"WE-AH! WE-AH!"

Two days had gone by, and still the cockatiel's chirp was the same.

"WE-AH! WE-AH!"

"OH HUSH, YOU STUPID THING!" Acapella was partially kidding, and partially serious. Throughout the past two days, the bird had become much more affectionate toward the yellow Gem. The cockatiel was currently rubbing its head against Acapella's finger again.

At this point, Acapella had learned several things about her new pet. The bird liked apple slices the most as a treat- specifically, Golden Delicious!

After reading more of her book, Yellow Pearl also found out that the creature was a boy.

The bird enjoyed his head getting scratched...and also liked the Pearl's company! Every time she left the room, his: "we-ah..." would sound more depressed.

...and every time she re-entered the room, the bird would go absolutely nuts with joy!

"What a strange Earth creature you are..." Acapella pet the tuft on top of the animal's head. "I do wish I knew what you were trying to say..."WE-AH" doesn't make a lick of sense to me..."

"WE-AH!"

"...yes exactly."

Dispite the bird's call being incredibly annoying to most, Acapella found that talking to the creature helped her relax. It was nice...having someone to talk to who wouldn't judge or talk back...

At first, the house seemed to have finally settled into itself. Gamma, Toaster, and Bananas all noted that they were being yelled at a LOT less.

Lilly began to chew on the couch with little to no consequence.

Things were really quiet...almost...TOO quiet.

By the second day, both Gamma and Toaster were becoming incredibly concerned. They had eaten nothing but popcorn. Fruit from the pantry was constantly disappearing. The family knew Acapella had been in her room for the longest time. The Keronian feared that the Pearl may be depressed because she missed her restaurant. He decided to consult Bananas.

"Acapella used to be YOUR Pearl...correct?"

"Well...yes...technically..."

"Did she ever display avoidance behavior like this?"

The kitten thought hard to herself. "None that I can remember. If anything, she was an overachiever...and quite a chatterbox for a Pearl..."

"Do you think she's ok?"

"Stars! I don't know! Perhaps we should bother her...just this once. I am getting rather tired of eating this..."popped corn"...Acapella's meals are much better..."

Thustly, Toaster was asked to be the one to knock on Yellow Pearl's door. The family figured she had the most likeable demeanor of the bunch. The Ruby could probably sweet-talk her way into Area 51 if she wanted to...

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

"Acapella? It's me! Toaster! We haven't seen you in a while...are you okay?"

There were imediate noises of rustling and shuffling from the inside of the room...almost as if the Pearl was attempting to hide something quickly.

"JUST A MINUTE!...Yes! I am quite fine Toaster! Do you need something?"

Acapella finally opened her door (just a crack), and looked down at the small Ruby.

"What are you doing in there Acapella?"

"None of your business!" The Pearl snapped!

"We miss you...you've been spending a lot of time in your room...why don't you come out? We're about to watch a new movie!"

Acapella thought about this... "Nah. You guys go ahead. I'll just watch it later!"

...and with that, the door slammed shut again.

Baffled by this, Toaster simply turned to Gamma (who was standing in the hall) with confusion. She shrugged at the frog...out of ideas.

The next morning, Bananas could take the silence no longer. The kitten climbed up the stairs, and jaunted a B-Line to Acapella's bedroom door.

It was closed.

Curious and nosey, The kitten put her head against the door. She could hear two voices...neither one was very clear though.

She may have been a kitten NOW, but Yellow Diamond had been around long enough to know when a Pearl was keeping a secret. The kitten scratched at Acapella's door with her paws.

"Open up Pearl! I know you're hiding something! Might as well come clean about it now! What do you have in there?! Weapons? Illegal intergalactic passports?"

The door suddenly opened a crack again. Acapella looked down at the previous Diamond...incredibly annoyed.

"If I show you what I have...do you promise to keep it a secret?"

"Yes, yes. Sure. Whatever." Banana's answer was not terribly convincing...but Acapella desperately needed someone to help her translate what her new friend was trying to say. The Pearl still wanted to know what the "WE-AH" call meant.

