Author Notes - I said that I wanted to use almost all the one-off and recurring characters in the original finale I had planned, but obviously that would be kind of full-on. But, there's still a few of them that show up in this chapter!

CHAPTER FOUR - NOT DONE YET

'Hello, dear friend of the Bubble Guppies! Would you like to sign this goodbye card for Nonny?'

Deema had said that so much that she was practically turning into a robot. But, despite all the people she had said that to, she had managed to retain her usual upbeat energy and cheer. Mr Grouper was quite impressed by how she could pull that off, while Molly found herself a little unable to keep up.

For this dear friend, they had entered the snowcone shop.

Arctic Dan, standing behind the counter, laughed. 'Sure, dudes! After you guys helped push that big ship out of the way of my giant snowcone, I owe you! So, do I write a message too?'

Molly laughed a little nervously. 'Uh, we're going to be asking a lot more people. And there's already a lotta names on the card. I think you should just write your name.'

'Woah! You're not kidding.'

The big card was already signed by a lot of people. Sir Mulligan signed his name in font just as fancy as you'd expect a knight to write with. Princess Demanda was even more fancy than that. Meanwhile, Skip and Avi were clumsy but loving. The 'Amazing Daisy' added a few sparkles to her name, while the Mayor wrote hers in a uniform manner.

Arctic Dan opted to write simply 'Dan' to save a little room, but included a little drawing of a simplistic snowcone.

'There you go, dudes!' He said. 'Hope Nonny loves it!'

'I know he will!' Molly said. 'So, who's next?'

'It could be anyone!' Deema said. 'Who have we met? We've still got Dusty, Sandy and her sisters, Mr Petrol, Ms Dewey, Pronto, Mr Claws…' She gasped. 'And that's not even including all our animal friends! What about Pudding and Butterscotch? Or Charlie? Or Beep? Or Fernando? Or Bubble Kitty? Or Buddy?! OR-'

'Woah woah woah!' Mr Grouper said. 'One at a time, Deema! The library isn't too far from here, so maybe we should go to Ms Dewey next.'

'Well, we better hurry if we wanna get all these names before Nonny has to leave!'

Nonny wasn't sure if he wanted to move from his spot. What was the point? If he turned around, he'd have to see his own friends struggling with this news. In a room that was missing two Guppies and their wonderful teacher. It wasn't like there'd be anything worth looking at.

He thought that until he heard the music player turning on again. It didn't continue playing the last couple of songs from the second album, nor did it start playing a song from the third. Instead, it was the beginning of a fifth album song.

'Some days I feel excited. Jump up and down, I can't try to hide it.'

Everyone in the room recognised that one easily. It was a song that many parents had praised for validating the feelings of their children, teaching them that there was nothing wrong with being mad or jealous or annoyed.

'Some days I wake up mad. … Stomp my foot and pretty soon I find that I'm feeling glad.'

It was Molly who had sung the song originally, however, with Gil taking over for the second verse. This time, it sounded like it was being sung by…

'Oona…' Nonny murmured as he turned around.

Oona was standing by the music player, microphone in her hand. She looked directly at him as she sang, giving him a little smile. Nonny's mouth fell open; he never expected her to recover so quickly. Let along sing to him about it!

'So whether you're grumpy, proud, or brave. Sleepy or amazed. Don't be afraid to let it show right on your face.'

The other Guppies perked up, from the familiar sound and the joy in Oona's voice. Gil was the first one to smile, and he swam next to her so they could sing the next part together.

'So if you're feeling sad, you can make a frown!'

Zooli, too, smiled and joined in for the next line.

'Happy again, turn it upside down! That's feelings!'

Goby almost got out of his chair to join the chorus, but his eyes darted back to his drawing. The temptation to join in on the song pulled at him, but he sat back down in his seat. Regardless of what finishing it would accomplish, he knew he had to finish it before the end of the day.

'Ohhh if you're feeling shy, you can hide away. Silly, make a face come out and play!'

Nonny drifted over to Oona subconsciously, only somewhat aware that he was even moving. It was as though he was a planet caught in the orbit of a beautiful sun, being dragged into place.

'That's feelings! Oo-ooh!'

And then, the other Guppies went quiet, so Oona could sing the last part of the chorus by herself.

'Oh the feelings, oh the feelings, that I feel…'

She paused the song immediately, right before Gil's part of it would begin. Even with the song over, she continued to give Nonny that soft smile. Now, she held out her hand. Without really realising what he was doing, Nonny took it.

