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"Lapis! Wake up, we're under attack!" resonated the shrill voice of Peridot as she shook a slumbering Lapis. The azure gem stirs a bit but then became fully alert upon realisation sinking in of the words 'under attack'. She bolts upright from her sleeping position on the stack of hay. Pumpkin, who had fallen asleep by her side, was also wakened and whining in fear of Peridot’s sudden panicked shrieking.
"W-what? Under attack?" Lapis asks with a worried tone, repeating the alarming words that had aroused her awakening. A flurry of questions whirled in her head, had Jasper come back, had Home world send in their gem fleet to collect them? She looks to Peridot who was shaking erratically next to her, clawing and pulling at the strands of her triangular hair causing it to become a ruffled mess of lime. In an effort to calm her down, Lapis takes a hold of both of Peridot's hands to spare her already unruly mussed hair.
"Shh, breathe Peridot," Lapis speaks in the most soothing and calmest voice she could muster, which proved effective as Peridot visibly stopped shaking. "Tell me, what is going on? What do you mean we are under attack?" She asks slowly and with caution, letting the latters’ hands go, and welcomes a whimpering Pumpkin into her arms.
Peridot stills, and takes a deep breath before loudly exclaiming "COLD WHITE ROCKS ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY."
Silence ensues as Lapis blinks twice in confusion, what was the lime green gem going on about. "What?" was all Lapis could say at the moment, not knowing what harm a bunch of 'cold white rocks' could do to them when they were protected under the roof of the barn.
"Nghh, I'll show you!" Peridot says, frustrated that Lapis wasn't reacting all that worried about this. Peridot grabs Lapis' free arm and leads her to the barn door, kicking the doors open to reveal a landscape covered under a veil of white coupled by a chill rush of air kissing their skin harshly causing both gems to shiver at its icy touch. And there, just as Peridot had said, were the falling cold white rocks. One landed on Peridot, causing her to jump with a yelp of discomfort. "See! WE ARE SURROUNDED. SEND HELP!!!" Peridot yells, quickly cowering behind Lapis. Pumpkin burrows deeper into Lapis’ arms, shivering and whimpering fearfully.
Finally seeing the situation in its actuality, Lapis settles Pumpkin back onto the warmth of the haystack, and walks over to the phone on the wall, picking it up. "I'm calling up Steven."
After a few moments on the phone, the barn door opens to reveal Steven and the gems all bundled up in scarves, beanies, and warm thick clothing.
"PERIDOT, LAPIS, PUMPKIN, IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN!" Steven says in the usual chipper and welcoming voice the boy always had whenever he visited. He runs up to the two gems and their pumpkin dog to give them all a big hug which doesn't go unreciprocated by the two barn gems and the happily yipping Pumpkin nuzzling its round snout against Steven’s leg. Steven was just the kind of person to openly express how much he loved and cared for his friends. His hugs were always just so comfy and warm.
"It's good to see you too, Steven," says Lapis, patting the boy's head with much endearment.
"Yes, we are glad you came over Steven, it's always a pleasure to be visited by our friends, especially in this time of crisis," Peridot chimes in, her mouth curling upwards into a kitten-like smile. Steven tries to supress a giggle but failed and ended up laughing heartily at just how adorably clueless the lime green gem could be when it came to the foreign terrain of Earth culture. There was still so much she had yet to know.
Peridot just couldn't understand what was so funny, looking at him with a raised brow. Peridot was confusion. She feels a hand smack her back lightly, causing her to lose a bit of her footing from being startled but she managed to stay standing.
"AHAHA, relax, Peri, it's just snow, it's like... uhh...," Amethyst starts off, leaning a bit against Peridot's frame with her arm resting on her shoulder. Garnet clears her throat, successfully getting the attention of both Peridot and Amethyst who turn their heads to her.
"What she means is that snow can't hurt you," Garnet speaks in her usual directive tone, adjusting her sunglasses coolly anime-like. Pearl skips over to Garnet’s side, looking as if she was ready to teach a thing or two (which she did).
"Well, not in such small and meagre amounts they can't, but I'm not so sure if they are clumped, it could cause quite a bit of damage. However, judging by the rate at which they seem to be falling outside right now, it should be safe for living beings to go outside given that they are dressed appropriately enough to maintain a stable internal body temperature," Pearl pipes in, elaborating in a lecturely manner.
