The Halves of Rose

Bubble Buddies

"How much longer?" Connie groaned impatiently

"I've already told you sis, I don't know." Steven replied, sitting next to her on the beach.

"But you said that Peedee said he was only going to be a few minutes."

"It's only been two." Steven grinned. "And if you keep talking so loud, he'll figure out your little secret." Steven said playfully, singing the last two words.

At the comment, Connie gave a small blush, quickly shaking it off as their friend approached in the distance.

Peedee Fryman was the son of Mr. Fryman, the owner of Beach Citywalk Fries. Even before Greg's death, Peedee had been best friends with the twins and Connie's "secret" crush. After Greg's death, Peedee had done what he could to comfort them, eventually bringing them back to their former selves. Since then, the young boy was almost never seen without Steven or Connie when he wasn't helping his dad at the restaurant.

"Hey Steven, hey Connie!" A young boy called, running across the beach to the twins. He wore a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. His long locks of blonde hair strangely resembled large fries.

Steven turned around. "Hey Peedee!" He called.

"Hey Peedee!" Connie called after her brother.

Steven crossed his arms as Peedee approached. "So my man, you got the goods?"

"Oh do I have them." Peedee reached into the bag he wore on his shoulder. "Behold!" He took out a book, holding it in the air dramatically.

"Wow!" Connie exclaimed.

"Welcome to the Wizard Wilds, with the author's signature." Peedee told her. "Just like I promised."

Connie snatched it out of his hands, staring at it in awe. "How did you-"

"Connie please, I have to be mysterious."

Steven chuckled. "You sound like Ronaldo."

"No I…now that I think about it, that was a Ronaldo thing to say."

"Well come on, let's read it!" Steven cheered.

"Um, I only brought one copy of the story. Mine's at home."

"Well then you could read it to us." Steven suggested.

"Steven…he doesn't have to…"

Peedee shrugged. "Why not? It's not like the three of us had anything else planned."
______________________________________

Sapphire watched from the porch as Peedee read the book to the twins. In her hands was a cup of water with a tea bag resting in it. Sapphire couldn't help but grin as Peedee took a glance at Connie, quickly shifting his gaze back to the book in his hands as she looked towards him.

Sapphire sighed. "Ah, young love."

Ruby walked over to Sapphire, sitting next to her. "Whatcha doin'?" She asked the blue gem.

"See for yourself." Sapphire told her, indicating forward.

Ruby looked over, confused. "What am I-" She noticed the exchange between the two. "Aw, that's cute. I can't believe that those two haven't realized they like each other by now. You'd they would've realized it by now… Oh well, humans are dense." A grin stretched across Ruby's face. "Hey, should we play matchmaker, like the good old days?" Ruby asked.

"No…let's just let nature take its course. They'll figure it out eventually."

Ruby's grin dropped. "But nature's boring, I want 'em to know now." Ruby waited for Sapphire to give a response, none coming. She gave a light growl. "Fine, whatever. Tell me when something good happens." Ruby began to walk away, angry that she hadn't been allowed to intervene. As she was about to make it to the temple door, the earth shook beneath them. The shaking stopped and Ruby sighed. "Man, that was a big one. Maybe Opal was right when she said-"