The walk back to the Temple had been peaceful, quiet but peaceful none the less that is until the ground began to shake. It wasn't enough to knock her or the others over but it was enough to cause her to stumble, her grip on Emerald tightening to make sure he wasn't dropped. Aqua felt panic rise and the feeling of a knot tightening in her gut as she looked in the direction of the Kindergarten, knowing the earth there was unstable,brittle, and she still didn't know where Melanite was. What if they were their when the earth had shook? She needed to get Emerald back to the Temple but a search through the Kindergarten had suddenly become a top priority.[color=7bcdc8]"I'm sorry to do this to you Emerald but I don't see another way to get you back to the Temple and know you are hundred percent safe. Hope you can get out of this on your own later but I shouldn't be too far behind if not."[/color], she spoke to him softly even though she knew he was not wake to hear it. She carefully placed a large bubble around him, swiping her hands in opposite directions as the bubble sparkled before disappearing it to the Temple. 

She looked to the others behind her, not sure if the humans remembered where the Temple was and knowing Carnelian didn't. Aqua took a calming breath, spreading her hands forward as she made a path of ice that was thick enough not to melt on them before reaching the not too far destination but not enough to harm the land below her ice. It would just give it a little extra watering once the sun washed the ice away. [color=7bcdc8]"I apologize for not showing you the rest of the way personally but one of the young gems in my care is still missing and with that quake, I fear for their safety should they be at Kindergarten. Just follow the ice trail and it will guide you."[/color] That being said, she took off like lightening and speed as fast as she could to the Kindergarten. Rock-slides had happened all over the place, her fear rising as she did her best to look through the different piles she came across. She was desperate to find the black gem but what she found had her thoughts going from the black gem to wondering what had happened. This place was completely torn apart, the epicenter of an explosion and she realized that what she felt earlier hand not been an earthquake at all but this and whatever caused it. The large crater was still smoking, mixing with the fog and making it that much harder to see. Aquamarine carefully placed herself on the edge, sliding down into the crater and not sure what was going to find exactly but she had a feeling of dread. Each step she took closer to the chard center made her on edge, her fear and worry only growing. 

Her eyes widened, shaking and horror stricken at the view of a gem sitting in the middle of it all. Not just any gem though...that was Mars's gem. Aqua's legs gave out from under her, her knees dropping into the soft earth as she scooted and crawled closer with a hand hovering over the gem, tracing the jagged crack in the air with shaking hands. Images of Howlite popped in her head on a loop, her heart squeezing in pain as tears flowed freely and worried fueled her.[color=7bcdc8]"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SO SORRY."[/color] Aqua cried, words she couldn't say to Howlite and sadness for letting something like this happen to Mars even though it wasn't truly her fault that he was in this crater but she was too far gone in grief to think of that at the moment. [color=7bcdc8]"It's okay, it's okay, stay with me okay? Your going to be just fine, I've got you..."[/color]Aquamarine said softly, picking up the gem as if it were the most fragile of glass or the most precious of items. She cupped the gem in her hands, crying as she gently brushed her forehead to the cracked gem as her hands started to glow and pulled her face back a bit, healing ice slowly curling around the gem and wrapping it in a blanketed ball of healing. Aquamarine knew she needed to get out of this crater, she needed to still find Melanite, she needed to take Mars's gem to the human he trusted but she wasn't willing to let the gem out of her sight yet and she couldn't seem to force herself to stand. 

Grief and sadness couldn't be pushed away anymore and with no one around to judge her, she finally was letting it all out. She cried in agony, holding Mars carefully as she rocked back and forth to comfort herself. If he wasn't there in her hands...she wasn't sure what she would do to the place around her. She just wanted to crawl away from the world and fall apart but at the same time she wanted to crush, break, throw something to let out the anger she had for herself. She should have been stronger. She should have done more. She had triple checked to make sure the other Kindergarten had been safe for the young gems but maybe if she had done it once more than it wouldn't have happened. Aqua felt she had failed Howlite and the guilt ate at her. She should have died...not Howlite. If Howlite had been the cracked one than Bloodstone could have healed her.[color=7bcdc8]"Please don't die too. I beg of you...not again."[/color], Aquamarine whispered, fully laying in the middle of the crater as she snuggled the ice ball to her.