Author Notes - Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, as it's more-or-less just a transitional chapter to get us from one major event to another. But we DO have Molly and Goby having their first one-on-one since he said that he, well, you know.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - BUILDING UP TO THE DAY

It took awhile for Nonny to stop crying. Everything over the past few days must've been building up, and he was releasing it all at once. The Guppies who were there made sure to stay by his side, making sure he felt safe and comfortable enough to let it all out. Molly couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that he could talk about how 'she always knows how to make people feel better', when she just failed to stop him from crying. Though she kept quiet so she wouldn't make the problem worse, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

After a while, Nonny had channelled all of his pent-up emotion and managed to calm himself down. He hadn't quite returned to his stoic self yet, but he had stopped crying and sniffling, and that was enough for him and his friends.

'I-I'm sorry.' He said. 'I didn't mean to make such a big deal out of it.'

'Don't apologise.' Zooli said. 'Ever. Not over something like this. You shouldn't say sorry when you're crying your eyes out. You have nothing to be sorry for.'

'I'm the one who should be saying sorry.' Molly said, sitting by his side. 'You kept saying that I always make people feel better, but I couldn't do a thing to cheer you up. If I was a good leader, I wouldn't have let this happen to you.'

Goby 'jumped' to his tail fins. 'And it is a big deal! I know I would be worried if I was the one taking over. It's a big responsibility! But we know you can do it.'

Nonny put his hands in his lap and stared at the floor. He remained silent, and for each second of silence that passed, the more concerned that his friends became. All he did while the others waited was lift up his goggles for a moment so he could wipe his eyes, and that was it.

Zooli tapped her chin in thought. 'You know, Nonny, if you're so worried about not being able to understand people's feelings… why not let Oona be a leader with you?'

Nonny's gaze shifted to look at her. 'Oona? Y-You mean… have two leaders?'

Goby smiled. 'Yeah! That's a great idea! I mean, there's seven of us. Eight if you count Bubble Puppy. That's enough to have two leaders, right? Then you can make all the smart decisions, and Oona can help with the feeling stuff that you struggle with.'

'I think that could work!' Mr Grouper said, all the way from the computer. 'You're both beloved by the fans, after all.'

Nonny's eyes widened, and he fiddled with his hands. His cheeks went just a little red as he thought about sharing the leadership role with his closest friend, and the wonderful heart that she would bring.

'W-Would she want to do that, though?' He asked.

Deema chuckled. 'Nonners, that girl adores you. If you broke your arm, she'd break her arm on purpose. You could ask her to jump into a volcano with you, and she would do it.'

'B-But… would the fans like it?'

'Nonny, come over here.' Mr Grouper called. 'You need to see this.'

The bespectacled Guppy looked at his friends for a moment, and they all smiled and nodded. Taking a deep breath, he swam over to his teacher and had a look at the computer screen. Mr Grouper had gone onto the 'fanworks' part of the page, and the young Guppy's eyes sparkled.

'These, Nonny,' Mr Grouper said. 'Are all the fanfictions and fanart starring you and Oona. Notice how it managed to beat out all the fanworks focusing on anyone else?'

The amount of fanwork pairing the both of them was astounding. Nonny's personal favourite was an adorable pencil drawing of him and her reading a book together, but that was just a tiny part of it all. It was such a common pairing in fanfictions too.

There was one about Oona helping him through a tragic event, written by an author who often wrote stories that were darker than the original work, and who concerned Nonny just slightly. One about him making a lovely picnic for her, or them both reliving the story of 'The Gift of the Magi', or talking about fireworks, and even one where Oona saved Nonny from some jerks by using impressive fighting skills against them.

'They think you're adorable together.' Mr Grouper said. 'If they find out that you're both leading the band, they'll be as happy as can be. And - admit you - you want to work with her too.'

Nonny blushed a little harder. 'Well, i-if Oona decides that she wants to lead with me,' He smiled. 'Then I'll work with her.'

Molly breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing a smile on his face was a wonderful sight to begin with, but even better after how awful he had felt just a few minutes ago. She sat on the floor and leaned her head back, almost like she was relaxing under the sea at the beach.

'I still can't believe you're going through with this!' Deema said.

'I think it's for the best.' Molly said. 'I bet that if Nonny was the leader from the beginning, none of this would've ever happened. Someone with a heart like his would never let one of his closest friends get bullied.'

