Author Notes - And here we are, the story's final chapter. It's not too long, but it's just meant to be a little epilogue taking place a few years in the future. This story ended up being kind of like an opposite of 'Get Ready for School'. That story was about the first day of school and showed the Guppies staying together after all this time. In contrast, this story is about the last day and depicts the Guppies as drifting apart.

It wasn't at all intentional. Heck, I'm only NOW realising this connection as I write this note. But it's neat.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - KIYOSHI

This story, I must admit, is soon coming to a close. Time never stops, but this story cannot go on forever. So, to end off this story, let's jump forward a few years. Several years, at that. How many? The exact number isn't important. All you need to know is that time has passed.

Nonny looked out his window, and sighed with bliss. The day was bright, sunny, and absolutely beautiful. He didn't expect anything less, of course. Bubbletucky was almost always a gorgeous paradise. Every time he looked out that window, it continued to baffle him that he waited this long to move back to this wonderful town.

Sometimes, he'd take time out of his day just to admire the scenery. Maybe it was a little silly to keep doing this, even though he had moved in a few years ago, but he wanted to savour every moment that he had lost. He still loved Fishington, of course, mostly because his family lived there. But there was nothing quite like Bubbletucky.

He would never take too long, of course. Because, while he stared out this window, there would always be a voice that called out to him.

'Honey!'

It was the voice of Oona, calling for him from the living room. That voice would always sound just as beautiful as it did when they first reunited, no matter how many times each year, each month, each day, each hour he heard it.

'Coming!' He called back.

And so, he began his trek to the living room. Right before he left the bedroom, he stole a glance at one particular object in the room. A crib. A little crib resting in the corner. Every now and then, he'd look at that crib as a reminder of how far he had come. When he finally made it to the living room, he saw a certain someone waiting for him.

'Good morning, Honey!'

Oona was, well, she was gorgeous. As far as Nonny was aware, she was the only thing more beautiful than a sunny day in Bubbletucky. The lovely aurora borealis paled in comparison. Even the prettiest of flowers had no hope of matching Oona's beauty. And that wasn't just because of her outer appearance. If you asked Nonny, he'd say the most beautiful part of Oona was her heart.

She giggled. 'You don't have to stare at me like that, Nonny. You've seen me hundreds and hundreds of times!'

'Well, you're beautiful every day,' Nonny said.

A little coo filled the room. Well, a small correction is needed. Oona was not the only thing more lovely than a sunny day in Bubbletucky. There was one other thing that had that distinction, and that one other thing was being held tight in Oona's arms. Nonny got closer to it, a small smile creeping on his face.

'Good morning, Kiyoshi,' He said, in a gentle voice.

Kiyoshi. His son. The baby he had with Oona. The little boy staring up at him had orange hair and green oval-shaped eyes, and a pink tail just like Oona's. When Nonny looked at little Kiyoshi, he could remember how excited (yet nervous) he was when Oona announced her pregnancy. How wild the preceding two months were. How excited Leo was when he heard he was getting a grandson.

'Think you can stay up a little longer, Yoshi?' Nonny asked, in his softest voice. 'We've got visitors.'

Kiyoshi responded with happy little cheers. Nonny couldn't tell if he actually understood him or was just reacting randomly, but it was adorable either way.

'Hey, can you hold him?' Oona asked. 'I have to get the cookies ready for our guests.'

'Lemme hold him,' Nonny replied. 'Lemme have him.'

Oona giggled as she handed Kiyoshi over to him. Nonny, an already careful man, became even more careful when the little place ended up in his arms. He held onto his son so tightly that you'd think there was a seaquake going on. That little boy was like the world's greatest (but most fragile) treasure. Nonny swam with care to the living room, where he sat down and held his son closer.

When Nonny was young, he never quite understood why Leo was as overprotective as he was. But now, with Kiyoshi in his arms, Nonny didn't want a single thing to go wrong.

'Do you wanna know who's coming today?' He asked in a gentle voice.

Kiyoshi replied with cheerful gibberish.

'Well, you'll have to wait to find out. You haven't quite met them yet. But I know you'll love them. Don't worry. I know them well. I wouldn't trust them anywhere near you if I didn't!'

It was moments like this when he couldn't help admiring his child. Of course, children weren't for everyone. Some people couldn't even stand the thought of being a parent, and that was okay. For Nonny, though, it seemed like his entire life had been building up to Kiyoshi. To falling in love with Oona and having an adorable son with her. His strides in archaeology and palaeontology were wonderful, yes, but not the end result of his life's work. No wonder his father reacted so badly when he couldn't see Nicholas nearly as much.

Time must've flown by, because Oona soon entered the room with a plate full of cookies. She hadn't even put them in the oven yet when Nonny picked up Kiyoshi. The aroma emanating from the plate filled the room and Nonny with a nostalgic warmth.

