Author Notes - Time for that other scene that seems to be in all of my Bubble Guppies stories: the aftermath of the initial sad thing.

CHAPTER THREE - FALL-OUT

The classroom was silent. Absolutely, totally silent. You could barely even hear people breathing. It was as if making a single sound would cause the entire building to crumble. Everyone inside the room - what was left of the class - had no idea what to do or what to say.

Then, a sound broke the silence: Oona was beginning to weep. And Gil couldn't take another second of it.

'GAH!' He cried. 'This… this… this is crazy! Nonny isn't going to move away, for sure. W-We're the Bubble Guppies! We don't just… split up like that.'

'Uh, Gil,' Mr Grumpfish said. 'Nonny will be moving away. I know that seems weird, but it's happening.'

'Well, then, uh… Nonny's dad has gotta change his mind. He knows that we can't be split up. That wouldn't be right!'

Nonny would've liked to correct Gil. To tell him that he was moving away and that his father wouldn't (and really couldn't) change his mind. But his focus was on Oona, even though he had no clue about making her feel better. He held her hand and hoped it would help, but it didn't seem to do anything at all.

'W-Why do you have to leave?' She asked, hardly able to speak anymore.

'I-I… It wasn't my decision,' Nonny said, fumbling over his words. 'It's my father. He… he wanted a better job. And to be closer to his other son. I don't want to take that away from him.'

'B-But then… you'll be taken from us.'

Nonny backed away immediately. Not only was he not helping, he only seemed to be making it worse. He turned away from her, with no idea what to say next. Even if he had something to say, he wouldn't be able to. Not with the knowledge that anything he said could only make the situation even worse than it already was.

Mr Grumpfish swam over to her instead, only a little less confused than him. 'I… think you need a moment. If you'll come with me, I'll take you somewhere more private.'

Oona nodded and followed him into the teacher's lounge. She gave Nonny one more quick glance before she left the room, and that one look almost broke his heart. There was no way she intended for it to be anything more than a simple glance, like she was trying to appreciate him while she still had him. But that one look made a sharp pain of guilt shoot through Nonny's body.

Even though it wasn't his fault. And he knew it wasn't his fault.

So why did it feel like it was?

'You can't be doing this, Nonny!' Gil said. 'Is this just a… a big joke or something?'

'Gil, I-'

Nonny found himself unable to say much else. It was like his throat was closing him, just to stop him from saying anything that could make the situation even more catastrophic. As if it possibly could get worse than Deema leaving in a rage, or Oona breaking down into tears.

'Uh, Gil,' Zooli said. 'Maybe we should leave Nonny alone for a moment. I think he's just as stressed out as we are.'

'But he can't be serious!' Gil said. 'The Bubble Guppies never break up. We know that!'

'Well, maybe… we were wrong.'

'Wrong?! We can't be wrong about something like that!'

Nonny wasn't sure what to do with himself. Not during something like this. So, he simply took himself over to that one window that everyone seemed to stare out of when they were worried or upset. It was such a lovely window to stare out of it, thanks to its beautiful view of the vast kelp-filled fields.

He could feel his eyes stinging.

'This is what it means to be a Guppy, Zooli,' Gil said. 'We were supposed to be together until the end. Nothing was meant to get in our way. I just can't believe that something like this would even happen.'

Zooli shrugged. 'Well, a-apparently it can. Maybe we should-'

'It isn't going to happen, Zooli!'

His voice had raised in volume, significantly, but not out of rage. There was something defiant to be sure, but it was overwhelmed by another emotion almost completely: wanting to ignore the creeping realisation that this really was happening.

Zooli, just as clueless as Nonny about what to do, drifted over to Goby. His 'surprise' was a bit more obvious now: all that orange crayon had been used to draw Mr Grouper, and rough sketches of the Guppies could be seen surrounding him. Goby picked up the pink crayon, most likely to start drawing Molly, only to stop himself when the crayon was just a few centimetres away from the paper.

'Uh, Goby, what are you doing?' Zooli asked.

'I need this to be perfect!' Goby replied. 'Maybe, if I show Nonny and his dad how important he is, it'll convince them to stay here.'

'... Are you sure that would work?'

'I have no idea. But if I don't give it a try, it'll never work.'

'And what if it doesn't?'

