Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet shared one more apprehensive look before Amethyst pulled out her whip and dragged down Bismuth's bubble. They'd decided together with Steven that the sheer unpredictability of how Bismuth would react to the truth about Rose meant it would be best if he wasn't there when they broke the news (which of course went double for Jasper). Steven didn't like it, but he quickly realized the wisdom of it and agreed.

They'd said all they needed to before going forward, so not another word was exchanged as Garnet popped the bubble. After the usual light show, Bismuth reformed in what the Gems realized must be the same position she had when poofed, stoically standing up with her eyes closed. They barely had time to notice her change of clothes, now worryingly ragged, before she opened her eyes and darted her head around. After a couple seconds she noticed the Gems and gazed at them with a somber expression. "Oh, I see. How long has it been this time?"

Pearl struggled to keep her tone as gentle as possible. "Just a few months."

Bismuth was surprised at that. "Steven said he was going to tell you everything. And just looking in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth."

Garnet stepped forward. "Yes, we know it all. And while I can't say any of us approve, we do understand. And we let you out because something's just recently come to light that you deserve to know, and might help you make more sense of all this."

Bismuth frowned in confusion. "Okay, I'll hear this out."

Pearl still wasn't used to her mouth no longer disobeying her when she tried to talk about this, after Steven's attempt to take the order back actually worked. "This isn't going to be easy for you to hear. I suppose the first thing to say is that I wasn't the renegade Pearl you all thought I was. I did have an owner for a while: Pink Diamond."

Bismuth's eyes widened. "And you were able to get away from her? That's incredible! Why wouldn't you want to tell any of us about it?"

Pearl continued the story, stopping a few times when she was sure Bismuth would interrupt. But it never happened, though she did start noticeably quivering, clearly putting tremendous effort into not saying anything until she heard the whole thing. Once it was over, that changed.

"So it was all just some game," she muttered in a quiet but terrifying tone. "All those Gems shattered, all the suffering we went through, just so a Diamond could do what she wanted, like everything else on Homeworld."

Pearl quickly put in, "No, there was much more to it than that-"

"Was there? Don't forget, I worked for Pink Diamond too. I saw how cruel she could be with my own eyes. And then-" Bismuth gave a dark chuckle. "You're right, it does make more sense now. Of course she wouldn't want any Homeworld Gems shattered, because she was one of them! And she knew if she told the others what really happened between us, someone in the Crystal Gems wouldn't accept it. Maybe even all of them would start asking questions she couldn't afford. So she just hid me away and forgot all about me. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong!"

Garnet said, "We can't know anything for sure about why she did any of it. And believe me, I understand how angry you are. I split apart when I first found out. But I do believe she was sincere about wanting to change the Gem she'd been, and be better. And there was so much good that came out of it."

Bismuth turned with a venomous stare. "And do you think if you told that to all those broken shards on the battlefield, they'd understand? I spent centuries slaving away for upper crust Gems, building everything they told me to until I felt like dropping and never getting up. And it turns out I never actually stopped doing it, and then when I wasn't useful to Pink Diamond anymore, she just got rid of me! All while she had the nerve to waltz around pretending she'd been through the same thing as all of us!"

Pearl spoke up again. "I saw how terrible she felt about all of it. It wasn't a lie! Maybe she could have done some things differently, but neither of us could see how at the time."

"Neither of you…" Bismuth suddenly paused, and looked again at Pearl with…sympathy? Pearl was quite confused by the sudden mood shift and waited for her to continue. "Oh, I think I get it now. You never even realized it, did you? She never freed you!"

Whatever Pearl had been expecting, that was far from it. "What are you talking about?" she said, unable to keep some of her own anger out of her voice."

Bismuth retained that infuriating placating tone. "Just think about it. Pearls are supposed to be completely devoted to their owner, and follow every order without a single thought of their own. Well, who told you should be a soldier? And I remember seeing the two of you in action; how many times did you sacrifice yourself to take a hit meant for her? And even now, you're still following what she said, without ever questioning it, and you're completely devoted to her even in her new form. Does that sound familiar?"

Pearl opened her mouth to retort, but found herself with no idea what to say. She silently kept trying for a few more moments, and then ran out without every getting anything out.

Amethyst had remained silent until now, letting the old comrades talk this one out. But now she was driven to say, "Do you really think that's true, Bismuth?"

The blacksmith grunted, "It all fits, doesn't it?"

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As Pearl came into the living room, Steven jumped from his bed and asked, "So how'd it go?" However, Pearl found she could barely even look at him right now. Even with her inexperience with eating, she was pretty sure what she was feeling right now was close to how Steven had always described nausea.

Feeling guilty that it was all she could do, she simply told him "I'll be back soon!" and ran out the door.

She needed someone she could really talk to about this, and right now no one in her usual circle seemed like a good candidate. Even Garnet would probably not be much help with how she was still digesting her own feelings toward Rose. But then she got an idea, and pulled her cell phone out of her gem.

"Hello?" came the voice on the other end.

"Sheena, can I come over?"