Earth Bound

When I Loved You

The afternoon hours had been spent in and out of the ship. Various trips were made back to her house to grab tools, repair minor parts, and draft plans to forge new parts for the ones that had been completely destroyed in the landing. It had been a very productive day and all guesses led to the ship being repaired by early the next morning.

With Peri and Tourmaline drafting up the latest set of plans to get the main computers back online, and Onyx working hard to repair a failed power core, Snowflake decided to steal away for a little while to pace herself with all this extra company. A stroll through the woods sounded like just the thing she needed to clear her head for a bit.

Snowflake found it all too easy to wander back to the ship to check on their progress for the hundredth time. A brief walk around the ship proved that they were making excellent progress in repairs. Growing tired of the scenery she started down and old familiar trail. She caught sight of something ahead, something that didn't belong. It was a stark yellow compared to the dull greens and browns of the thick woods.

"There's more of them?" She whispered to herself as she pressed her back to a tree to stay hidden. She would've liked to guess that this figure was with the other gems but the topics fell on a gem called Bixbite and this didn't seem like any noble. With extreme caution she looked around the tree to see that the figure was gone. Throwing caution to the wind, she bolted down the path and stopped where she'd seen the yellow figure.

A hand clasped over her mouth which muffled the scream that tore through her chest. As she struggled to get free another hand latched around her middle and wouldn't let go. No amount of kicking or attempted screaming seemed to stop her captor.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." A voice told her.

Snowflake still fought, it was so ingrained in her very being that simply giving up and surrendering wasn't an option.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you, ok? I'm just looking for some gems." The being gruffly noted.

That voice, something resonated deep within Snowflake, a sense of familiarity that she couldn't shake. Could it be that even after all of time she'd been on earth, perhaps she still remembered what the quartz soldiers sounded like?

Once she'd stopped resisting so hard, her captor told her, "Good. Now, I'm going to let you go. I don't want you to run or to scream or to do anything stupid. I simply want to know one thing, ok?"

To the best of her abilities Snowflake nodded in response.

"Where is Blue Onyx and her miserable peridot?" She let Snowflake go, shoving her forward so that she fell to the ground in an effort to stun her in case she was planning to do something.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you-" She started to demand but stopped herself as she turned around. The figure seemed so familiar, like a vision from a distant dream she'd once dreamt. Could it possibly be her? After all these years? After a lifetime of hopeless and fevered daydreams?

"Why are you standing there looking so stupid?" The yellow gem demanded.

Her throat felt dry as she stumbled to find the right words for her thoughts. "Beryl..?" She finally squeaked out.

"Yes?"

Snowflake fought back every emotion that swelled in her chest. "Is it really you?"

Beryl, caught off guard by the actions of this scrawny gem, gave her the utmost confused look. "Look, I know I've become known around the Yellow Diamond courts but there's no need for fanfare...? What, you're... don't tell me. You're a smoky quartz?" The crestfallen look on the gem's face told her she was off her mark, "Never mind, you're a cat's eye perhaps?"