“It feels sooo good to be back together again!”

The fear and exhaustion weighing on their limbs vanished as exhilaration coursed through my veins. I’m finally back! I let out a ragged chuckle as I flex my fingers and stretch my arms, all three of them.

“Man, I guess they couldn’t keep me away!” I throw out, still feeling giddy from their fusion.

“So that’s what you’re fusion looks like.”

The other voice brings me back to the scene at hand. Right, Mo! I rub the gem on my chest and press a few sore spots on my arms. “Aw man, did you have to hit Steven so hard? It still stings.”

Mo standing still, her arms hanging at her sides and her stance uneven. “Sorry about that, but he can fix himself up later. Now, what’s your name?”

“Riiight, you haven’t met me before!” It slipped my mind that Amethyst and Rose never fused, so Mo’s never seen any version of me. “I’m Smokey Quartz. It’s a pleasure.”

“Smoky Quartz,” Mo tested the name on her tongue. She shrugged. “Guess I can’t be surprised. I have a question for you real quick.”

“Uhh, shoot, I guess…” That’s a complete turnaround for trying to kick my skull in. I’m gonna go with it…

“When Amethyst and Steven fuse, what keeps you together?” Mo asked, smoke coiling around her forearms. “What’s your connection?”

What keeps me together? That’s… random. “Uh… I don’t know. Amethyst was having a hard time and Steven did his whole nice guy thing and bam, I exist. I’m just… here.”

“Hm… Alright.” Mo sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.” She dropped back into a stance, smoke pouring off her skin. That’s the same position she uses when she’s about to rush me! My right arm snaps to the gem on my chest. I feel it’s energy surge, warmth and ease blooming in spite of the coming fight. The stone lets out a quick flash before my yo-yo appears in my hand. Mo scans the new weapon, the smoke swirling around her fists. She braces her legs, ready to spring. I pull my arm back, ready to launch my yo-yo the moment she moves. If she gets close, she’ll mess up my gems again. I’ve got to keep her away. I’ve got-

Mo sighs, relaxing her legs and readjusting her feet so that she was standing upright. “This is stupid,” She mumbles. “I’m sorry.”

“Uhh… What are…”

Mo’s smoke harmlessly fades away to nothing, not a wisp left in sight. Mo stares at her hands her a second before wiping them on her jacket. She runs her fingers through her hair, messing up the strands and causing that lock to fall in front of her face once more. “There’s no point to this. I’m sorry for causing trouble. Just… get out of here.” She walks away, each step seeming to be anchored down by a massive weight. Her shoulders slump and her hair dangles lifelessly around her shoulders. She stumbles over to the base of a cliff, letting her back slumped heavily against the stone, and lets her feet slide out from under her.

One moment, she was ready to fight us. Now… I don’t know. Should I talk to her? No, she’s dangerous. She’ll attack us. But, look at her. She seems so… lost.

Hesitantly, I step forward until I’m standing over her. “So, uh, are we gonna fight or what? I honestly have no idea what’s happening right now.”

Mo rests the back of her head against the stone, staring up at me with those metallic eyes. Today, their luster is gone; they’re just lumps of steel without any polish. “If you’re gonna poof me, just get it over with.”

“P-poof you! What are you talking about?”

She sighed again, a thousand more years pressing down on her. “I’m really tired. I’m so sick of all this. Just put me in a bubble so I don’t have to keep doing this.”

Oh man, this is so WEIRD! How’d we get here? “Look, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What do you mean by ‘this?’”

Another shrug. “You really don’t want to hear about it. Just… just do it.”

Mo’s not fighting. She’s… giving up? What is this? She was kicking our butts a few minutes ago! Should I bubble her? Maybe that’ll get the others to stop fighting. Mo will be out of the picture and we won’t have to worry about her. It’ll be like… like what my mother did to Bismuth.

No, I can’t do that. Maybe I can just take her back to the Temple? She’ll get bubbled there, too. And look at her! She’s just sitting there! What wrong with her?

A sound drags me out of my thoughts. It’s so quiet that I can’t tell where it’s coming from right away. When I do, I’m not prepared for what’s causing it.

Mo’s crying.

Her eyelids are pressed together tightly, tearing leaking out and running down her cheeks. Smoke drooped from her hair like a curtain, too heavy to do anything except drift to the ground. Mo wrapped her arms around herself as she bites her lip, trying to fight back sobs that shook her body.

“Hey, what are doing? What’s going on?” I kneel down so that I’m eye level with her while still keeping that short distance between us. “Why are you crying?”

Mo didn’t answer. She brought her knees to her chest, curling into a ball. She gave up trying to hold back her sobs, letting the broken gasps escape her lips without restraint. Her smoke grazed my knees and a wave exhaustion washed over me. Is this how tired she is? It feels like the sky’s pressing down on me, making every second unbearable as the burden tried to crush me. How can she stand this? What would make her feel this way?

The smoke seemed to refuse to spread from her, coating the ground with a cloud that clung to her body. She showed me her memories with this smoke. Can I…

A brief voice of caution rose in my head, but I forced it back and plunged my hand into the cloud of smoke. Wisps snaked up my arms, feeling almost like chains this time. I resisted the urge to pull away as the smoke encased my shoulder and then my neck. It continued to spread over my body until it closed over my eyes and the world vanished.