Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

From below her feet the solar system had long shrunk away, becoming little more than a point of light amongst so many others. The watery cocoon she encased the barn in sloshed, pulsing with each swish of her wing. Droplets of water fell upon her face, forming a far smaller trail of droplets that rained out into the vacuum. In the blink of an eye, they dissolve into minutiae that mingled with the errant clouds of space dust.

Her mind was awash, to the point her train of thought became an ill-defined haze, not unlike the mist of heavy rain. A few thoughts eventually managed to settle clearly in her mind, standing out sharply amongst the discordant mass.

Where would she even go? What place could possibly be safe for her? Why…why does the barn above her feel so heavy?

She stole a glance at the building in question, as the other thoughts in her mind took to the stage.

Why did she bother to carry it? Why would she take it? Why is it...so quiet out here?

She glanced around her, gaining her bearings. Several stars of note were in her view, marking her place amongst them. Several she recognized as the marking points for the edge of the Milky Way. The tightening cluster of the bright lights behind her reinforced as much.

She closed her eyes, trying to get the noise out of her head, as she considered her next move.

Find a lonely planet out here? A cluster of unassuming asteroids? Anything to conceal herself and-...the possessions she took with her.

She saw something glisten against the starlight beside her, like polished metal shining under sunlight. Instinctively, she turned to it abruptly, fanning her wings out somewhat defensively. However, they slackened as she scrutinized it more.

A massive comet drifted into view. It was predominantly a gray mass of crags that jutted outwards, intermittently speckled with ice crystals that glistened and sparkled under the light of the stars. Very few flat surfaces were apparently available upon, but Lapis would eventually scout out one from her position.

Warily, she drifted steadily onto the comet, gingerly lowering the barn into place with her. The structure creaked as it finally landed, resting upon solid ground at last, as did Lapis herself, planting her feet onto the coarse, freezing surface of the comet.

She found herself in something of a small valley, a crag with the sides rising out beside her. As she stepped into the barn itself and turned around, she found she had quite the view. The front of the barn’s door would face outward, out towards the galaxy before her.

It was a view she wasn’t keen to look towards, and so she kept her back to it. She trudged deeper into the barn, so weary that she didn’t even bother to climb upwards towards the upper floor. She was especially unwilling to glance at the solid forms of the meep-morps, her own work and the works of...someone else, around her.

Instead, she found herself confronted with the hammock at the back, and a wall of rocks as her view from it's side of the barn. The sight of it meant her mind was awash with more memories of both herself, and the barn’s two other occupants for a time.

—

One of the two other residents immediately curled herself up in her lap, contently resting her orange head and green, leafy vines in Lapis’s arms. The other struggled mightily to keep herself still, the hammock lurching under her shifting weight to some degree as her green hand waved in the air in her desperate attempts to keep balance.

Lapis reached an arm out to her, with it falling upon her tuft on mistakably triangular, pale-yellow hair.

“Peridot…I need you to keep still, for like, ten minutes...”

Peridot pouted, before she huffed, acquiescing initially. However, Lapis felt the hammock rock and shuddered faintly as the green gem shuffled once more.

Lapis observed however, that it was due to the fact that at some points, Peridot brushed up against her legs, and afterwards tried to make space as she could between them both. Her poor balance did her no favors as well.

“...You could rest up here, you know,” Lapis suggested. Peridot looked up, stunned at the suggestion to some degree. Faintly, she noted how the green gem's visors were clear enough for her to see her own face in them that moment.

“Wh- but- I thought that it would be improper of me to do so Lazuli, at least without asking you,” Peridot remarked earnestly as her gaze shifted at the floor of the hammock. Lapis grinned faintly, chuckling, before shuffling to the side just a bit. She shuffled up, wordlessly, patting the now open space to encourage her barn-mate to move up.

Peridot looked on for a moment, before sighing softly, shuffling her way up to Lapis before laying down and curling up right next to her. She felt less tense in her arms, she observed. Pumpkin chattered excitedly, crawling over Lapis to nestle between them properly.

Bliss lingered in Lapis’s mind, to some degree. It was more than she was expecting at least, especially now that the hammock didn’t rock and roll anymore. The closeness brought a warmth to her form.

(“This is nice...”) She thought to herself at a curious feeling of satisfaction lingering in her core, before she felt herself drift into darkness.

—

The clarity of that memory was what struck Lapis the most. She shut her eyes, sucking in a breath harshly and dispassionately, before promptly crawling into the hammock. She fitfully stumbled into it, before curling her arms up to her head, forcing herself to lay still and to stare out towards the rocks.

An indeterminate amount of time passed before she slept, or rather, forced herself to shut her eyes. It was another interminable interval before she felt herself truly drift from consciousness.

Even as she slogged into sleep, her mind was haunted by it all. More often than not, she’d wake, the thoughts pounding on her head like a hammer. Her form ached to some degree as well as she laid continuously upon the hammock, greeted by the rocky cliff faintly light by the stars at her bedside.

The moments seemed to melt together in a long, indistinguishable mass. Between bouts of distressing thoughts, and long stints of sleep, everything else was monotony. The same view of the ceiling or the crags was offered from where Lapis laid n omatter where she looked. At one moment, she felt everything close in around her, the walls and the roof caving to meet her. Her arms and legs felt like stone in these moments, unable to even lift a finger in response.

Everything tumbled around her, moving past her form into the infinite night, like water rushing to the floor, its weight fully atop her.

—

Eventually, sluggishly, she pried herself upright. Her limbs hung stiffly and ached persistently as she shimmied off the hammock. Her wings stretched out once more, as she kept herself aloft. She floated near the roof of the barn; the light of the outside stars made her as pale as an apparition.

Her gaze flitted across the whole of the barn’s lower floor. From where she hovered, the morps made shadows across the floor under the light of the stars, manifesting as dark shapes that spread themselves out.

They molded and shifted, before her own shadow fully asserted itself, as she emerged into the patch of faint light, stretching and twisting itself out as another imposing shape before her.

Unbearably, the walls around her seemed to always be rushing forward, closing in. The brief respite ended with a cacophony of sensations. The empty space ahead of her truly stretched itself out for her to see, whilst the walls around her rushed in, tightening around her.

The shadows moved with it all, as her mind devolved into white noise. The only thing that really brought her back to reality in that moment was the sensation of her feet planting themselves onto the floorboards of the barn. Amidst it all were images, artifacts, memories.

One was of herself standing before one of their morps, with Peridot jumping and babbling happily in gleeful, barely contained pride. They had connected their ‘toilet’ display, as Steven once named it, making it so that water ran through all three like a river of sorts, along metal tubes.

She clutched her head with her hands, burying her fingers in the blue strands of her messy hair, and rocked faintly in that moment. Her whole form was heavy, to the point her knees threatened to buckle in on themselves.

All of these feelings had lingered on in her mind in some way, for…however long it was that she had been up here. She couldn’t bear to look at anything directly, all she found herself doing was laying and floating around.

The malaise was unending up here.

She concluded as much amidst the tightness in her chest and the sluggishness in all her form.

She curled up now, sitting on the floor, her mind awash with thoughts as she pondered the way to go from there. She yearned to get away from the sheer isolation of the moment, trying to pry out of her mind the fact that all around her, there was an unfathomable nothing save for the clumps of dust and rock.

—

Somehow, someway, she was back.

There was no mistaking the verdancy of its land, the stark white of its clouds, or the deep azure of its seas. Earth was before her once more.

She beat her wings in the vacuum, hovering right on the cusp of its atmosphere, perceiving faintly the wisps of it that blew off into the beyond behind her.

The overwhelming loneliness of the comet had driven her back, right to Earth itself. Her home, at least insofar as she couldn’t think of any other.

Down below was everything she left behind, everything she made anew after she found she could not return to her old home. Behind her, in a bubble of water, was the sum of all of that time on Earth which she could bear to carry.

A pit in her center lingered. Acutely in her mind, the universe behind her spread itself out. Within it, the Diamonds resided ominously. The day they’d arrive lingered as a nightmare, a cloud that hung darkly in her mind.

Ahead of her, the life she had made for herself was not to be found. The things she formed from it she had literally taken with her into space, in some hope that she could keep it all and live out the rest of her days with memories. But the foundation that anchored it all was lost in that process.

The only state she could find for herself was limbo, a holding pattern above her surrogate home. Her mind grew blank, giving way to the pit that settled stubbornly within her.

A flicker caught her eye. The sun’s hostile, golden glare gave way faintly from her perch in the heavens, as the Earth’s moon remained dutifully put in its orbit. Its pull on the water of the surface was vaguely familiar to Lapis, the reason vivid as the pressure of the ocean around her once.

Her mind lingered on the sight of the moon as she last recalled it. Stark, gray, barren of all life and anything else of interest. At the same time, it remained tantalizing close to Earth itself.

It wasn’t completely safe. It wasn’t home itself.

It would do, for now, Lapis resolved.

Her wings stirred and flapped into motion, pushing herself upwards into the vacuum once more. Her gaze remained fixed on the silver rock above her, her mind as steadfast as it ever had been as of yet.

Soon enough, the surface came into clarity. No resistance came from an atmosphere as she dropped closer and closer to the ground. Her weary gaze scanned the rough terrain, scrutinizing amidst the vast emptiness for a spot to settle. A place where she could stay with Earth as its backdrop, a plot for her monument.

Amidst the stark landscape, at nearly the far side of the moon, she found the spot. The landmark that drew her to it was a tall pillar, distinctly Homeworld’s own overwatch of the planet. As much as the sight was utterly off putting, and as much as the memories and fears swarmed in her mind, she noted the cover it gave in its shadow. She was also further assured by the fact it was very much abandoned, as far as she could tell.

Whatever wrath the Diamonds unleashed, it was likely to be confined only to Earth, so she hoped.

But more pressingly, she found herself tiring more and more. The exertion, the travel, and the thoughts in her head weighed her down more than ever, and she could hardly stand to keep flying for much longer. A crater laid still, jutting up from the rocks and dust, well within the shadow of the glistening pillar. Lapis found it would do.

As the barn was set down, moondust stained the water that carried it, graying it before it was filtered by Lapis. As her wings retreated, and she drew back all of the liquid into her gem, Lapis brought herself onto the pick-up at the top. From there on high, she got the view she wanted of the planet itself, backlit by a glaring sun. So close, yet so far.

And there, Lapis felt she would stay. A million miles away on a lonely gray rock for as long as she pondered and feared, with nothing but both the junk and the memories for company.

Chapter Text

Lars Barriga hunched over the navigational display’s graphics, scrutinizing the complex shapes that formed the pathways marked out on them. Surrounding him were the Off-colors gems, who looked over it as well.

“Hmmm, and I thought reading this would get any easier,” He muttered, furrowing his brows as he brushed a tuft of his cotton-candy hair away from his face.

“You’ve…at least...gotten...more familiar…with it,” Fluorite remarked sagely and assuringly, looking over to Lars with something of a smile. She loomed large, a purple blue body of spheres not unlike that of a caterpillar, with her many small eyes gazing curiously upon the console.

Rhodonite’s expression, meanwhile, was more colored with dismay as she read out the present chart. The fusion's own form, four raspberry arms over a variety of slopes and curves, remained tense as she kept her arms over her chest. Her own four eyes narrowed as she murmured nervously.

“On our present course, we are entering Earth’s galaxy...b-but, we’re on course to not reach Earth itself! We’re on course to head right back out of the galaxy in no time at this rate!”

Lars squinted as he scanned through the map, recalling bit by bit in his mind what Rhodonite had taught him about the meaning of every mark, and symbol. He looked up at Rhodonite, furrowing his brows.

“Just where are we, Rhodes’?” He inquired, prompting her to immediately hunch over and begin working her way through the map, typing away at the council and swiping her fingers over the screen, in unsteady but practiced motions.

The projection of the galaxy eventually expanded, and upon the highly angular and bright shapes that formed the graphics, Lars could see marked positions, for Earth, and for their present position, on the opposite side of the galaxy.

“We’re on the outer arm, approaching the boundaries between Sector 9 and 10 rapidly!- At least, that’s what I can tell here,” She squinted. At that moment, Padparascha chimed in.

“I predict that Rhodonite will tell us that we’ll be dramatically off course on our path to Earth! We’ll find ourselves on the other side of the galaxy and will need to change course quickly!” She enunciated. The small, coral orange sapphire was obviously tense herself, even as her hair remained over her furrowed brow. Her words certainly made the stakes of their situation all the more apparent.

Everyone looked between each other, Lars especially stilling as he processed this, shutting his eyes as he thought things out.

“Rutile-twins?” He remarked abruptly, looking over to them with a glint in his now opened eyes, “What course do you both think we should take, at a glance? Gimme some options…”

The rutile twins, their maroon form split as always down the middle, turned to face Lars as one.

“At least a few obvious courses of action are present with where we are now,” One of the two remarked, as they hunched over the navigational display. They began to chart out something of a course from the marked position of the Sun Incinerator on the screen.

“As of now, we’ve come up with three main things we could do, to narrow it down!” The other twin chimed, her own torso canted back as they turned to face the captain. She turned back to her panel, working dilligently alongside her twin. Their fingers danced upon the console, dragging out paths through the galaxy resolvedly.

Lars nodded in acknowledgement, remaining silent so that they may have the floor. Eventually, they finished their preparations and turned around to lay out their ideas.

“The first option,” One chimed, as they traced out with their fingers, “Is to make an about-face and head directly towards Earth on the clearest path, and cruise as we have been. It’s the most familiar option we’ve got, but…there’s quite a few risks with it,” She enunciated, looking up at the captain for his inputs.

“We’ll get into the particulars of that after you lay out the other two options we’ve got,” He remarked simply, flashing an assuring smile to the twins, “Please continue.”

“Our second option is choosing a string of systems to pass through, picking, choosing, and adjusting our route as we go. Connecting the dots, especially to avoid any...space we don’t want to be in,” The other twin emphasized, and pressed on the screen repeatedly, showing a series of dots at several different solar systems that eventually made a chain that led to Earth’s system.

“Your plan seems to entirely bypass Homeworld’s space! We stay well out of it on this route!” Padparadscha chimed eagerly, prompting something of a smile and an affirming nod on Rutile’s part. The others looked amongst themselves in some agreement. Lars remained steadfast, save for a faint nod on his own part, as he mostly looked on at Rutile with his undivided attention.

“It’s why it might be the safest option of them all on that front,” Rutile looked between the other gems, taking note of their expressions. She then looked back at Captain Lars as she continued, “But there’s still one more I’ve thought of. It might be one of the quickest ways to get us out of space, whilst still being fairly safe for us.”

They displayed a separate graphic that displayed a large sphere and traced the dotted path of the ship around it.

“We could perform an object-grounded turn at a selected point ahead of us in the galaxy, using the gravity of a particular planet or some other object up ahead to swing us back around to earth. It'll give us a straight shot to the planet, possibly without entering Diamond space, all while putting less strain on the engines…” Both of the rutiles finished, pride bubbling in their form at what they considered a decent presentation in their own mind at least.

The grin on Lars’ face indicated agreement on his part, as did the nods and intrigue blatant in the gazes of the other gems in the room. Rutile rubbed the back of their head, smiling somewhat bashfully at the affirmation they already felt.

“Not bad in the planning and pitching department, you two,” Lars remarked, with a nod, “Now onto the risks. What’s on that front for this situation?”

“The ship’s engines, as well as the usual hazard of crossing any Homeworld space. We accounted for as much with each option,” The rutile twins looked back down upon the screen in order to take stock of their points, “The first one’s main risk is crossing into sections of Homeworld space for sure, especially if we start from the position we’re in.”

They marked as much for emphasis on the screen, before glancing back up at the others.

“We can adjust the course enroute to minimize it, but we’d be almost guaranteed to pass through active star lanes and even outposts on this course,” One of the Rutiles stated as she directly gazed at Lars.

“With our luck, crossing one of their star-lanes just seems to be asking for an Imperial Warship to come after us!” Rhodonite remarked alarmedly, as she took note of several imperial outposts marked across the lower half of the star-map, “The patrols would’ve almost certainly doubled since word of our escapades’ spread!”

“Steady…on, Rhodonite. We…do have…more options. We…could…try to...avoid that. Entirely,” Fluorite interjected steadily, before giving her attention back to the Rutile twins.

“That’s what Plan B is for, as I’d like to call it. It works more towards that end!” One of the twins remarked as they drew up a variety of paths, somewhat of a zigzag through as it threaded several systems, “However, we’d have to constantly turn the ship, fire up the engines for several different maneuvers to burn past different objects. It’ll take very long, and we’d have to constantly be worried about how our engines are holding up.”

A murmur emanated from amongst the other Off-Colors, as they processed these points. Lars remained settled, but he curled his brows furtively as he considered these points. Rhodonite again bore the most obvious amount of consternation, given what she knew.

“This ship is plainly not so well suited for that as of now, mainly because of the strain we’ve put on the engines…” Rhodonite remarked, “Our risky maneuvering, the damage we’ve taken so far, means the ship at this rate might not take much more of it. We’re stretching her thin!”

“The engines…are…a concern. I...can set and repair the engines from here, but…there’s only so much…I can do on that end…after a certain point, if...the engines fail, we’ll…be stuck out...here,” Fluorite qualified with grim emphasis.

The rutile-twins looked at each other, before nodding in agreement.

“The last option is the best of both worlds, as it’d potentially allow us to position ourselves for a straight shot at Earth at a faster pace, and on a path that avoids major star-lines,” One of the twins, the one the left began.

“However, it’d still involve some initiative and manual flight by us, we’d have to navigate and set the ship up for a move like that,” The other rutile remarked, as they pulled up a graphic that displayed a massive sphere, representing an enormous gravity sink.

“We’d also have to pick an enormous source of gravity to do this maneuver, line up with it, and try to avoid the risk of us getting damaged or drawn into it if we mess up. It’ll depend wildly with what object we choose to do this with,” The right Rutile twin concluded.

Lars stood pensively, still granting the floor to the others in that moment. Rhodonite gazed at the twins, considering their suggestions earnestly even through her own anxiety at it all. At last, she replied.

“I’m not one to think we should introduce new risks…even if we mitigate the others with it. We’ll also have to do more hands-on operations, on all fronts, to execute it well!” She remarked frankly, “...We also might risk damaging the ship if we handle it improperly. But-...I can’t think of anything else that’s better than the last option you gave us,” She remarked, smiling towards the Rutiles' even as she shuddered with uncertainty.

“We should do…what we can…to make sure…we can handle it. I’ll…do what I can…I know the engines…inside…and out, at this point,” Fluorite droned softly, her faint smile showing confidence on her part

“And Rhodonite, don’t worry about yourself! You’re pretty good at navigating in a pinch!” One rutile twin assured, as the other one chimed in, “You undersell yourself! You do great by us, and we’ll work together to make sure this ship goes through.”

Rhodonite looked on at Rutile twins, considering their words. She looked away bashfully and smiled more earnestly now, even as she remained jittering.

“..Ah- okay! Yeah, I can do my part! But- we really should decide how we do this. Captain? What...do you say?” She glanced over to Lars, seeking what certainty could be found in the captain himself.

When he looked up at last, the Off-Colors around him stood by attentively as he spoke up.

…I say we should try Plan C,” He remarked authoritatively and confidently, “It’s not anything we can’t handle, and we’ll also be able to reach Earth much sooner. I trust you guys on this; I know we can handle it! We’ll back each other up as best as we can with this either way, no matter what.”

Rhodonite’s shoulders slackened, and she managed another small smile gratefully, whilst the other gems took note of his words in their minds. Several convinced, assured nods swept through the group. The twins were especially flush with pride, and looked excitedly towards one another, clasping their hands in joy.

“I predict we’ll come to a consensus, that we’ll find a route that we all agree on!” Padparadscha enunciated her vision, smiling brilliantly as she did so.

The others turned to Padparadscha, before looking to themselves, faintly grinning and chuckling at her words.

As everyone turned to their stations, readying the ship as best they could, Rhodonite found she could hold a smile for once. Despite the dread that lingered in the back of her mind, there seemed to be a course forward. The others worked determinedly, wishing badly to see this plan through.

—

The surface of the moon was littered with crags and forlorn rocks, tranquil and still in absolute, perfect silence. All of a sudden, the dust upon them was kicked up as a blast of air rushed forcefully out into the vacuum.

A blue gem stood in the doorway, facing a boy and his lion. She heard the boy’s pleas for her to say stay as his hair shuddered in the sudden breeze.

‘Would you rather be alone!?’ Steven called, his face pained and his voice desperate.

That was the thing he said to her, before she committed to leaping into the dark of night. She strained not to look back at him as she rushed for the stars.

Her wings curled, before they swept themselves around, beating at the vacuum. She felt the momentum in her form build as they carried her further and further into eternity, to the stars beyond her. As she climbed, she found herself scanning amongst the stars for a particular direction, any that she recognized would lead her well away from Homeworld’s space. However, a familiar glint upon the rocky surface flashed in the corner of her eye.

The empty ‘granary’ of the old barn stood as it always had, now more severely canted to its side. It remained embedded into the splintered wall of the barn’s left side, cracked and bent visibly at its impact.

The whole building had been blasted with moon dust, leaving powdery stains of gray rock upon its red walls. The stuff especially shined upon the pickup outcrop, where Lapis used to sit many a times both here and back on Earth.

Everything within that barn was almost certainly also touched by the moon, Lapis figured. It was all blasted and grayed, exposed to the vacuum of space. In some way, it sat damaged, irreparably, marked with the time it spent up here.

Her mind flashed with yet more images of everyone. From Steven smiling to her gently, to his voice wailing out to her only a minute before. The other gems emerged, each moment she had with them melting together. Garnet's words on a distant night, Pearl staring out to the sea, Amethyst teasingly nudging her shoulder as she stood before the barn once. Pumpkin’s barks sharply sounded in her mind, bringing forth the next moment with the grace of a hammer, before…

Peridot’s face came into view, shifting between crushed despondence, to a firm conviction as her spirits. An ache spread throughout Lapis’s mind and translated to a dull numbness flowing across the whole of her form.

She was on the other side, she had done that to her, nothing would ever undo that damage.

At the very least, Peridot was stronger than her fear. At the very least, she was faring well since then. Better yet, she seemed better than she was with her around. Stronger, happier, able to move on. The most insistent voices in her mind clamored as much as she glanced back at the path behind her. It spread itself from beyond her form all the way to earth.

Lapis drove at as much in her mind, processing all of the time that formed the path behind her.

And then, the sound of an explosion shattered everything in her mind, most especially that path behind her. She recoiled from the cacophony that followed, as the sounds of swords clashing, the cries and yells, and explosions rushed right back to her. Every blow, every blast, every impact lingering before tapering off into silence.

Her body grew tense, stiffer than a taut string, frozenly shuddering as she drifted faintly in the weak gravity of the moon. She turned her head, finding the sight of Earth once more. At this distance, it was a pale blue dot, bespeckled with the green of its land. She glanced at the barn again, seeing its sorry state.

A sigh escaped her lips as she fought back the hot tears brewing in her eyes. Her form tensed as she curled forward, letting the cavalcade escape her form. A gasp escaped her lips, and water dissipated in the vacuum. Eventually, she uncurled, wiping her tears as her form slackened

“I’m…sorry-,” She muttered silently, hanging limp in the vacuum. She brought her arms close to her chest, pondering, her mind straining to find resolve upon the ultimate point.

She could not stay, her mind chanted incessantly. She could not stay. She could not stay. Even if it meant they’d have to bear it all alone. The damage, the pain, the fight to come. How could she stand with them? Against the Diamonds? Against their wrath? Against everything that happened?

She couldn’t. That was her last word.

She shut her eyes tightly, straightening her form out and letting her legs hang below. Her fists clenched so tightly that they ached, as she finally turned her head away from the barn. She turned her decisively on it, and on the earth, her gaze out towards the stars beyond.

None of the constellations she looked upon now were that of the Diamond’s space, as far as she knew. She’d be free there. Free, safe, distant. Anything, anywhere, but trapped in the path of the Diamond’s wrath, of all of Homeworld’s might.

Behind her, every star and every planet, as far as her eyes could see, was well within the Diamond’s grasp.

She shuddered, fighting off the urge to glance back at it all one final time, before her wings snapped into life again. She felt momentum once more as she soundlessly shot out into the wide darkness of space itself.

She didn’t have to look back to see the moon and its planet recede from view, reduced to specs and points of light like all the rest. Eventually, they would be drowned out in the light of the other stars around her.

On, and on, and on, her wings flapped in the emptiness, shimmering at times from the starlight. She hardly paid attention to crumbling asteroids, distant planets, even stars burning brightly right beside her as she passed, single-mindedly beating her wings against the vacuum.

She followed the light of the stars ahead of her, moving expertly to keep her in that direction as she flew on.

Everything she passed would always recede from view in any case. That much was one certainty she knew of. She brought her hands up, close to her form, before she embraced herself and lowered her head, closing her eyes as she drifted.

Eventually, nothing came into view anymore. Nothing, save for the unending backdrop of multi-colored starlight bespeckling the expanse. A single, pale blue dot would keep gliding her way through it all.

—

Nothing about this section space was familiar to her anymore. That much was a good sign, wasn’t it?

She thought to herself as much, figuring that she was drifting further and further away from Homeworld's active star lanes and outposts.

She squinted now, keeping note of the starlight as the way to guide herself through the void. The constellations in question remained distinctive in her mind. She had made them out and kept singling them out, even as other beams shone out in a discordant array and threatened to drown out the stars she had marked.

As she scanned the space out ahead of her, she felt her form grow tense. Before her, swirling clouds of multi-colored gas and stardust flashed with brilliance as they drifted in the void. A great nebula stretched before her, blasting everlastingly out into the expanse.

Distressingly, she found she lost sight of the stars that guided her. However, she had memorized clearly the direction she had been carrying herself. She furrowed her brows in thought, as she processed the space-marks she had taken note of.

She eventually recalled the particular nebula as a sight she had taken notice of on her path, that grew in prominence with each swish of her wings as she was pressing on.

She occupied her mind as much as possible with the maneuver to round and cut past the nebula, trying not to let the twinges of despair in her form grow beyond their lingering.

Angling her form slightly to the left, she then pushed off from nothing at all, squinting as she began to round the glowing clouds of stardust. She darted between the columns of brilliance, navigating through the many hues of reds, greens, blues that grew to encompass her surroundings.

Why carry on? Where would she stay? Why would she stay there? What would happen then? Would it be where she stays for all eternity?

Such suppositions crept into her mind, but the effort of the moment held them in the backseat. She focused, trying to banish them from her mind as she darted between matter and space. Back and forth, up and down, she lurched between directions as she floated slowly onwards.

The clouds around her swirled on, and at times she swore she saw the same patterns among the mass and lumps of gas.

Abruptly, she came back out into open space, the shroud of the nebula giving way to the speckles of the vacuum once more. Relief washed over her as she found her way once more.

But like the clouds of gas that surrounded her, she found her mind adrift, threatening to fray into nothingness from the thoughts racing in her mind. The logistics previously on her mind came and went, before it regressed back into longing for the space behind her.

Flashes of green, pink, of the sand, the sea, the fields, the red of the barn on a dusty trail, even the looming gray form of the Temple all sparked in her mind again. Like a tub full of water, her mind was overflowing, causing her to clutch her head as she shook it repeatedly.

Enough. There’s only the future to look forward to. It’s yours to make. It’s yours to stay in it.

She assured herself and tried to build her resolve, even if it was all constructed dubiously, shieldingly. She tucked her legs to her chest, curling herself up as she drifted in more ways than one.

—

The Sun Incinerator was bustling with activity as the crew occupied themselves with their tasks. They threw themselves fully into the effort towards Earth, and kept up the pace. Rhodonite and the Rutile Twins collaborated on navigation, sorting out some of the routes, and occasionally their voices raised with intrigue or concern over the particulars of their options.

Meanwhile, Fluorite navigated through a labyrinth of consoles and screens. She rooted out persistent issues and conducted the repairs as well as she could, keeping it all in order. Despite her methodical pace, she carried this task out efficiently.

Padparadscha helped in any way she could, inputting directives into her console, and saving information as it came up into it. She handled such sublimely and always responded eagerly when addressed by any of the others.

Lars meanwhile observed the others' pace, looking over the routes as they came up with whilst also taking note of the ship's status. He had eyes and ears on the progress of the others and helped or replied whenever he was called.

After a while, his crew fell into devoted silence as they focused on their work. Lars was left to stew over his own thoughts for the moment. At first, he recalled a moment earlier, following the meeting they had to hammer out a plan.

—

At one point, Rhodonite approached him before tending to her work.

“Ah, captain?” She spoke, hesitant as usual. Lars turned to her.

“Oh, yes Rhodes’?” He turned to her, his smile as soft and welcoming as he tried to be. He stood patiently as Rhodonite stumbled somewhat over her words.

“I’m-...I’m sorry if I’m ever-...If I ever worry too much,” She began, clutching her hands together instinctively as she carried, “At least, I never want what I say to slow us down at least, or to be a bother…”

Lars couldn’t help but raise a brow at this, before he let off a lighthearted chuckle, grinning.

