A sprawling, blue, wavy ocean panned out in front of her. The waves were peaceful tonight, lightly kissing the sand at her feet. She took a mental picture and sighed. The ocean is beautiful and seductive, but also a dark temptress. Its unforgiving nature, cold, strong yet gentle…it really was the perfect embodiment of Lapis Lazuli…a crystal gem. Ugh. The words burned in her thoughts as if they were aflame. When she spoke the words before they dripped with poison. Crystal Gems! Hah! And now she was choosing to be one! A guardian of the earth! Roommates with her former captor. Who was she now? Her whole world was so new…but anything new was welcome. Being alone and trapped for so long had taken its toll but she didn't hate it…she knew herself well enough at least. It was opening up to others that was difficult.

Steven was easy to talk to. Garnet had very little to say, but what was said was heard and she appreciated that. Pearl was intelligent and passionate…a little intimidating. Amethyst understood her better than anyone and they had a silent agreement about that. And then there was her roommate, Peridot. She did not know what to think of her. She had a yearning to be close to her, urges she couldn't suppress and that scared her. So for now, she chose to keep those emotions on the back burner, hoping they wouldn't boil over.

"Hey Lapis." Said a voice from behind her. She turned her head and there stood her favorite pink shirted, alien-human hybrid. "Hi steven," her voice still felt foreign to her after not being able to use it for so long, "what are you doing out so late?"

Steven kicked at the sand, "I was in bed but I saw you sitting out here alone so I thought I'd check on you." He yawned and sat down next to her. "Everything okay?"

She smiled and pat his head "Yes, just needed some salty air and space. The stars are really showing tonight." She hesitated for a moment but then continued "…and I needed some time away from Peridot."

"Ah…oh. Is that bad?"

"No, nothing bad happened. She's just really into an art project and preoccupied. "

"She's not ignoring you is she?"

Lapis giggled, "No Steven. We're just both doing our own thing I guess. She just keeps humming and talking to herself and I needed some peace and quiet."

Steven nodded, "I see, I figured you'd have had enough of that considering…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry Lapis, I didn't mean it like that!" he quickly recovered. It stung a little bit but a young boy like steven couldn't grasp the gravity of what she had been through. She shrugged it off.

"Don't apologize Steven, you're right. I'll head back home and you head to bed. Thanks for checking on me."

They both stood up and steven walked towards the temple, "goodnight lapis" Lapis wings formed and she hovered over the sand, "goodnight steven" and flew off towards the barn.

Lapis landed gracefully on the soft grass. The whole barn was still lit up with lights and music was playing in the upstairs part of her home. Her wings evaporated and she walked inside.

Peridot was wearing her alien boxer shorts and walking around her newest art excursion, measuring angles and taking notes.

"Hey Peridot" Lapis said flatly.

Peridot jumped with a start. "Oh hey Lazuli, didn't hear you come in. How you doing? " she said with a slight smile.

There was that weird feeling again. Her stomach dropped and her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat. "Fine. You?" She said sounding a lot more cold than she meant to.

"Uh yeah, I'm good. Just working." Peridot held out her arms and pointed out new additions to her piece.

"It's looking really good " Lapis complimented and Peridot beamed. The corners of Lapis mouth twinged, threatening to smile. She looked so goofy when she smiled.

"Thank you!"

"sure"

Lapis walked to her side of the barn and sat down. She picked up a book she had been reading and found her place, but didn't start to read. She peeked up over the cover and watched Peridot scratch her head in thought. Why was she always trying to steal glimpses of the green gem? It was like she couldn't control her actions. Even when she attempted to read her book she looked up every few minutes to watch .

Peridot got so engrossed with her work that she paid lapis no mind. Lapis didn't mind this too much…she could stare unapologetically. But at the same time all she wanted to do was grab Peridots face and….NO! She had to stop thinking like that. What was this?! Greg had some "romance" novels in the box of books that were in the barn for storage. She had been too embarrassed to pick one up yet but she was curious…she reached down into the box and grabbed a pink graphic novel.

The characters in this book depicted some strange behaviours…many she felt that related to her current situation. Holding hands, cuddling on the couch, kissing…she felt her face grow warm. Then she sensed someone behind her.

"Whatcha reading?" Lapis threw the book in the air and her wings sprouted out of reaction.

"Jeeze Peridot! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She yelled. Peridot shrunk back. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew!" She threw her hands up in defense and sat down on the couch.

"No its okay…"She trailed off and sat down next to Peridot. Her wings retracted and she sighed. "I'm just a bit jumpy tonight that's all." Peridot frowned.

"Would you uh…like to talk about it?" Peridot pressed on unsure. Lapis sighed out loud and said " I don't know…."

"Oh…"

Lapis took Peridots hand roughly and entwined their fingers. "what does this mean in human culture?"

Peridot looked taken aback but didn't move. "Um. Well in some cases it's a gesture of protection, like a large human and a small human crossing a busy vehicular path. In other instances it could be romantic." They continued holding hands.

Lapis looked in thought. "Could it mean both?"

Peridot blinked quickly and excitedly answered, "Absolutely, this is earth! Anything is possible."

Lapis smiled. "That's a nice thought."

"Yes it is, and wow thanks."

She let go of Peridots hand and picked up the original book she had been reading. Peridot stood up, shrugged and went back to her project. Lapis watched as she went and snuck the graphic novel behind her other book and continued reading intensely.

What she didn't notice, too engrossed in her petty smut novel, was the green gem now watching her. A smile on her face and her heart filling up with hope.