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It was a perfectly normal day until it happened.
At first, the feeling was barely noticeable. Garnet was sitting on a couch in the main room of the temple, watching as Pearl and Amethyst were trying to install some cupboards.
Then that feeling grew stronger, like a stabbing where her gut would be if she wasn't a gem, and in her head for a split second, Garnet saw Pearl stumble and the cupboard come crashing down on her head.
Garnet fidgeted in her seat, but the visual was gone as soon as it came, despite that uneasy feeling in her core remaining.
"Amethyst, stop fooling around! You need to shift yourself a bit taller so we can hang this properly-" Pearl chided, before letting out a yelp. Amethyst had shapeshifted her form too quickly, and Pearl was caught off guard.
Garnet watched, almost in slow-motion, as Pearl took two quick steps backwards and ducked, covering her head with her arms as the cupboard fell.
"Oops! Sorry, P..." Amethyst hummed, helping move the cupboard off of Pearl as the taller gem sternly scolded her.
Garnet was rooted in place. She felt frozen, her mind racing at a million miles a minute. What was that?
It had to have been a coincidence, right?
Garnet felt herself destabilizing. Fighting to keep her form together, she quickly excused herself from the room and rushed outside.
The beach tonight was quiet, a good place to sit and talk. Garnet managed to hold herself together til she was on the sand, and then let herself unfuse.
Ruby was shaking, her tiny hands clenched into fists, eyes wide and grimacing. Sapphire was her usual quiet and solemn self, though she frowned seeing how shaken up Ruby was.
"What...WAS that?! What did we do? We predicted Pearl having that cupboard fall on her, and we didn't do anything about it!" Ruby yelped, turning to Sapphire and gesturing wildly as she tried to communicate her frustration and anxiety. "I didn't even know we could do that! Well, I guess I sort of guessed, but that was scary! Are we going to be experiencing that all of the time?!"
Sapphire stepped closer and gently took Ruby's hands into her own. The touch was firm, yet reassuring, and she watched the panic slowly fade from Ruby's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ruby. I forgot you weren't accustomed to visions, and the part of you that makes up Garnet probably didn't know how to handle it." Sapphire's tone was soft, as her fingers interlaced with Ruby's.
"That's...that's what you have to deal with all the time...?" Ruby questioned, her expression full of sympathy as she squeezed Sapphire's hands.
Sapphire chuckled softly. "Yes, for the most part. Garnet's foresight is a bit different than mine...we both get visions, but mine are usually more in-depth and are for further ahead in the future. Hers analyze different possibilities, and seem to be mostly for events in the very near future."
"Woah." Ruby's eyes were stars, fascinated by this knowledge, but she suddenly seemed to get a different thought and that joyfully curious look was gone as soon as it came. "So you're telling me that the visions you get are even worse?!"
"Oh, Ruby..." Sapphire couldn't help but smile at the adorably concerned expression on her girlfriend's face. "I promise they're not that bad to deal with. You have to remember that I've been experiencing visions my whole life, and Garnet experienced her first vision just now. I'm used to it, but Garnet will have a little bit of a learning curve."
"I'm scared." Ruby admitted, still fidgeting with Sapphire's hands as she looked away. "What if we mess up? What if we see things and are too scared to act on them? What if we predict things wrong? I don't want our friends to get hurt..."
"Take a moment and breathe. I've got you, and you've got me. Together, we can learn, and grow, and do anything." Sapphire pulled Ruby close, into a hug.
Ruby smiled, clinging to Sapphire tightly, her eyes welling with tears. "Yeah! We've got this. I trust you, and I trust us."
"I trust us, too." Sapphire smiled, patting Ruby's back.
Their gems began to glow, and light swirled, enveloping the both of them as they re-fused.
Garnet looked down at her arms, and hugged herself for a few seconds. "Yea. I've got this. Everything will be okay."
She took a deep breath, and began walking back towards the temple. She wouldn't tell the others about this...not yet. Not until she was sure she was ready to.
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A few days passed before it happened again, and this time, Garnet tried to be more prepared.
"Rose. You shouldn't pick up that crab with the spots. He'll try to pinch you, and it might hurt."
Rose Quartz looked up at Garnet, from where she was crouched, examining the wildlife on the beach. The two of them came out here often to gather new temporary "pets" for Rose to try and bring into the temple (much to Pearl's dismay).
"Oh? Are you sure? He looks friendly enough..." Rose said, turning to the invertebrate in question and cooing at it. She reached out her hand, and just as expected, the crab pinched her finger and then ran away.
Garnet immediately went to check and make sure Rose was okay, fussing over her finger, but Rose didn't seem concerned at all. Instead, she...laughed.