“Don’t stress over that, Rhodonite!” He spoke frankly, even despite her initial, somewhat stunned reaction, “You do well by me, by all of us, even if you do worry a lot,”

He gazed up at her with an assuring glint, seeing her expression shift as he went on. He offered her his hand in a show of trust and assurance, to which she gently took it.

“Hell, I think we do need something like that sometimes! At least to keep us grounded, aware of what’s at stake and what not,” He remarked, softly clutching Rhodonite’s hand, “We need someone like you, as we need everyone else. Don’t…let us be another thing to worry about, okay? We’re uh-...glad to have you here, don't forget that.”

Rhodonite’s demeanor improved, and she gave him an earnest smile.

“Ah- alright! Yes, captain!” She nodded, before turning to the Rutile twins. The two would come together, to handle their particular tasks as a group.

—

His mind lingered on that moment, and on his observations since then. He didn’t wish for any of his crewmates to suffer so much, even as they worried. He sure as hell did at times, he recalled vividly. As far as he saw, Rhodonite was worrying less about them at the moment, and he felt better for it.

Eventually though, his mind wandered, and he found himself thinking about Earth once more.

It was tantalizing how close they were. Despite the time that had passed, despite how long he had gone without seeing it all, despite the shock he felt at how distant it all felt now, the memories of it all were as clear as daylight to him. On that distant shore, he imagined everyone was faring well. Sadie appeared in his mind, as clear as the photo on the phone with her light hair flowing down her back and her cheeks curled up into a faint, gentle smile. It assured him that all was well down there. He imagined her getting along well with the Cool Kids, and all the things they’d be up to together at this moment.

A part of him lamented that he wasn’t there. Indeed, he regretted all the times he blew his chances then. But, at this point, he figured he’d always have regrets of sorts. Even despite that, he felt well knowing that everyone was okay at home. That left one less load of his shoulders at least, for now.

In a brief pop of pink and brown, he also recalled Steven’s interjections and his words. Gratitude was on his mind, even despite how grating the boy had been to him before then. A part of him faintly wondered when he might make his next visit, even going so far as to feel he’d appreciate it very much, as it would be a break from the cycle of the present.

Rhodonite and twins approaching him finally brought him out of his thoughts.

“You three? What’s new on the table for us, if you don’t mind me asking,” He inquired, looking up and holding his gaze at them expectantly.

“We’ve finally got something of a course figured out, captain!” One rutile twin reported excitedly. The other took her turn in a more composed manner, the calm spreading to their counterpart, “We’ve chosen a potential route, and we’ve hammered out the procedure towards executing the maneuver! Rhodonite contributed plenty to that!”

Rhodonite was flush and bashful under the praise, to some degree. Lars chuckled and nodded softly.

“I know, I heard you both, and saw some of your work,” He started, as he pulled up on his console graphics of some of the drafts and plans they put forward, including their latest charts, “...We’ve settled on something after all of that?”

The twins nodded eagerly in unison.

“Yeah! We do have in mind a particular route, this one here,” They both pointed out one of the routes on his console. Lars tapped it, bringing it up onto a holographic display.

Immediately, something of the route caught his eye, as it darted through nearly the center of the galaxy and wrapped its way around it, before turning onto a straight shot at the Solar System and Earth.

“...This one, it goes through the center of the galaxy…” He remarked out loud, the twins nodded confidently.

“We’ll make use of this galaxy’s gravitational sink at its core. We found it’ll save a lot of energy, give us a lot of room to maneuver, and put us on nearly a straight shot to Earth from there,” The twins said proudly.

“I see,” Lars took note of this, before turning to Rhodonite, “...What’ll the logistics for that look like, Rhodonite?”

Rhodonite cleared her throat, as she stood before him.

“Ah- all have to be on our consoles, for one! We’ll be manually navigating the ship, preparing it for this maneuver, and guiding it through it…it’ll be a lot for us,” She twiddled her fingers, gathering her thoughts, before she went through them in full

“We’ll have to get the distance down, and ensure the engines are set properly too…” She tapered off, gesturing over to the star-map on the console that displayed the route, “...There’s also a lot of potential objects, and obstructions ahead, which may force us to turn and adjust our route, though, it’ll be less movement than the other options…”
The twins turned to Rhodonite, and gently smiling to assure her. She looked at them, and returned it in kind to some degree, enabling her to lighten up more.

“But, I’m told everyone will do what they can. We’ll be in our places when the time comes. We can run drills, practice this beforehand, do all of the calculations! In the end…we'll do our best!” She spoke with a confidence rarely seen, to the point the twins looked amongst themselves, and smiled. Lars too grinned at her, nodding affirmatively.

“Alright. We’ve got a course of action then,” He brought his hands together, leaning forward emphatically, “...I say, we're a go on this! We show ourselves just what we can really do, now.”

The twins and Rhodonite beamed and stood firm. Fluorite emerged, having heard the exchange, and Padparadscha stepped forward eagerly to listen. Lars took note of them and raised his voice, making sure they’d hear him loud and clear.

“We’ll make it. We’ll bring this home, just as long as we have each other. Let’s do this! You all get me?” Lars boomed eagerly.

“We get you, Captain!” The Off-Colors remarked in unison.

“Then let’s get to it!” He punctuated, and promptly, everyone set about their work with vigor.

—

Lapis’s eyes opened once more as she woke with a start in the vacuum. Around her, everything was empty as ever. Everything, save for the stars which shined and flickered unchangingly as they always had.

Amidst the totality, she gathered herself. In her mind, parts of the dream just hand emerged in pieces that eventually tapered off.

She remembered sitting, perched high above the clouds of Earth. She was as distant as ever from the land and the people upon it, pillars of water rising into a single terrible column, an arrow pointing out to space. Her wings were useless then, owing to the crack in her gem.

And yet, they remained useless moment in the moment, as the rush of shadows, and the sound of explosions surrounded her. A fist rushed in from the back and brought the darkness that jolted her awake. Her gaze rapidly flitted around her, finally truly processing her location.

She sighed, trying to shake off the tension, before her wings stretched out once more. She committed herself towards gliding through the galaxy once more. Wherever she had aimed herself, she knew she was flying away from familiar space.

An interminable period of time later, she took note of the light of new stars. These new lights grew more distinct as she kept up her pace. A part of her felt that they had grown closer to her, that they were rushing to her location. They offered her some light and warmth, company even at this point, as she kept beating her wings in the void.

Directly ahead of her, something especially bright made its presence known at last. A point of light, a 'landmark' of sorts, shone brightly. It was the light she had been following up to this point. She kept nearly every other thought out of her head now as she kept pace. She followed it for a while longer even as its brightness subsided ahead of her.

After a while of this pattern, Lapis found herself stopping in place. Her breath remained stuck in her throat as she processed what laid before her. What she saw brought pause to her, to the point she hovered in place.

A great mass of stardust spread itself far ahead of her. It was so vast it seemed as if she was right above it, even as it was obviously very far below her. It churned, swirling, evidently dragged by by some unseen force far ahead of her. Said force...was gently tugging at her form at this point, like a tide sweeping over through her legs.

Her gaze flitted up, making out something of a sphere out ahead of her. At least, that was the only word she could find that even approached it. Its shape was warped, severely, in ways no words could even describe.

The longer she gazed upon it, the less things made sense to her. She eventually realized that the light itself was warped around it. The starlight she had followed evidently was bent around the rim of this sphere, contorted and flush with its shape. It glowed and shone all the same, even despite how deformed it was. Most haunting of all to her was the core of this shape. The core itself was pitch black, darker than any night she had seen, or even the space that she had seen around her. It was as if no light was even present within that sphere, completely blotted within its perimeter.

Her face remained blank despite the bewilderment on her mind. Eventually, some recognition of the object reached her mind. This was the center of the galaxy. Exactly where she had been driving towards, well clear of any active star-lanes or outposts.

Such a recollection brought some peace to her mind. Still, she was conscious that she was staring at the very core of the galaxy itself. The sight was unsettling, and especially mind-boggling in its enormity.

Lapis eventually snapped herself out of this fixation. She scanned the space around her, finding it empty. She wracked her mind, seeking out a particular course of action.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a beam of yellow light completely enveloped her form. Her eyes widened in alarm, but she found her limbs were completely locked in place, unable to move at all. Her wings were impotent and still as she was virtually sealed within the yellow, droning glow.

Instantly, she recognized the light as that of a Homeworld vessel’s capture beam. Her entire body went cold and still whilst her mind raced, surging with panic. The fear within her overflowed, her vision blurring and her head pounding as she felt herself slipping into familiar darkness.

She shut her eyes fitfully, shutting down completely as her chest swelled, and the panic inside her reached its crescendo.

The ship, a diminutive and lonely Roaming Eye, silently swept up her form. Once it gathered her up from the void, it darted off towards the swirling mass of stardust.

Chapter Text

All of the gems sat in their places at the controls of the Sun Incinerator’s vital functions. They squinted, leaning over their consoles as their fingers typed away, forwarding command after command into the ship’s central system.

Before, processing and transferring all the data and the inputs they wished was a daunting endeavor. The hum of the system heralded the transfer of information and data at a dizzying pace, and in the early days, it was a hard routine for them to learn. The labyrinth of computers and commands once took hours to decipher for the gems to fully decipher and execute. Now, however, they managed to do it all in seconds and were on pace to ready the ship in record time. All the same, the enormity of the task ahead lingered in their minds, as they rushed through the fabric of space itself at a higher pace.

Lars made sure that the engines were set accordingly from his console. Their low hum at this speed kept him in the moment, and deeply invested in the crew around him, as he mentally prepared himself for the appointed moment.

Eventually, a series of small chimes sounded from the front consoles and at Lars’ station simultaneously This marked the Sun Incinerator's arrival at a pre-set point.

“...Prepare to exit hyperspeed!” Lars called out as a reminder, and a cue for the Off-Colors around him.

“Right!” They enunciated around him.

Rhodonite gazed over her readings, including the scans of the ship's immediate path ahead. Her console displayed a line from the Sun Incinerator led straight towards a sphere’s left, before it curled around it in a semi-circular turn. No obstructions were present in their path at the moment, as far as she could tell.

“We’re clear! Everything’s still clear up ahead!” Rhodonite called out. Lars nodded in acknowledgement.

A familiar turbulence echoed through the ship as it slowed from hyper-speed. From certain consoles everyone could see the stars now becoming distinct points of light again, as space itself no longer became a blur that rushed past them.

“Nova thrusters set to low powered cruise!” Called out the Rutile twins simultaneously. The sun incinerator’s engine hum grew softer, as they no longer exerted themselves to maintain the blistering pace of the previous hour.

“...Ah! Turn three points to the left quick, please!" Rhodonite called out, as she took note of the developing surroundings at present. On her screen, something very large, and rather heavy was being picked up on her scans.

The rutiles’ responded immediately and with confidence, noting this as an adjustment, their fingers dragging along the pads, gradually steering the Sun Incinerator along Rhodonite’s route.

“Okay!- Alright, hold your course for the-...the next ten marks.” Rhodonite chimed but found her voice stumbling as she gazed up at her readings. Lars, and the other off-colors for that matter, looked towards her.

“Rhodonite?” One twin, the left one, remarked, as both looked towards her. The others looked towards her, noticing her gazing up at her map, and then at the space out ahead of them.

Everyone sat in some form of stunned silence as what Rhodonite observed came into view. Out ahead of them was an enormous sphere of darkness, cloaked in a brilliant ring of churning stardust. Light as practically wrapped around it, warping itself over the top as far as they saw. If it weren’t for the filters on the Sun Incinerator’s displays, it would be shining brighter than any of them could bear.

“...Is that-...isn’t that a black hole?!” Lars remarked out loud, glancing between the others. The off-colors looked between themselves at this.

“Is that what- you call them that?” Rhodonite looked on, somewhat stunned, before looking on ahead, “...Erh, we know that as a gravity sink, or in this case, the galactic center! It does look ominous enough for a name like that,”

“...It doesn’t look anything like how I’d expect one to be, that’s for sure,” Lars murmured as his stare lingered upon it.

“There...have been...a lot of things…you said hardly…looked like how…you imagined it,” Fluorite remarked, prompting a chuckle amongst everyone including Lars himself.

“That much is true for most of this, I’ll say,” Lars retorted as he looked towards Fluorite. The fusion grinned in turn before shuffling back to her quarters in the lower deck.

“Ah- Cut the chatter a moment, you both! Things are about to get serious,” Rhodonite barked anxiously. Lars looked up quickly, glancing over his own instrumentation and remarking their current pace. All the while, Rhodonite took note of the distance between the Sun Incinerator and the Black Hole ahead of them, “We’re heading into the gravity sink’s pull! We’ll enter the critical orbit in a few seconds…”

“Prepare the engines!” Lars called out. Just as drilled, Fluorite typed and tapped away at her console as briskly as she could. The Rutile twins kept control over their console, adjusting the thrust and the angle of the ship as they went.

Immediately, a faint rumbling sounded throughout the ship as its Nova thrusters whirred back into life. Outside, they roared furiously, leaving off a familiar, bright green glow that trailed behind the Sun Incinerator. It stood out as a small bright blip against a heart of darkness.

“We’re beginning the swing-around!” One rutile called, “We’ll be bringing this ship about face!” The other chimed as they steered the ship along its course. It howevered along the lip of the clouds below, rumbling as its thrusters roared continuously. It evidently was straining against the gravity it met, to the point it shuddered.

“I predict we’ll remain on the lip of this gravity sink, that we’re starting to swing around! I feel confident!” Padparadscha grinned, looking between the others as she processed the data coming through on her end, taking note of the instrumentation and how things were coming along, “...Everything’s going okay!”

Lars grinned with satisfaction in the moment as everything came together. Flashing in his mind were the images of himself and the Off-Colors earlier on. Back then, they clung together desperately making their way through Homeworld. His heart might as well have been in his throat the first few times they had to sneak past the guards.

So much has changed since then. It was hard to imagine that was where they started, in his mind at least.

—

Darkness, darkness, darkness.

All that there was before her was inky darkness, impossible to see through. Her eyes remained shut, her mind blank save for the panic that sat there like a rock. Her form was hopelessly still, and almost certainly restrained at this point, so she figured.

She could only barely register the sounds around her, including faint noises of shuffling, voices, and humming that all blurred together like foam on a roaring stream.
Eventually, one sharp noise, a voice, broke through the haze.

“Hey! You! Wake up!”

She squeezed her eyelids tightly for a moment longer before opening them at last. The looming form of a pair of quartz soldiers greeted her. The familiar shade of purple across the body indicated to her that they were Amethysts, with one gem on each of their shoulders.

She stared catatonically, disassociating as much as she could from the world around her. She tried desperately not to feel how rigidly she was bound, or really process the sight around her. The Amethysts before her looked towards each other, furrowing her brows.

“Just how in the stars did a Lapis Lazuli end up here, eh!?” One turned around, looking over her shoulder. The smoldering red of a ruby soldier, just as bog-standard as the Amethysts with a gem on her forehead, emerged faintly from between them.

“Beats me! She was just out hovering in the first quadrant! I did pick her up on my scans entering this sector for a while, though…” She chirped, looking confoundedly at the Lapis before her. She then looked back up at the quartz soldiers, whilst the other one of the two Amethysts scoffed.

“Typical, and we’re still in the dark as always,” She murmured before looking to her companion, “..Let’s bring her up to the boss, then.”

The other guard nodded in agreement, and promptly pulled Lapis along with them. At this point, her head hung low, and her form was completely limp. All she did was settle still and let herself get pulled along.

Her mind was caving into itself, falling deeper and deeper into the pit that had formed. Amidst all of the fear, all the stress, and all the memories that flashed through her as she was pulled trough corridors and hallways, one core thought sat at the very bottom.

It was over. This was all for nothing.

Whatever happened next, she’d have to contend with it.

She found herself dragged into a massive room. Looming ahead of her, the tall form of an agate in various shades of red stood before her. Presently, her arms were crossed and she had her back to the Amethyst guards as they arrived.

“My grace! We’ve brought the disturbance,” one barked curtly as they came to a stop behind the agate. She nodded softly in acknowledgement, turning around. Lapis’s gaze remained fixed on the floor, unable to look her in the eye as of yet. Her eyes locked on the two Amethyst’s prisoners, as she scanned her over.

“A Lapis Lazuli? This far out into Sector 10?” She remarked plainly, looking up at the two guards.

“She’s just what the rubies caught!” The amethyst on the right motioned with her head, “We’ve got about as good an idea as you on this, My grace!”

The agate scoffed at the Amethyst’s crassness but understood what she was driving at. She circled, inspecting the ocean gem like a possession brought over for her to see.

Eventually, she stepped forward and loomed directly in front of Lapis herself. A curt gesture made their guards hold her up, so that she had to face her, regardless of if she wanted to or not.

“State your facet, and your cut,” She spoke rigidly.

Lapis felt everything weigh in around her. She gazed down limply, trying not to remark anything.

“Can't you hear me now? Answer!” Agate pried further; Lapis’s expression remained blank, dissociative to the world around her. But her lips did finally quiver, reflexively.

“F-facet...1A4X. Cut-7AB.”

The two Amethyst’s looked at each other, somewhat taken aback at how broken her voice sounded. Even Agate’s eyebrows quivered before she furrowed them sternly, her gaze remaining hard and unflinching.

“I’m not convinced you’re here by accident, there are no developments in this sector that called for your presence,” She retorted, bringing her hands together under her piercing gaze, “I don’t recall EVER sending for a Lapis Lazuli. Do either of you two recall that?”
Squirming under the searing gaze of the agate, the two shook their heads.

“I thought not,” Agate huffed curtly, shaking her head, before turning to Lapis once more, “Whatever excuse you have for being here, save it. I’ll get to the bottom of your intrusion here soon enough.”

A part of Lapis felt relief, for at least she'd be spared the brutal questioning for the moment. A second later, the Agate gestured down the corridor behind her. The Amethyst guards promptly tugged Lapis along into it.

She hung limp, swaying as they jostled her along, her legs dragging along the smooth floor of the station. A blur of corridors under hostile lights passed her, before the distinct hum of a destabilizer field registered in her ears.

In an instant, the field disappeared, revealing a cell as empty as all the others she had been privy to. The gems stepped forward into it, eventually unhooking her arms and letting her tumble to the floor in a heap. She didn’t even lift a finger as they stepped clear of the field as it activated again. They left her there without another word.

Lapis remained on the floor, disregarding how cold it felt against her. She clutched her head, her disheveled mop of deep blue hair splaying out into strands on the floor below. Her eyes were shut as a thousand different thoughts flashed through her mind.

The branches that flowed out below her flickered into the darkness. Everything seemed to close around her, cutting off any path to escape. Most of all, it cut off the path from where she came from. She couldn’t go back anymore.

She wasn’t ever safe.

Not out here, nor on Earth.

—

“Earth is our home now! Isn’t it worth fighting for?”

—

The words rung in her head like a bell, jarringly distant yet as close and sharp as they were then. The exact things she’d call herself for that poured in afterwards.

She was a coward. A brute. A traitor.

She hurt her.

She did not have the strength to stay with her.

She clutched her head at the words in her mind, lashing out furiously against herself. The very reason for her departure staring back at her.

How could she? She couldn’t face them.

A thousand images of the gem war flooded into her mind. All the sounds, be that of the explosions, of fists flinging themselves at their quarry, of gems cutting each other up.

Sharp voices followed, each bringing one flinch to her face after another, as she recalled her own merciless barrage of interrogations. The faces responsible blurred together, until they culminated in the hulking, enraged glare of a particular pair of yellow eyes. Jasper’s gruff voice rang out, as she held a clenched fist to her face.

“NAVIGATE US, YOU WORTHLESS!-”

Lapis flinched, curling herself up even more from that. She tried to push out the thought of it, but, for one moment, she remembered something else. From behind Jasper's shoulder was the cold, almost unfeeling gaze of Peridot. It was a scornful, annoyed gaze, and as much as the Peridot of today was divorced from that mindset.

It was an apt image in Lapis’s mind.

At that point, it all collapsed under its own weight.

How could she? Why didn't she tell her the truth? A mirror came to her mind again, its glass facing her this time. Her own sulking scowl, and her own disdainful eyes staring back at her.

Peri feared her enough to lie to her face. She left her so far behind now.

A thousand different images of her and Earth, of her and the residents of it flashed one by one. The peace of that time, the care she had experienced from so many. It brought pangs of longing, and then pangs of pain to her core.

Barking punctuated one image after another, as the form of Peridot flashed in her mind. Some range from her hunching over analytically and excitedly over a gadget, to her stroking the top of pumpkin’s leaf, to her reaching out a hand to Lapis, calling to her, saying her last words to her.

Was it all just a lie, just to keep herself comfortable? Were they both living it out amongst themselves for nothing on that planet? The anguish, the confusion, it all hung over every moment in her mind, as she tumbled deeper and deeper into the depths.

Eventually, the color melted away. Everything dulled to black once more as it all leaped to some far off place. Lapis kept her eyes shut, splaying herself upon the floor even despite its cold harshness.

—

Lars squatted pensively in his seat, his gaze darting between each of the others intermittently as the ship kept rumbling. The nova thrusters kept blasting, as the ship approached its designated point in the critical orbit. The whole ship vibrated faintly as it shot its way around the periphery, contributing to a persistently low rumble.

“Status report, how are we faring guys?” He inquired.

“We’re within critical orbit now!” Rhodonite replied immediately.

“Our course is steady!” Followed the Rutile twins simultaneously.

“The engines…hold steady,” Fluorite drawled confidently.

“We’re keeping it together!” Padparadscha rounded out joyously.

“Good work, good work…” Lars glanced over his own instruments, taking note of the readings indicating their passage within the black hole’s gravitational field. It brought some ease to everyone’s mind as they progressed through the plan.

“Ready the thrusters for hyperspeed! We’ll have to blast our way out of here to escape the gravity,” One rutile twin called, “We’ll get us out quickly, the thrusters will achieve that!” The other remarked.

“The engines…are set…” Fluorite called,

“Excellent! Rhodonite, how does it look ahead-...” Lars began to Rhodonite, only to see the perplexion on Rhodonite’s face.

“I-..I’m picking up a very large object ahead of us! There’s…a signal coming off of it!” She remarked, concern creeping in her voice.

“What do you mean?!” One rutile looked over quickly, “What are you seeing?!” The other blurted.

Rhodonite paused as she stared at the screen ahead of her, before glancing up at the front panels as they began displaying the space ahead of them. The others glanced up at the same time, finding themselves staring in turn.

A massive octahedron stood before them, cored by a cylindrical pillar and marked by a blurry ring, likely a stabilizer.

“What…is that?” The twins remarked, dumbfounded. Lars stared right on at the structure ahead, glancing between all of his crew members.

“It’s a homeworld facility, it has all the hallmarks of one,” Rhodonite answered shakily.

Lars held his gaze on the station ahead of them, before his voice barked aloud.

“Take evasive act-”

A sudden jolt brought everyone lurching forward. A great beam of yellow light engulfed the Sun Incinerator, dragging it towards the looming form. Lars is forced to grip the edges of his seat in that moment, his gaze flitting around rapidly as a cacophony of gasps, then yelps amongst his crew sounded.

“We’ve been grabbed!” One rutile twin shouted, “We’re being pulled in!” The other enunciated.

“I-...I foresee it, we’re being captured by Homeworld!” Padparadscha screeched, clutching herself to a degree, stepping around anxiously.

“We can’t turn away! Gah- come on!” Rhodonite shouted in panic, clutching her head, shivering.

“The...engines will…be…strained,” Fluorite winced, before struggling to keep her balance as the ship was rocked by yet another tug of the beam. It’s forcefully oriented right towards the monstrous octahedron, dragging it deeper into its domain.

Lars clutched his hands over his head

“Gah!- Keep yourselves together…we’ve drilled for this, remember?!” Lars called out, standing up as boldly as he could. His lips remained a tight, bold line and he held his ground. Even as his nerves were fraying and his heart was pounding, he kept himself cool. His brows furrowed into a firm gaze.

“What chance do we stand?!” The rutiles called out fearfully.

“We’ll be facing whatever they’ll throw at us, we’ll be pinned in here!” Rhodonite shouted, glancing between the screen and the captain himself.

Lars clenched his jaw, shutting his eyes as he took as deep a breath as he could.

“We’ll do what we can to keep them out. We’ll get ourselves out as fast as we can. Scatter, then stick together, okay?...” He remarked, trying his best to remain composed.

Uncertainty flashed in everyone’s gaze, even as they were silenced by his words. It all made him swallow deeply. For as much as he steeled himself as much as he could, the memories of Homeworld flashed through his mind in a terrible spasm. Lars took another long, deep breath, as he turned around.

He pressed onto the console. A pillar of light rose from his console as it brought out a destabilizer, crackling in its holder’s charge.

–
“Detachment Cut-Seven to the docking bay! All gems of Detachment Cut-Seven to the docking bay! Assemble! Assemble!” Voices barked, echoing across the long corridors and vast halls of the station.

A contingent of several quartz soldiers, half amethyst, half blue quartzes, spilled out from the corridor into the docking bay itself. A vast hangar already containing several ships of the gem navy was already set aside to receive the intruder.

Fire Agate strode into the hangar following after her soldiers, folding her arms over her chest as she stood behind the line of her troops.

The quartz soldiers formed a line that surrounded the main deck of the hangar, fanning out as the ship in question was pulled into it. Narrow, thin wings, a sharp nose, and a greenish-yellow hue made it unmistakable to Fire Agate.

She had managed to capture the Sun Incinerator, so it seemed. A smirk graced her lips as her confidence soared. She gestured, and the quartzes ahead of her slowly slunk forward.

Amongst the mass of soldiers, some exchanged glances with each other as they nervously anticipated whatever was inside. Rumors abounded in their minds already, the gossip about the Sun Incinerator's exploits returning to their memories in that moment.

Eventually, one particularly brave Amethyst soldier made her way around the length of the ship. She determined the location of the entrances on its flanks, and stopped accordingly. She then motioned, bringing at least two other guards to her own sides to cover as she prepared to breach.

Just as the looming form of a cutter mech, its glare threatening as ever, inched towards one of the sides of the ship, the door suddenly began to open slowly. The three Amethyst's near the door were caught off guard.

“Hold it!- ST-” Began the leading guard. Suddenly, her form was enveloped by a glow that crackled and sparked. She was sent shuddering to the ground, yellow lines arcing through her form before she poofed with tremendous force. The gemstone on her thigh clattered to the floor, free from its form.

Several quartz soldiers shoved, pushing for at once, attempting to overwhelm whatever had caused their compatriot to poof. A great deal of clamor and commotion sounded, as several of the soldiers shouted and hustled, trying to force their way in.

“I predict we’re being boarded!” A voice sounded, prompting another bunch of shouting amongst the soldiers. Just as they were about to push into the Sun Incinerator itself, the error of their ways finally revealed itself.

Being so tightly packed together in that group meant a new beam of light engulfed them with ease. It snaked through their forms, before the solid body of a certain fusion arose. Fluorite composed herself once more, trapping several quartzes in an instance. She then swung her form around with a heavy, deep huff, loosening it up again to throw the trapped gems at high speed against the other quartzes.

“GET DOWN!” A certain nasally, sharp voice shrilled from within the ship, and in that instant, Fluorite ducked her head.

The wings of the Sun Incinerator glowed brightly. Fire Agate’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of it. All she could do then was throw herself to the ground and cover her head. In the next moment, beams of light blasted from the wings of the ship as it fired its wing-mounted laser cannons. The rear wall of the hanger erupted in an explosion that cracked its length, showering sparks and bolts of pure energy as the fireball grew out. Green smoke billowed from the craters left in the walls in the moments thereafter, drifting out from the site of the explosion. Several quartz soldiers were knocked off their feet, or even outright poofed from the shockwave.

“DISABLE THE SHIP'S WEAPONS, YOU PEBBLES!” Screeched Fire Agate as several Peridots scrambled to their respective terminals.

In the midst of the chaos, the off-colors rushed through a now opened path, headed for the depths of the station itself.

Lars ran, sucking in several breaths as his legs carried him fast. He was right alongside the rest of his crew for a moment, before they darted off towards other corridors before them. He slung Padparadscha over his shoulder, who was clinging onto him tightly and shuddering wildly.

“We- I foresee we’ll-...be ambushed! We’ll be cornered!” She stammered, shaken by the present situation at hand.

“Keep speaking, Pad. Just keep talking…” Lars murmured, trying not to let her distress get to himself. He rushed through the halls, glancing around quickly in case any gems came near.

Eventually, when one particular corridor rushed into view, he found himself desperate for his breath to the point he stopped. His legs shaked as they threatened to buckle under him, for most if not everything he had used was brought down to them. Air came into his lungs in quick bursts, and his own whole body eventually shuddered fiercely.

The little sapphire on his back gazed down at him concerningly, her brow furrowing pensively even beneath her tufts of hair. She reached out to his own hands tentatively.

“Captain?...I-...You are distressed! I’m here-...”

