Go to Earth they said, it'll be easy they said.

Day 7: The ship malfunction

Jasper's P.O.V

It's been three full days since I last spoke to Peridot. Since I last came out of my room at all, actually. She hasn't come to check on me or really even seemed to care. It's been quiet the past few days. I checked on Lapis a few times, but never seemed to run into Peridot. It didn't even seem like she was checking random panels anymore. I have to say, it's worrying me a bit.

'Maybe I should go check on her. Or at least leave my room for a while.' I get up and walk out of the room. Faint singing can be heard from where the Lazuli is in her cell. Walking toward the singing, I stop next to the cell to listen for a few seconds. She doesn't stop until she sees me standing there. Immediately she stops and pulls her knees to her chest, burying her face in them. Giving her a small frown I walk to the control room.

I get to the door to the control room and open it. I walk in and see Peridot at the steering panel, steering the ship. As I walk over to the chair Peridot is sitting in, she slowly turns her head to look at me. "Yes? Do you need something Jasper," she asks me. Her voice sounds monotone and shallow, like she's been sitting there for days without any interaction.

"No... I just wanted to make sure that we were on the right course to Earth," I say.

"Yes, we are. We should be there soon." She turns her attention back to the control panel and steering the ship. I give a slight, soft sigh and walk to the door. As I walk out of the room an alarm starts sounding throughout the ship. Peridot immediately gets up and walks out of the room in front of me. I walk out after her.

"Peridot, what's going on? What does that alarm mean?"

"Its nothing. It'll be a quick fix." We walk up to a panel that has smoke coming out of it. She starts tinkering with it and after a few minutes she finishes fixing it. She puts the panel back and we start walking away from it. As we walk away, a loud bang sounds behind us. We turn quickly and see that the panel had blown out. Peridot freaks out, running back to it.

"I thought you fixed it! What the hell is going on?!" She frantically tries to fix what had happened as I run back over.

"I don't know! I thought I fixed it but... But... I don't know!" She sounds panicked and looks a bit worried.

"Well fix it! Isn't this yo-" before I finish my sentence the lights on the ship go out, the only lights left are the ones that the cell doors give off. Peridot stops what she's doing and just stares at the panel. "Peridot... What the fuck did you do?"

She slowly turns to me, looking terrified. "I... I-I don't know... I can't... I can't fix it... I don't know what to do!" She starts freaking out. "What have I done?! What do I do?! I'm a failure as a technician!" She falls to her knees, shaking. "Yellow Diamond is going to kill me... She's going to have me crushed for being such a failure..."

I stare down at her for a minute then kneel down to her level. She keeps her head down, still shaking and giving quiet, choked sobs. I sigh and poke her gem a few times.

Peridot's P.O.V

As I sit there shaking and sobbing, I feel rough taps on my gem. I look up to see Jasper kneeling in front of me. I stare at her, a wave of fear washing over me as I look at her. 'What is she doing? Why is she still here?' I start to back away. "Wh-what do you want..? Here to gloat? Gloat about how I'm going to be crushed for being a failure?! I bet your soooo fucking happy right?!"

Jasper rolls her eyes. "Oh, hush and get up, nerd. You aren't going to be crushed. You'll fix it eventually. Just take a break, you're stressed." Her voice sounds calm while still having a slight bit of venom to it. She then stands up and offers her hand to me. I stare at it then slowly take her hand. She helps me stand up, then replaces the panel on the ship. I just stand there and watch her, a confused look on my face as she looks back at me. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why... Why are you being nice to me?"

"What? I can't just be nice for once? Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no... It's just not in a Jaspers nature to be nice in any way." She gives me a low growl.

"Not all Jaspers are the same. Maybe I'm trying to be nice because-" She doesn't finish her sentence and just stares at me for a second. I look even more confused.

"Because why? What were you going to say?"

She scowls. "You don't need to worry about it, nerd." She pushes past me. "Just... Go sit down for a while. Stop working." She storms off without another word. I stare after her, feeling hopelessly confused. I walk back to the control room, thinking to myself as I do. 'That was weird... I wonder what she was going to say.'

I walk into the control room and sit at the steering panel of the ship. 'She's never nice to anybody. Why be nice to me? She just thinks I'm a damn nerd anyway... She's just a big, buff, mean, strong... Beautiful...' I shake my head and scowl at my thought. "What the hell was I thinking? Why would I think that? What is wrong with me?" I stare out the front of the ship at the stars. 'I don't think she's beautiful... That's insane! Why... Do I really think she's... Oh, sweet diamond...'