Chapter 2
AN: Woooah bet you didnt see this coming huh? Well I may have said that this was a one shot, but I just thought of a great idea for how another chapter of this could work so I had to write it down. I thought 'man its nice and all that Neptune came to terms with how she looks at Peashy, but what about the other way aroung?' And thus this chapter was born. Peashy and Neptunes relationship is just so sugar sweet that I couldn't help myself. So if you also suffer from a similar problem may I present to you, a Chapter 2 no one asked for!
-marketvalueneps
Change is a funny thing. Sometimes change is something you dread. It leaves you behind in the dust struggling to keep up with what you used to love. Sometimes you yourself cause the change, and have to deal with how it affects those you love. Sometimes still change is for the best, and you are left wondering what you even were worrying about in the first place...
Peashy wasn't quite sure when it started. She wasn't quite conscious of when the changes seemed to start. She never was very good at keeping track of time, she was a very 'in the now type of person'. However even if she wasn't sure of when it happened she surely knew that a change indeed had happened. For however long it had been going on, Neptuna had changed.
Peashy wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It wasn't a bad thing, on the contrary Peashy had never felt closer to the Planeptunian Goddess. Even that wasnt to say she wasnt close before, she certainly was. The time they spent together was a testament to that. But different was still different. It was simple things she noticed in their interactions. She yelled at her less. She reacted less angrily when Peashy gave her a trademarked Pea headbut. She let her have her Nep's Pudding more than usual. She gave her hugs more than usual. The way she looked at her was different as well. Her gaze was much softer these days, with genuine warmth behind it. She was different.
Peashy tried to rack her brain to try and think of a solution to why Neptuna had seemingly acted so differently. Perhaps… Perhaps aliens had taken the real Neptuna! They took her and left this imposter behind in her place. Or, or maybe she ate a funky pudding and it was mind controlling her! Or maybe she was dying, and trying to not worry her in her last moments!
With these thoughts rushing through the young child's head she ran through the basilicom, that served as her home for as long as she could remember. Well, other than the time she spent with 'mommy' and 'daddy', in actuality Rei Ryghts and Annonydeth. But as time went by Peashy actually found herself thinking of those two less and less. To the bee child those memories felt more and more fake with every passing day. She couldn't put words to it, but this was her home and this is where she belonged!
She pushed those thoughts away as she found herself in front of her destination, the main office. Peashy very scarcely found herself in this part of the basilicom, but this matter deserved to be handled super duper importance! So who better to ask on super duper important matters then Histy? After all she was like the smartest person Peashy knew. She loved Ploot, and Neptuna dearly, but even the young girl knew they weren't exactly reliable in situations like this. And besides, if Neptuna had been replaced by an imposter, then why would she ask the imposter about it? As if the imposter would tell her the truth.
Not even bothering to knock Peashy let herself into the office, looking around she quickly spotted the exceptionally small fairy by her equally impressively small desk. Seriously, who made that desk, and how? Questions surely nobody planned on answering. Regardless, as Peashy found her eyes on Histoire, she saw a look of confusion flash on the tome's face.
"Why hello, Peahsy, what is it that brings you here?" Histoire started amicably.
"Histy! Histy! It's terrible! You gotta help!" Peashy yelled out running over to the fairy and picking her up.
"Ugh, young lady, please. Unhand me please, may you explain to me what exactly is happening?" Histoire struggled against the grip of the world's strongest toddler.
"Histy, Neptuna has been replaced by an alien!" Peashy did as she was ordered, gently putting Histoire down before explaining her concern. For her part Histoire attempted to remain calm, and take the young lady seriously, as difficult as that proved.
"My, and why would you think that Neptune has been replaced by an alien?"
"Cause, cause she's been different lately" Peashy tried to explain herself as best she could, "Cause Neptuna usually never gives me Nep's pudding, and she always gets mad at me, and now she gives me hugs…" Peashy trailed off, entering deep thought as she tried to verbalize what she was thinking, "It wasn't all at once, and like it's just different, and I'm scared they took my Neptuna away, I want my Neptuna back!" She looked as though she was close to the verge of tears.
Histoire, however, tried to remain as calm as possible during this situation. She knew what Peashy was referring to, she had too noticed a change in the Goddess whom she used to work under. Sensing that something may be at foot she had no recollection of, she contacted her other self to try and figure out a cause behind it.
It was a few weeks ago when Histoire had decided to contact her other self regarding Neptune. Ordinarily she would chalk it up to Neptune just being Neptune, however she could not shake an uneasy feeling in her heart on the matter. This compiled with the sheer strangeness of Neptune's actions, with her largely ignoring Plutia on some days. Deciding that it served no purpose to stir on the matter she made the call.