“I’m keeping it together, Pads!-...” He barked aloud- wincing as he realized he raised his voice. A trembling hand brushed aside some tufts of his wild, cotton candy hair. Padparadscha instinctively retreated for a moment at his voice.
“I-I mean…gah-...We’ve got to get ourselves off of this base,” He spoke morosely at first, though his gaze softened gradually at her, “We’ve been in sticky situations like this before- we can get ourselves out…”

“I- I hope as much, Captain.” Padparadscha remarked gently, grinning as Lars accepted her hand in turn. She clutched it tightly as her lip trembled, “But- the others ran off in other directions, we’ve lost ourselves here!”

“We find our way back to them, then. Stick together for now…” He remarked, even as in his depths he was truly fearing utterly for the worst.

He reached out to Padparadscha, who accepted his grasp, then hauled her up onto his shoulders with an ‘oomf’. He grunted as she settled there perched atop him, her gown certainly tugging at his hair a bit.

“I predict you’ll carry us around, keep us together! I can act as your spotter, if I may,” She offered sweetly. Lars simply nodded, before gesturing down the hall.

“I’m moving ahead, watch my back.” He remarked simply, prompting her to nod, though her own fear meant her own clasp tightened a bit around him. Despite the pressure, Lars remained determined as he stepped forward cautiously through the corridors.

Chapter Text

The corridors rushing past Fluorite were tight, forcing Rhodonite and the Rutiles to duck as its shapes rushed towards their heads. She huffed hard, finding it hard to avoid slamming herself against the walls of the facility. She was grateful at least that they were presently smooth slopes, which made each impact a little less difficult to bear as she swerved, avoiding the commotion behind her.

On her back, two of her compatriots clung for dear life to her and each other. Rhodonite and the Rutile Twins hunched down, trying to keep themselves as low as possible as the roof blurred past their heads above them.

Rhodonite, the more obviously frantic of the bunch, kept glancing over her shoulder. She strained, craning her neck, shivering as she tried to spot the yelling quartz soldiers behind them. She pursed into a tense frown as she cried out nervously.

“Ack- Are they gaining!?”

Fluorite rushed without a word, as she lurched around a corner, prompting a yelp from Rhodonite. Her quick grasping of Fluorite’s back saved her from tumbling behind her. The rutiles looked in turn, trying to keep their own heads on their shoulders.

“We keep going until we meet with the captain again, he’s ahead,” One rutile began, whilst the other finished, “We find our way out from there, by disabling the security…”

Their voices remained tense, uncertain above all else. The situation was more desperate than ever, that was for sure, but not entirely unfamiliar. Amidst all the noise outside and in their own heads, they could vaguely recall the effort to get the Sun Incinerator in the first place.

Rhodonite, meanwhile, remained tense, but silent, tilting her head forward. Her gaze was unfocused, as the thoughts rushed through her own head.

Why wasn’t any of this obvious? What was the place they found themselves in? Did she miss it?

A thousand different questions kept rushing through her head since it all began. She clutched at her hair as she mulled over it all. Every point on the starmap flashed through her mind, as she strained to recall every detail that passed through her eyes.

“How could this place have not appeared-...why wouldn’t it?” She murmured fretfully- before yelping again as Fluorite took another corner at high speed. The rutiles remained fairly certain of their perch, and stayed fairly stable in turn.

“Sor-ry! Please…hang on…” Fluorite murmured in a more urgent drawl, as an air of dread clung to her words.

Rhodonite shuddered as she leant in against her back. trying to adjust her grasp even more. Her gaze shot up to the rutiles ahead of her, who glanced back.

“Trouble back there?” They remarked simultaneously, and instinctively offered their hand up for her. Rhodonite tensed, holding her frown, averting her gaze hesitantly. Eventually, though, she reached for it, and brought herself next to the twins.

They held her hand tightly, and offered what passed for an assuring smile, as they held onto Rhodonite. Rhodonite, even with her mind in as much of a mess as it was, finding every reason to frown, found her moment to smile back in silent thanks. She held on tightly, stewing just a little less in her own fear, as the depths of the facility laid out in front of them.

—

An interminable line of cells came into view for Lars, as he rushed through the corridor, hanging on to Padparadscha’s legs tightly, keeping her close. Even in this form, it was still hard to catch his breath. The sapphire atop his shoulders. Anxious as she was, she remained fairly languid, simply hanging on as she was carried by her captain.

The cells, sitting to his left, all were shaped the same, octagonal. A bright green field glowed on each, the sight of which caused Padparadscha to flinch atop Lars' shoulders. The only thing to occupy their sights were the various patterns across the hall, perfectly repeated on and on down the corridor in a variety of ways.

Eventually, they came to a fork in the path, as another corridor of cells extended off to their left, towards the depths. Lars finally took an opportunity to pause, breathing out less out of necessity, and more to gather his own thoughts.

“...I see we’re reaching a crossroads! We need to choose a way to go! They’re both equally perilous” Padpardscha called Lars’ shoulders, infusing her prediction with her own guess on the matter. At least, she was trying to form her own brand of foresight. Lars chuckled lightly, trying to what brevity he could.

“That much is true, that much is true…” He remarked, shaking his head in some amusement. Eventually, though, he composed himself, “...I’m wanting to get back to the others soon enough, though. We’ll get to the ship soon enough.”

“Would it be a good idea to head down there? The others went that way too! At least- I saw that..” Padparadscha spoke as she recalled that they had split off, and headed down the more centrally oriented corridor of the facility.

Lars glanced down the corridor, squinting to catch sight of what he could. His gaze flitted between each of the gaping passage-ways, all offering their own tantalizing route to the sides of the ship. In theory, this direction would lead right to the core of the ship, where the others were headed.

“...I’m sure there’s a guard or two behind us, right Pads’?” He remarked, glancing up at the coral sapphire. She frowned, nodding.

“I don’t think she kept pace! I didn’t see her at least…” She murmured as gripped Lars' shoulders more firmly. She grasped tightly, trying to calm her nerves, trembling from the thought.

“In that kind of mess, we should’ve lost ‘em. They’ll need to actually organize themselves and follow their commanders,” He remarked, gently reaching a hand out to pat the gem atop of him, “Besides, my legs have been better than ever at running, eh?”

“They were like a blur, for sure!” Padparadscha remarked, prompting an amused giggle from Lars. She seemed to smile more now, at least in the moment, before it faltered a bit, “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to tell where you were going.”

Lars glanced up, offering an assuring smile to the Sapphire on his shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it- I’ve got a good sense of where to take us,” He remarked, reaching a hand up for Padparadscha to clutch. She did so gingerly, her smile growing again.

“I’ll trust it!” She chimed, prompting Lars to nod softly, “And I’ll still be up here, to watch out!”

“That’s the spirit!” He nods, assuring her, before his mind begins to trail back to the task at hand. His eyes scanned over the corridor ahead of him, “..Ah, speaking of which, you see anything ahead of us?”

Padparadscha peered ahead, among the perfectly angular and orderly patterns and corners in front. She took note of a sharp fork to the left of them, exposed by the open door, pointing towards the depths of the facility.

“There’s two ways from here! One to your left, and straight ahead! The other..” She canted her, craning her neck to see down the other corridor, “Is a straight shot into the core.”

Lars squinted, looking closely at each entrance. The path to their left was flanked with row after rows of empty cells, their yellow-green destabilizers buzzing threateningly around them.

“Yes, that’s right. It’ll be headed towards the depths of this place. Towards the others I’m sure…” He murmured, mulling over his options as he glanced ahead, “...We’ll catch up with them sure enough if we keep going straight though. We could get cornered by the-”

Padparadscha lurched on her shoulders, perking up, her gaze flitting ahead towards the path ahead of them. Lars stopped, listening to hear what she had to report now.

Her gaze and her hearing strained to pick up whatever was coming down the hall in front of them. But eventually, rising over all of the other indistinct noises, she heard a set of rapidly approaching, thumping footsteps.

“...I think we’ve only got one way to go!” She remarked, looking down quickly at Lars, who strained to try and hush her a bit.

“I know, I know! Hang on!” He yelped, rushing into the corridor, hearing as the sounds of several footfalls rang out from the corridor behind them. Padparadscha was again clutching him more tightly now, her own nerves wavering in the face of an imminent danger.

Lars, finding little other choice, pressed himself against the nearest gap between the cells, concealing himself as much as he could. The fierce, quick pace of the footfalls meant they were almost certainly going to pass the area. He was hoping to every corner of the galaxy that they wouldn’t see him, somehow.

Sure enough, the looming forms of several quartzes rushed past, hurrying and hustling along the path way down the corridor behind them. They didn’t even spare a glance down the path to their side. Quiet, barking voices amidst them indicated that something else was on their mind, the others.

Lars held his breath, finding it hard to gather despite his new form hardly needing it. His mind drifted to the others, his form tensing with the thought of the base’s forces chasing after them.

—

“GO! GO! GO!” The rutile on the right called. The twins ducked their head as the doorway nearly swiped her up. Rhodonite, clasping on just behind her, frantically held on. Fluorite craned, squeezing her way through the tight passage-ways, trampling and shoving any gem that tried to impede her path.

Several quartz soldiers, some fully armed destabilizers in hand, tried to land a hit, seeking to destabilize the mammoth form of the hexa-fusion. However, the sheer momentum, the force, and the many limbs that rushed down upon them quickly dispatched their efforts. They yelped, finding their weapons thrown, and their forms utterly squashed under the stampede.

Fluorite, for her part, just kept rushing, her gaze hardly shifting to anywhere but the open space ahead of her. Behind her, the rest of her form lurched around, constantly shifting the weight on her back. Rhodonite and the twins at this point opted to lay down, their chests against Fluorite’s back, their grasp on her slopes even more desperate.

“We’re…getting…very…far..” Fluorite drawled, straining to even string the words together, considering how much effort it took to flex her whole form. The stampede she brought was a taxing prospect, and one which did not play well in the long term. The gems on her back squinted down, worries floating up from the back of their minds.

“Just what are we going to do!? They’re all around us!” Rhodonite barked, her own nerves fraying at the scene, “Just where will we go!?- Ah!”

She yelped, having to duck again, as the roof again rushed down to meet her. The rutiles ducked in turn, their faces more composed than their red-in-the-face compatriot, though they still trembled greatly.

“...We’ll meet with the captain!” One twin chimed, “And we’ll make for the stars again!” The other concluded.

Rhodonite tensed, flinching as Fluorite below her lurched again. They were still rushing, awfully fast, with quartz soldiers on every flank. Her eyes were wide and wild, trying to catch sight of them all. She winced again, as the next doorway lurched down again, forcing her to duck.

Out in front of them, they found themselves on a bridge, crossing a massive chasm. Around them, many other sleek bridges, carrying the paths to other portions of the facility, branched out or stood away from them.

Rhodonite glanced up nervously, taking in the enormity of the space around her. At least she was no longer cramped, frantically hugging up against Fluorite’s side. The rutile twins remarked softly in unison.

“Deeper, and deeper we go, huh?” Prompting Rhodonite to shiver.

“..I don’t like the idea of that-” She yelped, as she was suddenly yanked. The great arms of a quartz soldier leapt up, reaching out for her. The rutile twins rushed forward, grabbing onto her. Fluorite furiously hurled herself around, trying to shake off the soldier.

“...Get..OFF! Get…AWAY!” She roared, in a tone rarely heard by the other two gems on her back. Rhodonite yelped, trying to pull herself up, having nearly been thrown off by the quartz.

But the Amethyst rushed forward and yanked, holding onto her by the leg. Her gaze was tense, unbending and dead set on hauling the fusion off of Fluorite’s back. Another reached out to the twins, prompting them to roll back past Rhodonite. . They forced themselves to grab onto what they could of Fluoride’s flank.

Rhodonite screamed again, her grip threatening to give way.. Frantically, she swiped at the quartz with her hand, smacking the soldier across her face. On and on, she kept on climbing, still threatening to tear her right off of Fluorite’ side. Rhodonite put every ounce of her strength into keeping herself planted against it.

She shut her eyes, fighting to gain her strength, fighting for some composure. Within her was a flurry of thoughts, a sudden rising of two distinct voices in her head, as the stress grew all around her. Two voices shouting, frantically into the dark.

“Fight back, please, fight back, fight back…”

Frantically, she reached for the gem on her chest, instinct flooding through her mind. She kept trying to shake off the gem warrior, who sought to climb all the way up, or drag her right back down.

Fluorite lurched hard, narrowly missing the edge of the bridge. The momentum came at a moment when the Amethyst was reaching up, her grip no longer as certain.

The next instance sees her grip on Rhodonite finally released. Gravity sent her tumbling onto the ground, rolling with each kick from Fluorite’s legs. One particular jolt sent the gem warrior careening over the edge, her yelp echoing as she fell into the depths.

Rhodonite shuddered profusely, her hand finally resting upon her chest. She collapsed onto Fluorite’s spherical back in a heap, as the whole ordeal lingered in her mind. Rutile took a moment to finally crawl over, a hand on her shoulder. Fluorite could sense the sheer distress on Rhodonite’s part, but given the situation at hand, she couldn’t fixate on it.

The guard presence abated at last, as few of them had truly caught up to them at this point. Empty corridors stretched out before them, spanning interminably out ahead. All the same, Fluorite and the Rutile twins glanced around, paranoid that another contingent of quartz soldiers would lunge out at them from around one of the corners.

The twins turned back to Rhodonite, finding her curled up and still as stone at that point. Their hands gently remained on her shoulders, and they squeezed emphatically and gingerly.

“...Why-...why can’t we just be on Earth? Be there, or-..anywhere but here..” Rhodonite murmured softly under her breath, “...I said we’d be doomed if-...if..”

The twins looked on at her, their jaws tense with the feeling. Movement ahead of them made them glance up, as Fluorite whirled herself around. She doubled back, enough to look upon Rhodonite with sympathy.

“...We’ve still got each other, Rhodonite.” One twin remarked, the other reaching her hand, clasping it with the fusion’s own.

“...I…will..not leave…you. We…won’t.” Fluorite would enunciate, hoping to break through to her.

Rhodonite sniffled, sucking in a deep breath as she looked up at them, before her shoulders slumped. She remained silent, her head canted forward, her eyes narrowing as tears, fear, and doubt kept coloring her form.

“...We just have to get everyone together now,” The left twin remarked, taking note of her friend’s slackening posture. The right twin finished her off, “...We’ve gotten away from the guards for now. You’re safe here, Rhodonite.”

Rhodonite looked back up at her, truly eyeing them now. Her own eyes were wide, her shoulders tensing as she sucked in another breath.

“...We can’t stay here. And-...we can’t leave without each other…” Rhodonite remarked simply, as though it was from a far off, distant moment in her mind. Her mind teetered, almost succumbing to the fear and panic that swirled and lurched toward.

The sight of everyone before her, standing by and tending to her, brought her pause enough to drag her back to the present. She gulped softly, noddin definitively now. She clambered back to the moment, skittishly glancing around, “..We can’t, we won’t leave anyone behind...”

Fluorite and the twins looked at each other, and nodded earnestly in agreement. Rhodonite shuffled closer to the twins, who wordlessly glanced over. A small smile graced their faces, as they gently held one of Rhodonite’s broad palms. At that, Fluorite turned the next corner more slowly, hoping to finally find the captain himself.

—

Lars stepped slowly through the long corridors of cells, noting how often they stretched out far in front of him. Other corridors occasionally crossed his path, marked by doors marked with the three colored triangles of the Diamonds.

His eyes flitted around, especially at the intersections, looking for any sign of the next threat in these corridors. Of course, Padparadscha really helped in that department. Each intersection, each corner, he only truly moved when she said it was all clear, after peaking her head and craning herself to see. At the very least, her company kept him from going mad amidst corridor after corridor.

As they held their pace for a while, the silence grew deafening between them. Despite the calm on the outside, Lars remained tense and fearful deep within. Of course, he did his best to take his mind off this, mostly by reminding himself that someone else above him likely felt the same thing.

At that realization, and out of a desire to finally break the quiet in the calm, Lars glanced up over his shoulder. He raised hand, indicating he wanted to speak up to the coral sapphire above him.

“..Say, Pad? How are you feeling now about our odds?” He remarked, looking on up at her atop her shoulders. She looked determined, scanning the eyes atop her shoulders, though she still had the bandwidth to reply.

“Hold on! I want to predict that!” She remarked, not breaking her stare outward to look down at Lars in reply. Lars chuckled, looking down at the path he was treading.

“...You don’t have to, Pads’. I wouldn’t want to force you to do that anyhow. I was just asking how you feel about it,” A small smile graced his lips, trying to assure Padparadscha.

“Oh! I know! It’s just-...I do want to! It’s what I’m supposed to be able to do! I feel like it!” She remarked frankly, finally glancing down at Lars. Lars looked closely up at Padparadscha, an eyebrow raising as he frowned a bit. He took note of what Padparadscha said of herself, of what she was supposed to do.

Noting the orange gem’s gaze upon him, and her confusion at his silence, he cleared his throat awkwardly, seeking to find the words in his heart over it.

“Ah- What you’re ‘supposed’ to do, what you’re told to do… It’s got nothing to do with it,” He remarked, struggling as he simultaneously tried to keep up his stride. “We wouldn’t have met each other if you were doing as you were supposed to- we’re all in trouble for not doing that!-..,” He spoke more insistently, even as his voice remained soft in the corridors and stumbled with some uncertainty. Padparadscha glanced down, it being her turn to sigh.

“I just would’ve wanted to see all of this coming! To help you out, all of us! We wouldn’t be here if I could see it coming!” She voiced as much, her small form clutching Lars’ shoulder as she glanced down between him and the floor ahead, her lips tensing.
Lars took note of her sincerity and forced himself to stop for a moment. He reached out a hand to her, she hesitantly accepted, and gently clambered down to the floor ahead of him. He knelt down to her, his gaze flitting off to the side as he fished for more of the words on his mind.

“...You guys are the kind that see the future, right? Or at least, that’s what you would’ve been doing,” He began, intriguing the sapphire atop him, “..For most of us, we don’t have that. We only know it when it happens. So- you’re more like the rest of us than you think, eh? Either way, we’re doing all that we can for each other- you included…”

A part of him winced, wondering if those words would have an impact on Padparadscha. For the moment, she kept glancing down, processing what she was hearing, her lips in a small line, before they eventually curled into something of a defiant, small grin.

“I still want to do my best, for all of you!- but…I’ll keep that in mind!” She remarked quickly. A great sigh of relief bubbled out of him, at least insofar as this hadn’t blown up in his face. He nodded softly, before gently reaching a palm out for her to climb back up onto him.

“Good- gah- watch the head a bit,” Lars grumbled a bit, though his expression softened as she glanced back down at him, “Sorry- I-, we ought to keep moving then, eh?” He remarked, somewhat sheepishly glancing down at himself. She smiled down understandingly at him in turn.

Once she settled onto his shoulders again, his head gestured at the path ahead. Padparadscha nodded softly in agreement, gently swinging her legs in assent. He nodded frankly, and began to stride ahead. His mind began to drift back the thoughts of the others.

He had shouted for them to flee, deep into the ship. To make haste, and either meet him somewhere else inside, or rush back to the ship when the coast was made clear by the chaos. His heart tensed as his mind stirred with second-guesses and fear.

The guards were almost certainly swarming and taking up as many posts as possible. How quickly they could run, and drive them out could be undone by the squadrons deeper in the structure.

To nearly every edged of the universe, he hoped utterly that he hadn’t sent them right into a corner, backed up by the hulking masses of the soldiers as they-

“Wait, hold on a moment!” Padparadscha called out. Lars' pace, and his own mind’s spiral, came screeching out.

“Huh- wait- what is Pads!?” He remarked a moment, tense at the prospect of running onward into a team of alerted quartz soldiers.

“There’s someone here! In one of the cells! I predict we’ll run into at least one prisoner!” She remarked out loud. Lars’ brows furrowed initially with puzzlement, before he glanced to his left, where Padparadscha had been looking.

In a cell as stark and cold as the rest of them, there was indeed one prisoner standing out against its sparseness. He paused, gently motioning Padparadscha to get off of him. As she clambered off his shoulders again, he took the moment to scrutinize the inhabitant of the cell.

Most immediately, what he saw seemed to resemble a heap of various hues of blue, crumpled and still against the cold floor. Her skin was azure aside from the faintest bespeckling of dull gold, her clothes a mix of lighter blue and navy triangles, with the sides of her skirt laying in a pile under her legs.

She had her back to him. The harsh, sterile light in the room glistened and shined upon a blue, smooth teardrop shaped gemstone that bulged out against her back. It sat just above her skirt, and just below the blue ribbon of her dress tied behind her neck. Thin fingers clutched around her hair, some threading amidst curls of her messy mop of blue hair.

Lars squinted, familiarity flashing through his mind. He wondered frankly where on Earth had he seen her before- and shockingly enough, he swore she was a gem he had seen back on earth, albeit at passing glances.

Padparadscha had peered into the cell as well- before, stepping back hesitantly, gasping in some shock.

“It’s a Lapis Lazuli!” She called out. The noise evidently had an effect on the blue gem, and her grasp on her head only tightened. The name definitely had some familiarity on his mind. Lars glanced down at her, taking note of her own awe and surprise at the gem’s appearance.

“What can you tell me about her? At least, if you know.” He asked, causing the sapphire to look back up at him closely.

“They’re terraformers! They can lift up and manipulate liquids, and they use it to cut up the land of a planet, digging it out for the colony to be built!” She remarked relatively blithely. Lars glanced back up, as Lapis hardly stirred from where she laid. Padparadscha’s description caused the memories to flash into his mind.

“...Holy-. So, they can move oceans, right?” He muttered at first, before glancing back down at Padparadscha.

“..And fly around too! Yes!” Padparadscha nodded quickly. Lars glanced back up at Lapis again, scoffing in surprise.

“...I think I’ve met one before back on Earth- or, erh-..saw someone like her before. At least, back at home around town.” Lars murmured, looking on into the cell as Padparadscha stared up at him, “She lifted damn near the whole ocean and left the beach dry. Now that-...that was crazy to see.”

“Really?!..” Padparadscha remarked in both awe and shock, “..That was definitely a Lapis then…” She murmured softly. Lars raised brow, before looking back up at the Lapis in front of them, squinting.

“..Come to think of it- she looks familiar. At least- I think she might be the one from back home, I don’t know..-” Lars murmured- before he found himself lurching at the sight of a pair of eyes staring back at him from within the cell.

The gaze he was met with was sullen and sunken, with prominent bags and faint stains of tears upon her cheeks. The dull pair of irises within them stared on, her expression caught between incredulity, annoyance, and melancholy.

Lars and Padparadscha glanced between themselves, wondering if it had been such a good idea to just gawk at someone languishing in there. Guilt crept into Lars mind, and he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head.

Lapis seemed to look between the two, silently scanning the ones who had dragged her out of her frozen stupor. She furrowed her brows, and wordlessly seemed to curl back up again, though this time she laid less tightly than before.

Lars glanced back down at Padparadscha, before he cleared his throat, truly trying to pry himself out of the increasingly awkward situation he found himself.

“What did they put you in there for?” Padparascha seemed to answer for him impulsively. Lars jolted for a moment, taken aback at Padparadscha’s usual relatively blithe bluntness. Lapis scoffed, shaking her head softly.

“..It doesn’t matter,” She remarked curtly, barely audible to both the gem and the human in the room behind her. Lapis shut her eyes, faintly muttering as she tried to resign herself.

Lars glanced up between Padparadscha and Lapis. Her voice sounded like a lessening trickle to him, haunted, hoarse, and weak in equal measure. He sucked in another breath, looking back up at her.

“...We’re sorry for gawking at you,” He remarked, earnestly staring up at her, “..We’re trying to get ourselves out of this place. We’ve got friends here too-..” Lars stumbled for a moment, wondering if he really should’ve mentioned that to her, considering the last few things she did to him and the fact they still had to find them. Lapis started on at the wall, pondering.

“...You really have no business being here- how do you humans keep ending up in places like this, eh?” Lapis retorted, letting more of her incredulity shine through. Apparently, she did recognize him as a human. Lars let that realization sit on the back of his mind, as her voice continued.

“...I-...I left everything for this,” She murmured, before glancing back at them morosely, “Just- just leave me be. Find your friends.”

She began to curl herself back up again in much of the same state as she was before. Lars meanwhile started on, his instincts clashing with his mind in the moment. He furrowed his brows, mulling over her insistence, the looming threat of the guards around him, the need to find his crew, and his gut reaction.

His gut desire to rescue her, to give her a chance like the others had. It was there, despite him hardly even knowing her.

He huffed softly as his mind settled into knots. He was just about to glance over to Padparadscha when she screeched in alarm.

“I PREDICT WE’RE GOING TO BE AMBUSHED!”

Lars sharply looked off to his left, feeling his limbs stiffen as the shock set in at first. The hulking quartz soldier, another amethyst, ran up to them.

“STOP THERE, RIGHT NOW!” Her voice boomed. She was already practically right on top of them. The fact that she passed several cells in front of them at a rapid clip, and was already closing in rapidly indicated everything Lars needed to know. Instinctively, he swung his arm protectively around Padparadscha.

“Pads!’ Get behind me!” He screamed, shoving her behind him. She yelped, keeping herself to the rear of Lars and away from Amethyst.

Lars could barely glance back up in time to see a clenched fist swinging violently towards him. He lurched down, hunching over onto his back. He stumbled and fell backwards, the air space head once occupied now finding a fist pushing through it.

Lars landed on his back with a thud, yelping, before pressing his arms against the slanted surface, rolling himself off it. The Amethyst snapped to him, and tried to punch him again. A loud, ringing clang sounded as her fist pressed into the slanted base of the wall.

Lars rolled off, before pushing himself up with first his right, then left arm. He got back on his own two feet, staggering as the gem before him hurled around. The amethyst soldier squinted at him, furrowing her brows.

“Just what are you!? And why don’t you come clean? I wouldn’t have to do this if you just surrendered!” She retorted annoyedly, keeping her fists clenched tight at her sides as her purple eyes stared dead on at Lars.

“...Ah- no. I’ve come too far for that, you get me?” Lars remarked simply. The amethyst raised an eyebrow, before shrugging her shoulders and huffing.

“I know you did. At least, I was briefed on that!” She replied, “You’ve been through a lot- but here? It’s the end of the line for all of you.”

She reached to her side, the gem destabilizer clinging to her form. Lars could see her hand reaching for it. He looked up. Padparadscha stood down the hall, halfway around a corner. She was frozen, paralyzed at the sight before her.

Lars opened his mouth, but his scream to run would not leave his throat. The Amethyst glanced over her shoulder, her eyebrows raising in alarm as she spotted Padparadscha. Lars rushed forward, desperately reaching out for the destabilizer. The amethyst heard his footfalls and whirled around, pushing the double pointed end of her weapon towards his chest.

With his hands outstretched in front of him, he was able to just barely catch the weapon. Barely was an understatement. The sharp ends pressed against the midsection of his chest. Its energy sparked through his body, causing him to convulse faintly.

Whatever Steven had done to heal him had made him thick-skinned, so it felt. All the same, the destabilizer against his chest ached as the Amethyst pressed hard against his arms. They shuddered and strained, his grasp and the Amethyst’s own pushing up against one another.

Just a bit of space grew between him, and the tips of the gem destabilizer chest. He could feel the energy pulsing less and less through him now. He sucked in one great breath, and shoved both of his hands downward on the destabilizer. Finally managing to deflect it, he slammed it to the floor. It clattered with a tinny thud, settling between his legs.

Lars looked up, only to be met once again with a fist hurled to his face. This time, it connected. Stars flew across his gaze, as the front of his face radiated with noticeable amounts of pain. The air within him was knocked out in an instant, and he found himself slamming against the left side wall behind him.

The Amethyst found her chance had come, and she bounded her way over to him with her fists raised. As he tried to slump forward and avoid her charge, she brought her right leg up and swung around. Lars was in the midst of ducking when his arms and his head was collected, sending him hurtling onto the floor ahead.

Padparadscha stared, clutching at her sides feverishly. Her mind raced, desperately she desired to run and help her captain. But fear froze her in place, along with the knowledge that she was no match for a giant quartz soldier. So it seemed.

Lars saw her in the corner of his eye between the frightful blows. The sight motivated him to stay upright. He hobbled upwards, only to feel a blunt shape against his chest as the Amethyst’s fist connected again. The wind was knocked out of him again. His legs threatened to buckle, only for the gem to pick him up by the collar of his cape.

His legs swung now, and his arms flailed, seeking to try and land something of a blow against the Amethyst. A few of his punches, especially towards the center, caused her to flinch and shudder, her form especially recoiling after he drew his arm back as hard as he could.

However, she grit her teeth through this. Her form swung her arm forward. Lars felt weightless for the briefest moment as he was hurled through the air like a ragdoll. He felt a familiar sting of energy pass through him for a moment, but could barely even process it as he felt his back slam up against the cold rear wall.

With a heavy thud, he fell forward to the floor, his cape flipping over his face. Padparadscha cried out down the hall instinctively, stepping forward.

“CAPTAIN! NO!”

The amethyst looked up, squinting at the sapphire, before glancing down at the floor to her weapon.

