I’ll Keep Fighting, One Day At A Time

Chapter 1: Release

Steven had gone to the heart of the temple in order to contemplate about the gems they poofed. Even though he understands that there was nothing he could do to help the corrupted gems, he felt really bad about it, especially about Bismuth. Steven got closer to the heart.

“Is there anything that can be done?” Steven asked, as it echoes throughout the room. “They’re all still corrupted, and the Crystal Gems seem to have mostly given up on un-corrupting them... But I promise, I’m going to help them all!”

Steven continued to walk towards the heart as he kept talking to himself. “The Crystal Gems don’t have an explanation for why my healing powers temporarily worked on Nephrite, but it did. Maybe if there were more Rose Quartzes, our healing powers combined could save you all! Or what if there’s some way to enhance my healing powers? There’s got to be something that can work...”

Steven jumped up to one of the veins of the heart. “But we haven’t seen any other Rose Quartzes, or even another gem with the same power as me, and creating new gems wouldn’t work for multiple reasons... If I asked Peridot, she would probably say that’s not how gem powers work and just call me a clod... But what if Peridot and Bismuth worked together to create something? They’re both really smart and great at making things, but would Bismuth really work with us? I doubt it...”

Steven licked the palm of his hand and stared at it. “I have incredible healing powers that can save those that are heavily wounded, but it still isn’t enough... Maybe I can heal them and I’m missing something! But... if I am missing something, then what? I mean, Mom was a master of her powers, and even she couldn’t fix the corrupted gems!”

Steven laid his hand on the vein he was sitting on. “Maybe I can’t save them... Maybe there’s nothing I can do...”

Suddenly, Steven’s gem started to glow along with the heart. The heart slowly started to beat, which traveled across every vein throughout the temple. Steven jumped off of the heart.

“Wha-what’s going on?!” Steven shouted. “I’ve been in this room before and touched the heart; why is it now acting weird?!”

The heart started to beat faster and glowed brighter with every beat. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all entered the room, following one of the veins. They spotted Steven and ran towards him instead.

“Steven!!” They all huddled around him.

“Are you okay dude?! Did anything happen to you?!” Amethyst asked concerned.

“Why were you in this room?! We told you that it was dangerous!!” Garnet scolded.

“What were you doing that caused the heart of the temple to start acting like this?!” Pearl demanded.

“I’m okay guys, I swear!” Steven reassured. “I-I-I was just sitting on top of that vein when my gem started to glow! Then the heart started to glow and beat!”

“But why would that happen? You’ve been on that same vein when we were collecting those escaped gems, but nothing happened then...” Amethyst said dumbfounded.

“Amethyst!!” Pearl shouted. “We were supposed to hide that from Garnet!! Nice going!”

“I’ve always known about that, I just never said anything.” Garnet said, readjusting her visor. “Did you really think you could hide that from me?”

“We can talk about that later, we’ve got a bigger problem!” Steven pointed to the heart, which was beating faster and glowing brighter than ever. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stood in front of Steven.

“Steven, stay behind us no matter what, and if anything goes wrong, form a bubble around yourself!!” Pearl ordered.

“Should we really be staying here? What if the temple collapses?!” Amethyst said concerned.

“Gems, weapons!” Garnet commanded. “Be ready for anything, and if things go wrong, run for the exit!”

The heart beat started to slow down, but it was still shining brightly. It eventually slowed down to a very slow pulse, but nothing else happened.

“...Is it over? It looks like it stopped beating...” Amethyst observed.

“But if it’s over, then why is it still glowing?” Pearl wondered.

“Don’t drop your guards just yet, something’s not right...” Garnet stated.

Steven’s gem and the heart stopped glowing. With one final beat, the front of the heart shattered open, with crystal shards flying everywhere. Steven created a shield, stopping the shards from impaling the Crystal Gems.

“Are you all okay?!” Steven asked worried.

“Yeah we are, thanks dude.” Amethyst sighed.

“The heart shattered... this can’t be happening...” Pearl stared in disbelief.

“Why did this happen? What’ll become of the temple now that the heart is ruined?” Garnet questioned.

Steven put his shield away to get a better view of the heart, which caused the fragments of the heart to hit the ground. “Guys, I think there’s something inside the heart...!”

In the center of the hollow crystal heart was a rose-colored bubble with something inside. Without anything happening, the bubble popped, causing what was inside to fall. It rolled outside of the heart, and stopped in front of the Crystal Gems. It was a clear spherical orb with a gold cube in the center of it.

“Is that... a gem?” Steven stared in amazement.

“I’m not so sure, dude. What is that thing in the center of it?” Amethyst pointed out. “If it’s a gem, there’s no way it could survive with that thing lodged in it.”

“How did that... thing... get inside the heart in the first place? If it is a gem, why would it be hidden?” Pearl questioned. “...Was this all Rose’s doing?”

“If it is a gem, it’ll reform any minute!” Garnet announced. “There’s no telling if it’s friend or foe, or even if it’s corrupted! Be prepared for anything!”

The strange orb started to shine a combination of white and gold. Suddenly, the heart started to glow again, but Steven’s gem didn’t. The fragments started to rise into the air, glowing as well. They drew closer to the heart, rearranging themselves. They fit back into the heart until they were all back in place. As the glow faded, there were no cracks or signs to show that the heart was previously shattered. The strange orb stopped shining.

“No way, the heart is back to normal!” Steven said stunned.

“So, wait... basically nothing happened to the heart? Does this mean the temple is fine?” Amethyst asked. “I’m so confused...”

“I never thought that would be possible...” Pearl stared in disbelief. “Is that thing really a gem, or some sort of artifact?”

“Whatever it is, we’re not going to get any answers just standing around.” Garnet announced. “First thing’s first: Steven has some sort of connection with the heart of the temple. Steven, we need you to tell us everything that happened before the heart started beating.”

As Steven retold his story, the Crystal Gems kept a close eye on the heart and the strange orb.

“Hold on, dude! Are you saying your spit caused the heart to start beating?!” Amethyst started laughing.

“This isn’t something to joke about, Amethyst.” Garnet said seriously. “This means Rose Quartz is directly connected to what just happened.”

“Why would Rose want to hide this from us? It doesn’t make any sense, and here of all places!” Pearl shouted, emotionally distraught. “...We can work it out later, I suppose... If it was a gem, it would’ve reformed by now. It’s probably best we take it somewhere safer...”

As Pearl went to pick up the strange orb, it started to glow again. Pearl jumped back and the Crystal Gems readied their weapons. The strange orb raised into the air as it glowed brighter. Light started to form around it, similarly to how gems reform, but something was different. When other gems reform, they are flexible and move around freely. With the strange orb, however, it was very rigid with sharp movements. When forming into a body, the outline had many straight lines and angles, unlike other gems who are more round. As the body was done forming, the angles and straight lines snapped apart, causing the body to completely form.

She had a yellow-orange body, with that strange sphere in the palm of the left hand. Her clothes were all over the place; nothing matched, the design of them were the same straight lines and angles that appeared as it’s body formed, and even pieces of its clothing were missing. She wore an intact orange ballet shoe on her left foot and a yellow boot with part of the back missing on her right foot. Several small portions of her white leggings were missing. She had a blocky orange skirt on with large sections missing. She had an orange bracelet on her right arm and a shattered yellow armband on her left arm. She had a white shirt with short sleeves and the left shoulder missing. There were two grey straps that went around the front of her shirt, with a diamond where both straps intersected in the center of the left side. Her hair was out of control, with the left side pointing up and the right side pointed down. She had part of a pink mask covering the upper-left of her face, and there was a giant crack diagonally across her face exactly where the mask ends.

Now that the body was completely formed, she stopped floating. She fell face-first on the ground and had no sign of moving. Everyone stared at the unconscious body.

