#diligoiiism

“I can’t believe how much has happened in only ten years,” Pearl said with a soft laugh. “I don’t even know where to begin...” She reached out, seeking to hold Rose’s hand. It still felt so surreal at times for Rose to be here again, and sometimes she was almost afraid the pink gem would just... disappear. “What do you know so far? Have you been watching us, through Steven...?” She was almost a little nervous to ask, recalling all the mistakes she’d made in the last decade, and how lost she had felt without Rose. Thankfully, the more she was around her in the present, the farther away that grief felt.

There were some things she was excited to tell Rose, if the pink gem didn’t already know. All about Steven and what a wonderful person he was growing up to be... But there were also many things she didn’t look forward to telling her. About how Homeworld was coming down to Earth again, and one of their main enemies was who-knew-where at the bottom of the sea. Or about the forced fusion abominations from shards of what had once been their comrades -- Steven had eventually filled Pearl in on that. ...Or even about how poorly she had coped with her loss. And there were things she hoped Rose would never even find out about... like how she tricked Garnet into fusing with her. The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want to catch her up after all. Most of the time, when she was around Rose... everything felt safe, and like she didn’t need to be afraid or worried about anything. She was safe with her. But deep down, she knew that not even Rose could protect them from the Homeworld gems if things got worse, and she worried that Rose might feel just as scared as she did.

Her head ached, everything ached actually. The lombax groaned, wincing as the sound of her own voice brought forth pain in her temples. Migraine, maybe? Tobi couldn’t tell. 

A hand went to her forehead, and her sky blue eyes finally opened blearily, her battered face contorting to one of confusion at the face that stared back.

Human? No, something was different. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Where-?” Gosh, it hurt to even talk, her voice harsh and raspy as she clenched her teeth, wincing more as her fur bristled a bit from pain.

A chilly ocean breeze.

It was one of the few things the shortish Gem registered as she put one foot in front of the other unsteadily, green gaze directed at the sandy ground underfoot. She was once again cold, but was no long soaking wet from being floating in the ocean for who knows how long. She didn’t feel like going back in it, but she didn’t exactly fear the large body of water.