"Mysterious crater forms overnight near rural farm area," Fuyuki read aloud from his screen, and then sat back and sighed. "That's seem so exciting if I didn't know what'd really happened. Well, it's good that Gunso and his friends didn't get caught, at least… I hope that they're doing all right."

"So are you gonna kiss her when you see her?" Kirere asked, leaning over and smiling playfully at Romama.

"Probably, I—Wha—That's personal!" Romama snapped, jumping in his seat.

"Hehe, I'm going to miss having you around, even if you were kind of grumpy!" Kirere giggled. "And now you can talk! Your voice is nice, I always thought you'd sound like Ojiisan!"

"You talk a lot," Romama sighed, and Tamama turned from the large window he was looking out of.

"I've been telling her that for months, and she still hasn't stopped," he grumbled.

"Hehehe, the innocence of youth, eh, Giroro Gocho?" Keroro nudged at Giroro. "Eh, what's up with you?" he asked, noting Giroro's far away look.

"Maybe he's nervous because he's gonna be a grandfather!" Kirere chimed in.

"Godfather!" Giroro corrected, snapping out of his trance. "You're too young to even look at boys!"

"Godfather, Giroro-dono?" Dororo wondered aloud.

"Aw, Lupapa-chan, don't you think that's moving a little quick?" asked Chunini, and Lupapa clenched down at her control panel, making small cracks in it. "Does explain why you've been getting chubby, though."

"Shut your fat mouth!" Lupapa barked at her.

"Nah, it's me," Mahihi sighed, and pulled away from his panel.

"Really now? Congratulations then, Mahi-san!" said Fujuju with a grin.

"I hate kids but I'll pretend I'm happy for you," Chunini chimed in.

"So when are you making it for them?" Kirere asked, taking a seat next to Kururu, and he looked at her, puzzled.

"What… Do you think…." Giroro trailed off, and Kururu gave a long, amused cackle. Kirere gave him a questioning look, and the red Keronian felt increasingly uncomfortable. "W-We'll talk when we get home."

"What'd I say?" she wondered, and Kururu only continued to laugh.

"Here it is, she should be here. She usually gets picked up around this time from here," Rokiki stopped at the edge of the park, his arms folded against his chest. Romama looked about the park, and then began to venture closer to the swings and slides.

"Aw, a tearful reunion—Eh? Fujuju-san, what's the matter with you?" Keroro wondered, noting the anxious expression of not only Fujuju, but the other Romama platoon members as well.

"Eh?" Romama looked over at one of the swings, and saw a young teenaged girl there, with short red hair, partially tied back by a purple hairpin. She had large, golden-colored eyes, and an orange sweater and long blue jeans on, as well and orange sandals. Her nails were brightly colored, and she had shiny bracelets on her arms, one of which had a familiar purple symbol on it; his. Around her neck was a red choker with a purple wagon-wheel shape on it. Romama looked at her in awe as it struck him who it was.

"Ko.. Koda—"

"Kody!" came an unfamiliar voice, and Romama jerked his head up as Kodada hopped up from her swing and picked up the red backpack that had been at her side.

"She found her own family, too," Mahihi explained as she embraced the young blonde man, who laughed and then took her bag from her.

"Hold on, I forgot my phone!" she turned around to grab it from another swing, and stopped, her eyes meeting with Romama's. "…I'll catch up with you, all right?"

"Eh? All right," he nodded, puzzled. He tossed the bag over his back, and then began to walk away towards what Romama assumed was his car.

"Romama-kun," she knelt down on the sand in front of him, "That's… That's really you! You… You're all right. I'm so glad!" she said with a smile, wiping away a few tears from her eyes.

"Why don't you say something to her, too? You're her sister," Kirere asked Chunini, who looked outwardly upset at the sight of her sister.

"Because she's got her own life now, and who would want me in it? Plus I have Lee, she's my family now," Chunini lit up and smiled, but Lupapa, who was next to her, could see it was just an act. "She's doing great on her own!"

"So… He's your brother," Romama repeated, looking past Kodada at the man, who was now sitting in his car talking on his phone. He wasn't entirely convinced of this, but allowed it to slide.

She nodded and smiled weakly, "I have a mother and father here, too. I traveled around looking for you, but… I found this family ten years ago, and I realized that…. Well, I guess I lost hope, especially after I met up with everyone and no one had seen you. I'm sorry, if I'd known you were—"

"It's okay," Romama nodded. "I'm happy you're safe, Kodada-san. It's what I wanted for you, for… You to be happy. And you're happy, right?"

"Yes, very," she nodded, and placed a hand on the side of his face. "So… Are we going to go back now, to Keron? If that's the case, then… I want to say goodbye to everyone at least."