“Who is that?!” Steven shouted in excitement. “She has to be some gem from the war, right?”

“If she is, she’s no gem I’ve ever seen.” Amethyst admitted. “I’ve seen some odd looking gems that were corrupted, but she is something else...”

“There’s something... odd about this gem...” Pearl hesitated. “...Why does she look familiar...? I think I would remember a gem this strange...”

“She’s not your run-of-the-mill gem, that’s for sure.” Garnet stated. “Be careful, we still don’t have a motive or her alliance during the war.”

The gem started to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes, the pupils shaped like squares, and raised her head, looking around dazed.

“H-huh?” The gem whispered. “Who... said that?”

The gem slowly got up on her feet. The Crystal Gems pointed their weapons at the mysterious gem, but she didn’t seem to notice. She turned around, looking at the whole room. “Where... am I?” She said, still confused. She completely turned around, and noticed the Crystal Gems were ready to attack her. She screamed and fell back, putting her arms up in front of her face. “P-p-please, don’t hurt me!!” She cried.

“Who are you?!” Amethyst yelled.

“Why do you have Pink Diamond’s emblem?!” Pearl interrogated.

“What did you do to the heart of the temple?!” Garnet demanded.

“I-I... I-I-I...” She shuddered, paralyzed with fear. She started to cry as she gripped her head.

“Guys, stop! You’re scaring her!” Steven jumped in front of the terrified gem to protect her. “She doesn’t know anything! Leave her alone!”

“Dude, move!” Amethyst said annoyed.

“We don’t know if she’s an ally or not!” Garnet stated.

“Get back behind us before you get hurt, or worse!” Pearl demanded.

“No! I’m not moving!” Steven yelled. “She hasn’t done anything wrong and doesn’t deserve to be treated like this!”

The scared gem stopped crying and looked up at Steven. “You... W-why are you doing this...? W-why stand up for such an abomination...?”

Steven turned around to face her. “Because you don’t deserve to be hated for being you. You’re not an abomination, and you don’t deserve to be treated like one. Please, let us help you.” Steven extended his hand to her.

She looked at Steven’s hand, and smiled. She wiped off her tears and grabbed Steven’s hand. Steven helped pull her off up the ground. The Crystal Gems started to lower their weapons and approach them.

Suddenly, the gem shrieked in pain. She pulled her hand away from Steven’s and grabbed her head. Her gem and her “scar” started glowing brightly, and she fell to her knees. The Crystal Gems readied their weapons again out of fear, but Steven stayed by her side.

“Steven!!” They shouted. “Get away from her!!”

“No, I’m not leaving her!!” Steven yelled. “W-what’s wrong?! What happened?!”

“I... I...!” She started to cry again as her scar and gem continued to glow. She stopped screaming and let go of her head as her glow started to fade away. She looked up at Steven. “...I remember...!” She gasped.

“Did you lose your memory? Is that what that crack is?” Steven asked, worried. “What do you remember?”

“I... I remember when I first emerged. All the other gems there hated me, but there was always one gem that kept defending me. After that I... I...” She grabbed her head in frustration. “...Argh!! I can’t remember anything else!”

“The other gems... So you were created before the war.” Garnet noted.

“Well, can you remember what that thing in your gem is? Or at the very least your name?” Amethyst asked.

“...My name?” She hesitated. She looked at her gem. She winced and started to reach for her head again. “M-my name... it... it’s Pyrite!” She said suddenly with little confidence.

“Pyrite...!” Pearl gasped as she covered her mouth. No one else seemed to notice Pearl’s reaction.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Pyrite! I’m Steven, and this is Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.” Steven introduced. “We’ll help you get your memories back, I promise! Come on, let’s get out of here, and we can explain everything that’s happened. Maybe that can bring back some of your memories.”

“...You’d really do that for me? But... why?” Pyrite asked.

“We’re not going to let you face your problems alone. You need help, and we won’t abandon you in your time of need. What do you say?” Steven extended his arm out again as the Crystal Gems put their weapons away.

“I... I... thank you!” Pyrite smiled and took Steven’s hand. Together, they all left the heart of the temple to help restore Pyrite’s memories.

End Of Chapter 1

The Diamonds and Yellow Pearl all read Blue Pearl’s story about Spinel and Pink as humans. When finished, they returned the screen to Blue Pearl, who eagerly awaited their feedback.

“So how did you all like it?” Blue Pearl said enthusiastically.

“My, you have such an imagination!” Blue Diamond praised. “You’re very creative, and now a great writer as well! I remember what you were like when you first emerged, always drawing on your screen.”

“I’m guessing you were talking about Steven and his friends when you meant you got help from human life.” Yellow Diamond suspected. “Regardless, human life can be quite threatening at times...”

“I believe everyone fit their role perfectly!” White Diamond exclaimed. “And such an interesting turn of events at the end! You really have a natural talent at writing!”

Blue Pearl was grinning widely. “Thank you all so much for your encouragement!”

Yellow Pearl sighed. “Well, I was going to say you might have to lay off all the writing and drawing, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen anytime soon...”

“Of course not! Besides, I know you liked it! Come on, just admit it.”

Yellow Pearl started to blush. “...I did really like it!”

Blue Pearl stood up and threw her arms in the air. “Ha ha! Yes!”

Pink started laughing. “Well, I can’t wait to see what else you make, even if it’s about the two of us!”

“Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty more about you two! I’ve only scratched the surface about what you two could do!” Blue Pearl assured them.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll like whatever you make!”

“Yeah, I’m sure whatever you’ll make will be good.” Spinel said unenthusiastically.

Pink noticed her behavior. “Hey are you okay? You seem a bit bummed out. Did you not like the story?”

“No, I thought the story was amazing! It’s just that... after reading it, I understand how fortunate I am that Steven and his friends forgave me for what I did. I want to thank them somehow...”

“Well, why don’t we go to Earth and tell them in person? I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture of us thanking them face-to-face”

“That’s a good idea, even though I’m still nervous about seeing them again...”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t feel comfortable about it.”

The strange feeling continued to grow stronger, and compelled her to follow through. Spinel grabbed Pink’s hand. “No, I want to do this. Besides, with you, I feel like I can do anything.”

Pink started to blush. “...Thank you. I feel the same when I’m with you as well.”

They got off of Pink Diamond’s throne and headed for the warp pad. Before they activated it, they saw that the Diamonds, Blue, and Yellow Pearl were still sitting in their respective thrones.

“Well, what are you all waiting for? Come to Earth with us!” Pink insisted.

“Yeah! I’m sure Steven and his friends will be glad to see all of you as well!” Spinel stated.

The Diamonds, Yellow, and Blue Pearl all looked at each other, then nodded. They all got off their thrones and headed for the warp pad. With every gem on it, Spinel and Pink activated it, and they all set off for Little Homeworld.

It was noon when they arrived at Little Homeworld. When they looked around, there was no gem in sight, even though Little Homeworld looked finished.

“Strange... where is everyone?” Pink looked around confused. “The gems live here, and the humans are close by, right? So, how come no one is here?”

“Maybe we should’ve contacted Steven and told him we would be visiting...” Spinel said embarrassed. “...I guess we should look around for them.”

Just then, Steven jumped over one of the buildings. “Surprise!!” he shouted. After that, many gems came out of their hiding place and surrounded them.

“Huh?! What’s going on?!” Pink asked alarmed.

“We’re sorry we couldn’t make it to the ball, so we wanted to throw you a party here on Earth!” Steven exclaimed.

Spinel was flattered. “Aw, for us? You really shouldn’t have.”

“Steven felt really bad that we couldn’t all go to the ball since we were preoccupied fixing Beach City and finishing with Little Homeworld, so he came up with a party here on Earth.” Pearl explained. “He insisted it would be better to help you get more comfortable here, Spinel.”