'Hey, you've got a pretty good heart too!'

'Of course I do. It just wasn't good enough.'

Molly tried to remember what Deema said that her father told her. The problem was that Deema herself didn't remember much of it, and did a poor job at explaining it. Still, Molly understood the gist of it. Use the past's mistakes to fix the present for a better future. That was the point of mistakes, after all.

'Hey Deema,' Goby said. 'How did your meeting with Gil go today?'

'Oh! I was gonna talk about that, until I saw Nonners crying.' Deema replied. 'I told him I was sorry, and he said he doesn't know if he can forgive me yet.'

Goby's face fell. 'Oh.'

'BUT! But-but-but, he told me that he still considers me a friend! And, after thinking about it for almost a week now, I think I've decided that…' She smiled. 'That I'm staying!'

You could pinpoint the exact moment that Goby processed the news when he smiled wider than he ever had. He couldn't help but to bring Deema into another warm and loving embrace, one that she swiftly returned.

Nonny, even from the other side of the room, smiled almost as wide. 'Did you hear that, Mr Grouper? She's staying. She's really staying!'

Mr Grouper chuckled. 'Oh, I heard.'

'Deema, that's amazing news!' Molly said. 'The team just isn't the same without you!'

Zooli, though no less happy with the news than the others, remained silent and merely laughed along. Ever since she joined, Deema had always been regarded as 'the one who makes the Guppies the Bubble Guppies', but in her limited time couldn't know her much beyond her innumerable oddities that the other Guppies didn't find nearly as weird as she did. Still, she saw just how much of an impact Deema left on the entire team, and she was still overjoyed to hear her stay.

As Goby, Zooli, and even Nonny cheered for the return of their curly-haired friend, Molly pondered about the situation. Gil never had any problems with Zooli or Nonny to begin with, and Goby and Oona both found themselves forgiven in a relatively quick amount of time. With Deema not yet forgiven but still a friend, that left only the pink-haired Guppy. Her gaze fell into her lap as her mind began to wander away from her friends.

She didn't want to think about it. She wanted to pretend that everything between her and Gil never happened, and that she could just never talk to him again. Yet, she knew that she had to face it eventually. Sooner rather than later, if possible.

'You okay, Molly?' Zooli asked.

Molly glanced up at her, but only for a moment. 'No. Gil's talked to everyone else at this point, and that means I'm the only one left. So, eventually, I'll have to talk to him again.'

Zooli winced. 'Yeah, have fun with that. Your last meeting with him wasn't exactly pleasant.'

Molly groaned. 'Yes, I know. I think the last word he said to me was 'out'. And I deserved it. After I-'

Deema flinched. That scene still replayed itself in her mind, and Molly could tell that's exactly what was running through her head at that moment.

'Yeah, that.' She said. 'I screwed up. Big time. All because I wasn't getting my way for once.'

Deema nodded. 'Oh yeah. You get really grumpy when you don't get your way.'

'You're not helping. And Gilly… Gil had a good point. Everything goes my way, and he's been bullied this entire time. I mean, for cod's sake, I gave him hearing damage at least twice! I tried so hard to get forgiveness because I didn't know what I'd do if I didn't get it…' She sighed. 'And I just made everything worse for everyone, especially Deema. So I have to talk to Gil again, b-but I don't know what to say. Or what to do. I wanna get it over with as soon as possible, but… I can't screw up again.'

'Well, you can't screw up as badly as you did last time.'

'Deema, you are really not helping.' She giggled. 'But you're making me laugh, so I guess that's something.'

Deema smirked. 'Making people laugh is what I'm best at.'

Despite everything else going on, Molly felt some relief knowing that her relationship with Deema hadn't been permanently ruined, even if the scars remained. In a moment, her mind jumped to Goby. The indigo-haired boy was too happy with Deema's news to pay the former leader any attention. Well, she needed some way to prepare herself for her inevitable confrontation with Gil. It took all the courage in the world, but she got up and approached Goby as bravely as she could manage.

'Hey… Goby.' She said, with a voice more appropriate for defusing a bomb than chatting to a friend. 'Can we have a quick talk about the, ya know…?'

Goby sighed. 'Do we have to?'

'No, we don't. We really don't if you don't want to. You don't even have to talk to me if you hate me that much.'

