Pas de Deux Chapter 9: The Return
+pairing: Spinel x fem!Reader +genre: Drama, romance, angst, slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers +warnings: mentions of shattering +word count: 6.5K +Chapter 9 / 10 previous || next
As Spinel leads you down to the beach hand in hand, you can’t help but stare at the back of her form in wonder. Just a few weeks ago this Gem had shaken up your whole life, ruined your summer plans, hurt your friends. And then just as you were starting to warm up to her, she kidnapped you- hell of a first date. You honestly thought you could never look past that, and granted, it was a pretty horrible thing to do. But then something just... changed. Or rather, she did.
And now... now you feel so incredibly lucky to have her. Everything is still new to both of you, her especially, but the prospect of getting to learn together absolutely thrills you. And though Spinel isn’t as talkative or open about her feelings... you suspect she feels the same.
The two of you burst through the tree line, almost sprinting towards the water. Spinel turns slightly to give you a grin over her shoulder, and your stomach flips happily.
“God, she’s trouble for my heart,” you think warmly as you return the smile.
You stop at the ocean’s edge, and release Spinel’s hand as she morphs her pinky into the horn to call the injector. It rises from off the coast- much closer than you ever imagined she’d leave it.
“Has... that been there the whole time?” you ask incredulously, turning to the pink Gem.
“Uh... y-yeah?” she replies sheepishly, shifting her pinky back to normal.
You shake your head with a small smile. “Dang. Could have escaped at any time,” you joke.
Spinel’s answering smile spreads across her face. “Oh yeah? Go ahead, get up there on yer own,” she replies, accent slipping in as it always does when she teases you.
“I’ll do It right now!” you exclaim, and begin to race through the surf. You look back in surprise as Spinel grabs your middle and pulls you back to her, both of you giggling and laughing as you pretend to try to get away.
You sigh and try to calm your laughter, turning in Spinel’s arms to look up to her. She unwraps her arms and rests her hands on your hips, gazing down at you with a soft expression.
“Are you... sure about this, doll?” she asks you softly, “I know you were nervous a few days ago...”
“Spinel, I... I know, and I’m sorry for that. It was just me being irrational but... I really want to go back with you. Besides the pluses of being able to be back in society again, I want to show the others that you’re a good person and that... I care about you,” you finish, blushing and ducking your face into the crook of her neck.
She wraps herself around your shoulders, settling her chin on the top of your head. “Okay, doll. I’m nervous, but... I want that too. And apparently someone needs a shower?”
“Pff, maybe...” you reply, burying your face more in embarrassment. After a moment you pull back and take her hands off your shoulders, holding them between the two of you.
“Spinel... I just want you to know I really care about you. And whatever happens, I’ll be by your side. We’ll show everyone that you’ve changed. Okay?”
Tears well up in her eyes and she flings herself around you once more, squeezing you tightly. You shift a little so her Gem isn’t pressing up against you too hard, and rub small circles into her back.
“Ok, c’mon Miss Dramatic,” you joke, trying to lighten the mood, “don’t want to be crying when we get back to Beach City.”
Spinel lifts her head from your shoulder reluctantly and cups a hand to your face.
“Ready, doll?”
x * x * x * x * x
After scooping you up rather deftly and leaping to the top of the injector (which, you have to admit, was kind of fun), you’re soon setting off for Beach City. Or rather, the direction Spinel thinks is towards Beach City.
“If you know how to get back to Empire City from here, I could probably direct you towards Beach City?” you suggest, scooching closer to Spinel so she can hear you over the rush of wind. She nods, and directs the injector slightly more towards the left, wrapping an arm around your waist once she’s done. You smile at the contact and lean into her, settling in for what you know to be a long flight.
It had taken at least a couple hours on the way to the island; Spinel having taken you in the early morning since you’d been up all night racing from the concert to the Garden and back again. You don’t know how long it was for her trip to Empire City, but it must have been at least an hour, since it had taken her around 3 hours to return to you with all the definitely not stolen goods.