“Oh, right... sorry for all the damage I caused...” Spinel said ashamed.

“Aw, don’t worry about it, water under the bridge!” Amethyst reassured her. “Besides, we’ve been through worse, and this time, we had every gem here helping us out the whole time! It was nothing, really.”

“This is all very nice of you to do, but how did you know we would come here?” Pink wondered.

“Steven kept asking when you would come back to Earth.” Garnet stated as she readjusted her visor. “I used my future vision to see when you would show up. Although it’s strange, because I never saw everyone else show up as well.”

“That’s okay, the more the merrier, right? I’m glad you all decided to show up!” Steven noticed the Spinel and Pink were still holding hands. Steven had a massive grin. “So Spinel... making new friends, I see!”

Spinel and Pink looked into each other’s eyes. “Yes I have, and I’m really glad I did.”

“That’s incredible news, you two!” Pearl congratulated. “I’m so happy that you two bonded so quickly!”

“You two are more than just friends.” Garnet noted. “I recognize that look in your eyes.”

“You’ve seen it before? Where?” Pink didn’t understand.

“Isn’t it obvious? You two are in love!” Amethyst said bluntly. “You two are just like Ruby and Sapphire!”

“L-love?!” Spinel and Pink were in disbelief. They were in love with each other the whole time? Was that what the strange feeling was?

“You two never noticed?” Pearl doubted their reaction.

“You two are perfect together.” Garnet pointed out.

“Well, spill the beans!” Amethyst implored. “How did it all start?!”

Spinel and Pink told the entire story about when they first met and how they got so close together. When they finished the story, every gem was cheering for them.

“Wow... you two have been through so much together...” Steven was shocked. “I mean, I already knew about your broadcasts, but still...”

“You two cared for each other and helped each other overcome their fears.” Garnet started.

“You two protected each other and wouldn’t let them get hurt in any way.” Amethyst continued.

“You two bonded with each other and created memories that will last forever.” Pearl finished.

“Don’t you two see now? You love each other! You two have a special connection that can’t be broken by anyone or anything. Make sure you two cherish it.” Steven stated.

“...So we really do love each other!” Pink understood her feelings now.

“Love... so that’s what I’ve felt towards you the whole time!” Spinel felt much happier after knowing what the strange feeling really was.

Spinel and Pink hugged each other, embracing each other’s love. Every gem celebrated their discovery, even the Diamonds, Blue, and Yellow Pearl.

“What do say we get this party started?” Steven held out his hands. Spinel and Pink looked into each other’s eyes, nodded, and grabbed Steven’s hands.

“Let’s get this started!!” Spinel and Pink declared.

The party had officially started. The Diamonds has many conversations with all the other gems, especially about condolences for the shattered gems. Blue Pearl shared many drawings and stories, including ones about Spinel and Pink, which every gem enjoyed. Yellow Pearl started a broadcast so other gems from around the galaxy could view and join in. Spinel and Pink played many games with the other gems, including juggling, tag, hide-and-seek, and other games that Steven introduced to them. There was even a dance, in which Spinel and Pink fused into Rhodochrosite, and every gem cheered and started to fuse as well, including Opal. The party went on for hours and every gem had fun.

By the time the party was over, it was sunset. Spinel and Pink were sitting with each other on top of the hill, holding each other’s hands.

Spinel turned towards Pink. “Hey, Pink... I’ve been thinking a lot about us being together recently.”

“I have been too.” Pink confessed. “I’m so glad we were able to meet and fall in love with each other.”

“Me too.” Spinel started to tear up. “Pink, can you make me a promise?”

“Of course! What is it?”

“I want to stay with you, forever! I don’t mean fused together, like Garnet, but I don’t ever want to leave your side! I want to be with you until the day we’re shattered!”

“Spinel... I feel the same way! I want to stay with you as well! My love for you for you makes me feel like we’re unstoppable!” Pink looked Spinel in her eyes. “Spinel, I promise, I will stay with you until the day we’re shattered, no matter what!”

Spinel started to cry. “Pink... thank you! I promise that I will stay with you as well until the day we’re shattered!”

Pink was crying as well. “Spinel... I love you so much...”

“I love you as well...”

Spinel and Pink hugged each other and kissed. When they stopped kissing, they started to sing together. “Here we are in the future... Here we are in the future, and it’s bright! Nothing to fear, no one to fight! I can’t believe we’ve come so far...”

Spinel and Pink fused into Rhodochrosite again. “Happily ever after never ends...” The strange feeling was really their love for each other, and they were okay with it. They loved each other deeply, and nothing in the universe would ever change that.

Spinel and Pink were talking to the Diamonds and Pearls about what they did together in The Garden and around Homeworld, at the request of Blue Pearl. Together, they explained about the destruction of Pink Diamond’s Garden and the ambush from the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst.

“My, so that’s why you two destroyed The Garden.” Blue Diamond was surprised to know the truth.

“I’ll be honest, it did sound like a very relaxing thing to do, and I wouldn’t mind trying it for myself.” Yellow Diamond confesses.

“It’s still really hard to believe that those gems attacked and attempted to shatter you two... I’m so glad you’re both okay.” Yellow Pearl was pleased.

“Regardless, you two handled the situation well, and I’m very proud of both of you!” White Diamond praised them.

Blue Pearl was strangely silent. Even though Blue Pearl requested to hear the stories the most, she appeared to be paying the least amount of attention to them. She was alternating between drawing and writing, but they couldn’t see them because she was sitting with Blue Diamond, while Spinel and Pink were still sitting together on Pink Diamond’s throne.

“...What exactly are you doing, Blue Pearl? You wanted to hear these stories so badly, especially since we promised you to tell us what we did in The Garden, but you’ve been staring at your screen since we started. Have you been paying attention?” Spinel was confused.

Blue Pearl gave a massive smile towards Spinel and Pink. “Don’t worry, I’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying.”

“Okay, but... what exactly are you working on?” Pink turned towards Yellow Pearl. “Do you know what she’s been working on?”

Yellow Pearl was afraid to answer. “Blue Pearl has always been into drawing. She was drawing when Steven was originally on trial when we thought he was Rose Quartz, and even created our broadcasting logo. However, after Steven helped change us and started Era 3, there was a short period where we stayed on Earth. During that time, Steven’s human friend introduced her to stories and drawings of people being together. Actually, that was when she first got into writing. After that, she started to become a bit... obsessed with them, and started to do similar drawings and stories with gems. Now, I’m starting to think she’s doing similar drawings and stories with you two...”

“Stories about us?!” Spinel got really flustered. The strange feeling was growing stronger, and she thought Blue Pearl’s stories and drawings would have the same feeling.

“That sounds really interesting. Do you think we could see some of them?” Pink was thoroughly intrigued.

“Sure. Here’s a picture a drew of you two during the ball.” Blue Pearl compressed her screen, grabbed it by the corner, and threw it to Spinel and Pink. Spinel caught it and enlarged the screen, revealing the image. The drawing showed Spinel hugging Pearl multiple times and kissing each other. Spinel and Pink were blushing.

They both stared at each other in total embarrassment. Was this the strange feeling dwelling inside of them?

Blue Pearl had a massive grin on her face. “Judging from your reactions, I think you both enjoyed it! Here, toss the screen back and I’ll bring up a story I wrote while you two were ‘playing’ in The Garden.” They followed what she said and received the screen back with the story on it.

“This story involves many aspects that are common to humans. In fact, the story is about if every gem was also just a human. I’ve put a lot of thought into how every gem would act if they were all humans, and I believe I got them right with a bit of help about human life in regard to this story’s scenario. Anyway, without any further delays, my latest story!” Blue Pearl was really enthusiastic to have them read it.

