A Lonely Birthday
This story will be based off of the non-cannon and most hated conquest ending of HDN:mk2. I wanted to write something that would be different from other written entries, and may be a little sad.
Nepgear sighed in relief as she finished her paperwork for the day. "Oh. Nepgear. Are you finished today's work?" came the mature voice of Histoire, the oracle of Planeptune. She floated towards the young CPU, her finger poking her chin in thought while scanning the papers that Nepgear just sat aside. "Oh, goodness, Histoire. Not yet. I still have to patrol the nation." Nepgear slide her chair out and smoothed out her dress. "Also, I'll be going…there…" She said downheartedly. Histoire also cast her eyes down, knowing where she was headed after her patrol. "…I see. Will you be alright? I can have IF or Cave walk with you." Nepgear turned away, heading for the basilicom doors. "That's ok. I won't be needing anyone with me this time. I want to do this alone. I won't be back until later tonight." Histoire could only abide by the solo CPU's wishes as she left the building. "Please, be careful, Nepgear…"
The streets of Gamindustri were quiet and near empty. The buildings were lit and the street lights shone brightly, but the atmosphere was anything but as Nepgear passed by various places she knew. As she walked passed some of the citizens, they would either ignore her or glare at her with malice. But she continued onward to her destinations for the day. Her first stop: The former Lastation.
Nepgear slowly walked through the isolated town before ending up in front of the abandoned basilicom. Taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve, she slowly opened the large doors. As she slowly moved through the large building, running her fingertips gingerly across various objects, remembering the times that she spent with Noire and Uni. "Uni…" Nepgear sighed as she sat on Uni's bed. She looked up at the ceiling and reminisced of better times with her and Noire…
"Nepgear!" Noire said with her arms crossed and an irritated look on her face. "I'm only going to ask this once, so answer truthfully. Does Neptune talk about me at all?" Nepgear already knew the answer to that question, but wanted to be cautious with her words. Noire was know to fly off the handle if she heard something she didn't like about her, no mater how small the detail. "Um, how should I put this…"
"Just tell her, Nepgear." Uni said from across the room, looking through some papers with Kei, Lastation's oracle. "I'm pretty sure it's what she wants to hear anyway." Noire growled at her younger sister before turning back to the guest at hand. "She's right, Noire." Nepgear said. "My sister does think about you, but in regarding how she thinks about you is something I can't answer for certain." Noire sighed and crossed her arms. "Well, why not!? You're her sister, aren't you?" Nepgear flinched backing her chair, almost falling backwards due to Noire's raised voice. "I-I'm sorry!" Noire closed her eyes and smiled. "No worries, Nepgear. I can't hide my true feelings from that bobblehead, and I've got the feeling that if I don't tell her soon I won't have the chance again. Tell her I love her when you see her and I've got something real nice for her birthday…"
"…That was the last time I saw Noire genuinely smile." Nepgear said silently, holding a shiny black metal ring with 3 purple diamonds. "She never got the chance to give this to Neptune. Nor the chance to say her feelings." Nepgear placed the ring back in her pocket and moved on to Lowee.
Despite the cold weather, Nepgear could feel no chills. Only when she reached the old playground the Ram and Rom use to frequent did her body shiver. As she moved past the monkey bars, she sat down on a swing set, remembering another memory.
"Nepgear." came the quiet voice of Lowee's CPU, Blanc. "Why are you swinging alone on the swing set. Rom wants to you to play as well." Nepgear looked at Ram and Rom, who were busy chasing Neptune around the playground. Although Neptune could easily out run them, she let them catch her a few times, all of them laughing after every chase. "…It's nothing, Blanc." Blanc only flipped a page in the book she had been reading. "You're a terrible liar, Nepgear." Nepgear flinched a little. "O-Oh. Is it really that obvious?"
"As obvious as the nose on your face." The voluptuous CPU of Leanbox, Vert said while approaching the swings. "Vert…*sigh*. Ok, well, I was wondering what the rest of the CPUs thought of my sister." Vert and Blanc looked at the nervous Nepgear. "Now Nepgear. What reason would you have for worrying about that?" Vert asked with an eyebrow cocked at an angle. Blanc only looked at her with her usual expression. Nepgear's face suddenly became serious. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Both older girls nodded eagerly, giving Nepgear the go ahead to proceed. "Honestly, I heard Neptune in her room crying. It was after you three where at the basilicom playing some of our games. She took some of your snide remarks…pretty hard. She thought as if you don't think well of her." Nepgear looked down at the sand as she slowly moved back and forth on her swing.
Blanc smiled. "Don't worry. Neptune might be an annoying ass…" Vert joined in, slightly chuckling. "Not to mention a greedy sugar hog…" "A pudgy slacker…" "A pompus airhead…" Nepgear stamped her foot on the sand, clenching her fist. "Is there a point!?" Blanc placed her hand gently on her shoulder to calm her down. "Truth is, I can't hate her. She might have those negative qualities, but she has much more that stands out above those." Vert brushed some of her hair off her shoulder, watching Neptune treating the two younger Lowee twins to ice cream. "She has a heart of gold. No mater what happens to her, she always places her friends first. We'll be sure to let her know. But honestly, for her to get so hurt over such comments…I guess we didn't see all sides of Neptune until now."
Nepgear swallowed hard, forcing the lump back down her throat. Inhaling deeply, she took the last few steps into a desolated forest area. Nothing but darkness covered the land, and there were many trees without their leaves. The ground was cracked and broken, dirt was dry and barren. However, within this gloomy forest was a small hut. It was worn out, but it still stood out in the darkness. Nepgear moved inside the small shed and pulled out the black ring. Reaching in her other pocket, she pulled out a gold necklace with a snow white gem and a silver bracelet with many green jewels around it. Nepgear knelt in front of a small shrine. Setting the three items within the wooden monument, she flipped open the top, revealing a picture of the 4 late CPU's of Gamindustri. "Neptune…they never got the chance to tell you how they really feel. But I hope, with these items, you'll see how much you meant to them. To all of us…*sob*…"
Neptune finally broke down and the tears she held back for so long. "I will never forget you, sis. Happy birthday, Neptune." Nepgear composed herself and left the hut. As she walked outside she saw IF, Compa and Histoire waiting outside for her. Seeing her friends supporting her made her feel just a little bit better.