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The frigid wind blew around the small band of four. Rose Quartz and her three most loyal followers marched through the shimmering snow and ice.
"It really is pretty." Blue Pearl said to Pink Pearl. "Not like home at all."
"The snow keeps getting in my face." complained the other pearl.
"You wanna have a snowball fight?"
"No!"
"Aw, have a little fun!" teased Blue, throwing a snowball at Pink.
Pink pretended to be annoyed, pulling her scarf up to cover her smile. She was proud of how far her... friend had come. When they first took her from Blue Diamond's palace, she was confused and terrified. Now she was smiling and laughing, enjoying life. She had her whole future ahead of her, and Pink hoped to spend every minute of it with her.
"Garnet! Where will the Homeworld Gems be? How long do we have?" asked Rose Quartz urgently, interrupting Pink's thoughts.
"Over by the base of that hill. We have ten minutes!" Garnet replied. Her future vision gave them a huge advantage.
"Got it! Pink, Blue, take the top of the hill! Garnet, you and I take the bottom!" commanded Rose.
"Yes, ma'am! C'mon, Pink!"
The two pearls ran to the top of the hill as fast as they could, though the slippery ice made it difficult.
The Homeworld ship appeared on the horizon. In the shape of an eerie green hand, it scared Pink to death.
It landed, as Garnet predicted, at the bottom of the hill. Five gems strode out. There were two Rubies, one Jasper, a Topaz, and a Turquoise. Pink tensed up. This would be a hard fight.
"Ah, the Crystal Gems. I'm surprised you showed your faces after the Sahara embarrassment." sneered the Topaz.
"What happened then was a mistake. We weren't prepared." said Rose defiantly. Pink felt a rush of admiration for her general.
"We'll see about that. Gems, attack!"
The Turquoise took on Garnet, who hummed that song she always sang when she fought.
"Unfuse and let's see how strong you are!" taunted the opposing gem.
"Scared of me? Well, I don't blame you!" Garnet shot back, hitting the other gem with her gauntlet.
As the Topaz took on Rose, a fusion of the Rubies and the Jasper climbed up the hill towards the pearls. They looked at each other and nodded.
Pink took Blue's hand and spun her around, then dipped her. A light began to glow, and they merged into one.
"Ah, it feels good to be back!" Lavender Pearl exclaimed. She threw a spear at the Ruby fusion, but she dodged it. "There's more where that came from!"
"Lavender, don't let your guard down!" yelled Garnet.
She slid down the hill swiftly, and threw a piece of ice at the Jasper, hitting her straight in the chest. With a look of disgust, she reverted back into her gem. Lavender tossed it down to Garnet, who bubbled it.
"Lavender, unfuse! Now!" Rose yelled, panicked. Lavender obeyed, splitting back into two. But we never unfuse! Pink thought. What's going on? She had a feeling something huge was about to happen.
There was a crunch of foot on snow. Pink, startled, turned around.
Blue wasn't that lucky.
The Ruby fusion hit her gem with her gauntlets. Blue had a look of shock on her face. Pink wanted to scream, but she was voiceless. Blue shards flew everywhere, onto a sheet of sparkling white.
The Rubies unfused. One picked up a piece of Blue's gem. "All right! We got the traitor!"
"Blue Diamond's gonna be so happy!" exclaimed the other.
"Come back to the ship." said Topaz. "We got what we came for."
Pink ran down the hill, choking back tears. "G-Garnet! Rose! Blue shattered!" she sniffled. "I tried to protect her, but I was paralyzed!"
Garnet looked at Pink. Her face stretched into two, and then, she unfused completely, into a Ruby and a Sapphire. "Who did this to her?" yelled the former.
"T-he fusion!" she sobbed.
"I swear, I'll shatter them all! Nobody does this to Blue! Nobody!"
"Ruby." said Sapphire in a warning tone. "Calm down..."
"Calm down!? My teammate's dead, and you want me to CALM DOWN?!" She smashed her fist into the ground.
"Ruby, is this what Blue would have wanted?"
"I- No. You're right."
"How can you stay so calm, Sapphire?!" shrieked Pink. "She's dead! And she was barely out of Homeworld! She'll never see all of Earth like we planned..." She broke down, and began to sob. "It's just... I loved her. Did she even know?"
"She did." said Sapphire. "I'm sure of it. And you know what else I'm sure of? She loved you back." She fell silent.
"Pink, we gotta go back-" Ruby started tentatively.
"Why Pink? I'm the only one left, Ruby. It's just Pearl now."
"Okay, Pearl-"
"I got my wish, you know?" Pearl said, smiling through her tears.
"W-what wish?"
"We spent the rest of her life together."