It was past midnight. Having slept for so long, Steven knew his internal clock was going to be messed up for a while. But it was a consequence he could deal with.

Steven reclined on his bed – not to sleep in it, but to get himself comfortable. With no one in the area now, Steven had a feeling he'd need one of his plush toys to hug in order to get through this. He had already eaten to satisfy his ravenous hunger… now Steven was ready. As ready as he'd ever be.

He held out his phone and just took a moment to breathe in. Steven had some very disturbing dreams during his long period of slumber; worst of all, something like an identity crisis where Steven, Rose Quartz, and Pink Diamond shifted between forms; all of them suffering a massive headache. It was like all three fought for dominance. Steven couldn't understand how or why, but he too was a victim of seeing White Diamond's terrifying face pop in with an odd-sounding static effect that just terrified Steven to the core. He was so glad that was a dream. Now, if only everything after the post-wedding party was just a dream… he'd love that.

"I'm sorry I've been so stubborn about seeing you, Peridot," Steven spoke to his phone. He was far from the first one to talk to an inanimate object today. "It just… it hurts so much. But now I know everything, Peri… well, most of everything. I know all this now… a-and I just wanna hear you and see you again. Even if it can only be like this."

Steven brought up the file, just about to hit the play button before he hesitated. "Just gotta remember that… you can't be dead now. No way. White Diamond's definitely gonna use you to lure me back in. But that's okay; we're all getting out of Homeworld this time. And we'll… find some way to deal with White Diamond. Just… please be okay, now. Because I'm sure you're not gonna be okay in this message. You've… you've been though a lot."

He already felt the love just by seeing the still frame of Peridot in her isolation chamber. And with that, he pressed play… and was unsurprised, but also disappointed to hear a very drained Peridot speak to him on a level barely above a whisper. Steven made sure to turn the volume up.

"… L-Log Date… ETA: 33 min-minutes…

Steven… I-I'm sorry. My voice is nearly gone from all these other videos… and bossing my teammates around. Th-that was a major design oversight that's n-no one's fault but my… but my own. So don't blame yourself.

In fact, I–"

Everything was interrupted with a series of dry coughing. Coughing that looked very painful, in fact, and Steven was quick to catch on. Peridot turned back to the camera after getting it under control, but she had already lost any trace of composure and dignity she had left at this point.

Peridot tried to properly reposition herself to face Steven, but that only lasted one fleeting moment before her body lurched forward, making Peridot's head drop down along with her body. Her hands grasped the handles of her chair for dear life while her legs wobbled and shook, trying to keep her body stable so she didn't completely fall off the chair. There wasn't much room for Peridot to fall flat on her face on, at least.

To her credit, she forced her head back up and her body plopped right against the back of her seat. It was better than the alternative. Peridot looked miserable, but when she looked at the camera – to Steven again, she smiled slightly.

"One m-moment, Steven. I'm gonna… I'm gonna try something… th-that I've never tried before."

Steven was concerned but intrigued. Peridot had nothing but her tablet with her inside this chamber; he could tell. And said tablet was busy being the camera for this message. Whatever Peridot planned on doing… it wouldn't involve a gadget.

Peridot readjusted her position so that she sat upright once more. She closed her eyes; her hands came together, fingers all interlaced to hold the connection. Her arms bend upwards and rested over her chest. Her head tilted down. Peridot's entire body shook as she tried to get into the position she wanted… and Steven could tell from the surface what his gem was trying to do.

She was praying for help. Begging for someone, anyone to help her. Peridot was completely out of options; she wasn't going to step away from this. She wasn't even going to let her team see how weakened she was by leaving the chamber prematurely. Unfortunately, that was the downside of her ridiculously stubborn nature: it would even make a genius make incredibly stupid decisions. It was all based on what she wanted; what she desired, whether it was feasible or not. And… more often than she'd care to admit, Peridot wanted ridiculous and unreasonable things at times.

Steven then twitched, as he felt something… or heard something, rather, in his mind. It was of terrible, static-filled quality, but Steven could hear, deep in his mind, Peridot's desperate pleas. As well as some other faint noise in the background.

"I want to talk! I need to be able to talk! This is crucial and I'm desperate! Someone out there, please help me! Let me be able to talk again; I promise I'll take care of my temper this time! I'd do anything to have that right now… please please please, I need this more than anything! I'll exchange my sight! My ability to touch! My hearing! J-just, please! I wanna talk to Steven one last time!"

Clearly, the quality was due to this being a recording from a day ago. But Steven was surprised his abilities as an empath could even let him pick up the thoughts from a recording at all. He certainly wished he had this when he found the VHS tape with Rose a while back.

Then again, Steven realized that, no, these weren't thoughts he just heard. These were feelings. Pure, raw feelings. He wasn't sure if it was an extension of his abilities or possibly unique to his bond with Peridot, which certainly blossomed into something much more than was expected.

But then, Steven heard music. The quality was still poor, but he could recognize the tune. He eventually recognized the voices as well; his father's was easy to identify, but since that was in fact him, Steven was shocked when he pieced together that the other voices belonged to Bismuth and Lapis. Not only was this something Steven couldn't imagine either of them doing, let alone with his father, but the tune was definitely confirmed when he could make out a "Takin' care of Bismuth" lyric. Which made Steven chuckle a bit, but there was something even more extraordinary.

The odd thing was, their singing couldn't be heard in the video. Peridot made sure to soundproof her chamber. But Peridot smiled as Steven could hear the music more clearly, and even visualized the singing trio off to another side. Some kind of aura emanated from each of them; said aura was then being siphoned off straight into Peridot. Steven could feel the sensation vicariously through her, and it was glorious for the brief time it lasted.

It turned out Peridot's teammates were much closer to her than she ever could have imagined.

Steven focused back on the video in the real world, and soon his eyes widened. Peridot hadn't moved at all and maintained her posture. But there was a notable change: the gemstone on her forehead lit up brightly. Steven normally saw this when Peridot volunteered to become his substitute flashlight in the dark… but something felt different about the way the gem glowed now. It was hard to tell the true colors beneath her visor, but not only was it much brighter than normal, there was a prominent yellowish tint at the center, where the glow could be seen originating from the center of the gemstone.

Abruptly, the glow became a flash, which also made Steven wince as he was watching this in a dark room at the time. But something about it made Steven jerk back, as if he had been pushed away by some kind of force wave. It was at that moment Steven, as he was nearly blinded, saw a split-second image of… something very indistinct. It was really just a very detailed crystalline texture tinted in the same color as the light projecting it, but multiple other pastels could be made out. Steven just barely caught it, but… he couldn't even guess what that was about. For all he knew, this could have been just a side-effect of his own powers. It certainly wasn't Peridot's power that enabled Steven to read into her past feelings.

The light finally receded, seemingly being absorbed back into Peridot's gemstone. Even when the lighting returned to normal, Peridot's gem still lit up and remained that way as Peridot finally slouched back into a more comfortable posture and her eyes opened. Her hands were still clasped together, though.

"Whoa… what was… w-wait, what–?"

Peridot suddenly inched over towards the camera, scrutinizing it. Steven almost felt as if she could tell he was watching her, but that wasn't the case, obviously. That was what she wanted for this, after all. Most likely, Peridot had a live feed showing herself on screen, so she knew everything was recording the way she wanted. It was like a mirror now, because that was how she noticed her almost white-hot gemstone on her forehead. One hand rose up under her visor to touch the gem directly, and the immediate wince and pained squeak that came out of Peridot showed that touching it was a bad idea. Her arm thrust back down so Peridot could try to cool down her burnt finger. In about 20 seconds, Peridot snapped out of it and stared at the camera in utter fear.

"Oh, my stars… I've been recording this the entire time…" The young gem quickly shook her head. "N-no, no, this is a good thing. I have footage of this strange phenomenon. I can show this to my friends when I get–" Two revelations dawned on Peridot then: one, if this video was being watched at all, she'd never get answers from her friends because she would be dead by then.

But now, just then, Peridot realized she could speak again. It didn't hurt to do so, either.

"YES! I'm not even gonna bother asking why because I do not have the time, but thank the STARS I can talk to you properly, Steven! Thank whoever healed my voice for me, okay?"

Steven smiled to himself. He certainly was going to thank a few certain individuals… when he also asks about the incident he witnessed on-screen. He relaxed properly now, and felt it was time to just absorb in fully whatever Peridot had to say about him.

"Okay, okay. Normally I would cut this, Steven, but this is just too important to throw out and I don't have the time to make an edit. This is for science, Steven! Understand that!

… but seeing as I've wasted 4 of my 33 minutes now, I suppose I should talk about you. That's what you're here for, right? Honestly, in hindsight, I should have made your video first… because this feels like the 8th time I've gone over this. But I'll do it, Steven. I'll do anything for you.

… I would do anything for you, if I had not lost my life. You know the deal. I'm gone, but you're still here. Now, I'm gonna do my best not to cry like some defective weakling, because it'll just make you do it too. I hate making you cry, Steven. I'd never want to do it again… but I guess given the context here, it's pretty impossible not to want to cry this out.

Steven, Steven, Steven… where do I even begin with you? The literal beginning, when you and I were adversaries? When I became stranded on Earth because of you, and before we crossed paths again, I hated every single one of you because of what it was like living on the run? When I was captured and bubbled, and would have remained with all the prisoners for the rest of time, but didn't, because you freed me… just because you were interested in what I knew about the Cluster? When I took refuge in your bathroom and eventually made it my new home? When you… told me about rain, thunderstorms, lightning and all that, because I thought the Cluster was emerging? When you… convinced me to go outside and experience the rain for the first time in my life? I felt myself cry for the first time in my life that day. I don't even remember why, now. I didn't even know I was capable of it. It's not that you did anything wrong… because I wasn't sad.

Starting from that day, I experienced new feelings, emotions… I didn't know what to make of it back then, but it wasn't long before I started craving for more of it. And it turned me into the emotional cosmic storm that I am today. I have you to thank for that, Steven. I've lived a pretty short life, but I'm glad for the last few months of it, I could learn how to truly live and enjoy it. To be honest, I'd want to share that with you forever, but… it's not meant to be.

I-I'm tired of circling around this subject. It feels like I'm… what was that phrase you humans used? Desecrating the deceased equine? Something like that. I promised a certain someone that I would confess to you here, so I'm doing it. Right now.

… I love you, Steven. But it's… more than how you meant it when we thought we were gonna die in the center of the Earth. I love you in every possible way, Steven Universe. You are responsible for giving me the life I have now. My freedom, my identity, everything. I'd be nothing but an empty husk without you… I'm assuming, and at least hoping, that's not the case for you. You've got too many loved ones around you who'd never let you fall. In time, you won't miss one friend out of the dozens you already have…

I keep telling myself that, and I know it's a lie. I know it's gonna tear you up, because that's the kind of person you are, Steven. I'm very sorry for that. I've tried my best to be careful; to save you all in this mission. I'm assuming the others made it out okay if you did… I'll be at peace in death knowing I at least saved all of you. I honestly didn't think I'd have a chance to pull that off. But I love all of you too much to just… turn my back on you when you need help.

Steven, I'm begging you, don't beat yourself up over this. Even if you hadn't sent that SOS, I would've gone there to find you. To Homeworld. I couldn't care less about my issues with that wretched rock, because you and your friends are in trouble there. Because had I not been poofed, I wouldn't have let you go to Homeworld in the first place. I don't trust the Diamonds, Steven. And I'd hope you would at least take my point of view seriously, considering I've been working directly under Yellow Diamond all my life until recently! I honestly know little to nothing about White Diamond… there was always some unsaid understanding between everyone that White Diamond is not even to be mentioned by name. She never comes out… but it's apparent she has authority over Yellow and Blue.

