Author Notes - I think we're approaching the 'climax', but I honestly can't quite tell. The 'climax' of this story will be Molly and Gil finally confronting each other again, but I think I still have a little bit more to settle before then. Plus, I have to build up to it a little more. I don't want that ending scene to happen suddenly and leave little impact because of it.

For instance, there's everything between Deema and Gil. I have been resolving that plot, by having her slowly but surely return to her perky self while realising that she stopped delaying the inevitable, but there's still a little more stuff to be done. I want to give Zooli a bit more to do, perhaps delve more into Goby's new hatred of Molly... I've set up a lot and I'm not stopping and giving this story a climax until everything is under control.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - FRIENDSHIPS ARE RETURNING

After her day off, Deema wasn't quite sure what awaited her when she arrived back at school. She was certainly not expecting the Guppies to be angry at all or anything like that, like she might've just a day or two ago, but she wasn't expecting that much joy after everything her 'joke' had done. So, what awaited her on the other side of the front door?

'DEEMA!'

Why, a warming cuddle from Oona, of course. Oona must've known that Deema was coming, as she was already waiting by the front door before it even opened. Or, most likely, she just noticed Deema's gigantic hair through the small window.

Oona hugged her tightly, so tight that she could hardly breath. She had forgotten just how warm and inviting an Oona hug could be, and since she couldn't bear to leave it unrequited she returned it as quickly as possible. This wasn't your average Oona hug - this was the kind of hug she normally reserved just for Nonny, and it was as good as it got in possibly the entire world.

'I'm so glad you came back!' Oona cried. 'I missed you so much!'

Deema's heart warmed and became so overjoyed that it nearly broke. She may have been surprised that Oona still loved her this much despite what she had done, but she knew she shouldn't have been. No one should've expected less from the sweetest girl in the world, and the first one who Gil forgave.

'I… I missed you too, Oona!' Deema replied. 'And I also missed when my ribs weren't getting crushed.'

'Oh, sorry!'

Oona took a step back, but she used up a lot of willpower not to continue her bear hug with her best friend. Her happiness could be described, but no words in the world could properly express just how happy she was to finally see Deema again.

Deema only had a few seconds to gather her breath, because…

'Deema!'

… Goby saw her too and brought her into a hug. Fortunately, his embraces never got nearly as 'loving' as Oona's, but they still touched Deema's heart in a strange way that her young child mind couldn't understand or explain. It didn't last nearly as long either, since he let go and gave her space after just a few seconds.

'L-Look, I know it's only been a day,' He said, scratching the back of his neck. 'But I was kinda worried that I wouldn't see you again for a while.'

'Oh Goby,' Deema said with a slightly flirty tone. 'I could never be without you for too long.'

Zooli and Nonny still sat in their spots, but that wasn't to say that they hadn't noticed her arrival. Zooli giggled at the Deema-ish goofiness that she had come to miss over the past few days, while Nonny managed a small smile. This little grin, already a rarity from him, just seemed even nicer after he had gotten no opportunities to smile for days.

'Hi Zooli!' Deema greeted with a wave. 'Hey Nonners!'

Mr Grouper arrived from the 'teacher only' room while Deema was greeting her friends, and he had to smile too when he saw her floating in the classroom with his other students. He couldn't be certain, but it seemed as though his most extravagant student had finally returned to her former glory, aside from the black eye. At least, she was far more Deema-ish at that moment than she had been in days.

'Good morning, Deema!' He said. 'I see that your little break did you some good, huh? Remember, you can take as many days off as you want.'

Deema smiled, and became a little speechless. Everyone else in the room - even Nonny - gave her warm, welcoming smiles, and the hugs from Goby and Oona were filled with warmth and love. If she didn't know any better, she'd think that everyone had forgotten that it was her joke that caused everything. Even Molly, who mere days ago had a terrible outburst, showed almost no signs of animosity.

Perhaps it was just because they were being nice to her after she got punched, but Deema knew better than that.

After everything I've done, they're still friendly with me, She thought. They still love me.

'If anyone here can make up for Gil's absence,' Zooli said. 'It's you, Deema.'

