Partially inspired by a chapter from vdaysnowstorm's "How They Met"

Red oni, blue oni, fire and ice
Fate brings them together, a toss of the dice
Opposite outwardly, one soul within
Finally knowing how lonely they've been

When Ruby first met Sapphire, the day she was recruited into Rose's army and met the rest of the "Crystal Gems", there were no fireworks. No magnetic attraction, no sudden click. There wasn't even a passing thought about her looks- sure, the blue gem was pretty, but so were plenty of others, and what did Ruby know or care about beauty anyway?

The closest thing to a fateful link she noticed at the time was that this gem was so abnormally small. Just like her.

When Sapphire first met Ruby, she noticed three things: One, that this addition to their rebel army looked lost, just as they all did when they first made their choice and were still looking back in fear. Two, that young Amethyst would burst in the door of their base momentarily, slamming it into Ruby with almost enough force to send her into her gem. And three, this fellow rebel was… very small.

Just like her.

Ruby was a bit anxious about finding someplace to go during their down time. All too often, attempts at friend-making were met with remarks on her short stature, about which she was viciously self conscious, and she didn't wish to make her first impression as a choleric volcano. So she found a chair by the fire near the other small gem, who Ruby figured was unlikely to tease her for a flaw she had herself. Sapphire, was that her name? Ruby just sat there at first, wondering if the blue gem would say something.

She didn't, so Ruby didn't either.

Sapphire wasn't particularly talkative. She had her thoughts and her observations, which she kept to herself. This she did when Ruby came to sit by her, and this she did when the red gem began bringing books to read. Sapphire would note the front and back covers and use her future vision to determine the endings, though she never changed her expression to imply so.

Ruby, however, changed her expression constantly. Even without her future sight, Sapphire could have determined the basic plots just from Ruby's demonstrative manner. Sapphire always watched her, seeing how involved she became in the story, how her eyes would glow with excitement or furrow with concern for the characters. Once, Ruby had become so enraged with the betrayal of a character that she had accidentally set the page on fire, and her ever-expressive face had turned panicked as she flapped the book around, trying to stop the flames. Sapphire had caught herself smiling at this before she returned her face to impassiveness and subtly dissipated the heat with an icy gust. It seemed that she herself was rather involved in the story- or the part she could see, anyway.

The war was cold at the moment, just strategizing and planning, so Ruby found herself sitting by the fire with her books more often than not. One can only read so much before becoming curious about their surroundings, however. Ruby felt a bit guilty about not acknowledging her silent companion, and made it a habit to greet her and bid her farewell. These pleasantries were always returned simply and politely in the blue gem's ‒ Sapphire's ‒ low voice. Still, nothing else was said as the days went on and Ruby's stock of books began to run shallow.

The talking began quite suddenly. Ruby was on her third to last book, and Sapphire had been watching her face as always, rather tantalized by the readability of her emotions. And then, as she had done on plenty of other occasions during her reading, Ruby laughed. It was a high-pitched sort of cackle, and her face broke into a large, glowing grin. And before it was over, Sapphire was surprised to find herself asking benevolently what was so funny.

Sapphire knew what happened in the book, she knew what was so funny. Maybe she just wanted to see that bright smile last a little longer.

They began to talk about books. Ruby, upon learning of Sapphire's future sight, questioned her on what she thought about various plot points in the books she had read, and Sapphire responded, often in exasperation in how the fictional situations could have been better handled. Ruby listened emphatically- she seemed to be unlocking a treasure trove of personality that Sapphire had been hiding before. She was witty and intelligent in their conversations, and Ruby found herself thrilled with the challenge of keeping up. She was also sarcastic and teasing, often threatening to reveal the secrets of the last few books, to Ruby's amused horror.

She was fascinating.

The battles began. Sapphire and Ruby were thrust into the fighting, and easily separated in the fray. Sapphire's future vision and speed were extremely useful, but it didn't change the fact that she wasn't built to fight. She darted around the battlefield, inflicting damage with her gauntlet when she could and avoiding attacks with ease, but unable to make much of an impact.

Suddenly, her mind's eye saw something that made her spin. Before she could even consciously notice what it was, a strong, cold fury enveloped her, and a homeworld gem across the battle turned to ice. Sapphire blinked. Environmental powers were finicky, emotional, and hard to control. At such a great distance… how had she done that?

Then she saw Ruby, emerging from where she had been cornered, confused but grateful for her attacker's sudden debilitation.

Ah.

Ruby spent the battle feeling agitated about something she couldn't place. There was something concerning her, something other than her own fighting, and it was rather annoyingly distracting her. Soon, the battle was over, a narrow, small victory for the rebels, and they returned to the base to continue strategizing.

As soon as Ruby saw Sapphire, the restless feeling vanished.

For Sapphire, it was slow, like the coming of a season. It had started that first day when Ruby had sat by her, and was fueled by everything that had happened since. Still growing, and becoming ever more apparent to her.

For Ruby it was sudden. The straws were piling up on the camel's back, but it took one more to break it. One evening, when Sapphire didn't show up by the fire to talk. When Ruby searched the base for her, then went outside and heard a song. When she followed this song to a flowery field where Sapphire sat, the pink sky beginning to give way to the light of the moon and stars. When she realized, as her heart and soul silently exploded, that maybe she knew something about beauty after all.

