A/N: I had so much trouble with this chapter...

Why?

Because it's the last.

That's right! Cracked Landing is coming to an end. Thank you all so much for your support and understanding through thick and thin. I wanted to end this fanfic before I went on hiatus for school, and so here it is! It's always hard to end a long fanfic especially after hours of work and revising. Thank you all for being a part of this, and I hope you continue to follow my writings!

Please enjoy the final chapter of Cracked Landing!

The sunlight rose against the horizon, pouring into the small beach house that sat at the shoreline of Beach City. Steven slept in his loft peacefully until the light hit his eyes.

"Mgh…" Steven groaned, turning to his side, hoping the light would vanish. Unfortunately for him, it only crept further into his small loft. "Mmm…" Steven let out a frustrated sigh and turned onto his back, tossing his covers away. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and stretched against the mattress. Steven glanced over to the nightstand where a familiar blue gem lay. It's now smooth surface glimmered in the sunlight. Steven smiled happily. After the battle, he successfully healed the crack in Lapis's gem, but the ocean gem still had yet to emerge from the safety of her gem.

"Good morning, Lapis!" Steven smiled and gently pat the gem which lay snug in some towels. The half gem yawned and lazily got out of bed, dragging his feet down the steps. His eyes trailed over to the kitchen, and Steven's eyes widened in surprise. The Fryman sat at the stool by the kitchen, his back hunched over, and his was breathing shallow with tiredness. Steven cautiously made his way over to the sleep deprived teen and tapped on his shoulder.

"Ah!" Ronaldo jumped with a loud yelp. He quickly turned in his chair, and his expression relaxed, realizing it was just Steven. "Oh, Steven. I, uh, didn't hear you coming down the stairs." Ronaldo slurred with exhaustion. Steven glanced over Ronaldo's shoulder and saw Peridot's gem laying in a bed of soft blankets. Steven recognized some of the sheets as Ronaldo's own tee shirts.

"How's Peridot?" Steven asked, although, he already knew the answer. Ronaldo's face fell with sadness and he dropped his head on the table with a huff.

"Still in her gem." Ronaldo sighed, tears pricking his eyes. He didn't notice it until now, but he really missed the green gem. He missed having the gem around his lighthouse, learning human things and sharing her odd gem tech with him. He missed her so much he decided to watch over her gem 24/7 at the Crystal Temple since the Crystal Gems thought it would be a better idea for Peridot to regenerate at the temple to ensure she was really okay.

"I'm sorry, Ronaldo. Pearl took two whole weeks to regenerate! Maybe Peridot will do the same!" Steven stated playfully, hoping to lift the paranormal investigator's spirits. Of course, it did the opposite.

"Two weeks?" Ronaldo exclaimed with shock. His hands went to Peridot's gem, protectively cradling it in his huge palms. "W-will Peridot take that long?" Ronaldo felt tears threaten to fall. "It's only been three days, and I already can't stand her being away!" Ronaldo cried.

"Uh, Ronaldo, when was the last time you slept?" Steven asked with slight nervousness. The door of the Crystal Temple glowed with a hum, signaling the other gems' arrival. Ronaldo yawned, not even noticing the three gems enter the room.

"I…don't know…uh…a few days ago?" Ronaldo yawned loudly, his head drooping slightly. He felt exhaustion loom in his head.

"Ronaldo! You need to sleep!" Steven scolded, tugging at Ronaldo's dangling arm. "Come on! You can use the couch! It's not that bad!" Steven stated, trying to pull the Fryman out of his stool. Unfortunately for Steven, Ronaldo was much bigger, and much heavier, than himself. Ronaldo didn't budge. His eyes remained glued to Peridot's gem.

'What if she never comes back? She blew up! There's no way she could be alive after that! What is she doing in there? I never got to say goodbye…!' Ronaldo's thoughts kept the human wide awake, staring intently at the green gem when suddenly a tug at his collar snapped him out of his thoughts. Garnet held Ronaldo up and out of his seat.

"Ronaldo, I know you are concerned for Peridot. However, you are human and must rest. We will take care of it from here." Garnet stated firmly. Ronaldo's eyes widened, and he squirmed in Garnet's grip.

"W-what? No! I have to watch over her gem! I made a promise! H-hey! Let me go you Crystal Gem!" Ronaldo kept thrashing with no progress. "What if you contain her? I can't let her gem out of my sight!" Unfortunately, Garnet was tougher than him and much better rested than himself.

"Ronaldo, you must rest. It will do Peridot no good if you just mope around all day." Garnet gently said. Ronaldo, of course, didn't listen.

"No! Let me go!" Ronaldo grumbled his struggling becoming weaker as he felt more fatigued. "Peridot!" Ronaldo yelped unconsciously.

Light filtered into the room. Ronaldo's eyes turned to the source of the bright light. A light green glow engulfed the room from Peridot's gem. Ronaldo gasped and his jaw dropped. The green gem floated free from its blanket cocoon and hovered into the air until a bright silhouette outlined the gem. The white glowing form shifted multiple times until it stilled onto a single form. The light filtered away with an electrifying pop, revealing Peridot's new physical form. The technician fell onto her feet with a loud thud, slightly shaking the small house with her heavy tech gear. Ronaldo's eyes were wide with amazement. Peridot's form hadn't really changed much, but everyone's eyes were glued to her new attire. Peridot still had her large arm guards with detachable fingers and heavy boots, but her uniform was now pattered with a large star colored in various shades of green, similar to Garnet's design. Peridot blinked her eyes open, slightly surprised to see everyone's observant eyes on her.

