(Y/n) really should have known better than to assume that she would ever have a moment of peace and quiet with Spinel around.

"(Y/N)!" Spinel spun a circle around the mariposa gem in a cartwheel. "(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N)!!" she chanted.

The gem gave no reaction to Spinel's sudden burst of energy, for why would she when she was already used to such moments like this? Instead, she merely remained in her seat and continued to sip her tea delicately from her cup while she looked out into the bustling streets of Homeworld below from her balcony. She found it almost funny, honestly, seeing gems go about their days in utter chaos when anything other than order was punished for over thousands of years ago. To think that staying in that garden could have resulted in her and Spinel missing so much . . .

Speaking of Spinel, though─

"(Y/N)!!" Said gem only blinked when her companion of 6,000 years abruptly appeared before her eyes. "ARE YA LISTENING TO ME?!" she questioned.

Sighing, (Y/n) finally resigned herself to the fate of participating in conversation and set her cup down into its saucer. "You intend to visit Steven on Earth," she stated.

Spinel beamed and nodded, placing her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out. "That's right!" she confirmed.

(Y/n) stared at her blankly. "And you want me to go with you," she added.

Spinel, once again, nodded and grinned widely at the mariposa gem. "Yes, yes, YES!" She suddenly dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together. "Please come with me! Pretty please!" she begged, puppy dog eyes on full display.

(Y/n) hummed and took another sip of her tea before simply replying: "No."

Spinel groaned loudly and dramatically draped herself across the mariposa's lap. "But I waaaaannnnnt you to be theeeeeerrrrrreeeeeeeee," she whined.

(Y/n), albeit fondly, rolled her (E/c) eyes. "Sorry, Spinel, but I prefer staying here," she said.

Spinel huffed and crossed her arms, a pout playing on her lips. "Is this because of the 'incident'?" she asked, making air quotations with her fingers.

(Y/n) didn't respond and returned her attention to the view of Homeworld.

Spinel groaned again. "It iiiiiiiiisssssssss!"

"People and gems got hurt, Spinel," (Y/n) said, her grip on her cup tightening. "I don't think they'd exactly 'enjoy' my company after what I did─after what I tried to do."

Spinel frowned and shook her head. "Oh, no you don't, missy!" She took (Y/n)'s head in between her hands and forced her to meet her eyes. "You listen here and listen well: coop yourself up in here in your little tower all you want, for however long you want, but that will not make anything any better for you! Steven's already forgiven you months ago, and I'm sure the rest of Beach City has, too! I mean, c'mon: you're not the only gem that's nearly killed them all, remember?" She giggled.

Spinel. Giggling over the fact that (Y/n) was just like any other gem that forced themself into Steven's life in an attempt to ruin it.

The mariposa gem didn't believe it was possible for any and all emotion to leave her face so fast.

"Spinel," she began after a moment, "I hate to say it, but I want you to know that sometimes you say things that concern me greatly."

Spinel rolled her eyes and waved (Y/n)'s comment away with a mere wave of her hand. "Yeah, yeah." She looked back to the mariposa gem and grinned once more, beginning to bounce on her feet. "Pretty please with sugar on top come with me to Earth?"

"I─"

Spinel's face went blank, as did her voice, as she added: "I will not stop asking you until you say yes, (Y/n)."

". . ."

•| ⊱✿⊰ |•

I'm pathetic.

Sighing to herself, (Y/n) could only cross her arms as she silently watched Spinel bounce around the room with all of the energy of, well . . . a spinel.

It had been about a week since the mariposa's sister had managed to . . . 'convince' her into a visit to Earth (or, more specifically, Steven), and she was still hesitant about it─even if she had made reluctant peace with the fact that Spinel would find a way to bring her there, one way or another, whether she liked it or not. The heart-shaped gem, although a different gem entirely with plenty of differences that set her apart from (Y/n), was rather stubborn, after all: a trait that (Y/n) is sure that she, unfortunately, got from her.

"Is there something troubling you, (Y/n)?"