"Garnet! You have Sapphire's foresight! Do you know how incredible that is?" Rose's eyes were starry as she squealed in delight.
Garnet, however, wasn't as enthused. "Yeah, I do...I hope it'll end up being useful. Right now, it's a little confusing to understand..."
"It's okay, Garnet. Take your time learning how it works. This is amazing, though! I have to tell Amethyst and Pearl!"
Rose Quartz ran off towards the temple, and Garnet facepalmed.
That night, Ruby and Sapphire were once again on the beach.
Sapphire sat on a rock, watching the waves, as Ruby paced back and forth.
"So, we successfully told Rose what we saw would happen to her. But, she didn't heed the warning! And that's decidedly NOT GOOD!" Ruby mused, following the track she had been making in the sand since she began the pacing. "Next time, we need to act right away! But what if we're trying to help one of our friends and they don't understand what we're doing? Then we might embarrass ourselves and them! AAAGGHHH!!" Ruby flopped down on the sand in defeat, unsure of how to even handle this dilemma.
"What we need is confidence." Sapphire interjected. "Confidence in ourself stops the embarrassment problem. If we second-guess things too much, we won't be able to help. We have to act on instinct, even if we're scared of getting it wrong."
Ruby huffed, staring up at the stars. "It's so difficult to handle. It's such a big responsibility, and I...I don't think we're ready for this!"
Ruby was about to say something else, but Sapphire spoke up first. "We shouldn't hide our ability, or try to push it away. We can use it to help others, even if it seems daunting right now. Trying to suppress it will do more harm than good."
'Classic Sapphy...always predicting what I'm gonna say before I even get the words out...' Ruby thought to herself, rolling on her side and doodling in the sand. "I don't even know how it works. I'm not sure Garnet does, either. You seem to have the best idea, but there's a lot that we don't know...and not knowing is the worst."
"It's okay to not know." Sapphire walked over to Ruby and knelt by her side, placing a hand on her back to reassure her.
"I just don't know what to do. Even the word 'foresight' is so big and daunting!" Ruby huffed.
"Why don't we call it something else, then?" Sapphire smiled, ruffling Ruby's hair.
"Mmmm...well it's small visions...of the future...so...future vision?" Ruby hummed, rolling over to face Sapphire.
Sapphire giggled a bit--she'd never heard clairvoyance called something so simple, but it was cute to her. "Sure, why not. Future vision it is." She leaned down, planting a small kiss on Ruby's forehead.
Ruby smiled, entangling her and Sapphire's fingers. "Thanks, Sapphy."
They were quiet for a few seconds, the sounds of the waves calming and atmospheric.
"They expect so much of us." Ruby sighed. "It feels like making mistakes isn't an option, or we'll let them all down."
Sapphire thought about it for a second before speaking. "I don't think they expect that much of us. They were happy to find out we had this ability, but they're our friends. We all make mistakes, none of us are perfect."
"I guess that's true..." Ruby mused.
"We haven't been upset or laughed at our friends when they've made mistakes, so why would they do that to us?" Sapphire gently questioned.
Ruby was quiet, unable to come up with a good counter. "Well," she said defeatedly, "I almost laughed that one time...when Pearl tripped over her spear while on a mission...?"
Sapphire was silent...and then began to giggle. Ruby smiled wide and started giggling too. Soon both of them were flat-out laughing, Ruby rolling on the sand while Sapphire held her side.
"Ruby! Don't even remind me of that! As horrible as it is, it really was funny..."
"I know, right? The look on her face as she fell...she looked like a bird!" Ruby snorted, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye.
The two of them quieted into giggles, and then fully calmed down.
"Yeah though...I get your point. You're right, I don't think they'd be upset at us even if we did get something wrong." Ruby admitted, smiling warmly.
"Mhm. And remember, it isn't our job to change the future that we see. Everyone is responsible for their own future. We can provide insight, but if they don't listen to us, it's on them." Sapphire reassured. "We can still help our friends, and still use our future vision for good, but we shouldn't beat ourselves up for things not going to plan."
"This is why I love you." Ruby sighed dreamily.
Sapphire blushed and giggled. "Oh, stop... you're too sweet."
The two of them held hands, and danced themselves back into a fusion.
Garnet smiled. She was feeling full of a self-confidence she hadn't felt in awhile.
She looked up at the stars for a good moment. The patterns in the sky soothed her somehow. Once she felt fully at peace, she began her walk back to the temple, her home, her family.
It was okay to get things wrong. Garnet was strong, and she would always be there for her friends and try to help them, and that's all that really mattered.
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