"Uh, hello everyone…" Peridot awkwardly waved. Nobody moved. Peridot shifted awkwardly where she was standing and followed everyone's gazes to her new form. Peridot jumped back slightly in shock at the design on her chest and quickly brought her hands up in defense. "Uh, I didn't mean to put that star on my outfit! I'm sorry! I just figured, since all of you had that…! I can remove it-" Peridot fumbled with her form when another voice broke the awkward atmosphere.

"It's perfect." Garnet stated with a smile. Peridot stopped and looked up at the leader with confusion.

"W-what?" Peridot asked with her eyebrows raised. Pearl and Amethyst seemed equally surprised.

"It's perfect." Garnet repeated, walking over to give Peridot an approving pat on the shoulder. Peridot's eyes were wide with joy.

"T-thank you, Garnet!" Peridot cheered internally. "I-"

"Peridot!" Ronaldo screamed with relief and wrapped the green gem in a huge bear hug. Peridot let out a surprised yelp at the tight squeeze. "Peridot, oh my gosh, I thought you were dead! I thought you were never coming back! I thought I lost you! Peridot!" Ronaldo cried. Days' worth of tears and emotions poured out of the human, and Ronaldo sobbed into Peridot's chest. Peridot, not quite knowing how to respond, awkwardly wrapped her arms around his huge shoulders.

"Ronaldo, I'm fine really! I just exploded, is all." Peridot explained, brushing off the incident as if it was no big deal. Ronaldo firmly held Peridot's shoulders and looked into her eyes with seriousness.

"You didn't just 'explode!' I thought I really lost you back there!" Ronaldo wailed. "Why do you even have a self-destruct button? Do all gems have those?" Ronaldo panicked.

"Well, no. It's really only Peridots that have self-destruct features. After all, we are disposable gems and worthless when it comes to combat."

"Stop saying that! You're worth more than that Peridot! Stop sacrificing yourself! You might not feel like you're worth anything, but you're worth everything to me." Ronaldo wept. His arms shook as he held onto Peridot's body; as if afraid he was going to lose her if he didn't hold on.

"Ronaldo…" Peridot's voice trailed off. She didn't know what to say. What value did this human see in her? How could anyone care so much for a disposable gem like her? Peridot felt tears prick her eyes when she saw the tired bags under Ronaldo's eyes. Did she cause those? Was he up all night waiting for her to come back? She made him worry about her, and yet here she was talking about how worthless she was! Peridot tightly held onto the human, returning the warm hug.

"I'm…sorry…" Peridot held onto Ronaldo, not quite knowing how to respond. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all stood awkwardly observing. Steven, on the other hand, seemed completely thrilled to see the interaction and watched with starry eyes. Pearl cleared her throat, hoping to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Well! This day has been quite…eventful. However, I'm sure we have missions to attend to, and Peridot should be heading back to…wherever she is supposed to be." Pearl guessed. Peridot looked at Pearl with slight irritation. Clearly Pearl was as confused with Peridot's alignment as the green gem was herself.

"Peridot is welcome to stay here if she chooses." Garnet explained blandly.

"But Garnet-!" Pearl gasped.

"Actually," Peridot interrupted Pearl. "If you don't mind, I'd much rather stay with Ronaldo at the lighthouse. Most of my gem tech is already there, and I have been quite acquainted with it already. However, I am more than happy to help you with missions if you require my assistance." Peridot explained. Pearl and Amethyst both seemed shocked at Peridot's decision, but Garnet simply nodded.

"Woah, seriously?" Ronaldo gasped. "That's great! I can't wait to show you all the crazy paranormal stuff I found! Oh, we can even go on paranormal investigations together! This is so exciting! We'll be an unstoppable team with your gem technology and my intuitive mind! Our team name shall be, Deny Everything!" Ronaldo rambled, making his way out the door with excited, determined footsteps. Peridot chuckled.

"Why, 'Deny Everything?' That makes no sense." Peridot rolled her eyes, and the two made their way out the Crystal Temple back to Ronaldo's, or rather, their lighthouse.

"It has a nice ring to it!" Ronaldo laughed. Their laughter and voices became softer as they walked further away. The four Crystal Gems remained by the window and watched with curious eyes as the two walked down the shoreline.

"Hm." Garnet adjusted her shades slightly with raised eyebrows.

"What is it, Garnet?" Pearl quickly chimed worried that the fusion saw something with her future vision.

"Nothing." Garnet said fiddling with the edge of her shades. Maybe it was just the light, but she could have sworn she saw a tiny curly haired girl following the two down the beach.

Perhaps it was just her imagination.

Or perhaps it wasn't.

A/N: If you are following my other fanfics, you know that there were hints to my other two perinaldo fics!

Also, if you're wondering about a continuation, while there is currently no direct continuation to Cracked Landing, my other fic, Small Mishap, takes place years after Cracked Landing.

Also, depending on how school goes, I may write an epilogue to reveal what happens to Lapis.

Thank you all so much for reading and supporting this fic! I hope to see all you lovely readers in my other fanfiction as well!

Goodbye for now!