Departure 9.2
Chapter 9: Departure.
Part 2
If she'd spent more time reading human fiction during her previous time on Earth, Pink Diamond would have known that when something seemed to be going smoothly and with no problems, fate itself would conspire to cause a problem. If she had known that, she might have been more on guard as the conversation in the beach house continued, and if she had been more observant, she might have noticed Fire Opal 6C3, a gem who despite being in her inner circle still thought in terms of the caste system that dominated Homeworld even if Spinel had been working with her, was talking to Ruby alone without anyone to keep the conversation from veering incredibly off topic. If she had noticed, she might have intervened before Ruby smacked 6C3 with a gauntleted hand and screamed "Don't insult her like that you upper-crust snob!"
However, if Pink Diamond were perfect, or even observant enough to notice issues like that before they happened, she would be a completely different person. However, to her credit when her conversation was disrupted she moved quickly, instincts honed by centuries in a war against other gems causing her to turn and take in the scene before her quickly. Pearl noticed the problem as well, and before Pink could move she had grabbed Ruby and was holding her back. To her left Sway, the Pink Lace Agate in charge of her personal guard, took a step forward, only to halt as Pinks arm blocked her path.
Before anything else could happen, before Iolite could rush to defend her assistant or Sway could shove past her arm to confront the small red gem who had struck someone under her protection, Pink stepped forward and took command of the situation.
"What happened?" She asked, switching her gaze between Ruby and 6C3, waiting for one of them to answer. 6C3 seemed to be too shocked to put a sentence together, but Ruby had plenty to say.
"She insulted Sapphy!" The red gem yelled.
"My Diamond I didn't intend to insult anyone, I was simply… surprised!" 6C3 responded. "I just… I just was confused at what benefits a gem like a Sapphire could receive from fusing with a Ruby-"
"And you said she was defective for wanting to be fused with me! Don't forget that part you stuck-up, upper-crust-"
"Ruby." Pink cut her off before turning to 6C3. "Is this true?"
6C3 stared up at her Diamond, her mouth opening and closing. "I just… I only meant… it didn't make sense! How could a gem just violate their purpose like that? A high-ranking gem like a Sapphire wouldn't just abandon her station just after one time fused-"
"Alright, that's enough" Pink interjected before Ruby could. "I think I understand the problem here, and it's one I should have dealt with before now." Sweeping her gaze over the assembled gems and humans, she sighed. "Cross-gem fusion has not come up much before in my court, but attitudes towards it are a problem that I will need to deal with."
"Yeah, I'll say!" Ruby interjected, glaring at 6C3 as the orange gem cringed on the ground.
At that moment, the door to the temple opened, and Amethyst walked out, taking a whole three steps before freezing and taking in the scene before her: one gem on the ground, Ruby being held back by Pearl, and everyone else tense and looking like they had just come off of a fight.
"What I miss?" She asked, causing Pink to hang her head as Steven waved her down and began to explain.
-----
The next few minutes were tense, with the Pink Court gems clustered along one side of the beach house as the Crystal Gems huddled on the other side. Ruby had calmed down… slightly, and no one else was willing to start a fight. Meanwhile, Pink and 6C3 were in the kitchen, Pink kneeling down to look the shorter orange gem in the eye as she talked.
"I know I haven't had much time to talk to all of you about things like this, but I had hoped that with Garnet unfused I would have more time." she sighed "I know now that that was wrong, I should have seen this coming and done more to prepare."
"Errr, my Diamond? Shouldn't you be punishing me right now?" 6C3 asked.
"No" Pink shook her head "This is just another problem I should have dealt with sooner." She said, slumping forwards, putting her hands on her knees. "Just like every other problem I've had to deal with during this trip, if I'd just been smarter, thought ahead, done something then this wouldn't have happened. I can't blame you for saying what you did, it's what the other Diamonds have told you for millennia, and I was supposed to teach you differently, I was supposed to make things right…" she trailed off, staring at the floor as the Fire Opal in front of her shifted nervously.
I wonder if asking her to punish me would get me out of here faster. 6C3 thought to herself as she watched her Diamond go through an episode. "My Diamond, it's my fault, I simply remembered what everyone else at the Lunar Sea Spire said about cross-type fusions, and what I should have remembered was how little what they said related to reality." She said, attempting to take responsibility for her actions.
