearl remained beside her, unafraid and trusting, the longer Orange was forced to become accustomed to her close proximity.

Untouched. She was sitting there and Orange hadn’t shattered her.

It was stupid, Orange knew she wouldn’t spontaneously shatter Pearl from her simply sitting there, but it still made her nervous. Scared. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Pearl,  thispearl.

“I haven’t stopped to just look at the city in a long time.” Pearl commented, a smile on her face as her light grey eyes flicked from building to building. 

“It's beautiful.” Pearl added when Orange didn’t say anything.

Orange looked out the window, seeing the familiar parts of the city she had been, and new ones she had never gotten to go. “It is.”

“We should return. White Diamond is the one who sent me to find you.” Pearl stood up, pausing a moment before holding her hand out to Orange. “Allow me to help, my Clarity. You must still be tired.”

Orange made no move to take Pearl’s hand, continuing to stare out at the city for a long, quiet moment. “I’m scared, Pearl.”

Pearl examined Orange’s face, seeing the off color marks under her eyes, her defensive posture as she turned in on herself. Abandoning her original plan, Pearl knelt back down next to Orange, looking at her directly even though she hadn’t turned to acknowledge her. “Because you can’t control your powers?”

“Control them?” Orange’s head snapped in her direction, anger twisting her features that slowly fell away into something much more heartbreak as she spoke, "I don’t even know how to use them! What...what if I shatter someone else? What if I’m arguing with Yellow and I snap and-“

“You're afraid you’ll hurt someone else you love.”

A rush of air escaped her mouth, like she had been hit in the chest and the wind knocked out of her. “Yes.”

“White Diamond is trying to help you so you don’t.” Pearl reasoned.

“Is she? 'Cause it seemed a lot more like White was telling me how horrible I was, that i can’t control myself. She’s never…” Orange ducked her head down, resting her chin on her folded arms, her eyes staring down at the floor in front of her, “How disappointed she must be with me. Maybe I deserve the way she’s treating me.”

“You believe she is mistreating you for breaking a pearl?” Pearl let out a quiet, humorless chuckle, “Forgive me, my Diamond, but that is just silly.”

“You think me killing someone is silly? What if that had been you I lost it on? Then you’d be the one shattered and-and I-“

“But it wasn’t, and you can’t change that.” Pearl rebutted. 

Orange gave her a blank look, “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No, it’s supposed to tell you that you can’t change what happened.” Pearl explained, “You hurt someone you care about, and now you can’t take it back.” 

“You sound like you have experience with that.” Orange observed.

Pearl turned to look out at the city, pausing to take a long breath and blow it out and then turning back to Orange, “When…when I was serving Pink Diamond, we used to be…I thought we were friends. She was unlike any of the other diamonds, she was kind and considerate, we played and laughed. I had never expected her to be like that when i was given to her, but she surprised me.”

“That does sound like Pink. always doing the opposite of the others.”

“Pink Diamond never cared to conform to what others thought she should be.” Pearl nodded in agreement, “Even when it potentially hurt those around her.”

“Pearl…? Did Pink hurt you?”

“That is a long story, and one i would prefer not to talk about at the moment.” Pearl adverted her gaze from Orange’s, “I have gotten off track, what I’m trying to say is this; You can’t change what you did, or what happened, but you can control what you do in the future. You can change how you react to the things that happen to you. You're a diamond, you have that choice, but you act like you have no choice at all.”

“You think i’m making a bigger deal out of this than i should.”

“I think your allowing yourself to fail, because you don’t believe you deserve to succeed.”

“That’s not how that works, Pearl. If i could, i would, but I’m not strong like the others….” Orange stood up, waiting as Pearl did as well, “Let's just return to my room. I'm tired.”

“As you wish, my Diamond.”

“Again.”

Orange took a deep breath, fighting the strain of her body as it protested against her continued lesson, simply standing was becoming a challenge. She closed her eyes and concentrated, searching, Orange found that familiar little tug behind her gem. Focusing solely on it, she attempted to force the build up of energy she felt within herself to move outward. Her body took on a bright orange glow, light wiping up from her skin. Her brow creased with her effort, sweat dotting her skin, flushing with the energy that surrounded her. Before she could stop herself, her legs began to wobble, her knees giving out and she fell forward, bracing herself with her hands as the energy dissipated from her form with a low hiss. Orange let out a cry as a jolt of pain ran through her, though she made no mention of it to White.

“That’s enough.” White snapped.

Orange bowed her head so she did not have to see White’s expression, “I’m sorry. I’m trying, I swear.”

“Are you? I expected so much better, Orange Diamond.” White let out an audible sigh, "But I see Pink has influenced you more than I thought.”

Orange’s head snapped up to give White a look of confusion, “What?”

White’s smile had completely vanished from her face, being instead replaced with downturned lips and narrowed eyes, her displeasure was very evident to Orange, “Until you’ve decided your done playing games, you will remain in your room.”

Orange’s eyes widened, “White! Please, I-“

“Enough. You have tried my patience enough today. Go.”

“I'm…” Orange’s eyes fell down to the floor, tears collecting in her eyes that she did not fight, "yes ma’am.”

“I have brought you some supplements.” White’s Pearl bowed her head as she placed the small metal tray onto the low table in Orange’s room where she kept a small gem figurine that had been gifted to her and an abandoned diamond pad that kept her lessons and drawings, some of which she had once shown her. Pearl looked towards Orange, who sat at the end of her bed, still ragged looking from her lesson with White, eyes half lidded and her hair a wild mess. “Please. Try to...try to rest.”

“White really thinks I’m playing around, doesn’t she?” Orange’s voice was low, quiet, and Pearl wasn’t sure she would have heard her if she hadn’t been waiting for a response of some kind from the young diamond.

“Yes.” Pearl responded neutrally,”…Are you?”

Orange’s head whipped around to glare at her, “How can you even ask that?” She snapped. “I-” Her voice dropped back down to a low, gravelly tone as her eyes fell to the floor, her anger quickly disappearing, “Ive always been afraid to let everyone down, and now look? I’m trying, but it’s not working.”

“Are you trying...or are you holding yourself back? You know you can’t hurt White Diamond, correct?”

“She is…she is really strong.” Orange nodded, "But everyone else isn’t like White.”

“You have little confidence in the Diamond’s abilities, if you believe you could hurt them too.” Pearl chided.

“Don’t you get it!?” Orange’s voice raised for the second time, this time her anger not leaving so quickly as she looked back at Pearl, “There’s more at stake than just the other Diamonds! What about all the other gems in our empire? Do you think they would be safe?”

“I was wrong.”

“What?” Orange’s eyebrow rose in confusion.

“It is not a lack of confidence in your peers, but yourself.” Pearl explained.

“Since when were simple Pearls analysts.” Orange snarled.

Pearl’s face fell into a neutral expression, giving nothing away to Orange, even as her face morphed into surprise and hurt at her own words. “…If that is all you need, my Diamond, I shall return to my duties.”

“Go.” The younger gem turned away from her, hair falling in her face, but Pearl could still see the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Just…go.”

“As you wish.” Pearl gave her a quick diamond salute and then left without another word.

“Pearl…Pearl, why’d you have to go?” Orange pulled her legs up onto the bed, burying her face into her knees as she began to sob, “Pink…mom…I need you. I’m sorry I got mad, I don’t...I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”

“White, i want to speak with Orange! She isn’t answering her communicator.” Pink’s voice was raised, looking slightly frantic, evident even on the small diamond display.

“I’m afraid Orange Diamond won’t be able to talk with anyone at the moment.” White responded lightly, unfazed by Pink’s hysterical tone.

“E-excuse me? what does that mean? where is Orange?!”

“Do not raise your voice at me, Pink Diamond.” White’s eyes narrowed in warning, “You know better.”

“I…I apologize.” Pink leaned back in her chair, taking a deep breath to calm herself, "I just want to speak with Orange. We haven’t talked in a while, and we did not leave things on good terms. I want to check up on her.”

“Orange was misbehaving, so she has been sent to think about her actions.”

“You did not put her in that isolation tower!” Pink’s eyes were wide and her teeth bared to White, angry and alarmed, "White, Zirconia could die if-“

“Orange Diamond is being well taken care of.”White returned Pink’s anger with a bit of her own, "I would never allow something to happen to a fellow diamond, and the fact you would insinuate that is insulting.”

“If she’s fine, and she’s not in the isolation tower, than i should be able to talk to her.” Pink did not back down, pointing at White over the conference call screen, “Just what are you accusing her of doing, anyway?”

“Orange has not been taking her training as serious as she should, and i don’t believe it is a good idea if you speak with Orange now.”

“Not a-? Not a good idea?” Pink echoed in disbelief, "White, you can’t keep me from speaking with my dau-“

“I am the head of this Authority, i am eons older than you, i know what it takes to make a gem their best, even when they do not. I have said it would be adverse for you to speak with Orange, and that is final. My word is final.”

“If I have to, I'll come to Homeworld-“ Pink’s tone was threatening, eyes narrowed and body leaned forward again, hands clenched into tight fists.

“Starlight. Hear me, listen.” Even as White’s voice remained light, Pink could make out the underlying tone, the threat of her own just there out of sight, “You will remain on your Moon base, taking care of your colony while I care for Orange Diamond. If you attempt to interfere, there will be consequences, and you know what those consequences are.”

Pink paled, her body going rigid as her mind flashed back to a memory she had long since pushed down. Pink’s eyes fell from White’s, her snarl turning into a deep frown, “I…I understand, White. Please…” she looked back up, her bright eyes shining with unshed tears and pleading, "Please let Orange call me when she is allowed to.”

White afforded her a single nod. “Goodbye, Pink Diamond, until we next speak.”

Pearl paused, glancing over the growing pile of tiny pills on top of the sterile metal plate that was used to keep any impurities from damaging the younger gem’s tablets. There were at least enough there that Pearl could surmise that the guards had delivered the required tablets at least four separate times while she had been unable to, all of them untouched, with the exception of three, one of which she could spot on the floor beside the table. “My Diamond, it has been advised that you don’t skip these supplements. You run the risk of-“

“I don’t care.” Orange cut in, her voice low and gravelly from disuse.

“My clarity?” she turned her head in Orange’s direction, surprise clear on her face. Orange was sat on the floor at the end of her bed, using it to prop her back up on.

“I’m not interested in taking them.” Orange made no attempt to look at her, or even acknowledge her physically.

“My…Orange, may I still call you that?” Pearl questioned as she moved towards where she sat, body facing her, but head still turned away from her, eyes looking but not really seeing outside the window she faced.

She shrugged. “Sure.”

Pearl knelt beside Orange on the tiles, placing the tray she had brought with her beside them on the floor, “Please…you need to take these.” she motioned towards the tablets, “They help you remain stable.”

“If I was a real Diamond, I wouldn’t need them.” Orange finally looked at her, and Pearl could clearly see the exhaustion on Orange’s face, the alarming lack of shine to her eyes, and gem, even in the light. "I wouldn’t need White’s instructions on how to control my powers, and I wouldn’t be such a disappointment. Maybe it’s better if i just didn’t-“

Orange was cut off as Pearl’s hand made contact with the side of her face, the loud smack echoing in the quiet room. They both remained frozen, Orange blinking in surprise as Pearl’s face morphed from anger to shock to horror, her hand flying up to her mouth as she realized what she has done.

“I-I oh my stars, i am so sorry! My Diamond, please forgive me, I didn’t- I don’t know what came over me-“ Pearl leaned forward, hand going up to cup Orange’s jaw to inspect the prominent mark she had left.

Orange grabbed Pearl’s hand, holding it away from her face before she could fuss over it more. “It’s alright.” Orange looked Pearl in the eyes, her expression betraying nothing.

“You’re-“

“Fine.” She reassured, "You didn’t hurt me.”

“But your cheek…” Pearl’s eyes flicked back and forth between the mark on her face and Orange’s eyes.

“It’s nothing. I’m not upset, so don’t look so…” Orange’s eyebrows knitted together, her lips dropping into a small frown, “Please don’t look at me like your scared.”

“I’m sorry, My Diamond,” She quickly amend, “Orange.” Pearl waited until Orange let go of her hand, her hand lingering in the air a moment before falling into her lap with the other. She glanced at the small tray she had brought over with her and set aside, "Please take these.”

“Why? What’s the point?”

“Because…” Pearl’s voice only faltered for a moment before she forced herself to say, “because if you don’t, you could die.”

“That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.” Orange’s lips curved into a sombre smile as she looked away from Pearl’s alarmed expression, “I won’t be such a burden then.”

“You are not a burden!”

“I am.” Orange nodded, as if confirming her own words, turning to look at Pearl from the corners of her eyes, “I’m a burden on the other Diamonds.”

“How could you think such a thing? They love you.”

“They could have so much more time if they didn’t have to constantly look after me.” Unshed tears made Orange’s eyes shimmer in the natural light of the room, “Yellow could get her work done and she won’t have to take time to make me lessons, Pink can focus on her Earth, and Blue wouldn’t have to cater to my wishes like she does…and White wouldn’t have to be so disappointed in me.”

“No one is disappointed in you,” Pearl reached forward, taking Orange’s hand and clasping it between both of hers, giving it a comforting squeeze, "least of all White Diamond.”

“You were there when she sent me to my room.” Orange gave her a questioning looking, "Did you not hear what she said?”

“I heard,” Pearl nodded, "and I have served my Diamond for centuries. I know how she is, how she thinks, and I know she is not truly disappointed in you.”

“Then what would you call that?”

“Disappointment in her own ability to help you.”

Orange’s shoulders fell, her eyebrows turning up as her lips curved into a frown, “That’s even worse. It’s not White’s fault I can’t make my powers work.”

“No, but she fears what will happen if she can’t. My diamond does not accept failure easily.”

“Then it would be better if she didn’t have to continue to try.” Orange looked down at their hands, watching as Pearl’s fingers tightened reflexively around her own, “She can’t fail if I'm not there.”

“Orange…where has this come from? I’ve never know you to be so…” Pearl paused, as if she was unsure what to call Orange’s current attitude, "despondent.”

“Maybe I’m just coming to terms with myself, finally.” Orange shrugged, “That I’m not the being everyone has tried to build me up to be.”

“No, you’re Orange Diamond.” Pearl was quick to respond, "And the Orange Diamond I know has the self confidence to rival an Aquamarine.”

Orange blinked, as if she expected her to say something else entirely, “…did you really just compare me to one of them?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Pearl challenged.

“I…” Orange’s chuckled softly, giving Pearl a small smile, “I see what you're trying to do. And thank you, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m still just me.”

“And that has never been a bad thing. No one has ever asked you to be anyone but you.”

“Of course they have.” the muscles in Orange’s jaw tightened as her lips thinned, the amusement she previously had leaving her face, “The me who loves watching sunrises on Homeworld, and seeing the Demantoids dance, and who loves piloting the war ships between drops doesn’t have a place amongst the Diamond Authority.” Orange’s voice was bitter, showing more and more of her resentment as she spoke, “You have to be strong, don’t show such emotion, be fair, don’t be so cruel, no Orange, don’t socialize with those gems, its unbecoming of a diamond to be seen playingwith them.” Orange’s face contorted with anger as she continued through things she had been told, things she had obviously been holding in and Pearl allowed her to continue uninterrupted. “Orange, why can’t you figure this out?Orange, its time to grow up, Orange, control yourself.”

Orange’s voice cut off abruptly, her mouth closing, the muscles in her jaw visibly twitching under the strain of her clenching her teeth, taking a deep breath through her nose. “Whatever i do, it's wrong. It’s only when i do something i think they want me to do, act how they act, that i get praise for my effort. They place me on this pedestal with a plaque listing of all the thing i'm supposed to be, and now that I’ve stumbled, Im wrong. A disappointment.”

“Orange…” Pearl’s eyes fell closed, remaining quiet for a moment as she gathered her thoughts, “you are under so much pressure, you’re cracking, and you think no one is noticing. That no one cares.”

“Because no one does.”

Pearl reached up, grasping Orange’s chin and turning her head so she was looking directly at her. “I do.”

Orange’s eyes flicked back and forth, looking over Pearl’s face in question, “Why. Why should you care? I’ve been so rude to you.”

“Because i know you don’t mean it. Because i know real friends don’t leave when things become tough.”

Her eyes shimmered, a tear falling from the corner of her eye, “You still see me as a friend? I didn’t think I had any more of those.”

“of course i do.” Pearl smiled, “It is going to take more than a bad attitude to scare me away. I have seen much worse.”

“Okay…” Orange drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes and giving a small nod to pearl before looking at her again. Her eyes showed just how tired she was, both physically and emotionally, but she squeezed Pearl’s hand all the same and asked, “Okay. What do I do, Pearl? How do i make this better?”

“First, you start by taking your supplements.”

Orange laughed, a real laugh that had her shaking lightly in her mirth, “Seriously?”

