Stars and Diamonds

Chapter 46: Opportunities

Sitting back in the Captain's chair, Orange watched as the stars flew by in the ship's viewer. It had been a little more than 3 weeks since she left Homeworld and Orange was only just now leaving Blue's colony. Ever since their little tiff, she had felt a bit more subdued. Not because she felt put down after their disagreement, because she refused to say she and Blue had a fight, but because she didn't want to cause any more trouble by potentially upsetting Blue. At first she had been excited to leave homeworld for this trip, and of course she was happy to see Blue, but being with Blue made her question things she hadn't ever really given thought to before, but had simply expected to happen. She couldn't help but wonder what her future actually held, not just the promises she had been told. It wasn't even a question of if she would be a part of the Authority one day, it was more of a question of where she'd fit into it when she did. Looking at everything, It made her question what White Diamond had planned, since Blue seemed to hold no answers for her, or at least any she was willing to part with.

Orange felt more sure of herself as a gem than she ever did as a child. She was little more than half a millennia in age, still the youngest of the Diamonds, but she wasn't a child. True, she was still a little round in the face, and her stocky build only added to her childlike appearance, but she wasn't a child. But it seemed the diamonds saw her as such. Young. Inexperienced. Silly. Is that how they saw her then? Not as useless, as they once might have, just someone they had to take care of, look out for because she couldn't handle it on her own just yet.

Surprisingly, that didn't make Orange feel sad, as she had expected. Instead, it made her want to punch something. it made her wish she was back with the Topazes and Iris so she could train and work off her frustration. She wasn't a child to them. She wasn't a child to Pearl. How long would the others see her as a child? what did she have to do to show them she wasn't that person anymore? Would they ever really see her as their equal?

'I'll make them.'

The thought was aggressive, even in her own head, and bounced around like a harsh echo, making her physically tense. She'd make them see her as one of them, she just wasn't too sure how. At least not without getting shut down like she had with Blue. Perhaps that was something White would be willing to talk about. With how she had left things on Homeworld, she got the impression White would be the most amenable to listening to what she had to say regarding her future, and if White truly was the one making the final decisions about what would happen with her, perhaps she would have the most answers for her as well.

Orange sat forward, stretching out her back and trying to fight the need to get up from boredom. She didn't know how much the Captain would have to report on what happened, including what she did, and she didn't think it would look good on her for fidgeting too much. "How much longer until we reach Yellow Diamond's colony?"

The Captain was quick to jump to her side, and Orange wondered why the Captain seemed so distracted this flight compared to before. "Yes, my Diamond! I mean, we are close, my Clarity. Very close."

Orange's eyebrows screwed up at her, even as she responded her eyes kept going to the screen before her. Whatever was on her screen was obviously distressing, and much more interesting then what Orange had to say. While Orange was confused, and curious, she didn't believe interrogating the Captain would improve their situation, and it honestly worried her that the Captain would mess something up, based on how rattled she seemed to be. In comparison, her crew mates appeared to be perfectly fine, and Orange wonder what the Captain seemed to know that the rest of them didn't.

Shrugging it off, as whatever had the Nephrite in a tizzy more than likely had no impact for her, she leaned back in the chair, turning back to the viewer, her eyes sweeping over the crew every few minutes.