Author Notes - This is just a brief look into how Nonny settles into his new home. There's still a few more things I'd like to do after this, such as showing what's gonna happen to the band itself.

Oh, and did you hear? They found the original unaired pilot for the show, which was made all the way back in 2006! If you haven't already, I suggest you check it out. It's both really different and yet really similar to what the show ended up being like. Deema says the line, and the basic format is there. But the designs are a little different. And Mr Grouper looks mildly terrifying.

CHAPTER NINE - FISHINGTON

Fishington was certainly a nice town. Not as nice as Bubbletucky, of course, but a close second. It was a little louder, and a little more crowded. The buildings were built a little differently: no more of those strange bubble-shaped structures that reminded Nonny of Deema's hair. His house was in a quiet part of town, not too far away from his extended family.

He hadn't had the chance to meet with Nicholas or Tonya yet, but the time would come soon. For now, his parents wanted him to get used to his new house before anything like that. The new house wasn't unlike his old one, but just different enough that parts of it felt off. At least his room had been arranged in much the same way.

At the end of his second week in Fishington, Nonny was lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Just to let his mind wander to all sorts of places, many of them bad but many more that were exciting. His parents chose to leave him alone, and the only thing that distracted him was Perrita yipping at whatever bird flew past the backyard. Then, he had a thought. A totally passing thought that disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. Though it disappeared quickly, it pushed him to go to his computer. Which he hardly ever used, so he wasn't sure what pushed him to do it now. As soon as he turned it on and logged in, he got an email notification.

So, that was it.

His eyebrow cocked immediately. It was an email account he had almost completely forgotten about, which he only made because he was in a band. Now that the band was seemingly no more, he probably should've gotten rid of it until he got older. He wasn't even sure what or who this new email could possibly be about, so he had to find out. For a moment, he hesitated before clicking on it. What if it turned out to be a virus? He couldn't control his curiosity, however, and clicked on it anyway.

The very first thing he noticed was the original email address: DramaQueen. Deema. He looked at the name with widened eyes, but he wasn't sure why he was surprised to begin with. Of course the other Guppies would take advantage of these emails. Only once he let this information sink in did he bother with the rest of the email. Deema's spelling was not the best, but he could still understand every word.

HEEEEEY Nonners! Havin a good tim in Fishintin? Good, rite! I didnt want to email you so soon becos I wantid you to setle in first, but I hav to tel you… IM A BIG SISTER NOW!

When Nonny read this final sentence, he leaned back and stared at it in shock. It wasn't that much of a surprise, since he knew her mother was pregnant, and Guppies as a species have short gestation periods (a mere two months!), but it hadn't crossed his mind.

Beter yet, they wer TWINS! There names are Julia and Benjamin! Their nammed after Momma's fav play.

There was a photo attached to this email, of Deema's mother Diane in the hospital bed. She was holding two babies, a brunette wrapped in pink and a blond wrapped in blue. Deema was in the photo, weeping even harder than her mother was. Nonny smiled as he looked at the photo. Not just because it was adorable, but because Deema had reached out to him almost immediately to share this news. Like she wanted him to know, straight away, that he was still her friend.

Once he reached the bottom of the email, he realised that it had been sent a couple of days ago. And it wasn't the only one. There was another email, sent the day before, and it came from a different address: MrImagination. Goby. Unlike Deema's, there was no attached image. It was a much shorter, and simple message. And his spelling was a lot better.

Hey, Nonny. I don't know if you're going to reply to this, but I just wanted to say hi. Hope you're having a good time in Fishington! And I really hope you still like that drawing I did. It doesn't make you sad when you look at it, does it?

Nonny glanced up from his screen at the poster hanging up on his wall. Since it was laminated and handled with care, it survived the trip without a stain or crease. Hopefully, it would stay that way forever. Or at least a decade or two.

We'll be starting our new schools soon. Yeah, more than one. Turns out that Molly and Gil are going to a different school than the rest of us.

For something dropped so casually, that was one heck of a bit of news. On top of everything else, even the Guppies staying together would have to go to separate schools? The 'stick together forever' plan was unravelling more and more. Immediately, Nonny began to worry. The next few sentences, however, alleviated most of his fears.

Just because it's a little closer to their road. But it's okay! We can still hang out on weekends. You know, before, it seemed like we really WOULD be staying together forever. But now, when we're all separated like this, it doesn't seem all that bad. Maybe it's because we know that no distance can possibly get between our friendship!