'Oh, that could be hard.' Deema said. 'But I'll try.'

Molly giggled. 'Deema, you don't need to try. You're amazing just by existing.'

Deema watched as everyone else swam into the middle of the room and sat down in their usual places. She took in a deep breath and followed them, settling herself right next to Oona. Her heart warmed just by being in the presence of the adorable little girl, and she didn't want it to stop.

If they can still be good friends with me, She thought. Then maybe, I can… She shook her head. Can't be certain yet. I gotta think about it.

'Just so you know,' Oona said. 'I'll have to leave soon.'

'To visit Gil?' Deema finished. 'Yeah, Molly told me everything.'

'Do you want to come with me?'

Deema's eyes widened. She shuddered a little as she thought about the blue-haired boy again, and the anger she had seen in his eyes.

'Uh, no thanks.' She said. 'I-I'm not sure if I'm ready to see Gil again. M-Maybe another time but, uh, not today.'

'Couldn't agree more.' Molly said. 'I have to see Gil again, but I want to be sure that I do it right this time. I'm not repeating any mistakes. I've done enough, thank you very much. And then, whether he forgives me or not, I can finally step down and let someone else take my place.'

Nonny winced. It seemed that it was an unwritten rule among his classmates that they couldn't bring up that he was the next in line, but it didn't stop him from thinking about it anyway. As far as he was aware, it was the equivalent of the Queen of England telling him he was the future king. He had some big shoes - or gloves, seeing as he lacked feet - to fill.

'Oh yeah, ya told me about that!' Deema said. 'You still choosing Nonny or do you have someone else in mind?'

'Ask Gil first.' Nonny said, his voice trembling a little. 'He deserves a chance to take the position before me.'

Molly nodded. 'Don't think I haven't thought about that. If he wants the role, he gets it. I know he's a little silly, but anyone would be better than me.' She took a deep breath. 'Speaking of which… Mr Grouper, can I make a video? It's really important.'

Mr Grouper knew exactly what the video was going to be about, and nodded. 'Of course! I'll go get the camera…'

As he swam into another room to fetch his camera, Oona looked at the clock. It was almost time for her to leave, and most of her friends looked to her as if expecting her to get up. Before she did, though, she had a request from Gil to fulfil.

'Goby,' She said. 'You're coming with me today.'

The short-haired boy flinched. 'Wait, me? Why?'

'It's a surprise.' She answered with a smile. 'But you'll need to take your dump truck with us.'

Goby held his toy dump truck in his arms, holding it close to his chest. It had a lot of memories packed into it, the greatest one being that glorious time Gil helped him save it from that raging bulldozer. Now, that beloved memory was tainted with the reality of the present. He couldn't think about any of his memories with Gil quite the same way anymore.

'Why do I need my dump truck?' He asked, just as the elevator reached the right floor.

'You'll see!' Oona replied.

As the two young Guppies swam down the hallway, Goby observed his surroundings. It hadn't dawned on him until that moment, but the hospital carried a solemn tone. Some of the people walking around required wheelchairs or casts, and he could hear heavy coughing from half the rooms. A few of the doors were open, and through them he could see people lying in hospital beds just like his best friend. Some seemed to be in a better state than Gil, but some were even worse. One unlucky lobster had so many things hooked up to her that Goby could hardly see her through it all, and her visitors wept to themselves. He felt like he was invading their privacy, but he couldn't look away.

The place had seemed so happy when they visited Avi, and met Mia, and helped out the mayor. He pictured the hospital as a nice place to be, and while it certainly was better than receiving no care at all and being left to die alone, it wasn't nearly as lovely as he remembered it being. Now, he saw it as a place of sorrow and suffering.

'You okay, Goby?' Oona asked as they approached Gil's room.

Goby returned his focus to the mission at hand. 'Y-Yeah. I'm just thinking about… all the poor people here. S-Some people have it even worse than Gil, a-and… I didn't think that was possible.'

'Please, try to ignore it. I know that's hard, but I've learnt that being a doctor isn't as nice as I thought it would be. It's only nice because you know you're helping people.'