All I know is… if she could cure the gems of corruption, why hasn't she done so by now? If she can do it, then she won't do it, Steven. That's all there is to it. I'm sure she has something to do with your current troubles. I know you couldn't help it, but honestly? I'm mad I didn't get a say in this decision you all made considering the circumstances. I'll own up to that mistake… I was an idiot for running up to Yellow Diamond just so I could tell her off again. I just couldn't help myself… I just really wanted to tell her off in person, so you could see how far I've come.

You've inspired a lot of confidence in me, Steven. I'm aware of my arrogant nature and bloated ego, but I'm just as much aware of my shortcomings. The shortcomings that prevent me from truly being useful to your team.

Well… you know what I'm talking about. My identity as an Era 2, destined to be weaker than all your friends no matter what. Even weaker than you and Connie. More durable, assuredly, but that's a Peridot's nature. Highly resilient to damage, and the technician predisposition. That's all. The metal powers… I have no idea what they're about, but it's not like I'm that skilled with it. I only got Jasper because her monologuing and mutation gave me such a huge opening. And if Garnet and Pearl had been there at the time, I'm sure Jasper would've been poofed much sooner than that. I very well might be as defective as Amethyst, honestly. No Peridot regardless of era has ever been recorded to possess such power. And I was one of the last made Homeworld gems… Era 2s get smaller and smaller with each succeeding series, due to how our creation is what finally sucked the planet dry of resources. So that tininess that you like so much about me? Yeah… that's just an expected defect.

What I'm trying to say is… I really wanted to be more useful to your team, Steven. I like being a Crystal Gem. Given those of us left who can help you now, I'm actually the leader of the Crystal Gems as we speak! I-I wonder, though… did you think that through when you sent for help? I suppose you'd support this endeavor no matter what, but understand you just left your lives in my hands. I'm responsible for everyone's safety. So I'm glad… I can uphold that promise to you in the end, even if I can't celebrate with you.

You're still going to beat yourself up over this, aren't you? Well, stop it. I hate seeing you do it. It confuses me, you see. I'm sort of… almost automatically driven to attack anyone who harms you at this point. But if it's you hurting yourself… what exactly can I do about that, other than to tell you to stop? I just can't stand for it. You mean too much to me now, Steven.

I have no idea if you've ever loved me back like that… I wouldn't blame you if you haven't. I've already told Connie I will concede to her, should she desire to pursue you. I'm only giving up easily because that's objectively the better option over fighting about it and risk losing my relationship with both of you. I really do like Connie, Steven. I want to get to know her better. Well, I did when I was alive, anyway… though I'll admit since I learned about this "school" you young humans attend, I'm quite cross that you never took advantage of that. I'd love to be there, but I can't! You could easily attend school, but you don't! I was under the impression that "school" was mandatory for the intellectual development of human children and adolescents. Hmph. I suppose your family has their reasons… though this isn't the first time I've doubted their methods in how you were raised. It's really none of my business, but since I've unavoidably become attached to you, it's much more difficult to resist prying around to learn as much as I can about you. I hoped that in lieu of a formal education, I could teach you while you keep teaching me, but… it sucks when I realize now what I could have done for you before this mess happened.

This is the kind of thing I'd expect you to chide me for saying, because you'd say I'm talking as if I'm your servant… like how I used to be for Yellow Diamond. But it's not like that now. Maybe the first week or so in when I finally aligned with you did I perceive it that way, but that's only because I knew no other way to see it. In Homeworld, Steven, you don't have friends. You have colleagues who are ultimately your competition with the common goal of achieving honors from your superiors, so that we may have the opportunity to make use of our skills outside Homeworld to aid our growing empire. It had nothing to do with going outside our realm to see and experience new places; all we looked forward to was successfully colonizing as many planets as we could, as that would keep the Diamonds happy with us. That's what my life was all about. And I'll tell you this: you don't reach my level of success without doing some horrible things. Focusing on making friends was a quick way to get you shattered; if not through incompetence, then it just becomes a weakness Peridots like me could exploit to get further ahead in the game. I don't remember all of the details, of course… otherwise I would have confessed by now. But I do know by virtue of common sense – Homeworld sense – that behavior like yours and your friends' wouldn't have gotten you anywhere. You think Jasper climbed up in the ranks by being buddies with all the other Quartz soldiers? I think you don't need me to answer that.

The unfortunate thing is… I suppose I had to be that bad, or else I never would have been granted the mission to Earth in the first place. And you'd be encountering some other Peridot… who knows how that could have turned out. My type is by far the most common gem in Homeworld's existence; you could have ended up with a Peridot who could've been better than me or far, far worse. So, I guess it was unavoidable… I had to be a monster so that I could meet you in the first place. That's kind of a twisted way to look at it, but… it's a valid assessment.

It's something that… I know you well enough now to assume you'd have already forgiven me, but I'm still not entirely convinced. Mostly because I don't remember the full extent of my previous life's brutality. I hope I won't have to find out, but… given where I'm headed right now, it's becoming more and more of a legitimate concern. If I see certain places or other gems… it might start to come together. So I hope my future self takes this advice to heart and keeps the interactions minimal. I do have a plan that will help us find you very quickly, but it'll require me to get new limb enhancers and speak to at least some of the fellow Peridots. It's going to be worth it, though. I'll be back to my diminutive "cute" self you enjoy so much the moment I get what I'm aiming for. I just hope you aren't suffering too much as I speak right now…

Because that very real possibility upsets me. I don't want you getting hurt anymore, Steven. You've suffered enough after some of the crazy stuff you learned, so let your friends suffer for you for once in your life. I don't see you as my superior in the least, Steven. You're… you kind of feel like an equal in many ways. I know I've gone out of my way to idolize you and compare you favorably at my own expense, but that's just comparing traits and aptitude. Outside of Amethyst, the other gems feel… much higher than me; almost out of my reach. They have superior physical traits and have that "worldly knowledge" that comes with having lived a long life. And in that aspect, even Amethyst has that over me. She's consistently perceived by me as an older "sister" figure, as best I can understand that term. You, on the other hand… our levels of intellect may have a wide gap between them, but it's balanced out by your aptitude for empathy… truly understanding others and bringing people together. We're teaching each other… so it's kind of like we're on the same level.

Maybe that does have some benefits… the older gems don't comprehend modern-day technology nearly as well as I do. They don't know how Homeworld's changed… well, they probably have an idea now, but… well, they just come off as having a set way of perceiving everything. Like they already know better, even if they very much don't… ugh. Still, that's a big part of why I'm leading this team; I'm the only one who can navigate that clod-forsaken dirt pile, and consequently the only one who can make preliminary plans. I wish we knew more details about you and the others and your situation, Steven. Because with such limited information about you, this is the best I can do.

All I know is, I can't stop… couldn't stop exploring your planet, learning about everything that's out there. Learn how humans function; how they socialize. I understand my social skills still need a lot of work. And I'd be happy to focus on improving that if I wasn't… you know. You and Amethyst took me to Funland that one time and it was… well, it had a nice ending to it despite the rough start. And that was more on my inability to shapeshift to compensate for my height. But there were so many activities there; some we didn't even have time to try out. I really loved the experience, Steven. But I try to imagine the others, like Garnet or Pearl, or even Bismuth and Lapis… I don't think they'd get the appeal of this place. Maybe it's because they've lived through several Earth millennia that they just feel set in their ways with no innate desire to explore this planet… and absorb it… not like I do. Even Amethyst has her limits in that regard, depending on what I'm learning about. But you never wavered, Steven. And as for me? Perhaps gems and humans do share the trait of being more receptive to learning, adapting, and acclimating when they're younger. When they haven't existed long enough to just accept the way things are and… forge their own path in spite of Earth.

I really love this planet, Steven. It's an interesting turnabout considering how little I thought of Earth at first, but you enabled me… to learn how to grow fond of it. It has negative factors of its own, of course. In terms of technology feats, your planet is so embarrassingly far behind Homeworld. Then again, Homeworld never had it used for… entertainment. For engaging in various interests… to socialize. None of that factored into the rate of production – in fact, such elements would inhibit it. I suppose the extreme side-effect migrating to this planet has had on me can be attributed to just how limiting Homeworld was. We were more technologically advanced, but so what? It was all just for work… for satiating the insatiable Diamond Authority.

Speaking of Diamonds… I never really talked with you about the deal with your maternal unit. Mostly because it had no effect on me whatsoever. I mean, from a nonbiased outsider's perspective, it's such an absurd revelation that it borderlines comical levels, but I know better than to laugh about this. But let it be known, Steven, that I still don't care about any of that. Because you're still you. It did just occur to me that I went from serving Yellow Diamond to being saved and awakened by the offspring of Pink Diamond. Now that, I do find very humorous. But in all seriousness, I can never see you as Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. And I will never hold you accountable for her actions, Steven. The gemstone my body comes from may be my literal identity… as is the case for literally every other gem in existence, but you? You merely inherited your maternal unit's gem… diamond… whatever. You shouldn't have to pay for her transgressions; you had no say in your own conception, you know? What you do with the power from this point forward is on you, but I'm honestly irritated to hear anyone address you as Rose or Pink. It isn't who you are. It will never be who you are. I'll– I would fight anyone who insists otherwise. If I was alive.

So, yeah… the odd symbolism of my life aside, I will always regard you as Steven Universe and I won't even speak your maternal unit's name unless you ask me to. Or if I have to exposit on something we find that she had a hand in, but that's just necessary observation. You're the one I love, Steven. I guarantee you, I am no Pearl on this subject.

You know… I feel like I'm low on secrets to exclusively give you, Steven. I poured my heart out to everyone else, and every time I couldn't stop dedicating some time to talk about you. I didn't mean to; I just… want to ensure your well-maintained health and state of mind… as well as protection. But then you're stuck in my mind and I start rambling, and before I snap out of it, I've already confessed my love for you to somebody unintentionally. It's… so embarrassing. Thankfully my death will overshadow that quickly.

One thing I haven't told the others, Steven… is how you unsealed a new sensation in me that normally only applies to humans: imaginations and illusions made by my subconscious. Normally for humans, it's how they dream. But that would require sleep, and I can count the times I've genuinely slept throughout my life with one hand. However, I'm perfectly capable of the counterpart: daydreaming. I've… lately caught myself indulging in those fantasies. It could be while I'm watching a program I'm not too invested in, or it could be while I'm performing maintenance in your house. Just a mere thought takes me away, and…

It's so embarrassing to even bring this up. But so many of them involve you, I… it's my duty to inform you of your inadvertent involvement in my daytime fantasies. Sometimes it's nothing too crazy… like the both of us just having what I believe is called a "picnic" on top of a densely grassy field, sitting at an optimal angle for taking in the sight of massive mountains capped with frozen water set right behind an idyllic natural lake… of unfrozen water, of course. So many hued varieties of flora are all around us, and for some reason I'm wearing an elegant dress, and somehow… a large hat with a ribbon tied around it. I don't think you were wearing anything out of the ordinary, Steven. I've always loved you just the way you are.

