Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After all this time searching fruitlessly and having to deal with more unsettling dreams and slumber parties than she would care to include, they finally found that horrid fusion on an island akin to the one Steven and his little friends camped at that one time. The fusion was clearly having a lot of inner struggle and was tearing up large hunks of the geography while the gems that made up Malachite were fighting for dominance (or control; it was hard to tell) of the beast of rage. Once Steven's eyes focused on her he couldn't help but call out "Lapis!"

       In her surprise the fusion managed to choke out "Steven?!" before defusing in a shattering of light that glittered in the sun. Jasper and Lapis were flung to opposite sides of the clearing. Both gems were exhausted and barely able to move due to the strain that the other put on them. The Crystal Gems summoned their weapons and were prepared to fight but it turned out both Lapis and Jasper went into their gem forms. Marching towards the closest one, which happens to be Lapis Lazuli's gem, Garnet picks up the teardrop and was about to summon her gauntlets but something made her pause.

'That can't be possible'  Was the passing thought going through the fusion's head as numerous futures stemmed through similar to silk over hands, passing seamlessly in an endless line

"Don't harm either Lapis or Jasper" Came the quiet order

Reasonably, both Pearl and Amethyst were shocked while Steven looked joyful

"What?! Garnet are you absolutely sure about this; not that I'm judging your decisions or anything it's just that both of these gems has caused a lot of trouble for everyone, and while cracking gems is never enjoyable for anyon-" Garnet took off her visor and looked at Pearl with a level stare.

"Trust me"

A beat of silence passed as Pearl seemed to give in "...Fine. But if either of them causes trouble I'm not going to hesitate summoning my spear and finishing the job."

Garnet allowed a tiny upwards tug on her lips to take place "If I'm wrong I'll personally admit it. Now let's get back to the Temple."

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Steven has placed Jasper and Lapis in cushions like the one Pearl once rested on. Steven, the sweetheart, tried to temporarily replace Pearl with that annoying imposter. That thing broke her favorite mop. Nobody knew it was her favorite mop and they will never know her true feelings. Never.

     But joking aside, she was slightly lost on how to progress from this point; there are so many paths to take and they depended on how the Homeworld gems reacted to this situation, and while she hated bringing potential danger to her beloved family, but their current enemies might react in different ways causing different pathways and yadda yadda cryptic stuff nobody has the patience for. Garnet estimates that it’ll take about a few days at the most, considering Jasper is a fighting gem and Lapis’s pure stubbornness. Nevertheless proper defense mechanisms are going to be needed so the house isn’t destroyed.

4:53 AM

A resounding crash sounded throughout the temple, thankfully all the crystal gems were near the living room so they could get in quickly. Honestly they weren’t expecting the sight before them: Jasper was in a defensive position, slightly curled up and was baring her teeth but her breathing (Unnecessary but calming for some) was in ragged gasps.

“LET ME LEAVE” Jasper roared, instinctively stampeding in a random direction. Unfortunately that direction would turn out to be towards a very sleepy Steven. Garnet reacted quickly and intercepted the rampaging gem, but was surprised when the massive military general broke out crying and whimpering

“Please…no more…let me just go I’m so sick of the ocean and earth and no chains no no noNONOSTOPLET ME GO” Jasper screamed while thrashing about, trying to hit whatever she could. Garnet held her limbs mostly still while they jerked around but was honestly lost on how to deal with this. Thankfully Steven caught on and approached Jasper slowly while talking in a calming voice, mostly just garble but the tone soothed the striped gem enough so she was laying still. Steven laid his tiny hand on her forearm and stroked in a up and down motion while still talking to her

            “Jasper it’s okay, shh you’re alright don’t worry because you’re with me and I consider you a friend, even though you hurt me. I forgave you long ago. It’s alright nobody’s gonna hurt you and even if they did I’d protect you.” His quiet little voice began to sing

“Hey tiger tiger I know that you are scared

Roaming around the jungle completely unprepared

I have seen your claws and heard your roar

I can’t doubt that you’ve been to war

And though I’m just a cub I still have my voice

So come and be my friend you know you have a choice

Because the Puma is wild but cannot pretend

And the birds above have love to send

And mama bear is watching from caves far away

Watching over both of us while we play

So change your spots to stripes of peace

Or calm down enough at least”

He finished the song with a cough but Jasper had gone completely lax in her arms during him singing so that was a plus. It seems like she went into some sort of stasis to recuperate completely from the stresses. Must’ve been a nightmare for the both of them.

I wonder why Jasper didn’t go for the warp pad or at least the door. They were both incredibly obvious to anybody with enough perception. Garnet carefully lifted up the relaxed Jasper’s head and peered closely. Gently, her thumb lifted one heavy eyelid and scrutinized she has no irises. Is she blind? Is that why she didn’t escape or give an actual fight? Why was her sight lost and what caused her to not regenerate it? Is her gem cracked or otherwise damaged? Both Ruby and Sapphire were uneasy and tense and Garnet made no exception.

            What made this much damage in such a short amount of time?

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Sleep was always seen as a useless thing back on homeworld but honestly during the night, there's nothing to do so why not. Steven had already went back to bed, worried and relieved in equal amounts while Garnet was stuck with dealing with the still form of Jasper.

The lack of breathing alarmed Garnet until she remembered that gems don't actually breathe. After years of at least pretending to breathe, it was more habit than she cared to admit. Amethyst is the best at breathing, always better adapted to Earth. Even though Garnet was technically formed on the planet, she still had vague notions of how things were done, from the memories of Ruby and Sapphire. There was always this nervous thrum of thought going on all the time, occasionally getting so loud Garnet didn't notice the worried looks that Amethyst and Pearl shot at her. Eventually it was just added to the large pile of "Garnet quirks".

The low growl that resounded from Jasper snapped Garnet out of her thoughts and spurred her back into action. Thankfully the gem tech they had on hand (and they found on that delightful ship) Pearl managed to build a crude holding cell. They can't just poof a gem anytime they misbehaved Naughty gems go back into the gem zone. That won't do, mainly because Steven would get upset anytime it happened. So cell it was.

It was more of a pen in all honesty; but it was useful and with a cursory glance at Jasper's lack of pupils (Eyes are still open and kinda creepy), Garnet decided she must be blinded temporarily. Garnet put the gem in the pen (She bets that Steven would laugh if he was awake. A resounding snore claimed he wasn't) And sated temporarily with security, she sat nearby. Garnet is still worried about the security of just...leaving a giant blinded gem that just kinda had a lot happen. Too much happen. Things should stop happening.

A minute passed and things are still happening.

Call the police.

 A few hours passed and the sun rose but neither gem changed position, unmoving. Garnet resigned herself to sitting still for a while longer. Sure it was boring, but the pile of entertainment that Greg provided was bound to be used at some point by the crystal gem. She hummed a little tune and was about to move to the pile of stuff to see if anything interested her until she was interrupted by the loud crash in the other room and Steven's alarmed yell.

That's a problem.