Give Me My Lapis Lazuli

Hiding out

Naturally, Aquamarine knew she couldn't go into the ocean by herself, but she also couldn't ask Steven to come with or ask help from his guardians, The Crystal Gems. She knew the second she was revealed, she would definitely be POOFED! back to her gem, then bubbled. Aqua shuddered at the last part. Steven offered to help her search, but Aqua quickly denied. She would never force him to come with, since he's been kind enough already. 

Steven had to go to bed for real this time. He waved goodbye to Aqua and set off for the temple. Aqua stared around the lighthouse where Steven told her to stay. There was a gem here before,  she could tell from the markings. She sighed, for there was nothing to do. She laid down, and drifted to sleep...

"Aqua? Aaaaqqquuuuaa." Aquamarine opened her eyes to find Steven crouching over her.

"Hey Aqua, today the Gems are going on a mission, so the temple is free!" Aqua froze.

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Steven, do you want me to get killed? I can't go in there! That's Crystal Gem territory!" Steven shook his head. 

"I'm a Crystal Gem, and I'm allowing you in!" He said happily. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to the temple. He was surprisingly strong and took her away with ease. He held the door open for her, as she walked in. It was nice, not as nice as Homeworld, but a good place. She looked around, the warp pad toward the back, a escape pod laid near it. She recognized it on sight. 

"That's an escape pod from Yellow Diamonds ships! Who escaped?"

"Oh, a Gem named Peridot. We've been chasing her around for weeks, she's very tricky!" Steven pointed at the pod. "That's how we track her, its still a working progress, but Pearl thinks it'll work." Aqua blinked.

"Do you say 'Pearl?'" Steven nodded.

"Um yeah, Pearl. She's one of my moms! Well, guardians." Aqua bit her tongue. No way she would tell Steven about how pearls were treated on Homeworld. She then climbed the wooden planks that go upward.

"What is this?" She pointed at the large rectangle and black box. Steven ran up the planks and laughed. 

"That's my bed and TV!" he replied simply. "You see Aqua, I need sleep, and a bed is where I do it, since its so soft and comfy. And a TV is where we watch shows or movies. But just the other day, Peridot began to use the Communication Hub and she was all over TV. But that's broken now..."his voice trailed of, as if something bad happened there. Aquamarine decided not to ask. She jumped down and ran toward the door, where 5 gemstones were in the door.

"Is this," Aqua touched the door. "The gem temple?" Steven quickly dragged her away.

"I wouldn't go in if I were you. The Gems don't even like me going in there." Aqua sighed.

"So what should we do, since I'm pry not allowed to go in public." Steven thought for a moment.

"We can walk on the beach, or we could go into town. But you would have to shapeshift into a dog or something."

"Done." Aqua replied, and in a flash of light, the 5'7" foot Gem was a tiny greyhound.

"Great! Now here's a collar," Steven wrapped a gray collar around Aqua's neck, covering her gem.

"Now let me show you around BEACH CITY!" Steven ran off, Aqua following behind.

_____________________________________________________________________________

She was typing up a report into the program. She looked around: very few Gems were here now, meaning it was almost time to go. The gem sighed in relief. It was hard today, looking for those three Gems stuck on Earth, and now reports a certain warrior gem has gone missing. She stood up, and shut down her work. The gem stretched, and quickly rubbed off the dust from her gem, which was a dark yellowish amber, located on her right forearm. 

"YOU!" the voice boomed, causing the Gem to fall in alarm.

"Yes...Yes Yellow Diamond?" Her voice shook with fear. Yellow Diamond stood over her, a gruesome look on her face.

"Orange Topaz, where do you think your going?"

"I...um I was going to go home, since I'm done for the day."

"Is that so?"

"yea...yes ma'am."

"Well not anymore. Smoky Quartz has found out what Gem is missing."

"And who is it?"

"Aquamarine."