But that's a mild delusion I'll lose myself in for a few minutes. Sometimes they get… well. Bizarre. There's one where I'm taking you all over Beach City past your curfew. And yes, I'm the one insisting on it. You eventually just enjoy the thrill of being a little rebellious. And there's another scenario where you and I are in that… what was it, a wrestling ring? Even though it's shaped like a square? We're both wearing ridiculous costumes, but we're in the spotlight celebrating, because we just won the tag team championship titles. And it's exhilarating… until Amethyst and Lapis storm in and challenge us, wanting you and me to put our titles on the line right after we won. I think I was screaming at a referee that a competitor cannot simply book their own match. Then I believe Garnet came down the ramp to some really cool music, and she announced that she is sanctioning this match that Amethyst and Lapis proposed, so we don't even get to enjoy our victory for long. I don't think I've ever imagined who won that… I just have a feeling I might have made us lose by disqualification because I couldn't resist using my metal powers to flatten Lapis with a steel chair. And thankfully, we can't lose our titles unless the stipulation calls for no "DQs". Nyeheh…

A lot of it is just… extremely bizarre stuff where we're having fun. Then there's the… er… the greedy parts of my daydreams. The ones where I have you as an official significant other. Where we hold hands and walk across the coast during the twilight hours. Another has you taking me out to share an evening meal at a high-class facility for consumption purposes, and this time we're both dressed for the occasion. I'm even eating regularly… like a human would. One where we sit on the couch and either enjoy or mock whatever we're watching on the television… and you eventually teach me how to play all of your video games. One where we visit famous vacation locales; just the two of us…

Then there's one that legitimately scared me, because I didn't really understand it. A-against my better judgment, I will share it with you… so that perhaps you can decipher it.

At first, it was just me, in a kitchen, and I'm wearing an apron over some… really puffed-up dress with ruffles that doesn't look that good at all; especially not on me. I'm making… breakfast, I believe? I'm making a lot of it… and I'm actually competent in doing so. Then I call out that it's breakfast time, and –oh stars, this is gonna suck– th-then… I hear a rumble… I feel it. Pumpkin rushes in, only there are multiple duplicates of her that somehow have not grown to her size. Then a group of small… sentient beings rush in to take their place at the table. Some take longer than others. One clings to my dress and I thought I'd just hiss at it to scare it away, but no. I pick it up and embrace whatever that living being is. I'm… laughing. I'm happy. Overwhelmingly so. I eventually carry it to the table and put it in a seat. And the reason I'm being so vague about what these things are is… I have no idea what they could be. I can't even guess, because they're so… blurred out. They look like a bunch of blobs. They don't look like anything I've ever seen in my entire life, so… I can't even compare them to anything. I hear faint sounds of their tiny little voices, but they're so muffled; I can't decipher them.

I… serve them their morning sustenance, I guess. This overpowering joy is still there – it never left. Then a bigger sentient being comes in; notably taller than me, for certain. But I can tell… I know it's you. You're a little hazy to see in full detail, but I'd know that hair anywhere. Your voice is clear, unlike the little blur brats. But it's also not the same as it is now. I presume it's due to your matured form, but there are still qualities to the voice that are unique to you, Steven. Our size difference doesn't seem to hinder our ability to embrace and… kiss. OhmystarswhydidIsaythatoutloudtoyou?!

W-wait. Right. I decided to do this. So, um… eventually those blurry abominations leave the house one-by-one, and I'm trying to feed you breakfast because, well… I presume you are employed somewhere, like many adult humans are. And of course, I want you to be punctual every day, but you tell me you're on holiday, so there is no work to be done.

I still try to feed you your morning food, but you insist that all you want at the moment is… ergh, me. We shift to certain… ahem, oral engagements that are… oh, I can't describe that to you; I'll shatter just from doing that! B-but eventually all action ceases; you're practically carrying me now and I don't even want to describe what I'm like at that point. What I clearly remember is I'm being asked something– in a tone that I don't think you will ever replicate in real life, Steven, even when you grow up–… "You wanna make another one?" And… urgh, of course the fantasy me says yes and it stops there. I swear it stops there. I swear on your life it stops there.

… wow, why did I tell you all of this? I'm really that convinced I'm gonna die. All I ever wanted was to just… give myself to you. I-I mean, not in… S-Steven, you've given me everything I have. I told you this already. You gave me the freaking tablet I'm using to record this, for stars' sake! Is it wrong of me to just want to return the favor to you? You're the only one I'd offer myself and everything I am to. Like I said, it's not like Yellow Diamond! It's not because you're Pink Diamond's offspring! You've done so much for me; I was endeared to you when I thought you were just a Quartz. It's not you being my superior in any way, either! What did I tell you before? Equals! We are equals, Steven!

But right now… I'm completely off-balance. Because I don't have my center of gravity around to keep me grounded. Steven, I love you so much! But I still want to be part of your family. I still want us to be friends. Please tell me I can keep all of that, Steven. I couldn't stand to lose any bit of what makes you… you. That's what scares me more than anything, outside of losing you entirely. But I can't let that consume me. I'm coming here to save you, Steven. And evidently, I will succeed… in saving you, at least. I can rest easy knowing that…

I know you really want to, Steven, but I don't want you to come after me on the off-chance that I survive. You know it, I know it… I'll just be used to trap you. Steven, if you do that, then what was the point of me doing all of this in the first place? You'd just prove that you aren't appreciative of what I had to go through to send you home. The sacrifice I made! Does any of that mean anything to you?! J-just… shut up, I know you're about to protest it! I don't want you anywhere near the Diamonds ever again, you hear me?! I would've told you that before I had hadn't been a colossal clod and gotten myself poofed!

Besides, as I alluded to earlier, it's not like my hands aren't stained with dust. I've been directly and indirectly responsible for a good number of lives lost before I met you. I'm scared the number is higher than I currently remember it. I may have reformed, Steven, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still exactly what you hate the most: a killer. I didn't do it out of self-defense, Steven. Unlike you getting blamed for the Rose and Pink stuff, it was actually me who committed my sins! The real, actual Peridot G of the 5X series! No amount of change from who I used to be is going to justify the sins I've committed. So you know what? Whether I'm alive or dead… this might just be my punishment. These are sins I'm owning up to because they were committed by my own hand, or my own verbal order! I'd much rather be with you all – don't get me wrong – but this is the consequence of my actions, and I have to live with it, Steven! I might just… almost hate you if you ignore all of this and go back for me anyway! Don't say I didn't warn you!

A-ah–! Aowh… oh no. Come on; I didn't strain my voice that much already, could I have?! W-wait… ggrrghk… oh. The glow. The glow is fading. And my throat is hurting again – and there g-goes my voice crack-king. Th-this can't be a coincidence. Thi– this must have only been a temporary fix. Gggh. Of course. A-and I'm almost out of ti–me, anyway… okay. G-gotta power my way through this t-to ennnd it; i-if I can bust my thr-throat for Lapis, thennn… I… I'll do it f-for you, Steven, over n' over…!

I– I w-was gonna t-tell you I c-converted my date of emergence to a birthday f-finally, b-but just ask Garnet. She… she's the only one I told. L-let her know I approved it for you. –nnngh, gah…

St-Steven. I lost count of how many… how many times I said I love you. There's nothing I could e-ever love more. J-just know, despite this costing my life… I'd do it all over again, i-if that's what it takes to save you. E-even if it didn't kill me, I don't regret my actions. I will do anything to save you, Steven. Even things y-you don't approve of. Live the best life you can, Steven… be happy, experience life… be glad you have it. Because I am.

W-with all my love, with m-my devotion, this is my ultimate final sign off.

This… this has been Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, telling my Steven I only can leave him with this to sum up everything I feel about him.

Wow… thanks."

Steven fully collapsed over the mattress, feeling like he had run a marathon. That's what his rapidly-beating heart was trying to get across, anyway. He had cried off-and-on throughout the message, though Steven stifled it so it wouldn't interfere with his ability to hear what he needed to hear.

There wasn't a single moment where Steven wasn't feeling some kind of tension each time he heard Peridot speak. His stomach was in knots, his arms ached from holding his phone the entire time. His neck and back weren't much better off. And despite the calmness (whatever there could be in her dying voice) and assurances at the end, Steven didn't feel the least bit at ease. He had fully intended on coming along for the rescue effort anyway, but after listening to this… Steven felt antsy. He knew every moment he and his friends were relaxing and planning at a reasonable pace was a moment Peridot was at White Diamond's mercy. Though he definitely knew how ridiculously tenacious the technician could be, especially after everything he learned tonight, Steven knew everyone had to break eventually. And in the presence of White Diamond, Steven still felt the chill run down his spine every time he thought of that disturbing face flickering in and out of the darkness. It horrified him to think of all the possible ways Peridot could be getting hurt or tortured. He knew she wouldn't spill any information voluntarily, but Steven worried that White could forcibly use her body as a shield, or even as a means to combat her own friends. That definitely seemed to be what White enjoyed doing the most: manipulating others to do her bidding.

Even if he hadn't spent nearly a day sleeping, Steven would have been far too restless to even consider turning in for the night. This would have been much easier to digest if the situation wasn't so dire, but with current events in mind, Steven couldn't bring himself to focus on a single thought or desire to act; a million other details demanded his attention or acknowledgment all at once. It really didn't help that Steven had issues of his own boiling within him that had been nagging at his psyche since the Era 3 ball, either.

Only one thing seemed certain to Steven right now: what he just watched was a cry for help in more ways than one. Peridot needed to be saved, and he was just sitting here doing nothing but feeling bad for her. The longer Steven sat in place, the more he felt an unsettling warmth within him; it was familiar to him now. His mother's power was being triggered by something, most likely his chaotic mental state. He couldn't stay here any longer. He needed to act.

Unfortunately, for a teenage boy, the ideal way to "act" in this situation was to run straight back to Homeworld as soon as possible. Steven already knew no one would agree to that, so he decided not to bother telling anyone else of his intentions. The house was vacated, so Steven found it extremely easy to simply flee the house once he convinced himself to stand up. No one stood in his way as he dashed out across the beach. Most of the gems and Connie were with Pearl in her room, Amethyst rested in her own room, and Lapis went to parts unknown to train. Steven saw the PeriLuck not far away - he really detested that name now - and was certain he was in the clear to just hijack the ship and be right at White Diamond's doorstep in a few short hours. Then Steven heard the light strumming of a guitar in the distance and smacked his forehead in exasperation. Greg's van wasn't far from the ship at all, and obviously, his father was still awake. There was a bonfire going on right where Steven needed to go in order to board the ship; he wasn't sneaking in under the cover of darkness like this.

He'd just have to hope his father simply wouldn't notice his own son sneaking by and entering the space ship that would only reek of suspect behavior, even to people who usually gave benefit of the doubt easily like Greg. That hope was soon dashed the moment Steven was about to open the hatch.

"Steven…? What're you doing out here, buddy?"

"–Oh… hi, Dad," Steven greeted nervously as he turned around. "Nothin' much."

"Everything going okay? Uh, got through your message and all that?" Greg immediately felt worried about this. He knew there was absolutely no reason to board the ship at this point. It hadn't even been a full 24 hours since they made landfall; there was no way the team was ready this quickly.

"Y-yeah, I did," Steven affirmed tiredly. That was the last thing he wanted to talk about, obviously. "Hey, is it okay if I check out the inside of the ship for a little bit?"

Well, Greg believed Steven had no reason to lie about the message. He could tell his son was very driven to watch it no matter what after that intervention. "I guess it is? No one's said we couldn't go back in; there's just no reason to."

"Peridot made the interior of the ship all by herself, right?" Greg nodded to Steven's question. "I… I never had a chance to really check it out, because of… y'know, everything that happened. Can I please take a look?"

Something sounded off about him. Then again, given the recent chaotic events, Greg couldn't exactly blame his boy for acting strange. He was under the impression this was a much milder way to handle his grief than the ways Greg himself handled it in the past. "Mmm, I guess that makes sense. Go knock yourself out; I know you're not ready to sleep anytime soon."

