This is my first ever Steven Universe fanfic! I hope you guys like it, but remember this is my FIRST one (not my first fanfic, but my first one for this fandom). Hope you enjoy it!

WARNING! SPOILERS FOR STEVEN BOMB 4
Set during Log Date 7152

"So am going to have to wear a star? Where would I put the star?!"

Garnet carefully sat Peridot down and set down next to the much smaller Gem. Well, smaller compared to the fusion. Garnet knew full well that Ruby and Sapphire would see eye to eye with her (or eye to eyes in the case of Sapphire). Someday she might introduce them. "...So...how you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? How am I feeling?!" the small scientist gem replied, starting to panic again in the manic way she had been. "I CALLED YELLOW DIAMOND A CLOD TO HER FACE!" Peridot's panic quickly ended upon feeling Garnet's hand on her shoulder.

"I asked how you're feeling, not what you did," was the larger gem's response.

The now-exiled Gem blinked in confusion. "I...don't know...I feel...contradictory..."

"Maybe you should tell me about it?" Garnet replied patiently.

"...Well..." Peridot replied, looking frightened suddenly. "...On one hand, I am terrified beyond rational thought."

"Yes..."

"On the other...I feel a strange warm sensation in my chest..." Peridot gave a perplexed look. "It is not entirely unpleasant. Quite the opposite...and there is also a strange feeling of exhilaration...Which made me laugh even though there was no joke. It's like I'm terrified and happy at the same time...Ugh! Why are my emotions so completely in conflict?!"

"...Because you're experiencing something new...trust me, I know the feeling," Garnet replied, looking to her as the two set in the grass. She noted Peridot, even in her current uncertain state, had been quietly examining it almost unconsciously as they sat there. "Let me guess, first time you ever broke a rule?"

"Of course!" Peridot exclaimed with a sense of pride. "My record has been utterly flawless since I hatched! I had no signs of deviation my entire existence! A several thousand year perfect record!...Until now..." she said, panic coming back. "Now I've called my Diamond a clod to her face!...Is that against the rules? Oh of course it is!"

"...Honestly? I think you did the right thing."

The smaller gem turned, looking up to Garnet. She noted the larger Gem giving a smile. Not the 'fun' smile Amethyst normally sported constantly or the proud one Pearl did, this one was one she couldn't quite pin down. "How?! I mean trying to spare this biosphere from destruction in a mutually beneficial agreement was a stroke of genius, but I fail to see how calling Yellow Diamond a clod was an appropriate course of action!"

Garnet chuckled slightly, looking up at the sky. "Because she was acting like one. Especially to you." she replied bluntly.

"..." Peridot tried to find the proper words to respond with, but nothing came. Instead, she merely looked down...a bit of betrayal on her face as she examined the blades of grass. "...Ever since I can remember, I was told Yellow Diamond was the pinnacle of logic and reason. The greatest, most non-bias thinker in all the known universe...and she didn't even listen to a word I had to say. All for something as illogical and petty as 'revenge!' Granted, I was quite preoccupied trying to kill you all for that reason, but I'm me! She's Yellow Diamond! She's supposed to be perfect! That's why she's in charge!...I even made notes!" the little gem exclaimed, producing a stack of notes from nowhere. She lowered her head. "...But of course, I'm just a Peridot...tech support...They call me to check on things and run programs, not come up with ideas...No one listens to me..."

"...Maybe after we've dealt with the Cluster we can get to work on these?" Garnet asked, slowly picking up the notes and looking at them. "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this."

"I knew you'd think they were-Wait...You...you really want to hear my ideas?" Peridot asked, blinking and looking up like it was the first time in her life she'd ever had someone want her opinion.

"...What I think doesn't matter. What you think is bound to be far more interesting."

"You think...my thought processes are interesting?"

Garnet gave a smile, handing the papers back to her and only letting go when Peridot had taken them back. "That's the wonderful thing about the Earth, Peridot...on Homeworld, you're Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG...a number. Expendable. There are a hundreds of you...Here? Well look at Pearl. Look at us," she said, showing the two Gems in her palms. "...Here, you can be whatever you want to be. You want to try your ideas? Go for it. If they don't hurt the Earth, I'm sure Pearl's game. She loves this kind of stuff."

Peridot reacted in shock, looking like the concept was the most alien thing in the world. "What...I want to be?"

