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

Day 12: The Change?

Jasper's P.O.V

'Peridot has been working on the broken panel for a while now and still can't fix it. After the incident with her limb enhancers, she doesn't take them off around me anymore. Although, she has asked me to help her a few times, which is a bit of a relief. I wonder what she's doing now. Probably still working,' I think to myself as I walk down the corridor to the broken panel.

As I turn the corner to where the broken panel is, I see Peridot working again. I walk over and sit next to her as she works. She give s a brief look at me then goes right back to working, intent on finding a solution to the problem. There's a few buzzes from the panel as she tinkers, but nothing seems to happen. She starts mumbling indecencies under her breath as she works.

"Fucking piece of shit... Son of a bitch ship panel... Augh!" I give a snort of laughter at her mumbling. She then looks at me in annoyance and huffs angrily. "What are you laughing at?"

"I just think it's funny how angry you're getting over this," I say with another bit of laughter. She only glares at me and goes back to working, still mumbling angrily to herself. "Do you need help with anything?" She shakes her head while still working.

"No. I think I'm almost done fixing it. Just a few more... Adjustments..." She tinkers with it for a few more minutes. After a while, the lights start to flicker, then turn on completely with a faint buzzing coming from them. Peridot stares at the panel for a second then squeals in excitement. "I did it! I fixed it, I finally fixed it!" I give her a small smile. She then puts the panel back and throws her hands up. "I can't believe it! Jasper, I fixed it!"

"Good job, nerd. I'm proud of ya. I knew you could do it." Before I can even say anything else, I feel her arms wrap around my waist as she hugs me. I look down at her surprised, not quite sure what to do in return.

Peridot's P.O.V

I feel myself hugging Jasper and immediately freeze. After a few seconds of standing there, I look up at her, my face turning a deeper shade of green as I blush at what I've done. As I look up, she stares back down at me, obviously at a loss for words. I slowly pull myself away from her, stuttering an apology as I do. "I'm so sorry... I didn't... I was just... Uhm, I..."

A small smile spreads across Jaspers face as I stutter my apology, her cheeks turning a darker shade of orange. Before I get a full sentence out, I feel myself being lifted off of the ground by the bigger gem and pulled into a surprisingly gentle hug. "You're such a nerd, Peridot," she says in a calm voice, no hint of aggression in it at all. I stare at her for a second as I feel my face heat up even more. I put my head down, trying to hide my blush. She laughs softly and pats my head. "I think celebration time is over. We should probably get back on track to Earth, yeah?"

I give her a slight nod and she puts me back on the ground. Then, we both walk to the control room, both of us silent the whole way there. We get to the control room and I walk to the seat, sitting down and beginning to steer the ship. I hear Jasper walk up beside me and look at her. She looks back and I look away quickly. "Uhm... Thank you... For believing in me. And helping me fix it. That meant a lot."

"Don't read too much into it. You're good with this sort of thing. There's no doubt that you could do it." I feel a smile spread across my face after she says this. 'Maybe she really has changed... Maybe this wasn't a totally horrible trip after all.' After a few seconds of silence, I hear a snicker from Jasper. "You're still a nerd though, Peridot." My smile fades and I groan with annoyance. 'I spoke too damn soon...'