Goby just looked at her in silence, unable - or perhaps refusing - to answer her question. It was only a brief look, and he returned to his drawing as quickly as possible. Not that it really mattered; he was still hovering that crayon a few centimetres above the drawing, not allowing it to touch the paper unless he was certain about where it should go.

Molly and Mr Grouper weren't quite sure where Deema could've gone. There were so many locales that she liked. The beach, the library, the mall, the bakery, even the airport… so many places where she could've gone to relax or cheer up at.

It didn't take long, however, for them to find her. She was sitting on a bench, not too far from school. The only other living things around her were the flowers and the insects crawling around on them. She was staring at the ground - or, more precisely, right through it - with a pout on her face, crossing her arms too.

Molly let out an audible sigh of relief once she saw her. 'Deema!'

The sound of her name perked Deema out of her funk for a moment. For a brief second, her eyes darted up to her friend, and her pout disappeared. But only for a moment. It was like she didn't want to acknowledge anyone else in the world right now. Unfortunately for her, though, Molly was stubborn.

'We were so worried about you!' She said, sitting down next to her. 'After you left without telling us where you were going, we-'

'Oh would you just be quiet!' Deema snapped.

Molly flinched so hard she almost fell off the bench. It was enough to make Mr Grouper swim towards them faster. Molly wasn't scared or upset, though. Just very surprised. Deema, however, only saw fear and looked away in an instant.

'S-Sorry…' She murmured. 'I'm just…'

'Angry?' Mr Grouper asked.

Deema's grip on her own arms tightened, and she turned away from her friend and teacher. Though she was unable to look at them, she nodded.

'I know I shouldn't be angry,' She said. 'But… h-how could Nonny's dad do this to us? And… and why won't Nonny do anything to fix it?!'

'It's okay to feel angry about it,' Mr Grouper said. 'Anger is a normal emotion to have when something like this happens. It feels like an injustice. Doesn't it?'

Deema nodded. 'The Bubble Guppies are supposed to stay together. But now, because of Nonny's dad… we won't be together anymore. And I… I… I can't believe it!'

Mr Grouper gave her a smile. 'You know, while I'm not exactly happy with you running off without telling us where you were going, you chose a good place to run to. It's quiet, there aren't many people around, and there's, uh, nothing you can really break.'

'Wait, really?'

'It's a good place to let out your anger without hurting anyone. Anger isn't a nice feeling to have, but sometimes you have to deal with it. And going somewhere quiet is a way to do so.'

Deema went silent. Her brief smirk indicated that she was about to leap into a 'exactly how I planned it' kind of argument, before she realised that she wasn't going to convince anyone that coming out here was her plan all along.

'Nonny can't really control this,' Molly said. 'It wasn't his choice. But he can still visit us, and that's all that matters! We just… won't be seeing him as often as we used to. That's all.'

'I know that,' Deema said. 'But… I'm still kinda angry. I mean, this goes against everything that the Bubble Guppies stand for! I can't believe that-!' She took a deep breath. 'I'm gonna go punch some dirt now. That might help.'

'Well,' Mr Grouper said. 'It's definitely worth a try.'

Deema nodded, and swam over to a random patch of grass. It felt nice against her tail as she sat down. She quickly checked to make sure there weren't any bugs, and bashed her fists into the dirt as hard as she possibly could. Her hands made only the smallest dents in the earth. So, she punched it again. And again. And again. She didn't stop until her hands began to ache.

She let out another breath. 'HOOO! Okay,' She said with a smile. 'I think I'm kinda good now!'

Molly and Mr Grouper laughed; only Deema could seemingly recover from her own moods so quickly. She took a seat next to Molly again, sitting much more comfortably than she did before.

'I really needed that,' She said.

Molly laughed again. 'Good to see that you're feeling better!'

'Sorta. I still feel a little angry, but it's like I said before. If this is gonna be our last day together, as the Bubble Guppies, then we need to celebrate it!'

'That's the spirit, Deema!' Mr Grouper said. 'Are you ready to go back to school now?'

Deema tapped her chin. 'I dunno. I think…' She gasped. 'Wait, I just got an awesome idea! And I think Nonny's gonna love it.'

She was so proud of this idea that she leapt off the bench without even realising it, losing her balance for a moment.

'What is it?' Molly asked.

'First,' Deema replied. 'We need a card. And not a small cruddy one, like those Christmas cards that everyone forgets about the day after. I'm talking a big card. A REALLY big card!'

