LOG-098.

  "Rose?"

  He ended up finding her outside his van, the vehicle itself having been parked next to his storage unit for the day.

  "Greg!"

  Regardless of location, the Gem ended up scrambling upwards at the sound of his voice, going from having her head hidden behind her arms to said arms flailing slightly as she tried to get up from her spot beside the vehicle, panickedly reaching over and grabbing the top of it to keep the whole thing from tilting on its side after bumping into it.

  Repressing a chuckle at her panicked expression, the young man slowly approached, planting a hand against the van and leaning against it, his eyes trailing over his...sort of girlfriend?

  Yeah, something like that. He was pretty sure they were in some semblance of an active relationship at this point. Even with the stuff with Pearl-or Vanilla now, actually, also being part of the whole dynamic in her own way.

  "So, lot of stuff to unpack back there, I'm guessing?"

  The Gem (Diamond, he supposed, though he didn't quite get why that mattered just yet) groaned at that, hands rising to press against her eyes as she turned and leaned against the vehicle as well.

  "I...yeah. A lot. Understatement of the millennium there."

  Nodding along to her words, Greg tilted his head just a little, hair swaying with the motion.

  "Wanna talk about it? Or do you want to just...get out of here for a while?"

  Rose glanced up at that, eyes widening as the would-be rockstar produced a set of keys from his pocket, the van idly unlocking with a click of his thumb.

  ---

  Greg smiled from his position pressed into his seat, even as his girlfriend leaned over and past him to accept their order from a beleaguered looking teen.

  Tapping his fingers against his thighs, he waited for her to draw back into her own seat, before settling his hands against the wheel and pulling out of the cozy little drive through, the sound of a crinkling bag filling his ears for a second before Rose produced a pair of burgers, already eagerly biting down into one.

  Idly accepting his own burger from the Diamond's ginger grasp, he took a bite as well, munching for a moment.

  "I'm kind of an intergalactic space empress. Former, though."

  Then he promptly began to choke on said bite, Rose's hurried yet gentle slaps against his back barely bringing him back from the brink as he did his best to avoid swerving.

  "Guh-little warning there!"

  She flinched back at that, shying away into her own seat only for his hand to plant itself on her shoulder, the burger abandoned for now.

  Silence reigned for a second, before Greg sighed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

  "Look-I…I'm not going to pretend I really get any of this complicated Gem stuff. With the rebellion, and the Empire, and all of that, but…"

  Looking back forward, the man stared at the road, alongside the sign inviting them back into Beach City.

  "You're…not exactly alone when it comes to running from a place, you know?"

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  The two stared at each other after that, before the moment was promptly interrupted by the van barely dodging a particularly large pothole.

  Rose didn't seem to notice the sound of a soft weight thumping atop the roof, a purple owl's head peeking down from his window before darting back up just as quickly.

  Greg chose not to mention the faux bird's presence.

  —

  They ended up finding her at the fountain, which…yeah. That made sense.

  "Sapphire?"

  Awkwardly rubbing a hand against the back of her neck, Bismuth stayed put as Ruby continued to slowly creep forward, eyes locked on the figure staring at Rose's likeness in silence.

  Glancing around, the blacksmith noted the surrounding brambles. Just a few, here and there. Most of them frozen solid from the waves of cold emanating from the oracle's form.

  "Sapphire? Are you-no, that's dumb. I'm being dumb."

  Despite her words, the diminutive red Gem didn't stop until she was next to her blue counterpart.

  The one eyed seer heaved a breath, glancing at her other half with a tremble to her features.

  "No you're not. I'm the dumb one, I-" Her breath hitched, eye glancing towards Bismuth, who resisted the urge to fidget, before turning back towards Ruby. "-I've always been the dumb one, apparently."

  As the two continued to quietly murmur to each other, one doing her best to offer support while the other scathingly insulted herself, the former construction worker crossed her arms, teeth clenching ever so slightly.

