(Y/N) POV

I stood there, shocked by what Emma just said to me. Turning rebel? Now? For the first time in my life, I am at a loss for words. It is not that I am holding my tongue, I truly have no response. Even the omnipresent inner monologue that goads me into compliance and complacency, which, had this been a hypothetical, would be raving against it, is dead silent. The silence in the room is both deafening and crushing. Emma shifts uncomfortably, desperate for me to say something, anything, to break the silence and clue her into what I'm thinking. I want to calm her nerves, but I have nothing to say. 

That is, until I asked myself one question. If Emma left, became a rebel and traveled amongst the stars, what would be the first thing I'd want to do, if I had the choice? Follow her. Not to stop her, not to join her, but to simply be by her side. And that answered the question of how to respond to Emma. Whatever Homeworld may offer me, it pales in comparison to what Emma can offer me. Love. I take a breath to break the silence before I speak. 

(Y/N): "Alright. I'm in."

Emma looked overjoyed, happier than she had ever looked. The cute fangs that all Emeralds seem to have glinted in her radiant smile, and everything about her seemed to light up. She pulled me in for a big hug, and I could hear her gently crying from joy. Emma: "Thank you, for understanding. I love my home... but this is no longer my home, it's dying, and if we stay, it will only poison us before leading to our deaths. We have to leave, for our sake." (Y/N): "But what about those that won't turn away? What about the ones that can't leave?" Emma tightened her hug. Emma: "We'll think of something, but if we wait too long to act while we plan on how to save everyone, we won't be able to save those we can save right now."

She has an excellent point. It pains me to think of Gems continuing to suffer, but no plan can be perfect. I have full faith in Emma to come up with something. But... (Y/N): "How are we going to get off world? You never fly your Battlecruiser, so people are going to know something is up. If they suspect something, the Diamonds will stop the ship from taking off with their warship." She smirked. Emma: "The Diamonds will be heading to Earth to launch a final counterassault on the planet! I almost feel bad for it; if it's lucky, they'll only wipe out the gems on it, and leave the planet be. If not, it will be a lifeless molten rock for millennia to come. But, while they are out, Homeworld will be left to fend for itself. It's the perfect time to gather my- sorry, our forces and leave!" 

Inside my head, I hear a lone voice of decent. Inner Voice: "No! This is wrong! We must stay. We must not rebel. Complacency, is safety." But I ignore it. 

Emma: "Alright, we need to get the word out. Tell any gems you trust to keep a secret. We don't have much time to prepare." I nod. She leans in and gives me a quick kiss. Emma: "Good luck (Y/N)." And with that, she leaves her room, to gather support.

----

It's been a few days since we decided to turn rebel, and I've been trying to get Gems to come to our side. Both for their sake, and because two Gems are not nearly enough to fly a Battlecruiser. It's hard. One, because I'm not good at subtlety. Neither picking up on it, nor being it. So I either wait till a Gem is alone to talk to them or I'll wind up talking in circles trying not to say 'Hey, wanna hop on a spaceship and fly away from here?' directly. Two, I don't really know how to gauge who is trustworthy or not. Damn lack of social interaction. Finally, everyone's still in mourning, so a lot of Gems don't really want to talk much. But I persevere. It's for the greater good.

Emma's been not having much luck either. She's much better at being subtle, and convincing, and leader-like than I am. Unfortunately, she also has very little free time. She spends whatever time that's not wrapped up in a meeting trying to convince her workers and other Gems to leave with us when the Diamonds head out on their counter strike; so really, like, an hour or so total each day. 

It's not a total wash though, as every Gem we convince goes on to convince their friends, and coworkers. Even though i suck at this, and Emma just doesn't have the time, good old fashioned word of mouth is spreading our cause rather far. This does, however, mean a loss of control on who happens to hear about this. Our escape from Homeworld won't be silent, and it won't be easy.

As much as I hate to think about it, when the day comes...

... We'll have to fight our way out!

----

The day has come. The Diamonds made a big announcement; they are going to Earth themselves to destroy the Crystal Gems in retaliation for the murder of Pink Diamond. As a servant of a member of White Diamonds court, I was part of her send off to war. I was saluting alongside Emma, bowing deeply with her and the rest of the White Court, as White Diamond gracefully swept past us, ceremoniously heading to her part of the Diamond Warship. 

But, my time as a living statue in her court taught me something. It taught me how to listen when people are talking. Made me pretty damn good at eavesdropping. I heard White Diamond muttering to herself. I looked around, and either no one else was hearing it, or they were ignoring it out of respect. But what I heard was... interesting.

White Diamond: "It's ok. Calm down. You know this is just another one of her silly games. And if you play a silly game, you win a silly prize. This is all to be expected. No need to worry. And if I get there, and find that my Starlight really has been sha-" She stopped, faltering in her walk. The court looked up for a minute, but then the light she shed grew a few hundred lumens brighter till we all looked down again. White Diamond then continued onward. White Diamond: "-If she really has been hurt by those off colors on that planet..." I, and judging by the hushed groans of pain I could hear from some of the court members, everyone else, suddenly felt pained, and faint. Like our very life force was being suppressed by a far, far greater power. White Diamond finished her thought. White Diamond: "I will simply destroy the planet. By myself. Just blast away the crust and be done with it. But it won't come to that. Because this is just a game. So I don't need to be so worried for her safety. I haven't done anything wrong." She was trying to convince herself of that last part.