As Sapphire felt herself opening up more and more to Ruby, laughing at her humor and her teasing and how breathtakingly cute she was, she began to worry. W-what if Ruby didn't feel the same way? Her future vision was suggesting that she did, but there were too many variables, too many emotions involved. She had to know for sure. And if the feelings were not reciprocated… well, Sapphire was used to being alone.

Ruby was going to go insane. She was madly in love with the most amazing, smart, beautiful, perfect gem in the universe, and she had no idea what to do. She- she had to tell her, but how? And what would she do if, if, if Sapphire punched her in the face and refused to speak to her ever again? All other concerns for the war, for her life, for anything, melted away as Ruby became an absolute nervous wreck. She absolutely had to tell her, no matter what happened. Tomorrow, she decided resolutely.

The next day, Sapphire trekked to the fire, ready to test her fate. Ruby was already standing there, and yelped nervously as Sapphire approached from behind her. She was so cute.

"Sapphire, uh, Sapphire, I have something to tell you, Sapphire!" Ruby said quickly.

Sapphire was about to say that she did too, when something in her future vision stopped all thought of confessions.

Oh no.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER, GET YOUR WEAPONS, THERE'S A SURPRISE ATTACK!" she bellowed, and Ruby took a step back, shocked at the sudden volume.

Chaos ensued. Within moments, everyone had frantically retrieved their weapons, and soon the attack began. How had Sapphire not seen it sooner? Thinking about Ruby had distracted her, and now they would all pay for her idiocy. Rebels and homeworld gems were everywhere, fleeing and chasing each other out of the base and into the grassy fields. Rose was calling for backup- this was the biggest fight yet.

At first, Ruby was shocked into silence by the sudden attack. But it didn't matter, none of it mattered, she still had to tell Sapphire. She screamed to her through the explosive noise, and Sapphire turned to look.

Then a homeworld cannon blasted straight through her.

"SAPPHIRE!" Ruby screeched as the blue stone clattered to the ground. She ran to it, ignoring everything. Sapphire. Sapphire. Oh god, Sapphire, Sapphire, was she okay? She picked up the glittering gem in dread.

It was cracked.

A large, deep crack down the center.

Only one thought stopped Ruby from passing out on the spot. Rose. She- she- she needed to get Sapphire to Rose. Rose could fix her, Rose could make her better, Rose had to, she had to.

Please, she had to.

Ruby didn't know where Rose was, the battle had spread in every direction of the base, she didn't know where to go, and she found herself in the flowery field where Sapphire had been singing. She should have told her then, she should have told her the second she had known. She hadn't even approached her, just stood and listened from behind, she should have told her sooner, what if what if what if she never got to tell her, what if she was gone forever what if she never knew, what if Ruby never knew, never saw her again, what if Sapphire Sapphire Sapphire, please, Sapphire...

It took Ruby a long time to realize that she was sobbing, and that she had collapsed in the flowers, clutching Sapphire to her chest.

. . .

It was Rose who found her, after the battle. Ruby wordlessly gave her the damaged gem, a desperate look on her tear-stained face. Rose examined it and looked painfully at Ruby, who was still curled on the ground. She didn't know if she could fix her. She had to fix her.

As Rose did what healing she could, Ruby stared at the sky, trying not to think.

. . .

Ruby didn't know how long it had been. Maybe days, maybe years. With every hour, her fear increased, her fear that Sapphire would never ever come out. Or even worse, that she was corrupted, doomed to be a monster for eternity, not self aware enough to recognize Ruby, only to attack.

She didn't leave the field of flowers. If Sapphire did come back, if Ruby could tell her, she wanted to do it right where she should have done it in the first place.

She just lay there, holding her by her face, whispering.

"I love you, I love you, I love you…"

Sapphire could feel there was something wrong with this reformation. Something had happened to her gem, something irreversible, something on her face. She tweaked her hairstyle to hide it.

Thoughts were dulled when you were inside your gem, and while Sapphire knew there was something she needed to get back to, she couldn't remember what it was… It made her feel happy and safe though, so she wasted no time in her healing and reformation.

Her gem was glowing. Ruby's heart leaped.

Sapphire, wonderful, amazing Sapphire was reforming finally, and Ruby dared to hope that she might be okay, no matter what Rose had said about damage to the gem.

Her hair was different, with long bangs obscuring her eyes, and her dress had some small changes. She looked okay… she looked absolutely gorgeous of course, but she looked unharmed…

As Sapphire dropped gracefully to the ground, Ruby grabbed her hands. "Sapphire Sapphire Sapphire, are you okay Sapphire, how are you Sapphire, Sapphire-"

Sapphire looked a bit shocked for a moment. Then she grinned. "Yes, Ruby, I'm fine, I'm fine except for my eyes, I'm okay." Then concern. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Ruby swept away the bangs with one hand to reveal one blue eye. Ruby didn't care, she was beautiful, she was alive, she was okay… And Ruby would never ever let her go again. She threw herself at Sapphire, tears welling up. "Itdoesn'tmatterwhathappenednothingmattersSapphireyou'reokaySapphireSapphireSapphireSapphireiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouSapphireiloveyou-"

Sapphire's thoughts were clearer than they had been in weeks, months, even. And as she saw Ruby's look of relief and hope and desperation, she had a thought that some part of her told her not to question.

Ruby's words were interrupted by lips on hers.

And there were the fireworks.