Greetings, and welcome a new chapter of 'Bayley's Universe'! My apologies for the lateness with this chapter...had family stuff to deal with that kept me sidetracked and wiped. With that behind me, I bring you all a new chapter and what is also the end of the 'Split Together' arc. Just how will things go from here after Jimmy came back and he and Naomi left last chapter? Read on to find out and I hope you all enjoy, my dolls. =)

Watching as Bayley waved goodbye to Jimmy and Naomi, Seth thought 'OK, you two. Do your best to make up. It's not good when you guys are apart.' Shaking his inner worries away, Seth said "Hey, Bayley. You ready for dinner? I decided to try out a new recipe tonight."

"A new recipe? That sounds good. What'd you decide to make tonight?"

"Well, since it's been getting warm outside lately, I wanted to try out a ramen dish I saw in one of my cookbooks," the two-toned Gem began.

"Ooh, that sounds good already. I don't think I've ever had ramen before, so this sounds tasty. What's in it?" the ponytailed brunette asked as she took a seat at the kitchen island.

"Well, it's a chilled dish," Seth began explaining as he got two bowls and began to prepare servings of his latest creation. "First, we start with the ramen noodles, which are a type called soba noodles."

"OK," Bayley nodded, doing as Seth did the same with her own bowl. "These look good. Kinda looks like spaghetti in a way."

A light laugh escaping him, Seth said "Next, we add the broth to our noodles. This is where the chilled part of the dish comes in, as it's made with some ingredients that I had to have refrigerated for a bit."

"Ooh. Ingredients like what?" the ponytailed brunette asked as she watched the two-toned Gem go get a pot that she guessed had the broth for their dinner.

"Well, the list is a bit long. There's sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, water…." As Seth went on with his explanation while he continued to plate their dinners, gave the ponytailed brunette a quick lesson in using chopsticks, and then began to eat.

'I think I should try to make ramen more often. This is actually pretty tasty,' Seth thought as he ate. Sure he had tasted the broth when he first made it, but that was when it was warm; so tasting the broth after it had time to sit and chill was a different experience for him, as it seemed like that helped strike a balance between sweet, salty, and a slight fruity undertone.

At first she was a bit hesitant about trying the ramen, as that seemed to come from her troubles with getting the hang of using chopsticks. But, after she got the hang enough of using chopsticks, she began to eat her own bowl. Slowly and carefully picking up two noodles, she brought the noodles up where she then slurped them into her mouth before, after a couple of chews, swallowing them down. "Whoa," was all she could say.

"Hmm? What is it, Bayley?" Seth asked after he swallowed his own mouthful of ramen.

"I ...I'm just ...This tastes awesome!" Bayley responded before going for another taste. "We should have ramen more often, Seth."

A chuckle escaping him, Seth said "Well, the weather has been pretty warm lately, so ...I think we can have some more ramen for dinner nights."

Her mouth full, all Bayley could do was nod and give the two-toned Gem a thumbs-up as she continued to eat and enjoy the ramen.

Smiling at this, Seth continued to eat his own serving-which would later turn into seconds and even thirds-as the pair enjoyed his newest creation.

...

A soft sigh escaping her, Naomi looked out over the lake that she and Jimmy found during their walk through the woods.

A sigh of his own escaping him, Jimmy mirrored the other Gem's actions; only with him, his gaze was on the sky as he watched the sun begin to set.

While the pair were enjoying the tranquility that was around them, there was still a more pressing matter they had to attend to.

"So. You're feeling calmer and better now," Naomi began after some time.

"Yeah. There was a bit of a slight centipeedle problem that needed to be taken care of. So, I dealt with like always," Jimmy smirked.

A laugh escaping her, Naomi said "Well, you always have been quick to leap into battle. After all, ...that's what drew me to you all those years ago" as she could feel a slight heat start to climb up her cheeks.

"I was only doing what soldiers like me were supposed to do for those higher in rank than us. I guess I just had the luck of being a soldier assigned to be like a guard for you," Jimmy said as he looked away and scratched the back of his head.

"And what luck it was. I never would've guessed you saving me from a Gem vulture attack would've been what would drive us together."

"It's like us soldiers were told. Let no harm come to those above us. I was just doing my best to keep you safe."

"You have. And then some. ...After all, we ended up getting quite close over the years," Naomi said, a bit shyly.

"And it's that closeness that led to us really falling for each other," Jimmy continued, his gaze now on Naomi.

"Which then led to us Fusing for the first time," Naomi said with a laugh.

"And from that Fusion, we created Roman," Jimmy said with a laugh of his own.

A soft laugh escaping her, Naomi then said "You know? I told Bayley about Fusion."

"Really? That's great! How'd she take hearing about it?" Jimmy asked, feeling curious about this.

"She seemed pretty interested once I really told her about it. She even asked if there's a chance that she could learn how to Fuse."

"That's good. That's really good! ...But. I'm guessing you didn't tell her about us. Did you?"

A sigh escaping her, Naomi simply shook her head, her gaze on the ground beneath her feet.