Lars huffed, scrambling, feeling up the floor ahead with his gloved hands. When they finally found the edge of his cape, he pulled it off from over his face. Just as he’s suspected, now he’s behind the destabilizer field. The other gems were on the other side.

Its effect on him was negligible, especially if he ran for it. He hissed faintly, feeling how much his body still ached from getting tossed around, even if it was nothing compared to before. However, Padparascha’s cries snapped him back into action for the briefest moment.

The amethyst bent over, her broad and mighty hand grasping for the gem destabilizer. From here, Lars could see the gem on her rear-left shoulder. He also knew he only had a second or two to react.

With all the strength he had in his form he forced himself back onto his feet. He winced, his legs trembling as he shut his eyes, gathering his bearings for just a moment longer. His instinct would push him forward at a frighteningly fast clip, and he would tuck his head forward as he ran forward.
Just as the Amethyst soldier had picked up her destabilizer, she felt a weight against her side suddenly knock her off balance. She stumbled backwards, her arms flailing as the destabilizer shot out of her hands.

She tumbled backwards onto the field of the adjacent cell, and immediately yelled aloud as her weight pressed her up against it. Bolts and arcs flew out from the contact, as her form shuddered and shook from all of the pain.

The quartz soldier shut her eyes, desperately trying not to poof in the moment. Her arms flailed around, with one of them especially flailing around and slamming against the outer cell wall to the right.

Lars pushed himself forward against her, trying to keep her against the field. He strained and hissed, whilst the gem’s form weakened under his palms. As the Amethyst’s hands flailed, she reached frantically for the diamond shaped panel on the right of the cell. Her left hand spread itself out, and slammed against the panel.

Lars was faced with a harrowing moment as the destabilizer field behind the Amethyst shut off. The amethyst silently pushed back on Lars, knocking him onto his back in one moment. Her face was contorted into a scowl, and she began to follow him towards the floor.

In the next moment, everything seemed to happen at once. Several small footfalls had rung out in the background, and in the next instant, the Amethyst found her form covered in yellow light, sparking and jolting as the energy of the destabilizer found her form again.

This time, it’s grim work had struck true, as the light of her form refracted and cracked visibly. The next moment sees her explode into a cloud of colored air, and her gemstone clatter to the ground promptly.

Lars laid there, staring on in confusion and shock as he gathered himself again. In front of him, Padparadscha dropped the destabilizer, her hands shaking profusely. She looked up at the weapon, and then at Lars himself. Lars stared back at her, breathing in the silence. He hesitantly picked himself back up.

“I-...you should’ve run, Pads.- You didn’t need to do that,” He stepped over to her, whilst she kept looking down, trembling. He knelt down to her level, offering his hands to her.

“I didn’t want to leave you, captain Lars! I-..I never want to leave you or anyone else behind!- I just-..that was so much to bear!” Padparadscha exclaimed, shaking profusely as she clutched Lars’ hands tightly with both of her own.

“It’s alright, Pad. It’s alright. Just-..don’t let that be a habit, okay? I…don’t want to think you have to prove anything.” Lars replied as she held her hand for the moment, as well as glanced up and down the corridor around.

“Are you hurt, Lars?” Padparadscha asked, looking up at him. Lars shook his head somewhat, though he shrugged faintly.

“...I can take more punches than I used to, that’s for sure,” He replied with a soft chuckle, putting a hand through his now disheveled curls of pink hair to brush them out of his face, “..But, I don’t want to keep taking them for now.”

Padparadscha nodded in acknowledgement, her face softening a bit. All the same, her smile remained nervous and uncertain. Lars took note of that and opened his mouth to speak again, when her gaze fell upon the room to their side once more. Lars found himself following her gaze.

The destabilizer field for Lapis’s cell was gone. The cell was now completely open to the corridor. Within the now opened cell, Lapis stared up at them. She sat curled up against the rear wall, her arms tucking in her legs against her chest, peaking out at them with her chin against her knees and her skirt.

Lars and Padparadscha glanced over to her, staring right back, before Lars finally turned to Padparadscha as he got back up. Padparadscha glanced over at him as he did so, looking on at her. He looked over towards Lapis again once he was fully upright.

“...You’re free to go now, I guess-. I’ll say, uh, you’re right in that we do have friends to look after,” He remarked, before, “So, that’s what we’re going to do, right Pads’?”

Padparadscha looked up, and nodded resolutely, even as her own form trembled, her hand clutching Lars’ own tightly.

“..Right, that sounds about right,” Lars nodded in turn, before looking back at Lapis, “...Feel free to do with this as you want- just take care of yourself. You’ll never know if this is the only opportunity you’ve got.”

The silence remained palpable after his words. Lars glanced away after a while, and drew in another deep breath. He hissed, his form still sore from the blows he received. He clutched Padparadscha’s hand gently, and she in turn gently encouraged him to take another step. He did so, managing to find his rhythm bit by bit, moment by moment.

—

Lapis’s gaze had followed Lars as he stepped out past the corner of her cell. Her back and her gemstone remained firmly pressed against the rear wall of her cell, her mind hesitating to make another movement after all of that. After an interminable period, she seemed to tremble, struggling to process everything that she had witnessed.

The blows, the screams, the arcing and the crackling lingered in her mind. Like a twisted rhyme, it reminded her of plenty of the terrible things she had witnessed throughout her millenia.

And yet, by some miracle, he had overcome that. Lars had overcome that, so she witnessed. Of all the things she had been expecting, to find a human here…

A human, him of all people. She hardly knew him, aside from a passing glance as she passed over Beach City.

She was someone else she had almost drowned, she thought morbidly. She remembered Steven's words on the implications of that. Someone else she could’ve hurt in her wake. Who would’ve thought?

Lapis hunched forward, pressing her head against her legs, shutting her eyes as she breathed deeply. Her mind was wandering further and further again, deep into the depths of it all. Moment after moment began to replay in her mind.

—

Explosions, thundering and sounding across the land. The sky darkening around her, as gems fall and poof into nothingness, scattering their gemstones across the earth. Her hands covered her head, clutching at her sides as she desperately shut her eyes.

A thud sound from behind her. Lapis’s eyes snapped open, and she tried to glance over her shoulder. The shifting of the dirt behind her indicated there was only a moment for her to move. She shifted her foot, pressing off the ground, desperately sprouting her wings.

Searing pain shot through her form all at once, and then, the darkness took her over. Only for the next moment, the moment she came to, she sat under the condescending glare of a thousand figures.

‘Tell us where their base is.’

‘How many of them are there? Where do they gather their recruits?’

‘Just what was your role in this?’

‘Why are you on this planet to begin with?’

“Why am I here to begin with?!?!”

Lapis lashed out at this. Her form lurched, and yet there was no form to let her move in that moment.
—

She blinked, and the green walls, and yellow field of the destabilizer stood before her, as she sat on the cold floor below her. Steven stood before her, stretching out his arms to her.

Her voice- her voice called out frantically for him to stop.

Her mind lingered, wondering why all the forces of the universe had to pull him into her problems. She didn’t want him to handle her issues for herself, to burden himself with her.

Another half of her, increasingly, balked at the fact that she said no. That she didn’t take the chance he offered.

‘That’s why we can’t fight them!’

‘That’s why we have to fight them!’

Steven’s face had been in many other happier moments. Everything he said then stuck. At least, she strived as much as she could to let them stick.

—

The weight on her shoulders never seemed to stop, never for a second. Water was all that surrounded her. The chains yanked at her wrists. Her arms shuddered and shook furiously.

For a moment, she was dragged below the surface, and a familiar, brutish form emerged like a shadow from the depths. Enchained in her own right, her open palm reached out and punched Lapis in the moment. Gurgling, insult after insult seemed to fly from her, as she was dragged back down.

“Just let me do this for you!”

Before her, Steven stood upon the surface. He offered to help, or at least that much he was going to do. He offered so much, for someone who…

Who brought so much to her own shore, Lapis pondered.

—

The memories stitched themselves together, on and on, bit by bit. Piece by piece, like one long collage. Lapis, as usual, found herself stuck, unable to pry her mind away from it all.

—

“I feel like I only get to see you when something horrible is going on!”

“..That’s just how it is with me..”

Steven himself seemed to have disappeared. The barn behind her was empty, save for herself in that split second, where she would’ve leapt away.

—

“I’ve seen what you’re capable of! I thought I was a brute, but you? You’re a monster!”

Lapis clutched her head, shaking it with each pass of the thunder, she shook her head profusely. In her hands, she felt something crumble and scatter away. A tape recorder, and its film falling apart under her grip. It clattered to the floor. She stared down at it, before finally looking up.
NO. NOT THIS AGAIN. NO.

The expressions before her shifted again. Peridot stared down, as she did before at the crumpled remains of that recorder. She blinked again.

—

“I think we can win! I think you can win!”

“Earth is our home now! Isn’t it worth fighting for?”

The hope in Peridot’s face, the earnestness with which she stretched out her hand. The snapping of a pipe made that all drain away. Lapis blinked, and remembered the hope drain from her face, before she shot up into the stratosphere, into the night above.

—

The howling dark roared behind her. Lapis stood on before it. Steven reached for her, desperately, held back only by lion’s jaws. Lapis stared at the ground, murmuring faintly.

“I can’t go through that again…”

“Would you rather be alone!?”

—

“I chose to be alone…” Lapis murmured to herself, clutching at her forehead, trembling as it all flooded through her mind yet again. Time after time, image after image, and it felt like she was just back to where she started.

There wasn’t anything left for her back home. She felt as much. She tossed that this time, surely she did.

And yet, there was no wish on her part to remain alone, least of all as a prisoner. Lars’ own words rang in her mind, as she looked back at the open corridor.

‘You’ll never know if this is the only opportunity you’ve got.’

So many times, she was a prisoner. So many times, she stayed away. She hadn’t fathomed otherwise. No one else should suffer through her own issues, they were hers to bear alone, so she felt.

Now? She truly had no one else beside her. Besides that human and his merry band for the moment, and no wall in front of her.

Hushed voices and heavy footfalls sounded from the corridor to her side, forcing her back to the moment at hand. She shut her eyes once more, the cell around her seeming to melt away in her mind.

The corridor stayed open as ever, but the trap was threatening to swing back on her again. She brought her hand forward, clutching the air in front.

‘I’m done being everyone’s prisoner...Including my own.’ She mouthed wordlessly, purposefully recalling what she had once said in her mind. No more torment for her, or for anyone. She looked down at her own hands, then out in the path ahead.

At that moment, she finally opened her eyes. She trembled as she stood, dispassionate and stiff as she rose to her full height. Several pairs of footfalls seemed close in all around her, urgent and increasingly present as second after second passed her by.

Now or never, now or never. That much lingered in her mind.

Her wings sprouted from her gemstone, swishing in the air urgently. She jumped up, spreading them out as much as she could to keep herself just barely floating above the floor. She had to hunch to avoid the cold ceiling of her cell as she remained hovering.

Another deep breath, another moment, another decision.

She didn’t have anything else to fight for, but for those few, and herself. For her to survive just another moment, for them to find each other in these walls. That was reason enough for her wings to beat.

She shot out of the cell, sharply turning to avoid the opposite field and the walls. Several shouts and curses sounded from behind her, but by then, she had long left them in the dust. The corridor’s walls rushed right past, as she kept her wings tight as she kept swaying them, gathering up all the lift she could.

In her mind, the question and the answer was simple.

What did she have to lose? Nothing else at this point.

Chapter Text

Huddled in a corner against the door, Fluorite pressed herself against the wall. She ensured her form curled up into the shadows, whilst one of her small arts stretched out, blocking the Rutile Twins and Rhodonite at her side. Rhodonite shuddered incessantly at this point, especially flinching as the footfalls of guards walking past them.

The rutile twins glanced between themselves, before looking over at Fluorite. One of them, the right one, spoke in hushed tones.

“Just how long could we even wait here?” She remarked, whilst her twin added succinctly, “They could find us soon enough.”

“I…just need…to take..a moment,” Fluorite drawled, her many eyes wincing from the exertion of earlier. Her form shuddered in turn. Rhodonite, for her part murmured softly.

“Is he even coming for us at all?- Is he- is he even still here? He’s left us…” She trembled, clutching her own head, her fingers resting in her head. Fluorite and the twins immediately glanced over her way.

“Of course…not. He…won’t. I…know he…won’t.” Fluorite drawled on, looking upon Rhodonite with concern.

“I’d know- he couldn’t leave!” One twin remarked, as the other continued, “He can’t because there’s no other ship he’d know how to pilot.”

“...Not…without us, anyhow,” Fluorite nodded, glancing down at the twins.

Rhodonite settled back against the wall, burying her head in her arms. Her companions looked on in concern.

“I don’t know- I…we’re lost in this place. We ran deeper and deeper. How could we find him-..how will he find us...before they find us!?” She cried out quietly, emphatically motioning to the guards just beyond the shadows.

The rutile twins looked from Rhodonite to the path ahead, their own hands tensed, the fear of the moment creeping into their expressions. Fluorite stared on stoically, even despite how much it all battered against her own mind.

“We…look out for each other…we don’t…we don’t leave each…other behind. We…cannot forget that,” Fluorite said sagely, “We’ll…find a way…as he…will too.”

Rhodonite up at the others, staring up at Fluorite, before she gazed down at the floor again, tensing up.

“How could he? How-...with someone like me?” She murmured. The twin’s brows raised in alarm, and their hands reached out for Rhodonite’s shoulders. She didn’t brush them away when they touched, but she tensed in some anguish.

“None of this was your fault!” The twin on the right chimed tersely.

“You didn’t know! We didn’t know!” The twin on the left added.

“...I-..I still should’ve done better, been better! I could’ve found it..” Rhodonite whispered softly, shaking her head, “...We shouldn’t have ended up here- I should’ve made sure of that- I shouldn’t be making you..-”

“You…are not, Rhodonite,” Fluorite cut her off as she looked Rhodonite’s way, her many pairs of eyes glancing down at her. She hunched down, crawling up to look at her more closely and gently, “...You’ve done..what you could..and it is not..your fault.”

Rhodonite sighed softly, leaving her hands behind her neck as she shook her head profusely, her form still tense as ever.

“...I-. I just-..I don’t know if we’ll make it,” Rhodonite whispered quietly. The twins kept a hand of their own on her back, faintly nodding softly. Fluorite stretched a hand out, taking one of Rhodonite's own as she hesitantly reached back to the giant fusion.

“We…will. I…know so.”

Rhodonite paused, finally letting herself believe it, even if only partially. Her shoulders slackened just a little bit, and she took a deep breath.

—

Lars hauled Padparadscha on his shoulders once more, huffing quietly as he made his way up the hallway at a fast pace. At this point, he sprinted, paranoid of being cornered by more of the guards from earlier. Padparadscha meanwhile was clutching him tighter than she did before, leaving a dull pressure under her weight.

Lars huffed heavily, as the door ahead came into view. He stepped forward, seeing it shoot open before him. It opened to a wider, long hallway. It seemed to be the main axis of the vessel, as far as he suspected.

He hissed, hearing the approach of more guards. He hid behind the corner of the door, as the tramping of their boots rushed past. Somehow, not one turned off into the corridor he was standing in.

He breathed heavily, peaking back out into the long corridor. Far away, the guards that passed shrank away from view as they continued on.

“...There’s one way they could’ve gone.” Lars murmured, “..But it might take a long time to check it.”

Padparadscha looked from left to right, scanning the length of the corridor around her. She pursed her lips in concern.

“With how big this facility is, we could be lost! I predict we’ll be in a predicament here…” Padparadscha remarked gravely.

“...This way could be our best bet, but who knows how long it’ll take to get across it.” He remarked quietly, turning his head along the way. Just as he turned over to his left, something shining flickered in the corner of his eye. The sound of air whipping beneath, a wing, registered directly behind him. He looked over.

Lapis Lazuli rushed down the hall straight and true at a tremendous pace. Just before she would’ve run right into Lars, she pulled herself up, beating her wings furiously to slow herself down. Lars stared on, somewhat dumbfounded at the sight of her. Padparadscha spoke plenty for them.

“You took your chance! Are you coming with us?” She asked frankly. Lapis looked up, before shaking her head, scoffing.

“..No, but, I’m going to help you both out.” She remarked quietly, her bangs falling over her tired, scowling eyes. Lars rasied a brow at this, as she stepped forward, glancing down the hall. Each time she turned her head, her bangs swished about, partially flying past her eyes.

“..Are you sure about that? We’re…trying to find our way out of here ourselves,” Lars remarked, glancing over to Lapis Lazuli. Lazuli shook her head, sighing profusely.

“..I-...I don’t have anything to leave for, anything to really return to. I don’t want your help for that,” She remarked bluntly. Lars and Paradpascha glanced between themselves, observing the despondence with those words plainly.

Lapis looked away, before she turned back towards them, her head still bowed, “I do still want to help you both out-...it beats sitting in a cell all day.” She motioned to her back with one hand, “..I can carry you both on me, and hold one of you as I fly around this place.”

“...Why should I trust you with this? You know your way around?” Lars remarked, raising a brow as he folded his arms. Lapis scoffed, exasperated.

“...It beats stumbling around slowly and guessing your way out of here at that pace,” She shook her head as she stared up at him, “...You’ll also outrun the guards way more.”

Lars glanced up at Padparadscha. She looked on at Lars and nodded, smiling somewhat trustingly. Lars took that as a sign to give Lapis a chance. He sighed softly, and looked down back at Lapis.

“Alright. I can’t help but ask how you’re going to carry us both around, though,” He gestured to Padparadscha and himself, “I’m not leaving her behind.”

Lapis squinted between the two figures on their shoulders. Lars being so tall meant he wouldn’t be so easy to mount on her back like she would with Steven or Peridot, she figured. The only real option she had was to carry him up front as much as possible.

“..I can carry her on my back, and you in my arms around here,” She remarked curtly, gesturing towards her own back, “You’d be too tall to sit up there, so, I’d have to carry you around.”

Both gem and human looked up and down at each other again, processing the arrangement on the table. Lars pondered how that would unfold, but at that point, there was only one way to find out.

“You know what? Sure, I’ll take that,” Lars replied simply. Padparadscha clambered off of Lars on cue, and was lifted up promptly by Lapis, who grunted as she lifted her up onto her back. Lars stood back, until Lapis gestured for him to come over, reaching her hand out to him.

Lars looked down at his own gloved hand, pausing for a moment, before reaching out to her own. The two would clasp. Lars would be taken aback by the sheer strength Lapis would use to pull him right to her.

Her arms wrapped around his midsection, just below his shoulders tightly. He winced, wheezing at the pressure. Lapis’s chin meanwhile could only just barely rest on his shoulder. Padparadscha glanced down at her, noting how the blue gem seemed to have a poker face at the moment, barely flinching even as she pulled the human into her arms.

“Duck your head a bit forward,” She remarked curtly to the human in her arms. Lars glanced over for a moment, realizing that it was hard for her to peer over his own shoulder. He nodded and tipped his head forward, giving her more room.

Lapis nodded softly, her bangs falling over her eyes again. Padparadscha reached down, causing her to pause as she felt her hand brushing the hair out of her eyes.

“Thanks, but…I’d rather you not do that,” Lapis remarked, glancing back up. Padaparadscha looked down, tilting her head.

“I just wanted to help!” She chimed. Lapis stared blankly, before the faintest inkling of a smile graced her lips, though it was quick to fade as she looked on ahead. Lars glanced over, wordlessly wondering when they would start flying.

“..Hang tight to my arms,” Lapis remarked bluntly. Lars looked around quickly, his hands quickly grasping Lapis’s own firmly encircled around his chest.

She shut her eyes, focusing on forming up her wings again whilst still holding onto Lars tightly. The squeeze especially caused Lars to squirm, even as his form was more capable of taking such things. He wheezed, trying to keep his chest forced out. Lapis paid little mind to his reactions, but did try to keep her grip just a little looser. The pressure eased enough for him to settle a bit.

Before he could glance back at her again, he felt her knees bend behind his, and then, with one springing motion up, she lifted herself up. She hunched down, pulling herself level as she rose in the air. Her arms locked around Lars, and yet they still sagged as the human's weight fully settled against them.

Lars glanced around quickly, taking note of the fact that they were starting to fly down the hallway. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Padparadscha on top of Lapis’s shoulders glancing around wildly, processing the fact that she and her captain were being lifted up.

“You really can lift us up!” She remarked, impressed to some degree. Lapis said nothing, furrowing her brows. She anxiously glanced around the hall. Lars tried to look over his shoulder, Padparadscha did so as well. Before they could see it, several voices sounded from behind them down the hall.

“We’ve been spotted!” Padparadscha cried.

Lapis silently snapped her wings down, pushing herself onward. The last thing she wanted to be was the quarry of the guards all over again. She picked up speed, and Lars could feel his swirls of cotton-candy hair starting to flap and flick in the rushing air as he was hauled at a greater and greater speed. The corridor, the patterns of uniform diamonds, the piping along the ceiling all passed like a blur as Lapis truly picked up the pace.

Coming into view, a door was shut across their path. Lapis’s eyes widened in alarm, but her form especially jolted as the door opened, revealing a mass of several guards ahead of her. Lars’ own eyes widened in turn. Padparadscha clutched Lapis’s shoulders even tighter on instinct, hunching down as they rapidly approached the forming blockade.

“..Watch it, watch-” Lars shouted, flinching in Lapis’s arms. However, she squeezed instinctively in turn, keeping him still whilst she tucked her head forward and stared up ahead through flailing, swaying bangs. Padparadscha ducked down, burying her head into Lapis’s back as she saw the many Amethyst soldiers turn around, trying to tighten their cordon.

“...Hang on,” Lapis remarked quietly, as her only warning. All of a sudden, she ducked up, jolting her own form and Lars up for a moment. The quartz soldiers ahead of her bolted, running apart in their bid to try and predict where she was going to veer. In that moment, gaps in their line formed, and their courage proved less than certain.

Lapis pounced and ducked down hard. One amethyst soldier was caught off guard and reflexively stood out of her way. Just enough, she tucked her wings upward, barely squeezing her way through one amethyst’s chest, and another’s shoulder. A commotion of shouting and shoving erupted, as several hands and fists tried to seize her or her passengers. But in that moment, at such a fast pace, she was able to dart and trip each soldier’s posture up.

She crossed and juked, snapping left and right once, then twice. The amethysts she passed hurled around, to see her leaving them behind, having just barely squeezed past them. Padparadscha hesitantly peeked her head up, before looking back over her shoulder, then gazing down upon Lapis in amazement.

“You got past them!” She cheered.

Lars, all the while, stared on, furrowing his brows as he tried to glance back up at Lapis. Her own expression was that of a tight wince, her breathing quickening in the moment, as she struggled to keep her composure in the moment. Even after she had threaded the needle, the weight of the moment hadn’t left her. The tension on her shoulders radiated under Padparadscha’s palms.

The moment would not settle, as more commotion sounded down the hall ahead. Everyone looked up sharply, as several Amethyst soldiers charged towards them up ahead. Shouting, they tried to fan out, form a cordon that would surround Lapis as she approached. Padparadscha’s hands clenched down on Lapis’s shoulders again, and whilst Lars and Lapis flinched.

Lapis jerked herself upward above the first guard, narrowly flying just above the soldier’s flailing arms. Her wings pounded even further, causing her to snap forward. Her pace remained blistering, at this point becoming a blur to the many soldiers that had amassed. They cried out, as some flinched and stumbled into each other in their bid to grab onto her.

She jerked herself to the side, narrowly squeezing herself and her passengers past the wall and another guard. Her arms gently encouraged Padparadscha to hang on, to hug tighter and keep her profile low.

Lars felt his breathing quicken, as with every moment he was confronted with one more near miss, one more barely avoided limb, one more narrowly dodged shoulder or chest that flashed in and out of his view.

Lapis squinted, trying to narrow her view and make her way through the masses definitively. Another guard leapt into her path. Another time, she would pull herself up, before ducking down quickly just as she passes the guard over her head.

Relief finally crept into her form, as ahead, the hallway opened to a massive chamber. No guards seemed to be in sight for the moment. The floor beneath her became a walkway that spanned the great chasm, with several other similar bridges jutting out across the divide.

Padparadscha remained glued to Lapis’s back, shuddering before finally peeking out again at their surroundings. She finally settled upright to get a better view of the sheer amount of space around them. Lars glanced around quickly, steadying his own breathing in the moment.

“..You’re certifiably crazy, you know that?” Lars muttered, utterly stunned at the gall on display here.

“...I’ve gotten something like that before,” Lapis retorted curtly. Padparadscha stared around, her head tilting as she took in the scenery of the space around them.

“Just where are we?! This place is very wide and open!” She called out, truly struggling to grasp it fully.

“..I can guess it leads deeper into this place.” Lars remarked, barely able to glance around and truly move his head, whilst his back was still pinned up against Lapis’s chest.

The ocean gem remained stiff, staring blankly out at the walkway ahead. Her eyes scanned the path ahead, watching for any more threats. For a while, nothing but silence seemed to be present between the two gems and the human, save for the air rushing past their forms.

For the moment, Lars was just content to let the quiet dominate. His mind strayed towards the thought of the rest of his crew, towards his friends once more, however. He tensed, fretting in the moment as the fear returned to his head.

Thankfully, Padparascha’s voice managed to break the calm.

“...How did you end up here? What’s your story?” Padparadscha asked Lapis, peering down at her curiously. Lars couldn’t help but try to glance up, to see her own reaction to it.

Lapis scoffed, shaking her head softly.

“All I can say about that is it’s a long and terrible one. It…isn’t something I want to trouble you both with, ha..” She chuckled somewhat, less out of amusement and more out of some tired, deflated self-deprecation. If Lars and Padparadscha could look upon themselves, expressing their own concern silently, they would’ve.

“..You’ve said for us to not worry about you half a dozen times already,” Lars remarked instinctively, glancing up as much as he could at her, “...You’ve helped us out way more than you’ve hindered us so far-”

“Just- no-...so far is right. I don’t want to mess this up,” Lapis cut him off, looking on more blankly, her own lips curving into something of a frown as she kept her gaze locked on the walkway ahead.

Lars opened his mouth again but couldn’t find any words. She didn’t want him to pry any further, that much was obvious. His means of breaking the ice beyond that didn’t seem all that appealing either, he concluded. He furrowed his brow, settling as Lapis continued to carry both him and Padparadscha across the massive gorge.

—

Fluorite squinted, remaining huddled with the others in their place in the shadows. The sound of guards tramping through the halls had abated somewhat, though there was always the ever present threat of one or another finding their way to their spot. Any given moment, that would be the case.

She kept her form coiled around both the Rutile twins and Rhodonite, who themselves sat close together in her grasp. Rhodonite rested her head on the curvature of Fluorite’s lower body. She stared on, blankly, utterly weary of this situation at this point, to the point she almost disassociated herself from it.

Only the eyes of the others, and their gentleness kept her grounded to the moment. But even then, her fear kept threatening to send her spiraling into the depths of her mind.

Another pair of footfalls seemed to sound from down the corridor, another guard walked at a slow pace past their alcove, covered in the shadows. None the wiser, the Amethyst kept up her pace, whistling even as she moved on. It made their own noises much easier to mask.

Rhodonite jumped when Fluorite jerked a bit, at the sudden sound of the door hissing open. A faint swish of both air, and what sounded like fluid sounded from down the hall. Distinctive. Faint cursing sounded in a voice familiar to them. These noises seemed to grow closer and closer, most evident by the flapping of watery wings that echoed moment after moment.

Instinctively, everyone pressed themselves either against the wall or closer to the floor, trying to hide out against whatever finally rounded the corner.

Sharply jerking into the dark alcove was a blue gem, a Lapis Lazuli. In her arms and on her back were both of the lost members of the crew; Lars and Padparadscha.

She finally planted her feet upon the floor, taking a deep breath as she glanced around.

“..We should be out of sight of those guards now.” Lapis murmured, before looking somewhat sternly at Lars, “What did you see down here that made you want us to-”

She trailed off, as she noticed Lars glancing off to his left. She followed his gaze and saw the shapes of several figures up against the dark wall. Padparadscha began to smile widely, looking up as she eventually recognized the shapes against the wall.

“You…made it! You two did..” Fluorite beamed with relief, scuttling forward towards them. The rutile twins also emerged from the side of the wall, stepping forward with their eyebrows raised curiously at the sight before them.

Lapis finally realized Lars from her grip, causing him to stumble forward. He quietly yelped for a moment, before he gained back his balance. Meanwhile, Padparadscha leapt from Lapis’s shoulders, causing her to flinch from the shock of it in the moment. She ran up to Fluorite and the twins, leaping up excitedly.

“We found you all! We are able to move quickly thanks to her!” She gestured to Lapis, who looked up, squinting as she took in the sight of the off-colors.

“Hey, wait a minute, where’s Rhodes-” Lars began, only for Rhodonite to finally emerge, stepping forward. The expression on her face was a mix of anxiety and incredulity, at least in the fact that she was seeing Lars before her.

“Y-you made it! I-..I worried that you wouldn’t make it..” Rhodonite remarked, clutching her arm more tightly, gazing down at the floor. Her shoulders remained tense all the same at that moment.