“You are already so off color.” Pearl placed a hand against Orange’s cheek, the pale pallor of her skin becoming much more prominent against her dark gloves, "This scares me.”

“Sorry.”

“Do not apologize. Never apologize for feeling...less than yourself. You are under a lot of pressure, and change, and you have lost someone you love, and you feel like no one understands or cares.”

Orange’s head cocked to the side in question, eyes trying to find some answer on her face, “How do you know all these things, Pearl?”

“Because I have experienced similar things myself.” Pearl answered softly.

“What did Pink do to you?” Orange asked just as softly, regretting it when Pearl’s head ducked, her eyes looking away from her own.

“Forgive me, but I’m not...I’m not comfortable discussing that.”

“It’s okay…” Orange gave her hand another squeeze that Pearl responded with her own, raising her head to return a small smile, "I guess it’s a shared experience then.”

“Heh, yes, perhaps.”

“Do you have time to sit with me a little while longer?”

“My Diamond has afforded me time to see to your needs. So yes.” Orange released Pearl’s hand, waiting as she turned from her kneeling position to take up the spot next to her by crossing her legs as she sat on the floor with her.

Orange raised an eyebrow at Pearl, a questioning look on her face, “How does she know your not off gossiping with the guards instead of being here?”

Pearl’s smile was light, amused, “If I was doing that, White Diamond would know.”

“But how? Does she have people reporting what they see all around the ship?”

“Something to that effect, yes.”

“Ahh…” Orange nodded, realization washing over her face, "so that’s how you were able to find me before.”

“Yes. You may be able to lose your guards, but you can not really hide when your here.” Pearl revealed.

Orange’s lips turned down, looking somewhat disturbed by this news, “That’s creepy…but good to know.”

“Here” Pearl held out the tablets to Orange, who took them and slowly began to crunch them one by one between her teeth. “I've wondered, what do those taste like?”

Orange offered the plate back to her, “You could try one.”

Pearl’s turned up her nose, disgust on her face, “No thank you. A description will be fine.”

“Eh. Honestly?” Orange popped another into her mouth, taking a moment to consider it, “they taste like I’m consuming processed chalk.”

“Thats…disgusting.”

“It is. I find eating them disgusting,” the young diamond agreed, even as she put another into her mouth, “But I’ve gotten use to it.” Orange popped the last few into her mouth, moving the bits to one side as she spoke to Pearl, “Okay, what now.”

“Now, I believe a bath is in order, My Diamond. Forgive me, but you really do look awful.”

“Im not aloud to leave my room. White’s orders.” Orange reminded.

“It is apart of your care, and i have been ordered to see to it.”

“You know, its alarming when you pearls find a work around the orders you have been given. Amazing, and quite ingenious, but alarming.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.” Pearl smiled, "Now, I shall go see to it that things are prepared for you. Afterwards, i believe some actual rest is in order. ”

Orange looked abashed, “It's not like I haven’t been sleeping because I don’t want to.”

“I still have to ask you to try.”

Orange ran a hand through her hair, pulling her hand away, looking somewhat disgusted by her own hand, wiping her palm on her tunic as she turned to look at Pearl as she unfolded herself from the floor, “Im still not very clear how all this is supposed to help me with my issues with White.”

“Before you can tackle that issue, you should first take the time to take care of yourself.” Pearl offered her hand, and Orange took it, allowing her to help her up, "you will never be able to work on your power’s control if your worn out.”

“I suppose you are right. Alright Pearl, I'll follow your lead.”

“Here. Do not drop it.” Peridot Facet-4B28 Cut-X9A handed Yellow’s Pearl a black, pressurized cylindrical container, a small holographic shield of the Diamond’s sigil reflected on the top, refusing to let go until Pearl gave a tug to signify she should let go.

“What is this?” Pearl questioned, eyeing the container in her hands.

“It is for Orange Diamond.” She responded, “it contains tablets that you will have to get her to swallow every three hours.“

Pearl’s head snapped up to level X9A with an alarmed expression, “What!? Swallow?”

“The gulping thing humans do when they put things into their mouths. Humans call it food. This is her equivalent.”

“I know what swallowing is!” she paused before asking, “what's food?”

“Food. Nutrients, minerals, and saccharides, everything our young diamond needs to remain healthy. These tablets are compressed versions of powdered forms in concentrate. She is unable to keep down any liquid versions we synthesize. We refer to them as supplements, I suggest you do as well, it’ll be easier when you have to request more be made.” X9A instructed, bringing up a holo-display on her pad, “I am sending you the form for quicker ordering.”

“Very well. How am I supposed to get it-her to swallow,” Pearl made a face that was met with a blank look from X9A, “this…supplement?”

“Open her mouth gently, and place them on the back of her tongue. She might attempt to chew them if you break them up but it’s just as likely she’ll spit them back out at you because she thinks it’s funny.”

Pearl’s face scrunched up as her eyes widened and her mouth formed into a jagged frown,“That’s disgusting.”

“She’s young.” X9A responded passively. Pearl questioned just how often this Peridot had been spit on that she no longer seem bothered by the idea.

“And?” Pearl’s tone conveyed her confusion, “What does it matter how long ago she was made?”

“Never mind. Place them on the back of her tongue, and close her mouth enough that she reflexively swallows. Don’t hold her mouth closed. If you do, you could make her inhale it or choke on it. If she spits it out, retrieve a new one and try again.” X9A did not bother to inform her as she sent a diagram on the process she had described, knowing ahead of time it would be more useful than any description she could give a simple Pearl. "Do not put anything that has made contact with any foreign surfaces that are not the inside of this container, or your hand, into her mouth.”

“Why?”

X9A looked up from her screen, “You are liable to contaminate the tablets and potentially make her sick.”

“This is a lot of work.” Pearl groaned.

“Organics of any kind take a lot of care. You are lucky, in that Orange Diamond’s form does not require as much maintenance as one would at Pink Diamond’s zoo.” X9A’s tone turned smug. She knew her work at the Zoo was hard, and that this Pearl had no idea how easy this would be in comparison to her typical day to day. "For much of her time currently, she will be fluctuating between states of being awake and active, a portion of which you will need to stimulate her mind.”

“Doing what?” Pearl felt she was asking too many questions, but if she didn’t, and she messed up, it would be her gem on the Diamond’s judgement block.

“Anything that requires her to think. You could read to her, or allow her to play with something physically. Simply watch her to insure she doesn’t put it into her mouth, however.”

“Gross. You said a portion of her time? What of the other?”

“A great portion of her time will be spent in an inactive state of rest. Hold her or lay her down on a soft surface. So far as we can tell, temperature does not bother her, but do not leave her alone for long. We generally monitor the young constantly in the Zoo, so we are aware if something occurs.”

“What could possibly occur?” Pearl rolled her eyes.

“Death.” X9A deadpanned.

Pearl’s eyes widened as she held onto the container in her hands tightly, “My Diamond would kill me!”

“Pink Diamond would kill you.” X9A responded evenly, “So I suggest you keep atop this, as best as a Pearl is capable, I suppose.”

Pearl narrowed her eyes, holding back her retort. “You said she would be spending this time resting. What does all that involve? Will I need to do something else?” She would get every last bit of information from this Peridot to insure she could preform to her best. She could only imagine how the other Pearls would fare when it was their turn to be instructed as well. Well, however they did, she would be better. No one did better than Yellow Diamond’s subjects.

“Eyes closed, respiration slowed, limb movements minimal. Simply holding her will work.  It will be long hours in between waking. Eventually this will reduce as she advances in age until she is as active as you.”

“I see. And I’ll be able to work at this time?”

“Yes. So long as the surroundings remain quiet and she is undisturbed, you should be fine.”

Pearl’s head fell back as she let out a relieved sigh, “Oh thank the stars.”

“That should be all the required information you need. Good luck.” X9A said as she closed her screen, looking at Pearl as she straightened up.

“I don’t need luck. I am Yellow Diamond’s pearl. I am highly efficient, and this should be easy.” Pearl responded smugly.

“Again, good luck.” X9A smirked, "Call us if there are any issues, concerns, or needs.”

“No need. I will be able to care for Orange Diamond, now that I am aware of what is required. Thank you, you are no longer needed.”

“…” X9A glared at Pearl as she turned to leave her without another word.

“Okay. My Diamond, its time to get you to swallow this tablet. No, your clarity, please release my hair. I...please let go-no, don’t tug on my nose. Errg... Okay. Let’s keep our hands to ourselves. I mean, if that pleases you…umm…hmm.” Pearl paused in her efforts to hold Orange’s hands away from her face as she knelt before the youngest Diamond, having offered her seat to her. "You don’t understand a thing I’m saying, do you? Of course you don’t, it’s that stupid organic upbringing those useless Peridots have been teaching you.” Pearl paused again, looking at Orange with fear, as if she expected to be punished for her words but was only met with large orange eyes that stared at her in wonder, and a wide grin, the corner of which was wet with drool.

Pearl continued on, renewed in her efforts as she retrieved another tablet that hadn’t been spit out at her. “But you’re a Diamond, so I, Yellow Diamond’s great, amazing Pearl, will aid you…” Pearl pulled out a single tablet. It was no bigger than her thumb nail, and a opaque pink color. Turning back to Orange, she held out the tablet in front of the tiny gem’s mouth, “Would you please open your mouth so that I may administer your energy tablet.“

Orange looked down at the tablet in her hand, her face lighting up as her jaw fell in a hardly laugh, that Yellow’s Pearl took advantage of, placing the tablet at the back of her tongue and nudging her chin to slightly close her mouth. Instead of a wet, half mushed pill hitting her face, Pearl’s patience was rewarded as Orange swallowed the tablet, pulling her chin away from Pearl’s hand so she could drop her mouth back open in a loud giggle, gurgling and clapping her hands together.

“Yes, that’s it!” Pearl jumped up, her fists in the air in her excitement, "You do understand! You just needed away from those hallow brained clods.” Pearl paused, slapping a hand over her mouth and looking at Orange with large, open eyes, “Oh, forgive my language, your clarity.”

Pearl knelt back down to Orange, a large grin spreading over her face, “Just wait until the other Pearls have to do this. They’ll never be so good at it as me. Oh, i mean, it was you doing the work, i just-

“Pearl!” Yellow’s voice thundered around the room, her face turned down to look at Pearl with enough anger that she shrunk back, using the chair and Orange as a shield against Yellow’s eyes. "My Diamond! I apologize.”

“Just keep it down…” Yellow Diamond grunted, turning back to her screen.

Yellow paused in her work, looking from the corners of her eyes to watch as Pearl spoke quietly to Pink’s hybrid. As Yellow suspected, it was a useless thing, and was better off wasting her Pearl’s time than her own. So long as she could hand it over to one of the other Diamonds at the end of her cycle, alive, than she could say she had done her part in taking care of it.

Yellow was curious about it, she could admit, but in the way one is curious about the colorful insect that has just scurried across your path, and is an unknown to you. It should be a fleeting curiosity, and not made into a pet, like Pink had done.

‘Orange Diamond’, as White has declared it’s name, despite Pink’s assertions of Zirconia at least being used when it is just the Diamonds in It's presence, which for good reason was shot down by White again. 

Orange Diamond.

Diamond.

It was laughable, a bad joke that was so horrible, she could see the amusement in making fun of it. This thing wasn’t a Diamond, and she questioned just how much of it was actually gem. Pink made it quite clear she adored it, and referred to it with some kind of organic term she didn’t understand, but Yellow surmised it was affectionate. Yellow had no interest in using any terms or forms of affection for it. She was pretty sure she could call it any vulgar name and it would laugh, because it didn’t understand a word she spoke. It was ignorant as an organic, and defective as a gem. Waste of resources is what it was. A junk pile, a junk pile Pink had managed to bring to life, but that did not change its nature, or its value in their society. If it had been a gem, it would know its place in it's caste already, It would be set to work. But this thing required even more resources, to consume. A mockery of a gem is what it was. Her cycle’s end would not come soon enough, she knew. At least her Pearl seemed to have educated herself enough to care for it.

Yellow had watched that whole spectacle, annoyed and disgusted, though seeing it spit whatever it was Pearl had been trying to put in it’s mouth, only for it to be rocketed out and hit her nose, thatwas amusing. But it simply went to prove Yellow correct even further. Whatever it was that Pearl was attempting to get it to consume was something it needed to live. No Diamond needed something like that. No Diamond needed the things it did. And all of it could be brought to the same conclusion that everyone else had been rejecting, it isn’t a Diamond. Itisn’t a gem at all! And this whole thing was a waste of time, something White was doing to entertain Pink’s wishes once more. White Diamond and her favoritism for Pink, even though Yellow had more colonies than the Blue and Pink, practically ran the Empire’s military herself, and produced the most gems in both quantity and quality. It was ridiculous how much White coddled Pink, even now as she had her own colony to deal with. It made Yellow angry that she was being required to entertain Pink’s ridiculousness as well.

“Right, now that that is done, I can…I can’t read to you, Yellow Diamond has requested we remain quiet for her work.” Pearl spoke softly to Pink’s creation, catching Yellow’s attention, "So how about you play…with this?”

Pearl placed the spare diamond displays on the ground in front of Orange, amazed when they sparked to life.

“Yes, I see you like them. Then, my clarity, if you so choose, you can play with these while I do some work! I’ll be right here.” Pearl seated herself in her own chair, as It began smacking at the displays. Yellow rolled her eyes, turning back to her work.

Ridiculous.

“Hmmm!? Oh! My diamond, you scared me.” Pearl covered her gem in surprise, turning to look down as Orange smacked her leg. "Is there something the matter? Is there something I…oh, you wish me to lift you up.” Pearl realized as Orange lifted her arms to Pearl in a motion she had learned would get her what she wanted. Pearl leaned over, grabbing Orange under her arms as she proceeded to lift her up.

“Right, I can doooo oh stars your heavy- and you're up.” Pearl sighed loudly as she placed Orange on her lap, “Woo. Okay, that peridot said you could be in my lap and I can work while you do that resting thing.”

The smaller gem leaned forward to rest her head against Pearl’s stomach as she latched onto her sides, causing Pearl to look at her in surprise, “What are you…oh. You like to cuddle. Okay. Okay, I can do this.” Pearl nodded, hesitant to touch Orange as she grew still against her.

“Pearl, what are you making so much noise for?” Yellow turned to look at Pearl, an unamused frown on her face for the second interruption from her in less than an hour.

“Oh! Sorry, my Diamond. She’s…” Pearl looked down from Yellow Diamond's gaze to Orange, “Cuddling me.”

“I see…” Yellow eyed the none moving hybrid, wondering briefly if it was malfunction with how it stopped moving before waving the thought off, turning back to her work. "keep it down.”

“Yes my Diamond.”

“Pearl, is my ship ready?”

“Yes, my diamond.” Pearl bowed her head, a self-satisfied grin on her face that went unnoticed as it generally did. “Everything is prepared for your departure to Homeworld.”

“Good.” Yellow stood up, head bent and eyes never leaving her portable display as she moved towards the doors. “Then we’ll be leaving.”

Yellow nearly made it through the doorway before she paused, her Pearl stopping to look up at her, and only catching on when she turned to look behind her towards the far side of the room.

On the other side of the room, staring out the glass, her face so close to it that the glass had visible lip impressions and every time she exhaled it fogged up with her breath, was Yellow’s little unwanted ward. Orange was distracted, not paying attention to either of them as she watched various colored gems moving about the facility below. 

“Orange,” Yellow grunted, her lips turned down and eyes narrowed at the smaller gem. She made a motion towards the floor in front of her, “Come along.”

Instead of the rush Yellow wanted, Orange only turned her head to give Yellow a curious look before turning back to the window.

Yellow’s frown deepened, “Pearl,” she barked, “Get her.”

“Yes, My Diamond!” Pearl scurried over to grab Orange, struggling as she pulled the child to her feet, even as she fought against Pearl’s efforts. Now that Orange could crawl, Pearl had struggled more and more to keep her in line, made worse as she grew in size and strength. Pearl feared when the young diamond would grow stronger, too strong for her to handle by herself, potientially before she developed enough reason to control herself and listen.

Standing her up on her feet, Pearl shuffled to get the younger gem to remain standing with her, Orange attempting to pull her back down with her to the floor as she allowed her weaker legs to give out and curl under her.

“Come on, my diamond! Stand up! Blue says you can do it, so why won’t you-“

“Pearl!” Yellow Diamond shouted.

“She won’t get up, my diamond. she refuses-“

“Then makeher,” Yellow interrupted her once more, “She is tiny, and she can’t fight you. Grab her and let's go or I will leave you both here.”