Pink sighed, looking up and revealing her watery eyes. "Look, just… I'll handle this, alright? All you need to do is sit back, and I'll figure out things with you, Iolite, Spinel, and Sway back at the colony, alright? Just… just don't cause any more fights, alright?"
"Yes my Diamond." She nodded in response, and Pink smiled, standing up and walking back out into the main room.
"Alright, I know things are a little tense right now, but I think we can all work past it. Now, we all know cross-type fusion is a 'big deal' on Homeworld, and I want to fix that eventually, but I can tell that first I need to convince the gems closest to me that it isn't a problem. I understand that Homeworld has told you all that fusion is simply a way for combat gems to become better at fighting and that cross-type fusions are all unstable and dangerous, but that's not true. Fusion between gems of different types is not inherently harmful, it is a reflection of relationships between gems… which reminds me that Homeworld doesn't like relationships between gems of different types."
She paused, hanging her head as everyone looked at her curiously. I'm bad at this. "The point is, relationships between different gem types are fine, cross-type fusions are not a sign that a gem is defective or otherwise, and we need to have a very serious discussion about how we will handle it in my court." Looking at the pair of gems in front of her, and the Crystal Gems behind them, she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. I have a lot of work to do…
Iolite and 6C3 looked at each other, then at her, looks of discomfort on their face, and Pink let out a sigh as she realized what was going through their heads. "I won't let anyone else punch you for what you say, this is a learning experience, alright?" She said, trying to reassure them.
Iolite spoke up first. "Speaking personally My Diamond, I have had many experiences where I have been assaulted by cross-type fusions, but I am willing to admit that perhaps that was due to my role as an investigator and not an inherent problem with fusions of that form." The purple gem said, her tone level and professional.
Pink nodded, watching as Ruby rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "no duh" in response. Ignoring the commentary, she turned to Sway, who shrugged her shoulders in response. "I saw enough cross-type fusions during the war to know they're sane, and only deadly when they want to be. Besides, when you're on the front line and your soldiers are risking their lives regularly with other Quartzes from other units…" she trailed off with a shrug as Iolite stared at her and Pink tried not to do the same. "Quartzes are all technically the same type, so it never technically broke any rule other than fusing outside of combat, and according to the laws punishment was left up to our discretion, and no one wanted to lose soldiers so…" she let the implications sink in, and Pink nodded.
"Well, in that case, I think we all have said everything we need to say about this." She looked around, watching as the trio of Homeworld gems and clump of Crystal Gems stood awkwardly, the previous casual attitude broken by the incident. The "meeting" would end less than ten minutes later with the gems from her court filing out, and she hung her head in disappointment. It went better than I expected… she shook her head, turning towards Ruby, who was standing near the entrance to the temple. "I don't suppose Sapphire is ready to talk to me yet?" she asked, and Ruby shrugged.
"Don't know, she hasn't been talking to me much." Ruby growled in frustration. "All I said was that I wanted to take some time and figure myself out, and she's acting like nothing we did for the last few thousand years matters! It's like I'm a stranger to her!"
Pink frowned, that doesn't sound like Sapphire at all… she thought, turning to the temple. "Well, I'm going to talk to her then, want me to ask her why she's acting like that?"
"Go ahead" Ruby scoffed, plodding over to Amethyst and Pearl.
With that Pink Diamond entered the temple, using her authority as the owner of the temple to access Sapphgires room, something she had only rarely done before leaving. Silently apologizing, she stepped forward into Sapphires room, a sparse, rarely used, and gorgeously decorated space that reminded Pink of the human palaces they had seen, a mixing of Sapphire's high status and her love of Earth. Walking up a huge staircase, Pink found the small blue gem on a balcony overlooking the main room.
Before she could say anything, Sapphire spoke up. "You're leaving soon and want to talk one more time." It wasn't a question.
Pink nodded in response, and Sapphire turned to her. "What more do we have to say to each other? I trusted you, you lied to me, that's it. Pearl explained all your reasons, and I understand why you did what you did, and I would hope you know me well enough to understand why I am not happy with you."
"Yes, but I don't understand why you're hurting Ruby." Pink responded.
