Author Notes - Unless the show miraculously gets renewed for a seventh season at some point, which I doubt it will, it seems that this is once again the end of Bubble Guppies. Except, this time, the end may be permanent. It does hurt to think that the show is truly over now, but at least I knew it was coming this time. I hadn't been expecting S04 to end so abruptly, and that hurt a lot more. Knowing that the end was nigh made it much easier to deal with.

So, to... celebrate (?) the show coming to an end, I've decided to write a story about the Guppies celebrating their last day of school. Just, obviously, something's going to go horribly wrong. I had actually wanted to write a 'finale' sort of story for the show back when it first ended, but I couldn't find a way to make it work. And now, I'm back, to give this show the send-off it deserves.

Because, spoilers, the final episode has already aired here in Australia, and - while it is a good episode - it is most certainly NOT a grand finale. Which isn't really a surprise, but still a shame.

CHAPTER ONE - IT'S PARTY TIME!

Mr Grouper found himself staring at the calendar for longer than he usually did. It wasn't because there was some grand holiday coming up that he had to plan for. Or because he was trying to read a note written by Deema, whose handwriting was barely eligible.

There was a mark on the calendar. He had it labelled as 'Last Day of School'. Not the last day of the year, but the last day ever for this one particular class. A class consisting of seven wonderful students - Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona, Nonny, and Zooli.

He knew this day was coming up. As much as he would love for each class to go on forever, he knew it was a foolish fantasy to entertain. Classes began, he'd teach them for a year or two, and then he'd get a new bunch of students. But these students were special. There was something about this one group of kids, known collectively as the 'Bubble Guppies', that no other class of his had ever had before.

He let out a sigh. The day hadn't even begun yet, and he already felt like weeping. But he refused to cry, not right before class started. His students didn't need that. No doubt it would be emotional enough for them without their teacher breaking down too. He could wait. He would wait.

Taking a deep breath, he left the teacher's lounge. His students - all seven of them, plus a certain little puppy - were already sitting in place, waiting for him. It tugged at his heart; he couldn't let himself think about this being the last time he'd ever see this.

'Good morning, Mr Grouper!' His students chanted.

It put a smile on his face, even if it was a bittersweet one. He swam into the middle of the room, just as he had been doing for years.

'Well, good morning, everyone!' He said, as cheerfully as ever.

He wanted to continue, but got distracted when his gaze fell upon Oona. The normally bubbly and chipper little girl seemed kind of sad, staring at the floor and sighing. The other Guppies were quick to catch it; Nonny looked particularly upset about it.

'What's wrong, Oona?' Molly asked. 'You look sad.'

Oona sighed again. 'It's the last day of school, isn't it?'

'... Oh. Yeah. It is.'

Mr Grouper could practically feel the mood of the room falling. One by one, the reality of today hit the Guppies. He knew exactly when each Guppy understood what was happening; there was no other explanation for those frowns. However, one smile continued to shine bright in the room.

'So what?' Deema said, with a giggle. 'That's no reason not to be happy. We shouldn't waste today on being sad. If it's our last day, then we should celebrate it until the sun goes down!'

Gil perked up. 'Yeah! Deema's right. We need to end our time at school with a bang!'

'Yes,' Nonny said. 'That sounds like fun.'

'Yeah!' Molly said. 'Let's do it!'

'Hey, Mr Grouper?' Oona asked. 'Can we spend the whole day having a party?'

Mr Grouper smiled. 'I don't see why not! I'll fetch the party supplies from the back, and we'll put on the most amazing party we've ever had!'

He left the room to go get a whole box of supplies. It brought him laughter just thinking about that word, as strange as that might sound. Any moment now, he was expecting one of his students to pop out of the box while yelling 'SUPPLIES!'. He couldn't recall any other class of his that loved that joke so much.

'Come on, Harold…' He murmured to himself, the very second he left the room. 'Don't let them see you getting all emotional. Because then they'll get emotional too, and that's the last thing they need.'