Lars’ eyebrow raised up in concern at this. He glanced up to Fluorite and glanced over to the twins. Fluorite sighed heavily.

“...Being…separated, going…through all of this…it’s having…an effect. She…really thought…you wouldn’t make it,” Fluorite remarked.

“...She’s thinking this is all her fault,” One twin remarked, the other added, “She thinks she could’ve seen this one coming.”

Lars stared for a moment, feeling a pang in his own heart upon hearing such from both Fluorite and the twins. He looked on at Rhodonite, who buried her own face in her hands, shaking her head.

“...I just- I felt so nervous. I didn’t-...I got us into this,” She remarked quickly, before Lars cleared his throat, gingerly offering his own hand to hers. Hesitantly, he reached out for his own. He shook his head.

“For one thing, I thought you knew me well enough...to know I would never leave any of you guys behind. Over my dead body…” Lars remarked, gently holding onto Rhodonite’s hands. She glanced away, but nodded affirmatively, though her face remained unsure and unsettled.

“..For another, and, I want you to hear this Rhodes’...none of us saw any of this coming. You’re also not the only one who wished they did,” He gestured over to Padparadscha on cue. Rhodonite glanced up, raising her brows. The coral sapphire nodded quickly.

“I should’ve had that clairvoyance, but Captain Lars says this is something we all share at least!” She looked over to the captain, and nodded softly. Rhodonite looked on for a long time at Padparadscha, before furrowing her brows and bowing her head down.

“I-..It still was my responsibility to chart the course, I didn’t see this station on any of my star maps…-” She began to stammer out.

“Your star maps were wrong…or, out of date, somehow,” A voice, Lapis’s, rang out from the wall she leaned up against. She was shaking her own head in the moment, recalling her own path to the station.

“...Is that…how you ended…up here?” Fluorite softly inquired from above. Lapis only nodded softly, mostly keeping her head bowed forward to the point her bangs hung over her eyes.

Rhodonite looked on at this, continuing to linger doubtfully in the moment. She couldn’t absolve herself, she didn’t wish to do so. Lars looked on emphatically.

“...You couldn’t have known this place was here. None of us did. And as far as surviving it, you..and the others, have done good,” He stood back, glancing over to all of them, “That’s the most I could ask for, especially so we could find each other again, alright?”

Rhodonite turned around, processing how the others stood by, offering her gentle smiles. Lars’ own gentle smile lingered on her mind as well. A shaky smile finally graced her lips, culminated in a stressed chuckle slipping out, before she gathered back what composure she could.

“We’ve..found each other now but-...how will we get off this station?” Rhodonite tried to keep herself glancing up at the open hallway behind Lars and Lapis. The sounds of guards echoed in her mind at that point.

Lars paused at her question, gathering his thoughts, before clearing his throat. Every one of the off-colors paused to give him due attention.

“We’ve let them think we’ve scattered and spread ourselves apart into at least two groups. I think they’ll be searching across more areas at once because of that,” Lars remarked, stepping forward as he continued, “...The next thing we should do is get back to the ship, especially while they’re distracted.”

“It’s certain that they’ll guard it!” The right twin chimed, “They would suspect we’d make our way back!” The left twin finished.

“...That means…we should…give them…the slip. As…the captain…puts it,” Fluorite remarked, recalling the manner in which they had seized the Sun Incinerator in the first place.

“They’ll be way more on guard than those citrines were, they didn’t know what to expect from us. We let these quartz guards know very early on, so, it’ll be harder to pull the same trick twice,” Lars remarked quickly, furrowing his own brows pensively, “...Hence the need to truly distract them, keep up the chaos.”

From the corner of everyone’s eye, they could see Lapis glancing up almost with some sense of incredulity, as if she was mishearing what he was saying. The level of audacity certainly seemed to make some impression on her. However, she winced as a voice was raised.

“Just what kind of distraction could we cook up!?- We can’t keep running around in circles in this station.” Rhodonite barked, tense at the thought of going back out there again. Lars raised a hand, asking wordless for Rhodonite to wait for a moment, to let him finish.

“I had originally been wanting to reach some of their control consoles, and see how much we could fiddle with it. Force them to divert more of their attention to it…” Lars furrowed his brows as he held his hands behind his back, “That’d depend on what we could figure out with it in the time we would have, though.”

“Covering more ground would create a bigger distraction!” One twin enunciated, though the other remarked pensively, “But it’ll leave us split up again! They could pick us off one by one!”

“..I wouldn’t-..I wouldn’t want that to happen, captain,” Rhodonite remarked, looking up earnestly at Lars. Lars' face remained tense, as he considered everyone’s reaction. He raised his hands up, shaking his head.

“It’s the main idea I have-. I wouldn’t want to let you guys get completely isolated, we’d still try and stick together, cover as much ground as we could…-”

Lars paused for a moment, before glancing over his shoulder. Lapis remained against the wall, observing the off-colors deliberately in relatively quiet fascination. She met his gaze, and raised a brow.

“...You said you wanted to help out, right? This…might be something we’ll need your help with,” Lars spoke quickly, holding his gaze at the ocean gem.

Lapis stared back at him for a moment, before letting off a snort and a chuckle, shaking her head before meeting his gaze once more. The Off-Colors glanced between themselves, wondering just what wisdom there was to trusting that she’d do this for them.

“I said I would…I’ll make good on that,” Lapis murmured, folding her arms, “Though, I’ll be the first to say your plan…kinda sucks.”

Lars furrowed his own brows, rolling his eyes.

“If you got a better one, I’m all ears,” He retorted, letting his palms rest under his own ears for emphasis.

“..No, I don’t have a better one, though..know that I’m being kind to yours,” She deadpanned, though the faintest smirk graced her lips. The other gems couldn’t help but glance towards themselves again, pondering what to make of Lapis’s remarks.

“Right…” Lars squinted, before turning to the others, “We should get a start on this as soon as possible, so we can get out of here soon enough.”

“Right!” The Off-Colors replied, even if some of their voices quivered.

Lars nodded, and stepped forward towards the edge of the shadows. He peaked from around the corner, his eyes scanning the length of the hallway ahead of him. He paused, glancing over his shoulder.

“Just how did you plan on distracting-” Lars began, when a blur of blue rushed past him. Lapis had already stretched her wings out and shot out into the hallway, her expression contorted into one of grim, resigned determination. She shot down the corridor to Lars’ left, back down the way she had brought them.

The door down the corridor opened with a hiss, revealing a trio of quartz guards tramping up that path. Their faces contorted into that of shock as Lapis rushed right past them. A commotion sounded, and they shouted amongst themselves such things as ‘go! go! get her!’ as they turned around to give chase.

Lars sighed in relief, earnestly glad she kept her word.

“...Alright,” He steadied himself, before looking back at his compatriots, “We’ll split back up again, though this time, I’ll trust Pads with you Fluorite. The Twins and Rhodes, I’ll ask if you can stick with me.”

Fluorite nodded in acknowledgement. Padparadscha chimed as well.

“You can trust me to stay with her, captain!”

The twins glanced over at each other, before looking onto Rhodonite, she trembled at the prospect of this operation, but her shoulders were less tense at the thought of sticking with Lars and the twins at least.

“We’ll go for some consoles on our way towards the ship. Fluorite, you try and get back to it as much as possible,” Lars looked up at Fluorite, enunciating with precision in his words, “We’ll meet by the cells, which headed back to the ship will be the corridors to your left.”

Fluorite nodded in acknowledgement. Padparadscha clambered up onto her back, raising her arms and beaming once she settled into place. Lars turned to the twins and Rhodonite.

“You two, we’re going to see what kind of nonsense we can type into their main frame, at least if you think you both can manage that,” He remarked quickly, glancing between them.

“Those consoles might not accept us! We might not be able to do much else other than type nonsense.” Rhodonite chimed, shaking her head.

“The point is to just throw in as many junk commands as possible, force their systems to detect a problem, and get them to turn their attention to that,” Lars replied, looking over to the twins, “That’s something we can do..”

“That’ll mean we’ll have to do it quickly!” The right twin remarked, “We have to leave the console before they get there!” The left twin finished.

“Of course, of course…” Lars furrowed his brows, before turning over to Rhodonite, “Rhodes’?”

Rhodonite looked up, right into Lars’ eyes, tense as she ever was in the moment. Lars reached his gloved hand out to her. She took it hesitantly, but when they met, she held onto it tightly.

“If it ever gets too intense, just grab and…don’t let go, alright?” Lars assured her, his hand reaching out to pat her own palm gently. Rhodonite nodded quickly, uttering a ‘thank you’ under her breath.

Lars gave her a smile in turn, his mind hoping that he would be able to help her through this. He looked back up at the rest of his crew.

“Alright, Off-Colors. Let’s get to it…”

—

Lapis found herself rushing through corridor after corridor, ducking and flailing. She could only spread her wings so far, else she’d be too slow on the draw when the next soldier stood before her. She also barely had the space to maneuver that she needed.

At this point, her mind was a haze. She berated herself for doing something as foolish as this, and yet the other half insisted that she not abandon them. There wasn’t anything to abandon them for anyhow.

She had already seen to that.

She did her best to ignore those thoughts, and they especially took a backseat as another quartz rounded the bend. She winced, shutting her eyes as she hugged the ceiling again, barely avoiding her clawing hands.

How much longer would she be out of their hands? She had no freedom to look forward to. It was only a matter of time.

And yet, her wings kept carrying her on. She bobbed and weaved as two more guards rushed out, and shot out ahead to avoid many more that were chasing her down.

Suddenly, the hallway opened up into a massive space. The ceiling sat much higher up than before. Lapis instinctively lurched upward, hovering high above the floor. Below her feet were several quartz soldiers, calling out to each other.

The stern face of a fire agate, the very same one that had greeted her, looked right up at her. Behind her was a ship with a long, sharp nose, and a pair of wings jutting out of its lime-green form.

“You escaped. They let you out…” Fire Agate remarked curtly. Lapis looked on blankly, continuing to beat her wings in the air. The quartz soldiers looked up, raising their weapons up to her.

“Given you’ve refused to come quietly, I’m resorting to other measures,” She snapped her fingers, and from the wall, several conical robonoids emerged, tipped with a singular glowing, glaring eye that shined light in their path, “Enjoy faring with these, you absolute nuisance.” Fire Agate remarked coldly.

Multiple red beams emanated towards Lapis, covering her form. She tensed for a moment, before jerking herself down and ducking towards the ground as they started to buzz.

Several amethysts below her tried to catch her as she dove down. However, one of the robonoids immediately jerked its gaze to follow her, trying to aim at Lapis as it fired off a destabilizing bolt. Its beam instead struck the floor, sending several Amethyst’s yelping back to avoid the explosion that erupted from the floor. Lapis ducked into the gap in their line, gasping as she desperately pushed herself.

Fire Agate immediately exclaimed furiously, shouting at the Amethysts.

“Pull back! Let the robonoids go first! Half of you, follow them!”

Lapis could barely register her shouts as she shot into the open hallway, beating her wings frantically as she could hear the buzzing hum of the robonoids.

—

Fluorite ducked against the nearby wall as the guards tramped past. Padparadscha pressed herself against her back, trying to keep her own mouth shut.

The moment the coast was clear, Fluorite leapt forward, hunching over the console and pressing her fingers to it.

“...Some nonsense…for them…to work their..way..out of..” She murmured, at this point typing away upon it. A slew of commands and inputs into the console brought out more than a few warnings at first.

“Keep going Fluorite, keep going!” Padparadscha chimed, looking over shoulder. Fluorite wordlessly acknowledged her with a nod.

She kept typing away into it, recalling every sort of command she knew. Repeatedly and incessantly until alarms started blaring.

“CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE! CONSOLE FUNCTIONALITY COMPROMISED!”

The console lit up red all over, the glow reflecting off her face. She stretched herself out, straining herself to gain as much of a push as she could.

“We’ve got to get out of here now!” Padparadscha looked around quickly, picking up the noises of guards rushing towards the area. Fluorite would answer by finally springing herself forward, launching herself into speed, quickly carrying herself out of the room.

“Hang on…tightly, Padparadscha!” She yelled, ensuring her passenger held onto her back like her life depended on it. The giant fusion rushed to the rendezvous, straining herself to get there at speed.

—

Lars rushed forward, pointing out another presently unguarded console. Rhodonite and the twins followed closely behind, hunching over the console.

“Do your thing, you three. Type to your heart’s content!” He gestured, giving the three room to hunch over it themselves. Rhodonite and the twins leaned in, stretching their fingers out over the console. Within moments, several different commands were already typed out into it.

“..You know, we don’t have hearts,” One twin remarked, the other chuckling as several different alerts appeared on their console. Lars shook his head, snickering in turn. Rhodonite remained hunch over, refusing to look away, tensing especially as she feared the guards stepping up from behind them. Her fingers were a blur on the console.

A slew of commands later had the desired effect. The console lit up into several hues of red before them.

“CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE! CONSOLE FUNCTIONALITY COMPROMISED!”

“Alright! We’ve got this one! Two’s good enough-..” Lars began, when he saw the shadow and heard the sound of several quick footsteps rushing towards them. He reached out for the Rutile twins, pushing them on, “..We’ve gotta go, now!”

The rutiles glanced over, and began to make haste down the corridor. Rhodonite flinched, tensing up. However, she saw Lars’ hand outstretched to her, and found her courage once more.

She held on tightly, her grasp finally permitting him to begin belining down the corridor along with her. She yelped at the pace, but managed to keep up, squeezing Lars’ hand with a vice grip.

Several sets of footsteps sounded distantly behind them. He could also hear some in the corridor ahead. Another corridor forked off to his left.

“Down here, down here!” He called, his instinct sending him and his crewmates down towards the cells once more. Rhodonite stammered behind him, shutting her eyes as she kept holding on to him.

The twins were quick as well, keeping themselves on his side as the many cells rushed past them. Even as his legs ached and his lungs seemed to burn, he kept going, secure in his knowledge that his new form could take this.

The rows of cells eventually culminated in a familiar fork in the way. Lars grinned faintly, glancing over to the twins and Rhodonite. Rhodonite was breathing quickly and looking over her shoulder. The commotion of the guards echoed far behind them.

“Which way now?!” She remarked quickly. Lars turned around, and pointed to his right, down the way he had come.

“That way, quickly!” Lars called. He looked over at Rhodonite, ensuring she held on tight. When her grip was secure, he rushed forward again. The twins ran abreast to him, keeping pace.

It wasn’t long before they rounded the corridor once again. Lars recognized the patterns on this particular section of hallway. Sure enough, they would be coming up on the hangar the sun incinerator was in.

Before that, the many colorful spheres that were Fluorite’s form loomed into view. She looked over her shoulder, and frantically waved her smaller arms out, indicating for the trio to stop. Padparadscha also waved her arms from atop Fluorite’s form, peaking out amidst teal curls.

Lars stopped in his tracks, holding his arms out to hold back the twins and Rhodonite. All three of them were panting, with Rhodonite unable to stop herself from peering over her shoulder again, though the twins joined her this time around.

“What’s the situation, Fluorite?- Gah..” Lars stepped forward, still catching his breath. For how durable he was, the burning sensation still lingered.

“...Eight…Amethyst guards, and two…robonoids,” Fluorite stated, gesturing her head down the corridor.

“An agate was there with them! She looks like she leads this station!” Padparadscha called from above.

“Right…can I have a peek?” Lars answered. Fluorite nodded briefly, stepping aside for him to pass her by. He slunk forward, step by step, before finally reaching the corner into the hangar. He canted his head and peeked around it, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room.

Sure enough, eight Amethyst Guards milled about within the hangar. Two stayed in rigid formation next to a searingly red-tinted Agate with a hard face. Behind them was the Sun Incinerator, in the same state it had been since they arrived. Hovering above it all was the faint buzzing.

Dread clung to Lars to the point he exhaled. However, he kept up his composure as best he could. A plan formed in his mind, cobbled from the last encounter he had with the robonoids. He walked back down the corridor towards the rest of the Off-Colors.

“...I’ve got a plan to get past her. We’ll have to be quick with it.” Lars looked over to the twins and Rhodonite, “..I’ll need you both to throw me upwards.”

The twins, and Rhodonite looked between themselves, a wordless ‘what for’ that Lars answered promptly.

“I’ll need to get up to one of those Robonoids. From there…I can work my magic with it.” He smirked faintly, even if it was tinged with nervousness. Nervousness, and the aching that came about the last time.

“You’re-..you’re serious?!” Rhodonite yelped, struggling to restrain herself in the moment, “...You remember the last time, right?”

“You got hurt very badly last time!” One twin remarked, whilst the other added, “Steven had to help you out! He’s not here this time!”

Lars sighed, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

“I know. But we don’t have many other options, especially with that many guards,” His gaze shifted across each of the Off-Colors, as he particularly settled on the next few words, “Things..are different since then. I’m stronger now-..and I know how to wrangle one of those now.”

“It isn’t…exactly…safe.” Fluorite remarked, her many eyes squinting at Lars. Lars shrugged his shoulders in turn.

“None of this is safe for us, either. I just-..I don’t want you guys to get caught by those things,” He huffed, shaking his head, “..I also need you guys to worry about the gems on the ground below. Stick to Fluorite, and bolt for the ship.”

“...I’m not much for fighting them myself- but, I can guess we can’t sneak around like we did before,” Rhodonite shuddered, tense with the prospect of that. Lars nodded affirmatively.

“We can’t give them the slip. So, that’s why I’m going with shock and awe this time. Enough chaos…and we’ll break through.” Lars gathered up his determination as much as he could, his chest puffing up in the face of how fraught the odds were.

“We’ll stick together!” One twin pumped their fist, “We’ll watch our backs!” The other twin raised their own.

“We work best when together!” Padparadscha called on her shoulders, raising her own arms, before yelping as she landed up against Fluorite’s back, prompting a faint ‘careful’ from the giant fusion. Some chuckles sounded from the others, who nodded in agreement.

“That’s the spirit guys.” Lars remarked, before he gestured his head back down the hall, “Let’s get it done then.”

“Right!” All of the Off-Colors replied, muted so that they didn’t alert the guards in the hangar. Lars stepped up to the corner once more, looking back over his shoulder.

“Rutiles, Rhodes’, you’re up!” Lars watched as they met up behind him. He looked out ahead, spreading his arms out for them to grasp under them.

“Hold him up on this side, Rhodonite,” The twin on the left remarked, “We’ll do our part, you do yours…” The other concluded. Rhodonite nodded quietly. Through shaking arms, he lifted Lars up off the ground. His legs kicked faintly for a moment as he felt them leave the ground below.

“Good- good…” Lars panted, his breath quickening as the moments ahead loomed in his mind. He spoke quickly to the gems holding him up, “Give me a good throw, then get with Fluorite and run to the ship itself with her.”

The others nodded, though Rhodonite did so with as much uncertainty as ever. Lars looked towards her again, and whispered with emphasis.

“Trust me, Rhodes’.” He remarked quietly. Half of him felt that advice was pertinent to himself at the moment. She stopped shivering just a bit less, and shut her eyes. Her form tensed in sync with the twins' own arms.

Lars looked up sharply at the nearest hovering robonoid. He pointed to it quickly, and the gems holding him acknowledged.

“On three, okay?” Lars breathed. The twins and Rhodonite nodded.

“One..”

He shut his eyes, as every memory flashed in his mind.

“Two..”

He clenched his fists, mustering everything he had.

“Three!”

He found himself flying upward with a tremendous speed. His legs kicked through the air, and his momentum carried him higher, and higher. He stretched out his arms to the front, and saw as the tail-end of the robonoid rushed towards him.

His arms curled around the shape with a mighty clank. The air rushed out of him, his cloaked flapping below him. But he grasped on with all of his might.

The robonoid whirred in alarm, pitching backward. He yelped and pressed his weight against it, pushing it down enough for him to clamber up on top of it, mounting it at long last. His gloved hands clutched down near the front of the robonoid, his finger curling over its ‘face’.

The commotion beginning to sound down below made him glance down through wild and jerky motions. Quartz soldiers were scrambling, whilst Fire Agate stared up incredulously- before her attention was sharply brought to Fluorite’s hulking form shoving past two quartz soldiers near the entrance of the hangar.

“STOP THEM, NOW!” She cried, her voice booming across the hangar. Immediately, the robonoid ahead of him whirred into life, aiming its ‘eye’ towards the ground where the other Off-Colors were rushing together.

“Shit..” Lars cursed under his breath and put his weight against the robonoid he mounted. It whirred in distress, and just as he hoped, its eye began to light up. He grit his teeth, pulling on it now furiously. Just as the beam shot out of the ‘eye’, he had managed to jerk its gaze up towards its companion.

The beam made short work of it. An explosion blasted out, sending fiery bits of robonoid debris out towards Lars and to the floor below. Several quartz soldiers ducked or flinched, leaving Fluorite a gap for her to wriggle through.

He brought his arms to his face, trying to shield it as some of it landed up against him and the robonoid. One burned a hole in his cape, whilst the other bounced right off the side of the bucking robonoid.

Finally prying his arms away from his face, he yelped as he felt the robonoid below him pitch and sway downwards. Even more sounds of mechanical distress emanated from the unit below him.

He grits his teeth again, balling up his hands together into a fist. With every bit of strength he had in his body, he swung it down, slamming it into the robonoid’s eye. He winced through the pain that shot up his arms, but found it muted as a screech sounded from the robonoid below. It sparked and hissed, before it began to fall like a stone to the ground.

Lars yelped, instinctively curling up his legs. He pushed off, throwing himself towards where he saw Fluorite last. Instead, he yelled as he found himself flying straight into an Amethyst guard who whirled around, the shock on her face visible to him as he collided with her.

“WHAT IN THE STARS ARE YOU-” Fire Agate’s voice boomed again, before another explosion rocked the ground directly behind Lars. Both he and the Amethyst guard were sent careening forward. He rolled on the smooth floor of the hangar below, finally managing to settle on his arms.

He balled up his hands again, desperately rushing to get back onto his feet. The sounds of several footsteps rushing around him made his eyes dart around. At least four Amethyst guards stood around him, stepping forward. However, their gaze darted up, as Fluorite knocked aside two of them.

“GET ON!” Rhodonite shouted, her arms outstretched, along with those of the twins, Padparadscha, and Fluorite.

Lars pushed off the ground, running and leaping up. He caught Rhodonite’s hand with a yelp, clambering onto Fluorite’s back. Fluorite puffed her cheeks, shutting her eyes as she rushed forward.

The momentum sent another Amethyst guard careening to the floor when she tried to block her path. Several footfalls and shouts sounded behind them as pure chaos echoed across the hangar. They went around the ship’s side, and quickly leapt through its doors.

Lars scrambled off of Fluorite just as her rear cleared the doorway. Behind him, the twins rushed for the other door. Pressing their palms against the consoles, the ship’s main entryways were sealed shut promptly with a hiss. Several fists pounded against them, their dull thumps reverberating through the hull.

“...To your stations now! We are leaving!” Lars called. Everyone rushed into place across the ship. Lars winced, still aching a bit as he left the door console.

He rushed over to his chair at the center, and watched as the twins, Rhodonite, and Padparadscha took their seats in front of him, their fingers already reaching out for their consoles. Fluorite ducked into the engine hold below with a great deal of thumping and rushing.

“Status report! How long till we can blast out of here!?” Lars called over the thumping and shouting outside.

“A minute! We’ll need to start the ship up now!” The twins shouted, “We’ll also need a destination for our leap to hyperspeed!”

Lars nodded, before Rhodonite’s voice called frantically.

“With the station seizing us- we’re much closer to the gravity sink than before. We’ll need to plot a course away from it as soon as we leave!”

Lars looked on, pausing truly to take in this information before glancing over to the twins.

“She’s right!” The left twin remarked, before her sister-half finished for her, “If we’re not careful, there can be serious side-effects from the gravity!”

Lars nodded in acknowledgement, hunching over his own console.

“Let’s plot a way out fast, then!” Lars called.

“I predict we’ve got a very narrow window of time, and very little space to get out of!” Padparadscha called, as she typed into her own console the necessary vectors towards the course. Her eye tensed under her curls, nervously and quickly watching the readings of the engine, “We need all power to the engines, and fast!”

Fluorite hunched over the many consoles of the engines, her hands quickly typing in, pressing all of the same buttons as she did before. They were a blur, especially as she went through the additional steps needed to draw out as much power from the core as possible.

A buzzing hum sounded as the ship’s power came to life. Lighting returned to the ship as a whole, and everyone’s consoles glowed just that much more. Outside, the engines roared to life. Everyone jolted in their spot, as the ship suddenly lifted from the hangar itself.

“Reverse the ship! Back us out of the hangar!” Lars called, dragging a path out backwards with his console.

The Sun Incinerator lurched backwards, out into open space once more.

—

Fire Agate huffed, standing amidst burning debris and her quartz soldiers staring up at the ship rushing backwards out of the hangar itself. She huffed mightily, bringing her broad palm to her face. She shook her head into it, cursing under her breath.

“Emerald was right, these Off-Colors are a handful…” She grumbled, shaking her head. An Amethyst with a gem on her back approached her commander, to which Fire Agate retorted gruffily, “..They’ll sooner be blasted out of the stars before they escape. I don’t care what she says.”

“Ah- Yes, my grace! I’m sure they will..” She stammered out for a moment, before clamping her legs together at rigid attention, “...However, we’ve lost track of the Lapis, and the robonoids...”

Fire Agate looked over her shoulder, looking on with a huff, before a faint smirk graced her lips.

“She’s trying to leave through another hangar. My robonoids will catch her out for sure in space,” She remarked simply, “...I’ll send the rubies out to find her gem after she is subdued.”

—

Lapis panted, shutting her eyes as she lurched around the corner, barely ducking and weaving as the robonoids fired bolt, after bolt in her direction. The terror on her mind truly swelled, as she could barely avoid each successive shot.

She had rushed through corridor after corridor, turned corner after corner. She could definitely feel herself fly in circles at this point. Every bolt from a robonoid made her jump and jolt, desperate to avoid the incoming fire.

Her mind had figured this would be the outcome. And yet, the terror of the moment truly overwhelmed her. But she couldn’t really clutch her head and hang it in her arms, couldn’t bury her hands in swaying, messy bangs.

Another moment longer, another moment of freedom. Her body yearned for that more than ever. Just one more second. That desire made her flinch and turn, unpoofed and untouched by either the robonoids or the quartzes she had shaken off at this point.

Another massive space suddenly opened to her right. Another hangar that led out to space itself, more specifically with the great dark sphere as the backdrop. She turned hard into the hangar, her wings frantically beating as she finally slipped into open space.

To her horror, the robonoids shot out of the hangar after her. They kept firing bolts, synching their shots, narrowing her path down.

She shut her eyes and jerked left, barely avoiding their beams. Quickly, they turned after her, continuing to fire off bolt after bolt. Every jerk only delayed the inevitable, as their shots grew closer and closer.

There was nowhere else to go for her. Space stretched out ahead of her, far beyond her arms and her flailing wings.

Lapis shut her eyes, tears welling up once more. Flashing into her mind was the memory of everyone else, from the Off-Colors she had just helped, to the Crystal Gems, to Steven’s kind face. One final image, though, finally made her voice crack silently into the void.

“I’m sorry, Peridot…” She murmured mournfully.

—

“Watch out for blaster fire!” Rhodonite called. Lasers streaked past the Sun Incinerator, exploding in the space it once occupied. Several of them rocked the ship itself, though indirectly.

The twins, Rhodonite, and Lars worked in tandem to keep the ship from getting caught in the beams of explosive energy. The Sun Incinerator pitched and weaved, threading the needle as it sought desperately to reach the open vacuum.

“They’re not destroying us yet, not yet my friends!” Lars grinned. The ship’s engines roared, easily carrying it further and further away. Another beam exploded nearby, rocking the ship. It groaned and shuddered feverishly.

Immediately afterwards, yet another shot of light blasted towards the rear of the Sun Incinerator. It splashed against an invisible field, exploding directly behind it. The ship especially shook violently, shuddering like a rung bell. Everyone inside was nearly knocked out of their places.

“Gah!- K-keep the shields deflecting the back! Make sure we’ve got the power to go to them.” Rhodonite called. Lars gazed back down at his console, taking note of the star map, following the course charted away from the system.

“I predict we’re going to be struck by a beam, but our shields will hold this time!” Padparadscha glanced down at her console, before raising her hand in a thumbs up, “It holds! But we need to keep power flowing to it.”

“Do we have enough to make the leap to hyperspeed?” Lars looked over to Padparadscha. She hunched over her console again, scrutinizing the data, before nodding quickly.

“We will in 30 seconds! Fluorite diverting what power she can to that!” Padparadscha replied.

“Another beam to the right!” Rhodonite called.

“Banking left!” The twins replied in synch, their fingers dashing across the screen, commanding another evasive maneuver.

Another explosion rang out to the right of the Sun Incinerator. The ship lurched to the left, barely avoiding it.

“We’ll get blasted out here if we stay any longer!” Rhodonite called, Lars nodded in acknowledgement.

“We’ll be out in a flash, Rhodes’, don’t you worry…” He huffed, chuckling, “..It seems the station’s Agate spared us the honor of having her use her comms to rant about us foiling her plans.”

