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Yellow Diamond stood back, one hand cradling her right elbow while the other curled around her chin, finger tapping lightly on her jaw. Her eyes narrowed, watching closely as Orange thrust her hand out, her aura twirling outwards from her body and solidifying as it created quite an impressively sized dome for a gem of her size. The energy of the dome twisted around itself, scorching the ground around her as it pushed out from its original position close to her. She head her Pearl gasp at the sight, but largely went unacknowledged as Yellow inspected the dome, the younger gem holding it in place for a moment before it disappeared in a hiss of wisps that dissipated in the air.

She hummed as the younger gem turned to look at her, her expectant expression telling Yellow she was waiting for her observation. "Interesting. This dome you create seems to almost burn up and push away everything it touches." Yellow gestured at the thin line of dirt that had been singed to black around her, "Physical manifestations of pure energy, powerful, useful for a Diamond. But what is it exactly?" Her eyes turned back to the damage the younger gem had done to the ground, "Fire? Basic, but not discountable. Super heated air? Perhaps." Yellow spoke out loud, her eyes turning down to meet Orange's again, "Where does it radiate from?"

Orange placed a hand to her gem, "It used to just come from my gem, but that wore me down too quickly. I worked out how to move my energy better, and so it comes from my stomach and pushes outward, and becomes a dome if I don't think to use it as something else."

Yellow raised an eyebrow, "something else?"

"I've figured out how to concentrate it through my hands." Orange held up a hand, her fingers splayed out as it and part of her forearms was engulfed in energy, "If I use the dome too many time, it leaves me feeling like I'm burning up too. I can handle it better when it's just my fists." She explained, her fingers clenching and the energy flared before finally blinking out entirely, leaving only little wisps of light behind.

"Hmm." Yellowed hummed once more, "Concentrated through your hands...I wonder." She turned away from her, her arms dropping to her sides as she looked towards a line of soldiers, mostly guards for Yellow Diamond while she was outside the safety of the Spire, but also acting as Orange's while she joined there. Yellow pointed to one gem in particular, singling out an Amethyst with quite the exaggerated expression of surprise on her rounded face. "You there, guard."

The Amethyst stepped out of line, her expression coming a bit more into control as she saluted to Yellow, "Yes, my Diamond!"

Yellow crossed her arms, and Orange wondered if Yellow was bored or if she was purposely intimidating this gem. "I'd like you to engage Orange Diamond in hand to hand combat."

"My Diamond!?" Amethyst squawked in alarm at the same time Orange spoke.

"Yellow?" Her eyebrows scrunched together and turned up, "What are you doing?"

Yellow turned to acknowledge her as opposed to the gem she had just elected to fight her, "Your abilities are obviously suited for close combat. I wish to see how you do in an actual fight."

Orange's lips thinned out as she raised an eyebrow at her, "You're going military strategist on me, aren't you?" She sighed, giving in before any kind of argument could happen, resigned for another fight she hadn't intended to start. She raised her arms, stretching out her limbs while she asked, "What exactly am I doing?"

"You're using your fists to punch."

Orange's arms dropped from her position over her, her head cocking to the side to give Yellow a look that was returned with the an eyebrow lift of her own. "Oh, well, if that's all."

"Don't get cheeky." Yellow's tone was both amused, but admonishing, silently warning Orange to not cross that line, which she could understand. Being sassy to Yellow was one thing when it was just them, but in front of the entire guard would be inappropriate. Yellow gestured to the Amethyst that was now waiting, a look of mild anxiousness twisted her softer looking features, but her hands clenched and unclenched, as if she was preparing herself for her upcoming fight. "Can you do that or not?"

"Yeah yeah. Okay." Orange brushed off her tone, refusing to be rushed as she rolled her neck and then got into the stance Iris had spent the better part of a week perfecting for her.

Orange was tense, crouching across from this Amethyst, a bit anxious herself. The crowds made her a bit nervous, especially since she was showing off powers she hadn't exactly mastered just yet, like she was at an exhibition match, not to mention it was Yellow Diamond who was judging every thing she did. But it wasn't just performance anxiety, it was facing an Amethyst as her opponent. Orange and Amethyst did not exactly have a great history, and so long as she wasn't on Pink's moon base, she had avoided them pretty well on Homeworld, if she said so. White didn't employ Amethyst in her palace at all, not since she was quite young, which made it the greatest safe haven she could ask for.