She opened the door to Gil's room, and from Goby's perspective it took forever to open. He grasped onto his toy truck like his life depended on it, unsure what to expect on the other side of that door. Oona's smile did little to calm him down.

What he saw was a smile on Gil's face.

'Hey Goby!' He greeted.

Goby waved back without a word. Gil, too, said nothing, and simply held up his toy bulldozer. The visitor didn't quite get the hint, so Oona pushed him further into the room, all the way up to the hospital bed.

'Arf arf!'

Bubble Puppy stuck his head out from under the bed and greeted Goby with a wag of his tail. If only the Guppy knew how good of a sign that was.

'Wanna play?' Gil asked, lightly tapping the bulldozer against the dump truck.

Goby's eyes widened, and he dropped the truck in shock. It slammed into the hard hospital floor, but being a toy truck it didn't even get a single scratch. Bubble Puppy whimpered and hid under the bed as the toy landed with a mighty thud.

'You… you wanna play with me?' Goby asked. 'Why me?'

'We haven't played construction vehicles in a while.' Gil replied. 'Gonna dig it with my backhoe, scoop it with my bucket loader… I kinda miss it, ya know? We don't have any sand or blocks to use, but I think this bed will do. Just, uh, don't run my tail over. My bones haven't healed yet.'

Goby went to scoop up his toy, but it took his trembling hands a couple of attempts to get a grip. He couldn't quite focus - he was trying too hard not to cry. All the relief and joy from having another playtime with his best friend hit him all at once, and seeing as the hospital had already messed with his emotions, it was a bit much to handle. When he managed to grab it, he placed it on the bed and tried his hardest to give a genuine smile.

'W-What are we gonna build today?' He asked.

Gil tapped his chin in thought. 'Hm… how about a hospital? I know a thing or two about them.'

Goby chuckled. 'Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!'

'Okay, the camera's recording.' Mr Grouper said. 'Take your time, because we have plenty of film and Zooli knows a thing or two about video editing.'

Molly took in a deep breath. She sat herself down in front of the camera, on the counter of what used to be Deema's 'shop' to be exact. The light coming through the open window messed with the camera a little, but the area was both private and familiar, and Molly could see no better place to record it.

'What should I say?' She asked. 'I know what point I wanna get across, but what's the best way to say it?'

Mr Grouper peered out from behind the camera. 'Just tell the fans what they need to know. Don't worry too much about how they'll react. They need to know as soon as possible, and if they don't take the news well anyway then it won't matter how you say it.'

'Right. Of course.'

'Before you go through with this, I want you to think about it one last time. I would never doubt your ability to make choices, but I need you to be certain.'

She paused, but only for a moment. 'I am certain. A good leader knows when an even better leader should replace her.'

Mr Grouper nodded, and allowed her to speak. She remained silent for a bit, before she opened her mouth and spoke without thinking.

'Hi, it's me, Molly.' She said, directly to the camera. 'You may have noticed that there hasn't been any updates from us for a few days. That's because we're going through something… difficult. For the sake of our privacy I won't tell you what, but don't worry too much. No one has died or anything like that, but it's still more than we're willing to talk about.

'There is something I want to announce, though. The difficult things we're going through have made me realise something. I haven't been treating Gil as well as I should have, and I've been doing a terrible job as a leader. A good leader doesn't let her best friend get teased, or accidentally break the bonds between her friends. So, I am officially stepping down as the leader of the Bubble Guppies and giving the role to someone else in the band.

'I'm not certain who will be the leader instead, and until then I'll keep the role but no longer. We'll still be making the music you know and love, and I will still be here, but someone else will be in my place. I'll let you know as soon as we know who'll take the role. Just… don't worry. You guys don't need to do anything. All you have to do is accept the changes. You can be surprised. You can be shocked. Heck, you can even be disappointed and irritated. But please. We're going through enough as it is.

'I'm Molly, and that is all for now.'

She took in another deep breath as Mr Grouper stopped the video. It was tempting to collapse after she lifted such a heavy weight off her shoulders, but she was relieved to have gotten it out of the way. She managed a tiny smile, believing she did a decent job with the announcement.