'Nonny! Yoshi!' She announced as she placed the cookies on the table. 'The cookies are ready!'

Nonny could feel his stomach demanding those cookies as soon as he could smell them. He couldn't help staring at him, even as he fought against his desire to grab one that very moment.

'You can have one, you know,' Oona said. 'The guests won't mind. And even if they did… they wouldn't notice just one missing.'

Nonny blushed; he didn't realise that she could see right through him.

'I-I'll be fine,' He said. 'I'm sure it won't be much longer until-'

There was a knock at the door. What great timing.

'I'll get it!' Oona said.

As Oona left to get the door, Nonny looked down at his son again. It was hard to imagine that one day, in a few decades time, Kiyoshi would be just as old as his father was now. Nonny could hear the door open, and it didn't take any time at all until he heard a voice calling out for him.

'UN'LE NONNY! UN'LE NONNY!'

In the blink of an eye, it seemed, a little girl suddenly appeared right in front of Nonny. She was a little thing, not much bigger than Kiyoshi in fact. Her hair was yellow and poofy, her eyes blue, and her skin brown. Her tail depicted a purple-and-blue pattern with uneven lines. Nonny smiled as soon as he recognised her.

'Hello, Joyvita!' He said. 'Are you excited to see me?'

'Super duper excited, Un'le Nonny!' Joyvita said, brimming with, well, joy.

Of course, 'Joyvita' was typically spelt without the 'y'. But considering who named her, it wasn't much of a surprise. She swam into the air and got ready to dive into Nonny's lap, but stopped herself mere inches away from the little one.

'Oh, hi Yoshi!' She said. 'How are you?'

Kiyoshi responded with his typical response - happy gibberish. He reached out for Joyvita's hand, but she was too afraid to take it. He looked so fragile!

'He doesn't talk very much,' She said. 'Does he?'

'Give him time,' Nonny said. 'You didn't talk too much yourself when you were his age. It took you a little longer to learn than a lotta kids. But now?' He laughed. 'You can't stop talking!'

Joyvita giggled. 'But I love talking!'

It didn't take long for someone else to enter the room - Goby. He sighed the kind of sigh that said 'oh, what am I going to do with?, and picked up Joyvita. It made it more obvious that her hair was kind of like his, but yellow and a whole lot more poofy.

'Sorry about that,' Goby said. 'But Joyvita's been a bit of a handful as of late. Well, more of a handful, I should say.'

'It's alright,' Nonny said. 'I don't blame her for getting excited.'

'I swear, she becomes more and more like her mother every single day.'

Speak of the devil… 'NONNY!'

Deema came dashing into the room, diving into a massive hug but stopped her descent halfway through when she saw the baby on Nonny's lap. Like mother, like daughter. She, to say the least, hadn't changed a bit over the years. In fact, she was certainly the Guppy who had changed the least since preschool. Aside from finally opening her own chain of shops!

'Whoa, whoa, sorry!' She said, backing off. 'Didn't realise you had my honorary nephew on your lap today. And what a little cutie he is!'

She tapped Kiyoshi's nose with her finger as gently as she could, and he giggled like he always did. It was a sound so adorable, it was a miracle that Deema didn't burst into happy tears right then and there. Like she did when Kiyoshi was born. Or when her nephews and Goby's nieces were born. Or when Joyvita learnt her first word. Or… you get the point. In fact, it seemed like Deema was holding back an emotional outburst and ready to burst at the seams.

Funnily enough, Deema's mother Diane reacted in much the same way. Both with her daughter, and her granddaughter. And her twins. So was her mother, Danielle. And her mother, Roberta. Only time would tell if Joyvita would carry on this tradition of Swimmer girls being very emotionally charged.

'Oh, your son is so adorable!' Deema said. 'I know I've seen Kiyoshi before, a lotta times. But I swear, he only gets cuter each time I see him!'

Joyvita pretended to pout. 'Hey!'

'Oops, sorry. But no child on this planet is as adorable as my awesome daughter, Joyvita! Now she is one cute kid!' She leaned over and whispered right in Kiyoshi's ear: 'Between you and me, you're even cuter.'

Nonny just barely heard the new inaudible voice, and laughed. He didn't disagree. Everyone sat down around the coffee table, indulging in Oona's scrumptious cookies. Unfortunately, this is a written media and you can't enjoy the taste, so you'll have to take my word for it. Joyvita especially enjoyed them. Perhaps a little too much, as she almost choked on them once or twice.

'Hey!' Deema said, getting crumbs everywhere. 'Oo know whath we thould do?'

'Swallow before speaking?' Goby remarked.

'Oh. Thorry.' Deema gulped down everything. 'You know what we should do? I think Kiyoshi is old enough to be introduced to the Bubble Guppies. Not us. The Bubble Guppies.'