Pearl knew it was an empty threat, if she attempted to leave anywhere without Orange Diamond, White Diamond had made it clear that she would be punished, and Pearl wasn’t sure if it had been the fear of White’s retaliation or the possibility of being disciplined herself becoming any kind of public knowledge, but Yellow had yet to allow Orange to be left behind. But empty threat or not, Pearl followed orders, placing an arm under Orange’s legs and lifting her up, her face nearly changing color as she made a dash to keep up with her Diamond’s longer strides. 

Mentally cursing the stairs with every foul word she could think of, Pearl hopped down them one by one, for she knew if she tried to take them as she normally did, she and Orange Diamond would go tumbling down them together. Her predicament was only made worse when Orange began trying to pull on the hair that curled onto her cheeks.

“My Diamond! please don’t do that, that hurts.”

“Mmm mmm” Orange hummed. “No!”

“Thats right,” Pearl nodded, shaking her hand loose at the same time, “No.”

Ever since Orange had started speaking actual words, all of which consisted of ’No’, ‘Up’ ‘Hi’, and ‘Bye’, once she started, she wouldn’t stop. Pearl had figured out that if she responded to her before she could start repeating, she was generally in the clear.

“No!”

Pearl groaned as a string of ‘No’s followed behind her until she had finally reached the bottom of the stairs. “Pleaseeeee stop.”

“No!”

It was only a matter of minutes before Pearl had made it onto Yellow Diamond’s hand ship and was able to put Orange down, collapsing onto the floor in the process. “Why are you so heavy?”

“Hi!”

“That is not an answer.” Pearl got up to her knees, staring into Orange’s chubby little face, “and your little looks do not effect me like they do Blue or White. Those Pearls may be weak, but i certainly-“

Pearl was cut off as Orange wrapped her hand around Pearl’s nose now that it was within reach. 

“My Diamond!” Pearl’s voice was even more nasally than normal, “Release me!”

“Bye bye.”

Pearl frowned, reaching up to pry her fingers from her nose, “Thats not funny! Come on, let go. we have to get to the control room before Yellow Diamond takes off.”

“Mmmm” Orange hummed as she finally let go of Pearl, watching as she rubbed at her nose before easily twisting her body until she was on her hands and knees and began crawling towards the nearest hall.

“Oh no you don’t!” Pearl was on her feet and chasing after Orange before she could get far, picking her up and holding her against her chest. “We have to go.”

“No!”

With a lot of effort, and no help from a flailing Orange, Pearl managed to get the both of them to the control room just as Yellow Diamond was pulling down her work screens. 

Turning to look over her shoulder, Yellow glanced from Pearl to Orange, and then back to her controls. “Finally. We are leaving, so prepare yourself.” Yellow ordered as she placed her arm onto the platform to her right, a yellow glow incasing up to her upper arm as the ship hummed to life. 

In a well practiced maneuver, Pearl pulled Orange along with her until they were behind Yellow’s seat where Pearl could grab onto the side, out of her diamond’s way and so she and the young gem in her arms didn’t go tumbling over into a wall as the ship lurched up and then forward, following Yellow’s hand.

Orange, now so close to Yellow, stared up at her, her large eyes focusing solely on her, even as she payed her no mind, keeping her eyes forward and out the rectangular window.

“Up!” Orange demanded as she reached towards Yellow with both hands. “Hi! Up!”

Pearl immediately tried to get Orange to quiet, letting go of the chair as soon as the ship broke the planet’s atmosphere and had stabilized, holding onto her with both hands. “No no, my diamond. Orange, hey, look at me.”

“No! Up! Up!”

“Orange, my clarity, please shush. You're going to get us in trouble.”

“Bye!” orange looked at Pearl, her little eyebrows turned down as she frowned at her, “Bye! Up!”

“Yellow Diamond is busy,” Pearl tried to reason, “and we wouldn’t want to bother her-“

“No.” Orange slapped her hand against Pearl’s face, earning a startled “Eep!”

“No.” Orange repeated, “Up!”

“I get it, you want to go up. But you can’t.” Pearl tried again.

“UP!” Orange screeched, flailing in Pearl’s arms as she reached towards Yellow again.

“Pearl! What is all that commotion about?” Yellow turned to look at them over her shoulder, glaring at both of them.

“i apologize my diamond, it’s Orange Diamond,”Pearl glanced down at the gem in her arms as she nearly managed to slip out of her hands as her shirt began to ride up while she thrashed about, “she won’t stop-“

“Up! up! up!”

“That.” Pearl grunted.

Yellow rolled her eyes, reaching over her arm encased in the holographic light, “Hand her over.”

Pearl gawked, so surprised she had nearly let Orange slip from her grip when she doubled her efforts when Yellow’s hand had settled in front of them. “My diamond? are you sure, i can-“

“Enough, Pearl. You obviously can’t control her, and I will not hear this nonsense for the rest of the trip.”

Pearl remained silent as she gently placed Orange into Yellow’s open palm, who curled her fingers protectively over her and then proceeded to drop her onto her lap.

“There, now remain quiet.” Yellow ordered. She was surprised when Orange seemed to be listening, as she remained quiet and still in her lap. However, as much as Yellow wanted to call it good and leave it at that, having her constantly looking up at her was becoming unnerving. Narrowing her eyes down at Orange, Yellow asked, “What? What do you want now?

“Hi.” Orange responded immediately, a smile spreading on her face now that Yellow was looking at her.

“Hello. Now stop staring.” She grunted, turning back to the window, inspecting her surrounding as millions of stars passed by her view, tiny little lights zooming out of her sight almost before she could see them. It was normally a sight that kept the youngest gem entertained. How fortunateshe had decided to turn her attention to her today.

“Up.”

Yellow turned back to Orange, “What?” 

“Up,” Orange motioned with her hands, as if for needed emphasis, “Up!”

“Absolutely not. You’re lucky to be sitting in my lap, and only then is it because i do not want to hear your crying the whole way.” Yellow paused then groaned, slapping her free hand over her eyes. “Look at me, talking to you as if you understand a single thing i say. You seem to have Blue and Pink wrapped around your fingers, and they treat you like you’re something special, but what are you really?” Yellow paused again, her annoyance falling into a blank stare at Orange, “This is a one sided conversation. Im talking to you like your actually intelligent enough to understand that. Your losing it Yellow. Get a grip.”

Pearl remained wisely silent through this whole ordeal, pointedly not looking in her Diamond’s direction, though she could barely contain the amused grin that wanted to spread on her face.

“Up,” Orange repeated when it became evident that Yellow was determined to ignore her. “Up. Up!”

Orange began to bounce, attempting to use Yellow’s front as support as she began to stand up, slapping at Yellow’s stomach. “Up!”

“Stop that.” Yellow instructed, placing her hand under Orange and making her fall back onto her butt.

Orange’s eyes narrowed at Yellow as she looked down at her, which Yellow mimicked, “Don’t give me that look. Sit there and be quiet. We’ll be on Homeworld shortly enough and then you can go to Blue.”

“No!” Orange pouted.

The elder diamond rolled her eyes, looking away from Orange again. “Learn something new while your away, if you can. im getting tired of the same four words.”

“Up!” Orange proceeded to try once more to stand up using Yellow as support, using her legs to bounce up when she couldn’t quite straighten up by herself. “lo up! ‘lo up!” 

“Shush.”

“‘Lo up!” Orange bounced, losing her balance and stumbling back. Without anything to grab onto, if it hadn’t been for Yellow’s quick reflexes, Orange would have tumbled backwards off her leg and onto the floor. Orange grabbed onto Yellow’s hand with all her might, her eyes widened in surprise at the feeling of falling and then being stopped. Yellow brought her back to her, sitting her back on her thigh.

“Stop moving. You’re going to fall, and maybe next time I won’t catch you. Perhaps you’ll learn your lesson.”

“‘lo…lo!”

Yellow sighed at the repeated noises, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation, “What are you trying to say, Orange? Low?”

“‘ello”

Yellow’s eyes blinked open, turning sharply down to look at Orange. “What?”

“‘lo! ’ello!”

“Are…are you trying to say Yellow?”

“Hi! ‘Ello!”

Yellow blinked again, unsure she had actually heard that correctly. she leaned down to look Orange in the eyes directly, “Yellow.”

“‘ello.”

“Yel-oh.”

“‘ellllllllo.”

Yellow cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised at Orange before she shrugged. “I'll take it.”

“‘Ello! Up!”

“Only because you asked, if in a grammatically incorrect manner, but i see you are at least trying.” Yellow picked Orange up in her palm, bringing her up to hold against her chest where she pressed her cheek against her, turning her head to look up at Yellow with bright, happy eyes. “Look at me, speaking to you again like you actually know what I’m saying.”

“‘ello. Hi.”

“Shhh.” 

Pearl waited until she was sure Orange Diamond wouldn’t be waking up any time soon before she slipped out the doors to her quarters. Orange had insisted it was no longer just hers, and as much as Pearl appreciated the sentiment, Pearl did not believe she would ever be able to think of a room belonging to a Diamond as hers. As normal, there were only two amethyst guards outside. They had been brought up straight from the Prime kindergarten and given the privilege to guard and escort Orange for the duration of her stay here at Pink Diamond’s moon Base, hand picked by Pink herself. 

Pearl was made aware of Orange’s personal history with Amethyst guards by her fellow Pearls, and as a result she had been keeping an eye on them, but so far they had met her standard of gem that should be allowed near her Diamond.

The Earth Moon Base was quiet and oddly still. Pink Diamond did not seem to enjoy employing many gems in her base as the other Diamond’s did, and Pearl had at first considered this odd, but had grown accustomed to the natural tranquility of the base. Pink Diamond was much less strict with her court and its subjects, and it showed in her gem’s laid back nature, though Pearl would never say her choice of command style lead to sloppy gems, simply that the feel of everyone felt less tense, especially when compared with the other Diamond’s bases.

Perhaps that is what allowed Pearl to decide to leave Orange’s room when she knew the base would be its most subdued. It also made her confident she would not run into anyone, least of all anyone of importance, as she made her way up to Pink Diamond’s command room.

As she had thought, no guards remained in the observation room, and ascending the stairs, she met no resistance by any other gems. When she got to the top, the way inside was sealed off by a simple door that opened at her prompting. Pearl entered the Command room, taking a moment to look around. As she expected, neither Pink nor her Pearl were inside. At this time, Pink would be retired to her own chambers, and her Pearl would obviously be with her. Taking the last steps, Pearl glanced behind her as the door closed, giving her the reassurance she was alone and could not be seen. 

“Really Pearl, It’s okay, wait here. I'm just going for a walk. Please.” Pink glanced down at Pearl as she nervously escorted her Diamond to the doorway of her room. Pink Diamond had insisted on having just a little time to herself, which she knew Pearl was reluctant to give because that meant she had to leave her side, and she fretted something could happen. Which, Pink had assured her, once again, and questioned just what she thought would happen with her going for a walk in her own moon base.

“If you are sure, my Diamond. I…I will just,” Pearl looked around the room, “Wait…here.” Pearl stopped just beside the doorway as Pink stepped out.

“Thank you!” Pink’s overly happy tone fell into a deep sigh as the doors closed, leaving just her standing in the hallway. She had dismissed the guards that had followed them as soon as they had arrived at her room, to give them time to themselves, and now thats all Pink really wanted too. She adored Pearl, but sometimes Pink just wanted room to breath and collect herself after a long day. A day made a little longer with Zirconia there.

Pink was so happy to have Zirconia back with her. Things may not have been as perfect as they had once been, but she would never call a day spent with her a bad one, no matter how moody her little gem could get. Pink missed the days when Zirconia and she would just snuggle up on one of the overly fluffy pillows, Zirconia sleeping as Pink held her. Now a little older, Zirconia was growing into her own gem, who wanted her own room, and her own space to be, and was embarrassed to be given long hugs from her mother. She was growing up, and Pink could admit she missed that baby who could not stand to be separated from her, and had pitched a fit the first time she had been forced to give her over to Blue Diamond for her very first time away from her.

As a Diamond, and as a mother, Pink had to remind herself that she had once longed for that respect and understanding from her fellow diamonds that Orange was now starting to show signs of wanting. Pink, no matter how much she longed for her little baby to stay a baby, she knew she would have to let go eventually.

Stepping onto the raised platform of the observation room, Pink smiled as she ran her hand over the orb that floated there. Just hours before, she and Zirconia had spent some time together watching a recording from Homeworld that Zirconia had brought just for her to see. It was of a dance she had talked Blue into taking her to see in secret, featuring one of her favorite troupes. Looking up, Pink could see the stairs that lined the wall as it wound up, heading towards her command room. It had the best view of Earth, and would be the best place to have a moment to breath where she knew she wouldn’t be disturbed.

Taking the stairs, which she realized, was a lot easier for her than it must have been for the smaller gems, especially as she took them two by two naturally. In no time at all, Pink was reaching up to touch the little sigil that opened and closed the door to her command room, a safety that had been installed before Zirconia had started to walk, after Pearl had wisely pointed out it was likely Zirconia would fall down the stairs when she started moving on her own.

Continuing up the final steps, Pink was surprised she wasn’t the only one in the room. Up on upper platform, standing in front of her desk, was Zirconia’s Pearl, but Zirconia was not with her. It was honestly an odd sight to see one without the other nowadays.

“Pearl?” Pink called.

Pearl was startled by someone calling her name, and she turned around to look at the person who had called for her, surprised to find Pink Diamond there, looking as stunned as Pearl when they met eyes. The superior gem obviously not having expected to find anyone in her command room.

Pearl stepped away from the desk and chair so she was facing Pink directly, bowing her head and giving her a diamond salute, “My Diamond. forgive me. I wished to see your colony once more. It truly is only something that could belong to someone like you, your lustrous, most gracious-“

“Please, you don’t have to do that.” Pink waved her off, stepping up the stairs to join her on the upper platform.

“But-“

“Really. i don’t need all the titles.” Pink assured her, stopping to sit on the top step. Taking a moment, Pink looked out the glass to stare at the bright planet before them, before turning to look at Pearl, who had yet to move, and patted the floor next to her. "Would you like to sit with me?”

“Your clarity, I shouldn’t,” Pearl shook her head, her hands falling from her salute to make a negative waving motion at the diamond, “it wouldn’t be right.”

“Your quite easy going with Zirconia.” Pink commented, a gentle smile on her face, “Do I make you nervous?”

“Um…” Pearl looked down, clasping her hands in front of her, a subtle blush coming to her cheeks.

“It's alright. Please, come sit.” Pink motioned to the space beside her again, and with a lot of hesitance on her part, Pearl joined her. Together, they sat quietly for a moment, appreciating the view of the planet.

Pink was the first to break the silence, “The Earth, its something, isn’t it?”

“Your colony is magnificent, my diamond.” Pearl nodded, almost robotically, and Pink could tell this was a platitude she knew well. “It is lucky to have you in charge of its creation. You will bring such life to it.”

“Yes…life.”

Pearl turned to look at Pink, her eyebrows pinched and her eyes wide, “Have i said something wrong, my diamond? forgive me if I have misspoken or-“

“Calm down.” Pink waved her off gently, “its okay.” Taking a moment, Pink took advantage of the odd situation to ask something she had been wanting to know for a long time. ”Zirconia, Orange to you, i suppose, isn’t fond of it, is she?”

“My diamond?”

Pink looked down at the steps below them, her hands fidgeting together in her lap as her forehead creased when her eyebrows drew together, “Orange doesn’t show it much anymore, but I can tell. She really hates this planet and the humans.”

Pearl took a moment to gather her thoughts before she responded to the Diamond beside her, “She doesn’t hate…” Pearl paused, before she started again, "I don’t believe my diamond hates anything.”

Pink’s head turned to look at Pearl, surprise and confusion twisting her features, “Huh?”

Pearl couldn’t help but give her a small smile as she elaborated, “My Diamond is jealous of it.”

“Oh.” Pink breathed out.

“She sees it as simply one more thing taking you away from her. My Diamond does…I do not believe she knows how to deal with you having a life outside of her.” Pearl looked down at her hands, her fingers running along her palm in an old habit, "She has never really had to face a time that you were not focused on her. She feels she is being pushed aside for your colony.”

Pink’s face dropped, her shoulders slumping as she looked back out at Earth. “And I'm always so busy with it.”

“Please, do not be upset with how Orange is dealing with this change. I don’t believe she has ever really been forced to face that sort of reality before.”

Pink’s eyes were slightly rounded, her head tilted in curiosity to Pearl, “You called her Orange.”

Pearl’s face tinted a shade darker, her mouth falling open as she gasped, “I-! Oh, my diamond, please forgive me, i shouldn’t have been so informal-“

“It’s okay.” Pink have her a small smile to calm her down, “I like informal.”

Pearl’s head tilted down, not meeting Pink’s eyes even as she smiled, “So does Orange. It is a new experience, to serve someone who does not expect such strict standards of her subjects.”

Pink giggled, “You don’t seem it at first, looking at you when your with her, but you're a very nervous person, aren’t you? You never seem to show it when Orange is around.”

