Unwanted Attraction (The Sequel to Shattered Hearts)

Chapter 8 (Thanksgiving!)

Peridot was nudged awake by a extremely persistent hand. The green gem's eyes opened, and she made a grunting noise and turned over on the temple's couch. When she was poked and prodded repeatedly, Peridot gritted her teeth and shoved the hand of her mildly irritating friend away. "Steven, leave me alone! I'm trying to rest!" "But Peridot, it's Thanksgiving today! Don't you want to help?" Peridot rubbed her eyes and sat up. All the poking the hybrid had done were enough to wake her up for good. "What's Thanksgiving?"

The boy grinned, his eyes bright. "I was just about to tell you! It started because these people traveled in a ship called the Mayflower, but that's all the boring history stuff. The cool part about it is that everyone eats turkey and cranberry sauce and stuffing and-" Peridot cut him off. "Wait, wait! You mentioned...eating?"

Steven nodded, his legs swinging back and forth as he sat down on the couch with her. "Well, yeah! All of the things I talked about just now were different foods!" Peridot became uneasy. She liked eating Doritos, but they were so small that it didn't really matter if she ate one or not. Eating that much food for an Earth holiday sounded like an issue. "Oh...I'm sorry Steven, but I don't think I can eat all that. Is there...a less rigorous part of this Earth ritual?"

Steven looked distant for a moment, then nodded. "Yep! You can think about what you're thankful for!"

"Thankful?" The word was strange to use in this situation. "Yeah, thankful! This holiday's about giving thanks and being happy for what you have!"

Hmm...well, if that was the case, it would still be quite a challenge. So many things had caused her last couple of months to be downright dreadful, and her time on this planet had been a major part of it. She didn't want to disappoint Steven, though, and the look on his face he'd had when she'd told him she didn't want to eat all that food made her want to cheer him up again. Peridot also didn't want to make anything up. Steven was insightful that way-the half gem being was able to quickly distinguish right answers from wrong ones and call people out on them. The green gem went through all of her memories of this place. She found positive ones sooner than she thought she would, and recapped a few to satisfy the thankfulness this ritual required. "I suppose I'm thankful for...being allowed to exist. It was a valiant move you and Ben took in freeing me from the fusion's bubble. I am thankful for that." The child's face lit up in a way that made Peridot feel happy, too. "Alright, anything else?"

The gem thought about this some more. Her next thought made her blush. No...now that she thought about it in a more in depth manner, she decided to keep this statement to herself. "No, I think that's it." To her surprise, Steven wrapped his arms around her in a way that she wasn't used to. Peridot tried to shake the little boy off, but he had a strong grip. "What is this? What are you doing?" Steven squeezed her tightly. "It's a hug. People give them to each other when they're happy." The home world gem struggled in his embrace. "I don't like it. Let go, please." When the hybrid gem didn't listen, Peridot tapped her foot impatiently. "Steven..." "Come on, Peridot! Just accept it! Hugs are nice." The boy wouldn't budge, no matter how many times he was poked, pushed, and prodded. The green gem sighed in aggravation. "Fine." She lifted her arms up and wrapped them around him the way he had with his. Steven grinned. He let her go and smiled again. "Good. Just so you know...I'm thankful for you too, Peridot." The boy walked away into another room, leaving the other gem alone to ponder this. Thankful...the word had a nice sound to it. Steven usually said words to her that had nice sounds, but...this word was different, somehow better than the rest. Peridot remembered what she had kept herself from saying before. She was thankful for Ben-for his help in understanding Earth, for his kindness, and for the friendship he offered to her. He also offered something else, something that the gem was just starting to understand. Love. She could feel it in this temple, could feel the intensity of the emotion and how it drove the Crystal Gems to protect each other. The whole reason the perma fusion existed was because of love. A pale green blush found its way onto Peridot's face again, and she fought back a smile. She was starting to get it now, this need to be around others and to want them to be around you. Why didn't this exist on home world? Everything would be so much better if it did. These controversial thoughts made the gem question, as she often did, why her instructors had rejected this feeling, and this way of life. It was more open, less confining, and it made Peridot not mind so much that she was small. Here, it didn't matter if she was small or not. Here it only mattered if you lived out your days with compassion. Though some fighting might accompany that, love always seemed to win out. Thankfulness. She wanted Ben to be thankful for her. She wanted him to see her as he had before, before she'd tried to hurt him. Maybe he could teach her how to love and be loved. Maybe...she could even have more things to be thankful for. Peridot's voice was quiet, but the intended person still heard her from the other room. "Um...Steven?"

The boy answered her quickly. "Yes?"

"I'd like to try some of that, uh...turkey you mentioned."

The half human, half gem being hurried into the room, nearly slipping on the floor from excitement. "You mean it?"

Peridot gave him the biggest smile she could muster. She wasn't used to smiling very much, so this felt awkward, but the little boy didn't mind. "Of course." Steven smiled back and led the green gem outside, where they would find Thanksgiving goodies that his dad had brought. "Steven, I like being thankful for things, but...there's one thing I don't understand."

"Okay, what's that?"

"What's a mayflower?"