Chapter Text
Garnet sat calmly on the couch, her legs crossed. Pearl hummed gently as she rummaged around in the kitchen, mixing pancake batter in a silver bowl. Steven wasn't around to cook for anymore, but she still found cooking soothing for her; and Amethyst will eat anything so it doesn't go to waste. There wasn't much excitement in the Crystal Gems lives now with Steven gone, but it was calm.
"Greg is back."
Garnet stood up and walked out the door, Pearl looked outside, the van had just rolled up outside. Garnet flew the trunk open and grabbed bags upon bags of groceries. Greg hassled to grab at least a few, he knew Garnet didn't mind doing the work but he didn't want to be a burden.
"I got frozen burritos!" Greg waved a package in the air as he burst through the door, "where's Amethyst?" Pearl greeted Greg with a warm hello before answering his question, she was in the temple. "She's very bored now these days, with Steven gone and you working." Greg scratched the back of his neck but was interrupted by Garnet snatching the frozen burritos from him to put them in the freezer. "She's just adjusting," was all Garnet said before sitting back down on the couch. "I'm sorry things are so dull with Steven gone and everything-" Greg began but was quickly cut off, "Things aren't dull, they're just calm and domestic now. It's new for us, it's new for gems, to live without constant order or action." Garnet was always the first to give an answer, she still took her role as the leader seriously. The room was silent as they all stood there, not knowing what to say. Greg quickly slipped up to his room, feeling uncomfortable.
"Oh nice, burritos!" Amethyst exclaimed, finally leaving her room in the temple after a few hours. After piling a bunch onto a plate, she noticed the pancakes from Pearl. "Oh hell yeah! Pancake wrapped burritos!" Amethyst quickly threw her plate into the microwave. Pearl would usually cringe at disgust over this, but she'd grown used to Amethyst's concoctions. She only giggled as she watched. "Yo, Pearl! After these, I'm going to go to Little Homeworld, I wanna see P-dot." Pearl snickered, "why are you telling me? Are you asking for permission?" She teased playfully, Amethyst rolled her eyes as she shoved burritos in her mouth, "nope I'm just letting you know so you don't get jealous."
Garnet appeared on the warp pad behind them, fists in a ball. "Someone's coming." The two other gems jerked their head at Garnet, "what do you mean?" Pearl asked shyly, the fusion took of her visor, whispering; "there's no way. Why would she come here?"
Like it was scheduled, the front door flew open with a loud bang, the foundation of the house shaking. The setting sun lowered on her back as the intruder breathed heavily in the door way.
"You need to bubble me."
The Crystal Gems looked at Jasper in horror and confusion, it was Amethyst who finally spoke up; "what?"
"You need to bubble me, or shatter me again." Was all Jasper said, repeating herself. "I can't be left to my own devices, I can't be fixed like you guys, I can't be trusted." Garnet looked at Jasper with bewilderment, she could've never predicted this. "I'm bringing havoc to Little Homeworld, all those puny gems that live there now are afraid of me--I tower over all the other quartz, I keep destroying buildings and if there's no refuge for me there, there's no refuge for me anywhere." Jasper spoke through clenched teeth, her eyes burning with rage. Amethyst took a step forward with her hands out, not wanting to cause any sudden reaction out of Jasper. "There's still opportunity for you! You have eons to get better, just because it isn't working now doesn't mean it can't later! You just need to find someone-"
"If Steven can't fix me, no one can."