Spinel and Pink were a little scared to read the story. If it was anything like the picture she drew, things were going to get much more awkward between the two of them. The strange feeling for each other compelled them to read the story.

It was another day of high school that Spinel was dreading to attend. Her hatred towards Pink Diamond after abandoning her had ruined her trust. She just wanted to be left alone; she didn’t want to get hurt anymore.

She was looking at the floor as tears ran down her face, when she bumped into another student. She looked up and say it was her classmate, Pink Pearl.

“O-oh, sorry Pink, I didn’t see you there...” Spinel sniffled and started to walk away. Pink stopped her before she could leave.

“Oh, it’s okay! Don’t-“ She noticed Spinel was crying. “Are you okay? What happened to you? Your eyeliner is smearing...”

Spinel wiped her tears and makeup off her cheeks. “Yeah... I’m fine. Just... leave me alone...” She tried to walk away, but Pink grabbed her shoulder.

“I know you’re not okay... come on.” Pink grabbed Spinel’s hand and started walking towards the bathroom. “We’ll be alone, you can tell me what’s wrong in there.”

Spinel and Pink were alone in the bathroom, and Spinel continued to cry.

“Okay, you can tell me what’s wrong now.” Pink insisted.

Spinel refused to answer. “Please... just leave me alone... why do you even care about me?”

“Because I want to help comfort you! I’ve noticed that you’ve been crying for the last week, and I want to help you feel better. So please, can you tell me why you’ve been so sad?”

Spinel started to open up. “...It’s about Pink Diamond... she’s abandoned me for her other, better friends! I hate her so much!!”

“O-oh... Pink Diamond...” Pink put her hand over her eyepatch.

Spinel noticed her reaction, and it brought her concern. “Did she do something to you two? I’ve noticed your eyepatch, but I had no idea it could be related to her... what happened to you?”

Pink started to cry as well. “You know that Pink Diamond is the principal’s granddaughter, right? Well, I used to be her friend, too, until... she wanted me to join her in... very reckless activities. My eye got injured as a result, and I can no longer see out of it... When the principal found out what we did, she blamed me for encouraging Pink Diamond in doing something so dangerous, even though I tried to talk her out of it. I was never allowed to talk to Pink Diamond again after that...”

“Pink... I’m so sorry you had to go through that...” Spinel started to hug Pink. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Will you?”

“Yeah. Talking to you and hearing your story helped calm me down.” They wiped each other’s tears away. They heard the bell ring.

“Come on, we’re going to be late for our class.”

“But what about your makeup? Your eyeliner is still messed up.”

Spinel looked in the mirror and saw her tear-streaked makeup.

“I... actually kind of like it. Now come on, we’ve got to get class.” Spinel took Pink’s hand and they left the bathroom.

Spinel and Pink started to hang out more often and continued to comfort each other. They became very close together, even closer than just friends.

Their troubled pasts allowed them to find common ground and bond.

One day, when Spinel and Pink were walking together down the hall, they ran into Pink Diamond, followed by her other friends: Rose Quartz, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven, her cousin. Everyone stared at each other in silence, until Steven started a conversation.

“Hello. I remember seeing you two with Pink Diamond before. How are you doing?”

Spinel and Pink didn’t answer, for they were too concentrated on Pink Diamond and what she did to them.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I did to you two...” Pink Diamond started to explain.

“Save it, I don’t want to hear what you have to say!” Spinel shouted, barely holding back her tears. “You told me to meet you in the gym after school! I waited there for hours everyday after school, and you never showed up, until one day, I saw you leaving the gym with them! You abandoned me for other, better friends!!”

“I lost my eye because of you, Pink Diamond! I told you it was a bad idea to sneak into that military base, but you just HAD to see Jasper training! You got us caught, and you told the principle that it was my fault!!” Pink was holding her hand over her eyepatch as her other eye cried.

Pink Diamond was ashamed of everything she had done. “Please, I really do feel bad for what I did to you two. I didn’t mean to hurt either of you, I promise... My moms forced me to leave you two alone, they claimed you two were bad influences on me... I wanted to stay your friends, I mean it! Guys, please back me up...”

Pearl stepped forward to speak. “She told me everything when we first met. She really wanted to stay your friends...”

“It was obvious she missed you two when we first met.” Garnet said as she fixed her glasses.

“I saw you two in the military base when you two got caught, she really tried to protect you, Pink...” Amethyst recalled.

“She fought against her parents, until the principal ended up forcing her as well...” Rose Quartz stated.

“I was there when the argument happened... she really wanted to stay as your friends, I promise! Please, listen to her...” Steven pleaded.

Spinel and Pink looked at Pink Diamond as everyone cried.

“I’m sorry we can’t be friends anymore, there’s nothing I can do about it... but could you please be friends with them? They’ve done nothing wrong, and it would mean a lot to me...” Pink Diamond begged.

“If you mean everything you’ve said, then sure.” Spinel agreed.

“It’s really the only way we can stay together...” Pink understood.

“Thank you so much!” Pink Diamond hugged Spinel and Pink, but quickly let them go. “...I guess I’ll see you two in class.”

“See you in class.”

They parted ways. Even though it was out of her hands, it was thanks to Pink Diamond that Spinel and Pink were together. They were grateful that they had the chance to meet each other, as well as being able to join her other friends.

The End.

“So? What did you think?” Blue Pearl asked eagerly. “I know it’s not completely accurate or perfect to what happened, but it was fun to write.”

Spinel and Pink were heavily blushing over what they just read.

“I don’t understand everything in the story, but... I enjoyed it...” Spinel admitted.

“I liked it too... even the parts about us...” Pink stated.

Blue Pearl was smiling widely from their responses. “Thank you so much! I had a great time writing about you two, and hearing your compliments is an incredible feeling!”

The dance had been over for a while, and all the gems that attended it had long since left. Now, the Diamonds, Pearls, and Rhodochrosite were sitting together on their thrones, talking about the dance, and more importantly, the new fusion.

“Incredible... I never imagined you two would’ve fused!” Blue Diamond was stunned. “What does it feel like? We’ve never fused before so we don’t know.”

“I feel... so happy, I almost can’t explain it...” Rhodochrosite attempted to describe, as she looked at her four arms. She was playing around with her hands, stretching and entangling all of them, and taking them back.

“How intriguing... so that is how fusion truly works. You’re able to maintain separate thoughts, and yet somehow be a completely separate person.” Yellow Diamond studied Rhodochrosite carefully. “How are you able to unfuse?”

“I’m not sure, but I just feel so... happy about myself!” Rhodochrosite couldn’t stop smiling. She took out multiple spears and started to juggle with them.

“I’m so glad that all the other gems were very enthusiastic about you, Rhodochrosite! Especially you two.” White Diamond sighed happily as she nudged Yellow and Blue Diamond.

“Us?! EVERYONE freaked out when Steven and his human friend fused!” Yellow Diamond argued.

“What was that human’s name... was is Connie? Regardless, no gem thought it was possible that those two could fuse.” Blue Diamond stated.

“Wow! That sounds incredible!” Rhodochrosite exclaimed. “What happened during that dance?”

“Well...” White Diamond was hesitant to explain, “it was back when we were still cruel and in charge of our colonies. Steven wanted us to help heal the gems that were corrupted as a result of the Gem War, when we thought Pink Diamond was shattered. Steven wanted to throw a ball for Homeworld to convince us that we should help him, and him and all of his friends interrupted the dance and fused. As a result... we ended up poofing his friends and locked up Steven and his friend...”

“Y-y-you did what?!” Rhodochrosite was freaking out, and started to glow and change shape. Rhodochrosite broke apart, causing Spinel and Pink to fall onto the ground.

“I... I... I remember that happening...” Pink was sobbing. “I never wanted that to happen to Steven... I tried to resist White Diamond’s control... but I couldn’t...”

