If there was one thing that Nepgear never ceased to find interesting about the other dimension, it was the fact that the CPUs she had come to know and befriend had once been normal human beings. Unlike the CPUs and CPU Candidates of her own dimension, they had been born to normal parents and started out living normal lives, doing normal things as normal humans tended to do. In that world, any person she passed on the street going to and from the Basilicom had just as much a chance of becoming a CPU someday as anyone else — herself included. It was a surreal feeling. The daughter of the shop keeper might become a CPU someday — maybe the woman at the game store could accidentally turn into one.

It was something she still found interesting to this day, long after she had come home. There were things about them that she thought about to this day — in fact, there were some things about them that she thought about on a regular basis. She wondered what it would be like to have been born a human, to grow up "normal" and to live that normal life... She wondered how, despite that, the Noire, Blanc, and Vert over there had ended up so similar to the ones she knew. Maybe that was just a trick of parallel universes or something...?

In the end, she supposed it didn't really matter. They were all CPUs, and that was what counted, right?

Well... Almost. There was one significantly insignificant difference between them that Nepgear remembered fondly from her stays in the other world. One thing that, as time continued to pass, as days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years, continued to dance around in the forefront of Nepgear's mind.

They still celebrated their birthdays even after turning into CPUs.

Above all other traditions of their human life, apparently that was the one that they were unable to shake off, at least as far as Nepgear could tell. It wasn't any wonder why, really — she had been to their birthday parties many, many times. It was so much fun — the different nations would hold tremendous festivals celebrating the birth of their goddess, and for one special day, it... Well, Nepgear didn't actually know what it was like for the goddess in question, truthfully. She had observed the event quite a few times, and been to the festivals all across the other dimension, but...

Nepgear had never had a birthday of her own before.

She had never really thought about it before going there, for that matter. None of the CPUs or Candidates from her universe had. From what she could tell, none of them had after they had left either — none except her that is.

It was a strange thing for a goddess — or was it demigoddess in her case? — like herself to wondering about, if she thought about it. Birthdays celebrated growth and life and a march towards older age, and these were all things none of them, be it in this dimension or the other, would ever experience — or at least ever again in the case of the CPUs in the other world. Birthdays were simply not relevant to them...

Yet Nepgear found herself longing for one. She would have thought it would have been her sister who would have been gung ho to have an excuse to create a self-serving holiday like that, but oddly enough, so long as Neptune had been stuffed with cake and pudding, she never put much thought into the birthday thing. It must have been completely alien to her — was it that strange, then, for Nepgear to be thinking about it now?

She had spoken to Histoire about it on a few occasions, but the little Oracle hadn't been able to offer her much help — just the usual, combined with the unnecessary loading times. It wasn't unappreciated, of course, but at the same time, it didn't make her feel any less lost and wistful. She just couldn't help but be bothered by it. Perhaps she simply desired for that kind of attention, that kind of appreciation — a day, just one, that (at least as far as those close to her were concerned) existed just for her and her alone. A day where she was the star, the main character, and everything else all rolled into one. A day where she was at the top of every popularity poll, and every other contestant had been her.

"I really do sound selfish..." Nepgear frowned, feeling ashamed of herself — again. She had often gone down this road, and this past week had been especially bad. They had spent a few days in the other world celebrating Peashy's birthday and ever since they had returned a week ago, she just hadn't been able to get her mind off of it. How could she think like this — was she... was she jealous of a sweet little girl like Peashy? The only growing the poor thing would ever do was through those birthdays, how could she be so cold hearted...?

Well... She supposed it was obvious. She had seen how happy Peashy was — she had been there, after all, trying to make that celebration as happy for her as it could possibly be.

Certainly, Nepgear had no idea what a birthday really entailed, but she did know that, at the very least, it hadn't been very much like that in the other worlds. The CPUs had still bickered like normal, even if they were taking a day off from competing with each other for shares to compete with each other in games and cake eating. Maybe she was just thinking too much about it...

If nothing else, it was a day where she knew for sure no one would forget about her. That wasn't too much of a birthday wish, was it?

Did it even have to be a birthday wish, though? She had that anyway... most of the time, at least. So could she really complain all that much? She had her health, she had her friends, she had her sister and Histoire... So she didn't know what it was like to have a birthday. She still had a lot of other stuff. Just not a birthday. That wasn't so bad, right?

"That's right..." Nodding to herself, Nepgear clenched both of her fists and told herself that she was just being silly. She could go out and buy a cake or anything anyone could give her as a present all by herself if she wanted it, so why did she need all of the fuss made over it? It wasn't important. It didn't matter one bit. "There's nothing special about birthdays at all!"

Nodding once again, the CPU Candidate slapped herself on the cheeks for good measure and hopped off of the couch she had been lounging on. She would go get herself some kind of sweets right now just to prove it to herself — just to prove how totally insignificant this kind of thing was! She'd go to the arcade too! And maybe she'd do something really crazy and see a movie all by herself — making it a movie just for her!

