Author Notes - And in this chapter, the third Guppy will join the party! Don't think that it's going to be back-to-back reunions. In fact, after this chapter, it'll take a little longer before we get the fourth one. I love a nice snappy story, but we need to take the time to really develop these Guppies first.

CHAPTER THREE - TO FISHINGTON WE GO

An hour-long drive gives one plenty of time to think. Though Nonny paid full attention to the road, his mind wandered at every stop light and give-way sign. Thinking about the friends he used to have. Zooli stared at the window and marvelled at the locale, a chance she hardly ever got with her busy and hectic life. And Brianna had all the time in the world to think about the fact that she was hitching a ride with two of her greatest heroes.

'Hey Nonny?' She asked. 'How come you never tried driving out here yourself?'

Brianna had waited until they passed the 'Welcome to Fishington' sign before asking. Fishington was a place much like Bubbletucky, but a bit bigger and with more people going back and forth. Nonny drifted through the roads carefully as he thought about the question. It was a very good question indeed.

'Yeah,' Zooli said. 'I wasn't really thinking about that until Bri brought it up. If you believed that you could find an old friend here in Fishington, why didn't you ever try?'

Nonny let out a sigh. 'I… I thought about it. A lot. But I just never had the courage to. After all these years, it would break my heart if I finally found an old friend but they didn't remember me. And why would they? How would they remember me when it was over twenty years ago and their brains were still developing at the speed of light?'

'So why are you doing this now?'

It took a while before Nonny responded. '... Because you're here. I feel a bit more courageous when my friends are around.'

It didn't take too long before Nonny found a good parking spot, by a quiet park in the middle of the town. The crowds were bigger in Fishington, and usually Nonny dreaded having to deal with one of those. But with Zooli (and Brianna) by his side, they weren't nearly as scary.

Brianna leapt out of the car, zipping around for a bit but making sure she didn't go too far.

'I've never been to Fishington!' She said. 'It's kinda like Bubbletucky. But bigger!'

'Which means finding anyone is going to be tough,' Zooli said. 'Nonny, do you have any ideas?'

'I… I have something,' Nonny said, scratching the back of his neck. 'From some emails I received a few years ago, I think… I think I know where to find Oona.'

Every time that name left his lips, it felt wrong. He wasn't sure why. His internal attempts at figuring it out were swiftly interrupted when Brianna gasped loudly.

'Of course!' She said. 'I should've known. Of course you would know a thing or two about what Oona's up to. You two were so close back in the day. People used to write fanfictions about you guys, you know. And you and Oona were shipped, like, all the time. The fans could see this stuff!'

Zooli blinked at her. 'Brianna, we were five.'

Nonny sighed. 'The fans weren't wrong, though. Whether they were just looking too deeply into things or not, they seemed to be able to predict the future. Oona and I… W-We certainly had something going on.'

His heart sank just thinking about it. He could easily remember that sweet little smile on her sweet little face, from all those years back.

'Ooh, do tell!' Brianna said.

'Oona only moved away to Fishington a few years ago,' Nonny said. 'And before then, you see, we… we were dating.'

'I KNEW IT!'

Zooli's jaw dropped. 'You were?'

'It was only for a few months before she moved away,' Nonny continued. 'It's not that she dumped me or anything. She just found a good job here. A-And… and I didn't have the courage to pursue it. Those months were some of the best in my life. But I didn't want to hold her back. So, I let her go. That's how it goes, isn't it? If you love them, you will let her go. So I did.'

Nonny could feel his breath hitching a little near the end of his answer. He took a deep breath to keep the emotions at bay. Now was not the time. It was never the time. He was done with his heartbreak years ago. No need to start it again.

He flinched when Zooli put her hand on his shoulder.

'Are you sure that's what Oona wanted?' She asked.

'Of course,' Nonny replied. 'There was more to her life than just me.'

'But you were really important to her. Even when you guys were little kids. You heard what Brianna said. There was always something between you two that the fans noticed. Did you even ask her if she wanted to break up, or are you just assuming that?'

Nonny didn't respond to that. He simply looked at the pavement below him.

'I'll take that as a no, you never asked her,' Zooli said. 'Looks like you've finally got another opportunity to talk to her again. Maybe she wants to date you again, or maybe she just wants to move on. You'll never know unless you go and find out.'

'That's right!' Brianna said. 'Sure, it might be sad if she doesn't want to date you anymore. But wouldn't it be nice to know? And be there for her as a friend? And if she does want to keep dating you, then you'd be letting that opportunity pass you by if you don't take it!'

Nonny glanced at the two ladies. Ladies he owed so much to. He wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for them. After a long moment of silence, he let out a heavy sigh.

'Alright,' He said. 'I'll go talk to her again. Could be nice, seeing her after all this time.'

'YEAH!' Brianna shouted, making both Nonny and Zooli jump. 'Let's do it! … How do we do that?'

'She… was nice enough to tell me her new address when she moved here. Assuming she hasn't moved since then, it shouldn't be hard to, uh, track her down, as it were. Follow me, I guess.'

And he did. He swam through Fishington with his friends close behind him. It was a town he had hardly ever visited, so he relied quite heavily on his phone's GPS. He relied on it so much-

'Nonny, LOOK OUT!'

-That Zooli had to grab his arm to stop him from wandering directly into traffic.