"Thanks, Dad!" Steven didn't stay outside for a second longer; he was thrilled for once that someone bought into his lie. That didn't stop the pang of guilt for lying to his father in the first place, but Steven knew the truth wouldn't set him free in this occasion. The interior lights switched on automatically, which Steven cringed at. He really didn't want to attract any more attention to himself, but it was already known where most of the gems were, anyway. He only ran the risk of Lapis noticing him, and knowing her, Steven knew she had to be miles and miles away from the temple.

Only… she wasn't. She meant it when she assured Steven she would keep an eye on his father. She was far enough away that she wouldn't have been visible from the ship's position on the beach, and surely enough, as Lapis struggled to control and conserve her water more efficiently, she caught something lighting up from the corner of her eye.

It took only a mere glance to the side for Lapis to see those lights were indeed coming from their ship - and it had no business being activated for any reason at this stage. Lapis nearly lost her concentration (and her water for a moment, which she turned around to just barely recover in time); she broke sight of the ship in order to make sure her water stayed above ground.

That's when Lapis heard a noise in the direction she just looked. She turned her head again just to be certain, and indeed, more lights flickered on as an engine had started up. This time, she dropped her water entirely. "Oh, come on!" For all the effort she went to save that water, Lapis was pissed to lose it seconds later. But she'd have to drop it, anyway: she was going back immediately to see what was going on.

It took roughly 10 seconds for her to land right next to the van; Lapis first wanted to make sure Greg was where she last saw him, and sure enough, he was. Though now he stood, looking terrified.

"Greg, what's going on?! Don't tell me someone just snuck in there under your nose!"

"N-not at all, it's just Steven!" Greg assured the gem. That answer honestly made her even more angry.

"And you let him go up there alone?! What's wrong with you?!" Lapis had no patience for this; she had a pretty good idea what was going on.

"He just wanted to take a good look inside the ship, since Peridot's the one who made it!" Greg explained; he felt the unease and guilt being directed right at him from Lapis. "He didn't say anything about wanting to turn the ship on!"

Lapis growled in frustration. "Of course, he wouldn't tell you that! Your idiot son is trying to take off in it and go straight back to Homeworld!"

"What?! Why?!" It was a fair question; Greg wanted Peridot to be saved as much as any of the others, but he knew this was far from the time and the place to even set a date for trying that again.

"Shut up!" Lapis snapped. "You want to give your son time to figure out how to make this take off?! Come on; we're putting a stop to this!"

She wasn't even going to wait for the man; she just grabbed him and flew over to the hatch and up inside, where she quickly tossed Steven's father aside to the floor while she made a beeline for Steven, who naturally, was up front trying to figure out the buttons for initiating liftoff. Being Steven, he hoped pressing random ones would do the trick. Luckily, he was devoured in misery on the return flight to Earth, so Steven didn't register anything his father or Pearl did with the controls. Had he known how to do it, he could have left the planet before Lapis even had time to realize what was going on.

"STEVEN! Hands where I can see them, now!"

Steven cried out and did so automatically; he'd been focusing too hard on just hitting random buttons to find the way off-planet, he didn't even hear Lapis or his father enter the ship. "Lapis?! What're you–"

"I'm asking the questions here. Turn off the ship."

"But–"

"NOW!"

Steven shrunk back, scared out of his mind. "I don't know how! Lapis, I'm just hitting random buttons!"

"Ugh… of course." Lapis grumbled and looked over the control panel… only to just remember she had no idea where the power button was, either. She wasn't trained for this. "GREG! Get up here and turn off this ship!"

Greg knew this was inevitable. "Coming, com-AAAAH!" An unexpected head popped out from the hatch, causing Greg to fall back into a seat. "Garnet, don't do that! That's how people get heart attacks, you know!"

"Garnet?!" Lapis turned around to find the Crystal Gems leader boarding the ship.

Steven just buried his face into his hands and moaned in defeat. As if his plan hadn't gone south fast enough already. Everyone else might as well be on board to catch him in the act at this point; there was no way he'd be able to take off now.

"This happened a bit earlier than I anticipated," Garnet observed. Everyone knew she wasn't under the impression that they were returning to Homeworld this soon. "But, it was inevitable. Steven, what did you hope to accomplish if you successfully left Earth tonight?"

"What other reason would there be, Garnet?!" Steven cried back as he teared up.

"I thought I made it clear you aren't going to be the one asking the questions right now," a seething Lapis reiterated. "She's not asking you why you tried to pull this; we already know the reason. Do you take us for idiots, Steven?"

Steven couldn't bring himself to look at any of them. He knew he had no leg to stand on here and giving attitude would only drag this out. "No…"

"I can't believe you'd even lie to me about this," Greg sighed out; he was more on Garnet's level of calm. "There was something nagging at me in the back of my brain the second you said you wanted on the ship; I just didn't think you'd actually try to deceive me."

"Next time, I recommend following your instincts," Garnet advised the adult. "Now, Steven. Answer the question."

Steven felt increasingly stupider as the seconds passed. "… getting Peridot out so White Diamond can't hurt her anymore…"

Everyone else sighed out in reaction. "What?! You know that's what's happening to her right now while we just sit here talking!"

"Yes, Steven, clearly you're the only one who thought about this," Lapis retorted; she sounded calmer, but her tone remained menacing.

"It's unfortunate, Steven, but no amount of racing back to Homeworld tonight will change that for her," Garnet told him. "It's completely out of our hands. The best we can do is return only when we are fully prepared to do so. Peridot might have to endure a great deal of suffering until then, but she was prepared to do that before the last mission's conclusion."

This was what made it so frustrating to negotiate with logic for Steven, sometimes. "Garnet! That's the last thing I need to hear right now! Now I know I gotta go right away!"

"Go ahead," Lapis dared, glaring daggers at Steven. "Touch another button. I dare you. See what happens."

Steven glared back at Lapis, determined to call her bluff. He slowly pointed his index finger to another random button; eyes remained on the gem just to see if she would actually do anything to him. Obviously, she wouldn't. He pressed a button.

Moments later, Steven found that finger frozen in a block of ice. "GAH! LAPIS, NO!"

"Do it again and it's gonna be the rest of you on ice." She didn't think Steven would be ballsy enough to actually defy her; this behavior really scared Lapis deep down, but she couldn't let him see that. Threats were all she knew to do at this point, and even that clearly wasn't enough to make Steven behave.

"Okay, okay! Ladies, I can appreciate a Good Cop/Bad Cop routine like the rest of humanity," Greg said as he finally intervened. "But… let me take a swing at this, okay? If a man can't talk his own son down, we can try extreme measures then." He eyed Lapis as he said that; she just rolled her eyes.

"Garnet, I'll let you make the call here," she decided. "He was stupid enough to buy that Steven just wanted to "take a look inside the ship", just so you know."

"I prefer to call it naïve…"

Garnet nodded with no hesitation. "This wouldn't be the first time we've had a problem with Steven that could only be resolved by his father. Lapis, let's give them some privacy. Greg, if a worst-case scenario happens, be sure to scream."

"Sure; you're familiar enough with that sound by now, I'd hope!" Greg wished he was fully joking. Once it was just man-to-man on the ship, he let out a sigh. "Steven, I… I'm surprised at you, but at the same time I'm really not. I'm not condoning your actions, but I understand why you're resorting to this."

Steven let himself look more vulnerable now; his anxiety faded as the gems left him alone with his father. "You think so? Well… I guess you'd understand better than they could," Steven muttered.

"Whatever she said to you, it hit you hard, huh?" Greg knew exactly why Steven behaved like this. It wasn't rocket science. Steven glumly nodded in response. "It somehow got worse than the one I played for you?"

"Makes yours sound like generic platitudes by comparison," Steven murmured. "Connie was right; no amount of time passing is gonna change how Peridot sees me. She had a heck of a lot of restraint during the mission, now that I think back on it…" Three measly instances of kissing – and two were for non-sentimental functional purposes – just felt pedestrian now. That entire time, Peridot held her urges down masterfully. She seemed to be able to will herself into doing anything.

"I'd hope so, given the situation," Greg remarked with a bit of unease. "You might find this hard to believe, but back when they were still working on the ship, Peridot had a few anxiety attacks just like what you're having. She'd tell me how much she just wanted to force the ship to finish up and go to Homeworld for you and the others immediately… but it's not realistic, and even trying that would do more harm than good. Peridot understood that, though. She never went this far."

Steven sighed. He didn't know if this was helping him or not. "After what I've seen, I believe it now… we kinda swapped places, haven't we?"

"Yeah… yeah, you could put it like that." Greg thought it over… yes, that was on point. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to frontload you with a bunch of Peridot stuff all at once. We wanted you to at least get out of bed, but you went right to the other end of the spectrum. You're too driven and it's not letting you think anything through. But believe me, we're all worried about what Peridot's going through right now. But Steven, don't be so quick to think she can't handle it. She took the time to make plans for rescuing you, and she didn't know a single thing about your situation; we had no idea if everyone was together or alive and whatnot. She never stopped worrying, but it made Peridot work that much harder in mapping all of our plans out. I'm glad I took the time to talk to her during downtime now that we know she made videos during all this, too. Poor kid needed time to rest her mind just as much as she needed to work."

"I'm just not good at that stuff, Dad," Steven whined. "I can't do any of that! What can I do that'll make this go faster?"

"You're usually so good at looking on the bright side of things," Greg noted. That was a detail that concerned him. It seemed like an expected side-effect of the trauma Steven went through, but it was just hard to hear him talk like that. "You don't need to do everything like she did, Steven. We have a lot more help this time around. When in doubt, think out of the box. It's how I found at least a semi-useful role in Peridot's team, you know."

That's when Steven remembered how Peridot's message to him started. "–Shoot, that's right! Dad, something really weird happened in my video at the start. But she didn't know what it was, and I sure don't, either. She wanted to share that footage with you guys so we could figure it out!"

In turn, this reminded Greg of something. "Sounds like something we should check out as soon as we can. I just remembered Peridot brought up something interesting about you and your mom in mine; it seemed like news to Garnet, because she wanted me to share it, too."

Steven was stunned. He had no idea Peridot would really know anything else about his mother beyond what she's learned second-hand. "D-Dad, do you think she left cryptic stuff in everyone's messages? Like, stuff we should know before we leave again?"

"You know what… it's possible. We don't know what else she went on about with everybody besides you. She could've given us crucial details without even knowing it!" Now Greg wanted this to happen. "See, Steven? You're helping already. I wouldn't have thought to do this on my own. Let me just–" He learned over, covered Steven's eyes with one hand while reaching over to turn the power off. "Sorry, Schtu-ball. You broke the unspoken contract of trust between father and son. You're gonna have to earn that back, and I'm not taking any chances now. Just be glad we caught you when we did; you probably would've wrecked this ship… and I don't wanna think how much extra time that'd add to our preparations."

Steven hadn't thought of that. The fact that he had no idea how to pilot vessels like this flew over his head in the heat of the moment. It was a very humbling for him. "I… I understand. I'm sorry, Dad. I just… I just couldn't help it. I couldn't stay still."

Greg chuckled at that after uncovering Steven's eyes. "Hey, you're preaching to the choir, here. Love makes you do stupid things; it's a fact of life, y'know. I'm sure this won't be the last time you'll try and pull a fast one on your old man if it'll make the one you love happy."

"I'm gonna make an effort not to," Steven insisted. "You're right that I need to make this up to everybody. Peridot would be so mad if I messed her ship up…"

"Well… yeah." Greg couldn't offer a platitude there; he's witnessed how badly Peridot's temper could flare up. "But as much as she loves you, I doubt she'd hold a grudge over you for long."

Greg pulled Steven up and guided him to the hatch.

"Well… I am the one who taught her that it was bad to hold a grudge," Steven noted. "I'm trying to make sure she and Lapis can make amends after this."