Amethyst made her nervous just to see, let alone be near without a friend she trusted, which at the moment, Yellow was said acting friend, distant friend, but she'd have to do. She didn't exactly hold her bad history as every Amethyst fault, they and their chaotic habits combined with their more laidback nature just seemed to end up with her having to mend something after being hurt, and thus had become weary of being near them at all. But she certainly wouldn't have condemned one to being subjected to being beaten up by her, simply for Yellow's analysis.

"Do not be concerned with me, your clarity." Amethyst said, clearing reading her hesitance on the matter.

'Trust me, I wasn't' flashed through Orange's mind, and she felt bad for it. She had lamented having to hurt Citrine, so why should she relish this? But she also knew this was something that had to be done, and perhaps it would help her feelings on the presence of amethyst in her life, a version of therapy just for her.

However, she had to second guess that as she looked the Amethyst over. she wasn't quite built like the others in her guard, and she appeared to have moved on from her anxiousness to fight her and was now preparing for the inevitable. "You don't exactly look like you could hold up in a real fight. You're sure about that?"

"I am one of the top fighters in my line." She responded, a grin stretched across her face, "I will be fine."

"Right..." Orange huffed, accepting that this gem would be fighting her, and seemed to be quite confident in what would happen, which honestly made her want to show her up. How surprising it would be for her when Orange put her back in her place. Clearing her mind, her bright eyes narrowed on the other gem, rolling her shoulders once more before bringing her arms up into position, "let's go then."

Amethyst brought her own hands up, dropping into a different stance to her own, and Orange quickly looked over the gems guard. It wasn't perfect, and if she wasn't aware of where Orange was moving, she would be able to break it from the left and easily enough land a hit from the right.

This Amethyst also wasn't as large as her Topazes, and thus would be much easier to overpower both weight wise, and strength wise. Taking all this in to account, Orange decided to make the first move, charging at a slowed down pace and launch a test shot at the gem, aiming for her right side, which unsurprisingly was blocked by her right arm shifting up to intercept the attack. She was quick to retaliate, with a less experimental hit, raising her left knee to aim for the Diamond's gut that was easily enough avoided by Orange stepping back. But that seemed to be exactly what Amethyst had wanted, as she brought her leg back and pivoted, kicking out with her right leg, landing an unexpectedly hard kick to her left arm.

Fists blazing to life with energy, Orange reached out to grab her extended leg, almost wrapping her fingers around her calf, but just missing when she moved back, jumping to right herself and bringing her hands back up in the same defensive stance as before. Her arm stung from the hit, but went largely ignored as she stepped quickly back to her, invading her space, this time expecting the kick, both the back of her forearm and other hand catching her leg before it could round into her side. Orange glared at her, eyebrows furrowing as she frowned, "You wont be able to keep me away by simply kicking out."

"Wasn't planning on it." Her smirk threw Orange off and she was surprised when she pulled her leg free, quickly righting herself and launching towards her all in a matter of seconds. Amethyst hand shot out, light forming in her outstretched hand that her fingers curled around, and before Orange could react to avoid being hit fully, her hand came down on her, the quickly solidifying light swiped against her left brow, dragging down over her eye and the top of her cheek before she managed to shift back, out of her reach. Reacting more out of instinct than strategy, Orange's aura flared out, reaching out sporadicly in every direction around her, and Amethyst reacted just as quickly, barely managing to jump back before she could be hit. when she was significantly farther away from the young Diamond than she had been, Orange's aura snapped back to her body, no longer languidly moving around but snapping at the air, like an agitated animal coiled and hissing in warning.

Orange's left hand shot up to cover the left side of her face, pain pulsated from the angry lines that cut into her light form, her fingers curling to shield it from further harm. She couldn't blink open the eye, even in the protection of her curved palm, without immense pain making her clench her teeth. Orange's right eye turned to watch the Amethyst as she assessed the damage done in her carelessness. Turning to her hand, Orange realized the light that she had seen in her hand before she had taken her left eye was a weapon.