You muse silently for a while, enjoying the sun beating down on you and the feeling of Spinel holding onto you- maybe a little too tightly.
“Probably worried about me falling off the edge or something,” you figure. You swing your legs around so they’re lying over her lap instead of dangling off the edge, and you see her visibly relax.
“Aww, were you worried?” you tease, poking her on the shoulder.
She rolls her eyes but can’t fight the smile that finds its way to her face. “Mm... Maybe a bit,” she replies, pulling you closer to her and moving the both of you more towards the middle of the injector.
You place your hands on top of her arms, holding her against you. You look up at her and smile, watching as she concentrates to try to remember the way she needs to go.
“Are you nervous?” you whisper after a moment, startling her slightly.
“Bout what?” she asks absent-mindedly, still gazing out over the horizon.
“Going back. Having to... face everyone,” you say, trying to keep your voice from wavering.
“W-well, yeah. Can’t say I’m not,” she says with a slight chuckle, “but I’m also... Oddly calm. Having you with me right here, right now...”
She trails off and idly runs her hands over your arms, making you shiver even in the hot sun.
“I know it’ll go great,” you reply, eyes fluttering closed at her touch.
You float like that for a while, head against Spinel’s shoulder, just reveling in the feeling of her gentle touches. You resolve not to drift off, to just enjoy being with her in the simplicity that is the moment. As you gaze across the ever-approaching horizon, you can’t help but smile to yourself at the way things have turned out.
You’d fallen for a Gem or two in your time, sure- namely, Pearl- so you didn’t find being with one like this particularly odd, but... what you did find odd was that you ended up with a Gem that you hadn’t known for long in comparison. But in a way, that made this all the more exciting- you got to discover everything about each other.
And god, were you looking forward to that.
After an hour or so of idle chatter and lots of cuddling (while, of course, hurtling through the air on a giant injector), you start to see a city peak up over the horizon.
“Oh! Spinel, look! It’s Empire City!” you exclaim, getting as close to the edge as you feel comfortable with.
“Oh yeah, wow! Guess I remembered the right way after all,” Spinel replies with a light chuckle. “Okay, toots, it’s all you now. Where do we go from here?”
Spinel directs the injector up higher, just above the clouds- enough that you can still see the land below but hopefully high enough that you won’t be easily spotted.
You look for a road you recognize, the main highway that you usually take to get to and from Beach City for the summers. It’s harder to tell from up so high, but you figure the general direction should suffice anyway, since you’ll be able to see Beach City in the distance as long as you go the right way.
It’s still a ways away, so you sit back with Spinel once more, this time simply holding her hand while you gaze down below. After a moment, you notice Spinel fidgeting next to you, crossing and uncrossing her legs, clenching your hand in hers, her other hand reaching up to her hair.
You turn to face her once you check that the highway is still directly below you.
“Spinel? You... you doing okay?” you ask gently, reaching out to take her other hand from her hair.
“I... I’ll be okay, Y/n. Don’t worry ‘bout me,” she gets out breathily, voice shaking.
“Spinel. You’re clearly not okay,” you stay sternly, cupping her face in your hands. Her eyes focus on yours, and she relaxes slightly to your touch.
“I’m sorry. I’m... just freakin’ out a bit, is all. I don’t know what’s gonna happen when we get back and I’m terrified... that they’ll send me back somewhere. Or they’ll just hate me forever and...”
She trails off and averts her gaze back to the world below. You sigh and lean back a bit, clasping your hands together in between the two of you.
“Spinel, I know these thoughts are hard to ignore sometimes. And you have every right to worry about this stuff, I’m... a little nervous too. But when things like this come up, I want you to know you can talk to me, ok? You don’t have to sit next to me in silence when you’re suffering. I want to try to help you through it as best as I can.”
Spinel turns back to you and nods, and surprisingly, you see no tears in her eyes this time.