'And that's a wrap!' Mr Grouper said as he took the camera off the tripod. 'We just need to hand this to Zooli so she can edit it down, and then we can publish it.'

'Did I do a good job?' Molly asked.

'A better job than I would. It's important that the message comes from you, so the fans know that this was your decision and no one else's. How does it feel to go through a big decision like this?'

She sighed. 'Not easy. But I'm happy knowing that it's for the best.'

As she returned to the middle of the room, where her classmates waited for her, she noticed that they must've been reassuring Nonny yet again that he would be an amazing leader. Zooli had joined him and Deema on their side of the room, and both girls wouldn't stop mentioning reasons why he was bound to do a great job.

'You're super smart!'

'You stay calm when things get crazy.'

'Your heart is as big as Jupiter! … That's the biggest planet, right?'

'Yes, Jupiter is-'

'And you're really helpful, too.'

The young boy had blush on his cheeks, which wasn't a surprise considering how humble he was. Just another great quality that would make him a great leader as far as Molly was aware. It was no wonder that Oona found him so adorable, and why the fans drew and wrote so many fanworks with them together.

'Come on, Nonners!' Deema said. 'I know you don't think you'd make a good leader, but that just makes you an even better one! Because, erm… you, uh, you won't be afraid to ask for help!'

Zooli giggled. 'You don't need any more reasons. You'll do a fin-tastic job. And even if you don't, it's not like it'll be forever. If you really want or need to step down, we can always get someone else.'

The girls went quiet to give him enough time to think about it. All three gave him soft, reassuring smiles, with Deema nodding at him like a bobblehead. After a few seconds of thought, Nonny breathed in deeply through his nose and stood up.

'I want to know if Gil wants the role first.' He said, a little more seriously than usual. 'I do not want to take the position from him if he wants to take it instead. If he decides that he doesn't want it, then…' He took in another breath. 'Then I will take it.'

'The tower needs more support! Quick Goby, grab the beams!'

'Don't worry, I've got them!'

It never failed to make Oona smile whenever she saw Gil and Goby playing together. They made do with their invisible blocks, and if anything they could create much more amazing structures with their imagination and no real world limits to hold them back. Granted, all three of them imagined the tower and the hospital very differently, but that didn't matter when the boys were simply having too much fun. Bubble Puppy sat in her lap, and she ran her fingers through his soft fur. Someone in that hospital must've been grooming him instead of Gil, because his fur was never this soft for very long without it.

With how dreary working as an assistant in a hospital could be, Oona needed some levity like this. That's what Deema was for, after all.

'Geez, how long has it been since we've done something like this?' Gil asked, pushing some more 'dirt' aside with his bulldozer.

'Too long.' Goby replied. 'Waaay too long.'

None of the kids had kept track of time, but they must've been playing for quite a while. The boys had built a magnificent invisible tower, right next to the big hospital where Gil could've easily reached it if it existed. Goby had gotten so into their building that he had forgotten the state that Gil was in, so when he turned to look at him again he flinched.

'Hey Gil,' He said. 'Why did you wanna play construction vehicles with me?'

'It's been a while.' Gil replied. 'And I kinda missed it. And, well, there was something I wanted to tell you…'

Goby gasped. Even though Gil hadn't dropped any hints, he already had a feeling that he knew exactly what his blue-haired friend was about to say. To demonstrate the seriousness of the situation, Gil put his bulldozer toy aside and looked Goby right in the eye.

'Goby, we've been best friends since the beginning.' He said, grabbing Goby's hand. 'You didn't play too many jokes on me, and I know how bad you feel about everything, so I don't think I'll regret saying… that I've forgiven you too.'

Once again, the dump truck in Goby's arms fell to the floor with a loud THUD. If you thought he was stunned before, you should've seen the shock in his eyes at that moment. A sentiment that grand needed time to register properly in his mind, and one could tell that it was processing when he began to tear up.

'You… you forgive me?' He repeated, hardly able to speak.

'Yep.' Gil replied. 'How could I not forgive my own best friend?'