A chuckle seemed to emulate between the twins and Padparadscha, whilst Rhodonite faintly grinned, holding herself for a moment. Her gaze flitted over her console, when her eyes widened suddenly.

“We’re coming up on an object! Four of them!” She called.

Lars lurched up in his seat, his eyebrows raised.

“Is it in our way, or particularly big?” Lars inquired, staring up at the forward screens for any displays involving the object.

“No-They. They’re all rather small and fast! It’s two points ahead, three arcs to our left ahead of us!-” Rhodonite pointed out, before pausing, squinting at her screen, “..One of them is a gem!”

She typed quickly into her panel, bringing up her screen onto Lars’ own. Lars paused in his tracks, taking note of the data, before looking up ahead into the screens that correspond with the path ahead of the Sun Incinerator.

Ahead, he could see a familiar pair of watery wings flapping frantically. She seemed to be swaying and leaping to avoid several blasts from the robonoids. Lars stared, taking in the sight. The other Off-Color gems spoke for him.

“That’s the Lapis from earlier! She’s in trouble!” Padparadscha called out. The twins and Rhodonite looked between each other, before looking up at the screen themselves. Lars pondered the sight for a moment, remembering Lapis’s own words when they had met, when she elected to help them.

“...We should help her, now,” Lars resolved. The twins nodded in agreement, as did Padparadscha. Rhodonite looked between her console, and the screens just ahead of her, tensing as the pressure mounted.

“We’ll need to divert power elsewhere to do that!” She shouted quickly, “We could be blown to smithereens by the station at that time!”

Lars furrowed his brows, looking over to Rhodonite.

“How long do we have between each time the station fires at us, if you’ve kept count?” He inquired. Rhodonite turned back to her console, quickly bringing up the data she had gathered in the moments prior.

“20 seconds between each shot!-” She replied quickly when, right on cue, another beam was fired their way.

The ship jerked to evade as the twins commanded another slew of maneuvers. Lars shut his eyes, gathering all of his thoughts towards a fateful decision.

“Divert power to the capture beam, stat! We grab her, and we pull her in, fast!” Lars called quickly. Rhodonite tensed at the suggestion but quickly typed out the requisite command.

A low hum, tapering off into silence, sounded as the shields went offline. Padparadscha forwarded the command to Fluorite. Power on her screens indicated it had shifted accordingly.

“I predict we have a narrow window to pull this off! Activate the beam!” Padparadscha called out upon these readings. Rhodonite typed into her console.

A single press of the button later, the system locked upon the ocean gem.

“Target lock! We’ve got her!” Rhodonite called quickly.

“Pull her in!” Everyone shouted in unison. Rhodonite gasped and accordingly commanded the capture beam to bring in its load quickly. A moment later, the screen flashed green, indicating it had successfully pulled in the target object.

“She’s in!” Rhodonite called, when an alarm sounded urgently, shrilly reverberating from their consoles.

“Another beam! Evade!” The twins called, desperately dragging across their screens once more.

The lack of shielding was immediately felt. Not only had the beams come much closer to the Sun Incinerator, but the resulting explosion glanced at its hull. The ship pitched violently, the hull groaning and creaking as the shockwave blew through it.

Lars found himself slamming back into his seat, groaning. The other Off-Colors shouted, barely able to hang onto their own seats.

“WE’VE TAKEN A HIT! DAMAGE REPORTS-..” Rhodonite began, shuddering violently, still trying to gain her bearings.

“The…nova thrusters…are still operational!” Fluorite called from below. Rhodonite glanced over the data on her console and nodded affirmatively.

“PUNCH IT!” Lars shouted frantically.

The twins pressed their fingers into the console.

The Sun Incinerators’ thrusters roared fitfully to life, sputtering. Finally, they glowed consistently, leaving fire and a few chunks of the ship in its wake.

Chapter Text

For as long as she could hold them shut, Lapis held them. She squeezed tight, resigning herself to the moment she would be poofed.

To the moment her freedom would end once more, to the moment where time would stand still for her again, to the moment she would be consigned to darkness for who knows how long.

Instead, the final blow never came. A different feeling flowed through her body, familiar when considering the tractor beam that had dragged up before. This time, a green glow emanated from behind her shut eyelids. However, this only encouraged her to tighten up and curl more defensively, shielding herself even with her wings, even if they offered little in terms of practical defense.

Suddenly, the space around her grew tight, familiar in a way. Behind her shut eyelids was nothing but a bright green hue. The space she was in was vaguely spherical, at least as far as her hands and feet could sense when she pressed them against the surface.

Lapis finally opened her eyes. Sure enough, she was encased. Her surroundings were nothing but the same sort of sterile light, in this case minty-green, that surrounded her. Familiar, in that she was within that sort of space right at Jasper and Peridot’s side when they first came to earth.

Alone, the space was much tighter around her, to the point her mind raced with fear at it. It reminded her an awful lot of the sensation, of the feeling of it all closing around her, of everything rushing toward her at once.

She tensed at the sensation, shutting her eyes again, regretting having opened them in the moment, her breathing unsteady and shaky. The same rush of thoughts afflicted her.

No movement within the darkness, within the mirror, at the bottom of the ocean, or within the confines of a cell.

Voices suddenly sounded, muffled, outside of her prison. She looked up sharply, squinting, as their character grew more and more familiar to her. Even through the muffling, they were vaguely recognizable. All the same, she hesitated, tensing, continuing to hold her legs close to her chest.

—

“Damage! Damage!” Padparadscha called repeatedly, glancing over her shoulder to Lars. Rhodonite confirmed it.

“We’ve sustained damage to the rear quarter! We’ll need to slow down now!” She cried. The ship’s hull strained loudly and incessantly against the forces applied at this pace. Lars tensed, gulping down for a moment, before he nodded curtly.

“Alright- okay..stop the ship, stop it!” Lars called quickly. Accordingly, the faint roar of the ship’s nova thrusters faded, leaving behind a creaking in their absence. The Off-Colors at the panels glanced over their shoulders, tense, as the ship eventually sputtered to a slower pace.

Lars stilled for a moment, glancing at the instrument readings on his panel, and on the screens ahead. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his mind working through each step carefully.

“I’ll need a damage report, fast,” He glanced between the three of them, “...I’m hoping we’ve shaken them off for now.”

“A-ah, last I detected-...no ships of their own chased us out yet,” Rhodonite replied shakily, glancing over to the captain, “...Getting on that damage report-..now, of course..ha..”

“Thank you Rhodes’. Twins-..help her out..” Lars sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. The twins nodded briefly and typed at their own console. The strings of data over their own maneuvers, and especially of any impact or energy transfers especially saw their gaze glue themselves to the screen.

Eventually, Rhodonite found a section of the ship. She corroborated her findings and pinpointed the maneuver in the logs, as the twins would take note of when the ship was struck on its journey.

Several panels on the rear right corner, especially along the inner end of the Sun Incinerator’s right wing came, were damaged according to the diagnostic. Dangerously close to the nova thrusters.

Rhodonite glanced over her shoulder, clearing her throat. Lars looked up immediately, recognizing the serious tension in her expression.

“I’ve completed the diagnostic- uh..it’s bad! But, it could’ve-...it could’ve been much worse.” Rhodonite remarked quickly. Lars raised a brow.

“Like how bad, Rhodes’?” Lars pried. Rhodonite sighed frankly.

“Several of the rear right panels- including along the wing and near the nova thrusters,” She gulped, looking back at her panel, “...Shock damage- denting, and burns too-...It’s a rough state, Captain.”

Lars glanced down at his own panel at the. Rhodonite’s readings were displayed on the screen too. He huffed heavily, his fist clenching as he shook his head fervently.

“That’ll put us out of commission for who knows how long..gah-..” He remarked, frustration faintly in his voice, before glancing down to the lower hull stairs, “Fluorite! We’ll need you to work your magic on this…”

No reply came immediately from down below. Lars raised a brow, calling out again after a few seconds.

“Fluorite? We’ll need some repair work done!”

“Understood…” Fluorite drawled from below. Lars glanced over to the twins, and Rhodonite, before his eyes flashed with realization.

“Oh- right-...the gem we rescued…” He spluttered. The chaos truly did scramble his mind. Realizing that Fluorite was likely contending with the gem downstairs, he stepped forward towards the stairs.

“You four-...stay the course, keep engines on low, got it?” Lars looked on for a moment. The four gazed back at him, noting just how…tired, fed-up he almost seemed. Noticing their anxiety, he flashed them a tense, somewhat forced smile, “...Just- do what you can for now.”

The twins and Rhodonite nodded earnestly, whilst Padparadscha worried over the technical readouts, remaining very glued to her own screen.

—

Fluorite sat staring for a while at a yellowish-green orb, matching the hue of the outside of the ship. She tensed in the moment from Lars’ orders, but eventually opted to mill about, to see to it that the robonoids were deployed, that the materials needed were prepared.

However, just as she turned towards her workstation, Lars’ footsteps echoed from above. His shoulders slouched to some degree, his eyes worn around the edges as far as Fluorite could tell.

“...Captain?” She remarked curiously. A faint, weary smile graced his lips.

“I just remembered about the fact we brought in a gem,” He pointed out the sphere from where he walked, “...I assume she’s in there.”

Fluorite looked over, nodding gently in response.

“You seem…very…very tired,” She commented. Lars sighed, shaking his head.

“Comes with the territory-...This has all been pretty eventful.” He huffed, shaking his head, “...Sometimes I wonder if it’ll ever end.”

“...When we…make it…that’s…when,” Fluorite murmured, recalling his own words at one point. Lars looked up, pensive and tense, before sighing softly.

“I did say that,” He replied acknowledgingly, “...I said that without…really knowing how hard it would be.”

“...None of us…ever really know…” Fluorite murmured. Lars could only nod softly in agreement. Before too long, he cleared his throat, gesturing to the sphere, trying to get back to business.

“Let’s get her out now, alright?” Lars remarked, hunching over as he glanced at the sphere, “How are we gonna do that?”

“...I…should…be able…to command it…to dissolve…” Fluorite murmured, glancing down at her console, “...But…”

Lars paused, glancing over his shoulder, waiting for Fluorite’s words.

“...She…may not…appreciate…being pulled in…” She enuciated slowly, lowering her head, “...She has...been through, a lot.”

“...Probably not. She also wouldn’t like being stuck in that sphere either,” He sighed softly, shaking his head, “...It’ll be fine, just-...we’ll be careful.”

Lars couldn’t say he was that certain of it. He wasn’t fully sure what he just pulled them all into. It was too late to really ponder that, though.

Fluorite simply bobbed her head in acknowledgement and hunched over the console. The sphere dissolved gradually, fading away and melting into the floor, as it always tended to. Lars watched, unflinching, trying to stay on guard.

Lapis emerged, holding her legs up against her chest, her arms and her knees ruffling up her skirt against her body. What stuck both Fluorite and Lars equally was the way she tensed, wincing before looking upon them both with a somewhat incredulous gaze.

Silence lingered for a while as the two parties looked upon each other.

“...You-...you saved me?” Lapis murmured quietly. Lars nodded.

“We saw the robonoids giving you trouble. I didn’t want you to be left in the lurch, after you helped us,” Lars gave a small smile, “..A favor for a favor.”

Lapis shook her head softly, scoffing as she glanced away. Lars’ brow raised at this, wondering if it really was a good thing to say.
“I said not to help me, I’m not-...worth all of this trouble,” She snorted, laughing almost incredulously at that, her head canting forward as she kept shaking her head, “...I’ve said that so often- and yet, people still insist on going through with it-..putting up with the trouble I bring.”

Lars found himself at a loss for words at this, to some degree. He couldn’t find much of a response to that. Fluorite sagely replied in his place.

“...It…is not…right. To leave…someone in need. I…wouldn’t…be here, there would...be no..Off-Colors…if I didn’t…look out for…the others,” Fluorite looked down at the floor, her own mind drifting to those rough early days, before turning to Lars, “...This one…he helped us…through it all…no matter what, even…as he was…so far from home.”

Lapis found her own gaze shifting back and forth between the fusion and Lars, finding it hard to take in what they said. Most especially, Fluorite’s point about…leaving someone in need seems to strike within her. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she tensed deeply.

“I’ve been through a lot. So much more than…I ever would’ve wanted. But even more than that-...I keep putting everyone else through so much more than they deserve too. That just- happens because of me,” She hissed, shaking her head repeatedly now, “...That’s why I don’t want your help.”

“So, you were just gonna let those robonoids blast you out of space?!” Lars remarked frankly, impulsive, his own brows furrowed and animated. Lapis stared back, surprised at his sudden words, before replying just as candidly.

“I said I didn’t have anywhere to run off to. There isn’t a single place that’s safe. I-...I made sure of that,” Lapis shook her head persistently.

“Hm…maybe we differ on that front then,” Lars shrugged his shoulders, furrowing his brows sternly, “I was still not gonna let you get blown up, not after what you’ve done for us.”

Lapis shook her head again and settled her face on her shoulders. Her own mind wondering why in the stars would he take her aboard now.

Evidently, Lars found there wasn’t much he could say at the moment to her, especially as the silence dragged on and Lapis remained tucked against herself. The sounds of the alarms above drifted back into his mind.
“Fluorite, I’ll need you to work your chief engineering magic on the double,” He remarked quickly, gesturing over the console, “..Get the parts and the robonoids ready, and send them out for the repairs..”

“Of course…captain,” She nodded, scuttling over to the console. Lars turned back at Lapis, who rose to her feet, letting her bangs settle over her eyes. Lars tensed instinctively in some surprise at this, before her voice drifted quietly.

“...I want out. At least-...I want to be free to go,” She murmured.

“Just where would you go? Didn’t you just say you had no where?” Lars remarked, somewhat surprised at how bluntly she asked for as much.

“That’s…my problem. I can find my own way around-...I just- I don’t want to feel like a prisoner again,” Lapis replied frankly, hugging herself.

Lars stared, blinking, wondering just how he and the Off-Colors, of all people, could possibly make someone feel like that. But then, considering everything Lapis seemed to have been through, there wasn’t much he could offer in terms of rebuttal, other than how much he had gambled to try and save her.

Maybe that was what she meant in terms of not being worth the trouble, a part of his mind thought darkly. He furrowed his brows at this, however, eventually, his form slackened, and he nodded quietly. There wasn’t much point in not honoring her request.

“Alright, alright.” He murmured- before voices from the bridge made him glance up. He looked back at Lapis, raising a hand, “I’ll get to that in a second. I have to go check on my crew…”

Lapis stared on, yet despite looking right back at him, her gaze seemed distant and far off. Lars tensed for a moment, glancing up between her and the stairs, before he walked upstairs.

Lars glanced over to the bridge console. Rhodonite waved him over urgently, likely to update him on their position.

“I’ve got some bearing on our position right now- we’re now just entering Sector 11.” She hunched over her screen, presenting a screen, “Within our reach- a few points out- we’re coming up on a system.”

“Just what kind are we dealing with here?” Lars inquired pointedly.
“Ah-...it’s a binary system-...two stars orbit each other,” She adjusted the graphics on her skin, “...There’s some data on it-...a gas giant, more specifically it’s icy moon, is within it is at least five-hundred points out from us-..”

“Reachable with our engines?” Lars remarked, raising a brow.

“...Y-yes, if only barely.” Rhodonite nodded, looking tense at the suggestion, “Straining it at this point isn’t-..it’s not advisable.”

“Relax-...it’s only if we’re forced to…” Lars murmured softly, trying to flash an assuring smile. Rhodonite sighed, shaking her head.

“Everything just-...completely improbable keeps happening to us captain. At this rate-...I don’t know anymore..” She remarked, earnestly nervous. Lars winced at this, aware to some degree of how much the ordeal was likely fraying at her metaphorical nerves.

“...As I said before, we have our backs, don’t forget that,” Lars remarked softly. Rhodonite flashed a small smile in turn, but sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead, shaking her head.

“The stress of it all still-..it still gets to me,” She murmured softly. Lars could only nod in agreement at that point.

“I know-...” He remarked quietly. From the corner of his eye, he saw the twins wave him over in turn. Their own status report was next. Lars siddled over to them, after trying to look upon Rhodonite with one more reassuring smile, even as it faltered under his own stress.

“We’ve got good news!-...” One twin, the right one remarked, whilst the left added in tandem, “And some bad news!”

“Give it to me straight, you two.” Lars replied, folding his arms over his chest as he gave them the floor.

“Good news first- given I can see your spirits need some lifting,” The right twin gestured her own arms over the console, showing off the readings, “The ship’s maneuverability parameters are still functioning, at least relatively optimally. If we’re conservative with our engines, we can even make use of them.”

Lars nodded, before looking onto the left twin, wordlessly asking for the bad. The left twin nodded promptly.
“The bad is we lack the ability to optimally use the nova thrusters for as long as we’re needing repairs, limiting our mobility. Strain on the engines in this state, especially in a dangerous situation, could further damage the hull,” The left twin reported, her expression grimly suiting her words.

“So, basically, we need to take it easy for now, until the repairs are complete?” Lars asked, mostly to ensure he heard it right from the two twins.

“Something of that sort,” The twins nodded frankly.

“Captain! I predict our visitor is coming up on the bridge to see us!” Padparadscha called. Lars raised a brow, looking over his shoulder. Lapis, her hair unmistakably as messy as ever, stepped up from the stairwell towards him. Her eyes were narrow, but less sullen as they scanned the ship around her. Lars looked over to the others.

“..Is that all you guys wanted to tell me? I’m going to see to it that she’s released back out into space again-...”

“Huh- why is that captain?” One of the two twins inquired.

“She’d rather not be stuck here with us. I’d rather not make her feel like she’s a prisoner here- and no, I wouldn’t know where she would go from here either…” He remarked bluntly, preempting a question from the other twin. The other twin simply nodded, shutting their mouth.

Lapis, hearing those words, stared at them. Over her shoulder, Fluorite peered from below decks. Several pairs from nearly every direction looked at her. Lars turned over, bringing his arms over his chest, as he looked up at Lapis.

“Now, what brought you up here? You wanted to check us out?” Lars asked, raising a brow at Lapis. Lapis shrugged her shoulders.

“...Your friend over there said it was nice to see someone new here,” Lapis replied, gesturing to Fluorite, “I told her I wanted to leave soon- she said you were up here. Surprisingly, she let me go up here.”

Fluorite nodded affirmatively from the stairs down there when Lars looked her way. Her face was gentle and kindly, if a bit taken aback at it all.

“It truly is!” Padparadscha called, crouching from her seat, “We’ve only had each other for the longest time!”

“Truly- we’re honored to have you aboard!” The twins sounded in unison, “Even if it’s for a little while.”

“T-that isn’t entirely true…we had Emerald for a while-..though she wasn’t exactly-...erh…pleasant company..” Rhodonite remarked, bringing forth something of a chuckle from one twin, a stare from another, a giggle from Padparadscha, and a smile to Fluorite’s face.

“We’d…all…rather forget…her,” She remarked sagely, “...But she…truly is…unforgettable.”

“True enough, Fluorite,” Lars chuckled, before turning over to Lapis. Her eyes had widened to some degree, and she glanced upon the others with a degree of incredulity. Her own mind was definitely wondering how in the stars did they manage to confront an Emerald and survive.

“You…managed that?” Lapis murmured quietly. Lars flashed a grin proudly, though Padparadscha spoke for him.

“You bet! At least, I think that’s what you’d say, Captain!” Padparadscha beamed. Lapis looked on with some incredulity at all of this, as she took note of how the other Off-Colors nodded quietly. Lars returned smiles to several of his crew, before he looked back at Lapis.

“Mhm. That’s what we Off-Colors do, eh?” Lars remarked, turning over to Lapis, “They’re a crew to be proud of-...now, about letting you out. I’ll get to that right now.”

“I did have one question,” Lapis replied curtly, her eyes narrowing once more, though her expression read more as faintly inquisitive, “..You’re a human, right? From Beach City?”

“Of course, we’re recognizable like that, aren’t we?” Lars nodded as he looked back at Lapis cautiously. A hush fell upon the rest of the Off-Colors, as they looked over their shoulders towards the two.

“You happen to know Steven?” Lapis asked bluntly. Several gasps and looks of recognition seemed to flash upon the other’s faces, as far as Lapis could glance.

“Mhmm. He visits every so often,” Most damningly, Lars nodded. The other Off-Colors spoke in succession.

“He brought his friend Connie once!” One twin called, whilst the other finished, “They piloted a ship and fought off a Homeworld vessel!”

“A-ah! That was so dangerous-...we had to rescue them afterward…” Rhodonite added, “B-but, they were very brave!”

“I foresee we’re talking about Steven again! I’ll say, he visits and sends messages to us from Earth!” Padparadascha chimed, waving a piece of paper that was unmistakably that of Earth’s own, with handwriting scrawled onto it. Lapis noted that it was the same sort of thing that seemed to dampen rather easily, before Padaparadscha continued, “He also brings friends- ‘Connie’, and a ruby and sapphire fusion named Garnet! She leads the Crystal Gems back on Earth!”

At first, Lapis was silently dumbfounded at all of this. At that moment, Fluorite’s words drifted from her place on the stairs.

“...He…introduced us…to…Captain Lars,” She smiled softly at the memories. “If it…weren’t for him…we might…not have…ever met Lars. We might…not have even…left Homeworld.”

“He brought me back from the dead, and helped me and the Off-Colors out- after we got away from some trial he was wrapped up in. So, overall, despite everything before that, I’d say he’s a good kid.” Lars remarked through a chuckle.

Lapis’s mind sparked with memory of Steven’s account of his own trial. That cleared some things up, but her mind still lingered on a few questions, to the point she shook her head faintly.

“Just-...how in the stars did he help you out, or visit you after that?” Lapis asked quietly.

“Oh-...uh. It’s a long story- but basically, ever since he brought me back…” Lars huffed, wincing a bit as he brought his hand to his cotton-candy colored hair. A faint, ringing hum sounded as the portal within parted under his grasp, “...A portal back to Earth sits on top of my head. He comes through it- occasionally.”

Lapis stared on at this, before Lars hissed as he brought his hand back out, shaking his head. He shook his head, murmuring how it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant feeling in the world. Her mind drifted to a possibility, a smile even daring to emerge on her face.

Earth was tantalizingly close. Very, very close. Much closer than ever before thanks to Lars. A temptation, a feeling, a wish to come back pounded upon her core like the waves against the shore.

—

“Would you rather be alone!?”

“I’m sorry…”

—

“Earth is our home now, isn’t it worth fighting for?”

“I’m not getting caught in the middle of another war.”

—

Stern, cold reminders stared back at her within her own mind. She shook her head persistently, furrowing her brows in some distress. Her choice had already been made at this point, so she felt.

Lars looked closely at Lapis for a moment, noticing how she seemed tense in the moment. Lapis looked up quickly, shaking her head.

“I- I can’t go back-...” She murmured quietly, shaking her head persistently. She could several sets of eyes upon her, the discomfort rising bit by bit. Lars looked over to his crew at the console, before looking over to Fluorite. Her own expression contorted to that of concern.

The silence held in the room for a while, before Lapis turned her back to Lars. The noise of such finally prompted him to clear his throat, and he gestured downstairs accordingly.

“I guess that rules out leaving through this exit then,” Lars sighed, “...Is that gonna be all for you, Lapis?”

Lapis nodded softly, hardly picking her head up. Lars stepped forward, heading for the stairs. He looked up at Fluorite.

“We’ll start the repairs in a bit-...we just need to send her on her way,” Lars looked on, to which Fluorite nodded understandingly. She cleared a path, letting both gem and human sidle past her.

Lapis’s gaze remained downward, as she was brought to the center of the room. Lars circled round, about to step back, when she finally gazed up.

“...Thank you,” She murmured softly. Lars raised brow, somewhat unable to make out her words. He stepped forward, to hear her more clearly.

“Thank you,” She repeated herself initially, averting her gaze as she remarked quickly, “J-just..where exactly will you and the others be going?”

Lars paused at her question. He tensed for a moment, given all the hardship of their course so far. But eventually, with confidence, he responded.

“Earth. We’re Earthbound- though, it’s been hard to get there,” Lars chuckled in turn, tiredness permeating his voice then. Lapis raised a brow at this, shaking her head faintly.

“I can’t-...I can’t say it’s the safest place anymore,” Lapis murmured, tensing her brows frankly. Lars stirred, remaining in place.

“What do you mean?” He inquired softly.

“Since you and Steven escaped-...that- that’s got to have consequences,” Lapis shook her head quickly and frantically, “They might come after you, come to Earth. He says they might-...I think-...”

Lars tensed, clenching his fist as he shook his head.

“I’ve-..I gotta get back, to see my friends, my family again,” He stood firm, though his words were fraught, “I’m not gonna let that stop me-...I’ll fight for that.”

Lapis found herself glancing briefly at Fluorite, before settling upon Lars himself, her head shaking tensely.

“...You-..you might know the risks and make your own choice. But, what about the others? Do they know??...” She murmured softly. This forced Lars to pause, to ponder and consider those words.

Seared into his mind were two things. Images of Sadie, of the Cool-Kids, of everyone back home all on his phone. His mind also recalled the raids upon the asteroid mine, and of every perilous encounter since then.

The Off-Colors around him were at his side, and they all worked hard and well together, ensuring that their path to Earth was clear. Everything was taking its toll, however, at least insofar as the stress of this effort was mounting. Lars glanced down at his own gloved hands, clenching them softly.

“...We’ve come this far- we know what it’s like to face the odds when we see them,” He murmured softly, shaking his head, “...I’ll take in what you said. From there, we’ll weigh our odds.” He remarked plainly, even as frustration and distress colored his expression.

Lapis could only gaze back morosely at this, stuck with her own thoughts to some degree. Eventually, she bowed her head. From behind Lars, Fluorite remarked from her panel, gesturing for Lars to step back. He did so promptly, giving room for Fluorite to transpose Lapis out of the ship’s hull.

Minty-green light rose around her once more, forming a looser orb than the last time. Lapis shut her eyes, tensing under this scene. The yellowish orb emerged, before quickly blinking out of sight into the floor.

Lars sighed and turned around. His shoulders stood tense as his mind lingered upon certain thoughts. Fluorite took note and opened her mouth to speak.

“Captain…what did…Lapis…say to you?” Fluorite murmured, staring on down at Lars. Lars paused, glancing up, his lips holding a line as he hesitated to answer.

A shrill alarm, and several cries emanated from the bridge. Fluorite looked up, before looking back at Lars.

“...That comes first,” Lars remarked quickly, his expression and his form shifting instinctively to business. Fluorite nodded understandingly, letting Lars rush up the stairs to meet his crew.

—

Lapis emerged from space again, opening her eyes and finding the stars around her once more. Two points of light especially shined ahead, indicating a particularly close star-system to her. She quickly circled around, taking in her surroundings, when the Sun Incinerator loomed ahead, drifting steadily forward.
She paused, watching as it receded from view gradually, headed towards the stars nearby. Her wings finally emerged from her back, holding her steady as she kept watching it.

Her mind drifted to all the faces within that vessel, and how they all knew and trusted Steven. She chuckled softly, shaking her head.

“I should’ve known,” She muttered under her breath. Her face settled back into morose concentration, as she began to glance around for a path out of this area of the galaxy.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the green form of a ship emerged. It was a Homeworld ‘arm’ vessel. Lapis yelped silently, her wings flapping as she ducked under its path.

She glanced over her shoulder, finding herself privy to the harrowing sight as its engines stirred, pushing it effortless towards the Sun Incinerator. She froze in space, her wings holding her steady, forcing her to watch as her mind raced.

“...No-...not again-...” She murmured, shaking her head. And yet, guilt crept within her. Her mind lingered upon two details. Steven was obviously friends with them, that much was certain. And they had shown her care, not unlike his own, or-...anyone else’s.

Her mind tensed at her prospects. She hadn’t any plans to go anywhere. She just planned to run, to run and sit. To wait, and wonder, to berate herself more. Even out here, with things getting as bad as they were, she wasn’t truly safe.

And even if she was safe? Her mind couldn’t live it down. Everything swarmed at her all the easier up there. She couldn’t face it there.

She clenched her fists; they shuddered under her strength as she shook her head persistently. It was a foolish thing to do, there wasn’t much of a difference she could make at the moment, her mind reasoned.

Yet another glance upwards to the scene ahead caused her mind to fray. Instinct surged, causing her glistening wings to beat more fervently.

She couldn’t stay away. At least not for them. If she was to suffer, it might as well be for someone else.

Lapis furrowed her brows, her mind finally settling, if only barely. They made no sound in the vacuum, and yet, she imagined they were pounding. Resolve pushed her forward, her wings flapping as she rushed after the two ships.

Chapter Text

The bridge of the Sun Incinerator was in a chaotic state. Everyone hustled and ran about, especially as several warnings sounded on the scream. Lars glanced around on the deck, furrowing his brows in concentration. Everyone else was glued to their post, furiously working away as the ship lurched and swayed.

“...Evasive maneuver five, stand by!” One twin called, before the other readied their fingers at their screen, “...Mark! Turning! Holding course.”

