AN: Hello all, and welcome to my attempt at a oneshot. I noticed that there really is a severe lack of Neptune being a good mom to Peashy, well other than Blade of Justice's "Always" (which I highly recommend you check out!) So I thought Id try my hand at writing one! As always Id love to hear what you think so please leave a review if you have anything youd like to add, but past that please enjoy!
-marketvalueneps
It was late afternoon in Planeptunes capital city, and as the city brimmed with activity action seemed to be around every nook and alley. On this particular day the famous Planeptune ice cream business was making a fortune, this day happened to be during the height of summer for the nation, and as such the heat was particularly brutal. Especially in the capital city, which was so far removed from the ocean that would serve to lessen the heat. By default this business was always booming, as word had long since gotten out the Lady Purple Heart herself was a huge partaker in sweets.
However, it wasn't called the nation of Purple Progress for no reason, and as such progress still had to be made, even if mother nature had other plans in mind. As such the central command of the nation had to keep up to the best of its ability. Although, in an odd twist, it was working unusually well as of late. The root cause of this was even odder to all those connected then a dogoo with rippling abs. Neptune had been diligently working for quite some time now. In what could be only described as a wild out of character move fit for only the out of touch fanfiction, the Goddess of Planeptune was not only working, but working well. Even Histoire had no complaints to be had at Neptunes sudden attention to detail. Although she had to admit she found this Neptune more than a little creepy.
But in this regard she had only herself to blame. For you see, this change in the normally overly happy go lucky girl was sparked by a certain encounter that was had between CPU and oracle.
On that day Neptune was as per her usual lazing about, eating her beloved pudding and, at this specific moment, making the delightfully speedful and spherical hedgehog run into a wall at mach 3. She had to admit, the fans had done a really good job on this one. Hell she even let them, nay challenged the fans to make a better game then her own development staff, and by the True Goddess they had done it, wild.
Regardless, after completing her level, she stretched and got up. She had played her fill for the day, and she had other stuff to attend to. But what to choose? She could always nap, or maybe go bug Noire or something, that was always a hoot and a holler. But as she thought it over a strange sense of indecision washed over her. She found herself not wanting to do any of her normal rituals or shenanigans. In truth she had been having this problem for a while, really ever since the whole issue with Kurome and the Zero Dimension. She really couldn't get into any of her usual pastimes, instead all that she really could feel like doing was traveling to one specific place, and well she really didn't want to put much thought to it, so she decided that was probably her best choice.
Deciding on her course of action she made her way out of her living room and into the halls. She at least ought to tell everyone where she was going, after all she didn't want to get an earful like last time she did that.
"Heya, Histy! Nep Jr! I'm heading over to Pluties!" As she awaited a response to her yell, she was surprised when her very own oracle came rushing down the halls towards her, and she looked none too pleased as a matter of fact.
"Neptune! You surely must jest! There is simply too much work to be done for you to goof off at a time like this! I do not care if the shift period is over, I simply will not let you abandon your CPU duties anymore! Besides you have gone over to the other dimension well over 15 times in the last month! What business could you possibly have over there?" As Histoire drilled into Neptune for what must have been the upteenth time, Neptune found herself largely ignoring the small fairy. However said tome soon said something that Neptune simply could not ignore, "As a matter of fact I forbid you from going over to the other dimension!" Crossing her arms for emphasis Histoire had put forth her decree, however she had no idea the effect it would have on her partner.
"Wait no! Histy you can't do that! Please anything but that! I'll do anything! I'll- I'll even push papers if you want me too, just please don't ban me from going over!" Neptune seemed genuinely panicked at the thought that she would not be able to go to the Ultra Dimension, and this caught Histoire off guard, for as long as shed known Neptune, and she had known her for the goddess' entire life, she had rarely, if ever, seen her act like this. So to say she was taken aback would be an understatement.
"Neptune, why is it that you find the need to go over there so much?" Histoire seemed genuinely a bit shocked, and perhaps worried, in her questioning.
"..." But for her part Neptune did not seem like answering, or perhaps even she too had not the faintest idea what said answer was. "I- I don't know, just Histy, look I'll do what you want, ok, just, just don't ban me from going to see Plutie and P-ko" at this point Neptune had seemingly lost her usual fire and peppieness.