'That overly polished pebble summoned her weapon!'

In her slightly opened palms, Orange could make out a line of knife-like spikes attached to a bar that curved around her hand, the weapon resembling claws on her palm. A hidden weapon that you wouldn't notice until she was already digging them into you.

"That's dirty." Orange grunted, her hand falling away to show the stinging marks that had been created, a collection of different noises ranging from outrage to amazement and praise coming from the line of guards.

"This isn't a friendly spar. It's all fair." Yellow corrected, Orange's eye momentarily cut to her, and Amethyst took the chance to launch back at Orange while she was distracted. Orange, however, was much quicker than her, her good eye darting to her, her left hand coming up and catching her raised hand before she could land another hit with her claws.

"You've no idea who you're fighting." Orange growled lowly, baring her teeth and taking a deep amount of pleasure when shock morphed the Amethyst's smirk into a frown, her eyes widening when she realized she wouldn't be able to pull away from the death grip she had on her. Orange's fingers curled around her wrist, causing her to have to twist her hand to keep it from being damaged in the Diamond's grasp, her open hand baring the weapon for the others to see.

Her other hand raised in the air, catching the amethyst's attention as it curled into a tight fist, her aura flaring into a twisting ball of energy before it was brought down, smashing her in the side just as the diamond released her wrist, the impact sending her staggering back as her light form sizzledwhere it glitched, trying to repair where a hole had been made, creating a crescent shape in her side. trying too straighten up with the hole attempting to repair itself, glitched lines starting to fragment up and down her side. her hand that didn't hold her weapon covered the glitched hole in her form protectively, her teeth bared right back at Orange in anger.

"I'm the one with dirty moves? What was that?"

"Payback for my eye."

"Orange," Yellow called, her voice cutting into the fight and pulling both the younger Diamond and Amethyst's attention to her. She still stood int he same spot, arms crossed and staring at her fellow Diamond. "I want to see your technique. Not a lowly soldier being bullied."

Orange grunted but didn't retort, turning back to the guard in front of her. "What happened to all's fair?"

Yellow's voice was admonishing, "It's hardly fair for her when you could shatter her with a single hit. Stop toying around."

Toying around? She hardly called having her eye taken toying around.

"Fine." Orange ground out, dropping into her original fighting stance, her left arm sightly raised from its normal position to accommodate the loss of vision for that side.

But instead of making the first move against Orange this time, Amethyst crouched, one hand still covering the glitch in her side and the other raised, teeth of her weapon bared in preparation for an attack. The younger gem took the initiative to attack, knowing her opponent wouldn't. Taking her left side to be her weak spot, it's exactly where she aimed for, aura covered hand raised to strike Amethyst. However, the soldier gem caught her off guard, surprising her when she released her injured side and used both of her hands to stop her, both hands, and subsequently the claws of her weapon, digging into her forearm where her aura had receded from and where it wouldn't break down her own light form.

Orange grit her teeth against the pain of the tips digging into her arm even deeper as her opponent gripped harder, angry orange-red lines forming where they bit into and damaged the limb. As much as her instinct was to get away from what was hurting her, she knew If she pulled away, she would only do more damage as the curved teeth of the weapon would be dragged through her arm. Instead, Orange used the moment to her advantage, since she had both her hands busy, Amethyst couldn't block her fist as it wound back and hit her hard in the gut, just off to the side of where the lines of her form were coming apart.

The hit knocked her back, the weapon wrenching from her arm as she fell back, both of her hands going to cover her stomach as she yelled out in what must have been pain, because she had never heard another gem screech quite like that. But Orange wasn't done, seeing red, and she was over her before she could react. Orange lifted her fist, about to deliver another hit when Yellow's voice stilled her, again.

"Stop."

Breathing out a tense breath, she glared down at the gem as she rolled around on her back, Orange responded without looking up at her. "Yellow? What's wrong now?"

"Who taught you to punch?"

Orange was taken aback by the question, her fist falling as she straightened up to look over at Yellow, "Uhh...I have an Agate training me."

"Hmmp. Horrible." Yellow's lips pursed.

The younger diamond narrowed her eyes at her, insulted, "Not horrible, I like her training. It's done me a lot of good."