As Nepgear made her way out of the room, however...

Like some kind of floor zombie, the smaller form of Nepgear's older sister rose from behind the exact same couch Nepgear had been sitting on. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the girl sneak into the room — that, or her super duper ninja skills had seriously improved!

"So that's what's been buggin' Nep Jr. lately... Well, it'll be super short notice, but..."

Neptune grinned deviously to herself, fighting back the urge to laugh devilishly like a super suave super villain.

She had some calls to make.

It didn't take long for Nepgear to find the obvious flaws in her plans of proving to the world — or maybe just herself — that she could make herself matter all on her own just as much as a birthday celebrating could make her.

First, she had bought more sweets than she was capable of eating and had ended up giving them to some children on the street. The fact she had felt especially lonely sitting at a table by herself with such a fancy plate of food might have had something to do with her shrinking appetite.

Next, although she had least had a little bit of fun at the arcade, it had quickly started to diminish when she realized she didn't know any of the people she was playing against. She was either butting into groups or playing other loners, which was in itself lonely in its own depressing way — at least there had been a sense of camaraderie there until they had realized they were playing against the CPU Candidate and dashed off.

Lastly, there was the movie. There had been a movie she had been wanting to see for quite some time, but she hadn't gone since it was the sort of movie that no one else she knew would have liked. Initially, she had gone into the movie with the mindset that it would make up for everything — it wasn't just doing something for her, but it was her last stand, an act of defiance, in a way. She did manage to get half an hour into the movie before it started to really bother her that she was alone — all around her, people were with someone else. The simple act of being with someone else as they reacted made the experience so much better... The little (but oh so grand) gesture of going to a movie you didn't want to see because it was for someone you cared about...!

Nepgear made it ten more minutes into the movie before she had to excuse herself. She realized if she sat there any longer, she might burst into tears.

What was wrong with her? She had never had trouble watching things alone before! And she had done sorts of "normal" "birthday things," hadn't she? She had had her cake and eaten some of it too! She had played some great games and even seen a movie she had wanted to see! Sure, she hadn't gotten herself presents, but that couldn't have been the reason she was feeling so miserable right now, was it?

"No... I know what the reason is..."

She was sitting on a bench outside of the movie theater, arms crossed over her knees and head bent to lean on her arms. It was an awkward position but she honestly just didn't give a goodness what anyone looking might think of her right now. Why should she?

That was the root of it all, after all...

It wasn't the festivities that she sought after. It was the company. The special, once a year attention from the people she cared most about in the whole wide world.

Sighing, Nepgear sat up and wiped at her eyes.

It was a pipe dream in the end anyway. She couldn't do much of anything to help herself here, now could she? She could always say what was on her mind to the people she wanted to be with, but... They'd probably just laugh at her or think she was being silly — or worse, point out how selfish she was acting! It wasn't worth the risk at all... And even if, through some crazy circumstances, they did listen to her pleas, her having to go out and ask for it herself would just...

"Well that just makes me sound really selfish now." Nepgear muttered to herself, puffing a cheek out in annoyance — annoyance directed at herself, naturally. What a greedy girl she was being. She didn't even have a birthday and she was getting so hurt like this... She was spoiled, that's what it was. Even if it was her birthday — and it wasn't! — how could she think like that?

... Was it really so bad that she did...?

Sighing once again, Nepgear hopped off of the bench and started heading back to the Basilicom. If lack of company was the source of her feelings right now, then wouldn't this all be solved if she surrounded herself by people, rather than avoid them? Okay, so it would still be going back to the same old-same old routine of just being there, but that was better than nothing at this point, right?

With that pessimistically uplifting thought taking up most of the space in her mind, Nepgear didn't hear the hurried whispers as she entered her living room. She certainly didn't question why everything had been so dark in the Basilicom on the way up to the room, and she had completely missed the hushed yell of "She's hear!" that had come from within upon her entering. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she just-

"SURPRISE!"

Nepgear could only stare as people began pouring out of every nook and cranny of the room — some were even coming in through the windows! Her mouth slowly fell open as explosions of sparkles, ribbons, and confetti began raining around her as everyone she knew burst out from every which way. Like the room had been flooded and she was the last spot of dry land, everyone began swarming around her. There was a sign, clearly in her sister's handwriting, that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEP JR." plastered on the wall, there were all kinds of party games prepared, and so much more — but most of all... The people, the people.

As she caught her sister's eyes, Neptune offering Nepgear a sheepish but thankful — thankful... that this had made her sister happy? really? oh, Neptune...! — look, Nepgear felt like she had wasted the day for nothing. What she had been looking for was right here all along.

And in this single moment, Nepgear knew that no matter what happened — if the following party turned to a more chaotic gathering like their usual ones, if it went off without a hitch, if everyone left now that they had greeted her, it didn't matter. In that incredible moment as she was surrounded by familiar faces, eyes all on her, people gathering around her to give her attention and greetings, she got what she wanted for her birthday — what she wanted for every birthday.

