Welcome welcome, I bring you all another offering, this time around its based on the premise of my stories with Neptune and Peashy, although you don't have to have read either of those, all you need to know is that by the end Neptune adopts Peashy, and that's all you really need. I really can't help myself this was just way too sweet not to write down when I thought of it lol, I hope you all will enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

-marketvalueneps

Synopsis: Uni has been, once more, suckered into babysitting with Nepgear, but this time the young bee child has a few bombshells to drop on the unexpecting duo.

Uni couldn't say she was surprised when she got the text, this event did not come out of the blue, it had happened on numerous other occasions. That, however, did not mean she didn't gulp when she read the text,

From: Nepgear- Uni, I don't mean to bother you if you are busy, but Sis has me watching Peashy again, do you mind helping me out? It would mean a lot to me :)

Uni gulped once more looking at the text. It wasn't that she wasn't done with work, she finished a few hours ago, that wasn't it. Far from it, she didn't know if she could put herself through any more of their 'babysitting' shenanigans. Off the top of her head Uni could think of at least the times the young CPU, took her and Nepgear's N-gears, headbutted her in her chest, punched her, locked her in the bathroom (although the child claimed this one was an accident), and got her and Nepgear covered in something, it was sticky and they all had to bathe (separately).

It wasn't that she didn't like Neptune's kid, she was sweet and genuinely meant well most times, but that didn't justify the results. And the results spoke for themselves, plus Uni had planned on playing some Call of Service and owning some newbs… or something like that. So Uni found it odd that when she looked down at her phone again she saw that she herself had sent a message,

From: Uni- F-fine I'll be over as soon as I can, but just because you asked nicely!

"Huh" Uni could only look in bafflement, now why did she do that? She even stuttered through text. That really shouldn't be possible. Sighing deeply, Uni summoned her will as she got to her feet, and prepared herself for the evening. Shaking her head Uni couldn't reason why she would do that, was it worth her sanity to spend time with her friend? I mean surely they could just do something together later, right? Although… looking down at her phone again

From: Nepgear- Thank you so much Uni! I always know I can count on you

That really was all the justification Uni needed.

Figuring she might as well look her best, despite the fact her look would probably get ruined by the end, and Uni couldn't even reason why she felt the need, it was just Nepgear she would be seeing…. although she supposed there was an answer there she didn't want to think about.

After spiffing herself up a bit, Uni looked at herself in the mirror, taking a deep breath, giving herself a nod. This was going to be a long night, either Peashy would keep them up, or she'd get to spend quality time with Nepgear, and she wasn't sure if her heart could keep up either way. Straightening her outfit, Uni made her way down the hall and out of the building, she didn't have to tell anyone where she would be, Noire was out for the evening. She wasn't all too clear where she would be, only that she would not be in the basilicom for the evening.

So Uni was free to take off and spend her valuable time… watching her best friend's niece, which no matter how many times she said it to herself never seemed right. And it would never feel right that Miss Neptune was a mom. Any of the CPUs as mothers felt wrong, well maybe except for Vert. But Neptune? It was baffling. Although Uni had to give credit where credit was due, she at least appeared to be a fairly good mother, and her child absolutely adored her. Even if Uni could swear she could see Noire shudder every time she had to mention Neptune's parental status.

Uni used the relatively peaceful flight to mentally prepare herself for what her next few hours would be like, this wasn't her first rodeo, and admittedly Peashy did seem to be getting better over the last few months, and Uni had to give another mental note to the parenting of Neptune, although surely Histoire had at least something to do with it.

Soon Uni could see the ever-beautiful skyline of Planeptune come into view, and with it, her destination. Slowing her flight, Uni made her preparations to land at the base of the large tower, walking in she nodded to the guards who more than knew her at this point, and after a short elevator ride, Uni was there, where her doom surely awaited her.