“My diamond…Orange, allows me to be me. At first, she struggled with my presence, trying to find a balance between being my owner, and trying to be considerate of myself. It was not an easy transition for her.”

“What was the outcome?”

“Orange decided she would treat me like a friend.” Pearl sounded amazed even to her own ears. Turning to look at Pink Diamond’s reaction to the news, Pearl was surprised to find the content expression on her face.

“I’m glad Orange has been kind to you. I…worried how she might be with you. She follows the other diamond’s example, and I feared she might be quite harsh on you.”

“My Diamond is more than i could ever have expected, and does more for me than i could ever ask to be given. Being with Orange Diamond is nothing like when I served White Diamond. I feel…” Pearl chuckled, “I am given the freedom to feel whatever i want.”

“And Pearls aren’t supposed to feel anything but what their owners tell them to feel.”

Pearl’s smile dropped as she turned to Pink, her face conveying panic and alarm, “I…I hope i am not…please, if you are angry with Orange Diamond, it is my fault-“

“It’s okay.” Pink placed a hand on her shoulder, "Please. You don’t need to worry. I'm not upset, quite the opposite.” Pink paused a moment as Pearl settled down, “You were going to take the punishment for Orange, if i had been angry? That’s very noble of you. You seem very loyal to her.”

"I am...I am loyal to my Diamond. I know Pearls are supposed to be to their owners, but...”

A knowing smile spread over Pink’s face, “You care for Orange more than you think you should.”

“She has...she has this way of inspiring you. It’s not always there, but she has this confidence, and a way about her. I can not help but want to follow her, and be there for her. I would do whatever I had to to keep her safe. I know I'm just a pearl, but if there is anyway i can help her, i will.”

“You believe someone would hurt her?”

“I believe their are horrible people in the world, and they would see the best of us taken away.”

“Is…” Pinked turned to look at Pearl, gripping both of her shoulders to turn her to look her in the eyes, her own wide and alarmed, "do you know something, Pearl? Is my Zirconia in danger?”

“My Diamond, Orange Diamond is special. She will always be in danger.” Pearl placed a hand over one of Pink’s, "Surely you know that.”

“I….” Pink’s hands dropped from Pearl as she leaned back away from her, turning her palms up as she placed them in her lap and stared at them, “It’s funny. When Zirconia was first born, I never thought of her as becoming some amazing diamond. I never even really thought of her as being a gem. She was simply…she was simply my Zirconia. I loved her the moment I set my eyes on her. I could not possibly imagine anyone wanting to hurt her.” Pink turned to look at Pearl, who had been listening aptly to her, “But I was being naive. I’ve brought her into a world that would bring her down for being different.”

“My clarity? You’re crying.”

“I-“ Pink wiped at her eyes, giving Pearl a small, doleful smile, “I’m sorry, Pearl. This must not have been how you had planned to spend your free time.”

“It’s okay.” Pearl returned her smile with one of her own, "This has been…this has been better than what i was originally going to do. I’m glad to know that Orange has someone like you in her life.”

Pink chuckled, “That's something I should be saying.”

“It seems Orange inspires more than just simple Pearls.” Pearl took a moment to allow Pink to wipe her eyes again before turning to look at the doorway, “I should return to my diamond, before she awakes and i am not there.”

“Okay.” Pink nodded, meeting Pearl’s eyes as she stood up in front of her, "Thank you again, Pearl. For everything you do for her.”

“It is my pleasure, my diamond.”

Upon returning to her Diamond’s room, Pearl stood by the door for a moment, simply watching her rest. Unmoving and silent, except a barely noticeable rise and fall of her chest, and the occasional twitch of her hand or a mumbled word that Pearl couldn’t understand. Approaching the bed, she hesitated to move as Orange began to stir.

“Hmmm, Pearl?”

Pearl sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over Orange as she blinked through sleepy eyes to look up at her. “Rest, Orange. It's just me.”

“'ad a dream.” Orange said, her eyes almost falling closed before she could finish her sentence.

“A bad one?”

“Mmmm.”

Pearl smiled, running a hand through her bangs to brush the hair from her face. “Its okay, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Pink sat hunched over her command desk, her head resting in the hallow of her folded arms as tears gathered in her eyes from a mixture of frustration, sadness and anger. Pearl had been next to her through her bouts of extreme emotions, there for her as her most faithful friend, all while she paced back and forth. One moment she was making loud huffing sounds and punching gestures with her hands and then spontaneously breaking into tears in another. Finally, she had just collapsed into her chair and asked Pearl for time alone. Pearl had left reluctantly, and she was sure she was just standing outside the door, but it was enough. At least she wouldn’t see as Pink had another break down.

It had been almost two weeks since her call with White Diamond, Zirconia had still not contacted her, and that worried her. She could not entirely trust White’s word, no matter how serious she had looked when Pink had accused her of putting Zirconia in that isolation tower, the same tower she was more than familiar with, and one she would live a happy life to never see the inside of again. Pink’s mind had bounced between rational thinking to paranoid thoughts, as the time since she had begged to speak with her own daughter had dragged on. What if White was lying? What if she hadput her there and Zirconia was currently suffering and Pink had no way of knowing for sure, no way of helping her. Or what if the others were lying to her, keeping Zirconia from her as some kind of ploy to ensure that her Colony was finished. Without Zirconia here, she couldn’t say she had to spend time concentrating on her. What if they had told her she didn’t want to see her again after what happened on her station?

Tears sprung to her eyes at the memory, how hurt Zirconia had looked when she had faltered to come to her, to comfort her. Pink had failed to be there for her when she had needed her. It had been Blue who had held her as she cried. Yellow’s offered words, however reluctant they had seemed, that had reassured her. All while Pink had stood there, staring, unsure what to do and feeling like she was a stranger invading a moment she was not welcome to. She felt like she was being pushed out of her own daughter’s life, through her fellow diamond’s actions, and her own inaction.

Zirconia was being pulled away from her, and Pink was starting to feel helpless to fight it. After she had gotten her colony, Pink had promised herself she would never allow the others to make her feel so helpless as she had on Homeworld again, and yet here she was. How many times had she felt she couldn’t do anything for Earth, to stop their invasion? To help the rebel gems that simply wanted to live their lives away from Homeworld’s oppressive rule, how she could relate to that same desire. How many times had she felt like she had failed Zirconia because of her choice to help the Earth?

Pink had gotten the clear impression Zirconia held distain for Earth, though her Pearl had eventually clarified what was really on the younger gem’s mind, she had made the attempt to refrain from talking about it and the humans as much as she could, not that she could have told her about her time spent as Rose Quartz, the rebel gem that was fighting herself and her colony’s expansion. It was obvious to her that Zirconia was incredibly loyal to Homeworld and her fellow Diamonds, and she would not take easily to her views of how wrong it was that what they were doing to organic lives and their planets was wrong.

She knew that the more time she spent with the other three, the less they found common ground, the less it was like when she looked at her with such admiration and love. She didn’t even call her mother anymore! She could hardly contain herself when Zirconia started to refer to her as Pink, and only Pink. When had she gone from Mother to just Pink? Just what had the other diamonds done to her? They were changing Zirconia in front of her very eyes and it had taken her this long to even recognize just how deep that change went.

A pang of guilt hit her and she covered her face with her hands to muffle the sob she couldn’t hold back. She had promised more time with Zirconia, but that time had never really come. The growing rebel group needed her, she needed them, Yellow and Blue refused to listen, and that abomination of a zoo they had made to placate her before was a mockery of what she really wanted. Why couldn’t they just leave this place? Why couldn’t she have just gotten another colony, especially after she had begun to fight Homeworld as Rose Quartz. It should have scared them away, but instead she was pushed to fight harder. It was difficult leading the two lives, even more difficult when Zirconia was here, because she couldn’t just sneak off.

It made her question if it all was really worth it. Did the Earth and its organic life matter more to her than her relationship with Zirconia? If she gave all this up, here and now, would she even be able to mend everything that had been broken between them?

She let out both a sob and yell of frustration, and it came out as a strangled groan, tears soaking her gloves even more.

The earth needed her, and she adored the humans so much, and from her adoration she had gained her dearest little gem. Why did she now have to pick between them? She slammed her fist into the desk, leaving behind a crack in the stone top.

This wasn’t right. She shouldn’t have had to worry about Zirconia’s life when she was on Homeworld. She should have been able to trust the other Diamonds, but she couldn’t, and she shouldn’t have had to choose between her daughter and Earth either. If only she had fought harder to keep Zirconia with her more often. What exactly had they even been telling her? Was this Yellow’s doing? Was she grooming her to be some perfect replica of herself, because Pink didn’t fit into the mold she thought she should? Or was this White? She wouldn’t put it past her, especially after their last talk. First its don’t call her Zirconia, she hasto be addressed as a Diamond, then it's she needsto be taught how to rule and she’s forcefully carted off to Blue and Yellow while she’s stuck here on her moon base. Why hadn’t she fought just a little bit harder for Zirconia? For them? If she had, would she even be leading a rebellion right now? Or would she have considered Zirconia her first priority, and Earth second?

So many what ifs, and could haves, and should haves bounced around in her head, weighting down her heart. This was the life she had chosen, this was the consequences of her actions, and she’d have to live with it. Zirconia would have to live with it, never knowing how important the organic lives she was pushed to look down on really were. Never seeing the beauty of the planets even as she stood looking down on them from a moon base.

Pink was pulled from her spiraling thoughts as Pearl entered the room, looking rather nervous.

“Pearl, i still want to be alone.” Pink winced at the croak in her voice when she spoke.

“My Diamond, forgive me, but there has been contact from the rebel groups down on earth.”

Pink’s eyebrows knitted together, her eyes still glossy from crying. “Is everything okay?”

“There have been Homeworld dropships spotted heading towards the Sky Arena. They have identified themselves to us as reinforcements from Homeworld.”

“What?” Pink stood up, wiping her eyes clear, “Reinforcements for what?”

“Yellow and Blue Diamond are responding to your continued requests for help. To take the growing Rebel faction down. Yellow Diamond...” pearl paused, her nervous expression morphing into one of concern. “Yellow Diamond has suggested joining her forces with yours to start an attack. She wishes to take the Rebel occupied Arena.”

Pink took a breath, a single moment to push her own problems to the back of her mind and settle her heart. In a brief flash of light, where Pink Diamond had once stood was now the smaller figure of a Rose Quartz. “Pearl, signal to the Rebels that want to fight. It’s time we to stop them for good.”

“We’re going to fight them? Your own court?”

“We have no more options.” The Rose Quartz descended the stairs to join Pearl on the lower platform. Forcing a smile, Pink placed a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, “Let’s go.”

Orange sighed as she leaned back in the water, her arms bent behind her to hold onto the side of the wall of the giant bath, her feet kicking lazily in the water. She still could not swim, but Orange did not really harbor any fear of the water itself, perhaps something she could attribute to always having one of the other Diamonds prepared to pluck her from the water should she ever sink below its surface. Now, however, it was just her in the water, as naked as she had been as a babe, and completely alone.

Well, with the exception of the two guards that stood just inside the doorway. With a sound from her, they would come running to save her from the water if she needed it, otherwise they would remain as unseen as they could, and it was as much privacy as Orange could ask for at the moment. Pearl had to return to White, saying she had been summoned, though Orange wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she hadn’t exactly pushed for more information than Pearl was willing to give either. She had said she would return to bring her back to her room, as to ensure she followed White’s orders on her continued lockdown.

On the way here, Pearl had stopped any gem they came across and had pushed Orange to socialize with them, even if only for a moment, leaving many flustered gems in their wake. It was odd, after having such little interaction with anyone for more than three weeks of almost total isolation, to suddenly have a handful of people to speak with again, but Orange appreciated it. Though, now she was feeling more drained than ever, and was ready for some quiet time of her own, preferably one that didn’t involve her darker thoughts creeping in to ruin it. She never really realized how much she took for granted her freedom to do what she wanted and to freely talk with anyone she pleased, within reason, until White had taken all that away from her.

Which brought up the subject of White’s punishment. Orange didn’t know how she was supposed to feel on the matter. It upset her White believed she was messing around, but she also knew White didn’t entirely understand her situation. Orange herself didn’t entirely understand her situation, and wasn’t that the root of her problem? If Orange didn’t even know what was wrong, how could she blame White for what was happening?

She did not want to excuse White’s decision to falsely call her behavior bad and to punish her unjustly for it, she knew White was wrong for her choice. She had made what Orange now considered a rash decision, in her frustration of Orange’s situation and as a result it had shaken Orange’s belief of the infallible White Diamond.

Orange realized she had done to White exactly what she had recognized the others had done to her. She had not only put White, but all of the diamonds on the highest shelf, and now that shelf had been disturbed. She had felt what it was like to be put up so high and fall. She wasn’t as untouchable as she had once believed, and the other Diamonds weren’t any more immune from failure than she was. They made mistakes, they didn’t know things, and they fought with each other all the time. Orange had always thought they were the best of the best, no one could hope to compare to them. 

Where the other Diamond under pressure too? Did they feel what Orange felt, still felt? It was still there, weighing Orange’s heart down, but she didn’t feel like she was baring it all alone now. She didn’t feel like she was at total fault for cracking under the expectation of the others. She was only one gem, and not a very experienced one at that, and yet she had felt she was the odd one out for not knowing, for not being able to do everything the others could. Those gems that had millennia to perfect what they did, and yet it was her that felt at fault when she had not met the expectations placed upon her. She wished White could see it from her perspective, the way her Pearl seemed to.

But Orange also wished to understand where White was coming from. White hadn’t done this to her out of malice. Orange didn’t even think White knew how she was feeling, or how she had made Orange feel. She didn’t know what White meant when she had referred to Pink influencing her, but Orange imagined it was connected to something Pearl had commented on before, Pink doing what she wanted, regardless of who it hurt. She knew the elder Diamond could be reckless at times, even saying things she didn’t really mean in the heat of the moment, but she had a hard time believing she could ever purposely hurt someone. But that was before her time, and she didn’t know Pink before then. She could have been a whole other person when she had owned White’s Pearl.

The Pink she knew now was incredibly kind, compassionate, perhaps a little naive like her, but with a wisdom of her own that Orange had never really had the awareness to appreciate. She was the diamond that Orange could be freest with. The Pink diamond who had been her most loving caregiver since she had come into this world, the one who had been by her side, and had made sure she was never really alone, either leaving her in her trusted guards care or with her own Pearl. Pink had done what she could to ensure she never had to face the world alone.

Orange knew she had never actually had to face anything alone, by herself and completely on her own. She had always had someone there for her, there to help, there to guide, there to do something. The only time she had to do anything alone had been when she had been poofed, and it had just been her and herself. Mimic.

Orange nearly vaulted out of the pool, catching the guard’s attention and they must have assumed she was panicking, both of them stumbling over each other in their rush over to help her.

“My Diamond!”

“My Diamond, are you alright?” They shouted as they ran to meet her at the edge of the pool.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m ready to get out.” Orange responded, stepping out of the water, completely unembarrassed about her nudity. In a flash of light, Orange had produced a set of her clothes on her body, though she could still feel the water that weighted her hair down and that rolled down her neck, wetting the back of her tunic. Turning to the guards, Orange addressed them both, “I’d like to return to my room. If one of you could intercept White’s Pearl to inform her of my return, and the other to escort me and report back to White Diamond that I have followed her orders.”

The Carnelian on the right saluted, her counterpart following suit a moment after. “Yes my Diamond.”

“At once.” The other said, and departed from them before Orange made to leave herself.

Orange and her escort walked in companionable silence as they moved through the mostly deserted halls, the Carnelian guard walking a step and half behind her, out of respect.

“Where is everyone?” Orange questioned, slowing so she and her guard where side by side, much to the Carnelian’s obvious discomfort.

“They have been called away, my clarity.” She informed, her eyes turned down and away from Orange, suddenly looking much more nervous, “I have been instructed not to talk about why. Forgive me, my Diamond.”

Orange took a deep breath, schooling her features. “Another of White’s orders?”

Her guard nodded, “Her Pearl informed us of White Diamond’s orders more than a week ago.” She paused to throw up a salute to Orange, who stopped to look at her in question, “I’m sorry-“

“It’s alright.” Orange waved her off, turning to continue walking, catching her guard by surprise as she sped up to catch up without actually running in White Diamond’s head ship. “You’re not at fault for doing your job. It’s more admirable that you have listened, instead of trying to appease me. You still belong to White’s court.” Orange continued, looking over her shoulder at her as she caught up.

“T-thank you, my Diamond.” A small smile crossed the Quartz’s face, “It is rather easy, since you didn’t seem interested in-! Ahh, that is…” She cut herself off before she could continue, her eyes wide with alarm, afraid she had unintentionally offended her superior.

“Speaking with anyone?” Orange offered, smiling as a way to show she hadn’t felt insulted by her guard’s observation.