“I don’t mean to keep stuff from ya... It’s just habit, I guess. Not used to having someone to talk to, y’know?”
She squeezes your hand softly and offers you an apologetic smile.
“I know, Spins. But whenever you can, try to remember I’m here for you, all right?”
She lets out a shuddering sigh and meets your eyes with resolve. “Thank you. And I will always be here for you too, ok doll?”
You open your mouth to start to reply, when the injector suddenly rushes through a particularly thick cloud. It’s hard to see much of anything, and you’re startled from finishing your thought.
“Did we lose the direction?” Spinel calls out.
“I don’t know, I can’t see the ground!” you reply, frantically searching for any break in the clouds below you.
“It’s ok, I’ll keep it steady until the clouds-”
She cuts herself off as the sunlight rushes back in. You squint at the sudden brightness, before your eyes widen and you gasp.
“Spinel! It’s right there! We made it!” you exclaim happily as Beach City quickly comes into view. You sound happy even as your insides flip. No going back now, no matter how nervous the both of you are.
“We... we did make it,” she replies, sounding every bit as worried as you feel.
As you loom closer to your favorite city, your face falls as Lighthouse Park comes further into view- you'd forgotten about the damage that last battle had done to the ground there...and the surrounding ocean still had traces of pink in it. You glance over at Spinel to gauge her reaction, and her face seems... crestfallen.
“Spinel, it’s ok. We can help undo this,” you say softly, taking her hand in yours once more.
She simply nods and morphs her pinky to direct the injector. Finally you were going to be home safe and-
“HEY!”
Your knees almost buckle at the voice that sounds behind you. Amethyst! You turn to greet your friend, who is riding with Peridot on a large piece of metal, floating just behind the injector. Instead you’re met with an expression that is decidedly unwelcoming. But her gaze isn’t focused on you- it's on the Gem sitting next to you, who is recoiling in fear.
“Give her back to us!” Amethyst calls out, much to your dismay.
“Amethyst, wait-”
Before you can finish your thought, Amethyst is pulling out her Gem weapon, and you can only guess what she means to do with it. Your gaze shifts to Peridot, who you note is holding the retracted rejuvenator slightly out of sight. This is not how you wanted this to go. How were they even ready this fast? Had they been following you or something?
You turn to Spinel, who is already one step ahead of you. The injector zooms forward, and you hear the snap of Amethyst’s whip behind you, just narrowly missing the pink Gem.
“Bring her back you clod!” a scratchy voice calls out as you race forward.
“Spinel, wait! We have to talk to go back and talk to them! Remember?”
You grip her arm frantically and look up at her with pleading eyes. Her face falls as she registers your expression, and she sighs heavily.
“I know, doll, but... they’re tryin’ to attack you! Us! Peridot... she had the rejuvenator-!”
“No, no, I think they think you’re still trying to hurt me for some reason! But if we talk to them, we can explain!”
Spinel closes her eyes for a moment, and you feel like you can see the thoughts racing through her head.
“Yeah. Ok, you’re right. We can-”
“Y/n!”
You immediately groan and roll your eyes, turning once more to face the voice. This time you’re surprised to see the Gem calling your name- flying in what looks like a modified Peridot ship?
“Pearl?!” you exclaim incredulously, “What are you doing?”
“Saving you!”
“Pearl-”
“I can’t do this!” Spinel exclaims, interrupting you. You turn back to face her, and she’s already blowing on the horn, directing the injector to speed off again, this time over land, thankfully.
You huff in anger and turn back towards Beach City, where you can see the two groups of Gems racing to catch up, joined by Lapis carrying Steven.
“It’s all of them,” you mutter. “Spinel, we can’t leave again! Find somewhere to land!”
She doesn’t answer you and continues pushing the injector faster- faster than you thought it could go, honestly. You hold on to the Gem and brace yourself, shutting your eyes against the wind whipping across your face.