Yellow waved her hand, as if she was physically brushing off her defensive tone, "That's all well and good, except your punching like you're a Quartz soldier."

Her face fell from confusion to a more neutral expression as she stared blankly at the larger diamond. "You've lost me. How's that bad?"

Yellow frowned, very close to sneering at her, "If you have forgotten, you're not a Quartz nor a soldier."

Orange's lips pursed, and she gestured for Yellow to explain as she said, "Well, Yeah, but punching? What am I doing wrong?"

Yellow crouched, gesturing for Orange to come to her. Stepping away from the Amethyst, her rage at her opponent temporally forgotten in favor of Yellow's instructions. "Get into your stance."

Yellow patiently waited for Orange to do so, her arm still raised to defend her blind side before she realized and dropped it back down. After she had righted herself, she looked back up at the elder gem to await further instructions, intrigued as to where this was going.

"You're using too much energy in one punch, for one." Yellow told her, "Two, you're a diamond, your so much stronger than any gem your ever likely to face. You don't have to try to hit as hard as you do. Unless you plan to shatter them into dust, at least."

Orange looked down at her fists, seeing them clenched, her knuckled dusted a darker shade where the skin of her form had been damaged, lines of glitched energy still shot up her right arm from where it had been grabbed, but Yellow did not seem to be bothered by it, or maybe it was because she wasn't. Now that she had stopped fighting, she was starting to notice the pain from it more, but endeavored to ignore it for now. "Oh...so, I'm hitting too hard? Tensing?"

"Yes. When you punch, your left arm, bring it up some. You're over compensating for your height. Also, you're not using your hips enough. I can see you're trying, but its not as effective as it should be. use more than just your arms to deliver a punch."

"Like this?" Orange questioned, turning her head slightly so she could see her other arm, slowly moving through the motion of a punch as Iris had shown her, with Yellow's modification.

Yellow reached forward, the tip of her finger adjusting Orange's arm in its position. "Up a little. There."

"I feel really open, like I've dropped my guard like this." Orange admitted, running through the motion slowly and then quicker, punching the air and trying to adjust to Yellow's instructions.

"You haven't. You've simply changed it to accommodate your new form. This should also make using your abilities much more smooth and not like you're blindly jabbing at the air."

"I haven't really had a lot of training with my abilities," Orange admitted, dropping from her stance and looking back up at Yellow, "so I don't have much experience combining them."

"You're doing just fine." Yellow commended, standing back up. "I'd like you to try again."

Orange turned her head to look back at her opponent, still lying on the ground, holding the glitch in her form. The young diamond grimaced at the sight. She didn't exactly feel bad for what she had done, but seeing the gem suffering wasn't pleasant either. "I don't exactly think she's going to be a good opponent anymore."

Yellow grunted, looking over to her fallen guard, and then to the line behind her. "Clear her off the field and take her to be treated!" She then turned to another guard while two dispersed from the line to collect their comrade, Orange watching them trying an maneuver her, missing as Yellow pointed out a new gem. "You. You're Orange Diamond's new opponent."

At those words, Orange turned to look at the new gem that was stepping out of line, saluting to Yellow. She was also an Amethyst, and much more intimidating looking than her predecessor. A larger build, a naturally serious face, not that Orange could blame her. Between being addressed by her Diamond, and seeing another diamond seriously wound her comrade and then be picked to take over the fight she had left off, she couldn't exactly blame her for lacking a smile.

Orange waited until she was moving to the field to begin the short walk back, mirroring her new opponent so they would arrive close enough to the same time so neither of them would be left waiting.

Dropping into her stance, Orange adjusted to try and incorporate Yellow's improvements when she realized she had simply returned to what she knew, ignoring how awkward it felt. Looking up at the new Amethyst, she was in much the same guard stance the first one had been, except her guard was perfect, no openings for the young Diamond to exploit. She remained stoic, no fear, no cockiness, just a readiness, perhaps acceptance, for the fight ahead.

And while Orange would have normally been giddy for the chance to fight using one of Yellow's lessons, especially something like this, but her arm was really starting to bother her, lines of glitching light still ran up her forearm, and while the damage to her face didn't bother her too much if she didn't try to move her eye, which is actually quite hard to do, the loss of vision was starting to throw her off. If she wasn't careful, and focused, this Amethyst would flatten her before she could implement Yellow's instructions into her fight.