Spinel ran over to Pink and hugged her. “It’s okay Pink, Steven and his friends are alright now... Everything’s worked out in the end... We’re all okay...”

Pink hugged Spinel back as she stopped crying. “...Thank you, Spinel. I... I really enjoy your comfort...”

“I enjoy your comfort as well, Pink. It’s okay now... we’re okay now...”

Yellow and Blue Pearl jumped down to see if they needed aid.

“Pink! Are you okay? Do you need help?” Yellow Pearl was deeply concerned.

“I’m okay now, thanks to Spinel.” Pink got back up to her feet. “I just need a bit of time to think about everything that’s happened recently.”

“Why don’t you two go walk around Homeworld and clear your thoughts?” Blue Pearl suggested. “We’ll wait for you two to return.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Do you want to, Pink?” Spinel asked.

“I do. I’ll show you around Homeworld. We’ll see you all afterwards.” Pink and Spinel walked towards the door holding each other’s hands. The strange feeling helped comforted them in their time of concern, and it continued to comfort them as they left the Throne Room. The Diamonds and Pearls were concerned they would be okay together.

Spinel and Pink were now wrapping up their tour around Homeworld. They were now relaxed and having fun with each other. The strange feeling had helped them forget about their worries and enjoy each other’s presence.

“Wow, Homeworld is incredible!” Spinel exclaimed. “The ships are beautiful and the Diamonds’ chambers are all so unique! Maybe we could play in one of the chambers sometime!”

Pink giggled. “I’m glad you enjoy Homeworld so much!” She looked deeply into Spinel’s eyes. “Hey... I wanted to say thanks for calming me down. Every now and then I get scared about what happened to me, but... whenever you’re around, I feel like I can do anything. I know it sounds really strange, but I mean it.”

Spinel looked back into Pink’s eye. “I know exactly what you mean, because I feel the exact same about you.”

“Really? That’s-“

Suddenly, a Topaz grabbed onto Spinel and threw her against the wall. Then, a Bismuth grabbed hold of Pink as one of her hands turned into an axe. The Topaz and an Amethyst were looking over Spinel, who was now on her knees.

“So your the Spinel that’s been talked about to much. How come you get special treatment while the rest of us had to suffer to get to this point?!” The Amethyst shouted.

Spinel was in pain. “Wh-what do you talking about? Why are you doing this?!”

The Topaz was furious. “Unbelievable... Then we’ll make you understand! Do it Bismuth!!”

Pink was terrified. “P-please... stop... this doesn’t have to happen!”

“Enough talk!” The Bismuth demanded. “It’s time you learned what it feels like to lose someone close to you!!” The Bismuth took a swing at Pink’s gem.

Fear combined with that strange feeling surged all throughout Spinel’s body. Her fist extended out and punched the Bismuth in the face before she could shatter Pink. Spinel ran up to help Pink up before more damage could be done.

“Are you alright?! Come on, we have to get out of here!”

Pink brought out her spear. “Watch out! Behind you!” She used her spear to block the Amethyst’s whip, while Spinel grabbed the Topaz’s mace.

“We’re not going to get out of this without a fight! Get ready!” Pink shouted. They threw the Amethyst’s whip and the Topaz’s mace. They put their backs against each other. That strange feeling wouldn’t let them be shattered here.

“I’ve got your back! Let’s do this!!” Spinel and Pink tapped into their inner anger and fought back with everything they had!

The Bismuth got back up. “You think you can get away with this?! We’ll make you suffer!!”

She took a big swing, which Pink blocked with her spear. Spinel then uppercut the Bismuth, knocking her off balance. Pink then swept the Bismuth’s legs, knocking her on the floor. The Topaz stabbed with her mace, but Spinel moved her body out of its way. Pink then sliced the Topaz across the chest, followed by Spinel grabbing onto her mace, putted it towards her, and kicked Topaz, knocking back against the wall. The Amethyst used her whip to grab Spinel, binding her. However, Spinel quickly spun around in a circle, getting wrapped up even more, but bringing the Amethyst closer. When the Amethyst was close enough, Pink used her spear to cut the Amethyst’s whip and kicked her, knocking her onto the floor. Spinel easily unraveled out of The Amethyst’s whip.

However, the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst kept getting back up. Spinel and Pink looked at each other and shook their heads. Spinel grabbed Pink by the legs and spun around in a circle, faster and faster, where Pink’s spear had a large circular range, badly damaging the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst. Spinel tossed Pink into the air, and as she was still spinning, she extended her arms out further, slamming into and knocking down the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst.

“Please, just stay down! We don’t want to fight you!” Spinel shouted.

“What do you want with us?! What do you mean we get special treatment?! Please just tell us!” Pink begged.

“We’ve been serving our Diamonds for thousands of years, and since then we’ve seen many gems get shattered...” Topaz stated.

“Some of them were close friends of ours, and now they’re gone forever...” Amethyst wept.

“You two have only been abandoned, but you never truly lost any gem that was close to you... So why do you two get all the comfort from the Diamonds while all of us have to remember those who they shattered, never receiving any closure?!” Bismuth confessed.

“I... I’ve never thought of that... I’m so sorry for all of you...” Pink said sympathetically.

Spinel extended her hands. “Come on, let’s go to the Diamonds. They can help set this right.”

They all made their way to the Throne Room. The Diamonds and Pearls were talking when Spinel, Pink, and the other gems entered.

“Ah, welcome back you two!” White Diamond greeted them. “How was your trip around Homeworld?”

Blue Diamond noticed the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst. “Who are these new gems? Making new friends already?”

“Well, not really” Pink explained. “These three attempted to shatter us when we were touring Homeworld...”

“They did what?!” Yellow Diamond shouted. “Why in the stars would they attempt to do that?!”

“These gems and countless others have had many of their friends shattered when you three were still ruling over colonies.” Spinel stated. “They were mad that even though we didn’t lose any gem, we were getting all your comfort...”

“We were hoping you three could issue an apology on the broadcast about those you have shattered over the years of your reign.” Pink got to the point.

The Diamonds looked at the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst, who were now in tears over their fallen gems. White Diamond turned towards Yellow and Blue Pearl. “Pearls, please ready the broadcast. We’re going to make a public apology to all the gems we’ve shattered.”

“Of course, right away!” Both Pearls ran over and started making preparations to start the broadcast.

White Diamond looked back over to the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst, who were in shock that they agreed to help them.

“Wha... you’ll really do this for us?” The Topaz was in denial.

“Of course we will.” Yellow Diamond answered. “We still feel bad for everything we’ve done from before Steven came to us, and this is another way to apologize for our awful behavior.”

“Y-y-you mean you’re not going to shatter us?” The Amethyst was still scared of them.

“No, we’re done shattering gems, especially since we’re making this broadcast.” Blue Diamond reassured them. “Shattering is no longer who we are, for we care about other life forms.”

“I... I don’t know what to say...” The Bismuth was so grateful.

“There’s nothing you have to say, for it is our fault.” White Diamond protested. “We have done nothing in regard to our fallen gems, and it’s far past time that we apologize about them.”

“The broadcast is ready!” Yellow Pearl announced. “Tell us when you’re ready to start!”

“Thank you, Pearls.” White Diamond looked at the Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst. “We truly mean what we’re about to say, and we hope it is what you wanted to hear.”

“Starting is 5... 4... 3...” Blue Pearl raised her fingers for the last two numbers.

“Greetings everyone. We are making this broadcast in regard to a pressing matter that we have ignored.” Blue Diamond began.

“For thousands of years, countless gems have been shattered, both by our hands and in battle, and it has recently been brought to our attention that we have never done anything about them.” Yellow Diamond continued.

“We are making this broadcast to apologize, for both the gems that have been shattered, as well as to the gems that knew those who have been shattered. We are deeply sorry for all the suffering we have caused to those who have lost close friends to them.” White Diamond finished.

