Chapter Text
On Earth a year sometimes felt like a century. In the years after the war, but before Steven’s birth, the Crystal Gems could spend eons on things, steady as the ocean. Pearl had once mediated for a full decade and Sapphire had once spent an entire human life time composing lyrical poetry on an island with Ruby. Amethyst, though, was by far the best of all them. Her skills for sleeping or doing nothing were unrivalled. Their lives were slow, long and methodical and that suited them just fine. And then Steven was born and more happened each single year, than many of the centuries they’d lived combined. The amount of growing up they did in the short life Steven had had so far rivalled all that even Rose had done for them. There was an urgency to things that had long been forgotten.
If someone had told Pearl that there would come a day when her universe would shrink down to a pinprick and all that mattered to her was a curly haired little boy, a mystery woman, her protégé and her fellow Crystal Gems, she would’ve laughed and taken out her chalk board to explain exactly how that wouldn’t happen ever. Of course she still missed the stars, but every day it seemed like it mattered less and less. There was a little boy – who was becoming a little man – that was far more important. Despite her incredibly accurate memory, Pearl could not pinpoint the exact moment she’d started seeing humans as more than a base species incapable of protecting themselves, of when exactly she’d fallen in love with the Earth and realized she wanted to experience all of it, if it was with the people she loved. She had tried though. The flow chart unfortunately hadn’t helped. Sometime in the last five years since meeting Sheena it had happened, but that was as far as she could tell it.
“Yo, Pixie Stick. Earth to Pearl. Babe?” Sheena’s laugh cut through Pearl’s thoughts and she saw her girlfriend waving her hand in front of her face, everyone else looking on in amusement.
“It’s your turn Pearl,” Amethyst quipped, referring to the game of PolyPoly spread out before them. “If you’re gonna zone out like that cause you’re too busy thinking about making out with Sheena or whatever, you should get a room.”
Amethyst was too busy making gagging noises while Pearl rolled the die to see the smirk on her face. “Yours is free, Amethyst. What do you think, Sheena?”
“Oh, definitely. And we can reorganize the piles while we’re in there.” Sheena giggled behind her hand as she took her turn. Garnet and Lapis high fived Pearl across the table for that wonderful comeback as Amethyst sputtered.
“Remind me again why I wanted the cool, chill you back again?” Amethyst groaned, though her tone was playful in a way it never was before Steven started improving their relationship.
“Seems to me,” Peridot began, standing to get better height, “that you just need a ‘partner in crime’, as they say here on Earth! A Pauline to your Percy –“
“I thought you said Pierre and Percy were the ultimate pairing?”
“They are, undoubtedly. But Pauline and Percy get into the most mischief together, hence the comparison! We’ve been over this Amethyst!”
“Sorry I haven’t obsessed over every detail of your nerd show, Peri.”
“Clods,” Peridot muttered under her breath, to eyerolls from almost everyone present. “As I was saying, you need a Pauline! I’ve got Lapis, Steven’s got Connie, and Pearl has her mystery girl –“
“I can’t believe you guys still call me that.”
“I mean there’s always Garnet,” Connie piped up, from where she was snuggled into Steven’s side, and peeking through the curtain of his hair. At twenty he hadn’t yet reached his full height, but he was nearly as tall as Connie and at least looked like a teenager, which made his adult girlfriend easier to explain.
“Sorry, Amethyst, still the perfect relationship.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, can’t break up the perfect pair. I’m a lone wolf anyways.” Amethyst punctuated that last statement with a long howl.
Steven joined into the howl, the low baritone of his voice blending with Amethyst’s to create a strange, discordant harmony. Connie laughed, knocking the fake money she’d been using to the floor where it scattered everywhere, the game seemingly forgotten.
“Of course, now they’re howling,” Pearl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Peridot seemed similarly mortified, especially since Lapis was gearing up to join them.
