Chapter 3
You are LAPIS LAZULI
You loosen control on the water particles, shards of ice form and float around your drifting body. You close your eyes, shutting out the blue glow from behind and stars in front of you. You used to think that the universe was a puzzle, where you just didn’t have a place, but after your return to Earth, you realized everything was too complex for that. You can’t reduce all of existence to a simple metaphor.
Opening your eyes, the planet was growing closer. Why fight it? You let yourself fall. The rotation of the earth sends you into darkness.
Half an hour passes; the highest clouds are now rushing past you. The ocean is pulling at you, but you start to glide, refusing to be dragged down. The warmth of the troposphere greets you at the same time as the approaching land, guarded by a stone giant. You steer clear of the gem headquarters and city lights, towards the barn.
Peridot was slumped, her chin resting on her chest, her hammer laying just out of reach of her hand. You stepped forward, debating whether to interfere. It seemed too early to give Peridot a reason to think that you care about her in any way. At least, you want it to stay ambiguous for a bit.
But that position is putting stress on her form, and what if she fell over and rolled off? You go over to her, and carefully lie her down on the roof. The work lights are illuminating the both of you from below, and just outside the glare, you can make out the nighttime glow of the city in the distance. You can’t see the stars that had surrounded you before. The abrasive surface of the roof was holding your consciousness in the moment, the gem in front of you held your thoughts.
You had not been stressing yourself much, and was not in need of any rest yourself. There was no reason to escape reality, you wanted to stay here for some time. Peridot had left the area a mess, with the discarded shingles and planks scattered below. You live here too, you guess. Leaving Peridot’s side, you effortlessly glide down from the barn. Getting one of the crates from the barn, you focus on finding the next piece.
Maybe you were starting to come to terms with this sort of half-freedom. You would never have your old life back, Homeworld had made sure of this. You weren’t trying to come to any sort of conclusion right now. After some time, you had carefully picked up every piece of asphalt from the dirt. Peridot would probably wake up soon, if that’s the equivalent of whatever type of gem activity qualifies as “not resting.”
The thought of her coming down and talking to you did not seem…appealing. Part of you wanted to disappear again. But like, you already were escaping the Crystal Gems. You had created this situation to be able to hide without effort, and it involved trusting Peridot. You didn’t need to run any further.
You figured that the work lights were no longer necessary, so you went around turning them off. Without their glare, you could just see the peach sunrise to the east, over the water. You turned around to the sound of tiny feet stepping down the ladder.
“Oh, Lazuli, uh…thanks.”
You look away and relax your fists, which you had involuntarily clenched. “It, it was no problem”
Peridot starts to turn away, a little disoriented. “Well, I appreciate it.”