Sapphire froze, literally as ice spread across the ground below her. "I'm giving her what she wanted. She needed space away from me, time to learn about herself without me…" she choked off a small sob "...without me interfering. This is how things have to be to… to make sure she gets everything she wants out of our time apart." She choked out, holding back her tears as she turned away from Pink.
"Sapphire…"
"I can see the future, I know this is how it has to be Pink." She spat out in anger, bracing herself against the railing. "Every time I look into the future, I get a new vision, and the only ones that don't hurt to look at are the ones where I give her all the space she wanted."
"Sapphire, did you actually follow all your visions through to the end or just stop as soon as it started hurting to keep watching?" Pink asked, feeling like she could tell what the answer was. When Sapphire didn't answer, she stepped forward, placing her hand on Sapphires shoulder, only to pause when the smaller gem did not respond, only twitching every few moments as she ran through visions of the future. After a while, Sapphire snapped out of it, looking at Pink with a pained expression.
"I messed up, didn't I?" She asked tearfully.
"I understand not wanting to think about the future because it hurts Sapphire."
"No, not…" She paused, turning away. "None of my visions gave the same answer, she's just so spontaneous and wonderful and I don't know if it even would have helped if I'd looked at those visions before. But I should have known, I already hurt her once by relying on my future vision too much…" She turned away, her eye watering as she looked out over her room, bracing herself against the railing as if she would collapse without it.
Pink leaned down, scooping her up gently and holding her up. "It's alright Sapphire, it's alright."
For a moment there was silence as Sapphire cried into Pinks hair, and then she murmured "I need to talk to Ruby."
With a nod, Pink put her down, and the two walked out the door into the beach house. When Sapphire's eyes met Ruby's, she froze at the hurt in her lovers expression, a feeling Pink knew all too well. She'll thank me later she thought as she nudged Sapphire forward and moved off to the side with the rest of the Crystal Gems. She saw Steven tense as Ruby and Sapphire began to talk, and she turned to face him. "Steven, I'm going to be leaving for a while, and there's a few things I would like to talk to you about before I go." When he looked over at RUby and Sapphire, she smiled. It's so nice that he cares so much about them. "They'll need some time to talk without us getting in the way." She told him. "Let's head into my… your room in the temple?"
Connie stepped forward, holding Steven's hand. "Before you do, there's something we need to show you…"
"Connie, are you sure?"
"Well, when else are we going to show her."
"Oh, you guys showing her Ste-"
"Yes, that is what we're talking about Amethyst." Steven cut her off, looking at Connie. "If you're sure…"
"Not really, but she deserves to know, and it can't be any worse than telling my mom." She said, holding his hands.
Pink was vaguely aware when Sapphire and Ruby disappeared into the temple, still unfused. Most of her attention was on the scene in front of her, as Steven and Connie took cautious steps around each other, dancing to a beat she could not hear but they both knew by heart. She recognized what was going on, she had fused enough that it would be impossible for her to not, but she couldn't believe what they were trying. Before she could process what was happening, Steven's gem began to glow, and the two children were engulfed by a bright white glow.
That's… oh my god. Pink thought, staring as a tall figure stood in front of her, light brown skin and long, poofy hair over an embarrassed smile.
"Hi, I'm Stevonnie. It's nice to meet you."
-----
Authors Notes:
If you're not happy with this chapter, you're not the only one. This arc has dragged on for so long I'm just feeling exhausted, and if I'm being honest I need some time to back away from this story and figure out what I'm going to do moving forward: after all I've been posting since October with only a couple breaks for the holidays and I actually hit the end of my outline in January and have been making it up week-to-week since, so I need some time to make new plans and come up with a way to connect the mess of ideas for what to do in the future. Beyond that, the next month for me is going to be a bit busy, I've got to move back in with my parents and start a job hunt due to personal reasons.
In light of all of these factors I have an announcement: I'm taking March off from writing this story. This is not a full-on break, not only will I be working on an outline, but I have a second story that I will be uploading to this site over the next week and updating intermittently from there on, I'll link it in the notes of next weeks chapter, which will be the last one until my break.
Anyways, I would sell my soul for comments and reader engagement, so if you see anything to talk about, leave a comment.
