As the sun was rising, Oliver and Jade stood on the riverbank at the edge of their backyard. Suddenly a figure seemed to emerge from Jade’s shadow and the two of them didn’t notice at all…

“Where the hell are you going?”

“Ah~!”

“Peri?! Scared the shit outta me!”

Jade and Oliver turned around to see the ‘short’ blonde girl standing behind them, her green eyes glaring fiercely. She was wearing a white tank-top that was slightly revealing, even on her skinny frame and pink pajama pants with cute little black kittens on them.

“You’re gonna leave without me?”

“Peri…” Oliver sighed, “You know why.”

“I don’t care!” Peridot gritted her teeth and almost started crying, but held herself back, only snorting a bit because of her runny nose.

“I care!” Jade’s eyes were already leaking glowing green liquid down her gray cheeks, “I don’t wanna hurt you Peri!”

“I’m gonna die anyway! It’s just sooner or later!” She took a step forward, stood on her toes and grabbed Oliver’s head, pressing her lips against his… But he quickly pushed her away before she could go any farther.

“Peri, I love you. Please, don’t do this.” Oliver pressed her shoulders down, “We’re poison. Peri… We can’t be together. Not like that.”

“You bastard! You promised to marry me! I didn’t give a damn about your bullshit back then! I just wanna be with you! Now that you’re fine, you’re gonna run away with this stone bitch and leave me alone again?!”

“Hey!”

“Peri… I’m sorry. But it’s a good thing we never took things any farther back then.” Oliver sighed and shook his head, “Maybe I always knew… Uranium was dangerous. It killed my parents… It killed Orina. Just… Give me time. Give yourself some more time too. You’re only fifteen.”

“You’re only sixteen! Don’t act like you’re so much older than me, damn it!” Peridot spit on his face and kneed him in the groin, but aside from cringing a bit, he didn’t have much of a reaction.

“I’m not that whore Verna! I’ll never be able to ‘move on’ from you, Ollie! I don’t even care if Jade joins us! I’d do anything for you! Just don’t leave me!”

“If Jade ‘joins us’, even I would probably die.” 

“Hey!” Jade complained, “Even if that’s true, you don’t have to say it out loud!”

Oliver rolled his eyes and hugged the angry freckled girl against his chest, “Besides… I didn’t say I’m giving up. Things are different now. We know what Greenstone really is… At least, I think we know. Give me a while to really figure it out. As long as I can control it, then I can… I can definitely find a way to save you. Or at least I won’t kill you by accident the night we get married.”

“Promise me, Ollie. Promise you won’t make me wait too long.” Peridot looked up at the handsome clean-shaven young face, with long white hair down to his shoulders and bright green eyes. Even brighter than her own.

“It’s not fair. Even if I have to wait, why can’t I go with you? It’s not like I can’t control myself.”

“If you’re not here, then who will keep an eye on Verna and the others?” Oliver sighed, “Besides, it’s not like we’re going to another country. We’ll come back every now and then to make sure everything is okay. We just don’t wanna run into the cops.”

“Screw Verna and the others! And it’s not like I wanna deal with the cops either!” Peridot grabbed his green t-shirt and asked, “Where are you going? I won’t let you go unless I know where you are!”

“Uh… Actually… Even though I’d love to leave Greenstone and go on an adventure, it’s easier to hide if we don’t go anywhere.” He shrugged, “We’re gonna dig another mine. No matter what, I’m still a ‘Miner’ and mining is basically my life.”

“I’m a… Stone?” Jade giggled, “Although I’m a little tired of being underground, it’s still more comfortable down there.”

“Wait, so you bastards aren’t even leaving?! Damn it! Are you two just making fun of me?!”

Over on the second floor deck of Emerald’s house, the husband and wife were sitting with their adorable daughter around a small brown wooden table. Klein conjured up some Uranium-free food and water for the two of them with a tired expression on his slightly aging face.

“Those stupid brats still haven’t left yet… Are they waiting for everyone to wake up and find out?”

“They’re really talented.” Emerald snickered, “It’s a shame Dot doesn’t want to join my musical theater team. She can sing, dance and her acting skills are impressive.”

“Hmmm…” The little girl pursed her lips while sipping some conjured apple juice from a small juice box, then she complained, “Dotty’s a crybaby.”

“Crystal, have you thought about what kinda ‘Word’ you wanna get when you grow up?”

“Klein, she’s not even two.”

“I know, but… The younger she gets started, the easier it’ll be…”

“Mmmn…” The small child in a cute blue frilly dress looked at the juicebox and smiled with her baby teeth, “I like juice! And candy!”

“Uh…” Klein smiled wryly, “Well, there are some jobs that involve juice and candy.”

“I like dolls. I like cats. I like Daddy and Mommy, and Ivy, and Barry…”

Then the little girl listed the names of half the village…

“Honestly, I’m really impressed you can remember so many people. I’ve treated everyone here and still can’t remember most of their names.”

Emerald smirked, “Our daughter is a genius, like her parents.” 

“Pooped.”

“What?”

“I pooped.”

Klein facepalmed and Emerald grimaced, the two of them looked at each other for a moment and then started laughing.