“C’mon Pearl,” Connie nudged her arm through her giggles, smiling brightly at her. She’d always had a way of talking Pearl into things. Sheena nudged her other side and Garnet flashed her a thumbs up.
“I suppose.” The statement died on Pearl’s lips as Sheena, Connie and Garnet abruptly joined into the chorus. Lapis howled with laughter, adding an odd dip to the noise. It was almost musical, like opera in a sense, Pearl justified to herself. She exchanged a shrug with Peridot and then joined in herself. Pearl had to admit it was kind of fun. She drew the line, however, when Amethyst and Peridot started throwing handfuls of fake money and game cards at each other.
It surprised everyone when there was a loud knock on the door. Steven jumped off the couch immediately, shouting that it was probably the post worker with his new ukulele strings. Pearl didn’t bother checking as she bent to clean up the abandoned game pieces.
“Pearl! You’re gonna want to see this.” Steven said, and his tone sent ice down her throat. That was the tone he used when he was unsure of a situation. It was a tone she knew well, but hadn’t heard in a long time. The kind where he drew her name out and hesitated on each syllable.
Snapping her head up, Pearl looked to the door of the house, slowly rising to stand next to Steven. Pearl gripped her spear tightly. She didn’t remember taking it out. From the door soft bickering could be heard as Pearl crossed the room in three quick strides.
“Do you think we have the right place?”
“Of course we have the right place! We’re within the approximate range of the signal the peridot gave off when she called.”
“Humans are strange though, maybe they have more than one giant temple that looks like a gem?”
“Is this supposed to be a diamond?”
“I highly doubt that! This temple is clearly based on a fusion.”
Pearl yanked the door open, nearly pulling it off its hinges. The two gems who had been bickering noticed but did not turn to acknowledge her right away. The third however, raised a hand to her mouth, and Pearl absolutely ached. Blue Diamond’s pearl made a hiccupping choking noise and jumped into Pearl’s arms, her spear long since forgotten and dissolving into motes of light.
The two of them stumbled backwards, twirling in an abstract dance before finally falling to the ground, Blue absolutely crushing Pearl against her, sobbing long and hard. “Pearl.”
“Oh Blue,” Pearl choked back her own watery sob.
Blue pulled back, holding her face in her hands, bangs wet from tracts of tears. She examined Pearl, touching her carefully all over as if she might break upon the slightest provocation. Blue kissed her, soft, friendly, eons of ache pouring out of her. Cheeks, then hands, hair and finally gem, wiping away Pearl’s tears as she went.
“Were you happy?” Blue finally asked, pulling back to gaze at Pearl again.
“Were you?” Pearl asked back, masking her tears with a chuckle.
Blue sniffed hard, shaking her head, fingers tight. She couldn’t answer that, not just yet. “Your hair and your clothes and your everything. Pearl.”
“I do look pretty different, don’t I?”
“You’re still flying though. And we’re still….”
“Yes Blue! God yes!”
The two of them cried harder, Blue crushing Pearl into a hug again, tears puddling onto the floor after dripping down her face. When she pulled back, Pearl’s gem glowed and she retrieved a handkerchief and – after pulling her bangs back – gently blotted Blue’s tears away.
“I’m sorry for crying,” She blubbered.
“You don’t have to apologize for this on Earth. Never for this,” Pearl reprimanded gently, handing her the handkerchief to blow her nose on.
“Not to break up this wonderful crying party, but.... who the hell is this, Pearl?” Amethyst demanded, and jumped over the couch where everyone was still sitting, too shocked to move.
“Everyone,” Pearl said, pulling Blue with her to her feet, “this is Blue Diamond’s pearl. We were – are – friends, before the war, before the rebellion.”
Blue gave a small, shaky wave with the free hand that wasn’t currently death gripping the proffered handkerchief.
“Let me get that for you,” Steven said, pointing at it and holding out his hand. Blue froze, shy and afraid until Pearl nodded at her. She dropped the handkerchief in his outstretched palm and retracted her hand quickly. Blue tried to shuffle closer into Pearl.