Part 2
If she'd spent more time reading human fiction during her previous time on Earth, Pink Diamond would have known that when something seemed to be going smoothly and with no problems, fate itself would conspire to cause a problem. If she had known that, she might have been more on guard as the conversation in the beach house continued, and if she had been more observant, she might have noticed Fire Opal 6C3, a gem who despite being in her inner circle still thought in terms of the caste system that dominated Homeworld even if Spinel had been working with her, was talking to Ruby alone without anyone to keep the conversation from veering incredibly off topic. If she had noticed, she might have intervened before Ruby smacked 6C3 with a gauntleted hand and screamed "Don't insult her like that you upper-crust snob!"
However, if Pink Diamond were perfect, or even observant enough to notice issues like that before they happened, she would be a completely different person. However, to her credit when her conversation was disrupted she moved quickly, instincts honed by centuries in a war against other gems causing her to turn and take in the scene before her quickly. Pearl noticed the problem as well, and before Pink could move she had grabbed Ruby and was holding her back. To her left Sway, the Pink Lace Agate in charge of her personal guard, took a step forward, only to halt as Pinks arm blocked her path.
Before anything else could happen, before Iolite could rush to defend her assistant or Sway could shove past her arm to confront the small red gem who had struck someone under her protection, Pink stepped forward and took command of the situation.
"What happened?" She asked, switching her gaze between Ruby and 6C3, waiting for one of them to answer. 6C3 seemed to be too shocked to put a sentence together, but Ruby had plenty to say.
"She insulted Sapphy!" The red gem yelled.
"My Diamond I didn't intend to insult anyone, I was simply… surprised!" 6C3 responded. "I just… I just was confused at what benefits a gem like a Sapphire could receive from fusing with a Ruby-"
"And you said she was defective for wanting to be fused with me! Don't forget that part you stuck-up, upper-crust-"
"Ruby." Pink cut her off before turning to 6C3. "Is this true?"
6C3 stared up at her Diamond, her mouth opening and closing. "I just… I only meant… it didn't make sense! How could a gem just violate their purpose like that? A high-ranking gem like a Sapphire wouldn't just abandon her station just after one time fused-"
"Alright, that's enough" Pink interjected before Ruby could. "I think I understand the problem here, and it's one I should have dealt with before now." Sweeping her gaze over the assembled gems and humans, she sighed. "Cross-gem fusion has not come up much before in my court, but attitudes towards it are a problem that I will need to deal with."
"Yeah, I'll say!" Ruby interjected, glaring at 6C3 as the orange gem cringed on the ground.
At that moment, the door to the temple opened, and Amethyst walked out, taking a whole three steps before freezing and taking in the scene before her: one gem on the ground, Ruby being held back by Pearl, and everyone else tense and looking like they had just come off of a fight.
"What I miss?" She asked, causing Pink to hang her head as Steven waved her down and began to explain.
-----
The next few minutes were tense, with the Pink Court gems clustered along one side of the beach house as the Crystal Gems huddled on the other side. Ruby had calmed down… slightly, and no one else was willing to start a fight. Meanwhile, Pink and 6C3 were in the kitchen, Pink kneeling down to look the shorter orange gem in the eye as she talked.
"I know I haven't had much time to talk to all of you about things like this, but I had hoped that with Garnet unfused I would have more time." she sighed "I know now that that was wrong, I should have seen this coming and done more to prepare."
"Errr, my Diamond? Shouldn't you be punishing me right now?" 6C3 asked.
"No" Pink shook her head "This is just another problem I should have dealt with sooner." She said, slumping forwards, putting her hands on her knees. "Just like every other problem I've had to deal with during this trip, if I'd just been smarter, thought ahead, done something then this wouldn't have happened. I can't blame you for saying what you did, it's what the other Diamonds have told you for millennia, and I was supposed to teach you differently, I was supposed to make things right…" she trailed off, staring at the floor as the Fire Opal in front of her shifted nervously.
I wonder if asking her to punish me would get me out of here faster. 6C3 thought to herself as she watched her Diamond go through an episode. "My Diamond, it's my fault, I simply remembered what everyone else at the Lunar Sea Spire said about cross-type fusions, and what I should have remembered was how little what they said related to reality." She said, attempting to take responsibility for her actions.