  She'd really cracked things up. But…would the alternative have been any better?

  Glancing up, she stared into the statue's eyes, expression tight.

  "...Damn it Rose."

  Then she tore her gaze away from the hunk of stone and moved to join her friends.

  —

  "Rose?! Rose are you there!?"

  Hand cupped next to her mouth, Vanilla stared out across the strawberry battlefield for a moment, before stepping back and letting herself slip into the light of the Warp pad once more.

  A short jump, and she was in another location.

  "Rose!?"

  Then another.

  "Rose!"

  And another.

  "Where are you!?"

  Jump after jump after jump. She'd already crossed off her Diamond's most isolated hiding places from her mental checklist, save a few specific ones that she'd elected to check after inspecting the more open areas.

  "Rose?"

  Peeking out from the Warp pad and glancing around the cave, the Pearl let out a silent huff, slowly stepping back onto the shining surface of the machine.

  Stupid. Useless. Incompetent. Eons spent together, and she couldn't find the Gem she cared for most?

  The renegade hesitated at the next jump, contemplating heading back to the temple. Maybe…maybe Rose just didn't want to see her?

  She'd felt so self assured, turning her back on Viridian and storming off, determination in her steps. But now she just felt lost, despite the fact she'd visited all of these spots hundreds of thousands of times at a minimum.

  Perhaps she should return? Apologise (even if she still felt more than justified at being angry with that green coprolite of a Pearl) and make amends?

  …Harlequin could likely search far better than-

  Flinching, the pale Gem slapped a hand against her face, muttering to herself.

  "No, no that's a terrible idea. I just need to…just need to keep looking! Yes, she has to be somewhere after all."

  That newfound, brittle optimism lasted for another seven jumps before the Pearl fell to her knees, lightform impacting sand even as her hands roughly tugged at her hair in some half hearted form of self recrimination.

  "Useless useless useless! Where is she? Where could she have gone?"

  So occupied with her own frustration, the lithe rebel somehow utterly failed to notice as the pink furred feline that represented at least a small portion of her gripes with the world just appeared from somewhere, nose bumping against her shoulder and prompting a shriek from the Gem.

  Hopping up to her feet, Vanilla scrambled for a second, before angrily pointing a finger at the animal.

  "You! Where did you even come from!?"

  Really? She could find a big pink cat, but not Pink herself?

  Stars' sake.

  Regardless of its owner's annoyed thoughts, said finger slowly lowered, Vanilla's eyes widening as the lion tilted its head and chuffed, its own orbs visibly glowing.

  —

  She didn't know what to do. And naturally, that somehow made everything worse.

  Brim continued to stare out at the water, occasionally taking peeks at the pair of Pearls seated next to her, one staring into the sand with her hands propping up her chin, the other hesitantly patting the former on the back, glancing to her of all people for direction.

  Pink Diamond. Wow. Big shocker. But Brim would never deny that she was a Gem with a one track mind at the best of times, and Viridian looked sad.

  ...She wasn't sure what eventually made her leave the water lapping at her feet. Whether it was from her own prompting, or thanks to another desperate glance from Vermilion would remain a mystery for the rest of time, probably.

  Regardless, the end result was the Lapis Lazuli walking over without a word, planting her butt right down next to Viridian, and wrapping her arms around both her and Vermilion, squeezing the pair together with a huff.

  Her father had done the same whenever she got overly emotional, before he'd grown too old to leave his nest. Maybe the method would work here as well?

  A moment passed like that, with her awkwardly trying to keep up the position, a now stiff Viridian glancing at her with narrowed eyes, and the Pearl in question's batchmate peeking over her green counterpart's head to shoot the rogue terraformer a thankful look.

  …Then the target of her affection let out a long sigh, and leaned into her embrace, settling her head into the crook between Brim's neck and shoulder.

  Light blush adorning her face, the blue Gem just continued to hug the pair closer, thankful that, for now at least, everything seemed to be just a little bit better.