You turn back after a moment, away from the wind, to see if you’re still being followed. You heave a sigh of relief when you realize you can no longer see Pearl’s ship, Lapis, or Amethyst and Peridot. Your relief is short lived, however, because Spinel has apparently picked a spot to land.
The injector comes to a swift halt over top of a giant field, way out in the countryside. You grip Spinel’s arm tighter as it lowers into the ground, luckily having no poison left to use on the Earth. It settles with a loud rumble, and you finally relinquish your grasp on the Gem.
She takes the opportunity to slump down, wrapping her arms around her knees and hiding her head between them. You sigh and sit down next to her, gazing out across the landscape and watching the wind blow through the tall grass below.
“I... I’m sorry,” Spinel finally says after a few minutes.
“I know, hun, I know. It’s ok,” you reply quietly, circling your arms around her middle and pulling her closer to you.
“I just... that was so scary,” she continues, her voice small and pitiful, “I couldn’t see a way to make them listen and I didn’t want them to take you away from me...”
“I wouldn’t have let them,” you retort sternly, trying to reassure her. “Even if they had been able to grab me, I could have talked them down... I think,” you add, suddenly unsure.
“What... what do we do now?” Spinel asks, lifting her head and wiping the tears from her eyes. Your heart melts at the sight- she's been through so much and still has the drive to keep going, to keep asking ‘what’s next.’ You truly admire her for that.
“Well... we have to go back,” you point out, “or we could let them find us I suppose, but that might end pretty poorly.”
Spinel doesn’t answer, so you continue, “We can probably spare a few more minutes though, if you need a chance to calm down?”
The pink Gem nods and snuggles in closer to you, burrowing the top of her head under your chin. You wrap your arms around her small frame and hold her, hoping the beat of your heart can be as calming as it once was back on your small island of paradise.
You let her sit there for a bit, but once you feel her trembling start to subside, you move a hand to the back of her head and give her a few soft pets.
“We have to be strong now, okay Spins?” you say gently, prompting her to lift her head and meet your eyes.
Before she can say anything, you give a quick kiss to the tip her her nose, earning a light chuckle. You smile and squeeze her tightly for a moment before standing.
“All right. You can do this, Spinel. We can do this. I believe in you.”
You reach out a hand to her which she takes, pulling herself up off the top of the injector.
“All right. Yeah. We can do this,” she repeats back, trying out a confident smile.
“That’s the spirit!” you exclaim, “Now... we may not want to fly back on this big intimidating injector... you up for a walk?”
x * x * x * x * x
Twenty minutes into the walk back to Beach City, and you’re already regretting your life choices. The tall grass is much rougher to walk through than it had looked, and you had apparently severely underestimated how far Spinel had flown the damn injector, what with your eyes being closed most of the ride.
After bringing you down from the injector in her arms, Spinel had offered to carry you the rest of the way, which you of course refused- you weren’t sick anymore and could walk fine on your own, thank you very much. Now you almost wish you’d taken her up on the offer, just so you could reach Beach City faster. But you weren’t one to relent so easily, so you kept trudging on.
Spinel had been silent most of the walk- most of the day, really. You knew she was incredibly scared of going back, and though she had felt ready this morning, you can’t imagine the ‘greeting’ the two of you received had done much to ease her nerves.
“I’ve done all the comforting I can do,” you think, looking over to your favorite Gem sadly, “she has to figure out the rest on her own.”
The silence as you walk is... uncomfortable, to say the least. You don’t seem to have much to talk about outside the current situation, and you don’t really feel like talking anyway- you're too wrapped up in your own worries to be concerned with how the Gem is feeling at the moment.
You had tried to avoid considering it before, but you had to face reality now- what if they really don’t accept Spinel? Disregarding the whole relationship thing, if they don’t even let her stay in Beach City... or even on Earth? What if they poof and bubble her before you can get a chance to do anything?