"Why hello me, it is rare for you to call, what may I help you with today?" The larger of the two, from the Hyperdimension, began.
"Hello, I am sorry for my unannounced calling. But something has been stirring in my mind recently, and I just wished to put it to ease." The smaller Histoire explained.
"Ah I see, I would love if I may be of any help, I do know how those feelings can get to be dragging when trying to work" Histoire smiled
"I am curious you see, regarding Neptune, her behavior on our side has… changed? It likely is nothing but for some reason I cannot shake it from my mind."
"Neptune… I see. It likely has to do with the young child Peashy, correct?" Histoire put her finger to her chin as she postulated.
"Why yes it does, how did you know that?" The other Histoire was quite shocked at her other self's deduction.
"You see recently, Neptune seems to have come to terms with the nature of her relationship with this Peashy" Hyper Histoire explained the changes in her protege.
"Nature of her relationship? Could you please elaborate?" Ultra Histoire, however, was left confused at this explanation.
"I recently noticed something similar in Neptune, so I tasked her with reevaluating how exactly it is she looks at Peashy. When she returned she seemed to come to the conclusion that she looks at Peashy as her daughter. So actually I am glad you called, I wished to confirm if this assessment seems accurate." Histoire's tone seemed to be curious, with a hint of concern(?).
"My, thinking upon it, it does seem quite obvious. Neptune was the one who raised Peashy. Even if IF and Compa were also there at that time, Neptune always seemed to gravitate towards Peashy, and Plutia mainly raised IF and Compa. Perhaps I underestimated just how much she means to Neptune…" Histoire looked a bit down as she finished her assessment.
"Do not blame yourself, Neptune is a fickle person sometimes, So she can be quite difficult to read, and I apologize for that" Histoire reassured her counterpart, however she did have one more question lingering on her mind, "While we are on the subject I find myself curious, how is it that Peashy views Neptune?"
Back in the present, Histoire could feel the question asked by her other self resonate in her as she looked at the small child before her. For everyones sake she needed to get to the answer to that question. "Now, now Peashy. I am quite confident that Neptune was not taken by aliens, now can you tell me when you started noticing these differences in her?" Deciding to act on a hunch Histoire began her line of questioning.
"Hmmmm…" Peashy put forth all her brain power trying to think of when exactly this started. Neptuna had been Neptuna up until… up until… Suddenly it clicked "Oo Oo I remember! It was right after that month that Neptuna couldn't come here! Remember Histy? That must be when the aliens took my Neptuna!" Ready to transform on the spot and go alien hunter, Peashy had put together her theory.
"My, around the time when Neptune couldn't come here, and Peashy, how would you say that time made you feel?" Yes, Histoire remembered that very well. With contact to the Hyperdimension suddenly severed. Histoire had run herself ragged trying to figure out what had happened. To say she was relieved when she finally received contact from her other self to explain the situation would be an understatement. Imagine her shock we she was told that a bitter past goddess had tried to enact revenge against the whole dimension!
"It was horrible! I was so worried about Neptuna! When I couldn't see her, Pea was so sad" She explained, and it was true. During the time Peashy found herself asking Plutia almost every day when she could see Neptuna again. For her part Plutia remained as calm as she could, and put on her happiest face when she explained it would be soon. Although she too was worried about her friend.
Peashy had tried everything her little brain could think of. She tried walking to where the portal was, she screamed out Neptune's name. She transformed and flew as high as her body allowed her. She even visited all the other nations to try and see if they had hidden Neptune there. With Noire and Blanc being confused and angry at such allegations, and Vert simply trying to abduct Peashy on the spot.
Slowly Peashy came to the conclusion she simply had to wait. And wait she did, for what felt like years to her.
On one particular day Peashy found herself on the steps of the basilicom, Neptuna doll in hand.
"Now what are you doing out her Peashy?" Drawn out of her trance, Peashy looked to the origin of the voice to see IF crouched to her level. Ordinarily Peashy would be ecstatic to see the woman she considered almost like a sister, but today she felt off.
"Hey Iffy…" She waved over to the guild agent.
"Now I know something is up, cmon lets go get some fresh air" IF offered her hand, and as she lifted Peashy up they took a stroll through Planeptune. Settling into a park bench after procuring some ice cream.
"So what's buggin ya?" IF tried to start as she licked her blueberry cone.
"Iffy I miss Neptuna, it's been like forever since she's been here" Peashy started solemnly as she gently licked her peach ice cream.