Peridot nods her head to indicate that she was understanding some of this 'snow' phenomenon, still an uncertainty lingered in her eyes. Pearl picks this up quickly, "Oh yes, forgive me for not explaining this earlier. Snow is precipitation in the form of flakes of crystalline water ice that falls from clouds and is composed of small ice particles. It has an open and therefore soft, white, and fluffy structure, unless subjected to external pressure. Hence why everything you see outside appears to be coated in a layer of white. I hope my explanation has cleared up some misunderstanding here," Pearl finishes, her hands clapping together, feeling proud of her vast knowledge of the Earth's phenomena. A big "o" slowly forms from Peridot's mouth, it was as if a lightbulb had suddenly glowed over her head after listening to Pearl's knowledgeable words.
"Ohh, thank you for that lengthy explanation." Peridot rubs a bit at her chin as she took all of this new intel in, and shrugs her shoulders, "Well, Lazuli, I guess we aren't under attack." She scurries over to Lapis' side, and holds her hand, giving the other gem and their Pumpkin a reassuring look to which Lapis reciprocates with a look of equal endearment and a happy woof from Pumpkin. Steven looks fondly at the trio, then an amazing idea hits his head like a bullet of geniusness to the brain. He lets out a loud and excited gasp, hands flying to his cheeks so as to calm himself from the energy that was rapidly bubbling up inside of him and threatening to escape upon coming up with such a great and grand idea.
"Is everything alright, Steven?" Pearl looks questioningly at the strangely giddier-than-usual boy with concern at his sudden newfound energeticness.
"Yes! Everything is finer then fine, Pearl. Guys, I just had the most amazing idea!" He announces, gaining all eyes and ears on him, all attentively waiting to hear this amazing idea. "Why don't we celebrate Christmas together, here at the barn?" He says, squealing a little that he actually said it out loud now. He looks over to the gems for their acceptance.
Pearl places a hand to her chin as if thinking but a small smile is visible on her face. Garnet also smiles at this, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Steven."
"Yeah, it is!" Amethyst chips in, folding her arms and nodding her approval, agreeing wholeheartedly with the notion of such an event, "I'm totally turned up for Christmas at the barn this year." Seeing that Pearl was still pondering, Amethyst sighs and literally comes up to her and nudges an elbow at the worrisome gem. "Come on, P. It'll be fun to spend a day away from the Temple and chill for a bit with our friends y'know?" Amethyst urges on, throwing the widest brightest grin she could at her, and finally Pearl gives in, unable to refuse that sunny toothy grin of the purple gem, with an amused lopsided smile.
"I guess you are right, as much as our gem duties are important, it is also equally important to spend time with the ones we love," she spoke while smiling warmly at the young boy. Steven jumps up and down with a very happy "yay!" and dashed over to Peridot and Lapis who looked totally lost on what was going on right now.
"Steven, as much as we'd love to have you stay over at the barn, I must ask you another yet very important question," Peridot beings, pausing a bit comically as her face droops, and it becomes a clear reminder of how alien everything on Earth still was to her. "What... is... Christmas?" Her words came out in spaces.
A gasp escapes once again from Steven who smacked his forehead lightly in slight self-reprimanding. "Oh my stars, I can't believe I forgot to explain Christmas to you guys!" Steven says to himself in disbelief. "Christmas is basically a time of the year when you spend time with the ones you love!" Steven goes on, emphasising the ‘love’ part by bringing a hand up to his chest area, placing it over where his heart was.
"Well, there is also a lengthy story about a very special baby being born on the day of Christmas but all in all, yes, it is a time to cherish those who you love as Steven has concisely just stated," Pearl chimes in a bit of trivia about human traditions she had been reading up on over the years and had observed from the residents of Beach City.
"Mmm hmm, yes, and because we love you, we want throw you guys your very first Christmas in your own home," Steven gestured above his head to the entirety of the barn they were in.
…
..
.
Come the week of Christmas and Steven and the gems were already making preparations.
And finally came the night of Christmas Eve.
.
..
…
Lapis lay on her stack of hay as usual with Pumpkin laying comfortably in her arms, waiting patiently for Steven and the gems to arrive while Peridot was scrambling around the barn narrowing her eyes and gasping in horror upon finding any speck of dust or dirt on as much as one of the meep-morps or the few appliances that were scattered around the barn. She hurriedly directed the hand vacuum using her telekinesis followed by a damp lemon-scented sponge and washcloth ensuring the purity of the premises.
The constant clamour, clank, squelch of sponges, and sweeping of a broom brought a heavy sigh out of Lapis' lips, knowing well of Peridot's tendency to become obsessively pedantic when it came to regarding home keeping of the barn.
A knocking captures the attention of the two gems. Peridot squeaks, losing focus which results in the loud crash of the falling cleaning objects which she had been telepathically keeping afloat in the air. The sounds causing Pumpkin to bark at the fallen objects.