Acapella let the kitten in with a bit of hesitance.

At first, Bananas was...quite shocked. NOT because of any pet mind you (Acapella had put the tablecloth over the cage once more), but more so, because the room was just...so...PLAIN.

"OH! Erm... what a lovely room? So...clean?" Bananas looked at the sad stack of cookbooks on the floor. She figured the item in question was the thing with the white tablecloth over it. The white wall and white carpet matched it splendidly. The cat felt slightly badly for her previous Pearl. She had never seen such a sad, dull, boring chamber in her life. Even her own previous throne room at LEAST had a chair and some yellow tile in it...

"Acapella...have you...ever thought about getting a bookshelf for your books? Or...I don't know...a motivational poster...or...something?"

"No." the Pearl was blunt. "Do you want to see what's under the tablecloth or NOT?"

"OH! Yes! Right! Sorry..." The kitten sat down and waited patiently.

Acapella grabbed the tablecloth. "I give you..." she lifted the thing dramatically, revealing the cage in a yellow bubble "-NYMPHICUS HOLLANDICUS!"

The kitten got incredibly excited for a brief second, before realizing that the big secret was simply a new pet bird. Bananas looked at the Pearl sarcastically. "THAT'S IT? THAT'S the thing you've been wasting all your time on? A pet?"

Acapella blushed horribly. "He's not JUST a pet...look!" The Pearl proceeded to pop her own bubble, before taking the thing out of its cage.

The bird immediately began to chirp with excitement!

"WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH! WE-AH!..."

"AAAAAGHHHH! What IS that?! THAT has to be the most annoying Earth organic I've EVER seen!" The cat held her ears over the horrific din.

"Isn't he wonderful?" Pearl ignored the kitten's unpleasant quip. "It's the most beautiful example of Earth fauna I've ever come across!"

"Wait..." Bananas looked at the bird...then at Acapella...then back at the bird. An odd smirk came over the kitten's face. "It looks JUST like YOU!"

"WHA?! NO IT DOESN'T!" The Pearl blushed again.

"STARS! You bought that thing out of PITY...didn't you?!"

"I don't know WHAT you're talking about!" Acapella stuck her nose up at the comment.

"Yeah...you saw a bird that looked like you in a cage, and wanted to give it a good home!" Bananas nodded. "I get it. You felt badly for it! ...Is that why the fruit has been dissapearing? Have you been spoiling that...THING?"

"He likes apples." The Pearl nodded a bit sheepishly. She supposed, perhaps...she was feeding the bird lots of fruity treats because she, herself, never got to try such things when she was a slave on Homeworld. Perhaps...perhaps she WAS spoiling it a little... "I've...I've been trying to figure out what he's been saying for days. I wish I knew what he wanted..."

"HE doesn't WANT anything!"

"Huh?"

"That...Erm...pet of yours just keeps repeating himself! He's saying: "I'm here".

"I'm here?!"

"Yes. Apparently, he wants the ENIRE WORLD to know where he is..."

"I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M HERE!" The cockatiel squawked at the top of his lungs!

Banana's looked at the creature incredibly annoyed. "I GET IT! YOU'RE HERE! NOW HUSH UP!"

The cockatiel fell silent before noticing Bananas for the first time. He let out a different call of alarm! "CAT! CAT SCARY!"

"What did he say?! That sound was different!" Acapella looked at the kitten.

"Your incredibly intellectual pet has just realized that there is a cat in the room." Banana's ears drooped in annoyance. "It took him...what? Five minutes to figure out that I've been sitting here?"

The bird immediately spread his wings, and puffed up his feathers to look big, and scare the cat away!

"Alright! Alright! I'm going! Yeesh!" Bananas left the room feeling slightly relieved that the "big secret" only involved her old Pearl making a new friend. The cat laughed to herself as a cruel thought came to mind: "YUP! They will make great friends! Their intelligence is identical!"

"PFFFT..." The cat laughed to herself before entering Toaster's room, and falling asleep under the bed.