As the door opened and she strode into the large living space, she could see the two girls she would be spending her night with. Peashy seemed to be fascinated by whatever robotic toy Nepgear was fiddling with, and to no one's shock, Nepgear was more than eager to explain the intricacies of the design, although the first thing of the conversation she could overhear was…

"And in the future, everyone will be a part robot, and you'll be able to install drill parts that swap out with your hands!" Uni could almost see the stars in her friend's eyes, chuckling, she made her presence known as she spoke up,

"Nepgear, you know Miss Neptune won't be happy if you turn her into a robot right?"

"Awww but don't you think a little Peashy robot would be so cute? What do you say, Peashy?" Nepgear smiled as she made her way over to her friend, before giving her a quick hug, quickly offering a beaming smile, "Thank you for coming over, by the way, Uni"

"Haa no problem" Uni scratched her neck, before looking behind her, to see the little girl they were responsible for bounce over,

"Wooaah Nepgear, you invited your girlfriend over to play with us?!" Peashy beamed as she ran to join the older girls, who both lurched at the phrasing,

"Eh?" Uni could feel her face break out into a crimson flush at the declaration of the youngest CPU, sure she probably didn't mean it, but that didn't help Uni's, poor heart.

"G-goodness, Peashy, I told you me and Uni are not like that! And where did you even learn that?" Nepgear seemed mildly embarrassed at the declaration, but it also appeared this wasn't the first time the tyke had done something of this manner.

"Hmm? Ram told me that you two were girlfriends" Peashy seemed confused at this, Ram was like the 2nd smartest person she knew behind Neptuna, there was no way she was wrong, right?

The adolescent candidates could only grumble at the seeming betrayal of their fellow goddess,

"You'll pay for that Ram" With the way she spoke Uni seemed as though she might make good on her vague threat at that very moment, but she held back, and quickly wanted to change the subject, "Anyway, where is Miss Neptune tonight anyway?"

"Oooo Mom went out with the black meanie!" Peashy immediately responded, garnering a stern look from her aunt,

"Peashy, I told you to stop calling Miss Noire that '' Nepgear gave her best stern look, only to receive a razzberry from the child. Uni could only chuckle at the affectionate nickname for her sister. She hadn't been present, but apparently, when Noire first sat down with Peashy, she gave her a full PowerPoint presentation introducing herself, and may have snapped mildly at her when the child got up halfway through.

Although Uni did note something, Noire didn't tell her she was going to Planeptune, which was odd. So she was spending time with Neptune without telling anyone? That was mildly out of character, maybe all the CPUs were meeting? Perhaps. But it still was a little odd,

"Say, Uni, did you eat already? I was just about to cook me and Peashy dinner" Nepgear turned to her friend as she asked, and Uni could see Peashy light up at the mention of dinner

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I can just grab something later" Uni waved off her friend, it would be rude to mooch off her goodwill.

"Bad! Uni is gonna try and make tap water a meal again!" Nepgear narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized her friend. She knew Uni would try and skip meals sometimes, and she refused to let her treat herself poorly! "You're a growing girl and need to eat properly" Nepgear crossed her arms for emphasis.

"I told you you don't have to worry about me" Uni gave her resistance, of which she knew would be futile, they had done this song and dance on a few occasions, and Uni had a feeling this iteration would end no differently,

"And I told you that I need to worry for you because you don't worry about yourself nearly enough, that's that" Nepgear moved her arms from their crossed position to her hip as she offered her demand, and Uni could only sigh.

As Peashy looked on, she could only think she was beginning to understand what Ram was talking about. Plus what Iffy always said had begun to make sense, is this what she meant by 'arguing like a married couple'? She looked on in mild wonderment as the scene from a few weeks earlier played back in her mind,

It had been one of the few days that the twins were able to escape the iron grip of the terrifying ruthless dictator of Lowee, better known as Blanc, better known as their own sister. Electing to use their free day to make their way to Planeptune to surprise their new friend, and maybe actually catch Nepgear on a day she was present, although as they soon found, Nepgear was out on business for the day, as Neptune explained.

