"Pearl, is my ship ready?"

"Yes, my diamond." Pearl bowed her head, a self-satisfied grin on her face that went unnoticed as it generally did. "Everything is prepared for your departure to Homeworld."

"Good." Yellow stood up, head bent and eyes never leaving her portable display as she moved towards the doors. "Then we'll be leaving."

Yellow nearly made it through the doorway before she paused, her Pearl stopping to look up at her, and only catching on when she turned to look behind her towards the far side of the room.

On the other side of the room, staring out the glass, her face so close to it that the glass had visible lip impressions and every time she exhaled it fogged up with her breath, was Yellow's little unwanted ward. Orange was distracted, not paying attention to either of them as she watched various colored gems moving about the facility below.

"Orange," Yellow grunted, her lips turned down and eyes narrowed at the smaller gem. She made a motion towards the floor in front of her, "Come along."

Instead of the rush Yellow wanted, Orange only turned her head to give Yellow a curious look before turning back to the window.

Yellow's frown deepened, "Pearl," she barked, "Get her."

"Yes, My Diamond!" Pearl scurried over to grab Orange, struggling as she pulled the child to her feet, even as she fought against Pearl's efforts. Now that Orange could crawl, Pearl had struggled more and more to keep her in line, made worse as she grew in size and strength. Pearl feared when the young diamond would grow stronger, too strong for her to handle by herself, potientially before she developed enough reason to control herself and listen.

Standing her up on her feet, Pearl shuffled to get the younger gem to remain standing with her, Orange attempting to pull her back down with her to the floor as she allowed her weaker legs to give out and curl under her.

"Come on, my diamond! Stand up! Blue says you can do it, so why won't you-"

"Pearl!" Yellow Diamond shouted.

"She won't get up, my diamond. she refuses-"

"Then makeher," Yellow interrupted her once more, "She is tiny, and she can't fight you. Grab her and let's go or I will leave you both here."

Pearl knew it was an empty threat, if she attempted to leave anywhere without Orange Diamond, White Diamond had made it clear that she would be punished, and Pearl wasn't sure if it had been the fear of White's retaliation or the possibility of being disciplined herself becoming any kind of public knowledge, but Yellow had yet to allow Orange to be left behind. But empty threat or not, Pearl followed orders, placing an arm under Orange's legs and lifting her up, her face nearly changing color as she made a dash to keep up with her Diamond's longer strides.

Mentally cursing the stairs with every foul word she could think of, Pearl hopped down them one by one, for she knew if she tried to take them as she normally did, she and Orange Diamond would go tumbling down them together. Her predicament was only made worse when Orange began trying to pull on the hair that curled onto her cheeks.

"My Diamond! please don't do that, that hurts."

"Mmm mmm" Orange hummed. "No!"

"Thats right," Pearl nodded, shaking her hand loose at the same time, "No."

Ever since Orange had started speaking actual words, all of which consisted of 'No', 'Up' 'Hi', and 'Bye', once she started, she wouldn't stop. Pearl had figured out that if she responded to her before she could start repeating, she was generally in the clear.

"No!"

Pearl groaned as a string of 'No's followed behind her until she had finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "Pleaseeeee stop."

"No!"

It was only a matter of minutes before Pearl had made it onto Yellow Diamond's hand ship and was able to put Orange down, collapsing onto the floor in the process. "Why are you so heavy?"

"Hi!"

"That is not an answer." Pearl got up to her knees, staring into Orange's chubby little face, "and your little looks do not effect me like they do Blue or White. Those Pearls may be weak, but i certainly-"

Pearl was cut off as Orange wrapped her hand around Pearl's nose now that it was within reach.

"My Diamond!" Pearl's voice was even more nasally than normal, "Release me!"

"Bye bye."

Pearl frowned, reaching up to pry her fingers from her nose, "Thats not funny! Come on, let go. we have to get to the control room before Yellow Diamond takes off."

"Mmmm" Orange hummed as she finally let go of Pearl, watching as she rubbed at her nose before easily twisting her body until she was on her hands and knees and began crawling towards the nearest hall.

"Oh no you don't!" Pearl was on her feet and chasing after Orange before she could get far, picking her up and holding her against her chest. "We have to go."

"No!"

With a lot of effort, and no help from a flailing Orange, Pearl managed to get the both of them to the control room just as Yellow Diamond was pulling down her work screens.

Turning to look over her shoulder, Yellow glanced from Pearl to Orange, and then back to her controls. "Finally. We are leaving, so prepare yourself." Yellow ordered as she placed her arm onto the platform to her right, a yellow glow incasing up to her upper arm as the ship hummed to life.

In a well practiced maneuver, Pearl pulled Orange along with her until they were behind Yellow's seat where Pearl could grab onto the side, out of her diamond's way and so she and the young gem in her arms didn't go tumbling over into a wall as the ship lurched up and then forward, following Yellow's hand.

Orange, now so close to Yellow, stared up at her, her large eyes focusing solely on her, even as she payed her no mind, keeping her eyes forward and out the rectangular window.

"Up!" Orange demanded as she reached towards Yellow with both hands. "Hi! Up!"

Pearl immediately tried to get Orange to quiet, letting go of the chair as soon as the ship broke the planet's atmosphere and had stabilized, holding onto her with both hands. "No no, my diamond. Orange, hey, look at me."

"No! Up! Up!"