'You mean, play our music?' Nonny asked.

Goby grinned. 'That is a great idea! It's been a while since we've really come together to celebrate the good ol' days. Not that we could, seeing as we've been having kids.'

'I'll get it set up right away!' Oona said.

She left to fetch her phone, leaving Nonny with the baby once again. Nonny would never say it out loud, but he was sure that Kiyoshi loved him more. Then again, maybe that was just something all parents thought.

'I know that band!' Joyvita said. 'That's the band Mommy and Daddy and Auntie Oona and Uncle Nonny used to be in!'

'That's right, sweetie!' Deema said with a wink. 'Long before you were born.'

'That was back before they had colour, right?'

'Uh, yeah,' Goby said. 'Practically dinosaur age.'

It didn't take long for Oona to return. She hadn't just brought her phone, but something else as well. It was a big picture in a lovely gold-painted wooden frame, and she hung it up on the wall for all to see. It was none other than Goby's drawing from all those years ago. The colour had faded, but otherwise it had stayed just as beautiful as it did the day it was drawn.

'I still can't believe you kept that,' Goby said. 'I almost forgot I never drew that.'

'I could never throw it away,' Nonny said. 'Even if it spent too long lost somewhere in the attic.'

Oona didn't need to do anything to connect her phone to the speakers. The small grey box in the corner suddenly opened up to a complete radio system as soon as the phone got close enough. Isn't modern (or futuristic, I suppose) technology wonderful?

'Now, Yoshi,' Nonny said. 'You might not know this, but your mother and I used to be part of this band when we were little. We don't talk about it often because we don't want to stay in the past too long, but sometimes we go back and revisit the good old days.'

'And your dad was super cool,' Deema said. 'Easily the coolest kid in the whole band! Next to me, of course. Definitely the most popular kid among the fans!'

'We had so much fun together,' Goby said. 'The four of us and a few other friends too. We're pretty much what's left of it.'

'And maybe we could start a new band together!' Joyvita said. 'That would be so cool. With me, and Yoshi, and, um… a few other kids.'

There was an air of melancholy to it all, at least as far as Nonny was concerned. In a perfect world, Molly, Gil, and Zooli would be a part of this too. Then, Kiyoshi and Joyvita could form a band (or do anything else) with Molly and Gil's twins, Daniel and Sandra. It was impossible not to know that those two had twins, seeing as it was everywhere on the news. One day, Molly and Gil were certain they were having a boy. The next, an unexpected twin girl!

Zooli and her wife Bindi didn't end up having any children, because their hectic lifestyle wasn't exactly conducive to raising a family. Still, it would've been nice to see them too.

'Seems especially appropriate that we do this today,' Goby said. 'Considering the newest bit of news from our favourite pop singer.'

'I don't follow the news,' Nonny said. 'You have to explain these things.'

'Oh, nothing much,' Deema said. 'Just that Molly and Gil are apparently having a third kid! Normally, I wouldn't pay attention to gossip like that, but they announced it themselves just yesterday. Sounds like it's gonna be a second girl.'

Oona opened up her long, oft-replayed playlist. It hadn't changed at all over the years, for the band itself was a relic they barely held onto anymore. But this playlist remained, with several backups just in case.

'Alright, everyone,' She said. 'Are you ready?'

'Yeah!' Everyone else yelled, Joyvita loudest of all.

'Buh buh!' Kiyoshi babbled joyfully.

'Okay,' Oona said. 'Let's go!'

The joys of his wonderful childhood hit Nonny all at once as soon as he heard that familiar percussion. His heart swelled and soared like an eagle when the vocals kicked in. And every one of his closest friends joined in and sang.

'Bub-bub-bubble gup-gup-guppies! Bubble bubble bubble, guppies guppies guppies!'

'Bubble!'

'Bubble!

'Guppy!'

'Guppy!'

*clap clap*

'BUBBLE GUPPIES!'

THE END

Author Notes - The fankids featured in this chapter are the same as my other stories, minus Deema and Goby's son Daviro who hasn't been born yet. Originally, Molly and Gil's second daughter Amanda was the youngest, but I think it makes more sense for Daviro to be the youngest instead. As I said before, if anyone (for whatever reason) wants to use my fankids in their own stories, they are free to do so as long as they provide credit. I have art of the six kids, and Zooli's wife Bindi, if anyone wants a better look at them. I'd link it, but this website hates links.

I feel like I've ended EVERY story with this speech, but I don't plan on leaving the fandom any time soon. Bubble Guppies is too important to me. I hate to say it, but I feel like the fandom stalling (if not dying) is inevitable now that the show has seemingly been cancelled for good. But I'm not leaving this ship until it's at the bottom of the ocean. Pun not intended.