A/N: Do I have to say it, people? I think you may know how sorry I am for the lateness of this chapter. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!! _;;;;;;  Uh… anyway, this is nothing major. Just story progress. And it is in Dory's POV.

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Chapter 7 – "No Worries"

I led Marlin out of the cave quickly, eager to meet his friend. Once we were outside, I had to blink a few times to get used to the light. When I could see again, I saw a dark yellow clown fish next to me.

"So you're Dory," it greeted in a female voice. She took my fin and shook it vigorously. "Marlin's told me so much about you!" I smiled at her.

"My name's Kida," she introduced, also smiling. I nodded and said, "Great to meetcha, Kida." I didn't know what it was, but I just loved meeting new people.

"Okay, now that you two know each other," Marlin said, coming up to us. "What are you gonna do, Kida?"

Kida put on a thinking face and looked me over, having to swim around me a few times. I felt a bit awkward with her doing this, but I knew she had a job to do.

"So you said it happened last night?" Kida asked, still looking at me. Marlin nodded and told her, "Yes."

"Well, it's too soon to tell whether there's been any fatal damages to the eggs." I cringed. I had never thought of that being a possibility. "But Dory should be laying them in anywhere from one to four weeks.

My eyes widened; that would go by in no time at all! I felt Marlin squeeze my fin comfortingly as he saw my shocked look. I looked over to him and he smiled at me.

"You'll be okay, Dory," he told me. "And so will the eggs."

I smiled back at him and nodded. We were looking at each other for a little while after that until we heard Kida clear her throat.

We looked away, a bit embarrassed. She smiled cheerfully and said, "Now Dory, if you would go back into the cave. I want to help your bruises, but I need to find a certain plant, which shouldn't take long to find at all."

Kida turned around and swam away. "She's nice," I told Marlin. He just nodded and led me back into the cave. Once we were back, I didn't want to lie down again – the whole situation was keeping me anxious and wide awake.

"you don't have to go back to sleep or anything, Dory," Marlin told me. "But just make yourself comfortable."

"I'm fine," I said, perfectly comfortable where I was.

"You sure? Because you know, if you're not, I can go out and get you some kelp, or something for you to –,"

I giggled. "Marlin," I interrupted. "I'm fine." He smiled, and I wanted to smile back, but I actually wasn't as fine as I wanted to be.

"Actually, Marlin, I… I'm worried," I told him after a few moments of silence. I watched his smile disappear and he asked me what was wrong. I was hesitant with answering.

"Dory, I'm sure the eggs will be fine," he told me.

"But even if that's true –!" I shouted, making him jump. I felt my lip quiver, but I was sick of crying. "Even if that turns out to be true… I… I don't think I'll make a good mom," I confessed. Marlin face at that moment showed sympathy and surprise. "But Dory, you do fine with Nemo. He likes you."

I felt frustration start to build within me. "Yeah, but… I'm always forgetting his name, or where I'm taking him," I argued. Marlin went to say something else, but I cut him off.

"What kind of mom would I be if I didn't even know my own children's names?!

Marlin was frozen in place, but I wasn't paying much attention to anything after that. I knew Alan was their father, but I was their mother, so I had to care.

I then felt Marlin take both of my fins in his. I looked at him and he gave me a stern look.

"Listen to me," he said. "You will be a good mother. I want you to believe me when I say this, Dory."

I smiled, suddenly feeling a lot better. I nodded and whispered, "Okay."

"No worrying, Dory," he said, now smiling. I smiled too and nodded. "No worries," I repeated.

We let go each other's fins, and only a few minutes later, Kida came back. She was carrying two greenish-blue leaves. "Well, I'm gonna use these to help your cuts and bruises heal a little faster," she informed me. I nodded and she swam closer to me. She held up one leaf and looked at it. I was wondering what she was doing, util she tugged on the stem and ripped it off. She squeezed the stem, and some green gel… stuff came out of it.

Placing some of it on her fin, she rubbed a tiny bit on each of my wounds. It felt nice, because the cool temperature of the – whatever it was – was soothing. Even the soreness was starting to fade away.

Once Kida finished up, she looked at me again. I wished she would stop doing that…

"I'm gonna have to start working on fixing up your schedule, Dory," she said. I lifted an eyebrow. "Schedule?" I questioned.

"Yeah. You have to sleep and/or nap for certain amounts of time, exercise, and eat properly," she explained.

'Oh,' I mouthed. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but that was before I knew about this schedule thing.

It was going to be a longer couple of weeks than I thought.