The broadcast ended. The Bismuth, Topaz, and Amethyst were in tears and thanking and Diamonds for doing the broadcast. They turned towards Spinel and Pink.

“Thank you so much for doing this!” The Amethyst was shaking Spinel and Pink’s hands.

“We’re really glad it satisfied you, and we promise we really meant it.” Pink replied.

“We’re so sorry that we tried to shatter you two!” The Topaz deeply apologized.

“It’s okay! Really, it is!” Spinel insisted. “We’re alright now, and everything worked out.”

“Do you think... maybe we could be friends?” The Bismuth was very timid. “... I understand if you don’t want to, though...”

“No, of course we want to!” Spinel and Pink quickly answered. “There’s no need to worry about what happened anymore, everything worked out for the better. We’ll catch up with you all later, though, and we can start over.”

Spinel, Pink, and the Diamonds were all playing together in the ruins of The Garden. Spinel was now able to simply relax and enjoy her time with the other gems. The strange feeling continued to grow stronger towards Pink, and Spinel was glad that it was, because she now wanted it to grow.

Eventually, Pink got curious as to why the Diamonds took a while to show up. “By the way, what were you all doing while we were... playing here? How come you all took so long to get here?”

The Diamonds exchanged joyful glances between each other.

“Well, we asked if Yellow and Blue Pearl could make another broadcast for us.” Blue Diamond started.

“We needed to communicate with other gems across the galaxy about an emergency situation.” Yellow Diamond continued.

“An emergency situation?! Is everything okay?!” Spinel and Pink urged.

White Diamond started to laugh. “There’s no need to worry, you two, you should’ve received the broadcast as well!”

Spinel looked guilty. “O-oh, um... I destroyed the communicator when I found out that Steven made new friends... Sorry about that...”

Blue Diamond rubbed Spinel’s head with her index finger. “It’s okay Spinel, it was an emotional time for you.”

“Besides, if you didn’t destroy the communicator back then, you two definitely would’ve destroyed it now anyway.” Yellow Diamond pointed out.

“So... if it wasn’t that big of an emergency that you didn’t come and get us, then what happened?” Pink said confused.

“Then let us return to The Palace so we can show you! Come, let’s head back!” White Diamond insisted.

Spinel and Pink were confused, but they decided to go with them. They took each other’s hand and joined the Diamonds on the warp pad.

When they returned to The Palace, they were surrounded by countless gems. As soon as they saw Spinel and Pink, they started cheering and clapping for them. Spinel and Pink were really confused about what it was happening and why it was an emergency.

“What exactly is happening? Why are they cheering?” Spinel was unsure about what they were all doing.

“I don’t get it, where’s the emergency?” Pink didn’t see any problems.

“They’re cheering because they’re happy to see you two!” Blue Diamond clarified. “We wanted to throw a ball for you two!”

“We lied about there doing an emergency.” Yellow Diamond admitted. “Our transmission was really about being able to bring all these gems here.”

“Come and join us at our thrones, then we can get the ball started.” White Diamond insisted. “I’m sure all of these gems are so happy to finally meet you two!”

Spinel and Pink made their way to the thrones. As they were walking past gems, they kept hearing how emotional their stories were. Spinel and Pink started to blush, and eventually they let go of each other’s hands. The strange feeling had disappeared when Spinel realized that all these gems were cheering for the two of them. She was embarrassed and scared about other gems possibly knowing how they felt about each other.

They made their way to the thrones. Blue and Yellow Pearl were already sitting on their respective Diamond’s throne. Spinel and Pink continued to sit together in Pink Diamond’s empty throne. Blue and Yellow Pearl jumped down to Spinel and Pink.

“So what do you think? We helped come up with the idea of a ball.” Yellow Pearl boasted. “I’m sure you two will have a great time here.”

Spinel stared deeply into the crowd. “It’s really nice that you gathered all these gems to see us... I always wanted to have lots of friends, and I’m sure they want to be my friend as well, but... something just... doesn’t feel right about this...”

“I don’t understand...” Pink contemplated, “I heard lots of gems talk about OUR story. They definitely saw the broadcast when you first arrived, but I was never in a broadcast before...”

“We broadcasted the stories about your messed-up pasts and how you two comforted each other.” Blue Diamond confesses while smiling.

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Spinel and Pink shouted. They were very embarrassed and were both blushing heavily.

“N-n-n-no... this can’t be...” Spinel was panicking. “Do they not care about me, but just about us together? No... please tell me that’s not true...”

“I-I-I-I can’t believe so many gems know the truth...” Pink was in denial. “They’re going to hate White Diamond... Why did I have to say anything...”

“Whoa, calm down you two, everything’s alright.” Yellow Pearl insisted. “What you’re thinking isn’t true. Everything is going to turn out fine.”

“We’re sorry we broadcasted your pasts...” Blue Pearl apologized. “We promise, it was with our best intentions when it happened... We didn’t mean for you two to react like this...”

“It’s just that... you two seemed so down when you left to go to The Garden that we wanted to try and cheer you two up.” Blue Diamond admitted. “We didn’t know Blue and Yellow Pearl were broadcasting either...”

“We thought a ball would be a good idea to get you two comfortable around other gems, but it appears to have backfired...” Yellow Diamond was disappointed. “We’re sorry for causing so much trouble for you two...”

“Spinel... Pink... If you two want to call off the dance, that’s okay with us.” suggested White Diamond. “We can think of another way to cheer you two up.”

Spinel and Pink looked towards the crowd, then at each other. Spinel could feel the strange feeling return, growing stronger and compelling her to stay. They nodded, then Spinel looked up towards White Diamond and answered.

“...Let’s continue the ball. We don’t want the gems to have come here for nothing.”

“Yeah, we’ll be okay. Let’s made sure the gems here have a good time.” Pink answered afterward.

“Very well then.” White Diamond acknowledged. She raised her voice so every gem could here her. “Let the very first Era 3 ball begin!”

One by one, all the gems walked up and were properly introduced to Spinel and Pink. They all gave praise about their past that got broadcasted, and even though Spinel and Pink were uncomfortable with the situation as a whole, they still acted nice towards everyone. They eventually got through every gem that attended.

“That’s really strange... If everything was broadcasted across the galaxy, I’m sure Steven would’ve heard it and attended, but him and his friends didn’t...” Spinel couldn’t help but notice.

Pink tried to cheer Spinel up. “I’m sure they wanted to attend the ball, but maybe they were busy with something on Earth. We could check up on him when this is over.”

“Maybe...” Spinel hesitated. “I’m still trying to understand how we got into this... I hope this end well...”

“I know this’ll end well, because we’ll get through it together.”

“...Yeah, you’re right. Thank you.”

Now that every gem had introduced themselves to Spinel and Pink, they all started to dance. However, it was much different dancing than when Steven threw a ball there 2 years ago. Instead of dancing very precisely and timed with all other gems, this dance was much more open. Gems were doing many different types of dances with many other gems. There were no limitations, just fun.

After a while, Pink came up with an idea. “Spinel, why don’t we go down there and dance with them? Let’s have some fun!”

Spinel had no idea how to respond! She wanted to say yes because Pink is her closest friend, but she wanted to say no because she didn’t want to make a scene or embarrass them any further. But then she felt the strange feeling return. It didn’t help her calm down, but rather it helped her ignore what other gems would think of them.

“... I would enjoy dancing with you.” Spinel finally replied. They grabbed each other’s hand and started walking into the crowd. However, then the crowd realized what they were doing, they stopped dancing and watched what they would do.

They were very awkward at first. The suspense of every gem watching them made things worse, and they kept getting desyncing. Spinel tripped up on herself and fell on the ground. She was mortified and wanted out as quickly as possible, but Pink extended her hand.

