Work Text:
Rainbow Quartz was a contradiction.
She was filled to the brim with love in her core, and she harbored petty hatred in her bones.
She was a free spirit, and there was only one thing -- one person that anchored her to Earth.
She loved herself. She hated herself, though this side was muted. She’d frown at her reflection sometimes, but something like affection would bloom in her chest and soften the feeling and melt it down until it wasn’t really there, not unless you looked.
She loved to love herself, and she loved to love the world.
Loving Greg was different. Rainbow’s lips would stretch into an eerie, almost playful smirk whenever she was in his presence. She loved getting close, but not too close. She loved dodging his advances. She liked watching his expressions, and the way they gave her sick satisfaction and pleasure.
She didn’t mind being around him, but her existence in his presence felt undeniably tied to him. Sometimes she wondered if it all made any sense, but she was never around him for long. Pearl’s frustration tore her apart, and Rose’s thoughtlessness could result in a fissure down her middle.
With so many contradictions, it shouldn’t have been easy to be her. Rainbow thinks Rose made it easier, maybe. Pearl held her back sometimes. Still, she could never forget the soft rolling of waves on sand, and the neon glow of a makeshift stage at midnight. She dreamed of running her hands through iridescent locks of hair and caressing her body like it was a treasure to flaunt.
She dreamed of Greg, though those dreams weren’t always pleasant.
It was silly, she thought, to think of him as often as she did. She was usually only present for their expeditions outside of Beach City. She came to life and took her first breath in battle, which made her dream of dancing in color seem further away than ever. She just focused on protecting her friends; protecting herself. She was a treasure, after all.
Once Rose is gone -- really, truly gone -- she is gone, too. There is another version of her, of course, whom they fondly call “2.0”, but it isn’t her.
And when she ceased to be, she couldn’t miss herself.
2.0 still wonders.
Steven wonders.
Pearl doesn’t.