'OH!' Mr Grumpfish said. 'So that's what you were talking about. … Okay, that makes sense.'

'You… you're looking happy,' Nonny said.

He cringed just a little at his own words; could he have possibly been any more awkward? Lucky for him, Oona found him very cute when he was awkward.

She giggled. 'Of course I'm happy!'

'But… you were so sad before,' Nonny said. 'How can you be so happy when you know I'll be leaving for another town?'

'Because this is our last school day together. Do you think I want to waste that by crying in a room all day? No! I want to spend it with you, making sure you're as happy as can be! I want this to be a day that you look back on happily. Not sadly. What kind of parting gift would that be?'

'I… I see. But I don't know if I can be happy knowing that this is going to be our last day together.'

Oona's only response was a big warm friendly smile. It warmed Nonny's heart like a lovely fireplace.

'Com'on, Nonny,' Gil said. 'You think you're not gonna be happy when Oona's here?'

'I'm with Gil on this one,' Zooli said. 'She never fails to make you happy. There's a reason why the fans draw so much fanart of you two together. Like I did.'

'Wait, you drew some Noona fanart?'

'N-NO! W-Why would I do that?!'

Nonny didn't answer them, but everyone knew what he would've said: they were right. Just looking into Oona's eyes made him feel so much better than he did just a few moments ago.

'Come on, guys!' Oona said, throwing her arms into the air. 'Pick your favourite songs, and we'll sing them until our throats are sore!'

'Uh, shouldn't we wait until the others get back first?' Goby asked. 'Deema's gonna be even more mad if she finds out that she missed the good stuff.'

'Oh. Right. I hope she isn't angry for too long…'

Right on time, Mr Grumpfish's phone began to ring. He didn't hesitate to pick it up, hoping it was the teacher with news that everything was okay.

'Uh, Mr Grumpfish speaking.'

'Good to hear you, Leonard!'

Mr Grumpfish let out a sigh of relief; he certainly sounded happy.

'Is everything alright with Deema?' He asked, putting the phone on speaker mode.

'She's alright. Just a little angry, that's all. But it's good now. I think she just needed a good place to vent.'

The other Guppies breathed their own sighs of relief, Goby most of all. Oona beamed once more, even bigger than she had before.

'But it might take us a little while to get back,' Mr Grouper continued. 'You see, we're preparing a little surprise for Nonny.'

'For… for me?' Nonny asked.

'Oh yeah!' That was Deema's voice. 'I mean, we have to. It's your final day!'

'You'll find out what it is later,' Molly said. 'When we get back. But it's gonna take a while to finish. It's, uh, pretty big.'

'Dusty isn't too far from here, is she?'

'Deema, she lives in the Great Bubble Desert.'

'She should be dropping by today, right?'

'Uh, guys?' Goby said, grinning just a little. 'I don't know what you're planning, but now we know it involves Dusty.'

Deema could be heard screaming on the other end of the phone.

'Well, I think we should end the call there,' Mr Grouper said. 'But I know you'll love the surprise, Nonny!'

As luck would have it, Dusty was visiting Bubbletucky that day, to meet a close friend of hers. The Guppies lucked out twice, as her friend happened to be Sandy. Molly and Deema found them, and Sandy's sisters, lying on the beach under umbrellas. Rusty the horse was there, tied up to one of the umbrellas; how on earth they got a horse onto the beach, the Guppies would never know.

Maybe most people would be annoyed to have their beach trip ruined, but never when it came to the Bubble Guppies.

'Uh… I think we're running out of room,' Molly said, glancing at the paper.

'What are you talking about?' Deema asked. 'There's still, like, half the page left!'

'But we're not halfway done with the card, are we?'

'... Oh. Right. Uh… we'll make it work!'

The gal pals sitting on the blanket chuckled among themselves, in a way that obviously wasn't mocking or cruel but still got an irritated look from Deema. She handed the card over to Dusty, who marked her name by turning the letter 'Y' into a little lasso.

'Make sure to tell li'l Nonny that I said 'hi'!' She said. 'I'd love ta go to that there party o' yours, but I think it'd be better between just ya Guppies.'