The word 'hate' made Deema's eyes widen as quickly as her eyelids could go. It wasn't so much the word itself that shocked her so much, but that no one else seemed nearly as surprised to hear it as she was.

'Wait, hate?' Deema repeated. 'Don't you think that's too strong a word?'

'No.' Goby said, the moment she finished her question. 'No, we really don't.'

'But that would mean that you… oh.' She frowned. 'Goby, you don't really-?'

'Don't worry about it. Mr Grouper told us on your day off that hate is just a feeling like sadness or jealousy. It isn't something you control. It just happens.'

Deema looked back at Goby. She couldn't see a hint of anger or hatred in his eyes, so he must've been doing a fantastic job at hiding it. Molly glanced at him for only a few seconds before she groaned loudly.

'Goby, we need to talk.' She said.

'Uh, Molly,' Goby said, scratching the back of his neck. 'I don't think we need to-'

'Now.'

The other Guppies flinched, and all looked to Goby. Molly didn't say a word and merely swam away from the rest of the group, and Goby had no other idea but to follow her. She brought him to the most private room in the school that wasn't the Teacher's Lounge - Deema's old shop - and sat down by the window. Goby took a seat on the counter, next to the cash register. She didn't look at him, and watched the bubble columns just outside the window instead.

'Molly, I'm sorry.' He said. 'But I can't-'

'Why is it only you, Goby?' She asked. 'Why are you the only one who hates me?'

His eyes widened. 'Well, I-I… I'm so close to Deema and Gil that seeing what you did to them kinda hurt.'

'I know that. But why is it only you? Deema should hate me too after what I did to her…'

'I don't know. I don't even really know why I hate you. But what's the problem? Everyone else still likes you. Why would you want to be hated?'

Molly buried her face in her arms. 'Of course I don't want to be hated. I just don't understand why it's just you and…' She sighed. 'Gil.'

In that moment, Goby realised just what this conversation was really about. It didn't really surprise him that much at all.

'What are you doing to say to him?' He asked.

'I DON'T KNOW!' Molly cried, making him jump. 'I know that nothing I say could possibly be worse than what I said last time, but we got into such a heated argument and… everything he said about me was true. A-And our relationship is teetering so much that if I screw up just once more, he might not ever want to see me again.' She sighed. 'I love him too much to lose him, but maybe it would be for the best. Maybe he's better off without a 'friend' like me…'

Goby frowned. 'I-I don't know what I can say, but… I think you should give it a try. Like you said, nothing you say could possibly be as bad as what you said before.'

'Why are you giving me advice? You hate me. You said it yourself.'

He sighed. 'Because I don't want to hate you, Molly. I want to stay friends with you. I want to forget that this whole mess ever happened.' He looked her in the eye. 'But that won't happen. What happened has happened, and we can't go back and fix it. All I can do is try to get everything back on track the best we can. So I want you to reconcile with Gil.'

The both of them remained silent for a bit. It still didn't seem right that most of their conversations now were full of silence, but that was the way it was. The days of constant and joyful discussion seemed so distant now.

'It isn't going to happen, Goby.' Molly said, her tone completely serious. 'There's no way he'll forgive me for everything I've done. How many times have I laughed at him when he was down? I almost never rushed to his side to make sure he was okay. He's not going to forgive me, and I know it. And… and what if I get mad again? I nearly destroyed my friendship with Deema because of it, and ruined my friendship with you. I don't see what'll stop me from doing it again.'

Goby shrugged. 'I don't know. I really don't know. I don't think anyone does. But you have to try. You'll never know until you try. You managed to become friends with Deema again, didn't you? Who's to say you won't manage it with Gil?'

'It was just a one time thing with Deema. I haven't been bullying her since almost the beginning…'

'Well, then maybe you should…' He paused. 'Just go for it. It's kinda like Deema and broccoli, ya know? She didn't know she'd like it until she tried it. You gotta try it, Molly. Even if Gil doesn't forgive you, you oughta find out instead of worrying about it.'

She whimpered. 'I-I know, but… it's so hard. And I'm still angry! I'm gonna screw it all up…'

Their conversation wasn't quite as private as they would've wished, for their voices travelled quite easily in the quiet room. Zooli and Deema exchanged looks of concern, unwilling to speak while such an important matter was being discussed. Nonny focused on Molly's words in particular, and they made his heart sink. He looked back at the screen, and at that poll where most of the fans agreed that he would be the best replacement leader.

