Author Notes - We've got two chapters dedicated to the party, and this is the first of the two. Featuring good friends and a copious amount of singing!

CHAPTER FIVE - PARTY TIME, AGAIN!

I'm sure you've been wondering what the Mayor's surprise was. Oh, nothing much. Just gathering almost every single friend the Guppies had made over the years, as long as it wasn't too hard to reach them. This, to say the least, made getting the remaining signatures a lot easier. The other Guppies were unaware of this whole thing, so they were working on the list when suddenly-

'We're back, baby!' Deema said, dashing into the room. 'And we've got a-'

'Deema!' Oona cried.

Whatever Deema was trying to explain, it was interrupted by Oona running over and giving her a hug. Deema was about ready to pry her off thanks to her excitement to show off the gift, but then she remembered who was hugging her and let her stay.

'You're back!' Oona said. 'And you look a lot happier than you did before.'

'I… had a moment,' Deema said. 'I'm still upset that Nonny is gonna leave, but what are ya gonna do? He's leaving, and that sucks, but we've got a swingin' party to have! So… I'm back! I can be angry another time.'

'We can't be sad or angry today,' Molly said. 'Or we'll be wasting the whole thing.'

'Oh yeah!' Gil said. 'We were just making a list of all our favourite songs so we can sing them all! You wanna add to it?'

As Molly and Deema went to add some more songs to that list, Mr Grouper pulled Nonny aside over to an empty spot on the table. The young Guppy couldn't take his eyes off that big piece of cardboard, but he wasn't sure what it would possibly be.

'This was Deema's idea,' Mr Grouper said. 'A little going away gift so you would never forget about all the wonderful times you had here in Bubbletucky.'

'I wouldn't forget about my time here,' Nonny said. 'It's been… awesome.'

'Well, then let me put it this way. It'll be a reminder of just how much we loved you.'

He placed the cardboard down in front of Nonny, and opened it up. It was like a massive card, a card that had an extra piece of paper stuck into it so it opened up more like a brochure. And every single inch of the cardboard was covered with all sorts of names. Nonny was never good with names, but he could recognise every single one of them.

Sandy, Avi, Mulligan, Pinkytoe, Miranda, Skip…

'That's… that's a lot of names…' He said, unable to say much more.

'The Mayor helped,' Mr Grouper said. 'She helped gather a lot of people to the town hall, so we didn't need to drive around as much. If you think of someone we've met over our time together in this class, you can bet their name is here. There were some people we couldn't quite reach out too, like Stylee. Unfortunately.'

'Oh.'

'But we still got in touch with her, and I think she's promised to write a song all about us!'

Nonny stared up at him in shock. '... What?'

'What?!' Molly cried, peeping up from the list. 'Stylee's gonna write a song about us?! That's… that's awesome!'

Mr Grouper let out a loud little squeal. 'I know, right! I don't know anything about it, but I already know that it's going to be awesome!'

Molly and Mr Grouper shared a good bout of fangirling for their favourite pop star, but Nonny didn't pay it any mind. He was too busy reading through all of the names on the cards. It was simply astounding how many names were there. His eyes stopped on a big blank space right in the middle of the card. It would've fit several names, and yet there was nothing there. Especially strange, since Pronto clearly had to shrink his name down a little in order to fit it under RuPearl's.

The problem was that he couldn't ask Mr Grouper because he was too busy freaking out about Stylee's upcoming song.

'While we wait for Stylee's new song,' Zooli said. 'How about we party to our own music?'

'Sounds like a good idea to me!' Gil said. 'What song are we starting with first?'

'How about I connect the speaker to my phone?' Mr Grouper said. 'I'll put all those songs into a playlist and set it to shuffle.'

'You can do that?' Mr Grumpfish asked. 'Huh. Technology these days. It's so… impressive!'

While the other Guppies took to the dance floor or made their way over to the refreshments, Zooli sat down next to Goby. At this point, he wasn't trying to hide the surprise anymore - it was pretty obviously a drawing of every Guppy grouped together, with their teacher and little puppy too.

'Oh, I love this song!' Deema said, recognising it based on the first few notes (it definitely wasn't because it was one of her only solos).

'So you wanna be a princess, with a shining crown…'

As the royal song blared through the room (and as Deema and Gil began singing together), Zooli got a closer look at Goby's 'surprise'. It was almost finished, and undoubtedly his best work yet. He must've been pouring every bit of effort he had into the drawing, and it showed.

