We're Here Together

[Phantom]

Rubpphire thread for me and Partner. Set after the events of The Answer, so in a time where Ruby and Sapphire haven't committed to being Garnet full time just yet and are working out how they feel about one another. And for Ruby to still not quite have wrapped her head around the idea that yes, Sapphire likes being with her. xD

Phantom - Sapphire
Partner - Ruby

----

If there was one thing Sapphire would admit without any hesitance, it was that the night sky on Earth had a certain sort of splendor to it. They would have been able to see any amount of stars from Homeworld, as it was just as much a part of space as anywhere else, but this... This was just beautiful. The former aristocratic Gem had settled herself down in the grass with her knees close to her body and her hands resting atop them. In a way, it felt so nice to be free of all the responsibility she had been saddled with back home. It had always been her duty to do things for Blue Diamond, and she had accepted that fate for her life, but even Sapphire had to admit that it was a little tiresome every now and again. Here on Earth, though? She didn't have to adhere to any sort of fate. Ruby had thrown her off the rails of fate and she was able to try and write her own story. It was nice... A lot nicer than she had ever given credit to before. Was this how any other Gem felt? She was rare, as were her powers, so she couldn't say anyone else knew what it was like to experience things as she had. But she was free now. Free to just... Do whatever she wanted.

She had Ruby to thank for that.

Soft humming filled the air as Sapphire adjusted her position a bit, and she looked skyward again. Her right hand trailed away from her knees and she brought it a bit closer to her tiny frame. The blue gemstone embedded in her palm was glistening a bit in the starlight, and she had to take a moment to admire it. Little things like this would have been missed on Homeworld. She had been so set on following her life exactly to a tee because of her power that she didn't really take much of an opportunity to admire these things. Again, she had Ruby to thank for this development. She liked it, though. Whether or not the little soldier agreed with that sentiment or not remained to be seen.

Speaking of, Sapphire's power came into play a few moments later. She could foresee herself being spoken to by Ruby, and she allowed herself to continue relaxing in the grass so that that could come to pass. Her humming continued, and the little blue Gem let herself look over her shoulder for just a moment.

"Ruby," Sapphire said in greeting. "I trust you're doing all right this evening." The smile on her face didn't budge. She didn't quite know what was going on in Ruby's head, but that was okay. They would work that sort of thing out in due time.

[Angel]

The humming, Sapphire's humming...

It drew her in like nothing Ruby had ever know before. Back on Homeworld, she'd never really been around other gems much... ever. Just her fellow rubies, and whatever superior they were taking orders from or guarding. At first, she'd exprected Sapphire to just be one of the same; a figure she'd protect for the duration of the mission, then never see again. It was true that the moment she'd collided with the blue gem and been so easily forgiven, Ruby had abruptly realised that there was something different about the other, something that had sparked up a fierce protective desire over the seer gem; but even then...

She never could have guessed, never could have imagined, what that would lead to.

Her actions that changed the course of fate. The accidental fusion. The sentence to be shattered; and Sapphire's even more unexpected move to save her. And... everything that had transpired here on Earth. Testing their new shared form; falling in with the Quartz and her Crystal Gems; and above all, growing so much closer to each other...

And now, they were here.

It wasn't for herself that Ruby had concern. She was just a common soldier, she was nothing special; there were a million more just like her where she came from. No-one showed the slightest concern for an expendible gem like herself. Or at least, no-one had before now. It just wasn't worth feeling something for a single gem out of a whole army, one who could be replaced at the drop of a hat. And it was that fact that snaked through her mind whenever she saw Sapphire, whispering - with nothing less than the truth - that she simply wasn't worth all that the other gem had given up. Because Sapphire...

Sapphire wasn't common at all. She was special, absolutely unique; if there was another gem like her in existance, Ruby had never heard of it. Her unlikely companion was something else entirely, so different from her that Ruby could hardly begin to put words to it. In fact, the more time they spent together, the more Ruby came to believe that Sapphire was nothing short of perfection.

And that just made her feel all the more weird about being here together with her. About what they'd shared. The rarest of the rare and the most common ever, both together. She loved being together with Sapphire, she truly did; the other made her feel, in thier most open moments, like the whole world and Ruby already knew that she would never allow anything to hurt the aristocratic gem. But she also knew one other thing.

That deep down inside, she simply wasn't worthy of Sapphire's affection.

"Hey, Sapphire."