Lars took note of the path laid out. The course indicated a beeline towards the nearest object, a glacial moon off of one of the large planets of the system. Rhodonite anxiously watched, taking note of the readings on the shielding, whilst Padparadscha called.

“Rear shielding’s on full! I predict we will just barely keep pace ahead of the gem warship!” She remarked, and as far as the readings indicated, that was very much the case.

Flickering and alarms blared. Power was needed to the engines, especially as they seemed to falter and struggle in the moment. A curse rang out under Lars’ breath, as his gaze sharply turned over to Padparadscha.

“More power to the engines, on the double!” Lars called out quickly. Padparadscha typed away from her console, whilst Fluorite raised a hand in thumbs up from the stairs.

“The…engines…are having…issues…with the…core.” Her voice sounded from down below, as her hands worked her way about her own console. Tension rose amongst the members of the crew. Lars wondered if damage was missed in their initial checks.

“Gah!- The ship’s aiming at us again!” Rhodonite called quickly.

“Evade! Turning to the left,” The right twin remarked, to which the left replied, “Executing maneuver now!”

The Sun Incinerator strained to turn away. It wasn’t enough to avert a direct hit on its rear shielding. They strained under the energy of the beam, to the point more alarms sounded on the bridge. 

The interior shook like a bell, threatening to send everyone forward over top of their consoles. Lars hunched forward, hanging on tightly to his own seat. Alarms rang in his ear at this point.

“Gah!- What’s the status on our shields with that one!?” Lars barked, finally pulling himself upright. Rhodonite’s form seemed to grow pale, as she gazed upon her own console.

“Their integrity!- It’s declining,” She looked over frantically to the others from her station, “Another direct hit, and they could be completely knocked offline!”

Lars opened his mouth, only for more warnings to sound, and for Rhodonite to call out in alarm again.

“Gah- it’s acquiring us again!- It’s about to fire!”

“Evasive action, now!” Lars shouted. The twins immediately moved upon their consoles, but it seemed before the ship could lurch around, the vessel behind them had already been primed to fire.

“It-..it’s going to hit! IT’S GOING TO HIT!” Rhodonite screamed frantically, almost retreating into herself in the moment. Lars palms dug into the rests of his own seat, to the point circles flashed upon its surface, and his fingers tensed under his gloves.

Suddenly, as Rhodonite peaked through her hands, she found the readings indicating the handship behind them veering away, seeming as if its attention had been drawn by another target. 

The rutile twins observed this and silently dragged their fingers down across the screen. The ship lurched downward, avoiding by inches another blast from the pointer finger of the ship behind them.

“...Something small is coming between us and that ship-...” Rhodonite observed, before she paused in her seat, her mouth hanging incredulously, “...It-..is it really her again!?”

Lars looked up sharply, calling out.

“Put your readings on the screen, Rhodes!” He called.

Rhodonite nodded, and sure enough, the signature of a gem dashing around wildly in the space behind them was visible. 

She rose, narrowly avoiding the beam herself. The vessel’s direction behind them trailed Lapis’s own for a second, before finally settling forward, straining to force itself back down towards the incinerator.

“...What on earth are you back for seconds for,” Lars muttered quietly as he stared at the screen.

—

Lapis gasped in sheer shock, barely able to carry herself away from the massive pillar of light that fired out of the gem warship. The moment reinforced the sheer folly and futility of it all, as her mind drifted to the fact that she had just been seconds away from being completely vaporized.

And yet, somehow, she had drawn the ship’s fire away from the Incinerator. She had somehow managed to not get blown to stardust and beyond. Incredulity lingered on her mind at this, and she shook her head persistently.

A soundless, gruesome fate awaited her out here, as it did with the others. What hope could there be out here, Lapis reflected it seemed to not even qualify as futile. 

One more second, one more moment, doing something other than nothing before the inevitable end. Reasons other than that, most especially what kindness they expressed, flashed in her mind. And yet, despair threatened to overpower the spiteful courage that had risen suddenly to the occasion.

Nothing seemed to be around them, save for the stars ahead- before her mind paused, as she scrutinized the space up front.

The light of the two stars ahead dimmed the lights of others for now, their glow emanating bright enough to dominate the sky up front. Within the main lines of light was the faintest disturbance, a sphere, or two, passing into their rays. 

A planet, or two, was in reach. Just barely. Cover could be found on them, depending on what planet finally came into view. Marginally within reach, provided the luck of the moment held.

Luck never really was something Lapis wanted to rely on. But at this point, her wings kept carrying her on, and she furrowed her brows as she tried to keep flying on through the cacophony.

—

“Oh- We’re approaching the system!” Rhodonite called, desperately clutching the sides of her console as she looked over the readouts, “The nearest body to us is the ice moon!”

“Setting course for it!” One of the twins called, working with her counterpart on plotting out the path to the planet. The other called, a plan already on her mind, “We might be able to throw them off, hide from them on the surface!”

Lars nodded in agreement, before turning to Padparadscha.

“I predict we’ve got ourselves someone who can throw off the warship’s aim!-...I can’t say I know if it’ll work twice!” She then glanced down towards her own technical readouts, “...Our systems are holding steady!”

“Our shielding’s okay?” Lars asked. Padparadscha gave the thumbs up, prompting some relief amongst the crew of the Sun Incinerator.

“Right,” Lars huffed, bringing his fists together, “Let’s double time this- the sooner we throw this ship of our backs-”

“Evasive action!” Rhodonite called, as the ship behind them prepared to fire again. Everyone tensed, mentally hitting the deck. The twins were already dragging their fingers across their screen, prompting the ship to roll right sharply.

Another blast emanated from the warship, sailing silently through space. The vacuum once occupied by the Sun Incinerator was filled with the beam of green light. Rhodonite watched the screen as she took note of the readout of Lapis Lazuli pulling away in the opposite direction behind them.

The path of this shot had landed right in the gap between gem and ship. Once again, the wrath of the warship had been blunted by her presence. She took note of the arc made by both the Incinerator and Lapis. An idea managed to form, albeit tentatively, within her mind.

“...I’ve got an idea- I’ve got an idea!” Rhodonite called out quickly, turning to the twins, “...Try and see if you can keep turning- left to right. Let her cross behind us each time.”

The twins looked up, before looking over to Lars. He glanced over to Rhodonite, who seemed to melt under his gaze, uncertainty grasping her brows. However, Lars would nod his head briefly, giving assent to this.

“Try and see if she understands what you’re trying to do,” Lars gestured to the screen, “She’ll be able to help us out better if she can.”

The twins acknowledged, and brought their fingers to the console. The ship tilted briefly left and right, its wings rocking rhythmically at least three times. 

Rhodonite observed tensely as Lapis seemed to turn towards them, crossing behind their path as before. The twins had timed it so that the ship would be in her view during the crossover. 

They put emphasis on rolling to the right, especially letting the ship’s angle hang in that direction for a second longer. Lapis blipped behind them, before she began to turn back around again.

“...Oh- Good- Good! She sees what we’re going for!” Rhodonite nodded quickly, turning over the twins. The twins nodded silently, their fingers already dragging across the screen again to repeat the motion.

—

Lapis glanced over her shoulder, her head barely able to track as the Sun Incinerator crossed in front of her one way, then the other. The movements of the ship, at this point a lime-green blur shooting from left to right across the stars ahead, confounded Lapis’s mind at first. 

But as she hung back a bit, moving and trying to keep herself from easily being targeted, her eyes caught sight of the pattern of the ship rushing from left to right, lurching one way whilst she turned the other. 

More obviously, on the apex of its turn back towards the right, the Sun Incinerator held its course, gently rocking its wings repeatedly, before ducking off to the side again.

The looming warship behind them gave Lapis little room to truly envision out the motion they wanted, but her eyes tracked the course of the Sun Incinerator as best as they could. 

The ship lurched to the left, prompting her to jerk over to the right. Past each other, the motion would repeat. At each intersection, she found herself slightly behind and under the Sun Incinerator’s frame, narrowly missing its silent engines as it kept pushing onward.

The constant and repeating swinging and swaying between directions threatened to let her head spin, to some degree. At least, some sense of her perception struggled to account for all of the stars constantly rushing past her. It was all the more reason for her gaze to remain on the ship, which moved without fail just in front of her.

Just over her shoulder, she took note of movement behind her. Another two ‘fingers’ of the warship stretched, the neighboring appendages to the first. They rose, silently and ominously, pointing directly at the Sun Incinerator and herself. 

From her perspective, the digits seemed to follow them no matter where her gaze fell upon. She wasn’t sure if they were truly tracking her, but the cold flowed into her form nonetheless. Her hair threatened to rise upon her neck, as the memory of the ship’s weapons flashed in her mind. 

Desperation surged through her form again, and she jerked harder to the right than before. Her thin frame swayed, gliding like a torpedo as she seemed to turn much tighter and faster than before. 

—

“Gah- captain! The ship’s bringing more of its weapons out!” Rhodonite called quickly. Her mind clung to the readings upon her system, most especially grasping two particular details of the moment.

Two more of the ship’s appendages had stretched out, altering the profile of the warship on her star-map. Meanwhile, their external companion’s behavior had shifted accordingly. Barely a dot on the screen, her movements grew more erratic and frantic, almost certainly as a result of seeing the warship’s new posture. 

Alarms rang out as it fired again, prompting another call out from Rhodonite.

“EVADE! Another shot!” 

The twins dragged across their screen, and the Sun Incinerator lurched over to the right sharply. Not even a moment after the first beam, the warship fired again. The twins desperately dragged their fingers across to the opposite side of the screen again. 

The ship lurches to the left, but the next instant sees the light of the beam strike the underside and left base of the wing, splashing against the shield. A powerful explosion rocks the hull, sending everyone careening in one direction or another from the vibration.

Lars trembled, picking himself up after having fallen from his seat. He looked over at the screen, before the twins quickly dragged their fingers across their own console again. The ship would barely avoid the third beam, the pillar of white-hot matter firing out into the vacuum.

“Status report!- Gah!..How bad is it this time?!..” Lars cried out. 

Rhodonite looked frantically over the displayed schematics of the ship, whilst Padaparadscha gathered data on the rear shielding. The two’s conclusions would arrive in tandem.

“The rear shield needs a moment! It took a direct hit!” Padparadscha called.

“Ah- we’re sustaining damage to the rear!- Those hits are not doing well for us, captain!” Rhodonite tensed from the stress, holding onto her console for dear life as her eyes kept scanning the data flowing endlessly through it.

Lars looked upon those readings, before glancing over to the two again in a sharp voice.

“What’s the prospect of us turning our weapons to them?!”

“...We risk having to divert more power from the systems we’re already using!” Padparadscha remarked, her own lips growing stiff. 

“We need our shielding back as soon as possible, captain! We’re sustaining heavy damage!” Rhodonite cried her own hands and arms tensing at the terrifying thought of being blasted out to space. Lars nodded in agreement, huffing as he quickly asked another question.

“Just how close are we to that system, twins!?”

“One-hundred and fifty points!” The left twin called, to which the right finished for her, “We’re coming up on the moon of the giant, and fast!”

“...Once we’re there, we get down as fast as we can. We have to find cover to hide under, pronto!” Lars ordered quickly, “We’ll need everything we’ve got to make that happen!”

“De-orbiting so quickly risks damage to our ship!- We may have to shift shielding to the front end-..for safe entry!” Rhodonite noted, taking note of the readouts that piled upon her own screen.

“..Stand-by to shift the shield’s concentration,” Lars remarked quietly, “From frontal shielding to the back, after it fires next.”

“We might get hit before then, again!” Rhodonite called nervously, “...We can’t make the same mistake twice!”

“...This time, we’ve got a clearer window,” The twins replied in synch, “We’ll see to it that the ship makes a beeline for the surface!”

“Good- good!” Lars called, finally managing a smile, his fist stiff as he hung onto his seat, “...Once they start bringing the ship down, then we can shift the shielding!- Wait until after they fire again.”

“Right!” The twins acknowledged. One of the two’s eyes followed the same blip of the pale blue dot outside. Lars took note of it as well, seeing her motion continuing on the screen. She had pulled away, and abreast of the ship, seemingly in a frantic state.

“W-what about the Lapis outside?” Rhodonite asked on their behalf.

“...She’s gotta follow us- let her see us make a beeline down, and hope she gets the message,” Lars replied through tense lips.

—

Lapis clutched at her head desperately with a white knuckle grip. The explosions erupting to her side rocked the surrounding space, the shockwave bringing turbulence to her form. Her wings rocked as she slowly steadied herself Two more beams followed, with a particularly violent blast emanating off the bottom side of the Sun Incinerator. 

The bright green flash of each explosion made Lapis retreat even more into her arms, the sheer presence of it allowing her to imagine chunks being taken out of the small craft. The homeworld vessel brought relentless punishment, but to her amazement, the ship was still intact.

The amazement on Lapis’s face was fleeting, particularly as from the corner of her eye, the warship remained unflinching in its chase. However, ahead of her was a shape that emerged from the parting starlight. 

A sphere emerged into view. Half of it was cloaked in the darkness of shadows, as dark as night around her. Other half presented itself as a mix of utterly stark white, patches of dark, nearly blackened gray, and glistening, silvery and sparkling clouds. 

Many jagged shapes poked out to the stars, whilst many more craters and chasms dotted its jagged, rugged surface. Lapis glanced between this sight, and the two ships to her side and her rear. 

As her view was increasingly taken up by this new object, her mind flashed to some of the images of Earth’s own moon. Lapis winced at this, considering the backdrop it served to recent events.

However, the tantalizing prospect of sanctuary, of an island amidst the swirling abyss for her to grasp onto and catch her breath was there. She wondered if the crew of the Sun Incinerator saw it that way. Her mind also drifted to the frightening fact that Homeworld’s gems would follow them down for sure.

A choice, a fork in her road, finally laid itself out before her. There was the prospect of desperately averting the inevitable out in the wide open vacuum of space. There was also the chance of an alcove amidst the rocks, sheltering her for long enough that her pursuers might lose interest. 

There was even some fantastical possibility that she might be able to fend them off with her abilities, provided the surface had anything of use to her. Certainly the idea was there, given how the moon seemed to glisten in the star light. Her mind tended to brush this off as highly unlikely, but hope festered in one of its corners.

Bringing her out of her own head was the bright flashes of several more beams firing off the gem warship in quick succession. Explosions blasted silently through the vacuum, their power understated. And yet, the vivid color and the sheer intensity was enough to make Lapis recoil and flinch.

Once again, the Sun Incinerator defied her expectations. It ducked below the first beam, and narrowly lurched right of the second. It skidded in space, rising above the path of the third if only barely.

Just as she turned back and witnessed the Sun Incinerator narrowly avoid this volley, the sharp nose of the ship dipped down. Its thrusters glowed brighter as well, the roar they’d surely produce rendered soundless in the void. Sure enough, ahead of her, the great gray sphere loomed closer into view.

Encouraging details seemed to grow more clear to her. Great sheets of white spread themselves across a craggy surface of seams and craters down below. Billowing clouds of gray and silver seemed to mostly cover the rest.

Lapis found her hair standing, faintly, as the first fringes of a thin atmosphere and weak gravity surrounded her form. She rallied herself, gathering up her wings, pounding them as she rushed for the ground.

—

The walls of the ship echoed with the groans of its hull. Everyone onboard clung desperately to their seats, before finally releasing themselves after the ship steadied itself down. The point of its noise jutted towards the ground. 

Relief crept through Rhodonite’s eyes as the readouts of the atmosphere blipped upon her screen. 

“We should be good with re-entry!-” She called out quickly, even as her palms still gripped the edges of her own seat, “Watch out for those frozen clouds!”

“...Keep as much of the shielding to the rear as possible!” Lars called reflexively. The ship continued to shudder fiercely as it dove towards the crust below, narrowly darting between clouds of ice above the surface.

A few alarms sounded as a trail of gas hissed off the sides of the hull. The ship passed fitfully, but ultimately effortless through what little atmosphere there was. Rhodonite took note of all of this, whilst her mind still lingered on the ship behind them.

“...Surely this will end- surely- surely-..it’ll end..” She muttered to herself.

“We need a place to bunker down, and fast!” Lars called out. The twins hunched over their console, fingers gliding across the screen. Rhodonite jolted herself back into action, her hands shakily finding their own way.

“Right!” The twins shouted, typing and dragging across their screens simultaneously at a blistering pace, their own expressions straining. Rhodonite rapidly inputted into her own system, scanning the land ahead of them.

“Several crevices- narrow ones at that!- They lead into caves and craters!” Rhodonite called quickly. The twins nodded in acknowledgement, only for Rhodonite’s voice to cry out again.

“The ship is firing again!”

The twins jerked their fingers across the pad. The ship spiraled violently. It twirled left and right, up and down as brilliant pillars of light seared into the space behind them. Each blast was only a sliver away from connecting. Another sigh, another slackening of the shoulders indicated the relief of the crew.

“...Steady the ship!” One twin called, the other trying to keep the steering centered around one single point ahead. Lars glanced up, taking note of the narrow slit in the crust ahead. Eventually, the Sun Incinerator was rock steady as it raced for cover.

Lars felt his heart in his throat, as the seconds rushed past as quickly as the ground rushed towards them. Every moment had the threat of the warship in the back of their minds, just as much as it lingered quite literally to the back of their flailing ship.

“Come on…come on,” Lars murmured, as he looked upon the console in his seat, inputting whatever he could to draw just a bit more power to the thrust. He tensed as the ship rushed right towards the edge of the crevice. 

Finally, the Sun Incinerator popped right into the depths. Instantly, it was enveloped in the darkness. With no light ahead of them, its crew was forced to rely upon their readings and upon the ship’s own equipment to see their way through.

“Rather tight squeeze- gah, we could hit something in here!” Rhodonite observed, now left uncomfortable by just how close crags and walls seemed to come near the hull of the Sun Incinerator. 

“Alright- slow down, we need to settle a bit!” Lars clutched the sides of his seat, his own eyes glancing around quickly at the crew and their instruments.

“Right!” The rest of Off-Colors replied. The hum of the engines abated, reducing as the ship slowed at long last.

“Get as much of a read out on this place as much as possible,” Lars began, before turning to Rhodonite, clutching his own gloved hand, “Rhodes? Try and see if you can keep track of the ship above us.”

“..O-oh! Right captain-...I’ll see if I can get it through all of this rock,” Rhodonite acknowledged, herself somewhat unsure if it was even possible from this position in the crust. 

The twins meanwhile carefully dragged their fingers. Upon their own screen was a rudimentary scan of the area around them. 

The cavern stretched out ahead for miles and finally seemed to widen up. Great crystals and blots of ice seemed to cover some tunnels completely, whilst other cracks led right back up to the surface. Patches of the ice clung to the walls.

“Navigating a path out of the caverns,” One twin remarked, whilst the other rounded out her counterpart’s statement, “We’ll find our bearings soon, stand by.”

Lars nodded, finally slumping back in his chair with some relief. The crew glanced over, taking note of this. A faint smile graced his lips, as he looked back at them all.

“Keep it together. We’ll be safe soon..” He murmured faintly as he shut his eyes. Some assurance crept into the expressions of the Off-Colors surrounding them, as they kept up their own tasks.

His mind paused upon a particular thought, the memory of Lapis Lazuli and her own words for him. 

—

‘I can’t say it’s the safest place anymore. They might come after you…’ Lingered, echoing. The nightmarishly tall forms of the Diamonds, the bubble around his head snapped into his mind. 

He tensed at this thought, shaking his head. And yet despite the terror of that moment, there was yet another, even more terrible thought on his mind.

‘Do they know?’

The thought of getting them into something they didn’t sign up for. The terrible thought of them being caught up in that, of them standing in the shadows of the Diamonds. 

A chasm seemed to open, a rift between thoughts of his home and of the moment. Distant and blurry of his town faded to clearer images of the Cool Kids, of the cake he made, of the arm grabbing him. They melted into the images upon his phone, of the cool kids and Sadie faring well without him.

Across the abyss was the Off-Colors, of every tense moment he had been through with them. Of his arms flailing as he flew up against rocks, of his arms reaching out and grasping their hands, ducking their heads in the face of the lion’s den. The prospect of all of that, only to face the crazy chicks again.

—

He furrowed his brows as a particular question lingered on his lips. Lapis’s account seemed to waver. How was she so certain? What did Steven tell her? What did she do? His eyes lifted up to the crew and the back of their seats.

He balked at the thought of not going home, of truly leaving behind the people and the memory of them all. And yet, he wondered what he would have to tell his crew. He’d fight to the end, but would they? Do they deserve that? Lars asked himself all of this, shaking his head faintly as the ultimate questions lingered.

—

Lapis’s wings fluttered before they retreated back into her gem. She hovered, then hung off the lip of a crater. Her head peaked narrowly over the edge of the lip, whilst her hands found purchase in the crags. 

In her core, she felt the sense of their being water, liquid of some sort on the planet that she could act upon. It was an intense one on Earth, a planet nearly entirely covered by the substance. On this object, the sensation was faint and fighting for attention amidst her own fear.

The gem warship pulled up, slowly settling itself above the surface. It loomed ominously, identical to its posture as it aimed towards earth. It finally came up from a shallow angle, properly gliding some distance above the land in front of her.

Lapis ducked down reflexively. Futility was initially the sentiment on her mind. She could rush out and leave the planet far behind her. But the image of its fingers wrapping around her, cutting her off from the stars ahead seemed to linger, inevitable and unchanging.

Her mind drifted further towards the tantalizing sense, towards the prospect of her power finally being able to be turned against her pursuer, if only for a moment. Her mind fixated upon this sense, upon the feeling of weight at her fingertips, as she mustered what force of her will she had.

The source was too distant and to her rear. It was across the crater and beyond its lip, amidst the craggy surface of the moon. She looked over at the great distance ahead. Her face grew still, settling upon a searing scowl. At her sides, she clenched her fists, determined to avert her own fate.

Her wings shot out with a vengeance. She pushed herself backwards, falling off the edge of the crater. As she did so, she turned herself over. Her watery wings flapped, letting droplets fly and dissolve into the space around her. Her head ducked as she hung low, skipping above rocks and crags. She then lurched upward, narrowly clearing the top of the other side of the crater. 

The ground rushed under her, each rock and crevice a blur from her perspective. Dust seemed to rise up behind her as her wings swished and sloshed relentlessly. Lapis glanced over her shoulder, and sure enough, the ship seemed to turn her way. The mighty hand tilted, angling itself behind her. However, the warship didn’t make much of an effort to angle downward or come in much closer.

All the same, Lapis shut her eyes. She turned back ahead, her form leaping just above the rough terrain. She jerked her hands out in front of her, grasping with wide palms for anything to register. The sensation, the precognition grew stronger to her left. Accordingly, she turned herself towards it.

Her mind chanted, keening as it yearned for the validation of her hunch. Eventually, her mind drifted to the great plumes above. One source particularly emerged, half of it still connected to the ground below. It was a towering pillar of gray ice. Within and below its mass was what she was looking for.

Lapis smiled in incredulous, silent relief, before her scowl returned. She rose up, stopping herself just in front of the mass of jagged crystals. Turning around, she witnessed the ship glide slowly and forebodingly over the surface of the planetoid. The light of the star cast a shadow underneath it, spreading it widely across the land below.

Lapis stretched her arms out, before closing her fists. She brought her arms forward. Her form grew taut as she shut her eyes, shuddering as she felt the familiar stirring. Cracking and groaning emanated from the ice behind her, as the liquid within churned under her influence.

She strained, her face scrunching up as she shut her eyes tightly. Every ounce of her concentration was placed upon the sensation, the feeling of tugging upon something. Every ounce of her own strength pulled and pulled upon that one point. Behind her, the cracks in the ice grew, rapidly joining together into an elaborate spider-web of slits on the surface.

Eventually, water began to spray out of each seam in faint spurts. Initially, the flow was so faint that the initial streams quickly dissolved into vapor. However, more solid streams would eventually emerge from the ice, falling at a steady pace upon the ground.

The enormous form of the ship turned towards her, slowly making its way to her position on the crust. A single digit pointed to her, as the rest curled halfway at its side. Lapis could only guess that she was just moments away from being targeted. The desperation in her form only grew a thousand-fold, as her arms practically shook from the strain at this point.

A loud, echoing crack sounded behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, moments before it seemed it would completely give way to her force. Her wings swished, curling before pushing her up promptly. Just a second after she took flight, the ice behind her shattered at last.

Water roared out of the massive gash in the side, slithering in tune with the movement of her hands. Many more cracks formed on the ice below the pillar, giving way to their own columns. Great amounts of rock mixed with shards of unmelted, supercooled ice. Both churned within the vertically surging channels of water under her grasp.

The ship drew closer, looming over Lapis in the space ahead. The moment till it fired seemed to draw closer, and closer. The window to fight back was shutting tighter and tighter. Lapis kept her eyes shut, before she let out a screaming yell. She brought her arms around herself, letting the waves envelop her to shield herself at first.

She opened her eyes for a moment, aiming her hands right at the ship. Two great jets of water, loaded with detritus from the ice and the rocks, blasted out. Some of the debris scattered from the jets like a shotgun blast, whilst the rest were carried right into the hull of the ship’s digits and front end.

One harsh jet of water blasted against the ‘thumb’ of the warship, causing it to bend violently backwards from the pressure. The other slammed into the pointer finger. It creaked under the weight. The debris within exploded into dust upon contact with the hull, raking the surface in a furious shower of rocks and ice.

Pieces of the outer skin buckled and slid off from the force of the initial impact. They frisbee’d off into the distance, landing in heaps upon the rocks and ice below. Lapis strained, mustering as much water as she could draw from the well she had found. More jets blasted between the gaps of the digits, spraying both water and debris across the topside surface of the warship.

Eventually, these pillars of water solidified as much as a liquid could have, firming up into a tense barrier that strained against the ship. The ghostly form of a liquid hand took hold of the great warship, a loud creaking emanating as its own digits curled around the front of the hull between the fingers and squeezed.

Lapis shuddered, straining as she used what force she could. However, quickly, the source of the water was drying up as she used more and more. Her mind flashed with alarm at this. At this close range and with this much power wielded against them, she was certain to be hunted down and destroyed first. 

What hope she had laid in her arms. She grit her teeth, desperately trying to hold them all against the might of Homeworld’s ship.

—

“Talk to me Rhodes, twins…just where the heck are we now?”

“We’ve moved 700 units forward into a section,” The first twin reported to Lars, whilst the second twin added, “At least three tunnels are ahead, up to 955 units long, and lead back up to the surface.”

“Ah-..the ship- it isn’t looking for us- it’s just ahead of us!” She squealed, some relief on her form, before her expression tensed in some realization, “It-..it seems distracted by something else-...”

Several different alarms sounded off her console, detecting a high amount of movement in the rock ahead. Rumbling echoed through the caverns and faintly sounded within the Sun Incinerator itself.

“..A large amount of-...water!? It’s being moved up to the sur-..” Rhodonite held her breath in realization, looking over at Lars quickly. The others looked his way as well, most especially Padparadscha.

“I predict a massive amount of water is moving from the depths!- It’s surely that Lapis Lazuli we met, isn’t it?!..”

Lars nodded quietly in reply, his expression relatively blank as he processed everything of the prior minute. He held his gaze out towards Rhodonite as he cleared his throat.

“Just what’s happening on the surface?”

“Ah-...it’s hard to get a proper readout from under here but-...it looks like there-..the water’s going against the ship!” She called out, upon the next scan finally coming through the layers of rock around them.

“That’ll make for a good distraction,” Lars murmured, holding his hand under his chin, before he turned over to Padparadscha, “...Last time I heard, a weakness of these ships is their power core- towards the front under the ‘palm’, right?”

“The data says as much as before, Captain Lars!” Padparadscha glanced over. Rhodonite and the twin’s brows raised, as they immediately knew where this was going. Padparadscha voiced their thoughts on their behalf, “You- you plan to exploit that again?!”

“...Damage it properly, to buy us enough time to get the hell out of here!” Lars replied with determination, “...It’s being distracted now, we have our chance.”

“Power…needs to be…diverted…to the…weapons.” Fluorite drawled from below decks. Rhodonite between the stairwell and her captain, tense once more.

“We risk getting blown up if we divert power from the shields again!- Especially in our state!”

“That’s why we should act while they’re distracted,” One twin remarked, whilst the other concluded, “We should hit them while their back is turned!”

Lars nodded quietly in agreement. Rhodonite’s shoulders slackened, and she took a deep breath as she weighed the odds herself. Eventually, she looked up at Lars with a shaky nod.

“Just, be quick with it- before it gets a chance!” She remarked, with tentatively more trust than ever before.

“We better get a move on then, and on the double…” Lars replied, before calling out to the lower decks, “..Divert power to the engines and the weapons!”

“...Aye…aye…captain…” Fluorite drawled slowly, prompting something of a chuckle from Lars and a faint smirk from Fluorite. The grin on his face went away the moment Padparadscha’s voice rang out.

“Powers diverted!”

“Which hole is closest to the ship, Rhodes?” Lars turned to her quickly.

“Oh- the third one!” She called back promptly. Lars acknowledged, and belted out the next order without a second’s waste.