"Stay here," Romama answered, and she blinked in surprise. "Your happiness… Is what I wanted the most for you. And you have that."

"So this is really goodbye for us, huh?" she wiped her eyes again, and he placed his hand over hers.

"If you need me, I'll be there," he answered. "But… Don't be afraid to be happy. Even if that means you find someone else. It's all right. I don't mind it. I'll be all right."

He took a step back, letting her hand fall, and she looked back over her shoulder as the horn of her brother's car honked, "He'll be mad if we're late…"

"Yeah," he nodded, and returned the wave she gave him as she looked back once more and then ran to her brother's car, leaving him alone at the playground. As he watched them drive off, he felt and looked strangely at peace with himself.

"That didn't look like it went well," Tamama muttered.

"I think it went well as it could. It was thousands of years, what did he expect to happen?" Rokiki grunted as Romama took seat on one of the swings and looked down at the sand, deep in contemplation.

The swing was absolutely still, so Romama was taken aback as he felt a push, and then another one. He looked over his shoulder, and it was his nephew, pushing him on the swing. Keroro gave a laugh and a grin, and Romama returned this, and he eventually began to laugh.

"Come on, swing me!" Kirere took Giroro's hand and pulled him along.

"Wha—Kirere-chan, this isn't… All right, but this isn't some picnic we're on, remember!"

"…Hey, fat ass," Chunini looked over at Lupapa, and nudged her. "Beat you to the slide?"

"What are you, three?" Lupapa folded her arms and turned away from Chunini, but groaned as she felt the orange eyes of the yellow Keronian woman upon her. "…You're not going to stop staring at me until I do it, aren't you?"

"Not a chance!" Chunini answered, then took off running. Lupapa gave a sigh, but followed after her.

"What on Pekopon are they doing?" Rokiki asked as he stood next to Mahihi, watching this all unfold. He was bewildered as Keroro continued to swing Romama, and Romama gave a laugh, although at the same time it was apparent that there were tears in his eyes.

"I think… That he's getting to be a kid for the first time in a long time," Mahihi explained. "And everyone else is happy because they're alive. Wouldn't you be?"

"I am, but I don't show it by making sandcastles," Rokiki snorted, watching now as Tamama and Fujuju were doing just this.

The others had joined in various activities as well, except for Kururu, who seemed content sitting on his laptop while perched atop the monkey bars. Dororo hung upside down from these, in a meditative position, and Keroro continued to push Romama on the swing. The fun nephew and uncle were having ceased when Keroro swung too hard, and sent Romama flying. Romama stomped back moments later, and Giroro and Fujuju had to pull him away as he went to strangle Keroro with said swing.

"You wanna push me on the swing?"

"I want a stiff drink," Rokiki answered without skipping a beat.

"Yeah. Me, too," Mahihi sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"So what're they going to do now?" Kirere asked her father as she sat watching the Romama platoon. They were a distance away from Keroro's platoon, that was in front of Giroro's tent, and were in an opposite corner of the Hinatas' yard.

"If they go to join them, I swear…." Natsumi stood in the doorway, shaking her head, with Fuyuki beside her and Mois behind them, peeking over their shoulders to watch. It was already evening again, and Keroro looked anxiously across, making several attempts to sneak over but each time being pulled back by Dororo.

"Forgive me, Teicho-dono, but this isn't a matter we're part of," he sighed as he again drug Keroro back to their camp.

"But I wanna hear," Keroro moaned, giving a sigh of defeat.

"All right, I suppose it's settled then," Rokiki nodded sagely and gave a sigh.

"Right," Romama nodded, and took a few steps back from them. They in turn lined up in front of him, and all watched as Romama stood at attention, and saluted them. They returned this in perfectly military fashion, and then Romama barked out, "Romama Shotai, DIS-MISSED!"

"Dismissed?!" Keroro squeaked.

"Sure," Chunini let go of her salute and walked toward him. "I have an album coming out soon, I'm already really behind on it."

"And I need to get back to my work as well," Lupapa picked up her staff from the ground, the old wooden one she had been using back while in the rainforest. "They need me there."

"I've got a room to paint and a wife and family to support and yeah, she doesn't like it when I travel for work. You know how it is," Mahihi blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, Fujuju-san's gonna join us!" Tamama chimed in, and Fujuju looked a bit apologetic, and folded his hands together nervously.

"Actually… I may get out for a bit, see what I've been missing," he began. "From what I can see, there's a lot of it, and… I want it, what you all have gotten. I hope I'm not hurting your feelings too much, Tama-chan. Please understand."