'Look both ways, Nonny!' Brianna said. 'Don't you remember? You guys made a whole song about it. Stop, look, and listen!'

Nonny blushed. 'You're right. I got a little carried away there. Good news, though. We're almost there.'

They crossed the road, carefully this time, and came to a row of houses. Quaint little houses with pretty little gardens. Most of their residents were either out for the day or inside, but one old lobster man was peacefully napping on his porch. A very lovely little street. Nonny swam down the sidewalk with the others following him.

And then, he stopped. Suddenly. They hadn't even arrived at Oona's address quite yet, but he saw something just a few blocks down. Someone was out in her garden, tending to the plants. She may have been facing away from Nonny, and she may have been wearing a sunhat to protect her face from the sunlight, but he could recognise her clear as day.

He couldn't move. He could only stare.

'That's her…' He murmured. 'She's right there…'

Zooli peered over his shoulder and got a good look at the woman in the garden. That swirly pink tail that went up to her arms was certainly familiar. The lavender colour of her hair was familiar too, but the way she wore it loose and short wasn't.

'Well? Go on,' Zooli said. 'If you think that's her, go ahead and talk to her.'

'I… I can't,' Nonny said.

'Why not?' Brianna asked. 'You've come this far.'

'I-It'd be too awkward. I can't do it.'

Zooli grinned. 'Looks like you just need a little push.'

Nonny wasn't expecting her to literally push him down the street. It happened so suddenly that he almost tumbled to the sidewalk. With this extra bit of encouragement, he swallowed his nerves and swam forward. The woman hadn't looked up once, so he went undetected as he swam up to the fence gate. There he stood silently for a few seconds, until he had the courage to clear his throat.

'Uh, hi…' He said.

The woman turned her head at the sound, stopping what she was doing (which was digging a hole for a new plant). Brianna and Zooli caught up, and both gasped. No doubt about it, that was Oona. But she looked quite different. An already wide Guppy had gotten even wider (but no less cuter) through the years. Her hair was short, and hadn't been done up in pigtails for decades. And as soon as she saw Nonny, she dropped her shovel from the shock.

And she was absolutely beaming.

'NONNY!' She cried.

Before Nonny knew it, he had been scooped up into a mighty hug. Despite being noticeably shorter than him, she was a lot bigger and stronger than him so he had no chance of escape. Not that he'd want to escape in the first place. Her hugs were just as loving as he remembered them, if not even more so.

'Oh, it's so nice to see you!' Oona said.

'I-I could say the same thing…' Nonny said. 'About you, I mean.'

Brianna let out a triumphant laugh. 'That's Oona, alright!'

Oona broke up the hug and looked down at Brianna. Her smile was as sweet and as welcoming as all those old music videos and posters made it look. Despite the different appearance, it was a sweet little Oona smile all the same.

'Now,' She said. 'Who's this little one?'

'I'm Brianna!' Brianna said. 'And I'm on a mission to reunite all the Bubble Guppies, so we can bring the world's greatest band back together again!'

Nonny blushed. 'We weren't that good.'

Oona laughed. 'The hell we were!'

Brianna gasped again. Did Oona just say… 'hell'? Sure, Brianna wasn't above the occasional 'bad word' either, but from Oona? She was the last Guppy you'd expect to use such language. While Brianna was freaking out over that, Oona peered over at Zooli. Who reacted to the stare quite sheepishly. She had no idea if Oona would remember her at all, and what Oona said next provided the answer.

'So… who's this?' She asked.

Zooli sighed. It wasn't a surprise. But still a little disappointing.

'I'm Zooli,' She said. 'We… We used to be classmates together back a long time ago. Remember the band? The Bubble Guppies?'

Oona narrowed her eyes at her, and then snapped her fingers.

'OH!' She said. 'I could've sworn you looked a little familiar! I was wondering who the hell you were, but now I remember. You were the new kid, right? God, I nearly forgot about the damn band too.'

'Oona,' Nonny said. 'If you wouldn't mind, maybe you should tone the language down a little.'

'Believe me, Nonny, I am toning it down. Besides, that isn't what's important here. What's important is that you're finally here again! Come on. Get inside. All three of you!'

Oona certainly acted a little differently to how Brianna saw in all the promotional videos. Just a little. She was still kind and bubbly, but just a tiny bit more bombastic. And definitely a lot more foul-mouthed.

'Well?' Oona said at the open door. 'Come on!'

But just as welcoming as always. Nonny hesitated for only a moment before joining her.

'You girls too!' Oona said. 'This is an invitation for you too. Don't think you're not welcome!'

Brianna took the invitation without even thinking about it. Zooli shrugged and followed them inside. There was really no reason not to.

Author Notes - I had to touch-up some of the dialogue in this chapter, because it seems that early on I planned for two friends to be found in Fishington. Not just Oona. Which was the plan to begin with, until I decided to have a couple chapters dedicated to developing our characters a bit more. Said second friend was moved to a different location, but you'll meet them soon enough.

Since so much time has passed, I wanted the older Guppies to act just a little differently (or, in some cases, a lot differently) from their younger counterparts we see in the show. Exhibit A: Oona, who wears her hair out and, more noticeably, swears like a sailor! Why did I make it so Grown-Up Oona swears a lot? I just thought it would be funny. I'm convinced that Oona is a lot more chaotic than most fans seem to realise. Her best friend is Deema, after all!