"Aw man, Peashy, you remember what Histoire said, something happened with the connection to Neptunes world, we just have to be patient" She tried to explain to the young girl, who actually was the same age as her. IF tried her best not to think about what borderline atrocities had been committed to her friend as best she could. But it always was bizarre when she looked at Peashy.
"But what if she never comes back Iffy…" Peashy was getting teary eyed as she spoke.
"Geez." IF scratched her neck as she thought about how she wanted to handle the situation in front of her. "Listen, if there's anyone who can make complete nonsense work out in the end it's Nep. We just have to trust her. And besides we still have madam Plutia right?" IF tried to offer her best, but the look she received made her regret how she phrased it.
"Yea… I love Ploots lots. But Neptuna is Neptuna. If I can't see her again-" It would appear the flood gates opened as Peashy began bawling, dropping her cone in the process.
Dropping her own, IF quickly brought the crying girl into her arms. "Hey now, shhh, cmon, look at me." After confirming that she was in fact looking at her, she continued, "Now has Nep ever let us down before?" A nod. "That's right. And do you think she'll give up on something important to her?" A shake. "Now do you think you are important to her?" Nothing. "Peashy, look at me, you are more important to that blockhead then she'll ever let you know. Now if I know her, she'll use all her 'game breaking cheats' to bust down that dimensional corridor if she has to. So all we have to do is believe in her, you can give her the biggest headbutt she can handle when you see her again." Suddenly IF could see Peashy break into one of her broad smiles. "Now that's better; cmon what do you say, wanna grab some fresh cones?"
So IF offered her hand to the blonde as they made their way back to the ice cream parlor to order replacement cones. And this time the cones were finished.
Looking up to Histoire, Peashy added one more line "When Pea can't see Neptuna no matter what she does… Pea gets really sad." Histoire smiled, they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.
"I see, Peashy, is there any particular way that Neptune is acting that is making you upset?" Histoire knew at this point how the child thought, but getting her to say it herself was the important part of the issue.
"Hmm no. I dunno. It makes Pea happy when Neptuna is nice to her. Or when she gives her hugs. Or… or when she sees how happy Neptuna is to see her. Im not upset at what Neptuna is doing"
"Peashy, why is it then that you came to me with this matter?"
"Cause, cause if it's a fake Neptuna, then I don't care if it's a nicer Neptuna! I wanna spend time with the real Neptuna! Why would I want to spend time with a fake Neptuna!" Peashy flailed her arms, as if she was explaining the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why is it that Neptune is so important?"
"Cause Neptune is Neptuna, and Pea loves her lots and lots!" She kept flailing her arms. Wasn't Histy supposed to be smart? How did she not get this?
"But are there not also other people you love?" Peashy stopped at this. She looked up to Histoire with an unreadable expression, after a little while she began.
"Yea, I love Ploot, and I love Iffy and Compa, and I love Histy, and I love Bert, sometimes. But I love Neptuna the most. Neptuna is Neptuna. She's always there for Pea. Neptuna will always be there for Pea"
"Hmmm I see, and why do you think that is?" Histoire could almost see the gears starting to turn in the young girls head. She finally seemed to be leading her to the right thought process.
Once more Peashy stopped. She had never really considered it. I mean what more could there possibly be? Neptuna is Neptuna there should be nothing more to it. But as Histoire's question hung in the air, Peashy couldn't help herself think about it.
For literally as long as Peashy could remember, Neptuna was always there. When she wanted to play? Neptuna. When she was hungry? She'd just take Nep's pudding. When she needed a shoulder to cry on? Neptuna. When she wanted somewhere comfy to take a nap? Neptuna. Whenever she wanted to go somewhere with someone Neptuna was always the first person her mind came to.
Peashy could not imagine a life without her in it. She didn't want to imagine a life without her. A life without her seemed alien.
That definitely seemed to make them different then all of Peashy's other friends. Despite how much she loved all her friends, no one seemed to come close in Peashy's mind to Neptune. But where did that leave her? As she thought it over she couldn't help but think back to all the times she had walked around Planeptune city, with Neptune or otherwise. She couldn't help but notice all the kids her age walked with someone close by their side.
On one specific occasion when she asked Neptune about it, Neptune simply laughed at her, and soon thereafter received a fist to the skull. After recovering, she explained that those were those kids' parents, and that every kid had a mom and dad. That you couldn't change your parents no matter what cheat code you used, and that no matter what a parent was always there for their kid. No matter what.
Always there for you. No matter what. Sort of like what Neptune was for Peashy.