“…Yes. I shouldn’t have said that. I’ve overstepped my bounds.”

Orange laughed, “Considering you follow me around so often, I think you might be entitled to a little leeway, 5…PX, right?” Orange questioned, tilting her head as she attempted to recall her designation.

“You know who I am?” The Carnelian’s voice held wonder and disbelief, her mouth falling open as she met Orange’s eyes.

“I'd like to at least know who’s guarding me, for one.” Orange folded her hands behind her back, feeling more confident than she had in days. Interacting with her guards was something she was more familiar with than the other Diamonds were probably aware of, though now she was starting to wonder if she had come across as uninterested to them for all these years if they didn’t believe she even knew who they were. “And you’re almost always assigned to me when I’m here now. Did you think you went unnoticed?”

“I...to expect a gem of your caliber to take notice of a single Carnelian, that would just be ridiculous.”

“I remember you were given to me because of your brilliant color, a little more than a century ago, right?” Orange attempted to recall the time frame she had been given her first Carnelian guards, a gift from White Diamond herself. Common Quartz they may be, but the most vibrant she had ever come across had belonged to White’s court, and Orange had been smitten with their gem type almost instantly. “I was always fond of the Carnelians when I was younger, because we shared a brighter color than the others here.”

“Stars!” Her escort smacked a hand over her mouth, “You remember when I joined your personal guard?”

“I do. I’m sorry it’s taken this long to have an actual one-on-one conversation with you. I’d like make a better effort to know the gems that would give their life in service to me. I can see I should try harder, though.”

“It is my privilege to serve you, My Diamond, and an honor you would even recognize me.” The Quartz bowed her head so she didn’t have to stop walking to salute her properly, “And when you have a court of your own, if it is allowed, I hope to be transfer to your service then.”

It was Orange’s turn to be surprised, her step faultering before she turned her head from their destination’s direction to 5PX. “You would skip over a permanent station with White Diamond here, to join my court?”

“Yes, my Diamond! It would be my honor and privilege to serve under Orange Diamond’s great court.” 5PX grinned.

“You’d always be welcome in my court.” Orange found herself saying, the surprise still on her face, “All of my guards would be welcome to join me.” Orange paused, considering what she had said. “Well, if they can get consent from their current Diamonds to do so.”

“I’ll let the other guards know!” 5PX laughed, making a smile tug on her superior's face. She stopped to give Orange a real diamond salute, “Whenever you are prepared for that, Orange Diamond, you will have us ready to join you, as your loyal guards and servants.”

Orange blinked, she had simply wanted information about the outside, she hadn’t expect the walk back to her room to have become the way she started a fledgling court. Right in the middle of White’s head ship too. She knew White would lovethat. 

“Thank you, 5PX. That’s...” Orange breathed out, pausing to collect her thoughts, “that’s flattering that any of you would want to stay by my side. I’d like to have you all in my guard, when I start my real duties as a Diamond.”

“We will be ready. Oh, uhh, we are back to your room, my Diamond.” The Quartz held a hand over the back of her head, nervousness making her eyebrows arch up as she looked apologetically at Orange, “I’ll have to, erm, lock the door.”

“Don’t worry about it. it’s just your duty.”

“Thank you for being understanding, my clarity.”

Orange nodded, waiting as she opened the door for her, using the hand pad on her side of the door. Stepping through the doorway, Orange turned back to 5PX, “I need some quiet time, so don’t let anyone but White’s Pearl past here, okay?”

“Yes, my Diamond! When 7PX returns, we’ll ensure no one passes these doors.”

“Thank you.”

Stepping inside fully as the doors closed behind her, and now knowing she was actually locked in, Orange looked around her room with fresh eyes. It was early morning on Homeworld, the sun not even up yet, leaving the lights to dimly illuminate her room. Her bed was made, and there was a new tray of supplements on her table. No doubt Pearl’s doing.

Orange didn’t believe she could stomach any more at the moment, so she left it untouched for later. While she had eaten for Pearl, Orange still didn’t feel much motivation to actually consume them, beyond her need to. Perhaps once everything had been sorted out and with a little rest, she would have her appetite back.

As it was, She had something else to do before she could even attempt to fall asleep. Since she had come to the realization that she could potientially use Mimic to bounce her problems off of, she had been trying to figure out a means of getting to her.

It occurred to her that the last time she had changed, and felt herself grow stronger, it had involved being in her gem, and her little adventure with Mimic. But she had little interest in getting herself poofed simply to try and figure out herself, and instead hoped she might be able to meditate herself into being able to find Mimic again, and see if she knew a solution to her - their? - issues into using the powers she had been having trouble tapping into. Who would know better than her subconscious self?

Sighing, Orange stretched her arms over her head, the fatigue in her limbs was more noticeable but dulled after her soak. The supplements may not have improved everything, but the rush of energy coming from her gem was a relief, and made her feel more prepared for her attempt to speak with Mimic.

Orange knew what she had to do, but how to go about getting there was a whole other problem. She knew her problems using her powers were stemming from her self doubts regarding her control, and her fear she would end up hurting someone else, but no matter how much she talked herself through it, short of losing herself in bouts of anger, she could not manifest more than some hot air before burning herself out. Whatever issues she was having, she needed to face, and whatever that was, she needed to speak with herself about, and who better to talk it out with than herself? Or rather, Mimic. Orange wasn’t sure what she was doing, or quite looking for, she just knew she had to find a way inside, into her gem, to get to her. A joining of her mind and body, herself at its core.

Moving to the bed, she snatched some of the pillows that she kept to fill the now unused side, tossing them onto the floor to create an area for her to sit comfortably on. Plopping down onto them, she took a calming breath.

She wasn’t even sure what she was doing, or if it would even work. She had once watched the Moonstones do something similar, falling into meditative states to harmonize with one another, but seeing and doing where two very different things. What would she do if it failed, how would she reach Mimic then? Orange supposed she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. Perhaps Pearl would have a suggestion, she had more than a few millennia on her, and in that time she could have picked up something.

Orange took another deep breath, her eyes closing and her arms resting loosely in her lap. Another breath, and she started her attempt to search inward, probing for some kind of opening or joining between her body and gem. When that seemed to drag on with no result, she turned to trying to find the source of her gem’s power, trying to avoid calling on her abilities and instead simply a way inside. When nothing happened, and the feeling of being foolish started to creep in, Orange moved on to a different attempt. Searching her mind, trying to find a feeling or thought that linked her to her subconscious self. She recalled her time with Mimic, how it had felt inside her gem. The dark, creeping and yet stagnant. Mimic’s insistence to remain safe, but they were already so lost. How could they be safe if she couldn’t even see?

She felt lost in the choking darkness of her memory before it settled, and she was able to remind herself she wasn’t back there in the dark. She and Mimic had found their way, they had come together, and she had come out stronger for it. She took another deep breath and held it before letting it go. She was starting to feel trapped with her eyes closed and the memory of those feelings of being stuck in the dark just at the back of her mind. It made her tense, and she felt foolish for her physical reaction to it. She knew it was simply making herself frustrated with her lack of results, especially when she had so much riding on its outcome.

Orange blinked open her eyes, peering around in the hopes that just maybe she may inexplicably find herself in some vaguely familiar place that she had once visited. She was let down when she looked around and saw a very familiar room, the one she had been in, in White’s head ship. Orange leaned back, using her arms to support herself as she sighed loudly, “I was really hoping that would work.”

“Oh Sweetie, thank goodness! You weren’t responding when I called you.” A very familiar voice said behind her, making her jump. 

Turning around, Orange’s eyes widened as she had to tilt her head back just to look up at them from her sitting position. “Pink?”

The doors to White Diamond’s command room slid open, breaking the silence that normally permeated the room. White took her time looking at the large display screens she had up, the blueprints to a building she had ordered to be constructed nearby on one screen, the details from resources needed to the number of workers on another, and on yet another screen were reports from the Morganite overseer who was in charge of ensuring everything went smoothly. Everything for its construction was well underway and she was simply approving any final changes proposed by her head builders. White’s fingers paused over a screen as the intruder neared and she finally adverted her eyes to look down on the gem in question, unsurprised to find it to be none other than her own pearl. 

Pearl stopped a few feet in front of her Diamond, her arms bent into a salute as her upper half bowed slightly, her eyes adverted from the luminous brightness that was White Diamond. “My Diamond, Orange Diamond has sent me to request restarting her training.”

“Oh? So she’s decided, has she?” White was quiet a moment, staring off into the distance in thought before making a sweeping motion with her hand, causing the screens to disappear. "Bring her here, Pearl.”

Pearl took a breath, her eyes falling closed. “At once, My diamond.”

“Are you sure about this?” Pearl fidgeted as Orange swallowed another tablet whole, looking much more at ease than she thought she should be. “Orange, please. I-You need to be careful. If you anger White Diamond any further-“

“It's okay, Pearl.” Orange set the plate down, looking over her shoulder to give Pearl a comforting smile, “Really.”

Pearl was far from convinced and Orange’s nonchalant response was only setting her more on edge. “You won’t listen to me, even if I begged you to wait, would you?”

“I…Pearl,” Orange turned, taking the few steps to stand in front of Pearl to reach out and take her hands in hers, giving them a squeeze that Pearl responded to with one of her own. “I need to do this.” Orange smiled, "I’m ready. I can feel it.”

“You do seem…a little better.” Pearl acknowledged, her gaze falling down from her, “But that doesn’t mean you are.”

“Do you trust me?”

Pearl was quiet, long enough for Orange to hold her breath with growing unease before she looked back up at her. “Yes.”

She released her breath, giving Pearl one of her most cocky grins, “Then trust me when I tell you I’m ready to do this. I’m confident I can do this right, this time.”

“Just…don’t be reckless.”

Orange laughed, making Pearl smile at the sound. It was a relief, a small comfort, to for to hear. “It’ll be okay.” Orange promised.

“You keep saying that.” Pearl pulled away from Orange’s grasp, stepping away so that there was a respectful distance between them as her more professional facade fell into place, her hands clasping in front of her. Orange’s smile dropped slightly, aware that Pearl was drawing that line between their friendship and her job as White Diamond’s Pearl, the one she was required to wear when they were not alone. "If you are certain, then we should go. We shouldn’t keep my diamond waiting.”

Orange nodded, walking behind Pearl as she stopped to release the door lock she had put in place. As the door slid open, they were both surprised to find two carnelians leaning against it, both stumbling and falling to the floor as their support was suddenly taken from them.

Orange broke out in laughter at the sight, raising an eyebrow at the two gems as they scurried to right themselves. “5PX, 7PX.”

Both Carnelians jumped, their faces a mix of embarrassment and shock to have been caught. “My diamond!” they both saluted.

“We weren’t doing anything!” 7PX began, her voice tinged with panic as she glanced between Pearl and Orange, "We were just, uh-”

“Good luck, my diamond.” 5PX grinned, giving her a thumbs up while cutting her fellow gem off and earning a glare from her.

“Thanks 5PX.” Orange followed Pearl when she took the initiative to begin their walk to the command room, snickering as she could hear 7PX’s voice bouncing down the hall as she berated her guard mate for giving their eavesdropping away the farther away from them they got.

“You know they were listening through the door.” Pearl remarked when they had walked out of view of them.

“I know.” Orange nodded, earning a look from Pearl over her shoulder.

“You’re not going to reprimand them?” Pearl questioned.

Orange took a moment to think about it, “Im not bothered by it, no.”

“You’re a Diamond.” Pearl reminded, "You shouldn’t let the Quartz do as they please.”

“I’ll speak with them, but i don’t see it as a reason to punish them or anything.”

Pearl remained silent, and Orange believed she was going to drop the matter before she commented, “…You’ve become very lenient. I can tell they appreciate how you are with them.”

“I have no interest in being a tyrant.” Orange responded, her expression becoming serious as their conversation became less lighthearted.

Pearl’s pace slowed as she turned to regard Orange with an appraising look before she responded, “A firm rule is not the same as oppressive.”

“I guess you’re right…” Orange took a breath and pushed it out through her nose, her eyes focusing on the hall in front of them as she mulled Pearl’s words over. "I’m still unsure how I want to go about being in charge.”

“You have plenty of time to find your middle ground.” Pearl turned back forward, her voice conveying the reassurance she could not physically show in the public space of the hall.

“You have experience.” Orange noted.

“I’m only a Pearl.”

“But your White Diamond's Pearl,” Orange countered, “So anything you say is consider an extension of her. No one questions you when you tell them to do something.”

“That…is true.” Pearl conceded.

“You have more power and reach than you think.”

Pearl’s tone was clipped and Orange tried not to take it personally, “I would not abuse my position.”

“I wasn’t saying you were,” The young diamond explained, “Or even would. I just meant you have better experience than I do. I wouldn’t say no to your thoughts on it.”

Pearl remained quiet, and Orange feared she may have pushed the topic into territory Pearl wasn’t willing to traverse with her yet. She was flooded with a startling amount of relief when she glanced at her over her shoulder, her wide eyes and the slant of her mouth expressing her uncertainty to Orange. “…We can talk about it the next time I am given time to myself, if you want.”

“I’m always up for time with you.” Orange smiled, her hand going up to touch Pearl’s shoulder to try to ease her apprehension before she caught herself, dropping it back down to her side.

Pearl looked away, keeping her head forward, her eyes focusing on the doors ahead of them as her cheeks took on a darker tint. “I…that is kind.”

“I mean it, I’m not trying to be nice. You're a good friend, Pearl.”

“So are you.” Pearl smiled briefly before it dropped as they approached the doors of White Diamond’s command room. She stopped in front of the security panel, turning sideways to look at Orange as she stood before the large doors. “Are you ready?”

Orange took a breath, turning to give Pearl a confident grin that was honestly more for herself than Pearl, “No time to turn back now.”

Pearl nodded, pressing her hand to the panel, turning her eyes up as the doors slid open, and Orange waited for her to lead the way in.

“My Diamond, I have brought Orange Diamond.” Pearl saluted White as she stood off to the side, respectful of where she stood between her two superiors.

White did not bother to even look at Pearl, her eyes focusing solely on Orange as soon as they had entered the room. Orange tipped her head back to look directly back at her, her mouth a thin line and her eyes slightly narrowed, a resolute, almost defiant expression on her face that White hadn’t had pointed at her in a long time. White’s voice carried across the room as she spoke, “So you are ready to take this seriously, my little gemling?”

“Yes.” Orange’s eyes shone with a determination White had missed in the youngest Diamond, ever since she had allowed herself to become overly attached to that Pearl. White recognized she should have realized Orange would have, given she had such a passionate nature. It would be a simple thing to correct in the future.

Orange’s hands balled up at her sides, “Im not going to fail this time.”

White was impressed by Orange’s change in attitude, but she was not one to be moved simply by words. “Then show me.”

Orange glanced at Pearl, who nodded and moved away from the two diamonds, walking towards the entrance to the room to stand dutifully by the door. When Orange was satisfied that Pearl was not close enough for anything to happen to her, even in her imagined worse case scenario. The younger gem turned away from White, which earned her a questioning tilt of head from the eldest Diamond as Orange took a few calculated steps from her. When she had covered a decent distance, she turned back to White, catching her curious look.

“I don’t want to accidentally hit you.” Orange explained before looking down at her hand as she raised it in the air between them. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she held it a moment before pushing it out through her nose, repeating the action as she worked to ease the tension in her body. The young gem then allowed herself to feel the underlying current of power inside herself, simply waiting for her to tap into it. It was amazing to feel her gem almost hum to life in the center of her chest while she allowed her body to naturally respond to her prodding. Orange no longer felt like she was trying to pull her power from her gem, instead now guiding it, as if it was merely a flowing stream she had to give a direction to. She allowed herself a long moment to gather it and was surprised to feel it collecting not behind her gem, but below, at her core and low in her belly. It filled her with a warmth and strength she was unfamiliar with wielding, and Orange was reminded of Zirconia, of how she had once again reminded her she was not in this alone.

She had others she could lean on, and she had people who leaned on her. She had people counting on her, rooting for her, wanting her to succeed. Opening her eyes, Orange’s vision focused on her hand, amazed to see the natural orange glow of her power engulfing her outstretched hand, the flaring energy running up her arm and traveling around the rest of her body, making her the second brightest being in the room. Concentrating, Orange was about to attempt to push the gathered energy from her body as she had done before, but stopped, a feeling inside her telling her no, that was wrong. No, she didn’t need to force it, she simply needed to let go. Orange took another breath, holding it as she caught her own reflection on the floor, the distorted image of herself flickered on the marble. She looked more in control than she had felt she was in a long time.