"It may have happened already," Greg said thoughtfully. "We'll see eventually. C'mon, I'll let Garnet know we need to arrange a team meeting ASAP."

"Thanks again, Dad."

A meeting was called to order, and the Crystal Gems quickly assembled into a circle out on the beach. The house unfortunately wasn't made to hold so many people at once, and Garnet insisted they formally remain close to each other as they engage in their discussion.

"I'll admit my input's gonna be minor, but I'm surprised I learned about this from Peridot before the rest of you," Greg stated. "She had a very clear-cut explanation for why things are the way they are: no two identical gems, same code and cut and whatever, can exist at the same time. She said something like that happening would be a paradox, and if the two gems ever made physical contact, it would… uh… obliterate the universe."

This shook everyone a bit, though it was obvious they'd never be able to cause such a thing. "So… that's the long and short for why Rose and Steven can't co-exist. It doesn't make me feel any better about all that, but… it feels like some real closure."

"Hm… I've heard of the unspoken law that no two gems will ever be the same," Garnet noted. "I did not realize the consequence of making the impossible… possible. That's helpful to know; White Diamond could very well be capable of making it happen."

"And as off-kilter as she is, I wouldn't put it past her to try," Pearl added. "Thank you for sharing that, Greg."

Greg shrugged. "Thank Peridot for telling me, really."

Steven leaned forward, wanting to take his turn. "I have something important to show everybody. I've got footage and everything… and I think I can explain it."

"Then please hand me your phone, Steven," Pearl insisted. "I'll use a prism to enlarge the screen so everyone can see it at once." The boy complied without hesitation, and Pearl quickly set up the screen that hovered in the middle of the circle. "Peridot's message, hm… where am I skipping to, Steven?"

"It's actually right at the start," Steven said before looking to Lapis. "Remember, you asked me to tell you how Peri was doing for my video since her voice was almost gone at the end of yours?"

"Oh…! Right, right," Lapis had forgotten after all the rage she went through in frustration with Steven, but Greg was able to calm it down once he explained the details. To some degree, Lapis understood those actions. "It looks like your video is longer than anyone else's… so let's see how she pulled this off."

Pearl played the footage, and everyone witnessed a whispering Peridot being driven to desperation. The glow of the gemstone on Peridot's forehead caught everyone's attention immediately. "I wanna know if this is a normal thing," Steven insisted. "Because I really feel like it isn't."

"I've never seen Peridot's gem glow like that, to be honest," Pearl noted. "I don't think it's unheard of to happen when meditating, but…."

"She wasn't meditating," Steven corrected. "She was praying. She begged for help; I heard it!"

Connie was dumbstruck by this comment. "What do you mean, you heard it? She's not saying anything."

"I suspect Steven's abilities have branched out significantly," Garnet hypothesized. "Steven, you let out waves of pink energy before you woke up earlier. Do you feel something burning up internally?"

"I've been feeling like that since I went to bed. But what I did… I think that was beyond just reading Peridot's thoughts. Those were feelings I heard. Her real feelings." Steven looked to the others. "What she's doing right now is the only thing she can think of doing, and she's never even done it before."

"You… you what?" Pearl was dumbfounded. "Steven, that makes sense in real time, but… this is all prerecorded."

Steven eyed his Peri Patrol friends. "I can prove it. Keep rolling the footage until she can talk again."

And so it continued. The entire time, the gem never ceased its glowing. Steven remembered to ask about something during the moment the light became near-blinding. "Did anyone else catch that just now?"

"S-something flickered for a split second," Lapis noted.

"Nothin' too distinct, though," Bismuth muttered. "This could be anything. Might be the equipment, or it might be a premonition."

"Or both," Greg added. "You're saying her gem never shined like this before, huh?"

"Not with me," Steven affirmed.

"Pearl and I have seen nothing like this before," Garnet replied. "Amethyst, you spend a lot of time with Peridot. Is this familiar to you? Or you, Lapis?"

Both shook their heads in unison.

"This is new to me, too…"

"Please. P-Dot would've been bragging about this forever if I saw it glow like this."

"Keep rolling," Steven reminded Pearl. "You'll see it get even weirder…"

Then they hit the part where Peridot opened her eyes. Like last time, Steven could see the gem feed off of aura that came from her friends. It was obvious that only he could see it; no one else commented on it When the group heard Peridot speak, they were stunned with disbelief. To them, it just came out of nowhere.

"… So, it is Mom's powers," Steven realized. "None of you saw what really happened. You didn't see Peridot borrowing energy from her team.

"W-wait, what?" Greg was flabbergasted. "I think at least one of us would've… y'know, felt that!"

"I didn't feel a thing," Lapis reported. "I think Steven needs to be more specific."

Steven smirked; he knew exactly how to convince them. "Tell me if "taking care of Bismuth" means anything to you three."

"Wha–?!" Now Bismuth got flustered. "That's our– how did you know that?!" She looked to Steven's father. "Well, Greg?!"

Greg held his hands up in self-defense. "I swear I didn't tell him about that! And if I didn't, I can't imagine Lapis did, either!"

"Well, you'd be correct," Lapis confirmed; unnerved but still more stable than her teammates. "Peridot only saw us at the tail end, and she looked so disinterested in it, I feel like that's not something she would have wasted time on with Steven."

"That's right. She didn't tell me, either. So, if no one of the Peri Patrol told anyone about a specific song they sang – and you know I didn't guess at random, because who would've guessed it would have a Bismuth pun? – then how do you think I learned about it?" Steven felt bold now. "Do you guys believe me now?"

Bismuth didn't know what to make of this… but she conceded. "… I, I think we have to believe you."

Lapis and Greg just nodded in agreement; this just seemed insane to both of them.

"Good: I'll tell you what I saw." Steven was relieved he could finally share this and be taken seriously. "Like I said before, I could read Peri's feelings. She was so desperate and calling for help. She didn't know who to call for. Then I saw three different-colored auras a little further behind her. I heard music… and once I heard the "Bismuth" part, I knew it had to be her crew. I recognized Dad's guitar, too. Then I finally saw you all there singing together, still with that aura. I saw all three of your auras rise up – or just a bit of it, I guess – and it started flowing out of you guys and into Peri's gemstone. It glowed brighter the more she took in. But you can tell… that Peridot had no idea this was even going on. She hasn't even moved! Once it got super bright, everything washed away, and I realized none of that was really going on in the video. And all of a sudden, Peri can talk. You know that's no coincidence."

Lapis tried her best to absorb this information, but so much of it didn't make sense to her. "Steven, I really didn't feel anything. B-but she came out of the chamber sounding better than she did at the end of my video… and she couldn't have done anything to fix it while she kept herself in that tube! It doesn't make sense."

"I didn't feel the slightest bit dizzy or tired," Greg confessed. "Whatever she siphoned off from us, it wasn't energy."

"Then what could it have been?" Bismuth wondered. "How can she do that without us noticing…?"

"The better question is, how can Peridot do that at all?" Pearl cut in. "She has metal powers now, sure, but that couldn't have cured her voice."

Steven shook his head. "I can't tell you exactly what it is; I don't really know. And I think I even felt it through her for a couple of seconds. It was amazing… but I can't define it." He just remembered one point he wanted to make clear. "B-but you all need to know this: it was just temporary. That light in her gemstone gets weaker the closer to the end the message gets, and once it goes, she's back to how she was before. So Dad, Bismuth, Lapis? Whatever she took from you… it was just a loan, and she returned it."

Lapis smashed her face into her palm. "That just makes this more confusing!"

Pearl looked to Garnet. "You've barely said anything… is this really new to you, too?"

Garnet nodded stiffly. "I thought I'd seen all there is to see at this stage in my life… but this is… this is unique. Peridot clearly emerged as an enhanced gem."

"That's funny, because P-Dot in my message confessed she was as defective as me," Amethyst said as she casually entered the conversation. "Garnet, Era 2 Homeworlds literally don't have the stuff to be much of anything. I don't think they had anything they could "enhance" her with. But, hey. Show of hands: who got Peri talking about her metal powers and mentioning that no other Peridot in recorded history ever got them?"

Steven raised his hand. "I wonder if there's anything she didn't tell me, geez…"

Lapis followed suit, rolling her eyes. "And she went on the defective tirade as a bonus."

Connie looked up thoughtfully. "She mentioned her powers to me, but not the fact they're exclusive to her."

Despite a few murmurs, no one else raised their hand.

"Dare I say, it looks like we found a way to figure out who Peri's favorite people are," Bismuth observed with a laugh. That elicited laughs from everyone else – though with Steven and Lapis, it was more like nervous chuckling.

"Alright, so I'm gonna throw another one," Amethyst announced. "Who got Peri sayin' she's defective 'cause she's tinier than Era 2s were set to be?"

Steven raised his hand again. "Well, at least she said it's the reason why I first said she was so cute when I first saw her without the limb enhancers… she hated that!"

Lapis didn't raise her hand, nor did anyone else. "I guess she figured I don't care about her size at all. And she'd be right about that."

Amethyst nodded. "Got it, got it… okay, one more: raise your hand if P-Dot mentioned she reportedly had defective eyes but never found any proof of that."

No one raised their hand…

"Whoa." Amethyst "Not even you, Ste-man?"

Steven shrugged. "I'm just as surprised as you… but why does that remind me of something… that I know but she didn't tell me?"

Garnet loudly gasped all of a sudden, startling everyone.

"Wh-what, Garnet?!" Amethyst didn't "Did she actually tell you and you just remembered?"

Garnet didn't bother answering the question. "Steven, the last time we saw Peridot... her eyes!"

"That's it!" Steven snapped his fingers. "She never takes that visor off, so how were we to know she's got a blue eye and a hazel eye?"

Certain Crystal gems froze at that remark. Most notably Pearl and Lapis.

"A-are you serious…?" Pearl asked in a frightened tone; she looked jittery. "G-Garnet, is that really what you saw?!"

Garnet nodded. "Heterochromia. I have it, but I am a fusion… it's not uncommon for heterochromia to happen with certain fusions. But Ruby does not possess that trait, and… I shouldn't have to explain Sapphire. For unfused gems, heterochromia is…"

"A curse, I've heard," Lapis cut in with a menacing tone. "It's not something that happens to a gem naturally. Something about bad injector fluid…"

"Stretching it at bit, but not too far off that mark," Pearl commended. "It's not necessarily that it's gone "bad", but rather… tampered with. This has only happened to a handful of gems in Era 1 by my recollection. No one knows how exactly it's tampered or why… or who the culprit is. The gems who emerge with heterochromia are basically… science experiments. They are closely monitored, which is why we know how rare they are. Not many reports exist."

Bismuth was at a loss for words until now. "W-wait, she's an Era 2, remember? Maybe they made it natural for Era 2s somehow?"

"The fact that any Era 2 could have heterochromia at all is madness," Garnet insisted. "Era 2s by default are cheaply made and inferior by design. Why would anyone bother experimenting on them?"

"Because they can? Because they feel like it?" Lapis was still embittered. "Why was this ever a thing to begin with? What's the justification to it?"

"Pearl, have you seen details on any of these cases?" Connie asked. "Like if there was a difference between them and a natural equivalent… did the heterochromatic gems behave or perform exceptionally well or really, really bad?"

Pearl looked thoughtful as she tried to recall cases from the distant past. "There was that one very prolific Hessonite commander… they say Yellow Diamond gifted her with a very powerful and devastating weapon. -Ah, yes. She was ultimately defeated by Rose, but not before she managed to shatter a good number of our own."