"Neptune… fine, I will permit you to travel to that world, however, I will only allow it if you continue to work diligently, and act like the goddess you ought to." Despite her earlier temper, Histoire felt bad in a way for seemingly killing Neptunes usual excitement. Even after all the arguments and petty fights they often got into, Histoire had an infinite soft spot for the girl. She truly cared for her, so to see her in a state almost made her cave in on the spot, but she knew that if she properly took advantage of the situation she would be able to get Neptune to work properly! So as they do say, sometimes harsh times call for harsh measures.
"Really! All I gotta do is push some stupid papers!?" But as soon as it vanished, Neptune seemed to recover at Hitsoire's statement. In a way Histoire was incredibly relieved at this, and doubly so if Neptune actually planned on keeping up her end of the bargain. Truly this was a sign of unprecedented time in Planeptunes history! A leader that actually worked!
It had been about 3 months since that time, and while every so often Neptune would fall into her old habits for a day or two, so days had been dubbed 'Nep days (™)' by the staff, but most days were well beyond what Histoire could have expected. With Neptune diligently performing her duties, and finishing at about noon, often after this leaving for the Ultra Dimension, before returning around 5 most days. Neptune always returned in a practically bouncing mood, often ready to show off the spoils of that day's adventure, often being a drawing by Peashy.
Despite everything that she had ever said about her before, this Neptune was… creepy in a way. Histoire felt a strange mix of pity and indigestion when thinking about it. A Neptune working this hard was something she never really considered. I mean she had long since dreamt of it, but she never thought that actually getting her wish would be so… off putting. Even more bizarre to her was Neptune's fixation on going to the other dimension. Histoire had long since known about Neptune's friendship with her Planeptuian counterpart, Plutia. For her part Histoire did like the girl, even if she was somehow even lazier than Neptune, or at last what used to be Neptune.
But as far as Histoire could discern from conversations with her own counterpart, oftentimes Neptune and Plutia would not even interact, or at least their interactions were minimal. As it would appear most, if not all, of Neptune's visits to the Ultra Dimension were to visit Planeptunes other patron CPU, the ever young Peashy. Ah yes, Peashy, she too was someone that Histoire did not know that much about. But from their few interactions she seemed to be a sweet, if not too energetic child. Neptune was always ready to gush about the child upon her return to her home. Often making the staff, Nepgear, or even Histoire herself be a judge of the art the small girl made.
The relationship between Peashy and Neptune had often been something Histoire found herself wondering about, but before it was just every so often Neptune left to visit. Ever since the incidents involving the Zero, and Heart Dimensions resolved, Neptune began visiting multiple times per week, and Histoire found herself more and more curious to the nature of the relationship of the two. It was an interesting dynamic to be sure, as the child in question could not age, and as such was permanently the young age she was. From what Histoire knew she actually was the same age as IF and Compa.
This particular day passed as many such in the recent past had, with Neptine working at a pace that would make a certain twintailed tsundere gush, only for her to storm into Histoires office after completion of her tasks for the day.
"Histy, I'm heading over to visit Plutie's, be back!
"Neptune, wait for a second please." Histoire simply couldn't let this go on any longer, both for her own curiosity, and potential Neptune herself, she was going to work herself to death!
"Hmm, what is it Histy? Don't worry, I made sure everything is all neatarfic and in sets of 3 and all that electro hop"
"It's not that, you give me no reason to doubt the quality of your work over the past months. However, I must ask you, why are you so insistent on going over to visit that place so many times?" Histoire immediately cut to the heart of the issue.
"... I don't know, I guess I just like seeing them is all" Neptune quickly became dodgy in her words, to Histoire, this signaled that she had to press further, for Neptune to act like this meant that it was an issue of great importance.
"But as I talked to my other self, she told me you often do not even talk with Plutia, you often simply spend almost all you time with the child CPU"
"Man do I really spend that much time with P-ko?" Neptune scratched her head in response.
"It would appear so, so I must again ask you Neptune, why? What exactly is your relation to this child?" Histoire asked, trying to prod in further.
"I really don't know Histy, I just really like being around her, she's an important friend to me, like it's hard to describe she's just a little ball of energy and I like being with her" Neptune seemed to be confused, and perhaps a little anxious at the line of questioning her right hand was giving her. However, in her mind, Histoire had put together what she thought was the likely reasoning behind their current impasse. She decided to not press much further, instead electing to wrap up their conversation neatly.
"Neptune, I believe it would be wise of you to reflect on your relationship with Peashy, I believe you are overlooking an important distinction that girl holds in your heart." With that Histoire excused Neptune out of her office.