"Eh, that's okay—But you've gotta come over some time, you haven't even made any cakes yet!" Tamama answered, and Fujuju laughed lightly.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"And what about you, Rokiki-dono?" Dororo asked, and Rokiki gave a grunt.

"Going to travel around for a bit, see what this planet's got to offer. Plus I've recently become aware of a place called Australia, and it looks like it has a lot of training ground for a warrior like me."

"We'll keep in touch, though, don't worry. I'll come and bug you whenever I need a hot meal," Chunini said with a giggle and a wink.

"Great, just great," Natsumi's mouth twitched a bit at this. "Guess we're not getting rid of them afterall."

"That's all right, Nee-chan," Fuyuki answered. "I don't think they want to take over the planet, like Gunso, they just want to live on it."

"Miss Chu, the limo is here," Lee announced, poking her head out of the door and catching Fuyuki off guard; she had completely silent walking up to them, like a ninja.

"Ah, wonderful! Mahihi, I'll give you and your wife a ride if you want, at a discount faire, of course!" Chunini said in a trilling tone as she headed to the glass door.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you," Mahihi sighed. "Hey, Aka Baka! I want you over in a few weeks. I'm not putting that furniture together on my own."

"Like I'd take time out of our own invasion to help with you and your mundane tasks," Giroro grunted, but from the expression on his face it was clear this was meant in good humor.

"Good luck with your travesty!" Kirere called out, and Giroro gave a yelp. "What? It's what Papa called it!"

"You're not even that cute kind of dim," Tamama mumbled darkly to her. "You're just... Your own planet."

"Hehehe… Yeah, catch you guys later!" Mahihi waved goodbye, and then walked into the house, saying to himself. "They're harmless, but they're weirdos."

"Marco and I are getting a ride with Rokiki," Lupapa explained, taking a step towards them now. "His mother's probably worried sick, and I'll have hell to pay for taking him this far away from her. Hopefully she'll understand."

"Feel free to visit whenever you find time, Lupapa-dono," said Dororo pleasantly to her.

"Mm, you're welcome in my neighborhood as well," she said as she turned and left to collect Marco. This left Rokiki standing in front of them, and he pointed directly at Dororo, and spoke darkly.

"One wrong move, and rest assured I will hunt you," he said before leaving for the ship.

"I wonder what I did to make him not like me? I... I don't even think I've spoken to him!" Dororo asked, truly puzzled by this.

"At least he'll remember you," Keroro said offhandedly, and by Dororo's moan it was clear this had been a crushing blow to his self-worth.

"I'm going to catch a ride… Start in England, see where I go from there. Cheers!" Fujuju saluted them a goodbye, and then fumbled off to join Rokiki. Marco and Lupapa soon after joined them, and before long they, as well as the ship were gone. Now only Romama stood there before them, looking a bit awkward by himself as all eyes were on him.

"I'm going to be around," he answered, and then turned toward the back gate.

"Eh? Ojiisan? Where're you going?" asked Keroro.

"I… Have somebody to meet," he replied vaguely, and then opened the gate and was gone.

"Ow… Ow…" Aya rubbed at the sore area where she had bandaged her knee, and she grit her teeth as she attempted to rise again. Only half of the lights were on in the dance studio, and she was there alone, with only her stereo to keep her company. She turned it on again, starting the track over and taking it from the top. She nearly gave another tumble as the track stopped suddenly, but managed to grab onto the bar at the last minute.

"I'm sorry," came a weak voice from a shadow, and Aya immediately rose, and backed up against the piano in the room.

"W-Who's there? Stay back!" she called out, visibly shaking while doing this.

"It's me," he answered. "I'm… The one who's been leaving you water bottles."

"The Little Angel?" she relaxed a bit, "What… I thought you'd left…"

"I did. To finish some things with friends," he replied. "Don't be scared, please."

"I'm not, just… Why now?" she took a seat on the bench of the piano, and looked toward the shadow.

"I was tired of being quiet all of the time."

"Can you… Come out from the shadow then? I can't see you in here."

"Not yet. I just want you to know, that… I think you're doing a terrific job. You're not the best, but you try, and… It shows," he stuttered, while she sat, dumbstruck.

"I don't think anyone's ever complimented me before on my dancing…"

"Well… This is one," Romama replied. "Keep up your good work, and you'll get it. I know you will."

There was the sound of a door closing, and Aya rushed to the light switch, and flipped on all of the lights, but it was no use. There was no longer anyone in the room, just her.

"And if they ask, the story we're sticking with is?..." Haruki began.

"That you're visiting relatives, not that you're skipping town and dodging bill collectors!" Kirere said cheerily, and he patted her on the head. It had been a few weeks since the events with Kezanstav, Rokiki, and Kodada, and things had finally managed to calm down, with Kirere returning to work in the garage with a newly non-smoking Haruki.