Was that it? Was that what Histy wanted her to figure out? Deciding to not waste time, Peashy quickly started up again. "Histy? Is Neptuna Pea's mom?" Peashy looked genuinely curious as she asked the seemingly out of place question. Luckily for Histoire, she was artificially made. Had she not, no person would be able to resist crushing the girl in front of them in a hug. But luckily Histoire was able to remain calm as she formulated her response. Soon though, she found it to be pointless.
"Hiiisssstty! Pluuuuutie! P-kooooooo!" For at that very moment, Neptune had decided to pay one of her frequent visits. Smiling, Histoire offered Peashy one last thought,
"I believe it would be best to ask her herself, don't you think?"
After a moment's thought, Peashy decided that she agreed with Histoire, offering a quick 'thanks Histy' she made her way to the voice as quickly as her little legs would carry her. Soon enough she spotted the hoodie wearing goddess, and she quickly yelled out.
"Neptuna!"
"Hey there P-ko, boy do you have a lot of energy today. It's a Monday don't you know, it's like illegal to have this much energy on a monday." Neptune chuckled, as she braced herself for what she knew was coming, a head to the solar plexus. To her shock though, it did not come. In its place instead was a feeling of two arms wrapping around her waist. As she looked down she saw that Peashy had attached herself to her. Smiling, and offering her a pat on the head. "Awe that's my P-ko… Here check this out! I brought you a gift!" Seeing yellow hair turn upward, she knew she had caught her attention, "Check it!"
She brought out a pudding cup out of her pocket. Peashy offered a strange look, this didn't seem like something worth making a big deal out of. "I see that look in your eye, I forgive you my naive P-ko for thinking this is just some run of the mill Nep's pudding. But in actuality it's wayyyy more than that. This is the limited edition Purple Heart brand pudding that my Planeptune is selling with our new game launch. I haven't had any of it yet, so I figured what better way to test it then with the only other girl I know that appreciates the finer things in life as much as I do." Neptune finished with a warm smile, as she offered one of her pudding cups to the bee child.
"Woooa really?! Thanks Neptuna I love you!" Taking the pudding, Peashy ran off with a giggle towards the kitchen. Neptune couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness as she heard the words leave her daughter's mouth.
Making her way into the kitchen, she noticed that Peashy had taken her spot, and grabbed a (strangely square) spoon. But she had not yet dug in. She soon spotted Neptune, and giggled as she said "Neptuna you're so slow, how long did you wanna make me wait?"
"Geez P-ko, I think it's more that you have way too much energy." Neptune quickly took the seat next to Peashy, and soon the both dug into their sweet treats, savoring the rich sweet flavor as it melted on their tongues. They found themselves in silence as they ate. However, to Peashy she soon found herself circling back to the conversation she just had with Histoire.
Never being someone to be anxious or find embarrassment a reason to not speak her mind, Peashy found it odd that the words seem to stick in her throat. Evidently though she wore her emotions better then she may have been able to verbalize, Neptune quickly noticed something was off.
"Hey P-ko, everything ok? You seem a little tense" Neptune had genuine worry laced in her words, Peashy shook her head furiously, as if to rid her of the obstacles of voicing her thoughts, and soon she began.
"Neptuna? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, you can ask me anything, if it's bullies on the playground I'll Nep them up!" Peashy giggled before she looked down once more.
"No it's not that Neptuna… It's…" swallowing she forced the words out "Neptuna, are you my mom?" Neptune gasped.
Neptune always wondered how Vert would get into her famous 'hugging everyone and make them my little sister' mode. But now? She got it. For the life of her she wanted to hug the young girl next to her. Hug her tight and never let her go. Somehow though Neptune managed to keep her wits about her.
"W-What makes you want to say that P-ko?" Still trying her best to keep herself together Neptune asked.
"Well… See I was talkin with Histy earlier. And I think I realized something, remember when we took that walk that one time and you explained to me what parents were?"
"After you rudely punched me in my pretty face"
"Well, you said that parents were always there for you. No matter what. Well Neptuna is always there for Pea. I love Neptuna the most of all, when I was talkin with Histy. So Pea was wondering if that makes you my mom"
A single thought went through Neptunes head at that moment. 'To hell with it, I get it now Vert, I really do'. Grabbing Peashy as tight as she could she brought her as close to her body as she could manage.
"Ohhh P-ko! Of course I can be your mom! I love you too, you little bugger!"
Ordinarily whenever Peashy was hugged with this much force it was because of a certain other blonde. Usually Peashy did as much as she could to escape the grasp of said blonde. But this was different. Peashy didn't want to escape this hug. This felt right to her. Never in her life had she felt this type of love. No not when she was with the woman she called 'mommy'. That wasn't her mother. Neptuna was her mother, and by the goddess she just wanted to stay here forever.
