Author Notes - A slightly shorter chapter than usual, but it's no less important. In fact, something pretty big happens in it!

CHAPTER SIX - ROCKS ON THE BEACH

The Guppies left together first thing in the morning, travelling in Nonny's car as he drove them through the countryside. The drive through the desert went by before Brianna knew it, but a slight problem presented itself once they were on the other side.

They could see the ferry off in the distance.

Zooli groaned as she stepped out of the car. 'Oh, you gotta be kidding me. We just missed it!'

'That's fine by me!' Brianna said, already heading to the beach. 'At least we get a bit of time to chill here on the beach before we reach the city!'

'Wait, Brianna!' Nonny said, chasing after her. 'You need sunscreen first!'

Oona was the last one out of the car, giggling as she stepped out into the sunlight. She was already lathered up, and so didn't have to worry. Since Nonny was busy chasing down Brianna, and Zooli headed straight for the juice bar, Oona decided to swim down the beach on her own.

She loved the sounds of the waves, and the seagulls crying for food. It was a shame that Fishington was so far from the beach, because it was one of her favourite places to be. The sun. The sand. The waves. The smell of salt spray in the air.

In fact, she got so distracted looking at the horizon that she didn't notice a man digging through the sand. Not until she almost bumped into him.

'Oh, hello!' She said, chuckling. 'Didn't see you there!'

The man looked up from his digging and gave her a smile. His hair was short and shaved at the sides, and his light country-style outfit contrasted with his purple-and-blue tail.

'Hey there!' He said. 'Don't mind me. Just looking for some cool rocks.'

He dug through the sand a little more, and fished out a rock just small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Oona leaned closer and ooh'd at the shiny purple colour that coated the whole stone.

'Woah!' She said. 'That stone is really pretty.'

'You bet it is!' The man said. 'I think it's basalt. See, it's a kind of volcanic rock you can find really easily on beaches.'

'You seem to know a hell of a lot about stones.'

The man chuckled. 'I should. I am a geologist, after all.'

'That would certainly explain it. Oh! How rude of me. I haven't even told you my freaking name yet. I'm Oona!'

The man put the stone away into his backpack, seemingly unfazed by her language. By the sounds of it, he had a few stones already rusting around in there.

'Professionally,' The man replied. 'I'm Dr Giller. But you can just call me Goby.'

'In that case,' Oona said. 'Hi, Goby!'

She held out her hand for a shake, which Goby took without hesitation. He had a bit of muscle on him, no doubt from hauling rocks all day, but his grip was gentle. Just a little firm. He slipped the backpack over his shoulders and stood up straight - he was just slightly taller than Oona. Though, Oona was already rather short for a grown woman, so that wasn't saying too much.

'I love it out here on the beach,' Goby said. 'All sorts of fascinating rocks get washed up upon the shore. Especially those left behind by volcanoes.'

'If you like rocks so much,' Oona said. 'You must have a favourite.'

'Hm… That's a hard one. But if I had to guess, I'd say my favourite kind of rock is tektite. It's a special kind of rock that forms when meteorites hit the planet!'

Oona's eyes widened. 'Woah, really?'

'Yeah! See, the heat generated by the meteorite smashing in the ground melts all the dirt and rocks around it. That molten liquid comes together and, once the site cools off, hardens into a shiny rock! I-' He laughed. 'Sorry. I know. I'm getting pretty excited about rocks, seeing as I'm a man in his early thirties.'

'There's nothing wrong with that. If you love rocks, you should be excited about them!'

This conversation would've continued down its rocky path, had someone not approached them. Brianna, of course. Nonny had successfully gotten sunscreen lathered all over her, and now she was ready to enjoy herself at the beach.

'Hey, Oona,' She said. 'While we're waiting for the ferry, we should-'

That was when she got a look at the man Oona had been chatting to. Once she realised who she was looking at, she gasped for three seconds straight.

'Uh, Brianna, are you okay?' Oona asked.

Brianna stood there, staring with her mouth agape, for several silent seconds. Before she suddenly turned around and swam off at the speed of sound.

'NONNY!' She shouted. 'ZOOLI! COME HERE, COME HERE, COME HERE!'

The young girl disappeared down the beach, as quickly as she had arrived.

Goby watched with a confused expression. 'Uh, what the hell was that all about?'

Oona shrugged. 'Beats me.'

'Do you know that girl?'

'I met her only yesterday, but she's become a friend of sorts. See, she's a really big fan of-'

'THERE HE IS!' Brianna shouted.

Oona and Goby turned around to see Brianna, plus friends. Brianna could hardly stand still, while all Nonny and Zooli could do was stare. Amazed. Slightly baffled.

'It's him!' Brianna said, pointing at the man. 'GOBY! He's right there!'

Goby blinked. 'Y… You know me? How?'

'How do you think? THE BAND!'

'... What band?'

'I-'

Brianna was about ready to explode. The fourth member of the band was standing right there, clear as day, and he didn't even remember the band at all? There was no way she got the wrong person. This was definitely Goby, just all grown up.

Oona gasped. 'Oh my god, you're right! How did I not realise who I was talking to? Goby, you and I went to class with these guys once. And we were in a band together!'

'... We were?' Goby asked, wondering if he was the crazy one or if they were crazy.

Nonny frowned. 'He doesn't remember us.'