"Let's get this over with." Orange said, waiting for the Amethyst to acknowledge her words with a single nod before she advanced on her. While she may have had her range of vision reduced, and thus had an entirely new blind side she wasn't accustomed to, there vision and nothing to do with her legs, and Orange was confident that she could at least keep up her speed for the length of this fight.

The young diamond charged, aura flaring from her skin and her narrowed eye observed as her opponent tensed, aware that she had seen her entire fight, knew some of her fighting style and tricks, and was very aware that she could destabilize her form if that orange aura touched her. So she waste all that surprised when Amethyst vaulted over her, avoiding a punch from the diamond and getting out the range of reach for her to hit. Pivoting, Orange had just enough time to cross her arms and block a kick that had been aimed for her back.

Pushing her away, Orange's eyes flicked down to her arm where the glitching flared under the hit, damage further by her heel digging into it before she could stop her. She frowned, clenching her hand tighter in an attempt to ignore the pain the tit brought, and turned her focus back to her opponent.

If I'm not careful, I'm going to lose my arm, and that will be a real disadvantage.

Moving forward, unwilling to give the Amethyst time to retaliate, Orange was punching at her, energy curling around her fingers, correcting each punch a little bit more than the last as she attempted to become accustomed to Yellow's suggestions, however it remained awkward, as it simply wasn't what she knew. But she would at least try, and Yellow hadn't stopped the fight to correct her yet, so she must have been doing something right.

Eventually, Amethyst had had enough of sidestepping and jumping away to avoid getting hit by her devastating punches, allowing her to get another punch in, with her bad arm no less, before she grabbed it, twisting at the elbow and forcing Orange to release the fist she had, her fingers digging into the flickering lines in her form and causing it to spazz further.

Between the pain and the anger of being grabbed on her bad arm, Orange was seeing red and she reacted before she could think about it, grabbing the arm of the hand that had her own, energy jumping from her form to burning into her own. Sharp tips of energy licked at her arms and engulfed her hands, forcing her to let go or risk having the energy travel up her arms.

Jumping back, Amethyst looked down at her arms, watching as the energy dispersed now that it had been disconnected from Orange Diamond, leaving behind glitching lines in her form where it had burned at her light form, which were unable to reform itself after having been touched by it.

The young Diamond covered her right forearm as it glitched heavily, her hand wrapping around it even as it partially fizzled in and out, as if her grip was the sole thing holding it together. Her fist was riddled with deep orange-red lines, the right side of her fist fully glitched light lines hovering in the air, and not even her aura could reach that area, rendering it useless for her fight. Orange grit her teeth, hard, trying her best to ignore the discomfort the continued glitched caused, and the frustration of having allowed herself to be surprised like that. Now she was not only down part of her visual rage, she now couldn't use her right hand. She had allowed herself to become overconfident in her natural strength as a diamond, and now she was being showed up by a soldier.

That's so embarrassing. I was so reckless.

Orange frowned, chastising herself for allowing herself to fall back on the belief she could win simply because she was bigger and stronger. She really did have a ways to go in learning just what she could do. Iris would be so disappointed she had allowed this to happen, too. She hadn't believed these Amethyst could even possibly be close to the Topazes skill level, she had completed disregarded they were on Yellow's personal guard.

Foolish.I had been so sure I was ready for this.

"Don't lose your focus!" Yellow's angry, booming voice pulled Orange from her personal beratement, her eye widening when she realized Amethyst was flying at her, having pushed off from the ground, fist raised and ready to land a devastating hit.

Gathering herself, Orange narrowed her eye, thinking quickly, and realizing that if she allowed Amethyst to get close enough, she could use her dome, for the first time in a battle, to protect herself, and while she was unsure how it would work against an actual physical attack against it, she didn't see many other options besides fighting her one handed. Waiting until she was practically upon her, Orange thrust out her hand, flicking aura around her body twisted out and solidified, the dome bright and tinting everything orange in her line of vision, but she could clearly see the look of surprise on the soldier's face, who had not been expecting it. Having launched herself in the air, she had nothing to use to shift her current trajectory towards the diamond, and squeezed her eyes shut in preparation when the dome widened out.

