A/N: Spoilers ahead in the first drabble for Re;Birth1's True Ending.
4. Let Bygones Be Bygones
Neptune licked off her spoon as she finished her bowl of pudding. She was relaxing alongside her pal Noire in the Planeptune Basilicom; within the Nep sisters room to be exact.
"Say, Noire, I gotta ask you something." Neptune said, leaning forward to rest her head on the table she was sitting at.
"I'm not going to fetch you more pudding. You can get off your lazy butt and get it yourself." Noire did not look up, too engrossed in the game she was playing on her handheld device.
"No no no, not that!" Neptune waved a hand dismissively. "I wanted to ask you about me."
"About you? How am I supposed to know more about you than you do?!" Noire said, blushing lightly.
"Well, I lost my memory in that big ol' crash landing I had, right?"
"Right…" Noire glanced over at Neptune nervously.
"So I don't remember anything from before Compa found me." Neptune continued.
"Well of course not; you lost your memory, duh!"
"That means I don't remember fighting you guys in the Console War, back up on Celestia." Neptune said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.
"I guess you don't." Noire glanced at Neptune once again. "But...I'm really glad you don't remember that stuff…" Noire mumbled.
"What was that last part?" Neptune lifted her head, a cat-like smile across her face.
"N-nothing, I was just thinking aloud!" Noire blushed brightly. Neptune lay her head back on the table with a short laugh.
"Anyway, Little Miss Lonely Heart…" Noire's blush grew even brighter. "...I wanted to ask you what I was like before I lost my memory."
Noire froze.
"Ah...U-um…" Noire set aside her game and joined Neptune at the table. She cleared her throat nervously. "Well, I guess I never met you in this form back then; I only knew you as Purple Heart."
"Aha, so you only knew my super mature and sexy form! You never got to see me in this cute and sexy form!" Neptune said proudly as she sat up straight, gesturing to herself.
"Ha! I'm way cuter, sexier and more mature than you in both my forms!" Noire retaliated.
"Bah; you're just jealous of my cuteness!" Neptune waved her hand once again. "Whatever, just tell me what I acted like back then." Noire tapped her chin in thought.
"Let me see...annoying, cocky, annoying, whiny, annoying, bitchy, annoying…" Noire listed with a smirk.
"Gee thanks; just run me down, why don't'cha!" Neptune slumped over dejectedly.
"I-I was just being honest!" Noire said defensively. "A-anyway, it's not like you're the same anymore. I mean, you are kind of annoying, but you're nowhere near as much of a bitch." Noire said quietly, smiling to herself.
"Aww, you see Noire; you can be nice to other people!" Neptune teased.
"S-shut up! I just didn't want to be rude, is all!" Noire blushed furiously.
Amidst Neptune's subsequent laughter, a knock came from the door.
"Excuse me, may we come in?" A familiar voice asked from beyond the door.
"Sure thing Histy, come on in!" The door opened, and in floated the small fairy Histoire, sat atop her tome. Following behind was a tall woman with long, silver hair and bright blue eyes. Her outfit was similar in appearance to a CPU's bodysuit in HDD.
"We are sorry to intrude." The tall woman said politely. "I thought you girls might be getting hungry, so I brought some snacks." She set a small plate of cookies onto the table.
"But I wanted pudding!" Neptune whined.
"Neptune, show some gratitude!" Noire scolded. "Thank you, Arfoire." Noire nodded to the woman, who took her place sitting at the table.
"You are quite welcome. If I might ask, what were you girls discussing?" Arfoire asked. Noire recoiled nervously.
"W-well, you see…"
"I was asking Noire about myself back before I got hit with a convenient case of amnesia." Neptune said nonchalantly. Arfoire's expression took a downturn.
"I see." She said sadly. "I'm very sorry…" Arfoire said, hanging her head. Histoire floated down beside her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Wha'd'ya mean, Arfie?" Neptune asked.
"Neptune, Arfoire was the one who suggested that we remove one of the CPUs from the Console War. That's why me, Vert and Blanc…" Noire looked down ashamedly. "Ah! Not that I'm blaming you or holding it against you or anything!" Noire said to Arfoire.
"No, you have every right to blame me." Arfoire tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes.
"No way!" Neptune yelled. "My status as the main character, and my charming and lovable personality, is what ended the Console War!" Neptune said proudly.
