Author's Note

Welcome back to CPU of Planeptune!

First chapter of the New Year, let's goooooo! Yeah, thats all I wanted to say, lol.

Anyway enjoy! XD

Lastation, Gamindustri

Place: Basilicom

Date: August 28, 2012

Time: 4:32 P.M.

Noire handed Plutia a tissue, who gratefully took it and blew her nose. The two CPUs had moved up to the third floor where Noire's office was. Plutia sat on the black leather couch in the corner trying to compose herself.

It's been five years since Noire last saw the girl. She did not expect Plutia to burst into tears. She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to think of a way to cheer Plutia up. Then her eyes lit up as she remembered why she went out.

Noire summoned out her screen and pulled the item from her inventory. Her blood rushed to her cheeks, but she threw her pride aside as she kneeled in front of Plutia with the fluffy item in her hands. She took a deep breath and pitched her voice. "There's no need for tears because Mr. Cat is here!"

Plutia blinked as she stared at the black cat plushie that Noire held over her face. "N-Noire?"

Noire shook the plushie as she wiggled its arm. "I'm not Noire, I'm Mr. Cat!"

Plutia giggled at Noire's little stunt.

"Have you cheered up, Plutia? Mr. Cat will be sad if not." Noire peeked out from behind the plushie.

"Yeah! I'm feeling muuuuuuuch better! Thank you, Mr. Cat!" Plutia reached out and took the plushie into her hands. She hugged it tight and gave Noire a thankful smile. "And thank you too, Noire."

"Well…" Noire stood up and crossed her arms; her voice returning to normal. "As long as you've stopped crying."

Plutia chuckled. "But I didn't know you liked plushies, Noire." The Iris CPU gently rubbed against the soft fabric of the plushie. It was of good quality, super squishy and fluffy.

"I don't hate plushies, but I bought that for you."

Plutia looked up in confusion. "For me?"

"It's to apologize for last night. One of my employees sent you away even though you are my guest."

"Ooooooh! It's okay," Plutia assured. "She didn't know I was a goddess."

Noire huffed, "Even so, she shouldn't have called the cops on you until she confirmed it with me at least."

"It's fine, it's fiiiine. She already apologized." Plutia felt very warm and fuzzy inside. It's been so long since she last met Noire, but she enjoyed being cared for. "It was also my fault for not remembering the meeting time."

"The meeting was set for tomorrow. I didn't expect you to arrive at Lastation so soon."

Plutia hummed as she bounced the plushie on her lap. "Histy had me leave immediately when she got your approval to meet. Lastation would take a few days to get to if we're traveling on foot, buuuuut I decided just to fly. It would be faster and take fewer resources. Ah! But don't tell Histy that! I promised her that I wouldn't fly."

"Even if you say that, I don't know who Histy is…"

"Oh! I call her Histy, but her actual name is Histoire!" Plutia clarified.

"Histoire? Oh! Lilac Heart's Oracle."

Plutia nodded. "Uh-huh! Histy is very helpful! Do you have someone like that, Noire?"

Noire shook her head and answered, "No. But I do have a secretary. I'm still pretty new to being a goddess."

"I can give you Histy's number," Plutia offered. "She knows a looooot of CPU things! If you have any questions, you can ask her!"

"That's a very tempting offer, but I don't know how she would feel helping a goddess of a rival nation."

Plutia frowned. "It's not like you're gonna harm Planeptune, are you?"

"It would feel very wrong attacking my birth nation, wouldn't it?"

"Just because it's your birthplace doesn't mean you find it important. Besides…" Plutia clutched her chest. "The old Planeptune is gone…"

Noire sighed. "I don't plan on attacking Planeptune, so you don't need to worry. You already have your hands full with Lowee, right? I don't want to be part of the war that's going on."

"Soooooo you're staying neutral, Noire?" asked the shorter girl.

"Yeah." Noire turned around and walked over to her desk. "I sent a letter to both Planeptune and Lowee as a formal introduction, but I haven't gotten a reply from White Heart…"

"You're gonna try to negotiate with White Heart?"

Noire clenched her hands as she stated, "A majority of Lastation's population is made from old Planeptunian and Loweean citizens. Even if I want revenge against White Heart, I can't jeopardize my own people because of personal feelings. So unless one of you targets Lastation, I'm not gonna do anything." She sat down in her black cushioned chair and gave Plutia a cold look. "So even if we were friends, Plutia, don't expect me to give you any support or aid."

The shorter girl wore a frown on her face as she stared at the Black CPU with unwavering eyes. "You said 'were'."

Noire, taken aback, asked, "What?"

"We are still friends, Noire. Even if five years have passed."

Noire slowly widened her red eyes when she heard Plutia's words.

"So don't talk as if we're no longer friends, because we still are." Plutia's demeanor suddenly slackened. "I, at least, still see you as a friend."

Noire smiled as her shoulders relaxed. "I see. I'm sorry for assuming that our friendship ended that day. I, also, still see you as a friend, Plutia."

Plutia's entire being brightened up as if sparkles started to float around her. "I'm glad! I would be very sad if we were no longer friends. Oh, and don't worry about the war. I didn't come here to drag Lastation into my battles. I only wanted to make sure Lastation wouldn't become an enemy."

Noire nodded as she understood. Having a new nation suddenly appear out of the blue would be worrisome. You wouldn't know if they were friends or foes after all. "There's also no need for you to worry, Plutia. I have no business attacking Planeptune. I have my hands full with running my nation. I have no time to worry about you or White Heart."

