Rocko was strolling along pebble beach, his mind a million miles away. All was quiet, for which he was grateful; noise was the last thing he wanted right now. Unfortunately for him, the silence didn't last long. He heard shouting not too far off, from the sound of it he had an idea of who they might be. As he crested the hill he spotted two penguin chicks shoving and yelling at each other. Even as he got closer he still couldn't tell what they were yelling about because they were trying to yell over each other.
"Hey hey hey, break it up" he said, getting his flippers between them and pushing them apart "What's gotten into you kids? You're best friends, why are you fighting?".
One of the chicks blew a raspberry at the other and only Rocko holding the chick back kept it from beginning another pushing war.
"They stole my pebble!" one of them claimed while pointing their flipper at the other who denied the claim which then started a fight of "nu uhs" and "ya hus".
Rocko sighed and grunted as he pushed the chicks away from each other again "Would you two knock it off! It was a stinking pebble, there's plenty more all over the beach; you shouldn't be putting your friendship on the line over a blasted pebble!".
"But it was my pebble" the chick whined, pouting unhappily.
"Kids, there are millions of pebbles… but you only get one best friend" Rocko told them solemnly and his tone of voice had the chicks forgetting their fight and staring up at him curiously.
"Really uncle Rocko? How come?" One chick asked.
Rocko was quiet a moment as his mind went back to where it had been disrupted from earlier. "A best friend… they're special, they know how to cheer you up when you're sad, calm you down when you're angry, help you when you want revenge even if they feel angry at you… a best friend would do anything for you because you are the most important person in their life and all they want is to make sure you have everything you could ever want. You won't find anyone more loyal or loving than a best friend kids so no matter what… don't let any fighting get in the way of your friendship".
"Is that how you and Papa feel about each other?" the other chick asked, eyes big and eager.
Rocko gave the chick a small smile "Sure is kid… sure is… *ahem* now then, I want you two to make up and be best friends again and don't ever let anything like this happen again you hear?".
The two chicks chirped their agreement and hugged as they apologized. "Thank you uncle Rocko" one of the chicks said as the two of them held flippers "We'll try to not fight any more".
"Hey, fights will happen, just try to work them out instead of brawling kay?" Rocko told them and got nods back "Kay kids, run back to your parents before they start worrying".
"Are you gonna come with uncle Rocko?" One of them asked as they turned to go.
"Eh, I got some thinking to do kids, I'll catch up later" Rocko told them and waved them off, watching them run off, flipper in flipper.
Once they were out of sight he sighed and continued his trek along the beach.
"Best friends are there for each other no matter what" he repeated softly to himself as his eyes glanced over the night sky. He wondered if this was the same sight Hubie had when he wished for the pebble? If he made a wish would the stars listen?
"um… look uh… I'm not used to asking for anything, I can usually manage on my own" He began a little awkwardly "but… yah know… I have very little that is important to me and I've already achieved the ability to fly so that little dream is crossed off my list".
He soon realized he was babbling and he grunted in annoyance at himself "Okay listen, some how that little pebble head has wormed his way into my small list of most important things in the world… if you could… maybe make it so that he never gets bored of me? Ah… yeah that's all I'm asking for".
Rocko stood still, waiting to see if some big sign would burst out of nowhere like Hubie's rock had. When nothing happened after a few minutes he scoffed in disgust at himself and continued his aimless wandering.
Later that night he some how found himself up on a small hill. There was a little pile of snow that seemed like it was often used for sitting on and not too far away from that was two hearts shaped out of pebbles in the snow.
He huffed at the hearts and rolled his eyes, he was fairly sure Hubie had built that. He shuffled over to the snow pile and plopped down onto it, his back to the rocks and his eyes gazing out at the ocean. He hadn't been there long before he heard shuffling steps coming up the path he had taken. A quick look informed him that it was Hubie. He grunted and turned his eyes back to the ocean "What's got you all the way out here?".
"I c-could ask you the same thing" Hubie said as he finally made it the last few feet over to where Rocko sat "Mind if I s-sit?".
"Go ahead, it's a free beach" Rocko said with forced nonchalance, ignoring the first statement.
Hubie sat down beside his best buddy in the whole world and watched the ocean with him in silence for a minute or so.
Eventually Rocko couldn't take the quiet and spoke up "You never answered my question, how come you aren't with your mate?".
"I told her I w-was going to spend some time with my b-best buddy" Hubie told him "We haven't hung out in a l-long time".
"That so?" Rocko said with a shrug, leaning back and resting on his flippers "Figured you would wanna spend every second with Mrs. wonderful green eyes".
"R-Rocko, you know I'll always have time for you" Hubie said with a frown, giving his friend a serious look as he forced his stuttering to make itself scarce for this talk "You're my bestest friend in the whole world".
"I never said you weren't" Rocko huffed.
Hubie was quiet a second then said "I talked with the kids, they told me what you told them".
If Rocko could, he would have blushed "eh, you know kids, they like to exaggerate things".
"Rocko… before I met you I was a weak lonely loser, no one wanted to spend time with me, everyone laughed and called me names" Hubie said softly as he placed his flipper on Rocko's shoulder "Everyone thought it was a joke when I said I would ask Marina to be my mate... You though… You helped me… You didn't have to but you went out of your way to travel thousands of miles to make sure I made it home alive.
You also taught me to stand up for myself.
You are the reason I am more confident, you are the reason I am married to the girl of my dreams. Sure at first it was all a means to an end for you but even after learning that I lied, you stuck by my side even at the risk of your own life. You are the greatest friend any penguin could ask for and I am the luckiest creature alive that you would consider me your best friend. Thank you Rocko, please don't ever forget how grateful I am to you".
Rocko sat there in stunned silence, staring in wide eyed surprise at the penguin before him as his beak hung ajar. He felt the beginning of an itch and sting as a rare sensation tickled the backs of his eyes. He sniffed softly to try to hold them back but as he felt them threatening to break through, he turned his back to Hubie and scrubbed at them with his flipper.
"Rocko… are you cry-" Hubie began to speak, a small amused smile twitching at his beak, but he was cut off as the rockhopper spoke over him.
"Course not, I got something in my eye, why would anyone cry over some stupid words" He sniffed again, trying to sound indifferent but failing miserably.
"Oh… course, big tough guy like you would never cry" Hubie said to humor the other penguin.
"Exactly" Rocko said, finally getting his tears under control and turning back to Hubie "But uh… thanks Hubie… what you said ah… means a lot".
"You know what? I think this calls for a best friend hug" Hubie said as he lifted his flippers.
"Hubie don't you dare!" Rocko said as he tried to hop up from the snow pile. Hubie managed to move faster, wrapping his flippers around the smaller penguin and making him squawk indignantly. Rocko's struggling made them fall backwards off the mound of snow, tumbling over the ground as they went from a one sided hug to playful wrestling.
The hillside echoed with the sound of laughter as two of the bestest friends in all the world reminded themselves just how important they were in each other's lives.