Well, it was time for him to be a good leader.

'Mr Grouper,' He said. 'I think Molly needs to talk to someone before she tries talking to Gil. I don't know how to discuss this with her, and I think we're too young to really know what to say. If I may, I request that she talk to a friend of ours known for being bit, well, grumpy himself.'

Mr Grouper smiled. 'That's an excellent idea, Nonny! His job as a mall security guard might make it a little difficult for us to work out an available time, though.'

'If he found the time to be our substitute teacher, he can find time to talk with Molly. Knowing him, he'll want to have this talk.' A thought came to him. 'Does he know about what happened?'

The teacher shook his head. 'I don't think so. I've been trying really hard to make sure this matter stays between just us and the doctors. Mostly so Gil doesn't get swarmed by our fans while he's in the hospital, but also just to keep everything simple. I'll be sure to talk to him about this after school.'

Nonny nodded. 'That would be great.'

He looked back to those fan-run forums again. Almost everyone praised him as a leader, or at least was tolerant of the possibility. A couple of fans didn't think he could do it and gave their reasons why in a very civilised manner, but they were definitely the minority. Then there was one idiot spouting ableist slurs, but everyone downvoted their comment to the point where it was a mystery the moderators hadn't deleted it yet.

'The fans think I would be great.' He said. 'And I can't let them down. I'm really going to do it!'

'You're taking this very well, Nonny.' Mr Grouper said, giving him a soft pat on the back. 'It's a lot to take in. So it's fin-tastic to see that you're willing to take on a challenge like this.'

'Everyone wants me to be their leader. I can't let them down.'

Mr Grouper chuckled. 'And you think you don't have the heart.'

Nonny tapped his fingers on the table. 'I… I'm not sure anymore.'

Mr Grouper gave him a soft smile, and - as the main moderator of the website - went through some of the forums to lock threads and sometimes even delete comments. He avoided doing so most of the time, as he believed the fans had the right to say whatever they wanted, but some of the comments about Nonny were far too awful to be seen anywhere near their website. After all the absolutely terrible and sometimes racist comments that Zooli received, he wasn't so shocked.

'Some people really don't like me…' Nonny said. 'Do they?'

'Don't worry about them.' Mr Grouper replied. 'They're fans. They like or hate you as a character, not a person, if that makes any sense. Most people who, erm, dislike your character are very reasonable about it! It's just a crazy minority who act like this. There'd be fans acting like this no matter who was becoming the leader. Can you imagine how they'd react if, say, Deema was the one taking Molly's place?'

Nonny chuckled. 'Now that would be a fandom war. It might even rival the war between the Doby and the Neema shippers.'

The teacher groaned. 'It's always that fandom war…'

As Molly discussed with Goby, and Nonny with Mr Grouper, that left Deema and Zooli as the only Guppies not in some sort of conversation. So, of course, that meant they began to converse with each other. The only problem was that neither knew what to converse about, so it was off to an awkward start.

'So, uh…' Deema said, tapping her fingers against the floor. 'Since we're by ourselves, do you wanna maybe… talk about stuff?'

'About something that doesn't have to do with this entire situation?' Zooli replied. 'Not happening.'

The blonde Guppy smiled nervously. 'Er, I'm sure we can talk about something else that's interesting! Like, erm, cats! Or…' She sighed. 'Okay, yeah, I got nothing. It's been, what, a week now? Hard to think of anything else to talk about.'

'How have you recovered from your bad mood so quickly? You were in such an awful state just a few days ago, and now… you're almost as bubbly as ever!'

Deema smirked. 'What can I say? Nothing holds me back for long.'

Despite her words, Zooli could've sworn she saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. Which wasn't much of a surprise considering the situation, but still. It was the corner of Deema's mouth twitching that made Zooli look a little closer.

'Are you sure?' She asked. 'I don't know you that well, but I don't think anyone could bounce back from a mood like that so quickly.'

Deema laughed, nervously. 'W-What are you talking about? D-Do you think I just use humour to cope o-or something?'

Zooli cocked an eyebrow. 'Are you wording it like that as a joke, or…?'

Deema sighed. 'I have no idea. I wanna say it's just a joke, but… I don't think it is? I can't tell.'