Rusty neighed in agreement, with just a slight hint of annoyance; he was really hoping that Dusty would free him from this rope already so he could gallop around. Dusty passed the card and pen over to Sandy, who drew the letter 'a' to look a little like a beach ball. A beach ball, not the ball. Without another thought, she gave it over to her sisters. Marine and Koral. Neither took it.

'Um, are you sure we should take it?' Marine asked.

'We weren't exactly, like…' Koral said. 'Nice to you dudes. Or to our little sis.'

Deema put her hands on her hips. 'That's right. You weren't.'

'Deema…' Molly said.

'What? Am I wrong?'

Molly sighed. 'You may not have been very nice to us before, but you realised that it was wrong and you've tried really hard to change. I think you deserve to be on the card!'

Marine and Koral looked at each other, seemingly unconvinced at first, before they gave the Guppies and Mr Grouper a pair of smiles. Thus, they added their names to the card, albeit in much smaller font than their little sister did.

'Woo-hoo!' Deema cheered. 'Oh, Nonners is going to love this card! At least, I hope he does. … You don't think he's going to not like it, do you?'

Molly shook her head. 'I don't think so. He loves just about every gift we give him. He still has that shield, you know. Once we get it back to him, he's gonna love-!'

She was cut off by a phone call. Mr Grouper's phone, to be specific. Ignoring Deema's groan, he answered it right away. Halfway through the conversation, he was smiling. By the time it was over, he was beaming.

'Who was that?' Molly asked.

'It was the Mayor!' Mr Grouper replied. 'She told me to meet up with her in the town hall. There's a little surprise waiting for us there.'

'What kind of surprise?' Deema asked. 'Wait, no, don't tell. Then it wouldn't be a surprise!'

'So, Zooli, what are your favourite songs?'

While they waited for the others to get back, the remaining Bubble Guppies (and Mr Grumpfish) were putting together a list of what they considered to be their best ever songs. Nonny added a couple, Oona had a lot (including both of Nonny's solos), while Goby was too busy with his drawing to think up anything. Oona and Mr Grumpfish were writing the list on the table, and just got up to the last person in the building to write down some suggestions.

Zooli gasped. 'Oh, I don't even know how to answer that question. There's so many songs that are just… fantastic! My favouritest favourite has to be 'Little Froggie', no doubt. But there's too many options! There's 'Savannah', and 'Australia', and 'The Arctic Life', and 'Bugging Out', and 'Ocean Animals', and-'

'I'm seeing a theme here,' Mr Grumpfish said with a grin. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really liked the songs about animals.'

'Hey, I'm named after zoology, the study of animals. What do you want from me? … And that isn't everything that I like. The song about geography's really good. And the princess song! That one is great. And the one where you guys danced in the rain is awesome! And-'

'Uh, Zooli,' Oona said, smiling as she held up the pencil. 'I think you better write your favourite songs yourself. It's a little hard to keep up.'

'Oh. Right. Sorry! But your songs are so good! Here, give me the pencil…'

Zooli snatched the pencil out of Oona's hand, a little more forcefully than she intended, and immediately got to scribbling down a long list of songs. They ranged all the way from their first album, to their (seemingly final) sixth one.

Goby chuckled. 'At this rate, we're gonna have every single song we've ever written on that list.'

'Not every one!' Zooli said. 'I thought the songs about sports balls was… rough. And anyway, I can restrain myself. I swear!'

'It makes sense,' Nonny said. 'You're the only Guppy who was already a fan before joining the band.'

'Once a fangirl, always a fangirl!'

In all fairness to Zooli, she could've made the list much longer than it ended up being. Still, it was quite hefty. There must've been at least twenty to thirty new additions to the list. From 'Sing the Farmer's Song' all the way to 'It's a Holiday', it was quite obvious that she had listened to all six albums extensively.

'And… there!' She said. 'I think that's it. … Wait, no! How could I forget about 'Snap Button Zip'? Okay, now I'm done.'

Oona looked at the list and giggled. 'You know more about our own songs than we do!'

'I was listening to your songs, every hour, looong before I joined your class. I think I know my stuff.'

Author Notes - Like I said, I didn't want to spend multiple chapters on the 'doom and gloom' like I did in 'I'm Not Okay' and 'New Student Zooli'. While I like what I did with those stories, I don't want to repeat that format a third time.

From what I can tell, only one of Sandy's sisters has an official name. One refers to the other as 'Marine', because apparently their family a big 'beach' theme going on. So I named the third sister 'Koral' as it fit with the apparent theme.