It didn't matter that much, the girls figured, and they really had been here to visit Peashy, and as the friends sat around doodling on some paper Neptune had provided before being lassoed (metaphorically although few would put it past the diminutive oracle) into her office, it was actually Rom who started up the conversation,

"S-say Peashy? What is it like having Miss Nepgear as an aunt?" Rom had recently read a book detailing the family structure and remembered seeing that the daughter of your sister was your niece, and that in turn the sister of your mother was your aunt, and Rom was curious if her friend maybe acted a bit differently towards her new family member.

"Blech! I bet she's overly cuddly and nice!" Ram gave a fake retch to emphasize her point, only doing so because Rom had asked her the very same question when Rom had read the book.

"Hmm Nepgear watches me whenever Neptuna has to do something, she's fun but not as fun Neptuna" Peashy pondered the question seriously, she had known Nepgear for practically her whole life, and she hadn't changed all that much throughout, although upon reflection Peashy thought of something else, "Though she will sometimes bring her friend over, Nepgear is always super nice around her and her friend always freaks out" Peashy chuckled, and she saw her friends stop what they were doing for a moment as they shared a look.

'Uni?'

'Uni'

The two twins telepathically communicated, before joining Peashy in a fit of chuckling

"See I told you those two were practically girlfriends!" Ram exclaimed in between her giggles, and Peashy couldn't help but notice Rom looked a little down at that, but the moment soon passed, and Peashy had a way more important question on her mind,

"What do you mean? What are girlfriends?" Ram certainly seemed to know, proving once more she was like the smartest person their age,

"They like love each other and junk I bet they even go on dates blech" Ram seemed mildly disgusted at the concept, and Peashy found it odd,

"Well, I love Mom, but I don't think that makes us girlfriends…" Peashy pondered out loud, and she could hear a mocking tone to her side,

"Tsk tsk Peashy, everyone knows you can't date family members! Those two are just sappy losers, they like love love each other" Ram explained it as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world, and Peashy looked on with a mix of wonderment and mild confusion she still didn't quite get it, but she got it enough, she figured, and the trio continued on their merry way, until Neptune burst into the room to inform them it was time for lunch.

Peashy sat back in the dining room as she looked on into the kitchen, at the two older girls preparing her meal for the night, Uni had been absolutely insistent that if she was going to mooch a meal, she would at least help cook it, to which Nepgear was more than happy to accommodate. Peashy was still trying to figure out what exactly the difference was, she was sure she loved Neptuna, so then what was the difference? If her aunt supposedly loved this girl, how was that different then Peashy and her mother?

In the kitchen Nepgear was moving gracefully alongside her so-called sous chef for the night, in truth, the two had cooked together on a couple of occasions, Uni always insisted she help whenever she ate over. Nepgear couldn't figure out why she felt the need, it wasn't as though that was something Noire did, although, Nepgear figured, Noire didn't come over nearly as much as Uni did. Or at least, she didn't stay in the Basilicom as much.

It wasn't as though Nepgear minded, far from it, and she definitely found it adorable her friend found the need to give something in return for a meal. And Nepgear couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was that Uni wanted to spend time with her, although Nepgear figured she was probably looking a bit too far into things, Uni was just a polite person, and Nepgear still probably had Peashy's earlier comment still on her mind. Nepgear shook the thoughts from her mind as she (carefully) handed a knife over to the very girl her earlier thoughts revolved around as she expertly sliced a potato.

They were not preparing something overly complex, a simple dish of some cooked chicken with some roasted potatoes and a few veggies they had lying around. Thankfully Peashy was about as far from a picky eater as there was, hell even Neptune was pickier, so that made meal planning easier.