You don’t have any answers to these questions that are building inside you. You can guess, but ultimately, you decide that things are going to play out as they will, and all you can do is help them get to where you want them to be.
You can only hope Spinel will feel the same way.
The nerves return to ravage your system around 45 minutes into your walk, when you can start to see Lighthouse Park peeking up over a hill. You want to stay strong, present a unified front to the Crystal Gems, but you can feel yourself unraveling on the inside.
Still, you manage to keep it together as the two of you walk up the peak of the hill overlooking Beach City. You stop to catch your breath as Spinel walks up from behind you, and gingerly takes your hand in hers.
“Ready to try again, doll?” she asks softly.
You huff, rather exhausted from the long hike, but nod in agreement. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
You start the journey down, being the first one to break from her hand. Spinel may have all the grace and balance of a perfect lifeform, but you certainly do not, and this is a pretty steep hill.
You almost trip over a protruding rock that you hadn’t noticed, and Spinel quickly stretches her arms to support you, holding you in place until she can make her way to you.
“Woah there doll, havin’ a little trouble walking, huh?” she teases as she releases you, leaving you to your own devices.
You furrow your brow and stick out your tongue in response, knowing full well you look ridiculous. She laughs heartily, the loudest you’ve heard all day.
“Never seen that face before, love,” she comments in between giggles, “it’s certainly... a look!”
“Yeah, yeah, I make dumb faces,” you huff, continuing down the hill more carefully. You know you’re being a bit childish, but the closer you get to home, the more on edge you feel. You’re not really in the mood for joking, and Spinel seems to register this, as she falls silent after your comment and continues walking behind you.
You reach the base of the hill with no more mishaps, thankfully. As you wait for Spinel to catch up, you sigh heavily, gazing out at the city you love so much. Whatever is waiting for you upon your return... you just hope you’ll be strong enough to face it.
A hand closes around yours, soft and unsure. You look up to your left to see Spinel giving you a tentative smile, and you give her a curt nod before beginning to lead her down the path to Beach City.
As you walk towards the town, you notice it’s eerily still. You have no idea what day it is, so it could very well be a weekday and people are still inside at work or school, but... the fact that the Gems were nowhere in sight either was concerning.
You grip Spinel’s hand tighter, and the two of you make your way down onto the boardwalk. You want the Gems to see you and Spinel together, wherever they are. They need to know not to attack first, and they definitely won’t when you’re this close to the pink Gem.
You hear the slight flap of wings before you see her- Lapis makes her way down from the air, with Steven behind her- for a moment you’re startled, but then you recall his floating powers; something you had only seen a few times years ago.
Next come Pearl and Garnet in the new ship, probably worked on in tandem by both Pearl and Peridot, judging by the green exterior. The front opens and you lock eyes with Pearl, a blush of embarrassment creeping onto your cheeks before you can stop it. You’re gripping Spinel’s hand impossibly tight now, and you’re glad that she doesn’t feel as much pain as a human; you’re sure you’d be crushing her hand right now if she did.
You have to avert your gaze from Pearl as your stomach sinks- she's looking at you exactly as you had feared she would. Confusion, mistrust... you can’t believe this is happening.
Peridot and Amethyst fly in last, zooming over from somewhere else in the town. You look almost pleadingly at Amethyst, hoping she’ll try to take your side on this- or at least meet you somewhere in the middle. Her expression is unreadable to you, which with her is... usually not good.
You sigh softly and decide to get this over with. No use delaying the inevitable.
“So, uh...hey guys,” you say quietly after clearing your throat, “Long time no see?”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Amethyst says with a roll of her eyes, stepping off Peridot’s floating metal.
“How... how long has it been?” you ask, glancing around the group.
“About seventeen days, nine hours and... fifty-five minutes,” Peridot answers swiftly, glancing at her strapped-on wrist tablet.
“Oh...gosh.”
You genuinely hadn’t realized it had been that long. The days all sort of blurred together, especially with the sickness. It was no wonder they looked concerned and pissed off that you saunter in holding hands with your captor.
