There's always a lighthouse

[wheremst]

And just like that, you wake up in the basement of a lighthouse in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There's a circle of 25 pods in the middle of the room, and two more in a room off to the side, and you can imagine who is in which.

An elevator to the side of the room leads up to the ground floor (or to the first sub-basement, if you want to check out the machine that brought you here), where you can for the first time in weeks look out a window and see the sky. Its a beautiful sunny day, with a strong breeze on the grassy ground of the island where the lighthouse stands. Have you ever been this happy to hear seagulls?

You're free. Whatever comes next, you're free and you won. Take some time to relish your victory, won't you? Reunite with friends you thought you had lost, go forth and just... well, enjoy this.

Comments

[lovelikeyou]

Oh, no, it isn't that.

[okay, it is that a bit]

Just... [Why me, is the question she wants to ask. But she's also afraid to broach that subject.] ...I guess it isn't important. Thank you.

[fivestagegod]

Don't mention it.

[...look he's really bad at this- ]

I don't hate...you, specifically, either. We found out about the whole diamond thing, I'm not mad about it and I don't blame you for it or anything. It's just...good to have you here, okay?

[lovelikeyou]

[Rose visibly goes stiff at the mention of the Diamond thing. The reflexive bitterness she feels surprises even her, a bit. They should be mad. If they aren't, they must just not understand what it all really means, or else -

Well, she shouldn't be that surprised. It's William. He's not mad at the Professor, either, for some reason.]

That's nice to hear. I didn't expect...

[She fingers the hem of her new dress.]

...well. Do we know how this travel is going to work? Everyone...going home?

[fivestagegod]

[His lack of anger at the Professor... Well, there are reasons for that, and none of them aren't awkward. The largest ones are personal, and if he's honest he doesn't like that they exist, but it is what it is.]

...Wherever we consider home after this, yeah. Though they're working on arranging it so it works remotely - so we can see each other if we want to, so we can go back and forth as we please. I was asking Carmen - the lady in the coat - about it earlier.

[lovelikeyou]

Oh, good. I think I need to stop by home before going to your world.

[because obviously we're still on for that, right?]

[fivestagegod]

[...Ah.]

You don't...have to, Rose.

[It's awkward, a lot of this is awkward.]

I'm not telling you not to, because I... I don't know, I like you, and I'm okay spending time with you, and this is something you wanted to do. But you don't owe me or my world anything. I don't want you to think you have to.

[lovelikeyou]

I can't just know there are people out there I might be able to help and not do anything.

[...after a moment, Rose snorts.]

I'm sure you've heard how good I've been at it so far. But it's only healing. [Not exactly so much to screw up there; either her tears work or they don't.]

[fivestagegod]

...Hey. If I find out anything about you, I want it to be from you, okay? Everything else is... I can take it or leave it.

[...]

I'm sorry, for what it's worth. About everything I did back there. I get that you're probably mad or disappointed or something. It's good of you to want to help with this anyway.

[lovelikeyou]

[Oh cool so you're good with never finding out anything about her ever?]

I'm...not mad. [so yep disappointed is the word] But that doesn't make a difference. I know I'd do anything if someone could cure the Corruption.

[She's obviously not thinking about it at all, but at least she's making statements like that now that all the murder motives are done with, huh]

[fivestagegod]

[does he look like he knows how to handle being told anything that requires emotional understanding or competence]

I don't know how much you'll be able to cure it, but if you can't I don't think that's on you. It's on how our version of that sort of thing works.

[...SPEAKING OF NEVER TELLING PEOPLE ANYTHING the knowledge that he may have created that entire shitshow to begin with is hopefully going to die whenever della duck does]

[lovelikeyou]

[cool, cool, let's just sit here together and be miserable piles of secrets forever]

It's worth trying. [She will absolutely take it as a personal failing regardless, but you know there's no stopping that.] My powers are back already. They feel the same as ever, now -

[She'll lift a hand and just like, make some flowers bloom in the grass for funsies.]

[fivestagegod]

[...Oh holy shit.]

...That is really awesome. I don't know if any of the ones I've done stuff with are still around, but I'd actually want to know what you think of them, if we find any.

[lovelikeyou]

[Rose chuckles, just a bit.]

I don't know how much I could tell you. It's just instinct, really...there aren't any plants on Gem-controlled planets.

[So of course she never even knew she could do any of this until she went to Earth. She'd been quite free to claim that as a Rose Quartz power, because who ever could have known Pink Diamond did something like that, too?]

But I'd like to see them.