Ruby's voice sounded awkward to her own ears. It wasn't that she found the other gem awkward to be around - far from it, she felt as comfortable with Sapphire as she ever had with her own kind. Hell, more comfortable than she ever had with her fellow Rubies, in all truth. Rather, the awkwardness sprung from her internal conflict of interests; she wanted to be with Sapphire forever, but she also wanted to insist that the seer gem return to a life that she deserved.

Sapphire might like their being together as much as Ruby herself did; but that didn't change the fact that she simply wasn't good enough for the more regal gem.

"Yeah, just... thinking again."

She dropped down to a sitting position beside Sapphire; her stocky legs half-folded, her hands on her knees. Not sure whether to elaborate or not; the other gem seemed in such a good mood right now that Ruby hardly wanted to spoil it. She managed a little lop-sided grin of her own, rubbed her shoulder a moment.

Shrugged.

"It's all still a lot to take in. All of this."

Without really thinking about it, her hand slipped a little closer to Sapphire. Not enough to touch; but enough that if the blue gem were to mirror the action, that would change.

[Phantom]

Thinking? Sapphire tilted her head to the side slightly when Ruby confessed to this much. There were a lot of things to think about, she would definitely agree with that, but what specifically had the little common soldier been pondering? Perhaps it had to do with the decisions they both had made. Sapphire had acted rashly to save Ruby's life, and the same had happened with Ruby saving Sapphire. Now both of them were stranded on Earth. But... It wasn't so bad, all things considered. Everything could have turned out a lot worse than it had. They had found Rose and Pearl, and the two accepted them as they were. They accepted their strange fusion, so...

Or was something else on Ruby's mind? Sapphire opened her mouth to ask, but Ruby had decided to elaborate after sitting down near her. She'd been thinking about all of it, apparently, and this earned a soft nod from Sapphire. Her humming had stopped and she, too, began to think about things. She'd already let her thoughts drift to the matter earlier, at least while she was on her own, so what more was there really to say?

Sapphire noted how Ruby had moved her hand closer to her, and she decided to mirror the action. The former aristocrat didn't know why it was, but she felt comforted by just having Ruby close enough to touch. She liked being around her. Whether or not the other Gem understood that remained to be seen, and she supposed she would work that out sooner or later. Her smaller, more delicate hand moved away from where it had been resting and soon was touching the grass near Ruby's. She still hadn't spoken, though. Really, she was putting her thoughts together in a somewhat coherent manner. Eloquent though Sapphire was, even she had to admit that Ruby was right. Everything that had happened was indeed a lot to take in. Even with her power to see into the future, she hadn't been able to predict any of what had happened after Ruby jumped the track of fate and they formed... Whatever their fusion was called. Pearl and Rose hadn't seemed to know either, so that much was still up in the air.

"It is a lot to take in, I have to agree," Sapphire said, "but... I can't say that I'm not happy. I get to see more of this beautiful planet this way, and you... Well, you're safe from being shattered. Even if that means we can never go home, I'm happy with how things turned out in the end."

It was a bold thing to say, Sapphire would admit, but she really was happy. She was and always would be a seer, and definitely not a Gem meant for fighting, but that hardly mattered now. Here on Earth, with Rose, Pearl, and Ruby, she could reinvent herself to a certain degree. It was true that Sapphire likely would never be as good of a fighter as Ruby, but it still held promise. She was starting to try and look past the definite outcomes she could see and beginning to look more toward possibilities. Ruby, once again, was to thank for that.

"I really must thank you for what you did. I don't believe we ever had the chance to really speak about how you saved me before. So... Thank you, Ruby. You have my gratitude for keeping me safe."

She already could predict what was likely to happen. Ruby would undoubtedly be surprised by all that she had said. After all, who had ever heard of an aristocrat that would be happy with what had happened? Most aristocratic Gems would be begging to go home by that point and blaming everything on Ruby. Not Sapphire, though. She had been the one to decide to rescue Ruby and take the leap of faith to Earth. So in truth, both of them were causes of what had happened.

All they could do was ride the new track of fate that the world had set them on.

[Angel]

"Heh. Yeah, there's that."



Who would have thought that Sapphire's casual wish to see more of the planet would come true - especially in such an unlikely fashion? Ruby could still remember the light wistfulness in the seer's tone when she'd expressed the thought - she could remember a lot of the little subtlties in Sapphire's mannerisms and voice that the little warrior, quite frankly, adored - and she'd felt certain she'd protect the high-class gem to the other end of the planet if the other had only asked it.

Strange how that had now come true.

She looked puzzled as her companion continued, however. Puzzled - and more than just a little curious.