The field was silent as everyone watched while the dome expanded, orange flicks of light twisting off it as it connected with the soldier gem, at first stopping her decent towards the younger gem, and then knocking her back, lines forming in every bit of her form that had been smacked into the dome before it exploded in a puff of smoke. At the same time, the dome burst, breaking under the impact, energy flickering away in every direction as it disappeared, leaving a panting Orange Diamond and a purple gem that landed in the dirt a few meters from her.

Orange fell to her knees, huffing and biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain, hand going out to brace herself so she didn't fall forward face first into the dirt. Yellow, either seeing the issues, or sensing there was something very wrong, ordered for the destabilized gem to be picked up and then moved towards her, long legs getting her to Orange quickly. The older diamond crouched down, her large form blocking out a lot of the guard's view of her, which the younger gem would appreciate when she would have the chance to think back on this moment. She didn't want them to see her literally falling apart, in pain and on the verge of crying from it. Yellow was about to reach out, fingers already glowing and prepared to help, when Orange was much quicker, reaching over to cover her own arm, hand glowing brightly with energy and Yellow's hand fell back to her thigh, watching as the glitching on her arm and hand began to mend back together. Orange's quick, irregular breathing began to settle, though her shoulders still shook with each deep breath.

Orange's eye flicked up, meeting Yellow's as she watched silently while the younger diamond slowly healed herself.

"Look at you," Yellow chided lightly, "Why did you wait so long to heal yourself? You should have done so before your second fight."

Orange looked away, frowning, her voice rough and strained. "I didn't think it'd be fair if I healed before the fight."

"You cannot expect the enemy to play by the rules of what is fair. What is considered fair in a spar is not the same in a real fight." Yellow huffed.

Her voice was low, cracking slightly at first, before it smoothed out, any trace of pain Orange was in disappearing from her words, "I know. But," She looked back up at her, eye wide and showing her hopefulness, "...how did I do? I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"Hmmm." Yellow hummed, accepting Orange's unspoken wish to move on. "You could use improvement, but you're naturally gifted with strength. Not surprising, I suppose, as all Diamonds are powerful." Yellow told her. "Though you seem to be easily angered. You must get that temper under control, otherwise you run the risk of being led into a trap you may not be able to escape from next time."

"I know." Orange sighed, her hand dimming as she pulled it away. The skin of her arm was fully mended, her hand intact and she stretched out her fingers, testing them until she was satisfied she had healed everything correctly. The only signs of her fight being scuffs of dirt that would need to be washed off later. Her hand then went to her face, cupping her eye to begin the process of fixing the extensive damage done there, her good eye looking back to Yellow. "I wasn't expecting such an underhanded move, I suppose."

"Underhanded, maybe," the older Diamond agreed with a nod of her head, "but used your own hubris to her advantage. You were cocky, and then easily angered by what you saw as unfair. A dangerous combination to have. You need to get your anger under control, Orange."

"I know...How do you control your temper?"

Yellow rubbed at her chin, considering this. "I concentrate on focusing it on the task at hand."

Orange's eye fell from Yellow's gaze, considering her word, and how she had very easily fallen into her anger, and allowed it to open her to attacks simply to get revenge. To show up an Amethyst she saw as beneath her, but that lesser gem had showed her up. A lesson she would not forget any time soon. Orange hummed, squinting as she considered Yellow's own work around for her temper. "So if I'm fighting...I should focus on using my anger to defeat them?"

"Correct." Yellow nodded, "Let it fuel you, but do not become so lost in it, you are blinded to everything else around you."

The jab of her loss vision was not lost on her, and well deserved, she supposed. "Hmm...okay. I can do that."

After a moment longer, Orange hand pulled away from her face, and she cautiously blinked her eye open. Her lips curved up into a large smile when her eyesight was returned to her, looking from one side of the ground to the other before looking back up at Yellow, glad to be able to see properly now.

"Come. Its time to go back inside." Yellow told her, and offered her hand for her when Orange wobbled when she attempted to stand up. She did not argue, accepting the older Diamond's offer and sat in her palm, holding on to her thumb as she stood up, even though Yellow was always careful when she had her in her hand.