The two worked quickly and the meal was prepared quickly, and soon the three sat around the table enjoying the fruits of their labor, or at least Uni and Nepgear's labor. Peashy hummed a slight tune as she stuffed her face with the chicken

"So yummy~" Looking down, Peashy soon noticed that her plate seemed to be empty of the meat she was looking for, pouting, she looked around, and soon stabbed a piece on Uni's plate before quickly nomming on it,

"Hey! Peashy that was mine!" Uni was, obviously, none too thrilled at this development, gave Peashy a staredown, who only offered a sticking out of her tongue in response,

"Bleh! You didn't even want to eat earlier! Aunty had to convince you!" Uni could only glare harder at the child, before huffing and taking one of Peashy's potatoes, "Hey!" Somehow missing the irony, Peashy was not thrilled at this,

"Now we're even" Uni crossed her arms as she stuck her own tongue out, receiving a pout from the young girl,

The other person present could only look on with a smile on her face, she was glad her niece and best friend seemed to be getting along, especially considering how their first 'adventure' went down. The trio ate in a peaceful silence, with a few moments of banter, before finishing up, and Nepgear got up to do the dishes, of which she had to refuse help from her friend.

So as Nepgear was doing the dishes, Uni was on primary watching duty, and she soon felt someone tug on her dress, turning around to see the very girl,

"I want sweets!" She demanded, and Uni let out a sigh before leading her to the fridge, opening it up, Peashy immediately grabbed a pudding cup. Looking at the cup, Uni could note the distinct 'Nep' on the packaging,

"Hey, Peashy that's Miss Neptunes" Uni offered her one of the unmarked cups that were in the fridge, but to her surprise, the kid was incredibly insistent that she keep the one she had grabbed,

"No! This Nep's pudding is mine!" Peashy practically yelled, and Uni was taken aback for a moment,

"Cmon! That doesn't even make any sense! This one is the same thing!" The logic of a kid was simply baffling at times, why was it so important she stole from her own mom?

"It's mine!"

"No, it's not! It literally says it's for Miss Neptune!"

"Goodness, what are you two yelling about?" It would appear Nepgear had come to the rescue again,

"She's stealing Miss Neptune's pudding" Uni calmly explained, she knew how much Neptune loved her pudding and didn't want her to be upset if she came back to have her precious stache missing a few,

"Am not! This is Pea's Nep's pudding!" Peashy flailed her arms as if she was explaining the most obvious thing in the world, "Nepgear your girlfriend is dumb!" and just like that Peashy set off another nuke, yet before anyone (mainly Uni) could do anything they would regret, Nepgear took charge of the situation,

"Ohh Uhm Peashy, you can go eat your pudding, I'll explain it to Uni" Nepgear assuaged the situation as Peashy made her way towards the table, with a pout she opened her pudding, maintaining distinct eye contact with the lastation CPU candidate the whole time, and Nepgear could only give a nervous chuckle as she turned to her, "Haa Peashy loves Sis's puddings, she even buys extras just to mark them so Peashy can have them, but don't tell her that"

Uni was more than a little baffled at this, it made literally zero sense, but she figured it wasn't any of her business, regardless she had no intention of apologizing considering it was far from her fault. But she did feel the need to look at her friend with dead eyes, "You Planeptune goddesses don't make any sense…"

"Hehe were not that bad" Nepgear gave a warm little laugh at the thought, sure her family might not be the most average, but she still loved them all dearly.

"That wasn't a compliment…" Uni sighed as she saw Nepgear retreat back into the kitchen to finish her chore, and Uni made her way to the opened TV area, and mindlessly started flicking through channels, not really paying all too much attention to what was on any particular channel, that was until she heard a loud gasp next to her,

"Oooo Ooo! Look, it's mom!" Peashy, who had joined Uni without her noticing, quickly pointed to the screen, and as Uni looked, indeed it was a Planeptunian news channel playing a recording of one of Purple Heart's speeches she gave a few days ago, Uni had read the transcript afterwards to see if anything was pertinent to Lastation, but seeing as she couldn't actually remember the contents of said speech, she figured it was something pointless.