“Power to the engines, warm up the wing cannons!”

—

Lapis winced, her stance inevitably withering against the weight of the hand-ship. The arm of Homeworld loomed before her; its shadow nearly set upon her form. Meanwhile, the ship strained and pushed against the weight of a firm hand of water, to the point its hull continued to creak and groan.

Suddenly, the ship seemed to tip back, to succumb to the weight of the water from the hull. However, Lapis’s eyes darted up to catch sight of the ‘pointer’ aiming directly at her form, turning more freely as a result of the ship slipping backwards.

A point of light formed at its end. A glowing bulb of certain destruction, a sun harnessed on the tip of a finger. Lapis’s eyes widened and did all that she could do. Her form lurched down, sucked by the water falling below her.

A single stream of light streaked from the hull of the ship. It pierced right through the columns of the water, vaporizing it upon contact. Lapis could only barely pull away, her wings gathering the falling droplets into one arc. She pulls herself up, barely managing to slow her descent into the ground. 

An explosion hurls rock and steaming ice across the land. Lapis, pressed up against the crevice, curled her arms over her head and clenched her shoulders at the sound. The vibration and the noise flashed viscerally in her mind, and panic swept at her form instinctively.

She peaked out, and in desperation, swung her arm up in a slicing motion. A great blade of water crashed against the ship’s pointer. The hull cracked, forming a seam that vented and sparked into the faint atmosphere. 

But much to her horror, the blade faltered. It crumbled, splashing and vaporizing into nothingness as the last of her supply ran dry.

Lapis finally did what she felt she should’ve a long time ago. She ran again. Her wings furiously sloshed into life, flicking droplets from the outermost fringes of their waves. She ducked as low to the ground as she could, hugging the terrain she rushed under the shadow of the colossus.

Her breathing was awry and in staccato bursts. Her arms reached out, silently, desperately for the prospect of fleeing. Of the remote chance that she would be able to evade the ship, duck into a crevice, and prolong the inevitable of Homeworld’s tightening fist raining upon her body.

The folly of it all seemed obvious to her, even as she was motivated to run.

Suddenly, a roar emanated from a chasm just ahead of her. Her eyes widened like saucers as she desperately pulled herself back to a sudden stop. Well within the blink of an eye, a familiar yellow blur blasted out of the depths. 

She watched with incredulity as it darted right for the hulking form of the warship, right for the glowing circle at its ‘palm’. 

—

Upon their screens, the wounded hulk of a warship and its many trappings filled every corner. The damage to it was made obvious in the readings, and doubly so by the sight of it. The window was open to them.

Lars clutched at the sides of his sight, silently grateful for the opportunity Lapis had created for him yet again. He looked upon his compatriots, some confidence washing over their forms on this occasion. Most assuredly, Rhodonite smiled at the indications she got, though only for the briefest of moments. 

However, the hull of the ship was coming up fast. They had a shot on the core, and only one opportunity to make it. Lars watched as the targeting system calibrated, then locked upon the target with a chime.

“FIRE!”

—

The wings of the Sun Incinerator glowed warmly into bulbs of its own fire. They culminated into beams of light that shot out, forward and true, into the heart of its pursuer. An explosion erupted from its palm, prompting Lapis to cover her head again and clench at her hair. As she turned around again, eyes were now wide with sheer disbelief.

One blast was followed by several others, as the explosion breached over the top of the warship’s hull. Smaller ones emanated at the ‘joints’ of its digits, its movement faltering as the shell at the front of the ‘wrist’ buckled. A chorus of groans emanated from the smoking hull, whilst Lapis winced as she watched green flames pour out of the ruptured ship.

Somehow, someway, yet another time, the Off-Colors had defied the odds before her again. Lapis hovered in place, lingering disbelief in her gaze as she watched their ship pitch away from the wreckage.

How? How? How? 

That thought echoed into her mind. The courage they had, the success they had in turn. The journey they had been on. She had only bits and pieces of that. Against the Homeworld of the present, the Homeworld she no longer knew.

The equation for her ended in a holding facility at best, and so many other things at worst. That much was certain for her. How wasn’t it so for them? 

She furrowed her brows, shaking her head repeatedly as she glanced again at the ruined warship. Her mind twisted itself in knots, pondering what made any of the effort worth so much. It made her face heat up as she grew almost outright angry, and certainly mournfully envious.

Their endurance. They did not wither whilst she did so many other times. 

How could they? When she had faltered and failed.

A thought finally struck her, a fact that should’ve been obvious to her from the start to some degree.

The fact that they were Off-Colors meant there wasn’t anything else they could do. They faced even bleaker prospects than her. She knew very well the price for that sort of defect. It had been obvious then as it was now.

Her face remained hot as she breathed through unsteady bursts. Her own anger abated to confusion, as the thought of their pathway to Earth lingered. 

Earth was the ultimate blot in the Diamond’s star maps. 

Oblivion, soon enough.

Lars had escaped from them with Steven. And yet they were coming after him, sure to bring their absolute worst. Did they truly know the danger that had arisen in the moment?  

Why would they want to head to Earth, especially if they didn't see in it what she had? How could they see the things in it she had? How could they know the people and everything she had left-...

Lapis paused and silently, gazed up, her attention bringing her away from the deepening chasm in her mind. She noticed as the ship rose to the starlit heavens above her. The vastness of the stars beyond awaited them. 

They had proven their odds. They were far better than her own. They cared for each other.

Lapis’s wings blasted her up into the endless night once again. She rushed past the corpse of a vessel, and rushed for the flank of the Sun Incinerator, determined to catch it before it left.

—

“How’s our ship looking, guys?” Lars called routinely, his shoulders finally slackening for the first time in minutes. Rhodonite tensely scanned her own readings before she relayed her findings.

“Minor damage- to the other wing- rear tip. Upper half of the hull-..it’s been bent in some places too…” She murmured, processing it all.

“Alright. Is the overall damage enough to prevent us from making a quick, careful jump to hyperspeed?” Lars remarked. Everyone held their breath as their readouts came through. Eventually, Rhodonite answered once more.

“Ah- no- sir-..but…I’d say-...” Rhodonite trembled. Lars raised his brow, holding his own tongue in order to let her continue, “...We should-...consider hiding out in this system, for now.”

The others looked upon her, their expressions ranging from disbelief and skepticism to more neutral and patient gazes. Lars most especially listened, intrigued as gestured for her to continue.

“...We need to repair our ship- one way or another. There are more planets in this system within our grasp-...that could throw them off, just as much as if-...if we went through hyperspeed. Just maybe..” Rhodonite stammered, trying not to let the doubt in some eyes get to her.

“...Mmmm…” Lars raised a brow, turning his attention to Fluorite for more to inform himself, “How long do you estimate repairs should take for at least an extended range jump?”

“...Within…two days…time….” Fluorite murmured on the screen, “If…we go for…a full…proper…schedule…”

Lars turned to the twins, to which they answered without him asking.

“We’re more than capable of maneuvering into a strategic position, captain! You just lead the way, Rhodonite.” They said in unison. Rhodonite found herself flushed with both surprise, and nervous gratitude.

Lars looked at Rhodonite in turn. His lips were a thin line, causing her bubbling confidence to stumble for a moment. However, a faint nod emerged, as a cooler head prevailed in the face of the information given to him.

“If we can find our way out of their sights here, that’ll suit us just fine,” Lars murmured, finally flashing a faint grin. Rhodonite sighed in relief- before a new string of data asserted itself on her screen. She spun around, anxiously seeking to not let it pass her by.

“New contact!-...Oh-...it’s-...”

“Her again?” Lars finished for Rhodonite. He looked upon the screen as well with a raised brow. This time, the indicator of her tiny shape against the space was willingly coming right towards their ship. There weren't any blasters upon her and not a ship, or robonoid in sight. 

Eventually, she was close enough for them to see outside on their own screens. Her expression was blanker than ever, something of a quiet, hollow, mournful frown. Her body seemed tenser than ever before. She planted her feet, gingerly, upon the long nose of the Sun Incinerator. Her gaze right towards the crew of it.

Lars got up from his seat, just as she wordlessly pointed to her own chest, tapping upon it, before pointing to the ship. Her finger happened to point at them all, prompting everyone to look upon themselves in some silence.

“She…wants to…get in…” Fluorite’s voice quietly drifted from the deck. Everyone looked her way, before they looked back at Lapis. Everything, from her best to her worst towards them, all of it came to their mind. Wordlessly, they looked at Lars as they noticed him gaze back at the screen.

“Let her in. She’s…done a lot for us.”

—

Lapis stood on tiptoes at the end of the ship. Behind her, the stars beyond. Her hope faded in time, her fears gnawing at her mind.

Perhaps, she had driven them away too. Doubt and guilt crept and enveloped more of her, as it often did. A cloak, as if the shadows had reached to cover her.

Suddenly, a point of light, a square beam in the ship’s hull glowed out below its underside. Lapis’s eyes widened in surprise, as once again, she was let aboard. She steadily drifted down, letting herself rise quietly into the hull of the ship.

Light enveloped her, and in the blink of an eye she was inside. Around her were several pairs of eyes, many from one or two members of the crew. 

Her gaze darted around, processing familiar faces. Most offered an assuring smile, whilst Lars, who stood out amidst the colors, offered one more tentative and worn by exhaustion. 

The silence in the moment was deafening to her. The gesture was yet more overwhelming, and once again against the odds in her own mind.

She slackened, and curled over before them, hands upon her face as she shook her head in quiet disbelief. She sat before them, much to their bafflement and concern.

Chapter Text

Log date: 9425

14 cycles since the barn was raised.

You are reading the written logs of Peridot, as documented on her personal finger screen device, or as Steven calls it, a ‘tablet’. Please select off this screen if you are not authorized to access it by my

own express permission.

To put it bluntly, I’m back to writing these logs again. After a while, I’ve finally managed to keep track of the time that has passed. They proved useful, at least the formatting they offer works to organize my current work. It does well to especially ensure I have somewhere to plan this operation as the days go by. I’ve also realized it proves to be a rather efficient way of noting down my own progress on several fields, especially in realizing just how far things have come. At least, so far, reading this and reflecting on the work of the past few days hasn’t resulted in me feeling as though I’ve been walking in circles.

As of today, I’ve made considerable progress on a new project I have currently assigned myself. Initially, I had wanted to ensure the crops around the barn didn’t rot, especially after my absence and my expedition to the Kindergarten, but given my present lack of watering equipment, and admittedly the memories this particular problem brings, this was more of a struggle than I had anticipated. I realize I can’t maintain this farm in its present state on my own for now, and especially not as efficiently. A particular dilemma is my desire to not see anything I can’t spare go to waste, especially for something of no fault of their own.

However, I managed to receive a better idea thanks to the input of Steven and Amethyst especially. Their stroke of genius on this occasion was the suggestion that we run a “farmers’ market” to sell off some of the produce made around the barn. Exchanging it with the local population for their own use, essentially. I was reluctant at first. It involved the transfer of the fruits of my own labor and Lapis’s own to many others. But, in the in the end, I found it did offer them a purpose greater than sitting in the field. It unbound them from being tied up with my own issues at least. 

Currently, I’ve been helping organize the harvesting operation, as well as personally overseeing several of the machinery in order to ensure a quick transfer of as much of the surplus as possible. Steven and Amethyst, alongside the rest of the Crystal Gems, have worked well under my very specific instructions, our combined effort ensuring a good haul. Additionally, they’ve also oriented and assisted me in the subsidiary tasks to this effort.

Pearl’s helped me maintain the equipment whilst Garnet and Amethyst have served as excellent farm hands with the storage. Most importantly, Steven has been raising awareness for this event among the local residents, most especially doing so after he resolved his issues with his close associate, Connie. Perhaps most fortuitously, I’ve begun to hone in my own skills with metal objects. I’ve practiced more and more, especially with the encouragement of the other Crystal Gems, to the point I’m even garnering combat utility from them. In fact, late in this day I was invited by them to demonstrate my metal powers and to test them against their own skills.

Admittedly, at first I found myself frustrated with their own ability to block and counter my main moves, especially when I hurled projectiles as fast as I currently can bear at the moment. But, they’ve proved to be rather insightful and enthusiastic about my capabilities, surprisingly. Most assuring is that they seem to have faith in my capacity to further my talents, with Garnet finding my own initial hypotheses on more effective ways to hurl metallic objects particularly intriguing. I for one am glad to have found this circle of support.

I’ve also received support from Steven and Amethyst most especially as of late. At the end of the day’s work, we tend to ‘hang out’ together back at my new abode within the ‘beach house’. We partook in a wide variety of activities together. Last night, they planned out a ‘sleepover’ for us. I was shown a whole host of customs to this event. They grafted shapes on my on my face and their bodies, though with a material that was impermanent and could be cleaned off. I was also granted new ‘shirts’, as well as other appearance modifiers I could wear. I naturally chose those I deemed most fitting to my form. The ‘sleeping’ part of this whole event didn’t come so easily, as I frankly expected, but somehow I managed to do so, albeit at the most inconvenient time imaginable. They were understanding of that at least, and I still wished to partake.

None of these rituals seem all that practical in of themselves, but I’ve long since figured their value comes from the bonding, the friendship, and the pleasure they bring. I did ultimately derive all three of those things from this. There’s a lot they have done addition to this which has made these days are quite satisfactory. They’ve taken care of Pumpkin well, ensuring my veggie head is in ‘good spirits’. I don’t know what that saying exactly means, but evidently Pumpkin is happy with it, so I’m optimistic about that phrase. They’ve also encouraged me to write out things more, especially in terms of planning and relaying information. Amethyst was surprisingly candid on this front, though in a manner not atypical to her usually laid-back self. As far as she felt, it did seem to do me well.

In terms of tomorrow’s plans, there’s a lot for me to do. We’ll need to complete the ‘stalls’ needed to hold our harvest on display for the day. Certain equipment needs much needed attention on my part. I’ve also regretfully lost access to certain equipment, such as my radio command system, which enabled remote access to all equipment of the farm. I’ve yet to find a suitable replacement for it, but I’m sure I’ll manage on that front. I plan to help care for the crops on that day first, before moving onto constructing the installations for the market.

I’ll be frank in saying that these days have been the best I’ve felt over these 14 days. Evidently, hard work and putting my mind to a new task as well as observing these processes unfold has kept me very occupied.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll be sure to update this accordingly.

This is Peridot, end log.

---

Peridot hunched over her tablet, squinting as she scrolled through the lines prior, double-checking at least once to ensure she had truly written what she wished to say. Admittedly, a part of herself was giddy to read her own words, to hear how she described things once more. 

The sound of several shuffling footsteps immediately registered to Peridot. Instantly, she recognized them as the footfalls of Pumpkin. The gourd puppy stared up at her, eagerly chuffing as she left off one soft bark. Peridot placed the tablet on the table. She gathered her up in her arms, prompting a soft sigh from the gourd puppy, and a smile from the little green gem.

“And you’ve worked quite hard, my veggie-head! You deserve a rest as I do- just let me…,” Peridot tensed as she reached out for her tablet, carrying it up with her powers. Pumpkin glanced over to this, as her leafy tail swished in the air.

The tablet floated confidently in the air, as Peridot’s free hand stretched out to it. She smiled triumphantly.

“Ha! Now that’s what I call ‘multi-tasking’,” Peridot retorted eagerly, gazing directly down at the gourd in her arms. Pumpkin glanced over blankly to the floating screen, her gaze fairly unchanging as she kept panting contently. She eventually turned back over to Peridot, letting off a supportive bark.

Peridot chuckled in affirmation as she hauled both veggie-head and tablet off to their home for the moment. The bathroom door opened to reveal the same set up as before. Virtually unchanged, with the same mildly pungent scent of citrus, as far as her ‘nose’ registered. As per usual, the bubbly mattress laid within the porcelain tub, awaiting her presence.

A million different ideas bounced about in Peridot’s head, as she gently set Pumpkin down into the tub. She glanced down at her tablet, her hands dragging the sleek ‘rectangle’ into her hands quietly. One idea had her posting again, writing out tirades in those ‘characters’ she used to make in her ‘heyday’, most especially about her quite literal hay day out with the others. It would make for good promotional material, after all.

Another drifted to the thought of a gripping ‘fanfiction’ she had come across some weeks prior to all of this. Campers’ Pining Hearts (Or: A Story of Friendship and Love) (with a title as dense as that, she truly committed herself to not forget it.) Even if she was reading it without her companion in the world of everything CPH, the details of that ‘fanfic’ kept clawing back into her mind vividly, and truly during the strangest of times.

However, she glanced up from the black screen to notice Pumpkin, upon her stubby front limbs gazing out at her from the lip of the tub. She panted eagerly, as if waiting for Peridot to join her.

Peridot looked back at her, trying to process the sight, when the memories of the weeks came to mind. Very little of it featured Pumpkin, who in those gloomy moments was a patch of muted orange and green. The moments where she was limp against the floor, or in whatever other crumpled mass, Pumpkin was there.

She had tried to nuzzle and trudge her way into her arms again. But there was no strength and no rigidness to keep her there as before. Peridot simply wasn’t there to bring her up again. 

Those weeks hadn’t dampened the veggie-head’s spirits. If anything, she had grown more loyal and energetic, especially as she came back to being. It wasn’t practical, Peridot pondered, for her to keep lingering around her in that state. A part of her wished she hadn’t been forced to see her like that.

And yet, she was still here. And she was happy to see her there all the same.

A small smile graced Peridot’s lips, as she set her tablet upon the sink. She stumbled over into the tub fitfully with an ‘oof’. Immediately, Pumpkin was upon her, an orange tongue brushing over Peridot’s face affectionately. 

Peridot grumbled for a moment at first, as Pumpkin accidentally almost swept up her visor. However, she settled back, holding onto it as she chuckled more affectionately. The gem’s arm gently wrapped around Pumpkin’s form, gently encouraging her to settle upon her chest, not unlike a day on the hammock. Her eyes for the moment followed her swishing tail.

A profound sense of satisfaction and ease seemed to swell within her in the moment. More than that, for the first time in a while, she felt an earnest tiredness. A heaviness to her limbs, but in this case, it was pleasant. Born out of a desire to pause for a moment, to take stock of peace after a long day.

Peridot sighed deeply at tranquility. The duality of earth was bare to her in this very moment, a part of her observed. Anguish and bliss, all in this one room. Such was the very nature of being an earthling.

Suddenly, a faint moistness splashed against her triangle of hair. Her eyes peaked up, glancing up at the tap. A drop of water grew at its lip, glistening faintly amidst what little light there was in the room. 

Peridot shuffled up under the tap, canting her head to let her gem catch it. A cooling sensation, equally strange as it was therapeutic, rang across her from as the droplet splashed upon her gem. Her hands stretched out back, instinctively seeking yet more comfort in the moment.

The memories water evoked were mixed. In some sense, Lapis had a point with her own words about the substance. And yet, Peridot found its presence in this moment rather comforting. 

Tentatively, consciousness seemed to drift from her. Almost as if on instinct, she shut her eyes at the next droplet, letting the sensation flow through her. It combined well with the weight of a now calm Pumpkin, who curled up on her chest and began to doze off softly. 

The last time she had slept as of late had not ended well, Peridot thought frankly. Memories of a barn ripped from the Earth, and a gem plucking herself into the stars above had seen to that. But yet, the momentum of this moment brought her to something far more peaceful, relaxing in some sense.

New and better memories were on the horizon in her mind. At least, everything around her made it seem right to sleep, to dream again. Tentatively, consciousness slipped from her bit by bit, the sensation less unnerving and more familiar than before.

Comfort, as it turned out, could be found in this ritual. At least, she saw the logic of the other gems doing it.

—

An interminable period of time had passed. Peridot winced, finding her vision returning to her again. Pumpkin was stirring somewhat fitfully, glancing up at the door to the bathroom from beyond the bathtub’s lip.

The door swung open, casting a beam of dull light across her form. Peridot lurched up, before a sharp jab of the faucet above her shoulder brought out a grunt. Pumpkin lurched over, immediately crawling over to her lap to assess her condition. Peridot hissed for a moment as contended with the dredges of grogginess and a lingering ache in her shoulder.

She finally turned her down the bathroom to catch sight of something familiar. A pink puffy jacket, dark swirls of hair and the same round face instantly gave away the intruder in the bathroom. He hunched over the sink, turning on the faucet as he had usually done. 

Relieve gave way to some puzzlement, as the expression on his face seemed grim. At least, from her position, she caught sight of a rather dour frown on his face reflecting in the bathroom mirror.

“..Steven?” Her voice remarked quietly. The boy perked up, immediately catching sight of her. Instead of his expression shifting much, his frown only deepened as his eyebrows furrowed somberly. Before Peridot could ask, he answered her question for her.

“I saw Lapis.”

Several things seemed to happen all at once. Peridot’s stare lingered for a moment as he mind rushed to catch up to the moment. She struggled to hold up Pumpkin, who had crawled up onto her arms and sat puzzled upon them.

The most immediate question on her mind was how. The confusion on her face wordlessly asked as much. Steven evidently understood as much.

“She was on the moon- I went up with Lion there after Ronaldo found the barn up there. She was hiding in the moon base.”

Peridot glanced down at Pumpkin. The gourd stared back, her own gaze tensing in delayed recognition. Peridot found herself staring back, as more of the details slipped from Steven’s mouth.

“She stopped herself short of leaving because, as she said, couldn’t bear to not know what was happening back here,” Steven clutched his hands softly as he seemed to struggle with his own words.

Peridot could understand, relate even in that moment. It all seemed awfully bizarre, not to mention how fraught with feeling her core seemed to be.

“She had been using the moon base’s observation orb- basically, to watch the planet from up there,” Steven rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at this point, “She was spying on us- at least that seemed pretty obvious.”

Instinctively, Peridot’s hold on Pumpkin slightly. The veggie-head in her arms, whimpered with concern, recognizing Peridot’s disconcerted face. 

The distress she had been in during those many days flickered in her mind like a candle in a dark room. Her misery, predicated on the knowledge that she had been left resolutely behind, that Lazuli had permanently resigned herself to the stars, was seen by her. Or at least, there was a possibility of this.

Initially, there wasn’t much logic in these decisions. Peridot’s calculating mind deduced that there wasn’t much point to lingering so close to Earth as a hideout. In a former Homeworld facility no less, potentially crucial and sought after if Homeworld ever decided to resume their work upon this planet.

However, her mind drifted as she considered what she knew of Lapis. Despite the fact she had gone through with leaving in the first place, she had hesitated. She had struggled to do so, to drift off like a leaf in the wind. Peridot glanced down at her arms, and remembered her words.

—

“There, now we can bring our whole life with us! You, me, and all of our things.”

—

Peridot stared upon her arms. 

Faint images of Lapis sitting up on the granary, her blue form up against the vibrant orange of the sunset struck clearly. She stared out, faintly smiling at her view of the countryside beyond. 

Endless hours of Camp Pining Hearts, of debating and practicing and elaborating on Earth rituals, of planting fields upon fields of life, of her staring on at their works, of her remaining close to Peridot’s side in these moments. Arguments, banter, her face smiling, her face tense and fraught played clearly in her mind.

She valued this place. Earth had that effect. Peridot sighed softly. Of course she’d have that remorse. It should’ve been predictable to her. A part of her tensed, as her feelings stirred, wondering if it truly was any better.

Her brows furrowed, concern and curiosity animating her. Against Pumpkin’s form, her mouth opened.

“She- she missed us, Steven, right?” She murmured quietly, her irises finally turning to glance up at him. He nodded softly.

“She did,” He began, placing his hands into his jacket pockets, “She got pretty lonely when got very far out in the galaxy.”

Peridot huffed softly, figuring as much already. Her mind inched forward, or at least as close to forward as she could.

“What is she even thinking? Why…vacillate this much?” The little green gem murmured, wincing as Pumpkin licked her softly in assurance. A sigh escaped Steven’s lips, as he smiled somewhat.

“There’s a part of her that wants to come home- I think. At least, she said she wishes she’d be together with us, even if it isn’t safe,” He glanced over to the mirror, “Being up there alone felt like being trapped in that mirror again.”

Peridot tensed, remembering too well everything those tidbits entailed. And yet, up to this point there was very little she had gathered from it. A few talks with Lapis had revealed some level of the horror, but especially in this realm, there was always a need for tact that made the little green gem’s lips tense.

That was a line to hardly cross, only unless permitted by Lazuli.

She glanced up, acknowledging Steven’s words quietly. He continued.

“Another thing is that…she would like to come home but,” Steven brought back out his hands, letting one rest on the lip of the tub, “...She knows leaving as she did probably means a lot’s going to change. She wonders what you’d say-...she wonders where she’d even put the barn…”

Peridot’s brows raised instinctively, her core glowing to some extent. A faint, if somewhat blunt smile graced her lips.

“That’s almost certainly what happens when you move an entire barn off of its foundation,” She murmured frankly, “...I’d personally suggest she plop right on the beach, for convenience’s sake.”

Steven seemed to chuckle somewhat, rubbing the back of his head.

“That’s-...exactly what I told her,” He nodded softly. Peridot chuckled softly, mostly at the plainly ridiculous sight of a barn perched upon the beachfront. Pumpkin, however, shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her arms. Peridot glanced down, disquieted, evidently she seemed to be struck by the memory of the last time the barn had moved. Within Peridot’s own mine, it was hard not to recall it.

A long silence filled the room. Steven glanced to the side, wondering if it was right of him to say as much as he did. However, Peridot’s voice eventually broke the silence, as one particular thought came to mind.

“Lazuli didn’t come back with you, did she?” Peridot asked, though her tone indicated that she was fairly certain that her question already had an answer. Steven nodded softly.

“I dreamed about the Diamonds-...I woke up and told her about it,” He sighed, shaking his head, “...I don’t know what it means, but she thought it was exactly as she feared…”

Peridot looked on in wordless understanding. That paralyzing fear. It animated her to do as she did before. All over again, the panic on her face was clear then as it was now.

Truthfully, the information she gathered still sat in an uncertain pile, a jumble that was difficult to sort through. She sat for a long while, feeling Steven glance around as he waited for her. Pumpkin sat in her arms, equally as still and uncertain. Eventually, her eyes met his.

“I- I don’t know what to say to this, Steven, not right now,” She glanced down at the floor, drawing in another deep breath, before she finally smiled up at him, “But-...thanks for telling me about this.”

Steven nodded softly.

“If there’s anything you need-..or wanna talk about, I’m upstairs-..though, I’m probably gonna go get some shut-eye..”

Peridot canted her head inquisitively.

“Don’t you mean sleep?” She mumbled. Steven chuckled, nodding softly. Peridot’s shoulders slackened, and she smiled back at him. He made his way over to the door, turning to her as she kept staring up at him.

“...I’ll go do that now-...good night Peridot.” He remarked with one last soft smile her way. Peridot waved faintly as he left. Pumpkin glanced up at her, finally relaxing a bit more. At least, Peridot’s current cadence was more soothing.

Truthfully, Peridot’s mind kept stewing with thoughts. She wondered frankly over the information of the minute.

Between everything she had faced, from the peril of the Cluster to Yellow Diamond herself, this moment lingered on her mind. 

What had her dedication meant to Lazuli?

It meant that she had gone so far to lie to her, to at times give way to what she had wanted. Evidently, that backfired massively.

What had she been supposed to do? Cross those lines in the sand?

Her expression grew fraught again, as no good answer seemed to settle on her mind. At least considering she didn’t wish to see her hurt once more. But then, this did as much as well.

Another part of her mind fixated on the sheer impracticality of Lapis having to carry the entire barn around the galaxy, most especially without the little green gem that was herself. Imprinting herself onto memories and the things they had.

The things they had…among the many items, Peridot’s mind began to race. Several key components, her controls for her remote drones and other equipment She huffed in some frustration, realizing once more that they were up on her alcove of that barn.

It was now on the moon, and Steven evidently demonstrated that he could reach it.

Her mind seemed to jump at this alarmingly quickly. A practical issue jumped to her at hand, and evidently, there was a means to solve it. She was almost tempted to come rushing out the door and up the stairs to Steven’s bed to see to this immediately.

Remembering how sleep was practically essential to humans, and how tired Steven was made her pause enough to consider as much. She’d have to wait till morning to sort this out. As annoyed as she was, her mind sought to at least respect Steven’s needs and ensure he had the rest he needed. He earned as much for his own work that day.

Peridot huffed, settling once more unto her back against the tub. Pumpkin’s own expression was disquieted, noticing her master’s somewhat erratic motion.

Peridot sighed, reaching out to gently pat the veggie-head.

“Ah- I’ve just got a lot on my mind- Pumpkin. It’ll take a moment for me to sort it all out,” She murmured, faintly mustering a smile, “But, I’ll sort it out- I promise that. These are my thoughts after all.”

The gourd's form tensed a bit less, her tail swishing softly as her expression tilted back into a jagged smile. She gently licked Peridot’s face once, prompting Peridot to sigh softly. She then settled back into her lap, assured for the moment.

Peridot gazed appreciatively, continuing to pat Pumpkin on the head. She found this to be an apt thing to do for as long as she was waiting until the first light.