As Neptune left her Basilicom Histoires words were still buzzing in her head. Why did they make her so anxious? What more could there be to her relationship to P-ko? P-ko was P-ko, she was a close friend, so why then did what Histy said cut so deep? What could it be that she was missing? It wasn't like Histoire to say something without meaning, so Neptune had every intention of figuring whatever it was that Histoire was buggering about. If only to prove it wasn't nearly as much an issue as she made it out to be.
Electing to start from the ground up, she began thinking of her friendship with the young girl from the ground up. What were they? Certainly she was important to her, all she did to jar her memories free from Anonnydeth's grasp were a testament to that. In her mind back then she had been willing to return the bee girl at any and all costs. She decided before that fight that had their methods not worked, she would have grabbed her and ran. After that? Who knew, all she knew was that she absolutely refused to see her friend be used like that, that's what it was right? She would have done that for any of her friends, so what was it that Hisy was talking about!?
Deciding to take a different angle to the problem, Neptune decided to think about how her thoughts involving the girl in question differed to that of how she thought of her other close friends. She had many terrific friends, but the way she could say she felt about them was slightly different. If she had to phrase it, it was as if there were classes of friends. With people like IF, Compa, B-Sha, and the other humans being their own class, whereas the other CPUs were distinctly different. Past that there was Nepgear and Histoire, whom she considered close in an entirely different manner, Nepgear's placement here was indicative that this class as it were was familiar in nature. Even Histoire was as close to a motherly figure as she had in her life.
So where did P-ko fit in in this rpg of a system? Upon thinking of it closely, Neptune concluded that she fit best in with Nepgear, and Histy. But why? Histy and Nepgear were family, always there, and no matter what always would be. So why was it that someone like P-ko had seemingly wormed her way into such a close place in the goddess heart?
In her deep thought Neptune seemed to lack a sense of awareness for her surroundings, and as she thought deeper and deeper she lost more and more of what was around her. But it seemed to be working, the answer was right on the tip of her tongue! However in an almost cruel sequence of events, she found her thoughts interrupted by a bumping into her body. As she looked around for the responsible party, so she could apologize, she couldn't seem to spot them, perhaps they simply kept walking.
As Neptune was about to continue her trek, assuming her earlier conclusion was correct, a voice interrupted her.
"Gosh, Phoebe, you have to be more careful! How many times do I have to tell you not to just run off like that? Mam, I am so sorry about my daughter. She is just so energetic and I-" A young woman, no older than her late twenties quickly rushed up to the girl Neptune now noticed was infront of her. "Oh my! Lady Purple Heart!? Phoebe apologize to her right this instant! I am so sorry for her madam!" The young woman feverishly bowed in front of her goddess.
"Nahhh don't worry about it, it's all good and whatnot. I should have been paying more attention too" Neptune waved off the woman's apologies, crouching down to the girl's level as she offered her hand, "Now, up we go!" However, Phoebe had other plans in mind, she grabbed the goddess hand and quickly pulled her down to the ground next to her. This elicited a loud gasp from her mother as she quickly scolded her child, all while apologizing.
Neptune however was simply amused by the young girl's actions, and after chuckling for a bit, she calmed down the now panicked mother, "It's ok miss, I know a little troublemaker that puts this girl here to shame!" It was true, she'd take getting pulled to the ground over getting a full headbut to the solar plexus any day. But why did that seem to be a pleasant thought? Truly anybody else thinking about getting a head to the solar plexus would be unpleasant, but to Neptune the thought seemed oddly nostalgic.
After finally managing to calm down the mother, and wave her goodbye, Neptune continued on her way. Only then realizing her train of thought was completely disrupted. With a 'gosh darn it!' she tried to get back to where she was. Only that she found it nearly impossible, so instead she tried to take a different angle. What else was there to azalizing her bonds? As she pondered this she thought about what it truly meant to be a friend with somebody.
"Well I mean all friends like to do stuff and shindigs together right?" Neptune thought out loud, that proved to be the launching point for her next train of thought. All her friends had distinct tastes and interests, and how they spent their free time together was something Neptune valued with all her friends.
When it concerned her friends there was a wide variety of hobbies to consider, from Nepgear's tech obsession, to Noire's cosplay, to Blancs shitty fanfics, to B-Sha's g*ndam hobby, to others. But at the end of the day they could all agree on one thing, and that was gaming, Neptune could always count on a game coming out during her hang out time. So where did P-ko fit in? Upon reflection Neptune realised that she really didn't. The time she spent with her was unique. For one they didn't have anything specific they did, hell most of the time Neptune would simply watch, and keep up with what she could with the rambunctious ball of energy. They rarely played many games together, it really wasn't something that fitted the tastes of the child.
