seashells

Love wasn't a foreign concept to Acti.
After many years, she had loved countless times. With this came loss. It was the way things went, and she learned to accept it. Humans always die too young.
She never considered loving a gem, though.
"Acti! Acti!" the pink gem's voice chirps, waving at the green gem. Acti can only smile.
"Hey, Strawberry. You got more shells?"
Strawberry nods, showing Acti the various shells she had collected that afternoon.
"Look at how colorful they are!"
Acti nodded, inspecting and pointing at a sand dollar with a light blue tinge.
"Oh, I like this one."
Strawberry Quartz looks down at it quickly before smiling at Acti.
"Well...then, it's your's!" She offers.
"Oh, uh...a-are you sure?"
"Mhm! Humans always give gifts to those they love!" Strawberry Quartz giggles, but Acti's hear twists at those words.
Love. She knew Strawberry Quartz didn't mean /in/ love. She saw the way the pink gem acted around Jamie, and she thought she didn't mind. She thought it wasn't a big deal. Hearing Strawberry say that brought up a lot of feelings in Acti, ones she'd rather not address. She gently takes the blue sand dollar, smiling at the taller gem.
"T-Thanks, Strawberry."
Strawberry nods, "I'm gonna go put them in my room!"
And with that, she scurries off. Acti stares at the shell in her hand, trying to process her reaction to Strawberry's words. Love. Her heart flutters a little. She always thought the warm feelings Strawberry gave her was just really, really good companionship. Could it really be something more..?
No. That didn't matter. Strawberry Quartz was happy with Acti as her /friend/.
So Acti was going to do her best to fill that role.
----
It's a beautiful summer day, and Ophelia is dancing on the sand in a sun dress. Jamie, Othello and Galena (she insisted on going along), are going fishing, and the twin girl begged her father to let her stay with Acti. Acti happily agreed. She watched Ophelia twirl and giggle. It reminded her so much of Strawberry Quartz. Ophelia skips across the sand, grabbing Acti's hand and swinging it. The ten year old looks up at the gem.
"Acti, don't you ever get warm in those long sleeves and stuff? Or do you get cold super easily?" she questions.
"Haha. Neither, really. Gems can get cold and hot...but not as easily as humans." Acti answers.
Ophelia makes a face at the word gem, but she lets it slide. Only Acti could get away with mentioning the word gem around the young girl.
"Ow!" Ophelia winces, retracting her feet from the sand. Acti looks down, concerned.
"A-are you alright, Ophelia?"
"Y-Yeah..I just stepped on something---Wow, cool!"
Ophelia lets go of Acti's hand and kneels down, picking up a blue sand dollar.
"Isn't this cool looking?" She holds it up for Acti to inspect, and Acti can only smile softly at the deja vu.
"Yeah. I like it a lot."
Ophelia takes a closer look at the shell before standing up and extending it to Acti.
"Well...It's your's, then!" She chirps, smiling warmly.
She had her mother's smile.
Acti stares for a while, trying to keep herself composed.
"Ah, uh..A-Are you sure?"
"Mhm! You always give gifts to those you love, right?"
Acti sniffs back a tear, gently taking the shell like she did so many years ago.
"...Yes. Thank you, Ophelia."