"Pearl." Yellow called, turning around in time for both of the diamonds to watch as the smaller gem ran towards them, stopping a respectable distance from them.

Pearl saluted, "Yes, my Diamond?"

"We are returning. Run ahead to prepare for Orange Diamond's needs and then return to my command room for further orders." Yellow commanded, looking down her nose at Pearl as she bowed and then started her quick walk back to the spire ahead of them. Yellow then looked around the field, her guards who had not taken their injured comrades off the field waited in formation for the Diamonds, and Yellow turned away from them, beginning the walk back as Orange turned in her hand just enough to look and see as the guard began following them.

Yellow picked their conversation back up, keeping her eyes on where she was walking, but directing her words the the young gem she held close in her hand. "If you could learn a style better suited for yourself, you could potentially combine your abilities into a close combat form that would allow you to repel attacks while delivering them."

"You mean, like combine my dome with my punches? wouldn't that explode or...wait. Oh, that'd be cool." Orange eye's lit up, thinking about how that would work, and already thinking about how she would talk Iris into incorporating her abilities into their training sessions. "I could perfect that with my Topazes. They stand up well to my strength."

"Good." Yellow acknowledged with a nod, "Sturdy gems will be beneficial for your continued training. I will speak with this Agate of White's that is-"

"Mine." Orange cut her off before she could bite her tongue.

"What?" Yellow blinked, confusion touching her features as she looked down at the gem in her hand.

"The Agate, she is mine." Orange explained, "As are the Topazes." She raised her head, feeling a bit more confident when Yellow hadn't stopped her or belittled her claim. "I can put you through to her, not White."

Yellow raised her eyebrow at her, and for a moment she believed Yellow was going to be cross with her, but she surprised her by giving her a single nod. "Very well. Then it will just be between us." Yellow's eyes turned back forward, her head tilting as she considered, "I believe that will be your first official collaboration as a Diamond with another, then."

Orange nearly fell off the older Diamond's hand as she processed Yellow's words, her grip loosening and if it had not been for Yellow noticing her faltering grip and using her thumb to keep her from tipping, she would have most defiantly fallen. The older Diamond pausing walking, concerned by her reaction.

"...Official?" Orange breathed out, and Yellow relaxed.

"Yes." She responded, relaxing her protective hold on Orange as she continued walking, waiting as they arrived to the spire, one of the guard releasing the door for their leader as she stepped inside. "As I said. Now, I have to return to my-"

"Yellow!" Orange launched herself into the air at her, laughing loudly, even when Yellow's eyes widened and she bent over, hands flying out, quick to catch and bring her close to her chest, more in habit than by choice. Orange couldn't stop laughing at the warm feeling bubbling in her chest, quite overjoyed at the moment, and reach up to hug Yellow's chest before she could stop her.

"Orange!" Yellow grunted, surprise wearing off, her eyebrows furrowing and anger touching the edges of her features, "that was dangerous! What if I hadn't caught-"

"Thank you Yellow!" Orange's voice was loud, her expression of mixture of laughter and tears of happiness, "You don't know what that means to me."

Yellow quieted, her eyebrows furrowing but she did not reprimanded her further, allowing Orange to continue hugging her a moment longer before she pulled her away gently. "Alright. That's enough. I do have a schedule to keep."

"Right." Orange breathed in, calming down but the large smile never leaving her face. "Let's go to your command room."

"You should clean up." Yellow suggested.

"Huh?"

Yellow lifted her hand, two finger outstretched to her, "Hold still." She ordered, giving Orange a moment to process her words before she reached forward, her fingers glowing and she touched the top of her head. Orange was surprised by the foreign energy she felt, and she had to physically force herself to relax and allow whatever Yellow was doing to work.

"What are you doing?" She questioned after a moment.

"Healing. You still have a cut on your brow and lip. Can you not feel it?" She asked, eyes flicking over Orange's face.

Orange blinked, surprised and gently shook her head, "No. I hadn't noticed."

Yellow's eyes narrowed but she said nothing. After a moment, she pulled away. "There. It is always a task healing you."