'You know, Goby,' Zooli said. 'You don't have to work on that the whole time. Come on and join the fun!'

Goby shook his head. 'Can't do. Not until I know that this drawing is finished. I… I know it won't convince Nonny to stay in Bubbletucky. I'm not sure why I thought it would. But that doesn't matter. I have to make sure it's finished before Nonny leaves, so he can keep it as a reminder of us!'

'I think the card that Molly and Deema got will be a good enough reminder. He doesn't need another thing.'

'That may be so, but I want him to have more. He deserves more than just a card. Or a drawing, but this is all I can really give him. Don't worry, Zooli. It's almost finished. And once it's done, I'll be having fun with all of you!'

Zooli giggled. 'Alright. Do you want any refreshments while I'm here?'

'Chips would be nice. No drink though! A few crumbs are easy to clean up. But if I spill any water - or worse, punch - over this drawing, there isn't much I'll be able to do about it.'

Molly sat at the table, enjoying her cup full of punch and watching the rest of her friends enjoying themselves. Deema and Gil's singing voices were surprisingly similar, enough that many of their fans couldn't tell the difference, so their voices combined wonderfully. Gil even took over for the second verse that would normally go to Molly, since there was no time to ask her to join.

'Yes, I wanna be a princess, riding on a noble horse. I'd be good and polite, of course!'

Hearing Gil happily sing about being a 'princess' was just about the most 'Gilly' thing that Molly could possibly expect from him. Aside from him spooking himself with his own spooky costume, perhaps. If there was just one regret that Molly had during her time as a Bubble Guppy, it was not letting her friends sing more often.

Sure, half of them preferred being out of the spotlight, but it didn't seem fair.

'A princess is kind, and a princess is loyal. Gotta have manners if you wanna be royal-ty-ty-ty.'

'Come on, Nonny!' Oona said, loudly enough to be heard over the music. 'Join in!'

She had Nonny by the wrist, pulling him along onto the dance floor. After a year or two of being (gently) pushed out of his comfort zone, you'd think he would be used to it by now. Instead, his face was turning red.

'I, uh… I'm not good at dancing,' He said. 'Or singing.'

Oona giggled. 'What do you mean? You're a great singer! If you don't wanna dance, that's okay. But don't tell me you can't sing!'

'You see-ee-ee? It's all about courtesy-y.'

'I'm not that good…' Nonny murmured.

'I think you're the best singer ever!'

'I… I'll need a second opinion.'

'And maybe I can be a princess too…'

Gil sang the final notes to the song perfectly, not caring in the slightest that he was calling himself a 'princess'. Even so, it made Deema laugh.

'You'd be a beautiful princess, Gil,' She said.

Gil smirked at her. 'You think that's an insult? I'd be a much better princess than you.'

'Hey!'

The princess song came to an end, and the universe must've been insisting that Nonny get up and sing because the next song to play was…

'Who wrote the rule that said a thing with feathers absolutely has to fly?'

Nonny gulped; of all the songs to play, it had to be one of the two solos he had ever done. In a list of about fifty songs. It would've popped up eventually but why now?

'That's your song, Nonny!' Oona said.

Zooli chuckled. 'Now you'll have to sing!'

Everyone was smiling at him now. Even Mr Grumpfish.

'Go, Nonny!' He cheered. 'It's your last day here. You better make it count!'

As much as he didn't want to, Nonny had to agree that Mr Grumpfish had made a very good point. If this was his last opportunity to sing as part of the Bubble Guppies, then he best take advantage of it. He swam into the middle of the dance floor, and the other Guppies backed away to give him space. Glancing back to look at Oona one last time, he waited for the bridge…

'Gravity they don't defy. They'll never soar, won't even try…'

His voice was shaking, and a little quiet. Despite that, he nailed every note and sang with great gusto.

Mr Grouper and Mr Grumpfish leaned up against each other so they could sing the next word together: 'Welllllll…!'

'Have you heard?'

Seeing and hearing Nonny sing, live, was the only thing that could've gotten Goby to drop his crayons and join in on the fun before finishing his work. And it succeeded. Goby floated out of his and joined in on the others singing backup for their youngest member.

After all, it may have been the last time he'd ever get the chance.

'Have you heard?'

'About the flightless bird?'

