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The snow fell from the sky, and the cold came from the ocean. Steven and Amethyst were already out to play in the snow-blanketed beach and Pearl stood on the balcony of their home, watching her friends. She felt Garnet’s presence behind her, but she didn’t stop to share the show with Pearl.
“Where are you going, Garnet?”
She looked back at Pearl and smiled with a nod, “I’ve got something I need to take care of. I’ll be gone for a while.”
The gem fusion walked on, past the beach, the mountain, through Beach City and into the forest. A lonely part of the world where neither human nor gem could bother her, “Alright. Let’s split.”
A squirrel carrying an acorn to its nest stopped his journey to look over at the pillar of white light separating into two smaller beings. Two small women, one colored with a bandana around her head, and the other colored blue wearing a regal dress and white hair that covered the top half of her face.
Ruby looked up at the gem she spent epochs fused with, and whom she could spend eons together, “I never get tired of looking at you, you know.”
Sapphire laughed, “Oh, Ruby! Stop!” she wiped a tear from her eye before she got control of herself, “I had to separate us for something.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Well, it’s the holidays, and we’ve seen Steven get gifts from everyone, and even us. And well, I was thinking about, getting you a gift,”
“I don’t need a gift, Sapphire. Seeing you is all I need-
“No, I want to get you something, and it has to be perfect!”
Ruby nodded and asked, “Wait, shouldn’t I get you something?”
“I already know what you’re going to get me, and I don’t want that squirrel’s acorn,”
Said squirrel looked out of its nest at the two gems, before retreating into his nest to hide his treasure.
“Well then I’ll get you-
“I don’t like food or pizza,”
“How about-
“Ruby, that video game Steven keeps laughing about isn’t real, and you’d never find it,”
“THEN WHY DOES STEVEN KEEP ASKING US FOR BAMBI ON THE PS2?!” she screamed into the sky, and her voice echoed all across the forest walls.
“Ruby,” the soldier gem felt the oracle’s hands cooling her’s, “What I want from you, is to see how happy you’ll be when I get you this gift.”
“But, can’t you look into the future and see that for yourself?”
Sapphire smiled and shook her head, “That’s the thing, Ruby. I can’t.”
Ruby raised her eyebrow and nodded, “So, what should I do?”
“You just stay right here, relax a little, and I’ll go get your gift,”
Pearl was in the middle of fixing a hot drink for Steven and Amethyst while reprimanding her partner for dumping a metric ton of snow on Steven when Sapphire burst through the door, “Oh, it’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen you-
“I need your help!” Sapphire came to the kitchen island and said, “I don’t know what gift to get for Ruby.”
Steven leaned over and suggested, “You should get her Bambi for the PS2-
“Steven STOP! That game doesn’t exist stop talking about it!” Amethyst yelled out to the ceiling.
Pearl shook her head and looked down at the oracle gem, “Well, from what I’ve learned from humans, they give gifts that they think the receiver will love most of us. What does Ruby love the most?”
The answer was very obvious and blue, and that fact didn’t do anything to help Sapphire, “Oh, I’ve been fused with her for centuries! I should know what she likes! Pearl, what did you get Rose, or Pink Diamond as a gift?”
Pearl looked between Sapphire and Amethyst before murmuring, “Well, not to be a downer but I was sorta, a gift to her? So.”
Amethyst groaned and pounded the island with her fists, “Look, Sapphy. Don’t worry about what Ruby loves, just get her something you think she’ll like!”
She scratched her chin and repeated that to herself, “Something I think she would like.”
The oracle gem left her fellow crystal gems for the beach to do some thinking. But before she left, she heard Steven calling for her, suggesting that she sign Ruby up for a game on his phone before Amethyst shut him up.
She walked along the beach, trying to think. What would Ruby like? Well, to fuse with her. The last time they were apart was before their wedding. Even though Sapphire called their separation, she was missing her more and more. But she couldn’t go back empty-handed. She made a promise.
“C’mon. I can see into the future, but. Why can’t I see what I’ll give her? Will I really go back to her with nothing?” she asked, looking down at her hands. But through her fingertips she looked down at the soaked sand, where snow was melting at the salt-enriched soil. There was a rather peculiar seashell, a clam-shell colored a bright shade of red.
Ruby had been enjoying her time in the forest. She wasn’t the biggest fan of food but the acorn she stole from the squirrel nest proved to be a little tasty, though said squirrels were none too pleased, “I can see why Amethyst eats all the time,” she mused.
She put her arms around her head and let out a relaxing sigh, “I wonder what Sapphire is up to?”
Ruby closed her eyes and breathed slowly. The forest was quiet, and she liked that. Gems didn’t need to sleep at all, but they could experience it. Ruby couldn’t remember if she ever slept before, and she wondered what the experience was like. Only one way to find out.
She was snoring very loudly to the ire of the forest denizens, yet was a light sleeper when the light sound of Sapphire’s voice bouncing off the trees awoke her.
“Sapphire?” she said, rubbing one of her eyes, “Is that you?”
She looked up and around to see if she imagined hearing her love, and nearly poofed from the shock of seeing the oracle gem, “Ruby! I, Found It!”
She looked up and down, “Found what?”
“IT!” Sapphire smiled madly while she held something behind her, “The gift that I’ve been searching for!”
Ruby smiled while guessing what could be in Sapphire’s hands that had her all giddy, “Um, can I take a guess?”
“It’s not an acorn,”
“Oh. Then I’m all out of guesses,”
“Good, now. Close your eyes, and hold out your hands. And no peaking!” Ruby did as she said and waited, becoming very curious when she felt its coarse touch, “Ok! Open your eyes!”
Ruby looked down at her hands, and found herself holding a shell, a faded-red clam shell, “Sapphire, I. I don’t know what to say.”
“You, you don’t like it?”
“No no! I, I do like it, it’s just,” she sighed, “Sapphire,” with one hand she held her partner’s, “It doesn’t matter what you get me. It, doesn’t matter at all, but. What matters is, you love me. And, you love me enough that you went and found this, really pretty shell,” she pulled the gem into herself.
“Ruby,” Sapphire muttered, a single tear dripping from her eye. Then she hugged her partner back.
A bright line shone in the forest once more.
“C’mon, Amethyst! Gimme back my phone!” Steven cried.
“Not until I delete all these apps! I’m tired of your memes, Steven!”
Pearl shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking up when she saw Garnet coming in, “Oh! That didn’t take you long.”
“Not at all,” she looked over at Steven and Amethyst’s struggle for his phone, “I’m not even gonna ask,” she remarked before sitting down at the kitchen island.
Pearl looked at Garnet and said, “Have you always had that shell in your hair?”