So as Uni went to change the channel, she was mildly surprised to receive a slug to the arm, "Ow! What the hell!?"

"Put Neptuna back on the TV!" Peashy offered her demands, and Uni let out a deep sigh as she flipped back the channel and watched as Peashy's smile returned as she was fixated on the station. In no way was she actually listening to what was actually being said, but she seemed to be fascinated, nonetheless.

As Uni listened, she could remember what was said, it was something or the other about one of Planeptune's forests being clear for public leisure due to the tireless efforts of the guild, as such Purple Heart was with the representatives of the guild, which did include a certain qatar wielding veteran.

"Why are you watching Sis's speech?" Uni looked around as she saw Nepgear approaching with a mildly confused face,

"I was flipping through channels and Peashy slugged me when I flipped off this one" Uni explained the last few moments,

"Goodness! Peashy how many times do I have to tell you, you can't just go punching people, especially not Uni!" Nepgear chastised, she didn't want Peashy to drive away her best friend

"Bleh! I wanna watch Neptuna" Peashy wasn't interested in her lecture, if Uni couldn't see that this was the most interesting thing on then that was her loss,

"Peashy…" Nepgear narrowed her eyes, doing her best to give a stern look, which admittedly was not very

"Haa it's ok Nepgear" Uni put her hand on her shoulder and Nepgear eventually sat down on the couch next to her friend, and as Peashy sat fascinated by the speech on the TV, the two candidates pulled out their mobile consoles and started up some multiplayer game,

Somewhere in the speech, while an ad played, Peashy couldn't help but look back at the pair as they played their game, and how engaged they were. They looked happy, Peashy had to say. Was that how she looked when she was with her friends? With Neptuna? She studied them closely to try and gain any insight she could, and while the TV came back on, Peashy was still fixated on the pair. The way they seemed to be so natural around each other, how even when one lost, they were not particularly upset or angry and were eager to hop into the next match. Ram had said they loved each other, but the way she said it made it seem like it was different from what she felt with her friends and family.

Peashy wasn't even particularly aware of the passing time, she simply studied the two candidates, the way that anytime Nepgear got a little too close Uni seemed to panic, the way they smiled, she had lived with Nepgear for a long time, she seemed just a little happier when she was with the girl by her side. Was that it? If you 'loved' someone in that way, they made you the happiest?

However, before Peashy could confirm the conclusion she had made, she saw Nepgear look up after one of their matches, noticing the time, she stood up and looked over to the young girl,

"Goodness, it's already past your bedtime, Peashy"

"Oh, ok." Nepgear was shocked at the response, usually, it was a nightmarish task to put down her niece, especially when Neptune wasn't home. But she seemed to be already out of it, so as Nepgear took her hand and led her down to her room, she was pleasantly surprised how little resistance she got. She let her change into her yellow nightdress, before making sure she was tucked in tight, before turning to leave, however she heard the girl's voice speak up as she was by the doorframe,

"Nepgear?" She asked with a hint of confusion, and Nepgear looked back, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, what is it?" Nepgear walked up slowly to the bedframe and sat down on the plush material,

"What does it mean to be in love?" Nepgear could feel herself choke on her own saliva as her niece asked her the seemingly open-ended question. How should she answer this? In no way was she qualified to answer this!

"Uhmmm it's a bit complicated, uhh you should wait until sis gets back and ask her '' Genius! Defer to Neptune, after all, Peashy was her kid! Orrrr at least she wanted to, but as she looked down and saw the disappointed look on her face.