"But I still don't get it." It was a concern that, for a while, had been completely eclipsed by the two gems' curiosity about their new, fused form; but it had never quite gone away, and was now rearing its head once again. Quite simply, Ruby simply didn't understand.



"There are a million just like me back on Homeworld." She looked at Sapphire, then away. Back at her, then away again; not altogether sure, even after sharing a mind with her, how the seer would take her question.

"To any other gem, I'd be expendable. I'm just the same as any other ruby; it shouldn't matter if I was shattered, I'm easily replaced. Soldiers like me are all the same."

Had it simply been because of what they'd shared? She could understand it then, if Sapphire had just wanted to preserve what had happened to them until they could figure out what it actually had been. Or... if she'd been sentenced to be broken under other circumstances, would the aristocratic gem still have saved her all the same? That seemed unlikely to Ruby--

But then, she'd spent her whole life, a few hundred years of it, being reminded that she was, ultimately, nothing distinct or unique. Sapphire's own position as such a rare gem might have given her a different perspective entirely; Ruby couldn't claim to either know or understand that much.



"I- I mean, you're welcome?" She stumbled over the words; never once having been thanked for doing simply what she had been made to do. She'd saved Sapphire, it was true - but at the expense of what? Everything they'd ever known? Still, Ruby knew that she'd do it again, in a heartbeat. Sapphire was absolutely precious to her, not just because she was a rare gem but because she was something else entirely, something Ruby had never known before. Someone who mattered to her on a deep, personal level, the likes of which she'd never grasped before.

There were a hundred other thing she wanted to ask as well; but for now, Ruby's only immediate continuatuin was silence. She'd said her main bit, her continued lack of understanding of why Sapphire had acted the way she had, and for all her other questions, none of them seemed so pressing to voice as to disrupt the moment with the seer gem further.

[Phantom]

Sapphire had to shake her head at that much. While it was true that any other Gem would have considered rubies to be expendable, the same did not apply to Sapphire. On the contrary, Sapphire thought of Ruby as anything but expendable. She saw Ruby as entirely unique from the other Gems she had known. It was more than just the fact that Ruby had helped her jump the track of fate. She was more than a dime-a-dozen ruby for a number of reasons. The first of which was the fact that, unlike the other two ruby guards she had been given, Ruby actually spoke with and acknowledged Sapphire. While the other two rubies had been focused on their duties, Ruby had paid attention to her fleeting, quiet desire to see more of Earth when she'd brought it up. In a way, it was almost kind of funny the way things had played out. Sapphire never could have predicted that what had happened would come to pass.

"That's not true, Ruby," Sapphire said. "You aren't just one of a million. You're one of a kind in my eyes."

Well, technically she should have said 'eye.' Given the context, though, Sapphire felt content to stick with what she had said. The words were true no matter what. Sapphire truly did believe that Ruby was a unique Gem. Along with the fact that Ruby had acknowledged her and took what she said into consideration, there was another thing that Sapphire really liked about her. It was the fact that Ruby offered her something that no other Gem could; companionship.

Other Gems back on Homeworld would have looked at Sapphire as an elite sort of Gem. She had the ever rare ability to see into the future, and she was an aristocrat when it came down to it. Others might very well have been intimidated by that much. Sapphire wasn't quite high enough in rank to have a pearl, so she wasn't quite that special, but she was high enough in the pecking order to be considered difficult to interact with. Most Gems would only see her. They wouldn't speak with her unless they wanted to know what was in store for the future. Ruby, though? Ruby hadn't had any obligation to offer companionship or even want to be around her. She and the other two rubies had only been assigned to protect her. In all reality, they didn't need to offer any sort of companionship or even acknowledge her beyond being the Gem they needed to protect on a regular basis. Ruby had done that, though. She stuck with Sapphire after they wound up stuck on Earth together. That was more than what Sapphire would have been able to say about any other Gem.

What she was about to say would undoubtedly cause confusion. Sapphire didn't need to be a seer in order to predict that Ruby would be confused about being called one of a kind. The poor red Gem had been nothing but a common soldier back home. Now, though, she was something more than that. She was Sapphire's closest companion. Sure Rose and Pearl were great, at least from what Sapphire knew already, but they didn't quite understand Sapphire yet. Ruby probably didn't either, but she knew enough for Sapphire to consider her a friend. ...Maybe more than that, too. Sapphire didn't quite know what the feelings she felt for Ruby even were beyond that.

It would have been all too easy to just react to the confusion she predicted, but Sapphire didn't do that much. She instead decided to keep talking. Might as well get what was on her mind out into the open while she was thinking about it. Although it remained unseen thanks to the way her bangs were positioned over her eye, her gaze drifted skyward again. Then, she spoke.