"I know of a few legends about a very aggressive Tanzanite," Lapis added. "Very famous for colonizing a dozen planets in just three Homeworld cycles. They called her the "Scourge of the Organics", as she'd take it upon herself to wipe out all living life on said planets before implementing the Kindergartens. But after that much indulgence in her bloodlust, Tanzanite was no longer able to tell friend from foe and started sabotaging the very same Kindergartens she started. One planet became entirely quarantined because her actions caused widespread corruption. Thankfully, she was on that planet at the time, so I believe Blue Diamond had the entire planet obliterated. Nothing could be salvaged, after all. Legends say Tanzanite was put down with great reluctance by the Diamonds, because up to that point, she had become a prime candidate for… something. It differs depending on which gem tells you the story, but every one I've ever met has sworn on their own stone that Tanzanite really existed."

"Hm, that reminds me of Dolomite," Bismuth responded. "Only she was more of an up-and-coming sentinel. Very, very prolific in the defensive arts. She was originally posted to one of the Diamonds, but her aptitude for tanking hits made her sought after on the battlefield. It's kind of a tragic tale, actually. Dolomite could guard the Diamond palaces perfectly, but out on the battlefield, she couldn't take the pressure… and her body overloaded to the point where she was shattered by inadvertent self-destruction. The radius of the blast took out a good number of her fellow soldiers as well."

None of these stories sat well with the ones who had none to tell.

"I'm starting to notice a recurring theme," Connie said carefully. "Capable of massive destruction on all three counts… but one gave into insanity and slaughtered indiscriminately, and another was so unstable despite a good track record that her own shattering took several other lives. Whatever was done to these heterochromatic gems… it made them stronger than the norm, right?"

"Correct," Garnet confirmed. "At least in which area they best specialized in. All the more nonsensical that Peridot has the same condition."

"Maybe it wasn't just physical strength or durability they wanted," Amethyst suggested. "Maybe they wanted the smartest gems, too. Any records like that you know off the top of your head?"

Pearl nodded. "I do believe there were a few gems who specialized in intelligence or dexterity who shared the trait. For one that comes to mind immediately, there's Fluorite… she possessed great intellect and she had a special power to commune with the shattered; she could pry invaluable information from these victims who didn't live long enough to tell their tales. Unfortunately, she was a bit clingy towards particular gems; more specifically, another Fluorite who emerged from the same facet and rumored to even be part of the same series, so they were referred to as "the twins" due to their closeness. But it became rather problematic as the heterochromatic Fluorite was forced to drift apart from her twin as her abilities blossomed, as the Diamonds demanded her time more and more often. Records stated Fluorite never got over the separation, and when she communed successfully with a shattered gem only to find it was her beloved Fluorite twin she had the remains of… she completely lost her mind. They say she had the most haunting, wicked laughter that echoed across every area in the Homeworld metropolis while she slaughtered every gem in her path, demanding them to repent."

Garnet cringed. "I've heard of that one. Even the Diamonds had difficulty in dispatching her. Her abilities had evolved to a point where she could shatter a gem by merely touching them. Any guard they sent out to dispose of her… they ultimately "repented" for a sin they did not commit."

"One of few, and possibly the first gem in Homeworld history to require direct intervention from the Diamonds in order to be taken out," Bismuth continued. "And even that was tricky, because Blue Diamond's emotion-based powers were completely ineffectual to a Fluorite driven by loss, vengeance, and madness who could commune with the shattered."

"And she still made use of those powers even after she broke down," Lapis recounted. "Her abilities evolved further where she could conjure spirits of the shattered and have them do her bidding. Fluorite was completely untouchable for a long time; it was easier for her to create a massive army of the dead than it was for the Diamonds to gather up their living and able-bodied gems to ensure the entire planet didn't get overtaken by these vengeful spirits. Fluorite was clever enough to manipulate these spirits, as so many had been shattered by Blue or Yellow personally, or under their direct orders, for unjust reasons. She seemed nigh on invincible… and unfortunately, it was never made clear which Diamond finally shattered Fluorite and how."

"It was assumed to be Yellow due to Blue's powers not working on her or her shattered army," Pearl said as she took over again. She didn't expect to have the story hijacked from her by her teammates. "But there are numerous reports that suggest Fluorite's mental prowess granted her a psychic shield to protect her from Yellow's attacks. I'm inclined to believe that to be the case; otherwise this fight wouldn't have dragged out as long as it did. This did lead to the event known as the Lone Twin Massacre… where a war was waged on Homeworld by a single gem and her army of vengeful spirits. Unlike some of these previous tales, this one is indisputably true."

Steven, Connie, Greg, and Amethyst were rendered silent and wide-eyed. None of them were prepared to hear something like this.

"I am so sorry I brought up the smartness factor," Amethyst finally murmured. "That's legit the most terrifying thing I've ever heard."

"And I hate to even suggest the possibility," Connie grumbled. "But do you think… maybe it was neither Diamond who slayed Fluorite? This sounds like something that would force White Diamond to take action."

And in turn, Pearl, Garnet, Lapis, and Bismuth were rendered quiet for the moment; apparently none of them took this into consideration.

"Hm… didn't Peri tell us that it was a bad thing to even talk about White Diamond for any reason on Homeworld?" Amethyst recalled. "That sounds like the most obvious reason why no version of this story includes her, because I can tell none of you ever thought about this being the case before."

"I'm surprised we just got schooled in Homeworld history by a couple of kids," Bismuth said with a weary smile. "Gah, that's the only outcome that makes sense!"

Pearl looked very disturbed as she took this in. "I… I can't find a way to discount it as a possibility. Garnet…?"

Garnet sighed and adjusted her shades. "I think Connie and Amethyst are on the right track. It could have been this historical event that led to White Diamond's name becoming taboo on Homeworld. Even with a victory, that incident is a large black mark on the Diamond Authority's credibility. It took hundreds of years for Homeworld to recoup their losses and grow as an empire again. It's been said up to 85% of Homeworld's total population was wiped out because of the Lone Twin Massacre. Up-and-coming colony planets took much longer to develop due to this."

Steven hated every bit of this. He could only offer one question… "How did Fluorite's twin die?"

The group went quiet again.

"You guys said she was acting out of vengeance," Steven told them. "And she took all of her grief out on Homeworld; not some invader, or a resistance… definitely not a rebellion."

"I automatically assumed the Diamonds were the ones behind her death," Connie admitted. "So that doesn't clear up how the twin died, but… it sounds like it's made clear which group was responsible for her death."

Amethyst nodded. "Yup; already came up with like, ten reasons the Diamonds would pull something like this myself."

"Steven… why is it this detail out of everything else that has you so bothered?" Pearl asked in earnest. She knew it would be hard telling this story with him present, but it was necessary.

"I just remembered something Peridot told me," he said; eyes cast down to the sand. "That on Homeworld, you don't have friends. You either have bosses you aim to please, or competition that you take out by any means necessary to gain favor with your bosses. It sounds like… Fluorite and her twin were really good friends."

Lapis sighed. "Sounds about right. Survival of the fittest on Homeworld boils down to how fast and how willing you are at knifing your colleague in the back to ascend the ranks. That's how it was for the working class, anyway. Can't imagine it was much better for the nobility."

"Sapphire can attest to nobility often being subject to cutthroat tactics," Garnet supplied. "It was just done more discretely to maintain appearances. Fluorites were actually on par with her kind in terms of societal level. Following this infamous incident, however… they were collectively made into social pariahs. Not many of them survived the slaughter, and even fewer survived after the fact."

"So, the fact that Fluorite had such a close friend in the first place doomed them both in the end," Steven acknowledged. "It's just... sad, you know? I hoped that Peridot was exaggerating…"

"Not this time, kiddo," Lapis said apologetically. "Speaking of social pariahs, though… I'm pretty sure that incident did the future gems with heterochromia no favors in terms of how the public viewed them."

Garnet sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. Stories like these made future gems with the condition outcasts, largely. Although I feel that based on these past instances, Peridot should have been much more closely monitored by Yellow Diamond. Definitely more valued… never once did she put any stock in Peridot's potential. She cared nothing of her thoughts. And given her areas where she is strongest, I feel Peridot would have been assigned on higher-profile missions. So, this is a bizarre case… she's been treated just like any other Peridot her whole life."

"Um… just throwing it out there, maybe they never found out she has it?" All eyes were on Greg. "Heh, hi. I've been paying attention, I swear."

"That's one heck of an oversight," Bismuth noted. "Usually everyone's gemetic data is on record upon emergence. I mean, it's sounding like Greg might be right. You've all been with her how long and never saw her without that visor?"

"Too long," Pearl responded. "Why would they not check each individual for defects? I thought that's how it worked."

Amethyst raised a hand and waved it. "There was a report! I mentioned it earlier, remember? All Peri said is she found a single report that mentioned her eyes were defective, but that's all she ever found. She said she dismissed it since her eyesight was never bad, and there's nothing else noteworthy about her eyes. I feel like if they knew about her eye colors, it would've been outright said on the report."

Connie looked to Amethyst, wide-eyed. "From how you're phrasing it, Amethyst, it sounds like even Peridot didn't know about her eyes."

A brief moment of silence passed by.

"It's coming together," Garnet realized. "I said earlier how absurd it was that any Peridot would have this condition; especially an Era 2. No one would have any reason to believe a Peridot would ever be experimented on, because it doesn't make sense! They would sooner disregard it as a glitch in the system than bother to check!"

"How about that…" Lapis was astonished. "Peridot was hiding in plain sight this entire time, and she didn't even know she was hiding. You know, that might have just saved her life. There's no telling what they'd really have her do if they knew. That's one less thing to worry about–"

"AAAAHH! NO IT ISN'T!"

Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats when Steven cried out; he sounded panicked.

Lapis regarded the boy with uncertainty. "You were talking to me, right? Why are you saying–"

"Sh-she doesn't have that protection anymore!" Steven realized. "Her visor's in pieces now! Me and Garnet, we saw what her eyes were really like! Guess who else is gonna know right now as we speak?!"

Garnet cursed under her breath. "White Diamond… the absolute last who should ever learn of something like this. She not only knows… but she has all the time in the world and the unlimited means to exploit that. So, it may not even be safe to approach Peridot when we arrive…" She didn't need to look; she knew she was breaking Steven's heart. "Starting tomorrow, we need to pick up the pace in our preparations. Does anyone else have anything to share that might be helpful?"

"I have a feeling I'm the only one she talked about with on the Diamonds being brittle," Pearl spoke up. "It sounds good in theory, but I'm not sure why she'd–"

"I KNOW!"

"Goodness, Steven…" Pearl had no idea what to make of Steven's behavior tonight. "Then explain it, please. And try to be calm about it, okay? You've been through enough tonight."

"I-I know what she's talking about because I saw her put it to use in our last battle," Steven hastily explained. "Pearl, she was probably trying to drop you the hint in case she didn't get to use it. I didn't think she'd plan this far ahead, but… but that was how she stunned Yellow Diamond in the terminal! A hammer blow, pow! Right in the stone! And it cracked her!"

Now Connie had a revelation. "A hammer… Steven, do you mean THIS hammer?" She pulled out the one Peridot had given her mere minutes after doing what Steven had just described.

"Y-yeah, yeah! That one! I remember it looked weird." Even Steven found this too coincidental for his liking. "So that's what happened to it. Because you didn't have your sword anymore…"

"So, it's more than just a theory," Pearl realized. "She's already proved that it works. That's fantastic, but I have a feeling it won't be that easy to take out White Diamond. Still… it's definitely something to keep in mind for a strategy of a larger scale."

Garnet nodded in agreement. "Pearl, how's the research for a cure going?"

