Pearl found herself staring at the folder again, finding her own spot on the bed as she started rifling through everything again and just imagining the look on Jasper's face when she'd found the file. If you could bottle up all your insecurities, your bad days, and all the traits you wanted to hide, then this was Jasper's bottle. It must of been painful facing it all again and to know that the love of her life had been holding onto it for stars knows how long. The dancer's fingers skimmed softly over the picture of Jasper's mugshot as she frowned to herself. Would it of made any difference if Pearl had been there for her back then? She shrugged and dropped her hands to her lap, still clutching the picture delicately in her fingers. These situations made Jasper into the woman she loved and yes, mistakes were made, but she learned from them. She had raised Mala to be such a good little girl. That had to account for something towards her current character.<br/><br/>Her crimson gaze casted over Amethyst and Peridot as they tried to piece together a story their memories clearly didn't want to bring back up. She respectfully faced them and tried to stay silent til the end so she could finally figure out what all this added up to. Pearl had only ever glanced through the file enough to get the gist of everything, but she didn't think she could stomach reading it all. But with Jasper missing now... She'd tackle any challenge to get that stupid tiger back in her arms.<br/><br/>She listened as the two traded off the story when the other couldn't bare to say more, listened as Jasper's story was slowly becoming more clear, more sad... Peridot pushed a picture to her of this "White Diamond" woman and then a picture of Jasper at the age all of this was happening before continuing with the story. Pearl picked up the picture and gave a sad smile. If the circumstances were different, she'd chuckle and comment on her girlfriend missing a few days at the gym, it looked like, but the picture just made her depressed. It was an apathetic sadness that seeped into her soul as she looked into the younger version of Jasper's eyes and could read nothing but anger. Those who bullied her when she was smaller, the ones who had given her those scars, they all had that same look in their eyes. Like the world had wronged them and they were getting revenge any way they could. Pearl added the picture into her lap with the mugshot and silently contemplated. This wasn't an issue with just Jasper; although Jasper's case was extreme, but it seemed there were a lot of kids turning to this sort of life to avoid what they thought was the least better path. Pearl bit her bottom lip in thought, not knowing of Jasper's plans at the time to build herself a new gym before this all blew up in her face. The dancer was hoping someday maybe they could help kids like Jasper and others get out of such situations. To give them a place to call home when their own homes were in shambles. A place to channel their aggression and emotion. But... how?<br/><br/>And then a picture of Rose Quartz was added to the pile. Pearl glanced at it and for a moment, she thought she saw Jasper looking back at her. This intrigued her enough to pick up the picture and examine closer as Peridot continued on with the story in that analytical manner that she was known for. As if remembering, Pearl reached out for a moment, stroking Amethyst's back to reassure the woman everything was alright. Having to recount such memories and the guilt of wondering if you could have done anything different, Pearl had known those feelings well. And she was about to go back to the picture of Rose when Peridot went to turn on the TV. The dancer stilled her hand on Amethyst's back, praying silently that this wasn't going to show what she knew it was going to. Jasper was throwing a fit and using that strength to get what she wanted. Pearl shivered softly, a mixture of fear and sadness welling up even higher within her. Jasper had always been big and intimidating to her, even before she'd started teaching Mala's class. She'd seen the Amazonian-sized woman a few times in the halls and while the height and bulk didn't<i>quite</i>intimidate her, it was the look in Jasper's eyes that did it for her. The woman always looked like she was an island and seemed to like it that way.<br/><br/>Pearl was broken from her thoughts when the form under her hand had shifted to stare at her. Whatever Amethyst was about to say apparently required the woman's full attention. The dancer took her hand away finally and rested it in the nest of pictures she was accumulating in her lap, waiting for Jasper's sister to finally chip into the heart of the story. What she heard next just affirmed what she thought she had seen previously when looking at Rose and Jasper side by side in a photo. Pearl just winced softly, wondering just how far this rabbit hole was going to go and how one individual could handle so much devastating news. It must of been hard dealing with all of this on top of the general aches and pains of growing into an adult. Wrapping her hands around her arms, Pearl shuddered softly and just hoped wherever Jasper was, she was OK right now. It pained the woman so much not knowing where the love of her life was.<br/><br/>And then the story drove even further into madness. By the time it was over, Pearl was just sitting there, wide eyed and crying, though she could of sworn she never felt a single tear fall. The pictures in her hands, in her lap, slowly started shaking as she brought her hands up to her face, only realizing there were tears when she'd heard them pitter patter onto the photos below her. She started covering her face, trying to bury all the sudden emotions swirling inside her. She was sad for Jasper and angry for everything that was done to her. Had she been with Jasper a few more years, she likely would have been hurt that this was never shared with her. Even now, knowing the whole story, she was happier to know than to be left in the dark and thrown a file at her face out of the blue. But since she and Jasper had only known each other for the better half of a year, she just felt sad and angry and... empty. How could so much bad happen to one individual? Was her tiger a bad person in her past life? Pearl's thoughts paused as she let her hands slide back into her lap. No. Jasper had done a lot of this to herself with that unfiltered rage and Lapis being a catalyst didn't help anyone or anything.<br/><br/>Slowly, the sadness started to shift to anger. Anger for Jasper's actions, for Lapis and everyone in her lover's life<i>using</i>her and especially for that bitch of a mother Pearl wished she'd had a chance to let out some of her own aggression on. The anger manifested into determination that slowly melted into desperation. She wanted, no,<i>needed</i>to do something for Jasper. Needed to find her girlfriend and assure the woman everything would be alright and that they could work through all of this. But there were no hints as to where she even was? Pearl was a little proud at just how smart her lover was being, even at the expense of everyone who loved her's sanity. The dancer glanced up at Peridot, unquestionably the smartest, or at least most tech savvy in the group, and dashed forward to grab the woman's hands. She stood while doing so, sliding off the bed when she lunged all in one swift motion that sent more of the paperwork scattering to the ground. "Peridot, you<i>have</i>to have at least an inkling of where she is...<i>please</i>!" Pearl begged, on the verge of crying again. There was already this unnerving dread that was hanging over her thoughts, but now that she knew the whole story, she felt something bad might happen as an end result.<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="673" data-username="@Corrupted Quartz" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/673/">@Corrupted Quartz</a>