Steven Universe-RUBY X SAPPHIRE-AU

Chapter 12: Round Them Up

(At Quartz Palace)

(Ruby's POV)

I have been allowed to live at Quartz Palace. I didn't have any possessions, so it didn't take long until I was settled in. Right now I'm in Sapphire's room- Sapphy's father didn't allow us to share a room "until we're married" he said. I mean, yeah I wanna marry her but that's  moving a bit too fast for my little legs. We're lying on her bed together, and everything is so calm, as if everything is perfect. But it's not. I pull a troubled face and she notices.

"Are you worried about your sisters?"

"How could I not be? They're family. They're my only family."

She pauses to think for a moment. 

"Okay...then let's go see them!"

"Really? When?"

"Now, of course!"

"Ah! I love you!"

"I love you too! Now, where's the first place to look?"

"Bloodstone Alley. There's a pretty good chance they'll all still be there."

(At Bloodstone Alley)

We walk down the alley I've grown up in all these years on the streets, but it doesn't feel familiar. It's like I've never been here before. It's colder and its more hostile, even more so than the last time I came back. 

"Anyone there? Hello?"

"So you came back again, huh?"

The voice is familiar. "Doc?"

"Yeah, it's me. Now what the hell you doin back here? Go back to your fancy tower."

There is a long pause. Me and Doc haven't been on the best terms lately.

"I...I came for you."

"Aww that's rich. Well, you would know of that sorta thing, wouldn't ya?! Being rich!"

I take a deep breath. Sapphire holds my hand and I continue.

"I came here for you and everyone else...where is everyone else-"

"They left! They all left! I dunno maybe it was your influence or something, but they all just took off shortly after you did the last time! Take it as a compliment! They were all following in your image. They all just abandoned me, they left me behind."

I cant see Doc. Her chair of trash has been moved to face the other way, so I can only hear her voice. I move closer.

"They left you behind? All of them?"

"Every single damn one."

"Well...I may have left you behind. And I'm sorry, but I came back to come and get you all. I did it, you know; I got to the top."

"I know. I read it in the papers." She points to the left alley wall, which I now notice is covered in newspaper articles. "The princess' love life?". "Are they a boy or a girl?" "Salsa Disasta?" "Princess Sapphire is with a girl?" to name a few.

"You collected all of these?"

"Every single damn one."

I took it all in. The pages and pages. Wow. 

"I've got a comfy bed to sleep in, nice clothes that don't stink and have holes in. Three meals a day-"

"If you've got all that, then why the hell are you wasting your time here, huh? Go live your life! You did it! You proved me wrong! So what are you doing back here?"