The New Diamond (a Steven Universe fanfiction)

Nora

White Diamond was sitting in her room in the castle, smiling patiently down at a little Nephrite who was pouring her heart out.
"And I dunno, it just seems like she dosen't really listen to me that much..."
Spinel ran round the Diamonds left side, laughing. "Bet you can't catch me!" she taunted.
"Bet I can!" another girl replied. She looked mostly human, except for her pink eyes, with their diamond shaped pupils. Her curly hot pink hair was full of knots and her clothes left most of her body uncovered. She was quite tall too. She sprang like a cat across Whites lap towards Spinel, who bounced out the way. "Come on, Nora! You can do better than that!"
"I'll show you better than that!" Nora laughed as she ran towards her friend, who raced, laughing, out of the door.
Nephrite giggled.
"Starlight, can you leave us please?" White Diamond asked the half human patiently.
"I'm going, I'm going," she said, before adding to the little gem; "give her a good kick up the balls."
"Nora, that's not-,"
"An appropriate suggestion," mumbled the teen. "Don't I know it."
"I'm getting further away-ay!" Spinel called down the hall.
"Hey, are you gonna take my advice or...?" Nora said to Nephrite who laughed. "Most likely."
White picked up her half human friend and placed her down firmly outside of the room.
Taking the hint, Nora chased a laughing Spinel down the corridor.
Glancing back one last time, she noticed White and Nephrite laughing. Catching the giant's eye, Nora shared a knowing look with her, before glancing back at Spinel. Guilt filled her, but she pushed it aside. She would tell her that secret one day...
The pink- haired hybrid sprang onto the wall, using it to launch herself at her best friend, pinning her to the floor. "Caught you."
The Gem gave a wide beam. "That was cool! Alright, I'll give you a five second head start."
Quickly, Nora sprinted down the corridor, counting down the seconds until she could hear her Gem friend pounding after her. Nora used all her speed to get away, sliding around the corridor and jumping up some steps onto a Warp Pad.
Spinel followed her, laughing, jumping onto the pad, only to see her friend standing and staring down with a look or disbelief on her face.
"Spinel, what is this?"
"Oh, this?" The Gem scowled. "Pink Diamond's stupid garden."
"My mother had her own garden?"
"Yeah, we used to play together here all the time."
Nora turned to her best friend, a look of hurt on her face. "You used to play with her? You knew about a whole period of her life, spent in a hidden place of her own? And you didn't tell me about it?"
"I'm sorry," said Spinel. "It's just... painful for me to talk about."
"Why?" The girl has pulled out a book that she kept with her at all times, along with a pen. "Where in my mother's lifetime does this fit in? Before she lost her original Pearl? After? Why were you playing with her? What did you play? What did you think of her? Were you any different then? How-,"
"Calm down!" The unique, pink gem held up her hands. "I'll tell you everything, as long as after this day, we never talk about it again. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Speaking of deals, what's the deal with that book? I've seen you writing in it a ton but you've never told me what it is."
"Oh this?" Nora glanced down at it with a sad smile on her face. "I'm writing down my mother's story, from the day she emerged from her kindergarten to the day she gave up her physical form. Since I never got to know her... well, this seems like the next best thing."
"Oh." Spinel sat down cross legged. "Well then, we might as well get started. Hey... after you're finished, can I have a look? I want to know her life story, too."
"Of course. Now. Start from the beginning.
And Spinel did. She talked and talked, starting from the day she was created for Pink, telling her friend about all the fun times they had in the garden, and Pinks increased distance from Spinel and desperation for a colony and ending, in a choked voice, with Pinks betrayal. Nora wrote all this down with a fanatical gleam in her eye, listening intently as Spinel described her old appearance and how the garden used to look. Soon, she put up her hand and smiled at her friend. "Thank you for telling me this."
"You remember the deal." Spinel said flatly. "We're never talking about this again."
"I can see why this might be a difficult subject for you now. I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
Spinel threw the abandoned garden a look that could turn someone to stone before hopping back onto the Warp Pad. Nora turned back to her mother's playground, sat down on the pad and began to draw.