“Sorry, I’m pretty bad at dancing...”

“It’s alright! I’m sure if you practice enough, you’ll become better at it! I believe you can do it!” Pink encouraged.

Spinel’s eyes lit up and the strange feeling was stronger than ever. She grabbed Pink’s hand and got back up. They started dancing again, but this time they were much smoother. They stopped caring about what the other gems thought of their dancing and only focus on each other. Shortly after, their gems started to glow and they started changing shape.

They were fusing together! Their fusion had two massive curly ponytails, four arms, four eyes, one of which was shattered, and was a beautiful shade of pink. For a while, she kept dancing to herself, until she realized that she was a fusion and there was no one else around them. She stopped dancing and noticed that every gem in the room was shocked about their fusion. Their new fusion started to get very embarrassed and blushed, as she wished that she had never fused in the first place...

Until suddenly, every gem started cheering for them! They were clapping and cheering at the incredible spectacle of a fusion. Even the Diamonds were applauding, who originally thought this wouldn’t be possible, at least during this event.

Every gem had calmed down. They were talking about what they all would be doing now that Spinel has joined them in Homeworld. Eventually, Spinel brought up her idea again.

“Do you want to play a game now?” Spinel proposed. “It might help take our mind off of our earlier conversation.”

“I’d love to!” Pink said happily. “Where do you want to go? What do you want to play? Is there anything you want to do?”

“I’m not sure... maybe we can play on Homeworld? I’ve never really explored Homeworld before.”

“Yes, but we could explore Homeworld whenever we want now that you live here... Maybe there’s somewhere else we could explore... What about a disbanded colony?”

“There’s so many to choose from, though... Hey Diamonds, which of your old colonies should we explore?”

The Diamonds exchanged worried glances between each other.

“Perhaps it would be best if you don’t play in our old colonies...” Blue Diamond stated.

“Ever since we disbanded our colonies, Steven wanted us to stay away from planets that still had life on them as a way of apologizing.” Yellow Diamond informed.

“Perhaps you could play at Little Homeworld on Earth! I’m sure Steven and the other gems would be happy to see you again.” White Diamond suggested.

Spinel was very apprehensive about returning to Earth. “...I don’t think it’s a good idea to return to Earth so soon...”

“It’s okay then, we don’t have to go to Earth if you’re not ready to.” Pink was in deep thought. “There has to be somewhere we can play together...”

Suddenly, Spinel got an idea, but she hated it. She knew one place where they could play together, but it was the last place she ever wanted to return. However, the strange feeling was telling her otherwise. Even though she never wanted to return, she didn’t want to disappoint Pink either...

“...I know where we can play...” Spinel said reluctantly.

“Really? Where?” Pink was shocked and excited to here her response.

“...The Garden...”

Pink’s joyful expression vanished instantly. “Wh-what?! But... no! We’re not going to The Garden! Why would you ever want to go back there?!”

“Because I want to make you happy!” Spinel screamed.

Pink was taken back. “B-B-But... what about your own happiness? Don’t you care about that?”

“I do... and if going to The Garden and playing together will make you happy, then it makes me happy too.”

“Spinel, I... Okay... If you really want to take me to The Garden, then let’s go and play, but if you ever get uncomfortable, we leave immediately... Okay?”

“...Okay, let’s go.”

Spinel and Pink got up and walked to the warp pad. “Does anyone else want to join us?” Spinel asked just before they left.

The Diamonds were afraid to answer. Finally, White Diamond answered. “...Not right now, darlings. If you decide to stay for a while, we’ll join you later. Right now, we have something very important to talk about with each other...”

“Sorry, but we’re busy with our show at the moment,” Yellow Pearl replied, “maybe we could join you for another time...”

Blue Pearl leaned in close to them and whispered, “Don’t leave out any details.”

Spinel and Pink activated the warp pad and set off for The Garden. When they arrived, Spinel was already feeling uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to say anything. The strange feeling was almost telling her to stay...

“So...” Pink hesitated, “what do you want to do first?”

Spinel looked around The Garden and found some pieces of rubble. She picked them up and gave them to Pink. “How are you at juggling?”

Pink was hesitant at first. “I-I’m not that great at juggling... it’s been a long time, and I wasn’t that great to begin with...”

“Well, I can teach you! I’m a professional, after all!”

After enough time, Pink started to get the hang of juggling. She was successfully able to juggle three objects at a time!

“Wow... this is much harder then I remember.” Pink looked over and saw Spinel juggling seven objects at once. “Wow! You’re so good at this! How did you become so good at this?”

Spinel started to blush. “Well... I was just kind of good at it, but I’m sure if you practice enough, you’ll become better at it! I believe you can do it!”

Pink lost concentration and dropped all of her pieces of rubble. They both started to laugh. Spinel was having fun, but there was something in the back of her mind that was stopping her from truly having fun...

Spinel and Pink played with each other for a long time. They continued to juggle, played tag, hide-and-seek, and even messed around with Spinel’s unique gem power. They were having fun together, but something was holding Spinel back, and eventually Pink noticed as well. It was during a game of hide-and-seek where Spinel was hiding and Pink was seeking. When Pink was done counting, she found Spinel sitting on the steps in front of the warp pad. She knew they stayed here for too long.

Pink walked up to Spinel. “Come on, let’s head back now. I can tell you’re no longer having fun here, so let’s go back to the others.”

“No... I want to stay...” Spinel responded.

“Why do you want to stay here?! You’re making yourself miserable by staying with your hurtful memories!”

“Because I wanted to replace my memories with Pink Diamond with new memories with you!” Spinel started to cry. “I want to be happy with you, but Pink Diamond’s memories won’t leave me alone...”

Pink sat down next to Spinel and wrapper her arm over her shoulder. “I know what you mean... I still have a hard time forgetting about what White Diamond did to me, but being with you is helping me out as well...” There was a long pause for silence. “...So if you’re having a bad time, but you don’t want to leave, then what now?”

Spinel clenched her fists in frustration. “I... I... I don’t know!!” She slammed her fists into the ground, causing it to crack. She hesitated when she noticed the cracked floor. She lifted her hands and slammed them down again, causing it to crack more. She started to smile. “... I know what to do...!”

Pink was desperate to help her. “What is it?! I’ll do whatever you want if it’ll make you happy!”

Spinel looked back at Pink, wiping away her tears. “Let’s destroy this place! There will be nothing left, not even those memories, when we’re done with this place!”

Pink was baffled at Spinel’s idea, but she wanted to do it for her. She took out her spear from her gem and started chopping away at any vegetation that remained, and eventually at the floating pillars. Spinel used her powers to enlarge her hands and continued to crush the ground and even the fountain. They started to have more fun the longer they continued to destroy The Garden. They were having fun releasing their anger about their past and filling it with the joy of each other’s presence.

Eventually, there was nothing but rubble. Spinel and Pink were lying on the ground, holding each other’s hands and laughing.

“...I really needed that... thank you so much...” Spinel said finally.

“...Of course, anything for you.” Pink replied. “...I really enjoyed doing that as well.”

Suddenly, the warp pad activated. Spinel and Pink stood up to see who it was. It was the Diamonds, ready to join their games. However, they were met by The Garden in complete ruin. The Diamonds were confused about how this happened.

“My stars... Pink Diamond’s Garden...” Yellow Diamond was in shock.

“Spinel! Pink! Are you two alright?” Blue Diamond was worried about them.

“What happened here?!” White Diamond demanded.

Spinel and Pink looked at each other, then started laughing.

“That’s a great question!” Pink replied happily.

“I STILL don’t know!” Spinel said joyfully.