"No fairrr… You're the one with a girlfriend…" Peashy pouted, unknowing of the effect this would have on her aunt,

"Whhaaaa- I told you me and Uni are not like that!" Nepgear waved her hands in front of her face,

"Huh? But you looked so happy when you were playing with her, that's the happiest I've seen you, I thought that was what love was?" Peashy was legitimately confused, and Nepgear took a few deep breaths to stabilize herself,

"Peashy, me and Uni aren't dating, but she… she means a lot to me, I'm not entirely sure if it's love or not." Nepgear did her best to explain it in a way the young girl would understand. Although Nepgear had to admit her thoughts revolving around the Lastation girl had grown complicated over the last months. Even today was a perfect example, she was more than capable of watching Peashy herself, so why did she feel the need to ask Uni for help? Deep down perhaps she knew the answer.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Love is a weird thing Peashy,"

"But I love Neptuna, and I love you" Peashy was still confused, how could it be more difficult than that?

"Love between family and love between someone outside of your family is different… There are different types of love. You know how most kids have a mom and a dad?"

"Yuh-huh, Neptuna said guys were icky though" Peashy chuckled, and Nepgear could only sigh once more at the poor way her sister had explained things,

"Well mom's and dads didn't start that way, they had to get closer, and eventually they figured out they loved each other. But it's tough because you know that family will love you back, but if someone isn't family you don't know if they do, and you can get hurt by that" Nepgear spoke slowly to try and gauge if Peashy understood, and to her surprise, she seemed to get it,

"So, it hurts when you love someone who doesn't love you?" Peashy asked trying to figure out what it was Nepgear was trying to explain

"It can really hurt both people" Nepgear spoke, but she wasn't sure that words she was saying weren't for herself, a detail that was somehow picked up on by the young girl, who thought over her next words carefully, perhaps it stood to reason that she had matured in that way,

"Is that why you don't know?" She asked, and Nepgear gave her a weak smile,

"It's not that easy, don't worry yourself with my issues" Nepgear patted her on the head, she really was a sweet girl when she wanted to be, "Uni is such a hard worker, she doesn't have time for my silliness,"

"Hmmm, bad Aunty!" Peashy lurched forward and gave her a fierce head to her stomach, garnering a classic Nepgya face. After taking a moment to let Nepgear regain her breath, she spoke again, "Being scared is for losers! Your friend looked as happy as you!" Peashy pointed out, and Nepgear could only look on, was it possible her young niece was paying more attention than she?

"Thank you, Peashy," Nepgear smiled warmly as she hugged her and made her way out of the room. As she made her way down the hall the words rang in her head, could she afford to open her heart? Was she allowed to be selfish? As she walked into the room once more and saw the awaiting form of the very girl her clouded heart revolved around, she shook off the thoughts. Maybe one day she would tell her all the wonderful things she thought about her, but for now?

"Say, do you want to watch this new show I found? Sis said it was really good, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet." Nepgear asked as she sat down next to Uni once more, not so subtly leaning her head onto her shoulder as she listened to the stumbled response she got,

"O-Oh u-uhh sure, I'm sure I can text Noire and tell her I'm staying over…"

Yes, maybe one day.

Nepgear turned and gave Uni a quick peck on the cheek as she turned on the show, "Thank you for spending today with me" taking delight in the shell-shocked form of the girl next to her. Hours later when Neptune would finally return from being dragged around by Noire she would stumble upon the two cuddled together, with some show still playing in the background, with a slight smile she pulled out one of the spare blankets, draping it over them, before heading to sleep herself.

Well after taking a few photos that was…

It is I once more, no clue if anyone reads this, but I like doing it

end5- why thank you, that one wasn't as clearly romantically defined, but I thought it turned out sweet

gigarot- I'm glad you liked it! Perhaps Uni will find that she enjoyed what she saw... lol I don't write lemon don't worry, as a matter of fact, that one probably pushed that envelope as far as I'd be willing to go, which as you can see is not very far, I would be terrible at writing that even if I felt the need. But getting back to it yea Nepgear may feel bad about it at the moment, but morals are for cowards in the moment, Cat-Uni is eternal, speaking of which that certainly is an interesting idea for a follow-up, I may even invest in that... keeping in mind the thing I said earlier about lemons lol.