As the two embraced they felt everything fall into place. They surely would have stayed in that positions for hours if it wasn't for...
"Awwww isn't that cute Neppy" Plutia had taken the liberty of making her way into the kitchen.
"Hey Plutie! Me n' P-ko here had a real bonding moment"
"Thats niice, I just woke up from a looong nap."
"Once again my friend you never cease to amaze me"
As the hours rolled on, Neptune eventually found it to be about that time for her to head out. As she stood up she offered her goodbyes to everyone, however as she turned to leave, she found an additional weight on her legs.
"I dont want Neptuna to leave"
"Aww P-ko Im flattered but I gotta get back to my world, I cant leave Nep Jr or Histy waiting too long."
"Take me with you!" The child yelled.
"Peassshy is that really what you want" Plutia asked in her sleepy tone. Despite sounding how she did Peashy knew not to mess with Ploot, if she asked something you answered truthfully.
"I wanna go with Mom" She puffed out as she tightened her grip on Neptunes leg. Neptune could swear she felt her heart burst, quickly reassemble itself, only to explode once more.
It turned out Neptune did have to stay a little later than she intended. It took quite a bit of time for Histoire to draw up the official transfer of custody document, and while Neptune had signed her name on countless documents in the past. These were probably the most important documents she had ever signed.
To say that Nepgear and Histoire were in for a shock upon Neptunes return would be putting it mildly, however they both accepted Neptune's decision with minimal convincing.
Planeptune had had some weird rumors over the years. With a goddess like Neptune, it just came with the territory. Everything from accidental pudding doggo creation, thus dubbed puddigoos. To a robot army whose purpose was to find and do as much housework as possible, admittedly this one was not Neptunes fault. And of course who can forget when lewd photographs of the CPU candidate accidentally got leaked… again.
But all that was to be expected at this point, it was even charming to the people of Planeptune. However, if they said they were expecting today's headline they would be lying.
Lady Purple Heart adopts a child? What do our experts say about this latest puzzling move by the CPU?
The shock value alone sold millions. However if you thought the shock of the populace was something to behold, we now take our scene into a certain Lastation Basilicom.
"Lady Black Heart I have a report for you" A lastation soldier frantically rushed into the office of a certain twin-tailed overworking goddess.
"What is it? What could be so important you rush into here like this?" Noire was taken aback by the seeming panic in her soldier. This sort of nation toppling problem usually was reserved for Lowee!
"See for yourself"' Added the soldier as he handed Noire the latest copy of the Planeptune Time.
"Hmm let me see here, Nepgear got caught being lewd again? Uni might care about that... wait what? Why would she? Never mind, oh Neptune has a kid now, how cute… SHE WHAAAATTTT!"
It should be noted that a CPU requesting an emergency meeting with another CPU is a rare occurrence. All 3 CPUs calling an emergency meeting at the same time is unprecedented, and usually in past generations was reserved solely for war time meetings. Yet here Blanc, Noire, and Vert found themselves in one of the Planeptune Basilicom's meeting rooms. Waiting for the studge of the hour to arrive.
"My bet is on drugs" Blanc started up conversation idly with the others.
"Or just sheer stupidity?" Vert added.
"Knowing her it may very well be both" Noire finished.
"Hey gals! How's it hanging?" As if on cue Neptune walked into the room and took her seat at the head of the table.
"Neptune, explain yourself immediately" Blanc calmly started the interrogation.
"Hmm? Bout what?" Neptune seemed genuinely confused.
"This dunce" Noire slid the newspaper towards Neptune, who after a moment of reading scratched her head.
"Oh hahaha that got out? I tried to keep that as underground as possible… I wonder who ratted me out, my money is on the moody ninja. Welp guess there is any hiding it, P-ko!" Neptune left the room yelling. Leaving the other CPUs behind, baffled. After 3 minutes she returned, and in tow was a blonde haired girl. "Introduce yourself P-ko"
"Call me Pea!"
"What" Noire started
"The" Vert added
"Fuck" Blanc finished.
"This is P-ko, she's my ball of energy and I just love her to bits!" Neptune hugged Peashy while rubbing her cheek on hers. Peashy giggled as she threw her arms around her mom.
To say that a great deal of 'meetings' were held in the coming weeks was an understatement. But to Neptune it didn't really matter at all. She was as happy as she had ever been.
I promise you there is no more, well unless I get a really good idea, but I sincerely doubt it. I hope you enjoyed! This time it is the real
END