“T-thank y-you. S-s-steven,” Blue managed to stutter out with much difficulty.
Steven flashed her his brightest, friendliest smile as he walked to the dirty laundry basket he kept near his bed. His eyes met Pearl’s as he went. Pearl grimaced, Steven had always been too keenly observant for his own good and he had definitely noticed that Blue knew exactly who he was without introduction. For the moment he let the matter slide and Pearl relaxed again.
The other two gems, also pearls, who had been bickering outside the door and had frozen at the spectacle Blue and Pearl had made of themselves, were both peeking their heads through the door when Pearl turned and beckoned them in.
“Yellow, I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Things change,” Yellow answered contritely.
Pearl had been going to say something in response but Yellow’s eyes darkened and she crossed to the couch, pulling Peridot up to eye level, fists balled into her jumpsuit.
“Facet-2F5L Cut 5XG.”
“It’s Peridot, with a capital ‘P’, you clod!” Peridot hissed.
A hand on her shoulder – Garnet’s to be precise – was the only thing that stopped Lapis from coming to blows with the other pearl. Growling, Lapis shrugged Garnet’s hand off, though not without a warning squeeze from her; Lapis knew who would win that fight unfortunately.
“I was nearly shattered because of your reckless, irresponsible, selfish, bratty and uncouth behaviour. I know you think I’m just some shiny toy, but maybe you should think about your actions and the damage they can cause to those around you. I SHOULD shatter you, you stupid – “
Blue wrapped her arms around Yellow from behind, quelling her with a soft kiss to the cheek and then to the lips when she turned to look at her. Yellow returned it, flushed green to the ears. It was chaste and awkward, but effective.
“Sunshine please, that was half a decade ago. Gems change on Earth. And if not we’ll have many half decades more to figure this out. Gems talk about their problems here. No one gets shattered. No one gets shattered.” Blue hummed against the shell of Yellow’s ear, swaying with her, hands drawing comforting circles on her shoulders.
“We’ll have eons, Starshine,” Yellow corrected her, rage draining from her body. Slowly Yellow released her grip on Peridot and she fell to the couch, landing on her butt. Lapis pulled her onto her lap protectively, and Peridot crossed her arms, content to sulk for however long the rest of this interaction decided to last.
“You two finally got together then,” Pearl asked with a smirk.
“Of course we did. We were just waiting for the right opportunity that’s all.” Yellow turned haughtily, twirling Blue around with her, their dance familiar, but for once, unscripted.
Blue giggled, twirling out and coming to a stop in front of Pearl with a pirouette and a curtsy. “It only took her four hundred years to ask me,” Blue stage whispered to Pearl, winking conspiratorially.
“You two seem so sweet together,” Steven cooed.
“Yeah, nothing at all like the pearl we saw when P-dot called that one time,” Amethyst remarked with an eye roll.
Yellow Pearl went stiff with rage again, shouting, “You weren’t supposed to be spying on the private diamond communication line!”
“Eugh, can we please let this go for right now?” Pearl groaned.
Blue took Yellow’s hand again and she deflated, calming again, though not without casting a murderous glare at Amethyst, who stuck her tongue out in response.
Pearl stepped between them, continuing the introductions before anyone started fighting, “As most of you know, this is Yellow Diamond’s pearl.”
“Charmed.”
“And finally – well to be honest I have no idea. I’m afraid I’ve never met you before.”
The final pearl of the trio stepped forward from where she had been waiting patiently. Dressed in a long flowing dress, with sleeves that flared out and covered her hands it seemed that she’d been made for purposes more ornamental than practical. Pearl burned at that thought, but it was the truth. Her gem placement was typical, on her chest and as soft a pink as the rest of her.
“I belonged to an upper-crust Beryl. That’s all you need to know. I won’t be sharing my designation with you. I shed that the moment I left Homeworld.”