To say the least, Goby reacted very differently than Oona. The female Guppy may have had a rather blank reaction, but Goby's was anything but. He smiled wider than he had in months and collapsed onto the side of the bed, absolutely crying his eyes out.

'T-Thank you, Gil!' He said. 'I-I didn't think I deserved to be forgiven, but I'm so happy that I am!'

'Woah.' Gil said. 'I did not expect you to take it like this.' He chuckled. 'Maybe you're a little more like Deema than we thought.'

'How else would I take it? After everything that's happened, I didn't expect you to forgive me at all, let alone this soon! I… I think I need a moment.'

He swam to a chair on the other side of the room and sat himself down. All the emotions hitting him at once overwhelmed him, thanks to this being the happiest he had been in a couple of years. Oona took the opportunity to gently move Bubble Puppy off her lap and swim back over to Gil.

'Gil, Nonny wanted me to ask you a question.' She said. 'Seeing as Molly will be stepping down as the leader, would you like to take that role?'

Gil, without a second of thought, shook his head. 'Nah. It'd be neat, but I don't think I'd be very good at it. You need someone smart for the job.' He laughed. 'Seriously, Nonny deserves it way more than I do. And I don't wanna have the role if the only reason you're giving it to me is because of what's happened.'

Oona smiled. 'I'll let Nonny know as soon as I see him tomorrow! I don't think he's quite sure about taking the job yet, but I'm sure that your word might be a little more encouraging.'

'He's the smartest and nicest guy I know. I think we all know that he'll be great at it! And the fans seem to adore him, if all that fanart of you and him together is anything to go by.' He gasped. 'Wait, the fans… oh gosh, how are they going to take it?'

'However they take it isn't important. They went crazy when we introduced Zooli into the band, but we didn't care. This will not be any different.'

The editing was done, which was no surprise considering that all Zooli had to do was crop the video. Any sort of fancy effects would only distract from the point. It uploaded onto their website quickly enough, and now all she had to do was hit the 'publish' button. She moved her mouse over the button, but found herself unable to click it.

She sat back in her chair, and turned to the other people in the room. Deema and Molly couldn't stop building Nonny up as the greatest ruler of all time, which was only making him blush so hard he looked like he was on fire. It wasn't like she thought that he couldn't do it, not the slightest. It was something else, something that she herself had experienced.

The Bubble Guppies had a hiatus for a while, and when they announced their return to making music they also announced the arrival of a new band member - Zooli, of course. She had recently moved in from all the way in Big Bubble City, so it was already quite the culture shock for her. Next thing she knew, she was being welcomed into one of the most popular bands in all seven oceans. It should've been a great time for her, until the fans heard about it…

'Great, they've RUINED the band by adding a new member!'

'Another band member? Geez, how desperate for clicks can ya get?'

'How pandering. They only added this Indian girl for the sake of seeming woke. Go woke and go broke, I say.'

Obviously, all those people were the minority of fans and most of their listeners tolerated the change at worst. Still, she shuddered just thinking about all the hate. It seemed as though this situation wouldn't stop reminding her that she wasn't there from the beginning and was still just a 'newbie', between being unable to relate to the situation and the reception she had received initially.

She glanced over to Nonny. A kid so kind and sweet like him didn't deserve what she went through, yet she had a feeling that he would take the brunt of it if the fans turned out to hate the change. But Zooli knew she couldn't back out of it now. Molly had said her message. Mr Grouper had given her permission to upload it.

Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and clicked 'submit'.

Author Notes - Let me make one thing clear: the hate that Zooli received was not based on anything that I've seen people say about her in real life. I don't think any Bubble Guppies fan ever got that bad, and this is just to represent the crazy fans in general. If you had mixed-to-negative feelings about Zooli's inclusion, I am not calling you out personally and it is perfectly fine to have that opinion. Unless you were a complete jerk about it, of course.

I won't lie, I'm actually kinda tempted to delve more into the hate Zooli received as a full-on story. It would probably only be a oneshot, but I think it's an interesting topic to tackle and it would finally give some more fanfictions to Zooli who is severely lacking them.