'Do you always use humour to cope with things? I haven't known you very long, but I know you use humour all the time. So now… I'm a little worried.'

Deema wanted to respond right away, but found that she couldn't think of what to say. She rested her chin in her hands and thought about what Zooli just said.

'I… think I'm a happy person.' She said, after a while. 'But you might have a point. I don't know about usually, but maybe I'm just telling jokes now because I really haven't gotten over my guilt and stuff. Hm… maybe I should talk to Nonny about that.'

Zooli frowned. 'I-I'm sorry for bringing it up. You probably never thought about it until now.'

Deema smiled. 'Nah, that's great! I guess it's never been brought up before cos my friends are so used to my, you know, Deema-ish stuff. Maybe I just needed a new perspective on it!'

'Well, at least being the new girl has some advantages…'

The curly-haired Guppy noticed that something was off about the new girl, and that made her frown. Her eyes darted around the room for a few moments before they settled on Zooli again. Well, if so many people went out of their way to comfort her, she figured she should return the favour.

'You okay, Zooli?' She asked.

The aforementioned Guppy sighed. 'I haven't felt so separated from the rest of the Guppies so much until all this happened.'

Deema's eyes shot wide open. 'Separated? Woah now! What do you mean, separated?'

'You guys are so attached to Gil, that to me it feels like you've been friends with him for years. I hardly know him in comparison to the rest of you. And… and I wasn't there for so many of those amazing adventures that you talk about. Or even all those awful things that happened to Gil. I've never really felt like I was part of the 'original' Guppies, but I've been feeling so left out up to now.'

Deema wished it was something less difficult, for now she wanted to help but had no idea how. She turned to look at Nonny, but he was busy talking with Mr Grouper, and then there was Molly but she was busy with Goby. With Oona at the hospital with Gil, that left only her, and this was well beyond her skill set.

'Well, uh, you…' She tried to say. 'You might, um, maybe… you see, it's…' She slapped her own forehead. 'Dang it! I have no idea how to make this better!'

Zooli looked Deema right in the eye. 'Don't blame yourself. It isn't your fault. I wasn't here since the beginning, and I missed out on a lot. We can't change that. I'd hate to say it, Deema, but… there are some things you can't make better.'

'But you…' She swam off the ground. 'I can't let you sit there and feel bad about it! It's something that needs to be fixed.'

'Deema, don't make yourself sad trying to make me happy. I wasn't part of the original team, and we have to accept that. I will always feel like I missed out on a lot, but I'm still looking ahead. If this team manages to stay together long enough…' She smiled. 'So try not to worry about it, okay?'

Deema really wanted to keep going, and reassure Zooli that nothing she said mattered. She couldn't, however, for she didn't like lying. Still, she swam a little closer, and gave Zooli a smile.

'That may be true,' She said. 'But you're a Bubble Guppies now, and that's all we care about. You may have missed out on a lot, but that doesn't make you any less of a band member because of that. Just look on the bright side - you're so new that you got Gil's forgiveness!'

Zooli smiled too. 'Well, there's a bright side to everything.'

Author Notes - Every fanwork I mentioned in this chapter is based on a real piece of fanart or fanfiction that I have seen online, and I want to give credit to the people I referenced. First of all, the drawing was done by an artist on Deviantart, by the name of BlueDusk28. If you want the name of the exact drawing, it was: 'Oona and Nonny - Study Buddies'. I'd post a direct link, but doesn't like that very much, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it. It is a very adorable piece, by the way.

The fanfictions references are: 'him making a lovely picnic for her' is The Perfect Picnic by AdrianaCartoonFangirl, 'both reliving the story of 'The Gift of the Magi'' is (appropriately) The Gift of the Magi! by watchfullkittycat32, 'talking about fireworks' is Fireworks by Jesserfly, and the one where 'Oona saved Nonny from some jerks by using impressive fighting skills' is Bubble Guppies Teen Years by ReaderandWriter9000 (the first one, and the 'Hidden Sorrow' arc, specifically).

The other fanfiction mentioned, which was apparently 'one about Oona helping him through a tragic event, written by an author who often wrote stories that were darker than the original work, and who concerned Nonny just slightly' is Feelings by yours truly. Just a little bit of self-deprecating humour. I plan on rewriting that story at some point, since I don't like how it turned out, but that isn't the point of this story is it?