All that mattered was that she was with her.
That seemed to trigger something in the purple haired woman, it was something she really didn't like thinking about much, but with how this day was going she really didn't have the choice. The time during the Kurome incidents. She had been unable to travel dimensions during the time after the rewrite, and even some time after the events settled down. And it was in the period of time after everything resolved that it really set in for Neptune. Not being able to see P-ko was tearing her up inside, much like the 10 years that passed during the Eden incident.
Those 10 years had been as close to hell that Neptune had ever experienced, not just simply because they were getting their asses kicked, the fact she didn't know what had become of P-ko tore her up. Especially with how their last interaction went down. The days during that time seemed to slog on in the most painful way imaginable. Neptune soon found that the time period before they could safely open the portal back to Ultra Dimension was almost as painful, she still remembers the day that Histy told her that the link had successfully been reestablished, she rushed over to see her friends as fast as her legs could take her, and she gave Plutie and P-ko the biggest hug she could muster.
But why? Neptune simply was at her wits end, she had exhausted all her trains of thought, and yet she still found herself at a dead end. It was maddening, especially considering Histy seemingly knew what the answer Neptune was looking for was. Neptune however found herself dragged out of her thoughts by another bumping into her body, this time however this person seemed to outweigh her by substantial margin, as Neptune quickly found herself flat on her ass. Already frustrated, Neptune was fully prepared to give this person a piece of her mind, but as she looked up her blood soon ran cold.
"I'm sorry miss, I always seem to be bumping into people '' The woman giggled at her own clumsiness. This woman's appearance however was not unfamiliar to the goddess on the ground. She wore a tank top with a distinct bee motif on it, revealing her sizable bust. She wore an accompanying pair of black shorts, and in her bright blonde hair she wore a red ball accessory that Neptune had only ever seen on one other person.
"P-ko…" Neptune managed out.
"Hmmm do I know you? That's not my name though I'm Pea! Though my real name is Peashy!" The young woman then offered her hand to Neptune, which she accepted.
"Sorry, I just know someone very similar to you is all" Neptune chuckled while scratching her neck. Seeing P-ko all grown up like this was a culture shock understatedly for Neptune. She never really considered whether P-ko existed in the Hyperdimension, but upon thinking about it it really was obvious. I mean IF and Compa occupied both dimensions, and were about the same age as P-ko, well not accounting for CPU shenanigans.
Still actually being face to face with the blonde was almost more than Neptune could handle, she had a very strange sting of emotions running through her at the moment. The most strange thing to her however was a bizarre sense of pride she got when looking at her. Despite never meeting this woman ever before in her entire life Neptune felt a strange desire to give her a big Nep hug. Before she made a exceedingly poor decision, Peashy began,
"Huh, you do? What's that person like?" Peashy seemed curious as to someone that was like her, and she had time to spare.
"Oh? Uh, I guess I know or I guess, knew her as a kid, she's super kind, and she's got too much energy, and she gives me too many punches to the face then I can handle!" Neptune tried to explain her relation to P-ko without actually saying that the person she was referring to was actually her of another world. It had long since been established among all those who knew that the knowledge of other dimensions was to be kept under as much surveillance and secrecy as was possible.
Peashy giggled at this explanation before explaining, "You know that does sound a lot like me as a kid, my mom always tells me when I was a kid I used to run up and give her a headbut in her chest to greet her"
"That sounds just like my P-ko" Neptune chuckled.
"Well, I'm heading out to lunch now, miss you wanna catch a bite with me? I'd love to talk with you more" Peashy amicably invited Neptune out. It just occurred to Neptune at that moment, she had not eaten anything before leaving her Basilicom. So she quickly took Peashy up on her offer.
As the two ate lunch, the two discussed their seeming random bond they had over various stories. Such as how P-ko hated getting shots, with Peashy explaining that she had to be restrained by 3 nurses when she got her shots. Or how P-ko was a really good artist, to which Peashy explained that she too was an art hobbyist. The more and more Peashy explained, the more and more Neptune felt that strange feeling from before creeping up. She couldn't explain it, but seeing P-ko fully grown like this gave her a joy beyond what she could describe. The only thing that she could really compare it to was the times when Nepgear would do things that really impressed Neptune, like when she freed her from ASIC's grasps, or really made a cool invention.