"Orange, my clarity, please shush. You're going to get us in trouble."

"Bye!" orange looked at Pearl, her little eyebrows turned down as she frowned at her, "Bye! Up!"

"Yellow Diamond is busy," Pearl tried to reason, "and we wouldn't want to bother her-"

"No." Orange slapped her hand against Pearl's face, earning a startled "Eep!"

"No." Orange repeated, "Up!"

"I get it, you want to go up. But you can't." Pearl tried again.

"UP!" Orange screeched, flailing in Pearl's arms as she reached towards Yellow again.

"Pearl! What is all that commotion about?" Yellow turned to look at them over her shoulder, glaring at both of them.

"i apologize my diamond, it's Orange Diamond,"Pearl glanced down at the gem in her arms as she nearly managed to slip out of her hands as her shirt began to ride up while she thrashed about, "she won't stop-"

"Up! up! up!"

"That." Pearl grunted.

Yellow rolled her eyes, reaching over her arm encased in the holographic light, "Hand her over."

Pearl gawked, so surprised she had nearly let Orange slip from her grip when she doubled her efforts when Yellow's hand had settled in front of them. "My diamond? are you sure, i can-"

"Enough, Pearl. You obviously can't control her, and I will not hear this nonsense for the rest of the trip."

Pearl remained silent as she gently placed Orange into Yellow's open palm, who curled her fingers protectively over her and then proceeded to drop her onto her lap.

"There, now remain quiet." Yellow ordered. She was surprised when Orange seemed to be listening, as she remained quiet and still in her lap. However, as much as Yellow wanted to call it good and leave it at that, having her constantly looking up at her was becoming unnerving. Narrowing her eyes down at Orange, Yellow asked, "What? What do you want now?

"Hi." Orange responded immediately, a smile spreading on her face now that Yellow was looking at her.

"Hello. Now stop staring." She grunted, turning back to the window, inspecting her surrounding as millions of stars passed by her view, tiny little lights zooming out of her sight almost before she could see them. It was normally a sight that kept the youngest gem entertained. How fortunateshe had decided to turn her attention to her today.

"Up."

Yellow turned back to Orange, "What?"

"Up," Orange motioned with her hands, as if for needed emphasis, "Up!"

"Absolutely not. You're lucky to be sitting in my lap, and only then is it because i do not want to hear your crying the whole way." Yellow paused then groaned, slapping her free hand over her eyes. "Look at me, talking to you as if you understand a single thing i say. You seem to have Blue and Pink wrapped around your fingers, and they treat you like you're something special, but what are you really?" Yellow paused again, her annoyance falling into a blank stare at Orange, "This is a one sided conversation. Im talking to you like your actually intelligent enough to understand that. Your losing it Yellow. Get a grip."

Pearl remained wisely silent through this whole ordeal, pointedly not looking in her Diamond's direction, though she could barely contain the amused grin that wanted to spread on her face.

"Up," Orange repeated when it became evident that Yellow was determined to ignore her. "Up. Up!"

Orange began to bounce, attempting to use Yellow's front as support as she began to stand up, slapping at Yellow's stomach. "Up!"

"Stop that." Yellow instructed, placing her hand under Orange and making her fall back onto her butt.

Orange's eyes narrowed at Yellow as she looked down at her, which Yellow mimicked, "Don't give me that look. Sit there and be quiet. We'll be on Homeworld shortly enough and then you can go to Blue."

"No!" Orange pouted.

The elder diamond rolled her eyes, looking away from Orange again. "Learn something new while your away, if you can. im getting tired of the same four words."

"Up!" Orange proceeded to try once more to stand up using Yellow as support, using her legs to bounce up when she couldn't quite straighten up by herself. "lo up! 'lo up!"

"Shush."

"'Lo up!" Orange bounced, losing her balance and stumbling back. Without anything to grab onto, if it hadn't been for Yellow's quick reflexes, Orange would have tumbled backwards off her leg and onto the floor. Orange grabbed onto Yellow's hand with all her might, her eyes widened in surprise at the feeling of falling and then being stopped. Yellow brought her back to her, sitting her back on her thigh.

"Stop moving. You're going to fall, and maybe next time I won't catch you. Perhaps you'll learn your lesson."

"'lo...lo!"

Yellow sighed at the repeated noises, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation, "What are you trying to say, Orange? Low?"

"'ello"

Yellow's eyes blinked open, turning sharply down to look at Orange. "What?"

"'lo! 'ello!"

"Are...are you trying to say Yellow?"

"Hi! 'Ello!"

Yellow blinked again, unsure she had actually heard that correctly. she leaned down to look Orange in the eyes directly, "Yellow."

"'ello."

"Yel-oh."

"'ellllllllo."

Yellow cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised at Orange before she shrugged. "I'll take it."

"'Ello! Up!"

"Only because you asked, if in a grammatically incorrect manner, but i see you are at least trying." Yellow picked Orange up in her palm, bringing her up to hold against her chest where she pressed her cheek against her, turning her head to look up at Yellow with bright, happy eyes. "Look at me, speaking to you again like you actually know what I'm saying."

"'ello. Hi."

"Shhh."

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Author: Only one more chapter before the second Diamond bomb event starting on the 18th. Next one isn't as fluffy like the last couple have been, and is moving more into the plot than these last ones have been.

So, something i like to ask every once and a while:

Who's your favorite diamond mom?