"Then I hope you'll achieve what Lilac Heart failed to do! Feel free to call if you ever need help! Planeptune will be your ally even if you remain neutral!"

"That wouldn't be staying neutral, Plutia," Noire deadpanned.

"Oh… well… We're still friends, though! So I'm happy to help you, Noire!"

Noire sighed. "You really haven't changed at all."

"Really? I think I've changed a lot as a CPU. You also changed a lot, Noire. You used to be thiiiiiis tall!" Plutia held her hand up to her chin.

"It's been five years, Plutia. I've grown since then," Noire claimed.

"But I haven't gotten taller at all!" Plutia whined, "That's not faaaaaaair."

"You're stuck at the age when you become a CPU, so it's expected that you wouldn't grow any taller," informed the twintailed girl.

"Eeeeeeh?! Then how did you get so tall, Noire?"

"I became a CPU at the age of seventeen, Plutia. Did you think I became a CPU around the same time as you? I became a CPU just last year."

"Oh, right. It's hard to think you're older now when I was the older one… So that means I'm stuck as a fourteen-year-old… That's no fuuuuuun."

Noire chuckled. "Age is no longer a concept for us since we're goddesses. But even if we won't ever age, that doesn't mean we can't grow as a person. You don't need to worry about being stuck as a fourteen-year-old, Plutia, because you've already matured since the last time I saw you."

Plutia blushed, feeling a bit bashful. "I wouldn't say that I matured…"

Noire denied, "No, you've matured. Trust me. You're no longer the child you used to be."

Plutia pouted as she teased, "I thought you said I haven't changed?"

"You're personality hasn't changed. You're still the same friendly, helpful, plushie-obsessed girl that dreams of sleeping 24/7."

Plutia giggled. "That's a dream that'll never come true. Not with Histy constantly yelling at me."

Noire sighed as she rested her chin on her hand. "You have no idea how surprised I was to learn that you became a CPU before me."

Plutia frowned. "Not that I wanted to…" Before her mood could get worse, she tried to think positively. "But your dream came true! You become a CPU and are now in charge of your own nation!"

Noire felt pride bubbling up in her chest. "My reason to become a CPU changed a bit, but yes. I did achieve my dream."

Plutia tilted her head in confusion. "Your reason?"

The dark-haired girl leaned back against her chair. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay! Oh! Since we got the meeting out of the way, wanna talk about collaboration?" Plutia's eyes twinkled as she leaned in close.

Noire blinked. "Collaboration?"

"Yeah! I thought about it when I bought your console!"

She sat up straight. "You bought my console?"

Plutia laughed. "Are you not paying attention, Noire? So as I was saaaaaaying! I bought your console because I wanted to play one of Lastation's games since I can't play it on a Planeptune console and that's when an idea came! What if we made our games cross-console playable?! If we did that then there's no need to buy-"

"Okay, I'll have to stop you right there." Noire quickly cut the girl off. "The idea of making our games cross-platform compatible certainly would benefit the consumer. I don't hate the idea, but I have to postpone that for now. It's a bit too early for me to do anything with Planeptune," explained the twintailed girl. "We should discuss collaboration, trade, and nation-related topics another day. I only intended for us to meet and have you recognize that Lastation would not cause you any trouble. I didn't plan for anything more."

"Ooooooh…" The other CPU understood where Noire was coming from. "They do say strike while the iron's hot, buuuuut I understand if you don't want to touch on that subject yet. Theeeeeen, I'll hold your word for it! I'll have Histy help me write the documents and convince you to allow the cross-console games!"

Noire rolled her eyes, but she still had a smile on her face. "Sure, Plutia. I'll be waiting."

"I better let Histy know! She'll be sooooooo shocked! Oh! And since we got the meeting out of the way early, I expect you to take me around Lastation, Noire! I want to experience the dream yoooooou accomplish!" Plutia turned around and summoned out her screen. She quickly typed up the report to send back to her Oracle.

While Plutia was busy, Noire stared at her back with nostalgic eyes. She couldn't help but think back to when she first discovered Plutia as the new CPU of Planeptune. It was shocking, yes, but it worried her. Plutia did not dream of leading people. Her ideal life was simply making plushies and sleeping. She just wanted to flow through life without much thought. So the stress level that Plutia might have from being a CPU made Noire uneasy. It made her even more anxious when she heard Plutia had locked herself away in her Basilicom and barely stepped outside, refusing to see anyone. Not even her. Noire could still remember the lifeless eyes Plutia carried. That was the biggest reason why she became a CPU sooner than anticipated. She became a CPU because…

"I wanted to see you, Plutia."

"Hmm?" Plutia glanced back to the dark-haired girl. "Did you say something, Noire?"

Noire closed her eyes and answered, "No. I was wondering if you wanted to see the guest room. I remember you used to love afternoon naps."

Plutia's eyes sparkled. "You remembered?!"

Noire snickered, "How can I forget? You would sleep through class all the time."

The two reminisce about their younger days, back when everything was easier. There were no nations to worry about, no expectations, and no fears. They were merely children doing what they were best at, dreaming of a bright future while having fun. But now they have responsibilities.

Noire, worried that Plutia would be crushed under those responsibilities, pushed herself to succeed and catch up. Now that she finally saw her in person after five years, her worries disappeared. Seeing the smile on the Iris CPU's face eased her heart. She was relieved—so relieved—to see her friend in good health.

"I'm glad you're doing well, Plutia."

Plutia gave one of her signature bright smiles that Noire always loved to see. "You too, Noire!"