Subconsciously, you let go of Spinel, and take a step towards Pearl’s floating ship.
“Guys, we need to talk. Spinel-”
“Spinel what?” Pearl spits out rather aggressively, leaving you taken aback and wide eyed. “Spinel took you, we don’t hear from you for weeks and now you come back holding hands? What is this, Y/n?”
You suck in a breath and turn to Spinel, whose face seems to be shifting between expressions of anger and worry. This time it’s her turn to reach out and grip your hand too tightly, but unfortunately you can be hurt- the sudden pain causes you to yank your hand back from her grasp involuntarily. She startles backwards, and shoots you a pained look. Your heart sinks and you shut your eyes for a moment, trying to regain composure. This is not how you wanted this to go.
“Ok, look, everyone stop for a second and let me explain.”
You pause and watch for the groups’ reaction, nodding slightly when they all seem to agree to stay silent.
“All right. Thank you.” you turn to the pink Gem who has recoiled into herself, looking more nervous than you’ve ever seen her.
“Spinel, hon? Do you want to say anything?”
She closes her eyes and sighs, a resolute look passing over her features. She quickly unwraps her arms from herself and steps in front of you, looking at each member of the group before finally locking eyes with Steven, who stood next to Lapis.
“I am... so sorry for all that I’ve done,” she says, her voice quivering in fear, “I h-have no excuses, but I’d like t’make things right in any way I can. If you’ll let me.”
You look to Steven, the first person you’d expect to extend the olive branch.
He sighs and shakes his head, and your eyes go wide- is he really going to refuse?
“Spinel, I want to give you that second chance. Well, third chance at this point,” he says with an awkward chuckle.
“I just... the Gems and I need to talk to Y/n and hear what happened while you were...gone,” he finishes, giving Spinel a shrug.
You turn to your companion and she glances between you and Steven frantically for a moment, before clasping her hands tightly in front of her.
“Fine,” she says, voice louder than before. “Just... don’t try to pull a fast one and take her away from me, yeah?”
Pearl furrows her brows as she ushers you a couple feet away, leaving Peridot and Lapis hanging back to watch over Spinel.
You form a sort of circle with the Crystal Gems, hands on your hips and glancing between them expectantly.
“Well? What’s up with everything, Y/n?” Amethyst spits out, “What the hell is the deal with all... that?”
“Y/n, it just seems... like a really weird situation,” Steven admits, scratching the back of his neck.
You heave out a sigh- something you’re doing frequently today, you’ve noticed.
“I told you guys I could take care of it,” you reply, giving them a pointed look. They need to know that you’re not incapable just because you’re human, and while you appreciate the protectiveness, it’s time to back off a little.
The group reacts... much differently than you had expected.
“Oooh,” Pearl breathes out, a look of realization crossing her features.
You tilt your head in confusion, and mutter out, “Huh...?”
Amethyst looks towards Pearl, who motions her forward to whisper in her ear.
“Oh, I gotcha!” Amethyst exclaims, looking your way.
“What? What are you getting?” you ask, clearly missing something.
“Don’t worry, Y/n,” Garnet says, speaking up for the first time since you got back, “We can handle it from here.”
“O-okay...” you stutter, still terribly confused and a little concerned.
They lead you back to Lapis, Peridot and Spinel, who seem to have been standing in silence the whole time.
You try to meet Spinel’s eyes, but she looks downcast, avoiding your gaze.
“So!” Pearl exclaims, clasping her hands together, “We’ve figured out what’s going on!”
“What? I barely told her anything,” you think, wondering what she could have surmised from what you said.
“We just need to sort everything out with some... things...” she glances towards Spinel at the last word as she trails off, and you cross your arms in front of you. Whatever she is thinking, she very clearly has the wrong idea.
“I heard,” Spinel cuts in before you can speak your mind. She turns to you with swirling eyes, and a sense of dread and déjà vu washes over you.