“What would you like us to call you then?” Pearl asked, fired up from the conviction in this newcomers’ voice.
“She hasn’t decided yet. Keeps waffling between these silly things she comes up with and my practical suggestions,” Yellow huffed.
“How about… Pinky!” Steven suggested.
The whole room seemed to hold its breath. The suggestion was a little silly, but it was so very, very Steven. Beryl’s pearl thought deeply, mouthed the name a few times and tried it on. Several seconds passed and then finally Beryl’s pearl smirked.
“It’ll do, I guess.”
“Well then,” Pearl gestured to the three newcomers, and swept her hands around to encompass everyone else. “Blue, Yellow, Pinky. We are the Crystal Gems. Welcome to Earth.”
At that the temple erupted into a cacophony of sound, with the rest of the Crystal Gems rushing to fill in the empty space and introduce themselves. For a moment Pearl allowed herself to relax. The whole situation was overwhelming even if it was in a positive fashion. It was wonderful, but also hollow and Pearl was thrumming. The Crystal Gems had been a huge and chaotic group in the midst of the war, but they had been loyal. Singing, dancing and cavorting was common. After all, even with Garnet’s future vision, they had never known which of them might not be coming back. This felt a little like those rushed moments of fun, breaking into some song or other, the memories falling into a blurring buzz of emotion – except this time it was different. Pearl could enjoy it properly. No one was getting shattered any time soon. Pearl couldn’t help but shift from foot to foot, unsure who to look at or which conversation to focus on. Sheena and Lapis seemed to be sharing something funny with Pinky, based on how hard she was laughing, Steven and Connie were trying to convince a sour faced Yellow that Peridot and Amethyst, who had decided to sulk and whisper against the wall after shouting their introductions, weren’t that bad and Blue was asking Garnet about herself.
“You’re the Garnet that made such a stir the last time Blue Diamond was on Earth? I thought it was very brave, what you – er the two of you – did.”
“That’s me.”
“I’m glad you survived. I thought for sure they had caught you. We had heard stories about you, but I was never sure if it was you or…” Blue didn’t manage to finish her sentence, shy in the face of Garnet’s stoicism.
“Definitely me. We were awesome.”
“We still are, Garnet,” Pearl chuckled, hanging onto her arm as she came to stand beside her.
“That we are.”
The noise of the room had dulled a bit, and slowly everyone began to group up again, those that hadn’t already introduced themselves making polite small talk. Blue approached Amethyst and Peridot, talking low and hushed. Something she said broke through and all three of them laughed, the tension easing out of the situation. Gracefully she lured them backwards, distracting them into conversation until they were standing in the midst of the group again, Yellow quick to jump to her side. Blue had been good at talking to people, once you got past the shyness.
“Not that I don’t love meeting new gems, especially ones that aren’t trying to kill me, but these pearls seem awfully knowledgeable about us. You’ve never been like this before. You and Garnet are usually always so suspicious about any of the gems that show up.” Steven pulled Pearl aside to talk to her, flushing guiltily all the while.
“These aren’t just any gems Steven. They’re pearls. Blue and Yellow are good gems. I know them.”
“If Pearl trusts them, then so do I.” Garnet was firm, and Pearl beamed from her side.
“They haven’t told us why they’re here, Pearl. I’ve witnessed all of you poof more times than I’ve ever wanted. I want everyone, even them, to be safe, so –“
“Steven’s right,” Yellow’s voice cut through the conversation the way Pearl used to cut through Homeworld gems. It was exhilarating. Bashfully Steven looked away, realizing he’d been caught in his suspicions, as a semi-circle naturally formed around the three newcomers. “Tell them, Starshine.”
Flick. It was like a switch was thrown. Blue stood up straighter, stance wide, bangs pulled back, nothing meek or weak about her. “Homeworld has fallen.”
“I’ll make the tea,” Pearl said after a long while, crossing to the kitchen to busy herself so no one could see her hands shake.
“I’ll help.” And Connie followed.