"Why?" Orange's head tilted, her hand going up to feel where she had been hit by the first amethyst, but felt no remaining damage or marks in the skin there.

"I can't say. Perhaps your slightly different physiology." Yellow suggested, "Blue believes it is simply an ability of yours."

"An ability? But I'm wasn't doing anything."

"Which is why I believe I am right, but I suppose it doesn't really matter." Yellow dismissed the matter, "If it was, I believe White would have addressed it by now. Nothing to be concerned with."

Orange accepted this, nodding and turning to look at where they were going, Yellow taking the stairs up much quicker than she ever could. After a quiet moment, She turned back to the older Diamond, "Thank you Yellow. For today."

Yellow cut her eyes to her, "You're welcome. It's intresting to see how far along you've come in such a short amount of time."

"I have...I have come far, haven't I?" Orange marveled, thinking about how she once was, and how she was now. She really wasn't who she used to be.

"It is worth noting one's accomplishments," Yellow told her, "Especially when they are your own. You shouldn't stop trying, however. Do not become content with where you are, there is always room for improvement."

Orange's smile never left her face, but she did return Yellow's stare with a more serious one of her own. "I have no plans to stop. I need to become a lot stronger. I won't be satisfied if I can't be prepared to be a strong Diamond for the Authority if it is needed."

"Good." Yellow told her as they entered the command room. "You should be prepared for as much as you can be. Of course, you won't see a real fight of any kind for a long time, but it is good you intend to better yourself."

"I have people who I care about, that are worth fighting for." Orange sat a little straighter, "I have no intention of sitting on the sidelines forever."

Yellow laughed, actually laughed, "You're much more feisty than I remember. Good."

"Good?" Orange parroted, confused.

"It is good to see you coming into your own. Do not think I'm not aware of what occurred on Blue's base." Yellow lips lifted into a smirk, looking down on Orange to she her eyes widening and her cheeks dust a darker orange-red color.

"I though she hadn't told you." She admitted sheepishly.

Yellow set her down on the edge of her seat's arm, where Orange swung her legs off the side to hang while she held on, waiting as Yellow sat down. Looking around, she noted that Pearl had yet to return to them, and must still be busy with her orders, She turned just in time to watch as Yellow sat back, her work screens appeared and surprisingly, continued their conversation.

"I wasn't aware when you arrived, but was later informed." Yellow responded, looking over her screen to witness Orange frown, her face burning in embarrassment. "I am not as surprised as she is, at least not by the outburst." She admitted, "You have never been one to just sit and listen, as much as she'd like to believe it so."

"You're not upset?" Orange asked meekly.

Yellow worked on her screen as she answered, "What happened is between you and Blue Diamond, and is not my business. However, I would warn you against trying that with White."

Orange's response was immediate, "I would never."

The older gem's eyes cut to her, serious, "Good. I know what it is like to be forced to sit on your hands and listen and instead of taking action, like you want. Just remember that we have a lot more experience than you."

Orange frowned. "But isn't that apart of learning? Messing up?"

"It can be." Yellow considered, "but this is one of those things that must be handled with delicate hands."

"You mean it could go bad for everyone if I was known about publicly."

"Yes." Yellow confirmed, rather bluntly.

Orange stared down at her lap, quiet a long moment, enough for Yellow's hand to pause as she looked back over to Orange as she eventually responded, her voice quiet, "...I understand."

"Good. It shows you have grown that you see the bigger picture. Diamonds like us must put aside our own feelings for what is best for our Empire."

The younger diamond's eyebrow's screwed together as she tilted her head, "But isn't what I feel important?"

"Yes." Yellow answered slowly, considering her choice of words carefully, "But there is a time and place for feelings and when we must act as the stalwart leaders we must always be. Our emotions can not rule us."

Orange was quiet again, this time Yellow did not look up from her work, content with the quiet and companionship of the younger gem with her while she thought on their conversation. Eventually, Orange turned to Yellow, who looked up at her when she spoke, "...I think I'm going to return to my room for a while, so you can work in peace. Thank you Yellow, for your guidance."

Yellow cocked her head towards her, giving her a single, firm nod. "Go. Finish cleaning up and rest. You've earned it."