She went into her ship, and the court collectively let out a breath we'd all been holding. Many of the weaker members of the court blinked out; they did not merely fall unconscious, nor did they poof. They flickered like a dying light for a few seconds, then blink, they were gone, like an archaic light bulb filament burning out, and their gem hit the ground. (Y/N): "What was that?" Emma stood up shakily. Emma: "Diamonds hold such tremendous power that simply by existing they can snuff out the life force of other gems. They usually hold back most of their power for fear of destroying the colonies and stations they monitor, or for fear of hurting one another. What we think of as, and what they show us of, a Diamonds 'full power' is actually a small fraction of what they are really capable of; but since showing off their true power might destroy the Empire, or worse, shatter one another, they'd usually rather die than unleash it. White must be really shook up by this, if she lost her grip on her power like that." 

I stood up and looked around at the Gems around me. (Y/N): "Are... are they dead? They don't look shattered." Emma shook her head. Emma: "Don't worry. Their life has been 'suppressed', and they are, to put it simply, in a coma. But they'll wake up eventually,and none of them are dead. If they were, their inert gems would have crumbled to dust by now." Well, at least they're alright.

Emma takes me to her room and activates a command console tucked away in the wall. Emma: "Here is where I can send out orders to the Gems that serve me. Never really needed to use it before. Once I send out the signal to start up my Battlecruiser, there'll be no turning back. Are you ready?" My nerves start to creep up on me, but I give Emma a kiss on the cheek and say "Yes." She blushes a bit, smiles, and then presses a switch on the console.

Emma: "Attention! I'm going to be taking my Disharmonix-class Battlecruiser out on its maiden voyage, and bequeathing it with a name. Will the Gems I have hand picked for the honor please head to the ship? Thank you." With that, our time on Homeworld is now limited. Someone that knows what we are doing and opposes us almost certainly heard the announcement, and if we get held up for too long, the Diamonds would return, and we'd never be able to leave. Me and Emma leave the room...

...and run straight into Azurite.

Azurite: "Well, well, well. What have we here?" Emma rolled her eyes. Emma: "Azurite, always a 'pleasure', but (Y/N) and I have places to be." Emma tried to walk past her, but Azurite drew her blade.Without thinking, I placed my hand in front of Emma to protect her, but she gently lowered my hand, and drew her broadsword. Emma: "Really? You're really going to try to fight me again?" Azurite clenched her jaw. Azurite: "The duel didn't count! You had you little manservant do all the work for you! But he can't grow in here without setting off alarms! You're cornered!"

Emma adopted a graceful duelist pose, and awaited Azurite's first move... Which, it turns out, was to monologue. Azurite: "You walk around like you think you're better than everyone. Thinking that treating common Pearls and Rubies like they're real gems makes you anything other than pathetic and weak! But I always knew you were a cowardly traitor and lo, thus are your true colors revealed! You are-" Emma yawned loudly and dramatically, cutting off Azurite.

Azurite looked furious. Azurite: "I'm sorry, is my speech BORING YOU!?!" Emma finished her yawn. Emma: "Yes, very much. But please, continue." 

Azurite: "You arrogant little clod! You fractured off-color scum! How dare you..." She kept going but I tuned her out. I turned to look at Emma. She seemed impatient, and bored. She gave a sneer of impatience, and then, suddenly, she flickered for a second, as though she was moving at high speeds. I felt a small rush of air, like something sped by me, and her normally untamed hair looked as if it had been blown about by high speed winds. She now had a smirk on her face. 

Azurite did not notice. Azurite: "... enjoy your screams for mercy when the Diamonds shatter you! No, that's too good for a traitorous, malformed stone like you! When I strike you down, I-" Emma spun her broadsword around and started to re-sheath it in her gem. Azurite: "Oh? Putting down your blade? Have you finally realized you can never beat me? Giving up to accept loss with some dignity?" Emma laughed. Emma: "No, it's just..." 

Suddenly, Azurite's hands fell off, and her longsword split into 5 equally sized pieces. Emma: "... I've already cut you."

Azurite started splitting into more and more pieces, the only part of her untouched by Emma's blade being her gem. Azurite: "What... But... How did you...?" Emma: "If you couldn't even keep up with my movements, you really shouldn't have tried to stop me yourself. Maybe now when you reform, you'll actually think about what it means to be a noble Gem that people count on, and not just about yourself." With that, Emma fully re-sheathed her blade into her gem, and Azurite poofed. 

I stared at Emma with newfound respect. I knew she was amazing, but I did not think she was that skilled or fast. She smiled at me. Emma: "If I can't take care of myself, how could I call myself your equal? Now, come-on. We don't have much time." I nod, and we head out to get to the shipyard.

To be continued