"I would not say you were the only one to have a hand in ending the Console War, though I suppose you did ultimately act as the catalyst for it's end." Histoire said diplomatically. "What Neptune is trying to say, Arfoire, is that if you had not acted as the spanner in the works and opposed all of the CPUs, then the Console War would likely still be continuing even today." Histoire explained.
"You see, you have nothing to apologise for!" Noire said. "If anything, we should be thanking you; if it hadn't been for your intervention, I still wouldn't have any frie-Ah, I-I mean, I'd still be fighting a pointless battle with the others!" Noire corrected herself hurriedly. Neptune and Histoire rolled their eyes.
"Thank you. You are all too kind." Arfoire said gratefully.
"Noire…" Neptune pointed to her friend. "Why'd you guys chose me to team up against?" Noire sputtered.
"W-what?! Why you?" Noire thought frantically for an explanation. "I-it was because...you were totally the weakest CPU! That's it!" Noire said with a flourish. "We decided to remove you because you'd be the easiest to take." Noire flicked her hair over her shoulder smugly.
"Actually, if I recall correctly, you and the other CPUs chose to work together against Neptune because you felt threatened by her power." Histoire said, the slightest hint of mischief in her voice. "You all felt that Purple Heart outclassed you individually."
"WHAT?! N-n-no! Well, yes, b-but…" Noire blushed brighter than she ever had before. "For the record, I was totally against the idea; I only went along with it because-" Noire was interrupted by Arfoire's failed attempt to stifle a laugh.
"'Prepare yourself!' 'This is the end!'" Arfoire mimicked Black Heart's voice. Noire froze.
"T-that wasn't…" She stammered.
"No need to worry, Noire! I totally forgive you!" Neptune said sweetly. "That was a long time ago, so just forget about it."
"Really? Uh, I mean, of course we should forget about it! That was ages ago!" Noire agreed readily.
"Still, maybe you should do something for Neptune to make it up to her." Arfoire said. She glanced at Histoire, giving her a subdued smile.
"Yeah! You owe me ten puddings, Noire!" Neptune leapt up happily.
"Ugh, fine! But if I owe you, that means Vert and Blanc do to!"
"Yay, more pudding for me!"
"You are such a child." Noire chided, before allowing herself a sincere smile.
5. Showing Some Skin
MarvelousAQL held up a hand above her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. She had just left the guild after a hard day completing quests by herself.
"I think I'll take the rest of the day off and head down to the seaside. Even ninjas need breaks, after all." MarvelousAQL thought to herself. She made her way through the streets of Planeptune, down to the beach just outside of the main city. "Hold up a second! If all the nations are floating, and there's no ocean connecting them, how can there be a-"
"Hey! Marvy!" A young woman called out to MarvelousAQL.
"Oh, hey Falcom!" MarvelousAQL greeted the young redhead. "Fancy meeting you out here!"
"Yeah, it's pretty coincidental." Falcom scratched the back of her head as she walked up beside MarvelousAQL. "I was considering taking a little cruise on one of those touring cruiseliners today; but then I remembered my rotten luck with ships, so I had second thoughts." Falcom said sheepishly.
"Wow, a day on a cruiseliner sounds great on a day like this!" MarvelousAQL pointed up to the clear blue sky. "But Falcom, wouldn't a cruise be kind of expensive?"
"Yes, but I happened upon some spare money recently." Falcom explained.
"Spare money? Have you been powering through tons of quests all by yourself?!" MarvelousAQL said excitedly.
"Oh no, it's nothing that impressive." Falcom waved off her friend's enthusiasm. "A few days ago, I won the lottery, that's all."
"Wow, that's unbelievable! Are you gonna take all your winnings and retire from adventuring?"
"No, I'd never give up on my adventures, no matter how many times I end up shipwrecked!" Falcom said, a determination in her eyes. "Besides, I didn't win all that much money; it was only a million credits. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to win this time."
"That's still a lot of cash! What're you going to spend it on?" MarvelousAQL asked.
"I haven't really decided yet. All of my gear is up to date, and all of my living costs are covered by questing, and then some." Falcom looked out over the ocean in contemplation. "Ah, I know! Why don't we go shopping!" Falcom suggested.
"But all of my gear is up to date as well." MarvelousAQL said, a little disappointed. Falcom laughed.
"No silly! I'll split the money with you, and we can go clothes shopping!" Falcom said excitedly.
"But Falcom…"
"Aw, c'mon! I want to see you in some cute outfits, Marvy!" MarvelousAQL smiled widely.