Smiling, Orange closed her eyes as she let the breath go, at the same time feeling the built up energy release in one sudden motion. The energy expanded from her skin, ballooning out into a dome of hissing heat, the very stone cracking under the pressure, leaving shattered, jagged edges of scorched stone in a large radius around her, fracturing the longer she held the destructive dome in place. She opened her eyes, not letting the energy dissipate until she had looked up and met eyes with White, almost shocked by the feeling of warmth that was no longer caressing her skin when it was gone.

The room was incredibly silent, all three occupants taking in what had just occurred. Glancing down, Orange couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment at what she had done in her overzealousness to show off her power. Her eyes flickered around at the floor and then up at White, “Uh…sorry.”

But White looked anything but angry at the damage Orange had done to her command room’s floor, her smile wide as her hands came together in a soft clap, “Amazing. Simply amazing.” White expressed her satisfaction with Orange’s display. “This is a big change from before. See what happens when you actually try?”

Orange pushed down the tinge of anger that her comment brought, instead offering White a smile as she responded, “Its not because i wasn’t trying, White.”

White was caught off guard with Orange’s response, her head tilting in question as her hands fell slightly from their clasped position, “Excuse me?”

“I actually couldn’t do that before,” Orange explained, pushing through her fear of White’s possible repercussion for what she was saying, “Not because I wasn’t trying, or because you lacked something in teaching me. Its because I didn’t believe I could, because I didn’t want to be able to.”

White considered her a long moment, “And that has changed?”

Orange couldn’t stop the grin from forming on her face, though she did manage to stop herself from looking at Pearl, least she possibly give away just how close they were to the eldest diamond, “I had a reason to change, someone very persuasive talked me out if it. I still have some things to work through, but i think its all for the better.” 

White’s eyes regarded Orange, curious and questioning, something flickering across them that remained unspoken by her, and Orange wondered what she had deliberated in the span of that short moment when her curiousness was replaced with a much more stern expression that was only mildly softened by her smile. “Then I am glad you were turned to reason, my dear.” White’s tone turned more serious, her voice clear and firm to match her expression as she met Orange’s unwavering stare, “But, the real test is if you can do that again.”

Orange knew she shouldn’t feel so cocky, but she could not stop the somewhat hubristic response to White’s challenge. “I'm prepared for whatever you throw at me. I refuse to fail now.”

White turned to her Pearl, “Pearl, get one of the guards.”

Pearl did not give a second thought to her orders, automatically bowing, “Yes, my Diamond.”

Orange watched as Pearl left before cocking her head in question at the other diamond, “What are you doing, White?”

“I want a full demonstration of your power, not a show of how strong you are.” White answered.

Orange blinked in surprise, realization hitting her. “You want me to use it on one of the soldiers?”

White’s response lacked any remorse or empathy for Orange’s situation. “Yes, it is the simplest way to test that ability of yours.”

Orange took a deep breath, fighting her first instinct to tell White no. She could control herself. She wouldn’t shatter the soldier. It was only a display, like Zirconia had done. A tap, nothing more. She didn’t have to be afraid of herself. She had this. “Okay.”

White appeared to be satisfied with her response, and Orange briefly wonder if that, too, had been a test. “Good.”

It wasn’t long before Pearl returned, a large Citrine soldier in tow, her eyes the only thing conveying her confusion on why she was being summoned by none other than White Diamond. 

The Citrine saluted White Diamond, “My Diamond!”

White appraised the gem brought before her, her trained eyes inspecting her for but a moment before she nodded in approval, “Good, you got one of the finer Quartz.” She commended Pearl before she addressed the newest gem in the room. White held out a hand towards Orange, “I want you to fight Orange Diamond.”

The Citrine nearly jerked out of her salute in surprise to her Diamond’s orders. “M-my Diamond?”

“It’s alright.” Orange reassured her, catching the Citrine’s attention, her eyes wide and her eyebrows arched up, the hesitations and unease about her orders clear on her face. It tugged on Orange’s heartstrings as she realized that this Citrine more than likely knew her, if her surprise played more in her orders than her presence. Was this a gem that served on her guard? Why didn’t she know her own gems better? “You won’t be shattered. You don’t have to be afraid.” Orange offered her a kind smile, ignoring everyone else reaction as she focused on the Quartz in front of her.

The Citrine stared at her a moment before she managed to marginally relax, squaring her shoulder’s under Orange’s encouraging gaze. “Of course, my Clarity.”

White narrowed her eyes, watching in mild interest as the two spoke, and Orange settled her soldier’s fears. “Orange?” She prompted, the younger gem’s eyes flicking up to meet hers before returning to the Quartz.

“Sorry.” Orange walked out of the area of broken, scorched floor, her feet knocking into bits of stone that stuck up as she joined where Citrine was. Orange was always a little bit surprised when she found she could look such large Quartz in the eyes up close, a far cry from when would have had to crane her neck and have said soldiers hunch over just so she could look at their faces properly. “Are you ready?” She questioned, taking a few steps back before she raised her fists as she cautioned her new sparing partner, “This might hurt.”

Citrine bent over slightly, changing her center of gravity as she spread her legs and brought her hands up into a stance of defense for her upper body, making Orange realize that while she may be physically stronger than this soldier, this soldier had experience she didn’t. This solider already knew how to fight, she had knowledge that Orange didn’t on how to properly participate in hand-to-hand combat. She probably even had a weapon she could produce from her gem, and that worried Orange. White had not said her opponent couldn’t use a weapon, she hadn’t set any rules at all for this. She wanted to see what Orange could do, she wasn’t worried about this gem’s welfare, or what Orange might have to do just to defend herself.

“Do not worry about me, my Diamond.” Citrine said when the concern showed on Orange’s face, "I am just another Quartz solider.”

Even though Orange knew that was true, it angered her that she had to admit that was a truth she had to accept at all. This quartz was just another soldier to Homeworld, but wasn’t just another soldier to her. This was someone who possibly once acted to protect her, someone who had accompanied her for a length of time, a soldier she had been gifted who owed their loyalty to her and Orange didn’t even know who they were. She was a nameless soldier who Orange regretted not even having a name to place to her gem, even as she stood ready to sacrifice herself on her own Diamond’s whim.

She would have to change that. She knew it wasn’t possible to know every gem under her, or who interacts with her, but she wanted to at least know those who would be closest to her. How could she give Pearl a name and face and leave the gem guarding her left and right blank. She didn’t want White’s seclusion from her people, she didn’t want Yellow’s analytical way of looking at every gem below her, or even Pink’s compassion for every gem in her charge. Pearl was right, she needed to find her middle ground, simply one more thing she needed to do before she would ever be happy with calling herself a Diamond or being apart of the Authority. 

“Let’s begin, then.” Orange grinned, relaxing her rigid stance some as she attempted to mimic Citrine’s own, spreading her legs a bit farther under her, feeling more steady and prepared to actually fight. Orange took a breath, concentrating, feeling the flow of power in every part of her form. Orange followed her process from before, this time keeping her eyes open as she watched the Quartz soldier make the first move, charging at her much quicker than she had anticipated she could for her size, and if Orange hadn’t jumped to the side at the last second, she knew she would have plowed right into her.

Orange was just turning around to face Citrine when the Quartz pivoted, her fist coming at Orange before she could jump out of the way again, and the younger gem only just managed to deflect her hit with her forearm, leaving a sizable mark there as she was knocked back. Orange retaliated, kicking her leg out to try and keep the distance between them, but Citrine easily blocking her clumsy kick with her arms before she latched onto her ankle with one hand, catching the Diamond by surprise. Grabbing her leg with the other, Citrine picked up Orange, swinging her around. Acting on instinct, Orange kicked out with her other leg, hitting the other gem in the hand and arm, but Citrine would not let her go easily. Using her momentum, Citrine widened her stance to stabilize herself as she lifted Orange up and slammed her into the ground,  Orange’s eyes widening as the breath was knocked from her when her back hit the floor. 

Taking the Diamond’s moment of being stunned, Citrine brought her hands together over her head, intertwining her fingers and swinging down in what would have been a devastating hit had Orange not regained her senses, moving quickly to flip herself backwards on the floor just in time to miss Citrine hitting the ground, cracking the marble floor. Orange gathered her energy to her hand, her fist glowing. With teeth bared and eyebrows arched down in concentration, she swung forward. Citrine brought her hands up again, blocking Orange’s attack, but was surprised when the energy around her hand exploded in her palm, sending her sliding back on the floor, a trail of white smoke following her, until she slowed to a stop.

Orange had a wide grin on her face, incredibly happy to have landed a blow to her opponent, waiting for White to tell them to stop now that she had seen what else she could do.

But when the smoke began to clear, Orange was surprised to see Citrine shaking out her hand that had caught her attack. Where her hand should be was glitched lines of yellow-orange light, like she was having trouble reforming the appendage. This did not deter her from acting for long, and she was advancing on Orange again, her single hand raised in a fist, prepared to attack Orange. But the younger gem didn’t want to hit her, taking steps back as she moved out of the way of her punches. It was at this point she realized White wasn’t going to call for them to stop, and that a single punch wasn’t going to satisfy her.

Narrowing her eyes, Orange knew she was going to have to do that again. Concentrating, focusing her flowing energy to her hands, both of her fists began to glow. She waited until Citrine threw another punch that she dodge did she swing forward, her fist connecting with Citrine’s arm, and just like her hand, when her energy exploded in a concentrated blast, the area around her hit began to fizzle out, the strength of her hit knocking her back. Orange then advanced, throwing her other hand forward, hitting Citrine in the chest with the hopes to bring her to her knees.

Orange’s eyes widened when instead, the blow was larger than she had meant it to be, throwing Citrine back, lines forming in her light form, radiating from the smoking fist sized hole Orange had left in her chest, until her entire form was covered in fractured lines Orange had only ever seen when a gem was being destabilized with a wand, and then Citrine was engulfed in a puff of smoke, her gem the only thing remaining flying through the air to land on the ground with a tink.

“Stars!” Orange gasped, “I didn’t mean to destabilize her! Is her gem alright?”

Pearl walked forward from her safe distance from the fight, reaching the gem on the floor and picking it up to inspect it. “She’s alright, my diamond.” Pearl confirmed, causing Orange to let the breath she had been holding out in relief. Pearl encased the gem in a pale bubble, giving it a gentle tap, sending it somewhere Orange didn’t know.

“Fantasic!” White said, gaining both Orange and Pearl’s attention, Orange looked up at White, taking another breath as she felt the excitement of the fight leaving her, letting her realize just how much that had actually taken out of her. White’s smile was one of the widest Orange had seen, “Well done Orange.”

Orange smiled, a swell of pride filling her to have actually gotten that response from White of all people. “Thank you, White. For not just giving up on me.”

“Of course, my gemling.” White knelt down and Orange stepped to her out of habit before she even thought about it, White reaching out to run a finger over the smaller Diamond’s head affectionally. "I am only saddened you had to be placed in timeout for so long. Let’s not do that again.”

Orange’s eyes briefly flicked away from White’s, pushing the wave of emotion that tried to push to the surface down, forcing a smile on her face and chuckled, “That would be the preferred option.” Orange agreed.

“You’re looking strained, my dear.” White observed, seeing how Orange was still breathing heavier than normal.

“I’m still getting used to doing that.” Orange was quick to explain, looking down as she stretched out her hand and closed it, feeling the tingle of warmth in her finger tips, but also the fatigue in her body. Perhaps she hadrushed to do this, given how her body was feeling, but she could rest all she needed now that she had actually succeeded. Orange tightened her fist again, under White’s star, she felt the need to add, "I should be fine, soon.”

“We will keep working on it.” White responded, standing up to her full height, making Orange look up at her, "For now, return to your room.”

“Will…” Orange hesitated, her hand reaching over to grip her other arm, ”can I leave my room if I want?”

“Yes.” White nodded, her eyes cutting to Pearl, who had not moved from where she had bubbled Citrine, "Pearl, escort her back and inform the guards of Orange Diamond’s restrictions being lifted.”

Pearl bowed to White, “Yes, my Diamond.”

Orange turned from White, Pearl’s eyes focusing on Orange as she took her time to reach her, Pearl taking the lead to escort the youngest Diamond from the command room.

“Oh, and Pearl?”

Both Pearl and Orange stopped as they neared the door, turning to look at White over their shoulders, “Yes, my Diamond?”

“Do give back Orange Diamond her communicator.” White chuckled, and Orange wondered what was so funny about that, until she added, “I’m sure the others would be glad to hear from you, Orange.”

Orange gave White a nod in acknowledgment. “Thank you. I’ll call them soon.”

With the doors closed, Pearl stood closer to Orange than she normally allowed herself to in public, concern flashing over her face when Orange’s squared, tense posture buckled once they were out of White’s sight, and Pearl feared she was going to collapse to the floor until she caught herself, Pearl’s own hands hovering in the air as she refrained from touching her. “Orange? Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”Orange breathed, hunched over, her hands on her knees as she took multiple deep breaths, psyching herself up for the walk ahead of them before she straightened up, her back protesting to the sudden action as she winced. She forced a smile for Pearl, who she knew could see right though it, but thought to offer it anyway, “I’m okay. That just took a lot more out of me than i thought.”

Pearl’s hands fell back to her sides, her thin eyebrows pinched together as Orange began their slow walk back to her quarters. “You overestimated yourself.” Pearl chided, "You know how dangerous that is.”

“I know.” Orange admitted, embrassed Pearl had predicted just how reckless she would be, but the outcome hadn’t been so bad. She had not only shown a bit more control over her power, and she understood what she could do a lot better than ever before, at the low cost of a Citrine’s form, but she also now had her restrictions freed. A tired grin stretched across her face as she looked to Pearl, who walked beside her as an unspoken precaution, “But did you see what i did? the look on White’s face?”

“i saw,” Pearl nodded, a small smile on her face at the younger gem’s enthusiasm. “it was impressive compared to what you did before. i was…in awe of what you did to that Quartz.” Pearl admitted, her voice quiet.

Orange blushed, “Im glad.” Thinking on what she said, Orange cocked her head to grin at Pearl, jesting, "Also, good to know I can impress you with displays of power.”

Pearl responded with an amused grin of her own, “So long as you don’t pass out.”

“what if i land gracefully?”

Pearl’s eyes glanced over to Orange, her eyes sparkling in amusement, “You and i both know you’ll land on your face.”

Orange pressed a hand to her chest, dramatically throwing her head back, “Oh, ouch.”

The two settled into a comfortable silence, Orange’s lowered mobility as her earlier actions began to take its toll on her making their pace slowed.

Pearl was the first to break the silence, questioning Orange as she had to stop a moment to lean against the wall, much to Pearl’s concern that she waved off. “Would you like a bath prepared before you rest?”

“No. i think if i do, I'll just slip under the water.” Orang pushed off the wall, holding out her hands as she looked down at them, admitting, “My arms are tingling after punching that gem like that.”

Pearl stepped closer to her, surprising Orange as she took her hands, inspecting them. Orange still had marks from where she had been hit or slammed into the ground. Orange thought it only showed that she really could improve in physical combat. She had such a pampered life, she had no real need to fight until now when she was always surrounded by soldiers to do it for her. Pearl ran her thumb over Orange’s knuckles, discolored to a darker orange-red color than her skin naturally was, “Perhaps if you’re going to be punching people, you might need to practice.”

Orange did not resist when Pearl pulled away, taking a step back as they resumed their walk, though she noted Pearl was still closer to her than she normally allowed in public. She considered Pearl’s suggestion, finding the truth in it very obvious. Even if she never did see real combat, it would not be a bad thing to know how to, especially if her powers seemed most useful in unclose and hand-to-hand combat. She imagined if White wouldn't, Yellow would be excellent to turn to for this. “That is…a good idea, actually.”

“I admit,” Pearl said, gaining Orange’s attention again, "the thought of watching you taking on another quartz soldier would be interesting to see, and what else you can do.”

Orange didn’t immediately understand the feeling in her chest at Pearl’s words, or the flutter in her gut, an odd feelings she believed was from her fatigue. “I’ll be trying to impress you the whole time.”

Pearl’s cheeks burned a dark color, her eyes widening at her words. “Don’t say that.” Her voice was quiet, almost timid, “That’s…embarrassing.”

Orange realized how her words could have come off as flirtatious, her cheeks burning at the realization. “Sorry. i didn’t mean-” Orange cut herself off before she could say anything else stupid, her head turning away from Pearl’s direction and her lips pursed together as she cut off her sentence with a grunted “…erm.”

Pearl was quiet for a moment, her head ducked and her hands coming to clasp in front of her, fidgeting, before she looked towards Orange from the corners of her eyes, “I know what you meant. I did not say i objected.”

Orange’s head whipped to look at Pearl, her heart beating just a little faster at her admission, “What?”

“I simply meant its…a diamond trying to impress a pearl, no matter how friendly we are, is…silly.”

Orange’s hand balled up, her eyebrows arching slightly as the embarrassment left her to be replaced by indignation, “I don’t consider it silly. Maybe I,” Orange paused,”…I care what you think of me.”