"...Want to know how I was made?" Garnet questioned seriously.

"Wait, I thought we were talking about ME!" Peridot asked in confusion, and somewhat insult.

"We'll get back to you in a second."

"Oh...Yes, that would be most informative..."

Garnet put a hand to her visor and with a flip it vanished, revealing her three eyes, all three looking intently down at the smaller Gem. "Ruby realized Sapphire was going to let her physical form get destroyed because she saw the future and believed it had to be that way...and Ruby refused to accept that, so she saved Sapphire instead. That's when they made me for the first time."

Peridot looked like she was about to short circuit. "Wait wait wait, a Sapphire's visions are not absolute?!"

Garnet chuckled. "Guess the Diamonds don't want that part getting out, huh? The future's full of possibilities, Peridot. That's the fun part: we get to decide which ones we get to...Anyway, Blue Diamond wasn't happy about that, even though Ruby was just doing her job as Sapphire's guard...and wanted to shatter her for it."

Peridot instinctively covered her Gem with a frighted look. "So...what happened? Clearly Ruby survived, she's right there! How did you escape making one of the Diamonds want to break you?!"

"...Sapphire decided Ruby, the 'expendable' grunt who'd shown her the future wasn't a simple one way street...was more important than her Diamond's good graces...so she grabbed Ruby and saved her, knowing she could never go back to Blue Diamond's court again." Garnet put a hand on Peridot's shoulder. "Like you decided the Earth was more important than Yellow Diamond's approval."

"I...I suppose that makes sense..."

"...Sapphire and Ruby always believed Blue Diamond was the pentacle of grace and elegance...and deciding to execute a loyal soldier who had saved a member of her court for something she didn't even mean to was neither of those things...it was petty and cruel...Just like Yellow Diamond wasn't being rational or reasonable," Garnet continued, her tone carrying a bit of anger and rage, but keeping it quiet.

"...It does sound very similar to my circumstances, yes..."

"...You never saw Yellow Diamond face to face before, did you?"

Peridot shook her head. "No, I gave my manager a message, which she gave to her manager, which she gave to her manager, which she gave to Yellow Diamond's Pearl, which she finally gave to Yellow Diamond, who sent the message back through all of them to tell them to send me to Earth with Jasper...I never even so much as heard a message from her..."

"...But you have met Steven face to face, right?"

"Yes, you've been here! You obviously know I have!"

"...And what kind of person do you think he is?"

Peridot paused thoughtfully for a moment. "...Well...He's illogical...disgusting at times...annoying...but...he...makes me feel...big...He treats me as an individual...He actually listens to me...He cares about me...I don't believe anyone else ever did..."

"...Rose Quartz was the same to me...She saw me as Garnet, not as something 'wrong' or 'disgusting.' To the Diamonds, we're numbers...things...We are only valuable so long as we act how they want us to. But to those two?...We're people...They see the value in everything...and that includes you. And all three of us learned from them..."

The two simply set there for a few moments. Peridot fiddling with the grass, looking like she was comparing its pigment to her own green color. "I...I have a lot to process now..."

Garnet nodded, causing her visor to reappear with a gesture. "That's fine...so did I when I was where you are..."

More silence. Peridot allowed a ladybug to climb onto her finger and examined it. She noted its hard shell covering its more delicate wings opening as it prepared for take off. She watched it fly off.

"...So...why do you were that visor all the time anyway? To my knowledge nether of your components have one naturally like I do..." Peridot questioned, her curiosity showing itself.

Garnet gave a small chuckle. "Oh, just something I picked up a few decades ago. They were all the rage back then. They're called shades by the way."

"But what PURPOSE does it serve? I think your body is harder than they are!" she questioned.

"They look cool..." Garnet replied bluntly. "...And the answer is maybe."

Peridot blinked. "What answer? You just gave a completely different one to my quandary!"

"The star," Garnet replied with a smile. "The answer is maybe. Up to you. I think it'd look good on you thought...You might want to get rid of the yellow diamonds either way."

Peridot looked down at the yellow diamond on her chest. She felt a spark of anger at the reminder of her former leader. "...That would be logical...Thank you, Garnet...This was most informative..."

"You're welcome. Now come on, let's go check on Steven. He's probably ready for us now."

"Yeah...wait, ready for us?"

"You'll see."

The End.