"Phew, finally, I thought that would never end," Lapis says with relief, putting Pumpkin down and standing up, walking towards the barn door to let their guests in. When suddenly the lock on the door is set with a tight clink. She looks blankly at the lock in disbelief then turns to the anxious Peridot who was nervously biting at her fingers. Another sigh comes out of the Lapis’ mouth that night. "Come on, Peri, you've cleaned enough," she says to Peridot in a reassuring yet stern tone.
"LAPIS! PERIDOT! WE'RE HERE! PLEASE LET US IN, IT IS FREEZING OUT HERE!" Steven yells from outside, a bit of teeth-clattering followed, probably accompanied by shivering of the boy's small body trying to conserve what heat was held under his warm winter clothing. Lapis' gaze on Peridot intensified, humming lowly as if to tell Peridot to unlock the door already.
Finally giving in and not wanting her friends to freeze in the cold snow, Peridot flicks her pointer finger upwards. The lock unlocks itself almost instantly. Steven immediately bursts through, running to hug Lapis first as she was right next to the door, squealing happily. Lapis' chuckles, returning the hug with equal endearment. The gems follow him inside with Garnet closing the door shut so as to prevent the chill air from entering the barn.
"I see the heating in the barn has been well maintained," Pearl says as she inspects the settings of the heaters she had installed earlier when Lapis had first called up on the 'snow' incident.
"Ahh, yes, I've made sure that the interior temperatures are at that of a sustainable level," Peridot explains quite matter-of-factly, quite proud of herself.
"Whatcha' guys got there, Steven?" Lapis asks as Steven released her from the hug to go over and give Peridot and Pumpkin a hug too, noticing the boxes which Amethyst and Garnet were carrying, and the quite largely-sized red bag Steven had slung over his back.
"Ohh, these ol' things, they're decors, y'know, to jazz this place up and make it all sparkle and shine and glitter hehehe," Amethyst giggles, already tearing open one of the boxes she had placed down with a loud rip of the cardboard.
Peridot and Lapis simultaneously gasped, their eyes widening by a substantial scale factor as their widening pupils met with the colourful glowing ornaments which appeared to be in the shape of gem shards. The air suddenly became thicker with stilled tension.
Lapis looked uneasy, her left eye twitching. Peridot's lip trembled equally uneasily before she screams, unable to hold in the growing discomfort any longer. "OH MY STARS, STEVEN, A-ARE THOSE—?"
"NO NO NO. Oh, guys, they are just plastic! They are not real gem shards," Steven waves his hands around, trying to calm the frightened gems. He picks up a light pink piece of gem shard-like ornament, it glowed quite beautifully and radiantly against the inner-lighting of the barn. The sides catching the barn light and reflecting off the walls faintly, bathing the wooden walls with faded speckles of light pink.
“Oooh,” cooed Peridot in awe of the spectacle. “It’s quite a sight, Steven.”
A lone miniature blob of a tear formed at the corner of Pearl’s eyes as she witnessed the dancing pink specks. It reminded her of Rose. She quickly rubs the threatening tear away, not wanting to cause concern for the others during what was supposed to be one of the most joyous times of the year. She feels a hand place itself gently on her shoulder, looking up to Garnet who lifts her head slightly as if to ask ‘Are you alright?’. Pearl hums to rid of the memories, and nods to signify that yes, she is. She looks surprised to find that all eyes are on her, locking eyes with Steven who gives her an encouraging smile, stars alight in the hopeful little boy’s eyes. Pearl returns with an equally warming smile of her own, a newfound fire of determination founded. “Indeed, you are right, Steven.” She reaches for an opened box, picking up one of the shard-like ornaments. “Let’s bedazzle the place up while the night is still young.”
“All right!” Amethyst beams, diving into an opened box and throwing out a bunch of colourful streamers into the air.
“Augh!” Pearl deftly ducks down to avoid the onslaught of stringy decor that had been carelessly flung her way. “Why don’t we split up into teams to get the job done more efficiently,” she suggests, brushing herself off from the dust that had caught onto her ballerina-like ensemble wear.
“Mmm, good thinking, Pearl,” Garnet agrees, picking up a slightly larger box, and motioning her head towards an empty corner of the barn devoid of any stray hay. “Amethyst, Steven, Peridot”. The three who had their names called out turned their heads to the direction of Garnet, listening attentively. “You three can arrange the interiors,” Garnet then looks to Pearl and Lapis, “We’ll take care of setting up the tree.”