'About the flightless bird?'

'With wings that flap, they've been supplied. But after that, things went awry.'

This line was Oona's favourite, out of any song they had ever sung. She loved the rhyme and thought the line itself was hilarious. Of course, they may have been because it was sung by Nonny. He could've made even the questionable lyrics in their earliest songs sound fantastic to her.

In fact, she loved the song so much that she had to join in on the final line of the first chorus.

'They're quite content there on the ground. To see them, don't look up. Look down.'

'Ostrich, kiwi, penguin, emu!' Oona said.

'They all can't fly.' Mr Grumpfish said.

'Unfortunately, we don't have a kazoo,' Goby sang, perfectly to the tune of the original line.

The longer the song went on, the more Nonny realised that he had made the right choice. There was a thrill to be had while taking on a song solo, with the other Guppies occasionally filling in as back-up singers or the voices of the birds. It felt like the culmination of everything he had done while being a part of this band.

Finding an entire dinosaur fossil.

Winning a mini golf tournament and becoming a knight.

Navigating a whole mall without his glasses.

Celebrating his birthday with a surprise party that even Agent Nonny didn't see coming.

And singing two solos to please all the people in their fanbase that adored him.

This is what being a Bubble Guppy was like. It was more than just being the most popular kids' band under the sea, or getting the chance to show off your pipes. The way his friends joined in and backed up his singing only accentuated the point.

And Nonny couldn't believe it had taken him this long to figure it out. To realise how much this band truly meant to him. And - most darning of all - how much he was about to miss this whole thing once he left for Fishington.

'So what if we can't fly?' Mr Grumpfish asked.

'Neither can yoooouuuuu!'

The catchy little tune came to an end, Goby rushed back to his drawing, and Nonny could finally rest his voice. Unless, of course, the very next song happened to be 'Tell Me a Joke', which would've been another joke on the universe's part.

'We're… we're not going to be able to do this anymore, are we?' He asked, to no one in particular.

'Singing together? What do you mean? Of course we are!' Gil replied. 'Sure, maybe we won't be able to do it as the Bubble Guppies again. But we can still sing our old songs together when you come and visit us!'

'It doesn't even need to be in-person,' Molly said. 'Your parents have a way to video chat, right? We could do it over that!'

'Yeah,' Deema said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 'Because video chat is so reliable.'

'I can live with unreliable video chat,' Nonny said. 'If it meant I could sing with you guys more.'

'Aw, Nonny!' Oona said, before bringing him into yet another hug.

Luckily for Nonny, the next song didn't turn out to be the one other solo that he had across his entire singing career.

'Let's go to a place where there's hot summer days…'

Zooli gasped. 'Oh my cods, I love this song! The outback and deserts and billabong lakes!'

Now that his solo was over, Nonny let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the nearest chair. Oona, without asking any questions, fetched him a small bowl and filled it up with his favourite flavour of chips. He gave her a quick smile before taking one.

'Thanks,' He said. 'But how did you know…?'

'I've known you for a long time,' Oona replied. 'I know a lot about you.'

As Nonny sat there, silently eating his chips while Oona enjoyed herself just sitting next to him, he began to think about her. About how she could've been the only other student in the class, and it still would've been wonderful. For a moment, he believed that she was the only thing that really mattered in this class. But only for a moment. Because it wasn't true.

If it was just him and Oona, he wouldn't have Molly and her strong but gentle leadership.

Or Gil and his optimism in the face of anything.

Or Deema and her goofy way of making him laugh.

Or Goby and his wondrous and inspiring imagination.

Or Zooli and her bountiful information on any animal out there.

'Australiaaaaa, it's the land down under.'

The Bubble Guppies were a band for a reason.

'Australiaaaaa, it's a world of wonder.'

He only wished he realised all this earlier.

'There's so much adventure waiting for you…'

Better late than never.

'In Australiaaaaaaaa!'

Author Notes - This chapter got a lot more... introspective than I was expecting. But nothing is ever written the way I expect it will be.

'Have You Heard About the Flightless Birds' is easily one of my favourite Bubble Guppies songs, and only partially because it's a Nonny solo. I have no idea why it took until Season SIX for them to give Nonny some solos (outside of the 'Puppy and the Ring' special), but better late than never. It's like they knew that it was the final season, so they gave the fan favourite a couple songs of his own as a gift to the fans.