Work Text:
Pearl sighed as she neatly folded the newspaper in her hands. Yet another rehash of the same information she had read at least a dozen times at this point. She didn't fully understand why Rose insisted on them getting a copy of every newspaper they sold at the stand on the Boardwalk - two or three was more than enough to cover the vast majority of news - but Rose was convinced they would miss something if they did otherwise. So here she was, in the Temple's Burning Room, reading remarkably crude and ill-informed editorials about the State Of The World with Garnet while Rose was out managing her Garden. Pearl stood, and as she did the light from the pool of lava that occupied the center of the room made her shadow dance. Pearl walked over and gently placed the newspaper on the lava's surface. The newspaper shriveled up as it both burned and sunk into the lava, and the pool bubbled happily, as if it were acceptive of this offering.
Pearl returned to her place and picked up the remaining newspaper next to her. "I'm simply saying," she continued, "That humans have much more efficient means of disseminating news than this. They've been able to communicate with electric signals for almost a century now. You would think the jump to a more global means of communication would have happened by now."
"Mm." Garnet said, not looking up from the article she was studying.
"Honestly," Pearl said, eyes glazing over the article she was skimming, "I've got half a mind to go to their governments and just give them the framework for such a network. It would make our lives so much easier."
"You know the rules," Garnet said, looking up from her paper. "No interfering with the humans' development."
Garnet crumpled up her newspaper and tossed it into the lava pool. Pearl watched the projectile's perfect arc as it landed in the center of the pool. "I know," she said, "But it doesn't hurt to dream."
Garnet suddenly stood up and walked towards a wall of the room, to Pearl's right. As she walked forward, the Temple Door appeared. It opened, revealing Amethyst carrying a stack of newspapers as tall as she was, back-lit by the early morning sun that shown into the cave and through the door. Pearl sighed. She had forgotten that they were still a day behind.
"Did the man at the newspaper stand give you any trouble?" Garnet asked, taking a chunk of the stack from her.
"No," Amethyst said, stepping into the Temple. She plopped down in front of the lava pool, giving Pearl half of the remaining stack. "But something bad happened today," she said, a worried look on her face.
"Oh," Pearl said, patting Amethyst on the head. " Well, I'm sure whatever happened, that it-"
Pearl was cut off by a loud gasp from Garnet. Pearl looked down at the front page of the newspaper at the top of her stack.
FIRST ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON JAPAN - MISSLE IS EQUAL TO 20000 TONS OF TNT
"Garnet," Pearl said as she scanned the article. "They-"
"I know," Garnet said. She had stopped reading and pulled herself into a meditative position. The light from the lava bounced off of her shades. "This is bad."
"So many humans are dead," Amethyst said, frowning at the paper she was holding.
"Yes, Amethyst," Pearl said. "And in such a crude way, too." Pearl looked at the article Amethyst was reading. The phrase DAWN OF THE AGE OF THE ATOM was scrawled at the top as part of the headline. Pearl rolled her eyes. "They can't honestly say that if they can barely control the process."
"Rose is coming back," Garnet said suddenly. Pearl noted the hint of panic in her voice. Why would Rose's coming back be bad?
The door opened, and Rose walked in, her bare feet not making a sound as she stepped across the warm stone floor. She was humming a tune, and a rose from her fountain's garden accented her hair, which looked extra pink against the red walls of the Burning Room. "Hello, everyone," she said, smiling brightly.
Oh, right.
"Ah, Rose!" Pearl said. She reflexively stood up and took her place at Rose's left side, holding her newspaper with her free hand. "Things... Things are good."
"Good," Rose said, "And how are the humans?" She asked, gesturing to the scattered piles of newspapers.
"Oh, the same old thing, you know. The war continues, et cetera."
Rose plucked the newspaper out of Pearl's hands. "Oh, come now. There must be something exciting that happened today. Some new development in their technology, or-"
Rose trailed off as she read the headline. Pearl waited, watching Rose's eyes grow wider and wider the more she read.
"No," Rose said, her voice barely audible. "No, this isn't-" Rose suddenly dropped the paper she was holding and ran over to the stack of papers by Amethyst. She started to go through the stack, throwing the papers aside as soon as she saw that terrible headline. A couple of the newspapers managed to land in the pool of lava, and the pool hissed angrily whenever this happened.
"It can't-" Rose spun around to find Garnet, kneeling so they were eye-level. With a flick of her wrist, Garnet phased away her shades, revealing three deeply sad eyes. "Rose, I'm sorry," she said softly.
Rose stood up and took a step back, staring at Garnet for a moment. Amethyst ran over to Pearl. Pearl scooped up Amethyst into her arms, eyes still locked on Rose. In this light - Rose was standing in between the lava pool and Pearl - and with ink smears all over her hands and face, Rose looked scary to Pearl.
"I have to go," Rose said, her voice breaking the silence. Her tone was neutral, but her voice was strained. "I have to help them."
"Rose," Pearl said, "You shouldn't-"
"No interference," Garnet said, cutting off Pearl's response. "Of any kind."
"But-"
"It was your rule in the first place,"
"Well that rule," Rose said, her voice becoming louder, "was made millennia ago, Garnet. Before humans developed the ability to annihilate themselves like this. I have to help them, before this escalates any further."
"Rose, no." Garnet said, taking a step back and solidifying her stance. She's putting herself between Rose and the Warp Pad, Pearl realized.
"I can't let you do that," Garnet continued. "Our mission is to protect the Earth from the damage the Gems caused. Not the damage humans cause."
Rose took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, and suddenly she looked tired, more tired than Pearl had ever seen her. "Garnet, I have stood by for millennia and watched billions of humans suffer. Billions and billions of beautiful, unique beings. And I have done nothing. This past century alone, there has been so much war, so much pain. Things that I have the ability to stop." Rose's hands were balled into fists and she was looking down, at the space between herself and Garnet. There, a front page with the headline TENS OF THOUSANDS DEAD looked up at them. "And it hurts, Garnet. It hurts to just watch. To not be able to act."
"I know it does," Garnet said, speaking slowly, carefully choosing her words, "And I can't imagine what that is like. But you must think of the bigger picture."
Rose looked up at Garnet with fury in her eyes, and opened her mouth. Garnet held up her hands, palms facing Rose. "Let me finish. If you were to help them, then it would lessen the severity of the lesson they must learn from this. Humans must understand how terrible these weapons are, and that they must never use them again. Only if they see the amount of suffering and death they cause, will this happen."
Pearl walked up to Rose while Garnet said this, shifting Amethyst so she could wrap an arm around Rose's. Rose looked away, and Pearl could see the shine of a tear falling down her face. "You can't guarantee that," Rose said. "Not even you can know how an entire species will act."
"That is true," Garnet said, taking Rose's hand within her own. "But you always remind us to have faith in them. That they will find their way. You should listen to yourself, and do the same."
Rose sighed, turning back to face Garnet. For a moment, Pearl thought Rose was going to make a break for it. She could feel Rose's arm tense up, sense the Temple Door perk up ever so slightly. "You know that I'm right," she heard Garnet say.
But the moment passed, and instead Rose started walking away from them, to one of the many corridors that led out of the room. "I'm going to my room," she announced, not looking at anyone, "To think."
Pearl started after her. "Do you want me to-"
"Alone, please." Rose said, not looking back. "Thank you, though."
Pearl stopped, and Rose left the chamber. It was once again silent except for the lava. Its bubbling now sounded pensive to Pearl's ears, as if it too was considering what its next move was.