The room was silent, Amethyst slowly lowered her arms and looked at the floor. Pearl put a hand on Garnet's shoulder as her face twitched in sadness, the other just stood still in silence. None of them wanted to think about it, but she wasn't wrong. They all knew that if anyone was going to bring the best out of Jasper, it was going to be Steven, but that clearly didn't work. Jasper didn't get worse, but she certainly didn't get better. Garnet finally cut the air with her voice, "No. We won't." Jasper's brows furrowed, biting her lip. "Then I'll make you!" Jasper summoned her headgear and immediately charged at the Crystal Gems. Garnet's reflexes kicked in as she brought her arms up, gauntlets equipped, to absorb the attack. Garnet was pushed back against the Temple door by Jasper's force, arms shaking as she held the blazing ball of rage and fire back from crushing them both into the door. "Garnet!" Amethyst yelled out as she pulled her whip from her gem, immediately running towards the situation to fight with her leader. Pearl quickly followed in obligation. Amethyst cracked her whip as Jasper, grabbing at Jasper's arm to pull her out of her ball attack. Jasper groaned in anger, almost immediately snapping the whip off her of arm and swinging her fist directly into Amethyst's direction. With a loud clatter, Pearl parried the attack with her spear and kicked Jasper in the jaw, causing the perfect quartz to stumble backward in surprise. Garnet, taking the opportunity, grabbed Jasper's shoulders, "We need to get her out of the house, she'll destroy it!" Pearl and Amethyst looked to each other and nodded, preparing their weapons. Garnet pushed Jasper forward onto the warp pad and before she could respond, her and the Crystal Gems were warped to a beyond familiar place. Jasper looked around, stunned for a moment.
"The Strawberry Fields..." Jasper could barely murmur those words out, absorbing her surroundings as if they were charging right at her. She stumbled off the warp pad, just barely, and fell to her knee with her fist planted deeply into the ground, "you brought me here?!" Jasper screamed in anger, turning around and socking Pearl in the face. The pearl yelped as she was brought to a nearby bush by Jasper's force, Amethyst gasped and ran to Pearl to check on her. Garnet looked Jasper in the eyes right before she summoned her visor back on her face, Jasper's reflection haunting her. Garnet yelled as she pushed forward, slamming her armored fists into Jasper's helmet. Jasper smiled eerily, feeling some sort of excitement to relive these memories of battle with the gems. With a giant boom, Jasper rammed into Garnet's chest and pummeled her back. Garnet fell onto her back, teeth clenched, she wasn't going to fight Jasper forever but she certainly couldn't talk Jasper out of it. The fusion looked to her left and saw Pearl and Amethyst, Pearl finally getting back on her feet with determination in her eyes. Without hesitation, Garnet shot to her feet and ran toward her friends and opened up her arms. Pearl and Amethyst quickly got the memo and darted into Garnet's arms in response and there came a sudden flash of light. Jasper groaned, it's always fusion with you idiots!
A giant dark turquoise hand snatched Jasper from her spot on the dirt and lifted her into the air. Jasper struggled, squirming around to break free. "How does it feel?" Jasper looked up at the source of the giant booming voice. Alexandrite's teeth was bared, smoke coming from their second, most beast like mouth, "Being crushed in the hand of someone so much more powerful then you?" Jasper snickered, "It's beyond a familiar feeling! I've fought you on these fields before, remember? Do I seriously need to remind you?" Alexandrite's brows softened, just slightly releasing their grip on the quartz. "We're not going to fight you, not anymore." The fusion finally boomed, "And we aren't going to bubble you either. You need to learn how to live, that's your responsibility." Jasper was lowered back onto the ground, the loose dirt shifting and dusting into the air when it felt the soldier's weight. With the same flash of light, the fusion disassembled and there was the three Crystal Gems. Amethyst walked over to Jasper, lending a hand out, "I can teach you how to feel like a person instead of a drone," she began, "I think I'm the best gem for the job." Amethyst smiled awkwardly, her hand outreached to help her sister. Jasper looked to the defective quartz, almost offended to be offered help by her. Amethyst could sense the discomfort in Jasper's face but she kept her hand out, wanting her to know that there's at least one gem that believes in her. The perfect quartz clenched her teeth, claws digging into the dirt.
A rough hand clenched Amethyst's softer, smaller one. Amethyst smiled at Jasper as she rose from her feet, hand still wrappped around hers. Jasper's helmet dissipated, making her now vulnerable to the gems. Amethyst rushed to hug around her fellow Earth quartz's waist, squeezing hard, "I'll take great care of you, sis." Jasper put a hand on Amethyst's shoulder as she hugged her, not really able to hug her back. She looked the other two Crystal Gems in the eye, Pearl having her spear still clutched in her hands as Garnet just stood there with her arms crossed. The quartz began to tense up. "Let's get back to the house," Amethyst interrupted Jasper's defense, "I gotta show you food." Then Jasper was being pulled by her arm back to the warp pad, the runt amethyst guiding her.