"You've given me something no other Gem could, and that's enough to make me think you're not quite like the other rubies. The others that were assigned to protect me... They never really acknowledged me as anything more than the Gem they were meant to protect. You, though? You spoke with me like I was any other Gem... Like I wasn't just who you were guarding. Like when I wished I could see more of Earth, for instance. You didn't have to acknowledge what I was saying, but you did anyway. It... It was nice to have someone talk with me like that. Even if it was for just a moment," Sapphire said. Everything had happened so quickly after that. It all had been seen by her, and although Ruby had thrown her off the track of fate she still was grateful for what had happened. To Sapphire, Ruby was invaluable. Not just as a guardian, but also as a companion. She was an invaluable friend as far as Sapphire was concerned.

"You're not just some common ruby to me. Any other Gem back on Homeworld would hardly look my way or speak with me like that. But you did, and you've stuck with me this whole time on this... Earth. It would have been so easy to just leave me by myself after we wound up here, but you didn't. What you've given me is invaluable, Ruby. You've given me companionship. I truly appreciate that."

[Angel]

"I---"



If she wasn't naturally red anyway, Ruby would have flushed; as it was, her cheeks still darkened noticably. She was confused, no question there; but she was also embarrassed, too. Sapphire truly thought she was something... else? It was something she'd never heard before, never even imagined feeling. For as much as she simply couldn't understand it, it still kindled a warm glow inside her that made her feel...

Feel...

She didn't even know what it made her feel. She'd never felt special before, couldn't even identify it for what it was.

Before she could continue talking - though what she'd even say, Ruby wasn't sure she knew - Sapphire was speaking again. For some moments, Ruby looked like she wanted to interrupt, to say something, to say anything-- The words, however, weren't coming. Rather, the seer's words were sinking in, rendering the little soldier something close to speechless.

Just because she'd talked to her?

Sapphire thought she was special... just because Ruby had talked to her?

"Well, I..." She looked down at her hands, at the gem inset in her left palm, as she gathered her words. "That was because of you again. I mean, after I bumped you and you forgave me... most other gems would have wanted me punished for that. But you didn't, you just... said you understood."

More or less, at least. Ruby knew those hadn't been Sapphire's exact words, she'd gone over that moment a hundred times in her head in its immediate aftermath; but that was hardly the point.



"That was when you showed me that you were different from everyone else. Not just because you're..." perfect "...rare, but because you were you. It was what made me want to do whatever I could to make you happy, to protect you to the ends of the universe if I had to." Now at last, as she had been speaking, Ruby looked up at Sapphire again. The other gem was almost unreadable a lot of the time, especially when her eye was hidden; and yet even so... she thought there might have been a hint of...

This was the closest Ruby had yet come to expressing directly just how deeply she cared for Sapphire. It was more, much much more than simply a valuable seer and her guardian Ruby; rather, there was an incredible devotion to Sapphire in the small warrior's heart.

"So when you said that, back then... it was because I wanted to make you happy. You wanted to see the world, so I offered it. And I could never, ever leave you alone in a place like this, unless you asked me to. It isn't so much because of me--"

And she shifted to face the daintier gem fully, taking Sapphire's hand in her own, staring into the other's bangs as though hoping to catch a glimpse of the stunning blue eye beneath.



"It was you, Sapphire. It's you who brings out the better side in me... you're what makes me different."




(ooc: forgive me turning this into a with-icons thread? xD I just had some of the exact facial expressions from The Answer in my head for her and I wanted to express them better than words could have ^^ Aaaand I may have gone back and edited the previous post to use them, too xD)

[Phantom]

Because of her?

Sapphire hadn't really thought much about her own actions having any sort of influence on what Ruby had done. On the contrary, she had only thought about what had happened in general. Just how Ruby had talked to her, treated her like a normal Gem... Everything along those lines. It was nice to hear what Ruby thought, though. Her smile grew a little more, and she thought about speaking, but Ruby had started to speak again. Ruby revealed that she thought Sapphire was different, and Sapphire blinked at this much. Again, she had never really considered herself as all that different. But then again, any other important Gem would have had Ruby shattered for bumping into her like she had. Sapphire had understood, though. It was an accident. An accident that had sparked their journey and their relationship... Whatever relationship that was. It was friendship for sure, but there had to be something more to it than that. Rose had said there was... Or at least seemed to imply as such.