Pearl swallowed, looking away and not meeting the younger gem’s eyes, “I think…i think you should rest. You’ve overworked yourself.” Pearl waited a moment before adding, “We can talk about you showing me how you’re going to take on the quartz guards later. White Diamond expects me to return.”

Orange sat up in her bed, breathing quickly and feeling cold and boxed in. Sweat beaded on her body, leaving the sheet clinging to everything she touched. Groaning, Orange rolled over to throw her legs off the bed, bowing to put her head in her hands, holding it there as she took deep breaths. After she believed she had calmed her breathing to an acceptable rate, she ran a hand through her hair, turning to look out the window. The sun was already rising up visibley in the sky, painting the tops of the sky rises and spires in pale light, signifying she had slept to at least late morning, if not into the early hours of afternoon.

The Diamond's eyes flicked from building to building, taking note of how the tops tinted a beautiful pastel pink, soon to be replaced with the yellow light that was beginning to dominate the color as the day cycle began to come into full swing.

There was a soft chime from her door, and Orange looked up to see Pearl enter, who smiled as greeting when she saw Orange sitting up and looking at her.

“Good to see you up.” Pearl commented, stepping over to the table where there was already a plate of tablets waiting for her, and Orange wondered when Pearl had already had the time to come by. “You were out much longer than I have seen you in a long time. How are you feeling?”

Orange sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over her forehead and eyes, feeling the small aches still lingering in her body. “Like i decided it would be a good idea to challenge Iris Agate to another fight. I can still hear the sound of her laughing at me.”

It had been a little more than two weeks since she had earned her freedom from confinement to this room, but she still found herself spending more time in it than she cared for. Mostly sleeping, and less time with Pearl, or watching the cityscape, but she was still here. White had started her on a small training regime with gems she chose herself, with no say from Orange, not that she would complain with her choices, Orange had just wanted more input in who she would be working with. White had at first found her request to be trained silly, outright laughing at her request and calling fighting like that for common soldiers, but Orange had managed to persuade her to allow her to at least learn the basics of hand-to-hand combat, with the argument that it did not reflect well on the Diamonds if she could be one upped by a simple soldier in a fight. 

At that point, she had a new teacher in the form of an Iris Agate, who Orange knew enjoyed running her ragged despite denying such claims. She also sparred with two Gray Topaz soldiers with Iris Agate’s oversight, both of which Orange had become rather fond of. The Topaz soliders were capable, sturdy gems, able to take a beating from her just as easily as they were able to give one back. Orange had been limited on her use of her powers, a limitation placed not by White Diamond, but Iris Agate, which was honestly fine with her. She didn’t want to destabilize the Gray Topaz by accident, and her goal was to learn technique and build her endurance up. She could learn how to combine the two in a fight later, after she could throw a punch that didn’t threaten to damage her just as much as her opponents. She was so unaccustomed to the physical exertions of hand-to-hand combat, it often only left her with enough energy to crunch on some tablets before she was passed out for long hours only to repeat the process.

During her new schedule, she had managed only once to squeeze in time to sit with Pearl to catch a sunset, but she had, upsettingly, fallen asleep during it. She had apologized the next day to Pearl who was more pleased that she was actually sleeping than bothered by her falling asleep on her. Orange didn’t know if she was more embarrassed to have actually fallen asleep on Pearl, or the fact she had blurted out that she made a comfortable pillow. Pearl had been nice enough to laugh off her embarrassment, but that didn’t change the fact Orange felt she was becoming more self conscious of what she said around her, and while it confused her why she felt the need to filter everything, Orange easily enough chalked it up to being overly tired whenever she had a moment alone with her.

Her fatigue had gotten to the point that when she had fallen asleep in the bath one night cycle, slipping under the water, and thankfully saved by 5XP. Pearl had chided her for that. Orange didn’t think she could actually drown under the water, given her breathing didn’t seem to serve any more of an actual purpose than it did for Pearl to do, not that she was in a rush to find out. But that didn’t make the experience any less unpleasant for her friend to learn about, especially given the knowledge that Orange would have been trapped under the water without her guard’s rescue. The young Diamond hadn’t even roused from her sleep until she was being smacked in the face by 5XP for not responding. It was at this point that Pearl hadn’t suggested, but told her flat out she needed a break, and that pushing herself so far was no better than depriving herself of what she needed to live.

Orange had to concede to Pearl’s argument, admitting that a day or two of rest would not do her wrong. But now that she wasn’t distracted with training, it gave her mind a chance to slip back to the thoughts she hadn’t had the energy to deal with. “I feel like I could rest more, but I want to get up and get out of this room.”

Pearl’s eyebrows pinched together, worried at how long it took her to respond as she looked over her shoulder at the younger gem, making to pick up the plate and bring it over to her. “Another dream?”

“Yeah.” Orange accepted the plate with an offered smile of gratitude, “Not too often as they used to be, but when they happen, it's…” Orange trailed off, picking up one of the tablets to flip around between her fingers before she crushed it, the fine powder flitting back onto the plate and her leg.

Pearl leaned forward, her hand grasping Orange’s, stopping her from crushing another tablet between her fingers. “I thought you had forgiven yourself for what happened?”

“I have, but at the same time…” Orange looked up, momentarily taken by the look of concern in Pearl’s eyes directed at her, “I miss her. I know I can’t change what happened, I know that. But I still wish I could. I wonder if she would have forgiven me.”

Pearl regarded her for a moment, a small smile coming to her face as she used her other hand to cup the same hand she had been grasping, so her hands made a cage around Orange’s. “I did not know that Pearl very well,” she began, her voice soft and comforting, soothing Orange’s over worked nerves, “even though she served White Diamond before being given to you, but i interacted with her more after she was. She was devoted to you. I believe she would have forgiven you.”

Orange let out a deep breath through her nose, her eyes falling closed at her words, giving her hand a squeeze as she returned her small smile with one of her own. “Thank you, Pearl.” Her eyes flicked up, meeting hers as Pearl was the perfect height to match hers while she sat on the bed. Orange’s other hand came over to lay over top Pearl’s, “I think i needed to hear that from someone else.”

“Im glad i can help.” Pearl and Orange were slow to separate, and it wasn’t until Pearl took a step back that she motioned to the the tray beside her, “You should eat your supplements. They will help you feel better.”

“Thanks.” Orange picked up the plate, actually eating two before she started into their conversation again, “I think I need to take a bath.” She commented, before giving Pearl a curious look, “Is White busy today?”

Pearl clasped her hands together in front of her, “White Diamond is fielding work into obtaining another colony, and will be unavailable to anyone, baring an emergency.”

Orange nodded, her lips pursed as she thought it over, “So the day is mine to do as i please.”

“Yes, your clarity.” Pearl affirmed.

Orange glanced up at her, her tone light and jesting, “Pearl?”

“I apologize.” The smaller gem smiled, looking mildly embarrassed, “It is a habit i will not break of easily.”

“I know.” Orange placed the half eaten tray back on the bed, not missing the pointed look she received from Pearl for it, “I suppose since White will be busy, you’ll have to return to her soon.”

“Yes. But I will be by again, in the evening, to check on you.”

“I think…” Orange thought out loud, leaning back and using her arms for support as she stretched out her back and shoulders, feeling the aches lessening the longer she wasn’t so immobile, “I’m going to wonder down to the palace for a bit today then.” Orange made a point to look at Pearl, giving her a genuine smile, “Thank you, Pearl.” She hesitated but a moment before adding, “For everything.”

“It is my pleasure, Orange,” Pearl grinned as she made sure to drag out the younger gem’s name in jest, before adding “and my job.”

“I know. But it means a lot to have you here.”

“i…i am glad to be here.” Pearl glanced over her shoulder towards the door, “I should go, before my Diamond is left waiting.”

Orange nodded, “I’ll see you later, Pearl.”

Orange had ended up falling back asleep after downing the last of the tablets and watching a few moments of the day approaching. She didn’t know how long it was when she woke up again, but the sky was fully illuminated in yellow hues, and she felt more full of energy than she had in a long, long time.

Enough that she decided to make good on her thought to wonder down from the ship to the palace, which is how she had ended up ordering her guards to remain at her room, much to 7XP’s anxiety to leave her side without someone else accompanying her, but she really wanted the time alone. Alone, and not in her room or own head, simply taking in her surroundings. She had not wondered White’s palace on her own since she was a young child, barely even a century old, and even then she hadn’t strayed from White’s side. A hall or two and then she would be right back to her, anxious to be without one of the other Diamonds or their Pearls. But now she was older, and she yearned sometimes for that time away, she no longer wanted to be at their side, to have their constant attention, and if this forced separation from them had proven anything, it was that Orange could survive without them. Not that she wanted to, but she was coming to terms with just how attached and reliant she had become on them.

Perhaps her separation from them would make her more dependent on herself. They would not always be there to hold her hand, and when she became a part of the Authority, she would have deal with being on her own more, doing things herself. Doing things her way, that was a thought that made her smile. She would be in control of her life, her choices would define her, she would be someone she could be proud of.

Strolling down the deserted halls of White’s palace, Orange noted the different styles of architecture, as if this all had been built at a different time in comparison to to the more updated aesthetic inside White’s headship, or even the throne room. A lot of it was open, and somewhat simplic, but still incredibly beautiful. Towering walls built of polished marbles and black and gold mounding lined the upper sections, large triangular designs overlapped on the walls, creating a similar diamond pattern that seemed to be common in the older buildings in the city. White pillars lined the walkway, clear crystalline structures stretched across them like shimmering lattice, spanning into large open archways that lead to other halls or side rooms, all that once served a different purpose at one point or another, now left to disuse as White had started to pull back from being such a publicly seen figure.

Orange can remember some of her fondest memories with White was her bringing her down here, the bluster and frenzy of gems startled to actually see her, but she had no attention for them. Her sole interest had been Orange, and showing her a world outside the little dome she had become used to, always at one of the Diamond’s sides. Orange had been so captivated by every little thing then, the grand rooms, the magnificent sights seen from White’s hand, sitting with White as she was attended by a select few gems who gawked at them both, but Orange had been more interested in the sight of new gems she had never known existed then their surprise at seeing her. Orange believed it might have been that day she had decided she wanted to be exactly like White Diamond, and around that time that she had come to the conclusion White could do no wrong, had no faults at all. How things changed.

Following the path the crystal wrapped pillars created, Orange found herself stepping into a large, open room. The room was built into a rounded octagonal shape, the same architecture used in the hall had been brought into here, the moulding lining the walls, and cutting upward, blending into the diamond pattern created by the triangular lines drawn on the wall. However unlike the hall, this room had had murals painted on the upper walls, vague images of gems done in simplistic color. The figures were blocked out into a series of panels as they went from the entrance and wrapped around the room, stretched up onto the ceiling. it was a breath taking sight to see the angular figure of a giant gem standing over other, smaller figures. It flowed into a scene of the larger gem, her hand outreached as the smaller gems multiplied, long lines jutting up in front of them, that Orange realized represented buildings. Further along, the Giant gem was met with another large gem, the two towering over the smaller ones, this gem was painted in a paler color than the first gem, who seemed to simply be an outline and was left to be filled in by the natural white tint of the stone work it had all been painted on. 

As her eyes traveled over the murals, Orange realized this was a story of how Homeworld came to be, of White creating the first gems. Yellow Diamond joining her, and later to be joined by Blue. Ship construction as they harnessed the power to traverse stars, starting the first colonies. It was all depicted on the walls in primitive gem pictures, but it was the first time Orange had ever actually seen it depicted so openly. The mural cut off before Pink Diamond was ever depicted, and Orange knew this had been made before Pink had emerged. It truly was an old depiction. Reluctantly, she eventually turned from the story overhead to look back at the room. There was no actual furniture, but more pillars placed sparsely about, appearing to be more aesthetic in nature than structural, that filled up some of the bare space. These pillars lead to an open balcony, the railings dully shimmering in the light of Homeworld’s daylight. Stepping to the railing, orange leaned on it as she peered out. Before her was the the Great Diamond Throne room, the building where she had only been allowed to go to once, and she had danced with Pearl. She couldn’t see the inside, even from her elevated angle, as the glass tops reflected the light of the sky and the surrounding buildings, the Authority’s symbol displayed beautifully to her. One day, that symbol would include her, one day it would be her color decorating glass and tinting buildings, spires erected in her honor, and Pink throwing balls to celebrate her accomplishments.

Caging the throne room, were the other Diamond’s palaces, their ships docking bays empty, symbolizing that they were not currently on homeworld. Orange’s eyes lingered on the pink palace across from her, before sliding over to the other two. She missed them. She had dived so headfirst into her training to try and better herself, she had completely pushed her thoughts of her fellow Diamonds to the background. She never had gotten around to calling them, to seeing how they were doing. Did they care how she was?

Orange tried to push down the memory of Zirconia laying out one of her greatest worries. Where the others happier without her? Would her contacting them simply come across as needy? No, she had to remind herself. They loved her, and she loved them. But it would be better to hear it from them, to see it. 

When she got back to her room, she would give them a call. White had even reminded her to, so she must know Orange needed to speak with them.

Orange breathed in deeply, settling the flutter in her gut, and the hollow feeling that threatened to overwhelm her if she lingered much longer on her doubts. She leaned her arms on the railing, taking in the new view of the city. For the time being, she would simply take the moment to enjoy some time for herself.

Sitting down at her desk, Orange’s fingers fidgeted with the Diamond communicator  she held between her hands. Her nerves were an absolute mess, and she knew it was because she was working herself up. She worried about what the outcome of her first call would be, what would Blue say? Would Blue care that she called? Would she have the time? or would Blue put on a show of caring, but really didn’t? 

“Oh stars,” Orange leaned forward, resting her forehead on the cool stone of the desk, her eyes never straying from the multicolored diamond device, like if she took her eyes off it, it might make a call before she had prepared herself for it. “This is silly.” Orange told herself, “Pearl would tell you you had no reason to be anxious.” Orange paused, quiet as she realized she had talked about Pearl, acknowledging the twinge in her chest at the memory of her. She couldn’t avoid her feelings forever, but she didn’t know how much longer she could tell herself she acknowledged what had happened, and how she felt, and still find herself dreading even thinking about her.

Pearl would be so angry if she knew how she was reacting. She knew White’s Pearl was right, she would have forgiven her. She was dragging this out, and Pearl would have been so upset. She would have also been able to talk Orange out of convincing herself that the other diamonds could even possibly hate her.

“Pull yourself together. For Pearl. For all of them.” Orange closed her eyes, taking a breath and smiling. The flutter in her gut and the tightness in her chest wasn’t gone, but it wasn’t so stifling. She didn’t feel boxed in. "For yourself.”

Sitting back, Orange sat the communicator down on the desk, resting her forearms on it as she turned it until it turned Blue. Her fingers let go and it raised in the air, shifting into a flat diamond shape before it separated, spitting into two bent rods as it stretched up, another diamond shape forming between it, this one a holographic screen. She took the moment it took to connect to find a comfortable position in the chair, her fingers curling around the bottom of her tunic in comfort.

The pale light turned from blue static, clearing into the familiar sight of Blue’s Pearl, her voice as soft and breathy as ever, her tone professional in that manner Orange had come to associate with all the Pearl’s in her life. “Blue Diamond’s command room.”

Orange blew out air from her nose, her eyebrows turning up as she smiled wistfully. “Hey Pearl.”

“Orange Diamond.” Pearl returned her smile, cheekily adding, “You missed our last drawing session.”

“Orange!” Orange blinked in surprise as a large blue hand covered half the screen as she watched from the other half as it was lifted up in the air until she was face to face with Blue Diamond.

“Blue.” Orange breathed out. Her reaction to her calling was more telling for her than anything she could say next. "How’re you?”

“Orange! Oh, I’m so glad to see you.” Tears formed in Blue’s eyes that she didn’t bother to wipe away as she held the screen on her end up with both of her hands, smiling affectionately at her, "I have missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Blue.” Orange chuckled, the tightness in her chest fleeting in the wake of Blue’s emotional reaction. “I’ve missed our talks” Orange told her, before adding, “and your hugs.”

Blue Diamond laughed, “Oh Orange.” she finally wiped at her eyes as her tears ebbed, changing her position in her chair as she inquired, “Has White said if she’s releasing you to come back to us?”

“I believe i’ll have clearance for that, soon,” Orange confirmed, giving her a nod as she spoke, “but I think Im going to stay on homeworld for a while.”

“What?” Blue’s smile dropped, her eyebrows shooting up, her eyes wide and her voice dropped to a whisper, “oh, but…”

“After I come visit!” the younger Diamond was quick to add before the other could begin crying again, explaining, “There are just some things Ive realized i need to work on, and i think it’d be best if I stay in one place.”