Goby's question about the drawing tempted Nonny to reply, just so he would know that the drawing was still beloved. The moment he opened up a new email, however, he ended up staring at a blank page for a long time. Despite being a living dictionary, the words just wouldn't come to him. How could he possibly compose the perfect message? Then he realised that he didn't have to make the perfect message. The smallest bit of acknowledgement would've been enough.

I still have the drawing, He typed. And it doesn't make me sad. I really like it. I just wanted you to know that.

That was all he needed. Goby would get everything he needed to know from those three sentences alone. Nonny hit 'send' without a second thought. It didn't really surprise him that his friends were already sending him emails. The only surprising thing was that Oona hadn't sent him anything yet. Unless, of course, she was waiting to send him something big, or struggling to write something that she felt sounded perfect. Whatever the reason, Nonny couldn't wait for it.

'Nonny!' His father called from downstairs. 'We have a neighbour over!'

Nonny put his computer into sleep mode and headed down the stairs, but not without some hesitancy. The neighbours had seemed nice, but he hadn't really met them yet. At most, he'd pass by their house and see two adult Guppies working in the front yard. Had his father not sounded so excited about it, Nonny may not have gone at all.

When he arrived at the bottom of the stairs, he was quite surprised to see a child waiting for him in the doorway. She was a Guppy, but definitely not any of his old friends. A totally new person. That thought made his stomach turn. She had brownish skin with deep green eyes, and her dark green hair went past her shoulders. And her tail was almost like a Hawaiian shirt, with pink flowers on sky blue.

She waved at him, and it took a lot of willpower to wave back.

'Hi!' She said. 'I'm Abyssa. I, uh, don't think we've met yet. I live just next door! What's your name?'

'... Nonny,' He replied. 'I only moved here a few weeks ago.'

'Oh, that explains it! It's cool to have a kid my age next door. Don't ya think?'

'... Yes.'

'So, if you just moved here, I guess you wouldn't have many friends here yet. But I can fix that! Wanna be friends with me?'

Leo guided her into the house, and she held out her hand to him. For a handshake, presumably. Nonny stared at her open hand for a little longer than he probably should have.

'Give my son a little time,' Leo said. 'He's kinda shy in front of new people.'

'I can wait!' Abyssa said. 'My big sister's kinda shy too. But she. Is. Awesome!'

Nonny wasn't so sure if he wanted to take her up on this offer. He didn't even know she existed until five minutes ago. Yet, she really was the first person to approach him like this since the Bubble Guppies. And, of course, it wasn't like he chose to be friends with the other Guppies either. It just sort of happened.

So, Nonny gave Abyssa a smile and shook her hand. He had to start somewhere, after all.

'Great!' Abyssa said. 'So, uh, what do you like?'

'... Dinosaurs.'

Her eyes widened. 'Ooh, yeah. Dinosaurs are really cool! I have a cousin who never stops talking about them.' She gasped. 'Wait! You're that kid who found an entire triceratops skeleton by himself, right?'

Now his eyes widened. The quiet week made him forget that he was, for all intents and purposes, a celebrity. Especially among children.

'You… you know about that?' He asked.

'Yeah!' She said. 'You're one of those Bubble Guppies too, right? Oh, that's so cool! You've had an awesome life, you know that?'

Nonny took the smallest 'step' back. 'Uh… y-you know, being friends with me won't get you a spot in the band. I, uh, don't think we're even much of a band anymore.'

Abyssa chuckled. 'Well, duh. That would be weird. Do people actually do that? I just wanted to say 'hi' cos I thought you looked a little lonely.'

'Uh… thanks? Y-You should come in.'

He brought her into the living room and gave her a seat on the couch. As soon as she got comfortable, she picked up one of the pillows and ran her hand down it. When her hand grazed the soft fabric, she let out a happy sigh.

'Oh, that is soft,' She said. 'That is soooo soft. How is this so soft?!'

'My grandfather made them,' Nonny said. 'He always used the best fabric he could find.'

'Your grandfather made these? Oh, that's so cool!'

Nonny sat down next to her, realising how hard it was for him to make friends in the first place. He tried to look her in the eye, but maintaining eye contact proved difficult.

'So,' Abyssa said. 'Is the triceratops your favourite dinosaur? You know, cos you found a full skeleton of it? Or is that just a wild assumption?'