Their continuous laughter started to lift the Diamonds’ moods. Spinel and Pink were no longer afraid to play in what remained of The Garden, and the Diamonds were pleased to know this. As they kept laughing, Spinel let go of Pink’s hand and pressed hers against the top of Pink’s head.

“Boop!” Spinel shouted. “You’re it!” Just as quickly, Spinel ran away from Pink.

The joy of Spinel completing the broadcast had since worn off. However, the strange feeling towards Pink stayed the same, but Spinel didn’t mind it anymore. Now, the Pearls, Diamonds, and Spinel were having a conversation in the throne room. Spinel and Pink were sitting together on Pink’s throne.

“So, if all of the colonies were disbanded, then what do you do in this room now?” Spinel asked. “I know it’s a good place for you all to meet because, you know... you’re tall... but what do you do now?”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. “Well,” White Diamond started, “we have been very far apart ever since Starlight ‘disappeared’, so since then we have been spending more time with each other in this room.”

“It is nice to be able to talk with each other after thousands of years,” continued Yellow Diamond, “however, there have been no assignments or reports to work on. Honestly, it does get pretty-“

“Relaxing!” Blue Diamond interrupted. She shot Yellow Diamond a passive-aggressive glance.

“Yes... relaxing.” Yellow Diamond hesitated. Everyone started to laugh.

“That does sound pretty nice, I have to admit, but it sounds like it can get boring after a while. I mean, how much is there to talk about? I know I don’t have much to talk about...” Spinel started to get disappointed, until she had a breakthrough. “I know! We can all play together! We’ll all have such great fun!”

“Would it be okay if we played a little later? I’d love to learn more about you. What did you do all these years?” Pink suggested.

Spinel didn’t really want to discuss her past with Pink Diamond again... but that strange feeling she felt towards Pink was telling her otherwise. It was as if the strange feeling wanted her to talk to Pink more, even though it was scarring. Spinel finally decided to agree.

“Okay... sure. I’ll tell you about my past... but I won’t do it for free! In return, I want to know about your past! ...If that’s okay...” Spinel hesitated.

Pink seemed reluctant to fulfill the deal... She touched her shattered eye, and looked like she was about to cry. She looked up at White Diamond, who seemed regretful. Pink looked like she was arguing with herself, undecided. Finally, she looked back at Spinel.

“...Okay. I’ll tell you about my past as well...” Pink finally stated.

“W-wait, you will?!” Spinel was shocked, especially after seeing her trying to decide. “If you’re not comfortable talking about it, you don’t have to! I’m not making you...”

“I-I know... but I want to open up to you. It’s hard to explain, but I just have this... feeling... that I’ve never felt before. I-I-I... I want to be closer with you...”

Spinel grabbed Pink’s hand. “I know exactly what you mean. I-I’ve had that same feeling, ever since... I saw you... and I want to be closer with you as well.”

“Should we really be doing this? Exposing to each other what hurts us the most? We can just forget about this...”

“...I’m willing to if you are.”

“...Okay, me too. But... could you please go first?”

“For you, of course.”

The Diamonds became very worried about how these dives into their pasts would turn out. They know this would get very emotional, especially since Blue Diamond was already on the verge of crying.

During the entire conversation, Yellow and Blue Pearl were preoccupied with their broadcast system. When they heard that they would share their pasts, they stopped working to hear what truly happened to them. Blue Pearl saw the opportunity and started the video feed.

“What are you doing?!” Yellow Pearl whispered so it couldn’t be heard in the broadcast. “We can’t just broadcast this, it’s their personal lives! Do you have any idea what they’ll do to us if they found out they were being broadcasted?! I don’t want to find out!”

Blue Pearl was ready to start drawing. “Don’t worry about it, everything will turn out fine. No doubt people have questions about who Spinel is and what happened to Pink. Now, we finally get some answers. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to draw them together.”

Spinel looked deeply into Pink’s eye, and started to tell what happened to her. “You already know that I was Pink Diamond’s playmate. We always played together in The Garden, a little place where we could play all we wanted. We were having so much fun together!... Or at least I thought we did... It all went wrong when Pink Diamond received her first colony. I was so happy because I thought we were given a new place to play in!... But Pink Diamond thought differently. I was following her to the warp pad, until she... she...” Spinel started to cry. “She told me she wanted to play another game! She told me she wanted me to stand as still as possible until she returned. So... I stood still... for thousands of years alone... hoping she would come back... But then, one day, the communicator started working again! I thought she finally remembered me and we could play together again!... But it was actually Steven, talking about his friends on Earth... I felt abandoned, I felt forgotten, I felt betrayed! I wanted to get revenge on him for his mother leaving me here all alone for thousands of years! I... I... I tried to kill him and his planet... That’s why I look like this, all of my anger took over and changed me... You know what was really funny? Steven actually cared about me, even after everything I did to him and his friends! Steven wanted to be my friend, but I was too upset about what his mother did to care... That’s when the Diamonds showed up and brought me here... That’s why I was so scared of coming here, I didn’t want to mess up another friendship, especially with you...”

“Spinel, I’m so sorry for you...” Pink hugged Spinel to try and comfort her. “I can’t imagine what it was like to be alone for so long, but you’re not alone now. We all care about you, and nothing you do can stop me from caring about you...”

Spinel started to wipe away her tears. “...Thank you... so much... I don’t want anything to happen like that ever again...”

Pink let go of Spinel. “...Are you ready to here about what happened to me?”

“Are you sure about this? You really don’t have to...”

“...I know I don’t have to... but I want to... for you.”

“Okay then, if you really want to...”

Pink covered her missing, cracked eye. “I wasn’t always like this, you know. I was originally Pink Diamond’s Pearl when she got her first colony... I suppose that’s when she left you... Everything was starting out well... We were creating new gems and giving them orders to start on our new colony. I was doing my job well... But Pink Diamond wouldn’t take the job seriously. She started goofing off and messing around, which started to have a negative effect on our colony. She was scolded my times by Yellow and Blue Diamond, and so was I... they said I was a ‘useless Pearl that couldn’t keep her Diamond in check’...” Now Pink began to cry as well. “Eventually, Pink Diamond went too far and we were taken to see White Diamond... She said that a disciplinary action needed to taken in order to ensure that Pink Diamond would properly rule her colony... That was when White Diamond grabbed me and stabbed my eye! I... I... I lost all control after that! I became her puppet while Pink Diamond was given her Pearl as a replacement! There was nothing I could do after that... I became a mindless husk... It was only when Steven came to Homeworld two years ago that I was set free, but the damage was already done... I couldn’t see out of my eye, and no matter how hard Steven tried, his healing powers couldn’t bring it back... I’m forever broken...”

“Pink, I can’t believe you had to go through that...” Spinel wrapped her arms around Pink multiple times. “I’m so sorry you didn’t have any freedom, but you do now. You no longer have to do anything that you don’t want to do, and I don’t care how broken you are, because I will still care about you...”

Every gem in the room was crying. Yellow and Blue Pearl turned off the broadcast.

“...After all this time, that’s where Pink disappeared to, White Diamond’s side...” Yellow Pearl was still in disbelief.

“I lost one of my friends back then for something she didn’t do...” Blue Pearl couldn’t continue drawing.

“It was our fault that Spinel ended up getting left behind in The Garden...” Blue Diamond was bawling her eyes out.

“We pushed Pink Diamond too far... We caused all of this...” Yellow Diamond wanted to deny the truth, but couldn’t.

“Pink, I’m so, so, so sorry that I caused all of that to happen to you! I hope you can forgive me after all this time...” White Diamond was emotionally wounded.

Spinel and Pink were still hugging each other and crying. They looked at each other, and eventually nodded.

“Of course I can White Diamond.” Pink answered. “That was all in the past, under different circumstances.”

“But we’ve all been given a chance to start over, thanks to Steven.” Spinel continued. “I hope we can all start over and be together now.”