Jasper
One second too late
She could feel herself sliding off of.. something.
One second too late
She tried to open her eyes, but everything was blurry, and she could barely make out the figure in front of her.
One second too late
It was the Pearl, reaching out to her, trying to stop her descent.
One second too late
Even though the Pearl was her enemy, self preservation won out in the end, and she tried to reach for the offered hand.
One second too late
She couldn't move.
One second too late
And then everything was dark again, the now familiar feeling of water surrounding her, preventing any movement.
Falling
She could feel herself sinking deeper with every passing second.
Falling
Memories of Malachite consumed her mind.
Falling
The memories gave way to images from the war.
Falling
She was suddenly on the battlefield once again, surrounded by screaming, gem shards at her feet.
Her fault
The shards of her enemies
Her fault
The shards of her teammates
Failure
The shards of her friends
It's her fault
The gems she couldn't save
It's her fault
The rebellion, strong as ever, driving her back.
She lost
Homeworld retreating
She lost
Punishment for failure
Pain
The thought of her friends that had depended on her to protect them.
Pain
The moments her gem wasn't damaged, but the pain never stopped, and the memories kept coming.
It's her fault
All of a sudden, her eyes snapped open, and she struggled to move.
Trapped
She coughed up water, trying to look around, but she still couldn't move
Trapped
She finally cleared her airways, blinking in the moonlight, water mixing with the unwanted tears on her face.
Freedom
She looked to see who had saved her, and quickly wiped the tears off her face, hoping that she didn't see...
One second too late
The Pearl stared at her, surprised, and hesitantly drew her spear.
One second too late
Jasper tried to lunge at her, but fell to the ground, weak.
Failure
" You... your gem is damaged. Don't try to fight back." said the Pearl, voice wavering.
Failure
" How much did you see?" Jasper grunted, raising her head off the sand.
Failure
" Enough." the Pearl sighed, putting away her weapon. " You're not going to fight me."
Failure
" I'm not. Just... leave me be." Jasper muttered, looking away.
Traitor
" I'm afraid I can't do that." the Pearl replied, a bit of her old bravado returning.
Traitor
" I am not going to fight you. I've failed my mission. I'll be crushed if I return to Homeworld. Just break me now." Jasper murmured.
Traitor
" I'm not going to do that either." said the Pearl. " How about we just... talk."
Traitor
" Why? So you can remind me of my failures? Of everything that's gone wrong?"
Traitor
" How about the war? How my comrades fell, shattered at my feet, and I could do nothing about it?!" Jasper shouted, her anger rising.
Traitor
" I want to know why I saved you. I came because of how I felt... how I let everyone down by not capturing you... but now... I still don't want to hurt you, and I don't know why!" the Pearl yelled back at her.
Why
The two fell silent for a while.
Why you
Jasper looked over at her companion, and noticed tears in her eyes, despite her obvious attempts to look emotionless.
Why you
Jasper reached out tentatively, berating herself internally for her actions, and tried to wipe the tears away.
Why
The Pearl flinched at first, but then sat still, observing Jasper with a kind of pity that a Pearl should never have.
Why you
Silence fell over the beach again, and there the two sat, quietly reflecting on their situation until sunrise.
Why you
Jasper realized the reason the Pearl had saved her, but refused to admit it to herself, opting to keep the silence.
She understands me.