Better]”
“The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.”
-Andy Rooney
. . .
“What do you do, as mayor?”
Nanefua took a sip of her tea before giving an answer.
The two of them were sitting on a blanket on the floor, enjoying tea and a conversation as they usually did.
“…Lots of meetings, as well as a fair bit of paperwork.” She answered eventually, setting the mug back down on a coaster.
“Sounds quiet.” Emerald commented with a smile, imagining the elderly women sitting at the nice desk she had described
Nanefua scoffed with a smile. “No. I somewhat respect Bill Dewey as a person, but as a Mayor, he left a lot to fix.”
“Like what?”
She scoffed again, taking a sip of tea. “His first order of business whenever the town was in danger was to save his own hide. I’ve been trying to set up safe houses in case of future danger, which I’d say is more important.”
The elderly woman glanced toward the door, where two human males sat on the stairs, watching them. “ I’d say the only thing I don’t like is those two .” She mumbled under her breath so they couldn’t hear her. “ They’re nice gents, but I don’t appreciate that they think I’m a frail old woman. ”
“ They’ll learn eventually, if you have anything to say about it. ” Emerald commented with a smile, taking a small sip of her own tea.
“Oh, and another person moved here.” Nanefua said with a smile. At Emerald’s confusion, she continued. “We don’t have a large population of humans here, so it’s news.”
Emerald nodded.
“I haven’t gotten to meet her yet, but from what I’ve heard, she’s an… energetic one.” Nanefua smiled again. “Elizabeth, I believe.”
“Hm.” Emerald hummed in acknowledgment.
Suddenly the warp pad lit up with blue light, drawing both of their attention.
“ Honestly , Amethyst needs to watch where she’s- oh !”
Pearl cut herself off as she saw the two of them, before smiling. She had smudges of dirt on her face and clothes, a fact that Emerald knew probably annoyed the cleanly gem.
“I didn’t realize you were still here!” Pearl continued. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I can come back later.”
Emerald looked down at the warm mug in her hands shyly, a slight flush coming to her cheeks for seemingly no reason.“ …Stay ?”
“-If it’s alright with you, of course.” She quickly added to Nanefua.
“Of course.” Nanefua responded, unable to hide her knowing smile as she took a sip of her tea.
“Alright.” Pearl said with a flick of her wrist. “Although I can’t stay long. I’d prefer to clean myself off soon.”
She settled herself down next to Emerald, making a mental note that she would have to clean the blanket they were sitting on later to remove any dirt she left behind.
“Tea?” Nanefua asked. Pearl held up a polite hand. “No, but thank you.”
“What happened?” Emerald asked, smiling over the rim of her mug.
Pearl sighed, setting a hand to her cheek and frowning when it came away with a smudge of dirt. “Well, we were clearing out the space we picked out for Little Homeworld, but Amethyst thought it would be fun to throw dirt, and well...”
She trailed off with a sigh.
Nanefua suddenly remembered the gift she had brought, and began to pull it out of her suit pocket. Maybe I really am just getting thatold…
“Oh, Emerald.”
The two gems looked over.
. . .
“…I wanted to show you this.” Nanefua said, pulling something out of her pocket.
In the elderly human’s palm lay a rock, a smooth white oval with speckled black spots. She offered it to her, and Emerald took it, rolling it over in her hand.
“You see, this rock used to be part of a larger one, until it was chipped off and carried away by a river, a force out of its control.” Nanefua said. Pearl looked up at her, but Emerald continued to stare at the stone in her palm.
“Over time, the river smoothed the edges away by colliding with stronger forces. Over and over. It traveled a long way, and now it can't be chipped away any more. But it still changed, and it can’t go back to the way it was before.”
Now Emerald looked up, a soft look in her eyes as her hand closed over the stone. Nanefua smiled at her.
“It’s okay to not be the same as you once were.” She said, setting her wrinkled hand on top of Emerald’s. “ Everyone changes as they move through the river of time, and we all end up different then where we started. You were unlucky that the river hasn’t been kind to you. But, all rivers go to the sea one way or another. A nearly infinite space, and while even the sea has its dangers, it also carries a great deal of beauty, and freedom .”
There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “…It will get better.”
Emerald smiled, her eyes stinging with grateful tears.
“ Thank you. ” She said, and Nanefua gave her a hug.
Nanefua offered a hand to Pearl, who joined them.
Even if the advice wasn’t directed toward her, Pearl still took the advice to heart.
It willget better.