“I heard what ya said- when I took you. ‘I can handle this.’ Yeah, that’s what it was.” Her voice grows deeper and she narrows her eyes, but doesn’t move.
“You can handle this... as in, you can trick me into thinkin’ you care about me to get me to take ya back? To play with my feelin’s like I’m just a toy that you need to get rid of as soon as possible?”
Your stomach sinks, and you feel nauseous. How is this happening again?
Suddenly, a springy pink arm shoots forward, but not towards you. Spinel catches Peridot by surprise, grabbing the rejuvenator from her grip before she can react. The Crystal Gems get into position around you, ready to protect you and each other if need be.
She looks at you sadly, her eyes returned to their normal pink hue. Glancing between you and the rejuvenator in her hand, she shakes her head, then suddenly turns and runs back the way you had come from.
“Spinel!” you call out hopelessly. She’s too fast, springing through the outcropping of trees and out of sight before you can even move.
Tears well up in your eyes as you turn on the other Gems.
“What the hell?” you scream, not caring about keeping it together at this point.
“You made her think- I wouldn’t... why would you think I would manipulate her like that for weeks just to get back here?” you screech, tears freely falling down your cheeks.
“Y/n, no, I...” Pearl whispers pathetically, placing a hand over her mouth.
You glare at her before rounding on Garnet. “And you! You have future vision, yeah? How the hell didn’t you see this coming? That Pearl had completely misinterpreted what I meant?”
Garnet sighs and removes her visor, gazing at you with her trio of multicolored eyes.
“You know I see possible and probable futures, not certain ones. I didn’t...see things going like this,” she finishes, putting her glasses back on. You roll your eyes, but you realize she’s right- it was just a giant, dumb misunderstanding. Granted, Pearl could have actually asked you to clarify everything instead of immediately assuming, but...
“Ok. Here’s what’s gonna happen,” you say sternly, addressing the group. Pearl casts her gaze downward, and you avoid looking at her all together.
“I’m going to go find Spinel, whom I care about deeply. I don’t care what any of you think, so please just let me find her.”
Steven steps forward, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We’re not going to stop you, Y/n. Is there any way we can help?”
You give him a small smile and glance up at the forested hill you had traversed down to get back to the boardwalk.
“Well, I could use a lift...”
x * x * x * x * x
After going through the various options of transport, you all decide the safest for you is the small ship that Pearl had been piloting earlier, much to your disappointment. You didn’t really want to be alone with her right now, but you had no choice.
You climb into the small opening and give Pearl a grimace of a smile.
“Can only hope Spinel isn’t too far away...”
Pearl sends the ship straight up, and you have to grab onto the surrounding seats to keep your balance.
“Geez, careful,” you mumble, righting yourself once the ship has steadied.
“Sorry.”
You sigh and roll your eyes, deciding now is not the time to press any issues you have with her. Your focus needs to be finding Spinel- fast.
The ship crests over the top of the hill, and you look towards the way you came, back towards the injector. No pink Gem, as far as you can tell.
“Y/n, look...”
Pearl calls you over softly, pointing out her side of the small circular ship.
“She’s on Rose’s hill,” the Gem remarks, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Pearl, can you... please bring me there? Not too close, and don’t let her see the ship,” you direct, and Pearl follows your request immediately. She pilots the ship expertly, landing at the base of the hill.
You clamber out awkwardly, earning a fond smile from Pearl.
“I really am sorry,” she retorts stiffly, before flying away and leaving you to your own devices. You watch her leave for a moment, hoping that no lasting damage had been done to your friendship. Turning towards the hill, you take a deep breath and begin the climb.
“My journey with her began at the base of a hill. I suppose this is only fitting.”
You stare at the back of Spinel’s form, much as you had this morning before you’d left the island. She’s perched on a rock, staring at something in her hands, presumably the rejuvenator. You don’t want to startle her, so you wait to approach a moment, observing from afar.