The blue Gem's cheeks turned a bit of a darker shade of blue when Ruby revealed that she'd protect her to the ends of the earth and do anything to make her happy. Honestly? Sapphire had never thought any other Gem would feel that way about her. She'd always been seen as special back on Homeworld, but nobody had ever expressed that they cared about her quite like Ruby did. Not even Blue Diamond, who valued her visions above all else, had cared about her quite in that manner. It made Sapphire feel really... Well, happy.

"Ruby... I had no idea. I mean, I realized you wanted to protect me, but I didn't know you cared so much about my happiness," Sapphire said. Her smile blossomed across her face, and it only seemed to do so more when Ruby took hold of her dainty little hand. She could see Ruby's eyes clearly, but Ruby couldn't see hers as she looked at her. Clearly it was time to fix that. So, using her free hand, Sapphire brushed aside her bangs to reveal her single eye. It just felt right to look Ruby in the eye and let Ruby look at her own. Sapphire hardly knew what to say from there. She knew she cared about Ruby quite a bit, but she wasn't sure how to put that feeling into words. For once in her life, Sapphire was completely uncertain about how to feel. Maybe 'companionship' hadn't been the right term to use. Sapphire certainly did think what they had was more than that, after all.

"I... I care quite a lot about your happiness, too. And your safety," she said. "I care so much about you, Ruby. Now that we're here, together, I just... I don't know. Somehow, I just can't see a future without you."

[Angel]

And, there it was--

Once again, Ruby's breath seemed to take its leave of her as she stared into Sapphire's single eye. A deep pool of liquid blue... the first time she'd seen it, Ruby had just been stunned beyond words. Not because having one eye was unusual... well, it was, but that had been beside the point entirely. Point was that she'd thought the seer gem beautiful before; but looking past the curtain of Sapphire's bangs and into her incredibly blue eye, Ruby could have sworn she'd never seen anyone or anything so stunning. Not even the sights of Earth, incredible as they were, could compare to the beauty Ruby saw when she looked fully into her companion's face.

'Companion' was far, far too tame a word.

Not to even mention Sapphire's smile. And her little blush...

"Of course I do! I--"

And here, she faultered again. What was it that she felt for Sapphire, anyway? It was incredibly strong, it was something that... that... Ruby couldn't even describe the effect it had on her. It made her feel absolutely incredible whenever she was with the dainty gem, made her feel certain she'd do anything at all for Sapphire, lit all her feelings with a burning passion that would never go away... She'd felt it a little, from the first time she and Sapphire had spoken. And as they'd spent days and weeks and maybe even months - she'd lost all track of time - on Earth before reforming their fused self, before falling in with Pearl and Rose, she'd just come to feel it more and more powerfully, becoming more and more convinced that Sapphire was worth everything.

Homeworld had no true need of love; while gems were capable of feeling it, they weren't encouraged to pursue or understand it. And a common soldier like Ruby, for certain, had never had any experience of it before. She couldn't possibly know that it was what she was feeling now, unless someone else explained it to her.

And, before she could pick up her words again, she heard Sapphire talking. Not just accepting Ruby's devition, but... returning it as well? For long moments, the soldier's jaw worked silently, trying to voice words - to say something, anything at all - when her brain didn't seem to be suppling anything for it. She knew Sapphire liked her okay; knew that Sapphire thought she was something unique and special, though Ruby hadn't quite grasped that much herself; but this was... this was a whole other level, and somewhere along the line her brain seemed to have malfunctioned trying to process it.

She could have asked, just to be certain, if Sapphire's not being able to see a future where they weren't together was a good thing. But that would be redundant. She knew for a fact that the seer gem enjoyed being with her, enjoyed being... together, whether like this or as Garnet; she saw that much from the other's mind whenever they fused. So of course, of course them being together in every future Sapphire saw was just as good from her perspective too.

With that in mind, she didn't bother with words. Against all protocol, against anything, Ruby leant even closer and scooped Sapphire up in her arms. She'd held the other gem before, of course - when she'd pried Sapphire out of her own ice and carried her to shelter, and again during their fusion dance - but this was something different. She wasn't picking up Sapphire for a specific purpose, just that... she wanted to be closer to her. Wanted to hold her, in the only way she could think to express how much the other gem's words meant to her. How much Sapphire herself meant to her.

And as she just held her there, in a surprisingly tender embrace for a gem bred to be nothing more than a soldier, Ruby finally found the words she wanted to say.

"You're everything to me, Sapphire. I know I should want you to return to the places where you belong, but... all I want anymore is to be with you, forever."