Snapped out of her thoughts, (Y/n) blinked and looked up to see Blue Diamond gazing down at her with a soft smile, although the slight furrow of her brows easily gave her worry away, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

Frowning, (Y/n) quickly looked away from the taller being's gaze and curled a little into herself. "It's nothing, My Dia─Blue. I'm just . . . a little nervous about this trip to Earth Spinel insists we go on, is all. Nothing to be concerned about, I assure you," she told, keeping her eyes solely focused on the floor, which only mirrored her face back to her with how well polished it was.

Blue Diamond hummed at the mariposa's answer and nodded, looking back to Spinel and smiling with how she bent and twisted her body around just to make Yellow laugh. For a moment, it seemed as though the topic would be dropped, but then─

"I know that feeling all too well, you know," Blue Diamond spoke, her voice low enough to ensure only (Y/n) could hear. "The guilt."

In an instant, the mariposa gem stiffened, and Blue Diamond smiled down at her with a familiar pain shining in her eyes.

"Sometimes me and Yellow still berate ourselves over it. The memories of how we used to treat Pink, to what we had tried to do to her son . . ." A shaky breath escaped. "It's a rather terrible feeling, isn't it?"

(Y/n) didn't answer, but Blue Diamond─even from her great height─could see her curl her nails into her arms.

(And from how tight the mariposa's grip was, Blue Diamond was sure that if gems could bleed, then (Y/n)'s arms would be dripping red by now.)

"I believe this visit would be good for you both." Blue sent (Y/n) a sad, yet understanding, smile. "You, especially. After all, if you want to . . . truly be happy, then perhaps . . ."

Blue's gaze traveled over to the warp pad.

". . . Perhaps it would be best for you to confront the being that brings you the most pain, first."

(Y/n) stayed silent. Not just because she didn't really want to be having this conversation right now, but also because . . . she honestly had no idea how to respond to the diamond's words. Did she thank her? Tell her that she'd think about it? What if─

"(Y/N)!"

The mariposa snapped her head up, brought out of her spiraling thoughts once more, to see Spinel already standing aboard the warp pad and waving her over with a wide, excited grin.

"YOU READY TO GO YET?" the heart-shaped gem asked.

(Y/n) hesitated and, against her better judgement, looked up to Blue Diamond expectantly.

The diamond merely smiled down at the mariposa once more. "Go on." Using her larger hand, she gently pushed the smaller gem forward. "You don't want to keep her waiting, do you?"

(Y/n) blinked, looking almost as if the diamond's words surprised her, before smiling slightly and nodding.

"Of course." A brief pause. "Thank you, Blue."

The diamond's smile seemed to widen, if only slightly. "Anytime, (Y/n). I hope you and Spinel have fun."

With those final words, the mariposa gem's smile grew and she nodded up to the diamond once more before making her way over to Spinel and joining her up on the warp pad at last.

"HOORAY!" Bouncing up and down, Spinel took her sister's hand into hers before looking over to the diamonds and waving wildly. "SEE YOU SOON! WE'LL MISS YA!!"

Blue Diamond laughed and waved back, as did the other smiling diamonds. "You, too!" she called back, voice still as soft as ever.

At that, a burst of light erupted from the warp pad, signaling that the two gems were finally on their way to Earth.

And if Blue ended up sharing one last meaningful look with the mariposa gem before the light engulfed her, then hey: it wasn't anyone's business but theirs, now was it?

(An interesting beginning to the next chapter of their story, indeed.)

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NOTES !

heyeyeyeyeyey i'm back!! :DD

hate to say it, but this chapter took me a whole lot longer than i thought it would, and it's only act ii's introduction lol. it's short, but i hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless!

feels good to finally be updating this story again, but please don't expect me to have an update schedule like i did in the first act 😭 chapters are definitely gonna be random and take a while to come out, but i promise to make sure that they're all worth the wait!

now with that said and done, see you all in the next chapters, because trust me when i say this: i have plans :)

- sharaug