Pink sighed, looking up and revealing her watery eyes. "Look, just… I'll handle this, alright? All you need to do is sit back, and I'll figure out things with you, Iolite, Spinel, and Sway back at the colony, alright? Just… just don't cause any more fights, alright?"
"Yes my Diamond." She nodded in response, and Pink smiled, standing up and walking back out into the main room.
"Alright, I know things are a little tense right now, but I think we can all work past it. Now, we all know cross-type fusion is a 'big deal' on Homeworld, and I want to fix that eventually, but I can tell that first I need to convince the gems closest to me that it isn't a problem. I understand that Homeworld has told you all that fusion is simply a way for combat gems to become better at fighting and that cross-type fusions are all unstable and dangerous, but that's not true. Fusion between gems of different types is not inherently harmful, it is a reflection of relationships between gems… which reminds me that Homeworld doesn't like relationships between gems of different types."
She paused, hanging her head as everyone looked at her curiously. I'm bad at this. "The point is, relationships between different gem types are fine, cross-type fusions are not a sign that a gem is defective or otherwise, and we need to have a very serious discussion about how we will handle it in my court." Looking at the pair of gems in front of her, and the Crystal Gems behind them, she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. I have a lot of work to do…
Iolite and 6C3 looked at each other, then at her, looks of discomfort on their face, and Pink let out a sigh as she realized what was going through their heads. "I won't let anyone else punch you for what you say, this is a learning experience, alright?" She said, trying to reassure them.
Iolite spoke up first. "Speaking personally My Diamond, I have had many experiences where I have been assaulted by cross-type fusions, but I am willing to admit that perhaps that was due to my role as an investigator and not an inherent problem with fusions of that form." The purple gem said, her tone level and professional.
Pink nodded, watching as Ruby rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "no duh" in response. Ignoring the commentary, she turned to Sway, who shrugged her shoulders in response. "I saw enough cross-type fusions during the war to know they're sane, and only deadly when they want to be. Besides, when you're on the front line and your soldiers are risking their lives regularly with other Quartzes from other units…" she trailed off with a shrug as Iolite stared at her and Pink tried not to do the same. "Quartzes are all technically the same type, so it never technically broke any rule other than fusing outside of combat, and according to the laws punishment was left up to our discretion, and no one wanted to lose soldiers so…" she let the implications sink in, and Pink nodded.
"Well, in that case, I think we all have said everything we need to say about this." She looked around, watching as the trio of Homeworld gems and clump of Crystal Gems stood awkwardly, the previous casual attitude broken by the incident. The "meeting" would end less than ten minutes later with the gems from her court filing out, and she hung her head in disappointment. It went better than I expected… she shook her head, turning towards Ruby, who was standing near the entrance to the temple. "I don't suppose Sapphire is ready to talk to me yet?" she asked, and Ruby shrugged.
"Don't know, she hasn't been talking to me much." Ruby growled in frustration. "All I said was that I wanted to take some time and figure myself out, and she's acting like nothing we did for the last few thousand years matters! It's like I'm a stranger to her!"
Pink frowned, that doesn't sound like Sapphire at all… she thought, turning to the temple. "Well, I'm going to talk to her then, want me to ask her why she's acting like that?"
"Go ahead" Ruby scoffed, plodding over to Amethyst and Pearl.
With that Pink Diamond entered the temple, using her authority as the owner of the temple to access Sapphgires room, something she had only rarely done before leaving. Silently apologizing, she stepped forward into Sapphires room, a sparse, rarely used, and gorgeously decorated space that reminded Pink of the human palaces they had seen, a mixing of Sapphire's high status and her love of Earth. Walking up a huge staircase, Pink found the small blue gem on a balcony overlooking the main room.
Before she could say anything, Sapphire spoke up. "You're leaving soon and want to talk one more time." It wasn't a question.
Pink nodded in response, and Sapphire turned to her. "What more do we have to say to each other? I trusted you, you lied to me, that's it. Pearl explained all your reasons, and I understand why you did what you did, and I would hope you know me well enough to understand why I am not happy with you."
"Yes, but I don't understand why you're hurting Ruby." Pink responded.
