The Figure

"I'm not getting caught up in the middle of another war."

Lapis Lazuli, head down, raises her arms. Her gem glows, and the small lake drains to form a thin layer of water underneath the barn. She lifts it, summoning her water wings to fly along with it.

Tears well up in Peridot's eyes. Steven looks on, horrified.

"...Fine!"

The pure emotion in her voice is something Lapis cannot ignore, even if she wants to, and she doesn't, not really. She looks back at Peridot with a matching expression of despair and stops. Peridot inhales shakily and continues.

"...But it's my home, too. And if you want to take everything from me, from, from us? Go right ahead. I can't stop you.

"But you'll have to live with it. That you did this to someone you loved."

Lapis blinks tears out of her eyes.

"I can't say no to you."

~~~~

They fall asleep watching Camp Pining Hearts in the truck bed together, as they have forever.

Or, Peridot does. Lapis just pretends for her sake.

When it gets late enough, she shifts. Peridot makes no response, so it is safe. She gets up and flies to the main level, retrieving the technician's recorder and heading for the silo.

A brisk night tonight. There is a heavy wind.

Heh. Good that she has a blanket.

After taking a moment to figure out how the damn thing is supposed to work, she presses record and begins to speak.

She talks for hours, and for once she actually feels it. Time lost its meaning to her when she became trapped, and this is the only time it will ever feel like anything again.

When she stops, it is not because she is finished, but because she has nothing left to say.

She presses the stop button on the recorder. The sun peeks over the ocean horizon, and the light reflecting off the great blue expanse is serene.

She wishes they could have seen it together, just one last time.

There is so much they never did together.

She looks back at the truck bed. A tear rolls down her cheekbone. She rises, dropping the device.

The sound of it hitting the silo is much louder than it should have been. Peridot jolts awake, and sees Lapis standing on the silo, whose expression changes.

She pushes off into cosmic eternity.

~~~~

"...See, that's the thing."

"What?"

"Lapis is gone, Connie. And Peridot is..."

"What's wrong?"

"Peri's just lost it."

~~~~

It has been a month.

Steven stands on the Warp Pad at the back of his house. He lingers for a moment. He doesn't know how Peridot will be today, and it has been particularly bad the past few days.

He has been doing this every day since Lapis left. It is taking its toll on him, too, but he at least has Connie to confide in.

Peridot has no one.