Nonny continued to stare out that window, though he was hardly looking at the actual environment. His attention focused mostly on a stream of bubbles emanating from the ground. It was certainly not the only one of its kind, but that one stream - or, at least, a previous stream in a similar location - was quite special to him. Just looking at it reminded him of that first day of school.

…

'What are you laughing about?'

'I like bubbles.'

'Oh! I like bubbles too. Who doesn't? … Bub-bub-bubble... bub-bub-bubble...'

…

It was strange to think that a simple column of bubbles changed his life so much, and certainly for the better.

And it was even stranger to think that it was all about to go out the window, possibly to float up to the surface where it would never be seen again.

He wasn't mad at his father for this. He understood exactly why he was doing what he had done. A job that paid a lot more, plus being closer to the rest of his family? It was a no-brainer. He wasn't mad at all. At anyone. But there was still a part of him, a part that was bigger than he wanted, that wished that his father never made this decision to begin with.

'... Are you sure that would work?'

'I have no idea. But if I don't give it a try, it'll never work.'

'And what if it doesn't?'

He could easily hear Goby and Zooli's conversations, even though they talked like he couldn't. Not that he said anything about it; they seemed happier thinking he couldn't hear a word they were saying. He remained quiet, because he knew that if he admitted to Goby that he could hear him, then he would have to explain that the drawing he was making wouldn't make a single difference.

Mr Grumpfish wasn't surprised in the slightest when Oona broke down crying on the couch. It also didn't surprise him when she allowed him to sit next to her, to give her a comforting fin. Or when she ended up crying for a while, a lot longer than she usually would.

What did surprise him, however, was when Oona suddenly stood up straight and wiped her eyes, even though it seemed like she still had plenty of tears left to shed.

'N-No, I can't do this…' She murmured.

'Uh, Oona?' Mr Grumpfish said. 'What are you talking about?'

Oona breathed in and out slowly, gradually gaining control of her crying. Only a few tears escaped and trickled down her face.

'I-I can't be like this,' Oona said. 'Not today.'

'Um… it's understandable to be sad,' Mr Grumpfish said. 'This, well, could be the end of the Bubble Guppies as we know it. Of course you're sad.'

'No, that isn't what I mean. I can't be sad now. I'll waste the day! I can cry about it later. Right now, I need to make sure I make this day the best day ever for Nonny!'

She leapt off the couch and left Mr Grumpfish even more confused than he was a minute ago. On her way out of the teacher's lounge, she stopped to look at Mr Grouper's wall of photos. The wall of memories.

The first one her eyes landed on was Nonny standing in front of the massive dinosaur fossil he (accidentally) uncovered. Then, the day he had been officially dubbed 'Sir Nonny the Nice'. And even the time he navigated a mall without his glasses, using his senses to find his way instead. And, of course, his surprise birthday party. When even 'Secret Agent Nonny' found it quite surprising when his friends celebrated his birthday so grandly.

In all four photos, he was smiling. Beaming. Oona knew right away that that was what his expression oughta be on a day like this.

Without saying another word, she left the room. Which left Mr Grumpfish no less confused than he was a few minutes ago. When Oona arrived in the classroom again, no one noticed that she was there. Gil was talking to Bubble Puppy in the middle of the room.

'It's silly. Isn't it, Bubble Puppy?' He asked his pet. 'It's not gonna happen. The Guppies never split up.'

Zooli was standing by the table. 'Gil, I'm sorry, but it's happening. You can't keep denying it.'

'... I… I don't want to think about it.'

Goby was still working on his drawing, paying no attention to anyone or anything else around him. His crayon strokes were slow and smooth. It looked more like surgery than a simple work of art. The moment his hand began to shake, he yanked it away so he could steady it again.

And Nonny was still sitting by the window, staring out of it while hardly moving at all.

Author Notes - I realised while writing this chapter that this story was quickly turning into 'New Student Zooli' in terms of plot structure. Start off happy in the first chapter, establish the problem in the second, spend several sad chapters trying to make it right again. Since I didn't want to repeat what I've already done, I decided that things needed to start getting better a lot sooner than that.

The dialogue in Nonny's short flashback is taken directly from a previous story of mine: 'Get Ready for School'. The scene in question was about the origins of the Bubble Guppies theme song, where Nonny remarking on the bubble columns inspires Molly to add that word to a tune she had been tapping. It only seemed right to reference their first day of school on their last.