Chapter 9
As Lapizo kissed Mimi softly, his senses were flooded with a wonderful smell: a sweet vanilla scent filled with lavender mixed with something else that he could not identify. It reminded him of the flowers he used to visit back home, and the smell itself sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. Mimi's body felt warm and soft, and Lapizo knew that this was something he'd like to do again.
When they finally stopped kissing, Lapizo rested his forehead against Mimi's. They both smiled shyly.
"Bye, Lapis." Mimi smiled sweetly and gave him another gentle brush of her lips against his.
Lapizo opened the door and stepped outside, quickly closing it behind him. He sighed as he rubbed his chest. He'd had his heart racing since the moment he saw her again. He suddenly felt tired, and decided that resting under the shade of a tree for a while would be the best thing to do. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them and gazing at the horizon. It was still bright outside, so the light wouldn't hurt his eyes if he slept underneath the trees. It didn't take long until he fell asleep; Lapizo was sure that he could sleep through anything.
"Lapis…?"
"Lapis Lazuli?"
"Lapis Lazuli?"
His eyes opened slowly. He glanced over to his left and frowned upon seeing Pearl, Pearl's brother and Pearl herself. "What?" Lapis asked groggily. "Did you need something?"
Pearl sighed deeply. "You must have heard about the news, Lapis." Her expression suddenly softened, and she lowered her head slightly to stare up into his eyes with her usual smile. "But I suppose we don't have to worry about it now."
"News? About what happened today?" He tilted his head in confusion. What did Pearl mean by that? Did she mean that it happened yesterday, or the day before...?
"Oh no, nothing to worry about. It was just a misunderstanding. Don't stress yourself about it… I'm sorry that you got involved in it."
There were certain things that Lapis couldn't forget about; however, he chose not to dwell on those thoughts. For now, he wanted to focus on what Pearl was saying instead. "Misunderstanding? How so? Do you know what happened?"
"Actually, no, I do not. All I know is that your mother is fine, and your sister is also fine. They're both working at the bakery today. Your father's already gone back to the shop, so you should probably go find him and ask him yourself." With that, Pearl disappeared into thin air.
Lapis frowned. He wasn't feeling so well yet. His heart ached terribly in his chest, as if he were being stabbed repeatedly. He closed his eyes tightly. "Ugh…" he grumbled quietly. "How come all these memories keep haunting me?" he murmured, rubbing his temple. He suddenly became aware of a loud, annoying buzzing sound coming from his pocket, and reached his hand inside it, grabbing the device. He was surprised to see a message appearing on its screen. He quickly read it: 'Are you coming back anytime soon?' From Steven. He couldn't help but smile at the text. 'Not quite yet. Sorry, but I'll catch you tomorrow. Just let Pearl know that I love you!'
Lapis typed a reply immediately: 'I'll be back sooner than you think, pal. Tell Mimi hi for me. I love you too!' Then, he set the phone back in his pocket. There was no response from him, though.
He walked further down the street until he found an empty alleyway where he sat down in hopes that no one would bother him. He buried his head in his arms on his knees, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. After a while, he heard some familiar voices. Lapiza, Pearl, Steven, and his father were walking down the path towards him.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Mimi yelled angrily. "We were worried about you!"
Steven stood next to her. "I knew that you would show up eventually, even if you took longer than usual!" He smirked.
"Wait, where's Lapis?!" His father suddenly called out to them, looking around.
"Uh… he said he had something important to attend to," Lapizo answered, staring at the ground nervously. He knew that he shouldn't keep secrets from his parents any longer... They deserved to know everything... But he had promised his mother that he wouldn't tell anyone about their future plans. And now it seems that Steven knew as well…
Lapiza gasped in surprise as she looked around. "Lapis, why are you hiding? Is something wrong?"
Steven followed suit with a look of worry on his face. He turned around, searching for whatever had caught his attention. In that exact instant, he noticed something lying on the ground.
And that something was Lapis. Or, rather, it was the part of Lapis lying on the ground. It seemed to be completely limp.
All three of them froze at the sight of this, completely shocked.
For a short period of time, nobody said a word. Lapizas heart started beating rapidly. This wasn't supposed to happen… Was it a trap? Had the human managed to track him somehow? Was he in danger?
Then Pearl spoke up. "Lapis!" She rushed to kneel beside him.
Lapizo remained silent, staring at the body of his friend on the ground. Suddenly he realized how cold he felt and began shaking violently. He looked at his surroundings. Everything looked exactly as it had a moment ago. That meant that… he had died? That couldn't possibly be true! No! He refused to believe it…!
