Chapter Text
She was in the Bubble Room, where she once was shaking in fear at the aspect of being harvested, now delightedly juggling bubbled Gems which would soon be given their forms back to them after so many years of corruption.
She stayed behind with Lapis, as she knew Jasper was one of the many Gems bubbled, and neither were ready to confront her again after their previous experiences with her.
She witnessed as the Diamonds left in their ship, leaving the Legship behind; she knew they weren't going to be buddy-buddy with them, and she was okay with that, as long as the Earth was safe.
She laid on her stomach on the grass, holding Pumpkin and making sure he didn't disturb Steven's new pet, with Lapis sleeping peacefully nearby.
Everything was so serene, so peaceful, she didn't know how she could will herself to leave.
The barn was gone, but that was okay- she and Lapis were together, so to her, she was at home.
Slowly, her eyes closed, and she began to drift to sleep, wanting to join her friend in slumber.
It was not a typical sleeping position, but she didn't care. As long as Lapis was safe and close-by, she didn't want to wake up...
Wake up...
Wake up...
"Wake up, Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG!"
She screamed as she jumped awake, swiftly turning to look to the person who had disturbed her slumber- despite feeling that she recognized the voice.
In front of her stood Yellow Pearl, looking a bit... alarmed, to say the least, that one of their most dilligent and focused Peridots managed to fall asleep on the job, and reacted so strangely upon being awakened.
That made two of them- Peridot was shocked too. She was shocked to hear her referred by her Facet and Cut, she was shocked to see Yellow Pearl right in front of her, she was shocked to be back on Homeworld in the spot she remembered working so many years ago...
...and she was shocked to have her limb enhancers, which she caught a glimpse of in her peripheral vision.
All the friendships she made, all the change she created, all the good she did... it felt like all of that had suddenly been erased, or thrown away. Did it not happen? Did she really dream everything? If so, why does she so distinctly remember everything, going from when she tried to kill the Crystal Gems with lasers to when she got slapped by a Diamond Ship and still continued moving?
After a short pause, Peridot asked her, trying to keep from tearing up, "I-Is this... is this real?"
"Um, yes... it is. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I will ignore it for now. You have done great work for Yellow Diamond so far, and we wouldn't want to lose such a valuable technician, now would... we?"
Her briefly smug tone turned to confusion and a hint of concern upon seeing Peridot start crying silently into her arm, before wiping her tears away and telling her in a choked sob, "N-no, we w-wouldn't."
"...if this job is getting too much for you, we can always reassign you- you'd need to take it up with Yellow Diamond, though," she told her, about to turn around.
At the last second though, Peridot stopped her by admitting, "I-I think this job has had, um, a slight toll on my mental state... if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to be assigned to a temporary alternative job, such as... sweeping the perimeter of the Earth colony for any signs of life."
"Hmm, I didn't think you of all Gems were interested in Earth, but... okay, I'll contact Yellow Diamond as soon as possible about this! Perhaps it will encourage her to hold off on destroying it..."
The Pearl soon left, leaving Peridot alone. She was surprised at how quickly she thought about that- and how quickly she managed to lie about her real reasons for doing that.
Sure, she did have an interest in attempting to find the Crystal Gems, although it was doubtable she would ever tell Homeworld she found them. What she really cared about, though, was finding Lapis Lazuli at the Galaxy Warp. She's been told personally by Lapis about how she was trapped in that mirror for so long, then cracked and abandoned at the Warp as people retreated the planet. It would take another couple millenniums to be found again, and even then, she was still treated like a prop.
Not only was she upset at how other people had disregarded Lapis's very well-being, she was disgusted at how she herself had treated her- Lapis was right, she had used her. And she wasn't going to let it happen again in this reality.
ding
She jumped in her seat before quickly looking at her screen, and she saw she received a direct message from Yellow Diamond. If she was her regular self, she would be geeking out about the "flawless, logical Yellow Diamond" contacting her. Now, she treated it like a human would getting an email from their human employer.
Still, it was probably imporant, so she clicked on the message to read it. What she read was satisfying to say the least.
"I have been informed on the toll your duties have had on you, and after thinking it over," Thinking it over? She just told Yellow Pearl about this minutes ago! "I have decided it would be wise to assign you to a new job until your mind has been cleared. Your request to inspect Earth for signs of life has been accepted, as it would be a low-risk job that wouldn't put a strain on you. It also gives the Earth a temporary purpose, which it has been needing."
The rest was a bunch of filler text meant to make the message seem bigger and more intimidating than it was, but all in all, it seemed Yellow Diamond had immediately said yes to her suggestion just to make sure she wouldn't cause any trouble. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh- after all, this was the same person she had called a clod on two occasions.
Now, she just needed to make sure she knew where the Galaxy Warp was, and that she wasn't questioned by anyone why that was her first pitstop.