Blue took a breath, calming herself as she nodded her head in acknowledgment of Orange’s choice. “I understand. Are you sure everything is okay? you look…”

“I know, I’ve been told already.” Orange chuckled, lightening the mood that had come over the conversation, "I haven’t been feeling myself recently, but things are getting better.”

“I can’t wait to see you, Orange.” Blue Diamond leaned back in her chair, the screen following her as her expression became warm, “We have so much to catch up on.”

“It’s barely been more than two months, Blue!”

“It feels like so much longer.”

Orange shook her head fondly, she had truly missed the easiness she had with Blue. She had needed to hear from her more than she had realized. “Are you still going to be at your Tanzinite colony for long?”

Blue nodded an affirmation, “Yes. The terraforming has almost finished! Please, come visit me.”

“I will! Tell me, how have things been? I feel like I've missed a lot.”

After her call with Blue had ended, Orange was not nearly as tense or anxious as she turned the communicator to Yellow’s frequency. As she would expect, Yellow’s Pearl answered the call in a very timely manner, sitting up quite rigidly in her chair, her round head tilted back a little haughty as she spoke, “Yellow Diamond’s command room.”

“Pearl,” Orange repeated, amused just how alike this was to Blue’s call, though instead of a large smile, Yellow Pearl’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“My Clarity!” Pearl leaned forward, her mouth rounding into a smile before she seemed to catch herself, shifting back in her chair, “erm, I mean-“

“Pearl, who is it?” Orange could hear Yellow question and watched as Pearl stood up, turning to face Yellow who hadn’t looked over at her yet.

“It’s Orange Diamond, uh, my Diamond.” Pearl stumbled through her reply.

Yellow’s head snapped over to look at them, her eyes focusing on the screen where Orange had been watching her, a small smile on her face as she met the older Diamond’s eyes. Yellow leaned forward, her hand outreached to Pearl, “I’ll take the call, Pearl. Hand it over.”

“Yes, my diamond.” Pearl was quick to give Yellow the communicator, not having the chance to say anything else to Orange as Yellow leaned back into her command chair, the screen raising to her eye level.

“Yellow.” Orange spoke first, "It’s good to see you.”

“Orange?” Yellow raised one dark eyebrow at her, relaxing, or as much as Yellow did relax, into the high back of her seat. "I wasn’t expecting a call.”

“I’m sorry.” the smaller gem returned sheepishly, "I’m probably interrupting your work, aren’t I?”

“Yes. I was checking Ruby productions…” Yellow trailed off, her eyes flicking to the screens she had pushed aside in favor of her call from Orange, "But I can take a moment. How are things with White?”

Orange leaned back in her own seat, mimicking Yellow’s posture, “It’s good. Well, better. I can control myself now, a lot more than before.”

“Good.” Yellow’s head titled back, her chin raised in silent approval, "Then I imagine you won’t be required to stay with White for much longer.”

“I’m staying volunteeringly,” Orange explained, feeling much more prepared than she had been for Blue, “to continue honing myself. But…” Orange hesitated, "Would you mind if I came to see you? When you have the time.” she added at the last moment.

“Yes. I’m interested to see how you’ve come along.”

Orange chuckled, grinning warmly at Yellow, “I wouldn’t say no to the chance to show you.”

“Very well.” Yellow’s attention was momentarily pulled from her by a red flash on her work station, "I have to go, Orange.”

“Okay.” Orange smiled understandingly, "Thanks for taking the time for me, Yellow.”

“You’re welcome,” Yellow responded, sounding somewhat surprised to be thanked. ”…and Orange?”

Orange paused, half way towards grabbing her own communicator to end the call, surprised to be stopped by Yellow. “Hmm?”

“I am pr-“ Yellow’s voice cut off, her lips thinning out into a line, and Orange wonder what she had been about to say. “…I will await your message when you are released for travel. Yellow out.”

Pearl walked away from the campfire, checking over her shoulder to make sure she was alone and no one was watching her as she ducked into the brush and shadows the trees cast in the moonlight. With all the gems in the clearing, it made it much easier to disappear into the crowd and not pull attention, which she was glad for. when she was certain she was in the clear, Pearl lifted her hands, guiding the small diamond communicator from her gem. Even as it dropped into her hand, she could see it lighting up as it continued to ring. Pearl’s breath caught in her throat.

Looking over her shoulder again, Pearl’s eyes found Pink Diamond, in her disguise as Rose Quartz, as she laughed freely with the other rebel gems. A large gem, a Bismuth, hung off of Rose’s shoulders, laughing loudly as some of the other quartz gems joined in her merriment. They had gained Bismuth two weeks back, and she had been essential in their last win against their skirmish against Homeworld with her ability to make such fine weapons so quickly. Bismuth had proven to be not only a great addition to the Rebels, but a much needed distraction for her Diamond. As always, White Diamond’s last encounter had left her nerves fraying, and her last breakdown, luckily in a moment away from the rebels, had been incredibly concerning. 

Looking back at the communicator, Pearl frowned. She couldn’t upset Pink and pull her away from this celebration to be disturbed by one of the other Diamond. She wouldn’t take this away from her for the likes of them. They would have to wait.

Pearl placed the communicator back into her gem, turning just in time to meet Rose’s eyes as she looked up, cocking her head in question at Pearl. Pearl simply smiled, forcing a laugh, despite not knowing what Bismuth had made another pun about, as she moved back to the campfire to join the other rebels.

The smile began to slip off Orange’s face as the call rang on. After her third attempt to get an answer, Orange knew Pink wouldn’t be picking up. She tried not to allow it to ruin the happy mood she was in, telling herself Pink was incredibly busy. She would try again soon, she was bound to answer one of them. Orange did not have long to dwell on it, however, as she turned when her door chimed and opened a moment later, revealing Pearl.

Pearl smiled at her as their eyes met, remaining well out of the way of the diamond display's way as it continued to ring. “Am I interrupting?” she questioned quietly.

Orange glanced at the screen, before closing it. “No. You're not interrupting anything.”

Pearl stepped closer to her, her hand coming up to rest on the back of her chair as she leaned against the arm, “Then, I have some free time.”

Orange grinned, her happy mood returning with force, “Join me?”

“You wanted to talk about my experience, didn’t you?” Pearl questioned, stepping back as Orange stood up, placing the communicator onto the side of the desk where it would not be easily knocked the next time she sat there.

Orange stepped away from the desk, coming to stand beside Pearl as she shook her head, “Later. There’s…” Orange only hesitated for a moment before she found the nerve to continue, “I found this room, in the palace, I want to take you to. I mean, I’m sure you know the palace inside and out, but-“

Pearl cut her off before she could continue, her hand coming up to rest on Orange’s upper arm, “Show me.”

A short time later, Orange stood back as Pearl stepped further into the room, her head turning this way and that as she looked around, Orange simply watching Pearl taking in the sight of the room, more captivated by her curiosity than the unique beauty of the room.

“I haven’t seen this room in a long time.” Pearl said quietly, looking up at the ceiling.

Orange stepped up beside her, turning her head to look up at the mural with her, “Was it important?”

“It used to be used by the Diamond’s,” Pearl explained, turning away to look at Orange, the younger gem looking back down to meet her gaze, “Before Pink had gotten a colony. They would have talks in here, on occasion.”

“So, it has old memories?” Orange’s jaw flexed, her elation of finding the room dropping in the realization she had brought Pearl to a place she could possibly have been avoiding for one reason or another, "I’m sorry. If I had known-“

“Don’t be.” Pearl gave her a small smile to try and assuage her sudden panic, “They aren’t bad ones.” She turned to look out at the open balcony, even from their spot in the room they could see spires being painted in the dusky pink light as night started to creep up, “This room has a great view.”

Orange stared at her turned head, her breath hitching in her throat. “I noticed.”

Pearl turned back to her, her smile was genuinely happy, “Thank you for taking me here. I haven’t thought of this place in a long time.”

Orange remained silent for a moment as she made a split second decision. “Pearl?”

Pearl cocked her head in question, “Yes?”

Orange bowed to Pearl, one hand outstretched to her as she placed the other behind her back, “Would you give me the honor of dancing with me?”

Pearl chuckled, a slight tint to her cheeks as she reached out, placing her hand into Orange’s, allowing her to guide them into a starting position. “Yes, I will.”

Come on, come on, come-

“Oofff!” Orange Diamond grunted as the large grey fist ducked under her crossed arms and crashed into her gut, flinging her up and off her feet, knocking her backwards. Gravity took effect a moment later and she landed on her butt, falling back and sprawling out on the floor, her eyes wide and dazed.

“Three.” Topaz J2 called, her arms crossed as she stood behind her partner, a cocky smirk on her face.

Topaz’s partner, G9, grinned, her deadly fast fists resting on her hips as the two of them stared at their sparring partner, “We win, my Diamond.”

Orange comically groaned louder as she sat up, her head falling back rather dramatically, so she was facing towards the ceiling with her mouth wide open and her eyes still closed, earning chuckles from the Topazes, “Thistime.”

“And the last time.” J2 added.

G9 cocked her head to turn her grin at her as they continued their banter, “And the time before that.” 

“And-“

A loud voice, hoarse and scratchy,like she had come out of her hole screaming orders, which could have been perfectly plausible, broke their banter and drew their attention, breaking the lighthearted mood, “What are you doing!?” 

The livid Iris Agate glared between the three of them, looking as if she was mere seconds from exploding. Despite being shorter than the Topazes and Orange, she was still incredibly intimidating, and managed to pull everyone's attention with her mere presence.

Orange rolled her neck, her legs crossing as she leaned forward to rest her elbows on her legs, being courteous enough to look up at Iris as she spoke, “Urgh. Iris, come on. You don’t have to yell.“

Iris’ eyes widened as she bared her teeth in a snarl, and Orange wouldn’t believe she could look angrier if she hadn’t witnessed it herself before. “Yell? I haven’t even begun to yell!” Iris held out a hand in J2 and G9’s direction, “What was that?”

“Me…getting punched by a Topaz?” Orange answered sheepishly, sitting up a little straighter under the Agate’s cool, pale eyes.

“Exactly!” Iris hand swung towards her, pointing a finger accusingly at the youngest Diamond, "You’re too slow!”

Orange’s face fell into a blank look, which she knew would make Iris angrier, but she could hardly stop herself from pushing her buttons. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“What am I supposed to do with you? You’re built like a quartz soldier, but you have all the grace of lumbering slate.” Iris sighed, her hand moving up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, “And now you’re going to be going off and you’re going to slack in your training. I’m going to have to start all over again!”

Orange took her time getting up off the ground, raising an eyebrow at Iris Agate, “Do you talk to all the Diamonds you know like this?”

“I don’t see a Diamond here, only a whiney polished pebble.”

Orange had to fight back a laugh at the haughty look on Iris’ face, and responded in an even tone, “You know, you’re taking that free reign to say whatever quite far.”

Iris paused, her shoulders tense as she met Orange’s eyes, her annoyed sneer dropping into a somewhat neutral frown. “Would you prefer I stop?“

“No, no.” Orange waved her off, “where would the fun in that be?”

“Good.” And that wide eyed angry look was back, “Then the Polished Pebble better get up and start again!”

Orange rolled her eyes, “Ugh. Iris, you are a personal slave driver.”

“Only because you slack off. And don’t roll your eyes at me!”

The Diamond walked over to the Topazes, bumping a friendly fist to G9, who grinned as all three turned back to Iris. Orange swept a hand through her bangs, her lips pursed slightly at the accusation, “I’m not slacking. I’m a lot faster than I was.”

Iris acknowledged this with a nod, “Except, it doesn’t matter how quick you are when you can’t keep it up for long. Your endurance is lacking, and while you could punch holes in granite, your strength matters little when you can’t use your abilities and your opponent is better trained than you.”

“So I need to work on endurance more.” Orange agreed, “I’ll keep training while I’m away.”

Iris sighed, laying a hand over her chest, “But it won’t be mytraining. Who will push you to do your best without me?”

“I’ll just imagine you yelling, and threatening me, how about that?” 

Iris pale eyes narrowed at the youngest diamond, “Excuse me?”

“I’m joking! I’m joking.” Orange held up her hands in a show of peace as she laughed, settling down after a moment and becoming a little more serious, though the smile never left her lips as she addressed her trainer, “Really, Iris. I’ll be gone for two months, if that. To Yellow and Blue Diamond’s colonies and then I’ll be back. You’ll hardly even know I’m gone.”

“Of course I’ll know you’re gone.” Iris pursed her lips, one hand wrapping around her chest and being used to support the other as she rested it on top, a finger tapping at her lower lip as a thoughtful expression crossed her face, “When you get back, I’ll have a whole knew schedule for you.” Her face lit up, looking much more enthusiastic about it than her three companions, “It’ll be perfect. You’ll be spending an extra hour with me until I’m satisfied you are where you're suppose to be.”

“I’m going to die.” Orange’s lips pulled into a grimace as she spoke under her breath.

“What was that?” Iris eyes zeroed in on Orange again, who jumped slightly at her intense look.

“I said I can’t wait!” The diamond chuckled awkwardly, “Right, G9? Sounds like great fun, huh?” Orange patted her arm, who looked far more uncomfortable under Iris’ stare than Orange, nodding her head in forced agreement.

“Fun...”

Iris harrumphed, folding her arms behind her back, somehow looking much more intimidating than when she had been waving her hands around. Her features pinched into that natural Agate sneer of disapproval, “That’s what I thought you said. Now stop running your mouth, and start-“

“I’m going, I’m going!” Orange grumbled in mock reluctance, beginning the slow jog around the large open oval structure that they used for training, calling over her shoulder in a joking whine, “J2! Save me!”

“No, that’s okay.” J2 leaned on her counterpart’s shoulder as they watched Orange Diamond jogging, struggling to look at them over her shoulder and almost running into a thick white pillar, which had them devolving into snickers.

G9 nearly fell backwards as she leaned back against her partner, laughing and waving off their sparring partner, “We’ll wait here.”

Iris Agate startled them both when she marched up to them, pointing a finger in Orange’s direction, “What are you talking about? You go too!”

Both G9 and J2 stepped back, jaws tensing at her closeness. 

“What?” J2 stuttered, pushing against G9 to use her as a shield against the Agate when they both looked down at her.

G9 pushed against her counterpart’s hands, grunting at the effort as Iris leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at both of them.“But-“

“You’re her training partners!” Iris barked, making them both jump, “If she’s running, you better be running too!”

“Yes ma’am!” 

“We’re going!” G9 was the first to pull away, making J2 almost stumble into Iris before she pivoted, twisting her weight and stumbling after her as they both ran to catch up with the Diamond, who turned to look at them, a large grin splitting her face.

“Ha ha!” Orange cackled, making sure to keep ahead of the Topazes, “That’s what you get!”

“We weren’t made for this!” G9 complained, huffing loudly as her partner caught up with her.

“Of course we were, don’t be an idiot!” J2 punched her in the back of the arm, glaring at her when she turned to look at her, rubbing her shoulder as her eyebrows turned up in distress.

“Maybe you were!” G9 pushed her.

J2 pushed back, passing her counterpart in their run and taking the middle between Orange and her. “You’ve spent too much time in the palace guard!”

Orange slowed just enough for the two to catch up, joining in their not so quiet arguing. “How angry do you think Iris would be if we just took a left, and split?” Orange huffed, eyeing the exit ahead of them.

“Not worth it!” J2 grunted.

“No!” G9 cried, shaking her head so quickly, Orange questioned how she wasn’t dizzy after, “I’d rather keep running for the rest of my life.”

“Good point.” Orange agreed, offering the two struggling topazes a grin and raised eyebrow, “I mean, we have to stop at some point, right?”

More than an hour later, and a lot more work than Orange had planned to do that day, the Diamond rested on her hands and knees, not quite sure she was ever going to get her breathing back to normal. G9 and J2 were collapsed on the ground around her, breathing incredibly heavy and groaning.

“Urrrrg.” Orange groaned, as she flopped onto her stomach, ignoring Iris Agate who stood in front of all of them, an eyebrow raised at their dramatic behavior. “You are trying to kill me. Just get your whip and end it already, Iris.” Orange reached forward, grabbing onto her trainer’s booted foot, “Don’t be so cruel.”

Iris kicked her hand off, rolling her eyes, “Stop complaining.”

“I’ll stop complaining when I’m dead.” Orange rolled over, blowing air from her mouth to move the bangs that stuck to her forehead to look up at Iris and meet her eyes.

“Tempting.” Iris smirked, “You make it very tempting.”

“Oh, oh. Topaz, my beautiful topazes.” Orange reached out to J2, who looked over at her to watch as she flopped an arm over her eyes, “You must move on without me.”

“‘Kay!” G9 yelled, “Maybe we’ll get a diamond that doesn’t like to do exercise.”

Orange sat up, playfully glaring at her, “Yeah? Maybe when this is all over, I’ll give you to Yellow Diamond. I hear she likes to make her troops train through war maneuvers every other month.”