Suddenly, the image of a young girl came to mind. She was standing alone, surrounded by a ring of flames surrounding her and the rest of the world. She was facing him, her face contorted with rage. Lapizo tried to speak with tears in his eyes but only managed to choke out a small sob. The girl screamed at him, and he watched as fire engulfed his body and consumed him, burning away the last parts of him to ash. Lapizo felt himself starting to fall to the floor as a wave of intense agony swept over him once more. His body started falling forward onto the hard asphalt, the wind rushing past him. He tried desperately not to think about that horrifying memory. He tried to remember who she was. Who he was. Why everything happened this way.
It was useless. The images kept running through his mind as if they were a movie played without pause. Lapizo continued to fall to the ground, until he crashed right into a brick wall that appeared out of nowhere. He laid there, dazed from the pain of impact. A single tear ran down his cheek. He wanted to scream, and shout, and yell. Why did all of this has to happen? Why does it always have to turn out like this?
Just then, Lapiza knelt down right by his side. "Lapis! Are you okay?" She looked at him with concern, holding his arm and placing her hand over his heart as she checked his pulse.
Lapizo nodded weakly, sniffling. "Ya. I'm fine. I just hit my head…" he muttered, looking straight into her eyes. "Thank you… Thank you for saving me… I can't thank you enough for that…" He smiled at her softly. "And… I hope everything's going to be alright…" he mumbled sadly.
"Of course it will! Everything will get better! You don't even know how much we miss you here. So please stay as long as you want, okay?" Pearl hugged him gently and kissed his forehead. "Everything's going to be alright. We'll make sure of that, okay?"
Lapizo stared at her, unable to comprehend her words at first. "Y-Yeah… We're gonna save you, Lapis…" Steven said reassuringly with a soft smile. "We're all going to be together again…"
As Lapis returned Steven's hug and thanked them, he found that he couldn't help but feel relief wash over him. He hadn't felt this sense of belonging and peace since… well… ever. Maybe he really did belong somewhere.
The two children soon left him, and he was left to sit there on the cold ground.
Chapter 11
It was another beautiful morning in Beach City. The sun was shining brightly, its rays reaching the ocean surface as it rose in the sky, reflecting off of its waves. The breeze carried with it the scent of the sea, which calmed Steven's nerves. He enjoyed the fresh smell, letting his eyes take in as much of it as possible. He didn't need to wait much longer, because he soon saw him. He was walking along the beach in a steady pace, taking slow steps with each step, looking at the sand underneath him. There was no trace of sadness, fear, hatred, or anger on his face. He looked so peaceful and at ease, as if he had never had the chance to get lost in thought.
Steven walked up to him after seeing him approaching, and stopped when he was near him. "Morning, Lazuli."
Lazuli glanced at him briefly, then averted his eyes back to the sand beneath him. "Good morning…"
"Can I join you?"
Lazuli hesitated for a few moments, then slowly nodded at his question.
Steven sat next to him. Neither said anything for a few minutes, and neither moved an inch. Neither one spoke, either. They were sitting peacefully in silence, enjoying the quiet atmosphere between them. Steven could'nt resist but stare at him. He couldn't help but admire the view. The sunrise brought a new light in the world, illuminating the dark clouds behind him and the bright sky above.
He chuckled quietly. "You know, sometimes I really miss our old town..."
"Hm."
Steven hummed again. "When things got bad for us during the war-"
"They weren't really that bad," Lazuli interrupted. "But we still fought back. Didn't stop them."
Steven scoffed humorlessly. "What is your point? You've already done so much damage."
Lazuli rolled his eyes. "Why do you care anyway? Don't you have other friends, or people who care about you?"
"I'm not talking about that!" He exclaimed defensively. "I'm talking about us having different lives! And it hurt every time you left! You were gone for years and never gave me a reason to go outside!" He looked straight at him, pleading with his eyes. "How could you leave me all alone?! How could you abandon me?!"
Lazuli frowned deeply. "If anyone abandoned you-" He started speaking in a firm tone, but was quickly interrupted.
"Don't pretend you cared about me!" Steven snapped furiously. "Stop pretending that you were the one who loved me the most!"
Lazuli glared at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you seriously telling me that you still don't get that I left for a very good reason!?" He stood up abruptly and stared down at him with an angered expression. He sighed deeply. "Do you honestly think that you were the only thing that mattered to me?" He asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Well, if not me-"
"No matter what, Steven! I was selfish! You are the only person that matters to me, so why would I leave you? Do you have any idea how worried we all were when we realized that you had been missing for days on end?" He clenched his fists, his emotions becoming increasingly evident. He looked down at Steven angrily. "How dare you try to blame this on yourself! You should be happy that I am finally alive! And what do you say, Steven? Do you actually think that I left you for good reasons?! If so, what are those?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Well maybe-"
"Shut up." Lazuli cut him off sharply, glaring at him angrily. "There was nothing good or worth staying for. It was all pointless anyway."
Steven stared up at him in shock. "Wh-What are you trying to say?" he stammered.
"Nothing. Let'