Fractures

9. Hollows

A/N:  Sorry if you got used to the long chapters, this one and the next are fairly short.

 - Pink Diamond gives Blue Diamond much to think about.

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Blue Diamond had never been the same since the day Pink Diamond was broken. Not physically, no. Her gem was intact, but there was nothing left inside her.

Blue remembered hearing the news that Pink had done something extraordinarily foolish. She had cried when Yellow came back from Earth, worn from battle and carrying a yellow bubble with a pink gem inside.

Then the work had begun, and she could focus on that for a little while. Gathering up the rest of the Crystal Gems was easy; it seemed none of them had known who they really fought for.

Pink was cruel like that, sometimes.

Blue had sobbed and begged and knelt at White Diamond's feet, to no avail. White wanted them eradicated.

It hadn't fully hit her, not really. Not until she placed Pink's gem inside a cage and watched her reform. Defiantly, she wore the dress of Rose Quartz.

Blue's heart broke as she watched Pink realize what was going on. She ached to let her out as Pink threw herself at the bars like some wild thing.

And even she could not easily swallow the sight of thousands of gem shards.

The screaming haunted her, yes, as she was sure it haunted Yellow. But that was not the thing that plagued her nightmares. It was Pink, driving a sword through her own gem. When she rushed to check on her, she was always still there, lying alone on the floor.

Oh, how Blue wanted to hold her, cradle her to her chest and kiss her head as she had rarely done when Pink was younger. She knew White would be angry with her if she did; this was all part of Pink's punishment.

Would Pink even want to see her anyway, when she had done nothing to stop it? She sent her pearl in her place, hoping it was enough.

Sometimes, Blue found that she'd been staring for hours, just sitting there doing nothing. She lost the will to control her aura, instead letting it spread out and inflict everyone around her with her anguish. She slept more than she used to, struggling to find the will to get up.

She wanted to talk to Yellow, wanted to be held as she wailed, but was simply told to focus.

Blue was not like Yellow. She could not drown herself in her work. Instead, she drowned in worry and guilt.

She could not stop the thought that Pink was gone.

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Blue tried to take Pink with her to places, to get her out of her room. She only ever stood there, hollow and nonreactive.

Once, she saw a spark. An agate had made a serious error in judgment, and she had been about to shatter her, until a soft voice spoke up.

"Blue."

She turned, and Pink was looking up at her, fearful and concerned. The little diamond slowly shook her head.

Blue let the agate go, and had her shattered later in secret. She felt bad about it, knowing Pink would have disapproved. Pink had always cared about things she shouldn't.

After that, Blue stopped bringing her along. The trips only seemed to make her more withdrawn.

They all waited for the day Pink could be a diamond again. Blue knew it would never come.