As they finished their lunches, and prepared to say their goodbyes, Peashy added one more line that shook Neptune to her very core.
"You know miss, I really enjoyed talking with you, you really remind me of my Mom!" In those few words Neptune's very world was shaken, seeing the look on the woman's face Peashy quickly clarified, "I mean, you both are really silly and funny, and you both have a really unique way of talking, ooo and you both really like your sweets! When I was growing up, I used to steal my Moms ice cream all the time, she even had to put her name on it to try and stop me! Of course that didn't stop me!" Giving a laugh at this, Peashy then looked at her watch, "Oops! Sorry miss, I gotta get back to work!" Just like that the woman was gone.
For a moment Neptune sat there, silent. It all made sense now. She finally figured out what Histy had tasked her to do. Finally it all made sense, but did she want to accept it? Did she want to accept the fact that she looked at P-ko as her own daughter? As much as Neptune wanted to reject the idea, she simply couldn't get herself to. It made everything fit together, why she considered her more like a family in her class structure. Why it didn't matter what they were doing as long as she was with her. Why those times the world prevented her from seeing P-ko seemed to be almost tourture. The more and more Neptune thought about it, the more she couldn't dismiss the idea.
But say she did look at P-ko like a daughter, what then? What does she do with this? As Neptune still sat at the table she found herself unable to come up with an answer. After much deliberation, she eventually decided upon her course of action. She would go back to the Basilicom and ask Histy for her advice, after all it was her fault she was like this!
After the long, and silent trek back to the Basilicom, Neptune made her way back to Histy's office. Knocking on the door to announce herself, she began "Histy, can I come in?"
"Neptune? Of course, what seems to be the matter?" After making her way in, she sat down on one of the quiet comfortable chairs scattered around the room.
"Histy, I thought about what you told me earlier. I think- I think the reason that P-ko means so much to me is that she's more like a daughter to me than anything…" Neptune looked down as she explained her conclusions of her own reflections. "But Histy, I don't know what to do, what if me knowing that makes me act weird around her? What-what if I push her away, Histy I can't handle losing her again!" Neptune let out the fear that she held in her heart, perhaps that was the reason behind it all. In her heart Neptune believed that if she ever became honest with her thoughts on the young girl that she wouldn't be able to maintain the relationship so precious to her.
"Oh Neptune… Familiar bonds are not so easily broken, in fact, as embarrassing as it is to share with you, I believe you have a right to know. I struggled with something very similar sometime ago. It's why I was so able to sense something similar in you, Neptune, do you know who it is that I consider almost like a daughter?"
"I dunno who?" Neptune kept her head down as she asked. But she soon brought it up as she felt arms attempt and wrap themselves around her.
"Neptune, that person is you" Histoire admitted, and despite the limitations of her personality, she felt a blush creep its way onto her face.
"Ohh Histy" Neptune returned the gesture as much as was possible. For a moment they shared that, before breaking apart. "I always knew you were like a cranky mom"
"You see Neptune, admitting to yourself how you feel isn't a prison, as a matter of fact it is quite the opposite, I implore you to visit Peashy today as to ease your heart, I am sure you will feel better."
"That sounds like a good idea, I'll see you later Histy!" Neptune waved as she rushed out of the office, and Histoire was left with a feeling not new, but still pleasant, pride. She was proud of the goddess, no, the person Neptune has become, and she looked forward to where they could lead this country of theirs in the future.
As Neptune made her way to and through the portal that connected the two worlds she felt a building sense of relief wash over her. After a more tulmortuous day than she was used to, she was really looking forward to her time with P-ko! As she made her way through Ultra Planeptune, she found herself in front of the Basilicom once more. This time however there was no doubt in her heart as to why she had made her way to the building.
As she made her way inside and greeted Mini Histy, along with Plutia alongside both Ultra Noire and Blanc performing their usual shenanigans to pitifully try and draw more of Plutia's attention, Neptune offered them a pleasant greeting. She made her way further into the Basilicom, to where she knew P-ko tended to be around. As she entered the room, she immediately heard the young child, "Neptuuuuuuna!" Despite knowing what had to happen next, Neptune still ran forward to give her daughter a hug, only to get a head straight to the solar plexus. But that was fine, she wouldn't have it any other way. As the world's strongest toddler lay on top of her, Neptune sat up and brought the girl into her with the tightest Nep hug she could manage. To her, all was right in the world, and everything would be as long as she could still hold onto her little ball of energy.
END