"Good job, Kid. Now you ready?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly, placing her helmet over her head and climbing into Haruki's backpack. He put on the pack, then a helmet of his own, and then took off quickly on the bright red motorcycle, zooming down to the Hinatas' house so quickly he knocked down Keroro, who had been taking out the trash.

"Watch for pedestrians, Bill Dodger!" Keroro shouted from his place behind the bags of trash, waving his fist at Haruki. Kirere slipped out of the backpack and removed her helmet, and then hopped off of the bike.

"Bring me back a souvenir!" she called out, and he waved once more, and then zoomed down the road.

"Ah, Kirere-chan! It was getting a little bit lonely around here!" Keroro began to pull off his apron and bandanna as he and Kirere walked into the Hinatas' household, which was unusually silent.

"Did we get any mail?" she asked excitedly, and Keroro answered with pulling out two postcards from underneath his yellow helmet.

"One from Dad!" she exclaimed. "He's having a great time in Hawaii, except Daisy keeps making them move furniture… And she likes to throw things. Huh."

"What's that other one? From Kururu Socho?"

"Yeah, he's in Korea with Chunini-san, helping her finish up her album. It says… 'Don't break anything'."

"How very like him."

"How's Tama-nee-chan doing? Have you heard anything from him?"

"Why yes, earlier I got the strangest phone call from him!" Keroro answered. "It looks like Fujuju-san's already gotten some friends! A set of twins, about Fuyuki-dono's age. They were, what did he say…. Making brooms to fly on so they could get up to the top of Big Ben. There were all sorts of explosions in the background… Our call cut out towards the end, but I figured it wise to not call him back for a little while."

"How about Dororo-kun?"

"Nothing, but we can only assume he's having a good time on his vacation."

"Do you think he and Lupapa-san are stopping a lot of bad guys down there?"

"Knowing them, it's what they do for their main source of fun. Eh? Ojiisama?"

Sure enough, the tap on the glass door was Romama, who stood with a large, round plastic bag at his side, he dug into it and held it up, and Keroro immediately rushed to the door at the sight of the large watermelon.
"Ojiisama always knows the password!" Keroro said cheerfully as he took a seat on the edge of the doorway.

"Idiot," was Romama's only answer as he took a set next to Keroro. Kirere hopped down in between them and gave a grin, and Romama gave a small smile. "You say food and you both come running, like puppies," he said while taking out a pocket knife and beginning to cut up the watermelon.

"You say free food and we move even faster!" Kirere chimed in, and he sighed and passed Keroro, and then her a slice.

"This is delicious, Ojiisama! Where did you manage to pick up such a thing?"

"A friend of mine… She brought it for me, but I couldn't eat it all. I didn't want to waste it," Romama answered calmly, taking a bite of his own slice. "There are oranges in there, too."

"Tonight we dine like kings, Kirere-chan!" Keroro exclaimed, the looked down and noted the girl pouring hot sauce on her watermelon slice before eating it. "….I'll never grow used to your doing that."

"You're all weird," Romama answered as he finished his watermelon slice and discarded it on top of the bag. "And fools. But you're family, meaning I'm stuck with you and I have to make the best of my situation."

"Finally he gets it!" Keroro called happily. "How about another hug?"

"Don't push it!" Romama snapped, and Kirere gave a laugh.

"So Ojiisama, if you're family then you won't mind helping your poor nephew out with an endeavor or two…"

"That's your own battle, I'm not fighting it for you," Romama answered quickly, cutting off another slice of watermelon. "If you want the planet, you work for it."

"Oh, no fair! What about nepotism!?"

"If I knew what that meant I wouldn't follow it anyway," Romama answered plainly. "I'm not handing you anything."

"No fair, no fair at all! And as good as we've been to you!"

This continued back and forth between the two until they finally finished the watermelon and ran out of energy, and Romama left, angered at the cruel card genetics had dealt him but secretly grateful for the company. And Kirere washed up and went to work in her own bedroom while Keroro went to work on Gunpla, happy to have none of his other teammates breathing down his neck for a change.

"There, done!" she said proudly as she put the last piece on with an electric screwdriver and then looked at her handiwork. "I'll have to show Tororo next time he comes to visit… Mm… Going past your bedtime isn't as much fun when you know you won't get in trouble for it…"

She gave a yawn, a stretch, and slunk off to her bedroom. She removed her brown gloves, tossed them aside, then crawled up into her bed and shut off her light. The day was over, and it was only a few more hours until the next one. Soon things would be back to normal, and everyone would be back to their attempts to take over Pekopon while attempting to get along in the process.

Until then she just enjoyed the unusual quiet.

The End