Zooli put her hands on her hips. 'What? After all of this, you're going to give up that quickly. We just gotta jog this guy's memory!'

Goby, by this point, was backing away slowly. As far as he was aware, the faces he was looking at were those of strangers. And yet they were insisting that they knew him. He glanced out into the ocean. The ferry wasn't anywhere near getting back.

'And I know just how to do that!' Zooli said. 'Brianna, hit it!'

Brianna caught onto the plan right away. She took out her phone, cranked the volume all the way up, and played a song that she figured Goby would appreciate very much. And, of course, she sang it as it played. Very well, may I add.

'Back in the stone age, we discovered, rocks have all kinds of uses to uncover!'

When up against a geologist, what better song to play than the one about rocks? Brianna kept singing it - it was one of her favourites, after all - and watched Goby's expression as she did so. Something was starting to crack, she just knew it! Goby's expression started off as confused as could be, but a realisation was creeping in.

'We use them in buildings, in art, and in tools. And best of all, they look really cool.'

'Hold on,' Goby said. 'I know that song. All shapes and sizes and colours, you'll find. How do I know this?'

'Here's an even bigger hint!' Oona said. 'You know this song. Bub-bub-bubble, gup-gup-guppies.'

Zooli and Nonny joined in on the song right away.

'Bubble-bubble-bubble, guppy-guppy-guppies!'

It was at that moment, it hit Goby. His jaw fell open. His grip on his shovel weakened and it fell to the ground. Hearing that song sung by those Guppies sent his mind back. Way back. Over twenty years ago.

'Of course!' He said. 'The band… the band! Back when we were in preschool. We would write our own songs and perform them and everything. We had concerts. Fans. Merchandise. How could I forget?!'

'It was almost thirty years ago,' Nonny said. 'And we were very young at the time. At that age, your brain is constantly growing and learning new things. It's hard to remember anything from-'

'And you were that really smart kid who explained everything! Nonny, right?' He pointed to Oona. 'You were the cute one. You liked hugging a lot.'

Oona giggled. 'Yeah, that sounds about right.'

Goby turned to Zooli. 'And you… uh, you were there. I know that. Memory's a little fuzzy on you.'

'That figures,' Zooli said. 'You didn't know me very long, at least compared to the others. I was only there for about a third of the time. The name's-'

Goby snapped his fingers. 'Wait, don't tell me. Zooli! I don't really remember seeing you at school, but I remember seeing your face all over those documentaries!'

Brianna stood in the middle of everyone, beaming brighter than the sun itself. Just like that, by sheer luck, a fourth member of the band had been found! The one who she always thought had the best singing voice, second only to Molly of course.

'This is awesome!' She said. 'That's four out of seven members right there. Now you can come with us to Big Bubble City!'

Goby did a double-take. 'Go with you to where now?'

'We're taking a trip to Big Bubble City,' Zooli said. 'To catch up. To see the sights. But mostly, to reunite with more of our old band members. Brianna here is convinced that Deema lives in the big city.'

Goby's eyes went wild. 'Wait, Deema? The Deema? You can't be talking about Ms Swimmer, right? Winner of 'Best Actress' Goldfish award, Deema?'

Oona giggled. 'That's the one! Hard to believe an actress so famous and talented was once in the same classroom as us, huh?'

Goby was quite lucky his skin was so dark, because he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks like nothing.

'Y-You mean… I might be able to meet the famous Ms Swimmer?' He asked. 'As an old friend of hers?'

Brianna gave him a massive grin. 'Ooh, sounds like someone has a crush!'

Goby's eyes went wide again, even wider than before, and darted all around.

Nonny cocked an eyebrow. 'You have a crush on her?'

'Who doesn't!' Zooli said. 'She's gorgeous. She's talented. She hasn't once failed to make me laugh or cry. And those curves. And those ARMS!'

'... Have you seen her hair?'

'You say that as if her hair isn't one of her best features!'

'So,' Oona said, trying to get the conversation back on track. 'Goby, are you coming?'

No one was quite sure how he was going to react. They hadn't even met him until five minutes ago, and telling him to go all the way to Big Bubble City was quite the ask. But they had nothing to worry about.

'Yes!' Goby said, loudly. 'Oh, any chance to meet Ms Swimmer herself!'

'Everyone,' Nonny said. 'I hope you all realise that there's a good chance that someone as famous as Deema won't even bother giving us a glance.'

'Don't worry!' Brianna said. 'Deema is well-known for interacting with her fans whenever she can. It shouldn't be hard at all for us to get into contact with her!'

'It's worth a try, anyway,' Goby said. 'You guys want to get the band back together, and I want to meet Ms Swimmer personally. It works out well for all of us!'

A loud blaring sound could be heard from the ocean. When the Guppies spun around, they could see the ferry approaching the beach once again. Not too much longer now, and it would dock and be ready to board!

'Oh! The ferry's coming!' Oona said. 'We should make sure we don't miss it this time.'

'I'll get the car ready,' Nonny said. 'Make sure you don't forget.'

Author Notes - I originally planned for Goby to be found in Fishington, much like Oona. But I changed my mind, believing that him being on the beach looking for rocks to be a lot more interesting. Much like with Oona's reunion, the next chapter is going to focus on Goby himself and where he's at. We'll talk more about him then, but don't worry. He'll get plenty of time to shine!