There was genuine interest in her voice, sounding nothing like the usual tone he got from zealous fans who wanted to know all the details. And a lot less personal too. The questions from fans were also nice, but in a different way.

'It's hard to come up with a favourite,' Nonny said. 'But I think it might be the triceratops. Finding it that day has given me a lot of emotional attachment.'

'... What does that mean?'

'It means that I really like it because of what happened.'

Already back to explaining things. The more things changed…

Oona looked out her bedroom window and sighed. She wasn't happy about starting a whole new school, but she wasn't sad about it either. Truthfully, she didn't know what to feel. What was so exciting a few weeks ago was now something she could only feel apathy towards. No excitement, but no sadness.

Only four Guppies would be going to her school. Nonny was in a totally different neighbourhood, and the most famous duo from the band - Molly and Gil - were going to a separate school. Still friends, of course, but apart. She couldn't be certain, but the band would surely be no more after this. It'd be too - what was the word Nonny used? - impractical.

Yet, the possibilities of growing up and meeting new people was too intriguing to ignore. Finally getting to see where Oona's life would take her. Where it would take her friends. All the wonderful and horrible things that could happen to them. A gateway of infinite possibilities. Possibilities she'd only get to see if she lived in the moment.

Thinking about it, she managed to smile. If she knew Nonny well - and you can be sure that she did - then she knew that being happy would make him happy too. And who knows? Perhaps life would bring them together again, or maybe push them apart even more.

An idea popped into her head. She rushed out of her room at the speed of sound and barged into her big brother's room instead.

'KIAN!' She shouted.

'GAH!'

Kian had been watching something on his computer when Oona slammed the door open. He hurried in a panic to close down some concerning tabs before she could get a peep.

'Oh, sorry,' She said.

Kian chuckled. 'It's… it's alright. You haven't given me a heart attack yet. So, what do you-?'

'I need to talk to Nonny right now!'

He stepped aside as she charged on through, hopping onto his computer. She held her hands above the keyboard before turning to her brother.

'Can I use this?' She asked.

'If you want to facetime Nonny, sure,' Kian replied. 'Just, uh, don't go into my browser history. Some of it is a bit… weird.'

'Thanks! You can stay here. I think Nonny would be happy to see you too!'

'If you insist. But he might be busy. Or not even at home.'

'I know. It's worth a try! If he doesn't pick up, then he doesn't pick up. I don't want him to do things just to make me happy if he doesn't want to.'

Once Oona started up the call, she gave Nonny plenty of time to respond. Even at the best of times, he wasn't the best at answering phone calls. A few minutes had gone by without a worry. If he wanted to answer, he would.

It only took a few minutes before his face was on screen.

'Hi, Nonny!' Oona said, hardly giving him the time to think.

'Hello,' He said, waving back.

There was another person with Nonny - a young girl that she couldn't recognise.

'Hi there!' The new girl said. 'You must be Oona, right? I'm a big fan of your work. And who's that?'

Kian waved to them too. 'Uh, hi. I'm Kian. Her older brother.'

The girl gasped. 'Woah, you have an older brother? That's so cool! … Oh, I haven't even introduced myself yet. I'm Abyssa!'

Oona was not expecting to see another Guppy on the other end of the screen. Let alone someone of Nonny's age, who wasn't hounding him for autographs like many of the other fans. Nonny must've realised how odd this was for her, because he launched into a small panic.

'U-Uh, this is my new friend,' He said. 'I-I swear, I haven't replaced you already.'

Oona giggled. 'It's alright. I'm happy that you have a new friend! This is what I wanted. I don't want you to be all lonely if we can't be there in Fishington with you. Make friends!'

'So… you're okay with this?'

'Of course I am! And Abyssa seems like a very nice person. She isn't demanding an autograph, so I think she's a real friend.' She laughed again. 'This is awesome! School hasn't even started yet, and you've already got a new friend? That's great!'

'Oh. Uh, in that case,' He gave her a smile. 'I hope that you and Abyssa can meet one day.'

The day went by without any of them realising.

Author Notes - Abyssa is named after the abyssal zone, which (if I'm correct) is as deep as you can go before you start drifting into trenches. All I can say is stay the heck out of the abyssal zone. Actually, stay out of the ocean in general. It isn't nearly as nice as Abyssa is. Meanwhile, Deema's twin siblings (Julia and Benjamin) are named after Juliet and Benvolio from Romeo and Juliet. And not just by me either. That's what Deema's mother was going for.