The supply room was located in his office, and he had to pass by the wall of photos to get to it. His eyes drifted over to all the photos he had pinned up, and he found himself having to stop. There must've been at least a hundred photos on that wall. Memories that spanned from visiting Oona's friend Avi in the hospital, all the way to Bubble Puppy leading a rescue mission through a storm of popcorn.

One photo in particular stood out to him - all of his students (except for Zooli, who hadn't arrived yet) surrounded a smiling Mr Grumpfish. It was when he assigned Mr Grumpfish to be his substitute, not so much for the sake of the Guppies but more for Mr Grumpfish himself. Just as he suspected, the little ones were a wonderful influence on the old grump. They helped him learn to smile. But he had a little influence too: he taught them it was okay to be grumpy sometimes.

'It's alright, Harold…' He said. 'They won't be gone forever. They'll still be there, and I'm sure they'll never forget you. I know you won't forget them. And, hopefully, they'll outlive you for years and years.'

He tried to remember the words of his own students. If this was going to be their last day together, at least like this, then it was best to spend it happy and smiling instead of crying about it ending.

Eventually, he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and grabbed the box of party supplies. By the time he returned to the classroom, he found that Deema had already fetched the music player. Zooli played a CD inside of it, from the first ever full album that the Guppies had released.

'Hit it, Deema!' She said.

Deema turned the music player on, and a strikingly familiar tune began to play.

'If I didn't have bones, I couldn't-'

'Eh, that one's alright,' Zooli said. 'But I think we can start out with one even better.'

With just a little adjustment to the player…

'I wanna choose a favourite colour that looks just right. Not too dark and not too light.'

'Uh, girls?' Molly said. 'I think we should wait until after we set everything up to start playing the music.'

'Aw, come on, Molly,' Gil said. 'We can have a little music playing while we work. We don't have to sing it yet. … Especially if the lyrics are a little… meh.'

Goby chuckled. 'Yeah. Maybe blue like the sky or just like Mr Grouper is probably one of the, uh, rougher lines we've ever written. And the colour of frogs and frozen peas.'

'Hey, be fair!' Oona said. 'We were just starting out. Lyrics weren't easy.'

'Alright, I'm putting this baby on shuffle!' Deema said, doing just that.

The Guppies took a moment to really appreciate the song. It had been the second one they had ever written, and perhaps it showed. Some lyrics were kinda bad, and that repetitive ending may have been more padding than anything. But it was still an amazing achievement.

And as for Zooli, who wasn't there to chip in at the time, the song reminded her of when she first heard this band's wonderful music. It was the first song of theirs she had even heard, and it gravitated her to the band almost immediately. A band she never thought she'd actually get to join.

'Hey kids!' Mr Grouper said, holding up the box. 'I've got the supplies!'

'SUPPLIES!' Deema and Goby yelled at once, spreading their arms out.

The very moment that Mr Grouper set the box upon the floor, the Guppies swarmed it like a group of sharks to a drop of blood. Erm, perhaps not the most appropriate metaphor, considering that their teacher was a fish. Still, by the time the Guppies scattered away to set everything up, the box was almost entirely empty. The only thing left inside was a happy Bubble Puppy, who yipped cheerfully.

Bubble Puppy had grown quite a bit since Gil had adopted him. Very soon, the name 'Bubble Puppy' wouldn't be appropriate anymore. Perhaps Gil should've thought ahead, but he was only young. And who thinks ahead that far when they're so young?

'Yes, Bubble Puppy,' Mr Grouper said. 'Of course you can join in on the celebration!'

The Guppies got to work straight away. Molly fetched the air pump to fill up the balloons, while Gil tied them up as she finished each one. Deema hung strings of flags and banners across the ceiling, making sure each one was placed right down to the centimetre. Oona and Nonny worked together to move some tables and chairs into place. Zooli went straight to the cabinets to see what food they had.