After a moment, she heaves a loud sigh, loud enough for you to hear from your place slightly downhill. She gazes forlornly out over the city and moves closer to the cliffs edge.
Your eyes go wide, and suddenly there’s only one thought in your head.
“She’s going to try to shatter herself off the side of the cliff.”
“Spinel!!” you screech, rushing forward, a hand outstretched.
Spinel jumps back in surprise, clutching the rejuvenator to her chest.
“Y/n?! What are you d-doin up here?” she asks, eyes going wide.
“What do you think? I’m coming after you, Spinel. I wanted to explain-”
“Oh, don’t bother. Heard everythin’ you had to say.”
You roll your eyes. “That’s the thing though, you didn’t. I said one sentence and they all assumed what they wanted to assume, because none of them really wanted to believe that I could have learned to care for you so quickly. But they were wrong.”
Spinel turns back to face the city, and the cliff’s edge. “Yeah, well. Can’t say I blame ‘em. Pretty damn unlikely, you and I.”
Your face blanches as she stands on the precipice, and there’s only one thing you can think to do.
“Spinel, please, please don’t!”
You dart between her and the cliff’s edge, making sure you have proper footing.
“Please don’t jump... please don’t go and leave me...”
Spinel glances behind you and then meets your eyes, one eyebrow raising.
“What... did you think I was gonna do?”
“J-jump, and... try to shatter yourself,” you stutter out, tears forming in the corners of your eyes.
Spinel sighs and turns away from you, plopping back down on the rock she had been sitting on earlier.
“No, doll, I... considered it, but I’m not that eager to cease to exist. I just thought...”
She trails off and glances at the rejuvenator in her hand.
“Thought it might be easier on everyone if I went back to the way I was before. Cheery, fun...”
“...Stupid?” you offer with a small smile, recalling another time she’d compared her current form to her previous.
The joke doesn’t take, and Spinel rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Just... something that’s not me. I want to forget. I can’t... I don’t want to live with all these painful memories anymore.”
Her voice cracks on the last word and she breaks into silent tears, burying her face in her hands.
“I’ve just d-done so much wrong here. I just want t-to start over.”
You gaze sadly at the Gem you’ve come to care about so much, and wish you had the magic words to make everything better, to help her see the value in herself. But you had no such words, and could only offer what you knew.
“Spinel.”
You touch her shoulder gingerly as you say her name, and sit next to her on the rock, wishing you could just hug her right here. But you suspect she might need some space.
“Spinel, I won’t lie, you’ve messed up a couple times.”
A sob wracks her body, and your heart just about breaks right then and there.
You hurry and continue, “You’ve messed up but you’ve also grown so much! You’ve learned from those mistakes and are bettering yourself through them. Just like humans do. Humans constantly learn and change, our entire lives. It’s part of why Rose loved this world so much, I think.”
“And you don’t need to worry about everyone else, I sorted everything out with that. We’ll need to talk more later, but for now... they’re not going to do anything to you, or attack us, or send you somewhere else.”
At that, Spinel finally lifts her head. “Yeah?” she asks hopefully, wiping away a tear.
“Yeah,” you say gently, taking the opportunity to move the rejuvenator from her hand to the ground, replacing it with your own hands.
“And we can have... a life here, Spinel. We can do all those fun things we talked about, and you can see snow, and... isn’t that just exciting?”
Spinel sniffs once and sits up slowly, turning not to the city, but to you.
“Yeah. It’s amazing,” she says softly, cupping your face in her hand. You lean into her familiar touch, blinking away a few tears.
She pulls you to her shoulder gently, and you rest your head on your favorite spot, snuggling in close.
The two of you gaze out over Beach City as the sun sets on the horizon, illuminating the faint pink ocean into a brilliant magenta.
“Hey, Y/n?” Spinel asks shyly.
“Yeah?”
“...I love you.”
Well. That was unexpected.
“I love you too, Spinel.”