And so the Christmas decorating of the barn began with everyone working diligently to fill the inside of the barn with as much seasonal vibe and festive ambience as possible.
“Steven, what is this?” Steven turns to a questioning Peridot who held up a leafy bit of a plant with white berries which was foreign to Peridot.
“Oh my.” Steven giggled, a light pink dusting his cheeks. “That’s a mistletoe, Peridot.”
Amethyst, who popped out of nowhere, came between the two in the form of what appeared to be a missile bomb in the shape of a human’s toe, “Get it, missile toe! AHAHAHA!” she cackles wildly at her own joke.
Steven laughed loudly, clutching his stomach. “That’s a good one, Amethyst.”
“I don’t get it,” Peridot mumbles, just a little bit frustrated.
It took a while for Steven to calm himself down upon hearing Amethyst’s ‘missile toe’ joke but once he did manage to get rid of his case of the giggles, he clears his throat, ready to explain the meaning behind the mistletoe plant. Shortly after Steven finished his story of the mistletoe, Peridot just stood there blank-faced, taking time to process her thoughts.
“So… you say humans do this thing called a ‘kiss’ which involves the interlocking of their lips just because they both happen to be standing under this particular plant species at the same moment in time, am I not correct?”
“Yeah, that is pretty much it,” Steven shrugs, shapeshifting a little to reach up and adjust one of the wreaths which fell from back side of the barn door.
“Hmm…,” Peridot hums, letting all this new cultural festivity information sink in to her ever-expanding ever-curious mind.
For some strange reason, her attention is drawn to Lapis who was currently hovering in flight, her watery wings keeping her a few feet off the barn floor but not at a height great enough to touch the ceiling. The tree was already set up, much thanks to Garnet who had chopped off a nearby pine, and Pearl who measured the exact height of the barn with leeway to give enough space for the star. A bright string of lights had encased the tree’s branches loosely. The way the glowing string lights reflected off of Lapis’ wings made her appear like a rainbow ocean from where Peridot was standing and watching in awe of such a spectacle. Pumpkin, who was lingering by the tree, also seemed to notice this by the sound of happy barking at the light displays and energy of the gems around.
Then a thought came to her out of nowhere but it came. Peridot’s eyes closed in on Lapis’ lips. Those soft blue lips that curled a bit in focus as she flew up to place the large yellow star on the very top of the tree. Suddenly, Peridot’s mind starts to drift. She wonders how those lips would feel against hers. The very notion of it brings a surge of flutters to her lower torso. It had been a rough start from their first meeting but after becoming barn mates with the water gem, Peridot had grown to love and appreciate her company and presence. It was an emotion she couldn’t describe but she knew that she cared very much for Lapis’ well-being. But she’d be lying if she were to say that she hadn’t thought about showing this endearment in the form of kiss as they say towards her barn mate. And this fabled Earth tradition is one chance she wasn’t going to let up.
While Amethyst and Steven were busy putting up more wreathes, Peridot concentrated her telekinetic energies onto the lone mistletoe plant. By the power of her mind, she lifts the mistletoe up. She then proceeded to move it towards a hook on the vertical side of the barn’s upper floor, fastening the mistletoe onto it. ‘Yes!’ Peridot thinks triumphantly.
She quickly stands under the overhanging floor where the mistletoe hung from. “Ohh, Lapis, could you come over here for a second!”
Lapis, who was in the middle of a conversation with Pearl, excused herself and came over to the awaiting Peridot. But instead of standing directly under the spot where Peridot hung the mistletoe, Lapis walked around and instead stood by Peridot’s side, effectively avoiding being directly under the mistletoe. Peridot frowned with disbelief.
“What’s up?”
“I… uhh…” Peridot was at a loss for words, trying to come up with an excuse of why she even called the other gem over. Then she noticed out of the corner of her eye, a giggling Pearl with a hand over her mouth in an attempt to refrain her giggles, and a grinning Garnet. And was that a hint of a smug smirk she could narrowly make out on Lapis’ face just now? ‘What a conspiracy’, thought Peridot in annoyance. So, Lapis knew about the Earth tradition too, and now she was just toying with her. Hmm, so a challenge it would be to get her beloved barn mate under the toe of the missile and thus express her endearment. ‘Well then, challenge accepted.’
Instead of answering through words, Peridot brings Lapis into a warm embrace. Lapis just stood there frozen in place, a bit in shock at the sudden expression of affection coming from Peridot who doesn’t usually do this, feeling a swelling hotness pool around her cheeks. But nonetheless, Lapis slowly brings her own arms around the smaller gem, even folding her water wings to encircle them both.