Looking over and seeing the look on his love's face, Jimmy could get a feeling for just what was going through Naomi's mind. "Naomi. Look at me."

Managing to pry her gaze from a patch of daisies she saw, Naomi looked over to her love. "Hmm? What is it?"

"It's ...it's okay that you didn't tell Bayley about us," Jimmy finally managed to get out.

This was certainly something that she hadn't been expecting to hear from the other Gem. After all, it had been Jimmy that wanted to tell Bayley about them for so long; so, to hear him say this ...it had her feeling pretty surprised. "W-Wow. Well, thanks. But why the 180? I thought you would've wanted to tell her about us."

"Well," Jimmy began. "Don't get me wrong, I do want to tell Bayley about us. It just ….I had a walk and talk with Dean of my own that helped set some things straight for me."

"Some things like what?" Naomi asked.

"Me rushing into telling Bayley. Dean pointed out that it'd probably blow her mind to know that the guy that's pretty much been her dad most of her life is a Fusion of the Gems she sees as her aunt and uncle. That, and I should learn to be more open to hearing you out on stuff whenever something may be on your mind. I just hope you can find it in you to forgive me," Jimmy said as he stood.

"Jimmy. What kind of crazy thing is that to say? Of course I forgive you," Naomi said as she stood up. A grin crossing her face, she then said "Besides, I can't stay mad at a cute goof like you."

A laugh escaping him, Jimmy turned around and pulled Naomi close to him in a hug that he felt her return. This felt natural. This felt right. He and his love were able to make up. ...Although, that left one big question. Pulling away from Naomi, Jimmy asked "So. When are you going to want to tell Bayley about us?"

"Well," Naomi began before biting her lip in thought. "Given how rough today's been, ...how about we wait just a bit longer? That way, we can be sure Bayley'll be ready for our news."

He had a feeling Naomi was going to say something like that. And ...he was okay with that. "Sure. Whenever you feel ready, we can tell baby girl our big secret."

A smile starting to spread across her face, Naomi said "Thank you, Jimmy."

A smile of his own starting to cross his face, Jimmy ran a hand through his love's long dark hair before he pulled her close to him and gave her a soft kiss that he could feel her return as he felt her wrap her arms around his waist. This kiss between the two seemed to go on for a bit, even as a soft light blue glow began to envelop them and their two forms melded into one. And after the glow finally disappeared, all that was left in the spot where Jimmy and Naomi were was Roman, his eyes closed as he had his arms wrapped around himself, almost as if he were hugging himself.

"It's okay. It's okay now. We've got this under control now. It's okay. It's okay," he repeated.

...

"Wow. I don't know how Seth did it, but this ramen was quite tasty," Sasha said after finishing her second helping.

"I'll agree. But, I think that just comes from him always experimenting with new recipes. Looks like this one was a winner," Dean agreed, having finished his third helping. "I mean, if Seth and Bayley are any indication, then I think this is something we oughta have more of."

"I agree," Sasha said with a light laugh as she looked over to the two in question: Seth was lying back in the recliner as he lightly snored and Bayley was upstairs in her bed asleep with Rosey Paws asleep in bed with her.

A light knock at the door caught Dean's attention. Rising from his seat, the sandy blonde looked through the door's peephole only to let out a light chuckle at who was on the other side. Unlocking and opening the door, Dean said "Well well well, would you look who's back?"

Laughing a bit as he stepped through the doorway, Roman said "Thanks for the warm welcome back, Dean."

Turning around as soon as she heard his voice, Sasha hopped off of her seat and went to join the two Gems at the door. "Roman, welcome back. I take it Jimmy and Naomi were able to work things out?"

All Roman did was nod in response. "I guess it was the idea Dean had that really helped out with that."

"Ehh, what can I say? I'm not just a cute face, y'know?" the sandy blonde grinned, getting light laughter from the other two Gems. His voice lowering, Dean asked "So. Did our cute couple ever decide on when they'd tell Bayley their secret?"

"They did. They decided to wait until they felt like baby girl could take learning about them," Roman whispered to the other two.

"I think that's a great idea, Roman. That way, when they do finally tell Bayley, it'll be at a point they're both okay with," Sasha agreed.

"I agree with Sasha," Dean said. "Just don't feel like this is something you have to rush to tell her."

"Don't worry, Dean. They'll tell Bayley when the time is right. And you can believe that," Roman said with a nod and a smile.

Hooray for happy ending of the 'Split Together' arc! Looks like, after a nice and much-needed talk (one that seemed to help shed a bit of light on Jimmy and Naomi's pasts), Jimmy and Naomi were able to make up and fuse back to Roman (Hooray again! *throws confetti*). That, along with the Gems getting a taste of ramen and growing quite fond of it, seems to spell good endings all around here. And with the end of this arc comes a new arc. Keep your eyes peeled for what comes next, and, as always, don't forget to RR please. =)

(Now, with the slight touching on Jimmy and Naomi's pasts, it gave me an idea to maybe write an arc where we explore their pasts. I just might write an arc like that...not too sure yet, depends on how my next arc ideas pan out.)

(*sends love and good vibes out to you all*)