"Alright then, let's go shopping! I feel like changing out of my school duds anyway." MarvelousAQL and Falcom headed back into the city.
Some time later, both girls returned to the beach.
"Wow, the sun's still shining bright!" MarvelousAQL said, stretching her arms out above her head. Her generously sized breasts were almost bursting out of the black and white bikini top she was wearing.
"Yeah, we're lucky it's such a nice day today!" Falcom agreed. She adjusted her white halter top as they headed down onto the sand.
"Hey, Falcom, look over there!" MarvelousAQL pointed further down the beach. Falcom raised a hand to shield her eyes as she scanned the beach. She spotted two women with long blue hair.
"That must be 5pb. and MAGES.!" Both girls walked down the beach to greet their friends. "5pb.! MAGES.! How's it going!" Falcom waved happily as she approached the girls.
"Kukuku. It would appear we have found the highly obvious ninja and the adventurer with ill luck pertaining to ships." MAGES. said smoothly.
"Hi girls." 5pb. greeted shyly. "I was just spending the day with my cousin, and it was so nice we decided to come down to the seaside." MarvelousAQL looked over both girls; MAGES. was wearing a white, black and grey checkered bikini/skirt combo, while 5pb. wore a frilly black bikini with a white floral pattern.
"Wow, those swimsuits are really cute!" MarvelousAQL said with an appraising smile.
"Thanks! We just bought them today!" 5pb. said.
"Same here. Ours were pretty expensive; they were five hundred thousand credits each!" Falcom said, gesturing to her own outfit.
"Kukuku! As were ours!" MAGES. scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Normally, that would be a bit steep for me, but…"
"My cousin won the lottery the other day. She's so lucky!" 5pb. laughed.
"Luck had nothing to do with it! I, the mad magician, created a device that would allow me to see into the future!" MAGES.' eyes suddenly looked dejected. "But then all it did was tell me the lottery numbers."
"Come on, MAGES.; a million credits is a lot of money!" 5pb. tried to cheer up MAGES., who was currently grumbling to herself.
"Say, you guys…" MarvelousAQL said. "Do any of you know why the swimsuits here are so expensive?"
6. What Uni'd Done
Kei Jinguji couldn't help but smile as she watched her nation's CPU Candidate eyeing up the basilicom's phone.
"You know Uni, if you are expecting a personal call, it would be more efficient to take it from your cell phone." She said as she approached the younger girl.
"N-no, I'm not expecting anyone to call! I was just on stand-by, just in case of an emergency!" Uni tried to cover herself. Kei raised an eyebrow.
"Would, by any chance, the emergency you were anticipating involve a certain pair of CPU Candidates?"
"No, w-why would you even think that!" Uni turned away, embarrassed.
"No business could possibly survive without proper communication. Maybe you should try calling Lowee's basilicom, and then obtain the personal numbers for the CPU Candidates." Kei turned to leave. "Just in case of an emergency." Kei allowed herself another smile as she left the room.
Uni stared at the phone. Eventually, she dialed up the number for Lowee.
"H-hello, is this the Lowee Basilicom? Could I speak to Rom and Ram, please? Oh, my name is Uni." Uni waited nervously as the phone was quiet for a moment.
"Hey there Uni, what's up!" Ram's boisterous voice came from the other end.
"Hi Ram. I just called to ask; do you and Rom have cell phones of your own?"
"Duh, of course we do!"
"Do you mind if we trade numbers? You know, just for emergencies and stuff…" Uni said sheepishly. "It's not like I'd call you every night just to hear the sound of your voice." Uni said quietly. There was no response. "H-hey Ram, are you still there?"
"Okay, we wrote them down!" Ram said suddenly.
"Oh, you were just checking your numbers." Uni said, letting out a breath.
"Yeah; here's mine first!"
"Wait, let me find a pen and paper or something!"
"Okay, I got both of them written down." Uni place the pen and paper aside. "Thanks, Ram. And the same to Rom."
"Hey Uni...I can call you anytime, right?" Ram said in a hushed voice.
"Of course!" Uni said happily.
"Cool...sometimes, I miss being able to talk to you…" Ram said quietly.
"Ram…"
"But that's okay, because now I can call you any time I want! So you'd better get ready!" Ram laughed. The line cut off as Ram evidently hung up the phone; however, Uni stayed where she was for a few moments.
"I'm looking forward to it."