Steven stood there frozen, not knowing what to say, think, or do. Jasper, who previously had attempted to hurt him and his friends, now stood there and stared at him with a mix of desperation and admiration. A sense of guilt poured in as he recalled how he used the revelation of his Diamond heritage to get her to spare him... how much better could he be than his mom, if he was tricking Jasper in such a similar way?
Falling to her knees, shaking the ground, Jasper would clasp her hands together and plead, “M-My Diamond, I need your guidance! I thought that I had myself under control but I still feel so much confliction inside of me! What do I do, how do I keep myself worthy of your grace...?!”
“J-Jasper... I...”
Sensing something wrong, Jasper would promise, “I can uh, give you time to speak if you need! I’ll wait as long as you wish- after all, I’ve waited thousands of years for you to somehow some back, and you made all that waiting worth it!”
“I’m... I’m not who you think I am...”
This left the soldier looking quite bewildered and confused, but soon something would interrupt that. Behind Steven came Garnet, Pearl, and Bismuth, all looking quite determined to protect the youngest of their group.Â
(Peridot and Spinel had their own thing going on, and didn’t feel like they’d have much luck in this situation.)
However, the three would be confused when Amethyst came to step in front of Jasper, urging the other Crystal Gems, “Now’s not the time, we’re having a moment!”
“Pink Diamond, tell your servants that-”
Suddenly shouting, Steven proclaimed with tears in his eyes, “My name is Steven, not Pink Diamond! Pink Diamond is my mom, and I told you I was Pink Diamond because you would’ve shattered me otherwise! And they’re not my servants, they’re my family!”
“S...Steven...? T-that’s... no, you’re not serious, are you?”
Pearl, trying to butt in and add a bit of clarity, would explain, “H-he’s telling the truth, Pink Diamond is his mother. S-she uh, took on the identity of Rose Quartz-”
“Y-you’re lying to me! What else can I expect from a defective Pearl like you?! Even if this isn’t Pink Diamond, I know that she’d never pretend to be the leader of the Crystal Gems!”
Garnet would adjust her visor to get a better understanding of what to say, and soon begin to speak: “She wasn’t pretending. She was our leader. Pink Diamond saw the harm coming to the Earth and felt she had to stop it, but feared that the Diamonds would not care to hear her arguments. That is why she became someone else. I know it may hurt at first, but you have to let it hurt so you can start to heal.”
“...why... why did you let me out, if all you wanted was to have me suffer...?”
the question shocked Amethyst, who did not expect Jasper to suddenly turn to face her.
Amethyst wanted to say something indignant or angry in response, but could only muster tears as she responded, “I... I didn’t want you to hurt... but we’re all hurting right now.”
Jasper would turn back to the doorway where the Crystal Gems stood, and after a moment, Garnet would whisper something in the other two’s ear.Â
And with that, they stepped out of the way, allowing Jasper to dash out. She did end up accidentally smashing the door down on her way out, but that was less than one might expect.
“G-Garnet, is she-”
Interrupting Steven, knowing what he was going to say, Garnet assured him, “She won’t hurt anyone. She intends to find a place to be alone. But I know she won’t want to be alone for long, so when she’s ready, we can speak to her.”
“But right now, Steven, I think it might be good if we talked,” Pearl told him, and he’d respond with a slow nod.
~~~
At the barn, Peridot was making sure the drill’s construction was moving along smoothly, while Spinel had some ice cream. In the distance, she swore she saw some sort of familiar orange blur, but she’d deduce it was just a strange sun flare messing with her vision and move on.
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