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“It’s incredible.”Bismuth looked down at Pearl. They were sitting on the edge of Rose’s fountain, legs dangling in the water, watching the formerly corrupted gems reunite with one another and try to figure out just what had happened to them. Pearl was smiling in a way Bismuth had never seen, tears filling her eyes.“Aw, come on Pearl.” She wrapped an arm around the slim gem’s shoulders. “You know I can’t take it when you cry.”Pearl laughed, dragging her arm across her eyes. “I never thought I’d see this day. They’re back. They’re healed. We tried for so long, fought so much...”Bismuth hugged her closer, looking out at the gems in the fountain. Had they really fought all of these gems, just the four of them? It was unbelievable. “I should’ve been here,” she said quietly, looking down at their reflections in the water. She didn’t realize she was crying until Pearl reached out to brush her tears away.“It’s not your fault.”“It kind of is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still mostly Rose’s fault, but… I knew she didn’t approve of shattering. I knew she wanted to avoid it. I just got so sick of watching my comrades – my friends – go down in battle while we barely escaped with our gems intact.” Or not intact at all, she remembered bitterly, eyes finding Pearl’s gem. She had lost count of how many times Rose had cried over that cracked gem. After one particularly rough battle, they had been sure Rose wouldn’t be able to bring her back. She’d held on by the thinnest string. “I knew she would never approve, though. And I pushed it anyways.”Recent revelations had been the final piece of the puzzle. Bismuth had made the Breaking Point specifically to go at Pink Diamond. That would have been an awkward situation. “I hate to say it,” Pearl said slowly, “but her bubbling you might have saved you. Garnet and I only survived because we happened to be near Rose at the time. There’s no way of knowing if you would have been with her. You could be in the fountain healing right now if she hadn’t done what she did. It doesn’t justify it, but…”She drew in a shaky breath, snuggling deeper into Bismuth’s side. “When Rose said you were lost, I would have done anything to save you, or trade places with you. Thinking you had been shattered...” She shuddered. “It was better than the possibility of you being corrupted, but it still hurt. I missed you so much.”Those last words were a whisper. Bismuth reached around to wrap her up in a tight hug, nearly pulling Pearl into her lap. “I should have been there,” she mumbled again, but she knew, deep in her gem, that Pearl was right. If she hadn’t been bubbled, she probably would have been corrupted, along with the rest of her friends. She would have been useless either way.At least now she could be here for Pearl, and comfort her. She could be here, and take care of Pearl – something she suspected Pearl desperately needed.It was better than the alternative.