Much has changed ever since Lapis had met Peridot, and after all the time they spent in fixing up the barn, watching marathons and re-runs of Camp Pining Hearts, making meep-morps, and raising Pumpkin the expression no longer seemed to be too foreign for Lapis. She hums in appreciation at the realisation, and closes her eyes in this blissful moment of feeling what Steven had told her was called ‘love’. Something she did not know that gems could even feel. And whatever it was she was feeling in the arms of Peridot, she was certain that it was love.
“Hmm, so you just wanted a hug, Peri?” Lapis mumbles a bit to herself, still smirking.
“Yeah,” Peridot answers, a similar epiphany going through her own mind, “and a kiss if I may, since it is a Christmas tradition.”
Lapis chuckles. “We have to be under a mistletoe first, you know.” She recalls having purposefully avoided being directly under the plant earlier just to have a little fun.
“Oh, but we already are.”
Lapis’ eyes shoot upwards. She gasps, immediately releasing herself from the embrace, her water wings spreading outwards. That cheeky Peridot had used her telekinesis to move the mistletoe so that it would hover directly above them while Lapis had been caught up in hugging and her thoughts.
“Wow, Peridot,” Lapis laughs light-heartedly in accepted defeat, “You got me good.”
“Of course, I did,” Peridot beams proudly, “Now, how about my k—”
Lapis interjects Peridot with a kiss… ON THE LIPS. Leaving a much stunned Peridot. But gradually she pressed her own lips back against Lapis. The flutters in their internal and metaphorical bodies were flying off the charts with a powerful joyous emotion swirling with pent-up long-awaited energy full of the sincerity of their built-up endearment. If this was one way of showing love then my, did it feel safe, warm, and righteous.
“AWWW.” A click and shutter was heard, seeming to have come from the phone held by Steven, accompanied by a unison of coos and supportive cheers from the gems. Even Pumpkin was woofing with genuine glee, certainly feeling the love rub off from their owners. The unexpected attention causes Lapis and Peridot to both break apart, both fidgeting shyly from being observed.
“Hey, since we are all married to one another, why don’t we all kiss each other under the mistletoe?” Steven suggests, they had already finished decorating after all.
At first, Pearl seemed hesitant at such an idea, but eventually, with the encouragement of everyone; the gems, Steven, Lapis, Peridot, and of course Pumpkin, all went around taking turns in kissing one another, sharing long happy hugs, and high-fives. Lapis and Peridot, while holding Pumpkin from either side, planted a kiss on either side of Pumpkin’s cheeks, causing the vegetable doggie to keen and squeak in delight at receiving love from both its owners. The inside of the barn was filled with much happiness and Christmas cheer.
After the many kisses, hugs, and high-fives that were exchanged, everyone settled down on cushions of pillows under the tree next to the wrapped boxes of presents, listening to Steven strum on his ukulele to various Christmas tunes. Pearl prepared some hot chocolate for Steven, and took out a bag of marshmallows which only Steven and Amethyst ate really but it was all in the mood for the season she supposes.
Then it was time for the present giving. Peridot lets out a loud squeal upon opening hers’ and Lapis’ presents, immediately wearing the alien Santa sweater. Lapis also smiled brightly, admiring the warmth of the leaf sweater that the gems and Stevens had gifted her. They looked so adorable in their sweaters that Steven couldn’t help but snap a bunch of photos of them, applying some Christmas filters to some to spice up his social media story boards.
“Oh, and here is our gift to all of you,” Peridot announces. Lapis hands over what appears to be a diorama with coloured stones and white cotton balls. “It’s a meep-morp that we made. The stones represent all of us, and the cotton is the snow which fell and thus lead to our gathering here to celebrate this ‘Christmas’ tradition of Earth,” Peridot explains the model.
“Ohh, it’s amazing, guys, thank you,” Steven happily accepts the model, already knowing where it would fit nicely in the house. The gems couldn’t agree more that the diorama was nicely thought out and designed. Amethyst poking at the cotton in fascination, tempted to put one in her mouth.
As the gems and Steven marvelled at the diorama, Lapis, with an already fast asleep Pumpkin in her arms, one hand holding onto Peridot’s hand watched on in adoration and contentment. They exchanged a knowing glance, Lapis squeezing Peridot’s hand slightly, caressing Pumpkin with her other. The colourful lights reflected off the barn, the sound of bells jingling coming from a low-playing radio, and the sight of their friends laughing among themselves while they watched on in the warmth of their new cosy sweaters was truly a heart-warming sight. They felt much at peace with themselves in that moment. Locking eyes, they both silently agreed that no greater gift was there than love.
The End.