Pearl winced at the question. "We hit a bit of a snag…"

"In order to get a sample out of a pallid, we gotta let it out and let it reform," Bismuth explained. "Problem being… it is what it is, still. Meaning it might still function as White Diamond's extra set of eyes, and she'll see where we are. We're gonna have to get creative for trappin' that thing without risking it blowing our cover."

"I suggest we blind it somehow. White Diamond won't be able to use the body if she can't see," Connie spoke up. "It's risky, but I thought if we kept the room dark and kept close by enough, we can quickly get the sample we need and poof it again before it even knows what's going on."

Garnet pointed to Connie. "Excellent plan. Act on it as soon as you can." She turned to Pearl again. "I'm demanding much from you, but I must ask if you at least have a proper set up for your experiments. You don't need to be present for the capturing of the sample, and if the instructions are easy enough to follow, you can have someone else start the procedure and only call in when your expertise is needed."

"Well, I certainly have a full lab set up and ready to go… I suppose I can entrust the manual duties to others since I imagine it'll take some time before we come across something only I can identify. But what else did you have in mind, Garnet?" Pearl was surprised her leader had multiple roles in mind for her.

"Without Peridot, you're the only gem we have now who can look over the ship and possibly improve upon the design and its inner workings," Garnet mentioned. "She and Bismuth did a phenomenal job for the short time they spent making the original, but every second we can spare may make all the difference in the world down the road. So Bismuth, I would like you to show Pearl the specs Peridot gave you and give her assistance if Pearl finds an aspect of the ship that can be improved upon."

Bismuth smirked and nodded to her leader. "You got it, boss. Peri only had the patience for a couple of quality checks once we finished up, but I get what you're saying. I got a feeling Pearl can at least shave down our travel time a good amount with the right adjustments."

"I'd be more than happy to take a chance to improve on something she made," Pearl said slyly. "Cutting down travel time is the main priority, but I have a feeling we'll have a much more challenging time leaving Homeworld by ship the next time around as well. Even more reason to see how far I can increase the ship's propulsion capabilities and handling within a reasonable time frame. That might mean making a few additional parts for the ship, if you're up to the task, Bismuth. I honestly couldn't tell that was your first-ever ship."

"Glad I've got a talent for that like I did for makin' everything else," Bismuth replied. "But yeah; there's still a lot of scrap on the beach we didn't make use of even after stripping the Diamonds' ships. Gimme some guidelines for that, and I'll have whatever you need up and ready in a jiffy."

Garnet seemed satisfied with this. "There's one more task I have in mind that applies to most of you to some degree, but consider it secondary to your other assigned jobs. Pearl and Bismuth will largely be tied up. I will go around this circle from the right of me and ask each of you what you intend to do until we're ready to launch this mission." Pearl was to her right, but as she had already been spoken for, Garnet pointed to Amethyst. "Amethyst, is there anything specific you intend to do in the meantime?"

"G, I think I earned my "I pitched in" stars from tonight alone," she said smugly. "It was my idea that got Steven outta his funk, and if I didn't bring up that eye defect thing, none of us would know about that really critical detail on how Peri might be used as a weapon against us by White-Di that's kicking our butts into gear now. I can make food runs for our human peeps or help people train, y'know. Whatever."

Amethyst actually had a very good point. She worked tirelessly throughout the previous day on the project that pulled Steven back together, and Garnet didn't know for sure if she would have stumbled on the heterochromia threat on her own until it was too late to prepare for it or not.

"Fair enough," Garnet decided. "Don't hesitate to come to me if you think of anything else, then. I know how much you care for her… you've done very well tonight, Amethyst." She looked to the right of Amethyst. "Connie, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, Bismuth did make me a new sword and I haven't gotten to try it out yet," Connie said with a smirk. "Normally I train with Pearl, but if she's gonna be busy, I'm open to other partners. It's important I get a good feel for my new sword; I'm sure it won't handle exactly like Rose's. Barring that, I'm willing to help out with the pallid experiments. I'm volunteering for being the one to re-poof it once we get the sample we need, and if Pearl can give me a quick run-down, I'll try and run that operation to the best of my ability without the need to bother her."

Pearl was proud of how seriously her student took this situation, and already had multiple plans ahead for the work to be done. "I'd be happy to give you a quick lesson on how we're going to test a pallid sample," she said. "You never take long to catch on to anything else I teach you, so I'm sure this will be a simple process."

"Very good." Garnet was proud of Connie as well. Her smile disappeared when she looked to the right of the girl… where Steven sat, looking extremely worried and depressed. "Steven… it hurts to even ask you so casually. But…"

"I think I'm gonna need some time to figure out what I can do with Mom's powers now," he said lowly. "We can do without the surprises… and if I can get a handle on them, maybe it'll be a huge help for the team. I have no idea why I can pick up feelings from prerecorded footage, or why I can see this aura stuff so clearly. I'm gonna need some guidance, but…"

"I can help you with that," Garnet offered. "Some sessions of meditation should clear up many of your concerns. Steven, you most of all will need some therapeutic rehabilitation. We understand this is hurting you more than anyone else, so let us help you."

Steven looked up to the fusion and managed a small smile. "I'd like that… thanks."

"Ste-man's sorta in my boat too," Amethyst pointed out. "He's been Mister Peri-Exposition tonight. We gotta make sure our man's at 100% before we head back out there." Once again, Amethyst wasn't wrong.

"Thanks, Amethyst. I just… I just don't want Peridot to become another Fluorite, y'know?"

Just then, Bismuth's features hardened; she just remembered something crucial that was relevant to what Steven had just said. She held it down and kept quiet, though. But she had something to say and was determined to tell the gems she trusted the most to handle her revelation in a mature manner… relatively soon.

"We'll be sure it never comes to that," Garnet assured. To the right of Steven was… his father. "Ah, Greg. Speaking of therapy, it seems you did play a large role in Peridot maintaining her stability for the first phase of your mission. You have more potential patients this time around; can you handle that?"

"Phew… I was this ready to hear a "we've got nothing for you". So glad I'm wrong!" Greg laughed out with unease. "Yeah, like Amethyst said, you're gonna have to head into this with no doubts about yourself. So, you can vent at me all you want. I'll even take up being a bard and provide the music you all can work with."

Connie smiled at that. "Many studies show greater productivity if you have music to listen to while you're working. I like that idea."

That all sat with Garnet well enough. The leader tilted her focus to the right again. "Lapis. I've been told you have undergone intensive training, leaning how to fight with limited amounts of water and maintaining your supply as best you can."

Lapis sighed and nodded to that. "Yeah… I haven't had a lot of time, and even now I've not gotten very far into it. It's just… so foreign to me. And I know there's an ocean right beside me… it's so annoying!"

"Sounds like you need a training partner, then," Amethyst noted. "I'm game, Laps. How about you, Connie?"

"You would be an interesting opponent to train with," Connie admitted. "I'll take you up on that."

That made Lapis smile. "That's a relief… I can finally get some feedback on where I'm screwing up. Oh, and during downtime, I'll volunteer for the search for the cure. What Pearl set up looked like it would involve a lot of fluid, so I think I can help in that regard. Bismuth, let me know if you're making new pieces to the ship so I can cool the parts."

Bismuth gave her a thumbs-up. "Will do!"

Next to Lapis was Bismuth… and her tasks were already set in place. Still, Garnet felt not all sat well with her old friend. "Bismuth, I imagine you'll have your hands full most of the time…"

"Probably," Bismuth casually admitted. "But if I got the time, I'd be more than happy to train with Connie and Lapis, too."

Bismuth's tone betrayed what Garnet could see inside her; this was clearly a matter to be dealt with in private. "Overachieving as always, Bismuth. As for myself, I will help to the best of my ability with all of your tasks, but one thing I must mention that applies to most of you… should we ever get separated at any point on Homeworld, or if we're overpowered, we may need to resort to fusion. And I'm aware a few of you might be apprehensive about that."

That definitely earned a cringe from Lapis.

"I want to consult with each of you, save for Greg, on your current fusions, as well as fusions we have… yet to see. I will guide you along the way, but I'll leave it up to you whether or not you'll make use of that privilege." Garnet did well to sound neutral on the subject.

She knew Lapis had a bad history with it, and Bismuth had never experienced it. The fact that Connie could fuse with anyone at all was still an unprecedented phenomenon that still wasn't that well understood. Still, so far it had only been with Steven. Garnet wasn't sure how much of a role Steven's human side had in the existence of Stevonnie, but it was at least worth trying to figure out what limits were truly on the girl. And Steven… he so far had only ever fused with Connie and Amethyst. There were many potential fusions for him that remained to be seen; same can be said for newcomers Lapis and Bismuth.

Considering who they were going up against, Garnet was dead certain some fusion would be necessary to even stand a chance of surviving.

"If no one has anything else to add, let's conclude this meeting and get to work," Garnet announced as she stood. Upon receiving no response once everyone was back on their feet, they nodded to each other in unison and went their separate ways.

Except… once enough distance was made by most of the others, Bismuth made sure take hold of Pearl and Garnet by the wrists and looked behind her where Greg was heading.

"Hey, Greg," Bismuth gently called out. "Come back over here a second. There's something I gotta share with the adults of this group… or at least, ones I know are mature enough to handle this info and keep what I'm about to say for yourselves. This is something I can't tell everyone."

Greg wandered back over. Pearl looked confused but stayed put. Garnet looked to Bismuth knowingly.

"I could tell you had something on your mind," Garnet told Bismuth. "Of dire importance. Please, share with us."

Bismuth nodded. "I just remembered something when Steven mentioned Fluorite a minute ago; we haven't really gotten into how Peridot, given what we know she is now, might not come out of this alive after all. None of the reports on the known heterochromatics have a happy ending, now do they?"

This shook Pearl a bit. "Goodness, you're right. And in White Diamond's hands, we could have another Fluorite-level menace to greet us on Homeworld. We've already seen that Peridot clearly possesses some kind of power beyond her ability to manipulate metal. So, it's probable that even an Era 2 Peridot could prove to be dangerous and hard to beat… or pacify."

"I think I understand now," Garnet said. "Because Peridot specializes in intelligence and dexterity, she could easily go the Fluorite route to her downfall. And you had a grim message to share much earlier, Bismuth…"

Bismuth closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I just remembered it. And I thought… it's comin' together now. I still don' t think Peri even knows about her condition, but she was dead certain she wouldn't be herself ever again if we end up losing Steven. That's… more or less what happened to Fluorite; that was her breaking point."

"She was so sure she'd be a danger to others around her if Steven died," Pearl added. "And that's… exactly what Fluorite became. So if she's asking us to shatter her if it comes to that…"

"… We may actually have to end her life," Garnet finished. "It's good you brought this up, Bismuth. And you're right; none of the others need to know about this right now. They need to focus on making sure we don't get to this point in the first place."

Greg was not handling this too well. "Bismuth, why the heck did you bring me in for this?!"

"Because, Mister Therapist, it's something you're gonna have to keep in mind if Steven brings it up to you. There's a good chance the others will, too," Bismuth explained. "Believe me, it's tearing my heart up inside just thinkin' about this being a possibility, but it's not gonna do us any good to ignore it."

"I-I guess you're right," Greg admitted. "And I've got no problem keeping this to myself. It's just… now it feels like it's gonna be a lot harder to pull this off without breaking somebody's heart."

Pearl was resolute. "Greg, we'll make sure it won't come to that. But no matter how we end up tying up this loose end… life's never going to be the same; I'm sure of it."

"And that can be a good thing, or a bad thing," Garnet added. "So thank you, Bismuth. Let this make us all strive to work as hard as we can, so we'll know we'll be ready for anything when we get to Homeworld."