Sapphire froze, literally as ice spread across the ground below her. "I'm giving her what she wanted. She needed space away from me, time to learn about herself without me…" she choked off a small sob "...without me interfering. This is how things have to be to… to make sure she gets everything she wants out of our time apart." She choked out, holding back her tears as she turned away from Pink.
"Sapphire…"
"I can see the future, I know this is how it has to be Pink." She spat out in anger, bracing herself against the railing. "Every time I look into the future, I get a new vision, and the only ones that don't hurt to look at are the ones where I give her all the space she wanted."
"Sapphire, did you actually follow all your visions through to the end or just stop as soon as it started hurting to keep watching?" Pink asked, feeling like she could tell what the answer was. When Sapphire didn't answer, she stepped forward, placing her hand on Sapphires shoulder, only to pause when the smaller gem did not respond, only twitching every few moments as she ran through visions of the future. After a while, Sapphire snapped out of it, looking at Pink with a pained expression.
"I messed up, didn't I?" She asked tearfully.
"I understand not wanting to think about the future because it hurts Sapphire."
"No, not…" She paused, turning away. "None of my visions gave the same answer, she's just so spontaneous and wonderful and I don't know if it even would have helped if I'd looked at those visions before. But I should have known, I already hurt her once by relying on my future vision too much…" She turned away, her eye watering as she looked out over her room, bracing herself against the railing as if she would collapse without it.
Pink leaned down, scooping her up gently and holding her up. "It's alright Sapphire, it's alright."
For a moment there was silence as Sapphire cried into Pinks hair, and then she murmured "I need to talk to Ruby."
With a nod, Pink put her down, and the two walked out the door into the beach house. When Sapphire's eyes met Ruby's, she froze at the hurt in her lovers expression, a feeling Pink knew all too well. She'll thank me later she thought as she nudged Sapphire forward and moved off to the side with the rest of the Crystal Gems. She saw Steven tense as Ruby and Sapphire began to talk, and she turned to face him. "Steven, I'm going to be leaving for a while, and there's a few things I would like to talk to you about before I go." When he looked over at RUby and Sapphire, she smiled. It's so nice that he cares so much about them. "They'll need some time to talk without us getting in the way." She told him. "Let's head into my… your room in the temple?"
Connie stepped forward, holding Steven's hand. "Before you do, there's something we need to show you…"
"Connie, are you sure?"
"Well, when else are we going to show her."
"Oh, you guys showing her Ste-"
"Yes, that is what we're talking about Amethyst." Steven cut her off, looking at Connie. "If you're sure…"
"Not really, but she deserves to know, and it can't be any worse than telling my mom." She said, holding his hands.
Pink was vaguely aware when Sapphire and Ruby disappeared into the temple, still unfused. Most of her attention was on the scene in front of her, as Steven and Connie took cautious steps around each other, dancing to a beat she could not hear but they both knew by heart. She recognized what was going on, she had fused enough that it would be impossible for her to not, but she couldn't believe what they were trying. Before she could process what was happening, Steven's gem began to glow, and the two children were engulfed by a bright white glow.
That's… oh my god. Pink thought, staring as a tall figure stood in front of her, light brown skin and long, poofy hair over an embarrassed smile.
"Hi, I'm Stevonnie. It's nice to meet you."
-----
Authors Notes:
If you're not happy with this chapter, you're not the only one. This arc has dragged on for so long I'm just feeling exhausted, and if I'm being honest I need some time to back away from this story and figure out what I'm going to do moving forward: after all I've been posting since October with only a couple breaks for the holidays and I actually hit the end of my outline in January and have been making it up week-to-week since, so I need some time to make new plans and come up with a way to connect the mess of ideas for what to do in the future. Beyond that, the next month for me is going to be a bit busy, I've got to move back in with my parents and start a job hunt due to personal reasons.
In light of all of these factors I have an announcement: I'm taking March off from writing this story. This is not a full-on break, not only will I be working on an outline, but I have a second story that I will be uploading to this site over the next week and updating intermittently from there on, I'll link it in the notes of next weeks chapter, which will be the last one until my break.
Anyways, I would sell my soul for comments and reader engagement, so if you see anything to talk about, leave a comment.