She knew it now.

She knew that she was wanted.

She knew that she was loved.

And that was all she could possibly ask for.

Fin

"Is it on?"

"How should I know?! I've never done one of these before!"

"Sure you ha... Ohhh yeah, it was the other you. I guess this is your first time, huh?"

"W-W-W-What are you saying?! G-G-Get that kind of talk out of this PG-story! In fact, keep it out of every story!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Cherry Heart."

"Neeeeptuuuuuuuneeee...!"

Neptune rolled her eyes. She was about to toss another remark Noire's way when she caught notice of a flashing red light on the camera before her. Oh shoot, it was recording! The show was on the road and she had been left behind! After giving the black haired CPU seated next to her a look that told her to hush up and follow her lead, Neptune put on the most professional sounding airs she could muster and began to deliver the news.

"Hello there, citizens of Gamindustri, readers of ficfantion, and random people who stumbled onto this station by complete accident!" Picking up the pile of papers in front of her, Neptune began shuffling them as though she were doing something especially important with them. They did this on TV, right? Well, whatever! "We come to you with breaking news! Because Noire's become such an airheaded pervert, her shares have gone down the toilet, and now, with her life and nation on the line, she finds herself forced to marry-"

Before Neptune could finish, she found herself being smacked in the back of the head by a rolled up wad of papers — by Noire herself, of course.

"That is not what we're here to say! And it never will be!" Shaking her head furiously, her cheeks burning at the mere idea of the absurd premise Neptune had been pitching, Noire turned to the camera, offering what she hoped was a sincere look to the viewers. "Please ignore her everyone — really. Please. This isn't an emergency news bulletin or anything like that. This is just a liiiittle announcement from your favorite CPUs being made for anyone who's had a less than happy birthday in their lives."

Neptune covered her mouth, feigning (or was it genuine?) surprise as she let out a gasp. Who knew Noire made such a dandy reporter? She should totally quit her day job! Standing up front her super businessy news reporter chair, Neptune began showering Noire with a round of applause.

"As expected of the cosplayer! Look at you go! You could be in a movie!"

"Oh just shut up! This segment is going to end up longer than the real story was at this rate!"

"Oh, right..." Returning to her seat, Neptune flashed the camera a smile that would win awards if Noire wasn't totally a cheating cheater- er, an award winning smile and set her important papers to the side. "We're just here to Neptune Break the fourth wall for a minute to just let all of the boys and girls out there who have had birthdays that totally stunk — probably 'cause I wasn't ther- Ow! Okay, I get it!" Rubbing the knee that Noire had kicked under their desk mournfully, Neptune gave the camera a real award winning smile and started over. "The point is, even if you had a sucky birthday that you felt stunk up the whole year, it's okay!"

"Because..." Noire blinked. She rubbed at her eyes and frowned, before finally she shot a confused look at Neptune. "Wait, because what? The teleprompter stops there. W-We can edit this out, right?"

"Nope, we're live." Grinning mischievously, Neptune shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Just make something up! And be tsundere about it — steal their hearts! That was the plan all along as far as I knew."

"W-W-Why would I do that?! I don't even..." Gaping, Noire sunk into her seat as her cheeks began to burn a bright red. This was insane!

A now familiar sigh could be heard from off screen. Shortly after, the sound of approaching footsteps followed that sigh, and then...

"The point, everyone, is this..."

Nepgear herself had come out from behind the camera to take the stage! Smiling a genuine smile at her audience, a lopsided party hat still atop her head and confetti still strewn through her hair, the giddy CPU Candidate waved at the camera and continued speaking.

"Whether your birthday was a month ago, whether it's next week, or even if you don't have one at all — like me... There are people out there who care about you, even if you take it for granted sometimes." Nepgear glanced behind her, an affectionate look on her face — one that went completely missed by Neptune and Noire, who had started arguing now that they felt "safe" from the camera's gaze. That was typical enough, but Nepgear didn't mind one bit. Laughing, Nepgear turned around and faced the camera once more. "And if you don't think you do have anyone like that — but I bet you do! — then I would like to give you a special present from everyone here in Gamindustri!"

The image the viewers at home were seeing suddenly vanished. Just as the masses of Gamindustri and wherever else were readying up their keyboards to make angry internet posts, the image returned. It was a prerecorded scene of everyone! Neptune, Compa, IF, Nepgear, Noire, Blanc, Vert, Uni, Rom, Ram, Nisa, Gust... Too many names to name! Even the bad guys — even the bad guys too big too fit on screen, the dead ones too! What kind of sorcery was this?! Why, this was an even bigger turnout than Nepgear's party had gotten! Was that even possible?!

"And so from all of us in Gamindustri to all of you watching at home, we all just want to wish you a Happy Birthday!"

Fin MKII