Pearl lingered behind a bit as the others broke apart to start their tasks. "I have a feeling…" she said nervously to herself. "That no one is ready for White Diamond's Homeworld…"

And so, everyone worked hard in their own way. Unsurprisingly, Steven's healing saliva proved to be a vital ingredient for vaccinating the others to resist pallidification, although it failed as a cure for those already infected.

With people to train with, Lapis' skill with limited water skyrocketed, which in turn helped Connie excel in getting used to using her new sword. She even took some time to practice a few hammer techniques; Connie insisted on keeping it as it was useful as a backup weapon if she were to lose her sword for any reason, and it just felt right to use it to rescue Peridot.

Pearl and Bismuth indeed found various ways to enhance the PeriLuck – which Steven insisted needed to be scrapped for another name. It just triggered him every time he heard it, and no one could blame him. The ship's name was officially an ironic one, and a new name would be decided at a later date. Beyond that, Pearl was able to upgrade much more of the ship than she anticipated, and as the days passed, it resembled more and more a space ship that wasn't a rush and done on the cheap. It became much more decorated externally for what was required to improve its functions.

Greg was… well, Greg. Heart of the new half of the team, he served that role just as well for his son's side of the team. Given Steven's mental state as of late, Greg really was needed to fill his son's shoes in the wholesome human factor that helped this group gel. With his help, Lapis and Bismuth (as well as himself) were fully integrated with the others. There would always be a Peri Patrol, and unsurprisingly they stuck by each other whenever the group had to congregate, but there was a true feeling of unity with these 8 individuals.

Similarly, Amethyst was Amethyst. She helped with some odd jobs and assisted with projects, but mostly she trained with Lapis and Connie or joked around with Greg while going out for food. Given what Amethyst contributed to this mission already, she earned some time to relax.

Garnet set aside time for everyone to consult for fusion, or any other issue that could be resolved through meditation. She made sure to make routine checks on everyone's progress as well and made notes on what had been accomplished on each day. With this, it was the best way for Garnet to gauge how much longer they needed to prepare before leaving as soon as they could.

Six days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Steven stood with Garnet as the sun set over the horizon. Both looked at the ocean intently, but that was the furthest thing from their minds now.

"Steven. Do you feel you are ready?"

Steven's hands tightened into fists, but his expression remained firm and determined. "Depends on what you mean. To confront White Diamond, or… get Peridot back."

"Let's just say both."

Steven nodded. "I think I have a handle on Mom's powers to deal with White Diamond now. I know these are powers that can easily be abused, so I know my limits. But for the first time in a long time, I feel like… maybe I could even reason with her, so no one else has to die."

Garnet smiled. "Good answer."

"And I've been ready to save Peridot ever since that door came between us," Steven added; his voice much lower and restrained. "Garnet… every day that's passed, I worried that we're too late for her already. But… I can't know that for sure until I go back. It's not like we can travel back in time, so… it is what it is. We gotta live with the consequences."

"Your mother would be proud, Steven. We are all proud of you… and you know she is, too."

Steven closed his eyes and tried to breathe in more deeply to keep his body relaxed. Now that more time as passed, Steven's had the time to properly digest every word he heard from Peridot. He rewatched his own message multiple times; it got to a point where Steven's dreams reflected Peridot's daydreams. That made it harder for Steven to properly focus or calm down over the past six days, but it kept his goal fresh in his mind. It was a proper counterpart of Peridot's methods to keep herself together just by looking at a picture of Steven.

"Garnet… are we ready to go?" Steven asked this question every day. In the earlier days, he asked multiple times. This was the first time he asked today.

Finally, Garnet gave him the answer he desired. "It's finally time. Let's bring Peridot home, Steven."

Steven nodded in agreement as he walked with Garnet to find and assemble their other teammates.

An odd question that lingered in the back of Steven's mind all week finally came to the forefront.

"Hey, Garnet? In my video, Peridot said you knew her birthday in Earth time. She was gonna tell me, but her voice gave out again by then… so she told me to ask you."

Garnet smirked at that. "Did she, now? Hm… it's only fair to tell you, at least. When she emerged from Homeworld, it was August the 27th on Earth."

"–Whoa! She's got an August birthday, too?!" Steven was amazed.

"It's fitting, given what gemstone represents August," Garnet noted. "You two bookend each side of the month, almost."

"That's so cool…"

"At least it won't be hard fitting candles on either of your cakes," Garnet said with a chuckle. "In a few weeks' time after we wish you a happy 15th birthday, we will give Peridot her very first cake in recognition of her 14th. I think she'll enjoy a party in her honor."

"Yeah," Steven agreed and laughed along. "Peridot can finally have a party that really is all… about…"

A few beats of silence later…

"SHE'S YOUNGER THAN ME?!"

"Pppft! Yeah right! Like a marathon is gonna 'teach me a lesson about respect'! First thing I do when I reach the end of this is call her a freakin' pebble! She's the dumbest Diamond ever!"

Peridot, still in her upgraded default outfit but without her visor, was running for her life in a grassy field where the white fog was so thick, the gem could barely see what was ahead of her. Everything was devoid of color, save for herself. She quickly found out it was a bad idea to use her gemstone as a flashlight in foggy conditions, and while Peridot would never admit it, but she felt very vulnerable with her eyes exposed like this.

The entire time Peridot had been running, a thunderous, almost deafening beat of what sounded like a taiko drum getting slammed every 10 seconds or so (which became much more frequent if Peridot happened to stop moving) echoed behind her. And Peridot knew something was chasing her. It didn't matter if Peridot was in fact on Homeworld or in another one of White Diamond's illusions; the little gem knew if whatever was behind her caught her, she'd be shattered.

Finally, the beats got quieter and quieter as a sign came into view, all lit up for Peridot's convenience. There was no longer any indication the was being chased, so Peridot slowed to a stop to catch her breath. She was just glad she didn't trip and fall this time; that natural blunder of hers became the technician's undoing.

"Okay… okay… now what've you got for me, Dorky Diamond…" Peridot honestly preferred these punishments she got for mouthing off to White Diamond over behaving. Being held captive was one boring gig, but it was beyond cathartic for Peridot to just mock and insult White Diamond every chance she got, and knew in her heart it was worth it, no matter what "punishment" she was subjected to.

"Find the 8 Touchscreens…? What does that even…" Something glowed from the ground; Peridot quickly tossed it up and found… the first alleged touchscreen.

"Okay… weird of you to give me a freebie, but whatever." Peridot was uncertain of what White Diamond's angle was here, but against her better judgment, she read the screen. "We shift to certain "oral engagements" that are–" Peridot cut herself off right there, blushing furiously. She glared up at the fog-covered sky and shook her fist angrily. "WHITE! For the last time, get out of my head, you CLOD!"

Suddenly, a chilling ambient sound filled the area. Some parts of the fog and area grew a little darker, and eventually evaporated to reveal a seemingly endless grassy field, but on the side were hills and trees. There might have even been buildings in the distance. The grass was still a dead faded gray color, but now the sky turned pure black. Peridot stored away the touchscreen, activated her gem's light emitter, and looked around quickly at every angle, only to find nothing right by her to jump scare the gem as White usually did.

Instead, after a few quiet moments, the entire setting seemed to distort with static as an agonizing noise that Peridot could hardly identify – perhaps a radio signal that was barely within range or feedback from a poorly-placed microphone – until it gradually got louder and buzzed inside Peridot's mind.

That alone was enough to make Peridot hightail it out of the area and run somewhere else. Peridot understood she was in a new "game" now; something oddly reminiscent of the first time she saw that close-up of White Diamond's face in Sapphire's vision.

Just as she thought of it, that very image flashed right in front of Peridot followed with a loud rumbling of thunder added with the static distortion. Peridot screamed and immediately ran in another direction; she found that the effect waned and eventually vanished the further she got.

Peridot remembered she was supposed to find touch screens; thankfully a black sky would make them easy to spot… assuming they weren't up the hills or between the trees, which Peridot knew meant there totally were touch screens in there.

Another hard lesson she learned: never run in the same direction for too long. The second Peridot saw a mere flicker of distortion, she started to veer off to another angle. One moment Peridot saw absolutely nothing but darkness on all sides of her… but the second a pulse of distortion hit, Peridot suddenly saw an absurdly tall white figure; slim as a twig, but all the more terrifying as her face was impossible to make out.

Peridot kept an eye on that figure and saw it flicker out of existence… only to appear right beside her, causing one massive explosion of distortion and that brain-bursting noise. Peridot was glad she was running; that was the only reason she wasn't caught then and there, but she felt herself destabilize for that single moment.

"G-got it," she understood. "Collect the touchscreens… g-get caught, and I get poofed… or shattered!" Peridot wailed; she knew no one direction was totally safe anymore. Her eyes lit up, however, when another touchscreen came into view.

She sped up to snatch it and immediately made a U-turn to run the opposite direction; Peridot knew that face or that pale figure would be nearby after grabbing the screen.

Peridot grumbled as she tried to read the screen while keeping an eye on where she was running. "Steven… Lapis… Amethyst… Everyone… I'm sorry."

That actually made Peridot cry for real. "STOP THINKING MY STUFF RIGHT BEFORE I THINK IT, YOU MILKY HAG!"

Another distortion and following screech later, Peridot was off in another direction to find her next touchscreen.

All the while, White Diamond watched her captive from a distance. The actual Peridot had been poofed under mysterious circumstances since the day of her capture and remained in gemstone form all this time. This was the only way White could get any "fun" out of her hostage as she patiently waited for Pink Diamond's return.

"You're quite the stubborn little worker gem… but I'll force you out if I have to. You can't stay in your shell forever; not from White Diamond. So, keep running your mouth… you'll come out eventually and I can meet you properly… Twilight."

[ END LOG ]

NOTES:

And we are DONE with this! This is a new record for how quickly I finished a chaptered story. But that means GA3 looms over, and this fic saved you over 50k words to read all in one sitting, so you're welcome!

Just wanted to note some things since this is the final chapter of the side-story: Peridot's age? That was not me engineering this to make the pairing "okay" to people who get up in arms about humans x millennia-old gems. I made her 13 because it's funny. For me, anyway. Peridot could be any age in canon, honestly, but frankly it's just more amusing to have a gem the age of a human teenager hang with these much older gems and pretend she didn't just emerge from a rock a less than two decades ago.

I also went wild with references in these later chapters. Uh, the last bit is very much blatant. I'm just wondering if anyone's gonna catch on to where I based off Fluorite's story. Technically two works, but within the same franchise..

So, shit will get crazy in GA3: I hope the story has established that well enough. I am honestly surprised I made a dumb early scene in GA2 functional to the plot (aka takin' care of bismuth). This chapter is also roughly the size of GA1, so take that as you will.

I have at least two brand new fusions planned for GA3, and I'm really considering some new ones with Lapis and/or Bismuth but can't really think of how to even go about that. Also, an excuse to use Rainbow Quartz 2.0 and Sunstone (maaaaybe Obsidian, maaaybe)! So, yeah. There will be madness. Honestly, I didn't think I'd break so many hearts for GA2's end. It would be way too easy to conclude GA with a downer ending for 3... so I'm gonna give myself the challenge of somehow making GA3 end on a positive note in a satisfactory way. Don't I just love making it all harder for myself! I don't even want to think about how long GA3 will ultimately be, or how long it'll take to complete... after the way GA2 blew up, I'm not promising anything. Because I'll probably be way off the mark anyway.

So, I hope you enjoyed this little detour that expands the GA canon (in fact, this might as well be required reading for GA3)! It was a joy making semi-short chapters for the first time in ages! Astonishing how even after 20+ years of fic-writing, I'll still surprise myself with what I end up writing. Very fitting that I finished this on Valentine's Day too, hahaha. Seeya at GA3, readers!