'Hey, we should invite Mr Grumpfish!' Oona said. 'He'd love to celebrate with us!'

'Good idea, Oona!' Mr Grouper said. 'I'll give him a call.'

'We have to invite everyone!' Gil said, almost losing a balloon for a moment.

'Uh, I don't think I can do that. But I'll see what I can do.'

Mr Grouper whipped out his phone and swam out of the room once again so he could take the call quietly. While everyone else was working on the party, Goby sat down at the table with a big piece of paper. The first crayon he grabbed was the orange one, and he hoped that it would be enough.

Zooli glanced over her shoulder. 'What are you doing, Goby?'

'Drawing something,' He replied.

'Uh, yeah, I can see that. But what?'

'It's a surprise. And I hope it'll be a good one!'

Deema was already finished with the first line of banners, and swam back to admire her work. Okay, so one of the flags was a little too far to the left, but that was manageable. It definitely wasn't going to drive her crazy for the rest of the day.

'This is it, guys!' She said. 'It's almost time for our second step together!'

'Second step?' Molly asked. 'What do you mean?'

'Mr Grouper's class is just the beginning! After this, we'll move up to grade school. Then middle school. And then to high school! And then… okay, I'm not sure what happens after that. But whatever comes, we're going to be doing it together!'

Oona helped Nonny push a chair into place and giggled. 'Well, I'm not sure if we're going to be together for that long, but-'

Deema scoffed. 'Com'on, Oona. What else would the Bubble Guppies be doing? For us, it's all about sticking together no matter what happens!'

Nonny stopped what he was doing to look at her. Over the time he had spent with his friends, he had become just a little more expressive. So, it would've been clear to anyone who was looking at him that he was giving Deema a look of worry and concern.

'Uh, about that…' He said. 'I-'

'It's going to be awesome!' Gil said, throwing his arms into the air. 'My big bro says that middle school is rough, but we'll get through it if we stick together!'

'I'm ready to make up for all that lost time,' Zooli said. 'What about you guys?'

'Hey, Leonard!'

'Hmph… what is it, Harold?'

'Today's the last day of school for me and the kids. Next year, they'll be going to a different school.'

'Oh. Huh. Those kids grew up really fast, didn't they?'

'And they'll keep growing. At the rate they're going at, I might just live long enough to meet their grandkids! If they have any.'

'More optimism than I could ever muster. … Is there a reason why you're calling me about this?'

'Well, the Guppies are putting on a party, and they wanted me to invite you!'

No response. Strange. Mr Grumpfish was somewhat infamous for his blunt answers to just about everything. The only sound on the other end of the line was a loud *CLACK*.

'Uh, Leonard?'

'Sorry! I, uh, got a little ahead of myself there. I was a little too excited. Dropped my phone. Heh heh…'

'So, I take it that you're coming?'

'I'll be there as soon as possible!'

The phone call came to a rather abrupt ending. Mr Grouper laughed to himself; it really did seem like those Guppies were the only thing that could get a smile out of Mr Grumpfish. And what a smile it was.

'Alright, Harold, keep it together. There will be plenty of time to weep once the kids are gone.'

Author Notes - The original plan was to include just about every single one-off and recurring character in the show. Now I realise that doing so is kind of... insane to pull off. Definitely more than it needs to be. But Mr Grumpfish is getting involved, because there's still a shocking lack of him in the fanfiction world. It's getting better, but I still wanna do something about. I swear, for a while, the only fanfics he was in depicted him as a massive jerk. When he was featured, it was usually negatively. Glad we've seemed to move past that now.

By the way, I do really like the song 'A Colour Just Right'. It just suffers from having some, um, questionable lyrics. A lot of Season One songs did, but 'A Colour Just Right' stands out to me. Blue like the sky or just like Mr Grouper is just straight-up cheating, seeing as Mr Grouper can change his colour on the fly. The colour of frogs and frozen peas is another standout that's actually pretty good until the 'frozen peas' part.