Traverse Town – Third District
IF sat on the nearby staircase, still crying over her restored memories...
"I can't believe I forgot all about you guys..." the guild agent murmured through her tears. "Suzuka...Otome...Navi..."
"Iffy..."
She didn't look up, but she recognized that sweet voice anywhere.
"..."
"I'd ask if you're feeling a bit better..." Compa started. "But I don't think we're any better since the first few seconds, aren't we?"
"..."
The nurse, her face no longer strewn with tears but still a mess from it, sat down next to her grieving friend.
"Listen, I know how badly you're hurting from this" Compa started. "Even now, after remembering everything about Gamindustri, I still miss my beloved grandpa, and I'm sure you feel that way for your guildmates..."
"..."
"I want to go see our home too. I'm sure we all miss it in one way or another, but..."
"..."
"I don't want our time with Nep-Nep to end. I want to keep travelling with her, Sora, Donald and Goofy too. Even though there are certain worlds I wish I prepared for sooner, even though our journey has been going through scrape after scrape, I still enjoyed all the time we had together."
"..."
"So, I'll be okay. I've already given it a bit of thought. I'd like more time, but I feel like my heart has long settled on an answer. I'm not stopping, nor will I ever stop going to other worlds, even if Gamindustri is somehow restored on the way."
"...rry..."
"Hm?" Compa turned to her friend. "Did you say something, Iffy?"
"I'm sorry. It's just..." IF sighed. "I really messed up back there, huh?"
The nurse tilted her head.
"I was supposed to be the reliable one, you know? The cool-headed gal who keeps the whole group under control. Look what happened back there. I lost my cool, yelled at Nep and said something that she'll keep thinking about now."
Compa hummed.
IF chuckled. "I don't want to burden Nep with such a huge responsibility on her own, silly as it sounds. Restoring a whole world that fell to darkness...It may just be too much for her, a girl who didn't know a single thing about being a goddess until recently. A girl who didn't even know what her home even is, and all I did was thrust her into her responsibilities without ever giving her a chance to defend herself or familiarize herself with them."
She chuckled again as she looked up, her bangs covering her eyes. "I bet she's racking her brain on how to fulfill my foolish wish. If not, she's thinking of ways to apologize to me for being an insensitive jerk..."
"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that..." Compa tried to defend.
"Yeah" IF agreed. "We know Nep too long to know that. Still..."
The guild agent fixed her bangs as she kept looking up. "It's like you said, Compa. She's happiness, and to her, our happiness is her happiness. But I don't want her to overwork herself to death just to please us..."
She then looked down. "If only I had told her that instead..."
"Iffy…"
A weary sigh escaped her lips. "I bet she thinks we'd rather have our old life back instead of going on with her on her adventures instead...Why am I so pathetic?"
Compa grabbed her friend's head and hugged it to her chest, rubbing her brown hair.
"It's alright, Iffy-poo" Compa soothed. "We both miss our home. Miss everyone we knew. But we still have each other. We have Nep-Nep, Sora, Donald, Goofy and everyone else here. We are not alone out here in this vast Ocean. Lean on us, Iffy."
IF chuckled through her tears. "How do you do it, Compa? How do you comfort people so...naturally?"
Compa tilted her head, still smiling. "I just did what my heart told me. That's all"
"Your heart, huh?" IF sniffed. "Thanks, Compa...I...needed to hear that, I guess"
"You can rely on us, too!"
IF yelped, looking up to see Goofy and Donald right behind them.
"Since when were you two eavesdropping!?" the guild agent complained.
"Um, for a while now?" Donald tried to answer.
Hearing that caused the guild agent to blush as she hid her face on Compa's chest.
"Don't feel embarrassed!" Goofy said. "Nothin' wrong with seekin' comfort every once in a while!"
IF groaned.
"What are you two doing here, anyway?" Compa asked.
"Well..." Donald tried to come up with an excuse. "We were planning to pay a visit to the Dalmatian's mansion by the Second District."
"We were?"
A bump from the shoulder changed Goofy's tune.
"Oh yeah! We were! Wanna come with us?"
"I'd love to!" Compa cheered. "Let's go with them, Iffy"
IF wiped out the snot coming out of her nose as she and her nurse friend stood up. "Sure. I could use a break, anyway"
100 Acre Wood – Gathering Spot
"So, remind me again..." Neptune started. "Why are we inside this empty book?"
Sora and Kairi stopped for a moment.
"Well" Sora reminded. "Remember those Torn Pages we gathered around the worlds?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh..."
"Merlin said these pages are part of this book" Kairi took over. "He asked us to help repair the book on the inside while Histoire is handling everything on the outside."
"Oh" Neptune said, getting the gist of it. "That's all?"
"Yup" Sora nodded.
"Oh. Alright." Neptune nodded simply. "Lead on, I guess"
The trio kept walking while Kairi closed in on Sora.
"She's still feeling down, huh?" Kairi asked her fellow islander.
"Definitely" Sora noticed. "She'd usually go forward and take the lead on stuff like this. Now's she's just...playing along"
"And she usually doesn't do that..." the female islander observed.
"All the more reason we gotta go through this!" Sora said, pumping his fist. "If nothing else, we gotta cheer Neptune up!"
"Sounds like a plan!"
Kairi then spotted someone over by the log in the clearing.
"Oh, look! We got first contact!"
"Alright! C'mon, Neptune!"
"Yeah. Coming!"
The trio approached the stranger by the log, who appears to be a small yellow bear wearing nothing but a red shirt that only goes halfway on his top.
"Think, think. Think, think."
"He's just sitting there..." Neptune observed. "Thinking..."
"About what, exactly?" Kairi wondered.
"Let's go ask him"
The boy approached him.
"Hi there. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just thinking" The bear answered.
"Oh"
"About what?" Kairi asked.
"I was thinking of how to say goodbye to Pooh" the bear answered.
"Pooh?" Neptune said, tilting her head.
"Yes?" the bear responded, having stopped his focused thinking.
"Wait a second..." Sora noticed, taking a seat by the bear's right.
"YOU'RE Pooh?" Kairi concluded, taking a seat by the bear's left.
"Yes, I'm Winnie the Pooh" the bear introduced himself. "Pooh for short. Who are you?"
"I'm Sora"
"Kairi. Nice to meet you!"
"Name's Neptune, or whatever nickname if you can't pronounce it for some reason"
"Oh, Hello, Sora, Kairi, Neptune" Pooh greeted his new friends back. "Have you all come to say goodbye to Pooh, too?"
"Uh, no?" Neptune shook her head.
"Why would we do that?" Kairi followed.
"We've only just met, after all" Sora finished.
"Because everyone's gone away" Pooh replied.
"What do you mean?" the boy asked.
"Well, we all lived here in the Hundred Acre Wood" Pooh recalled. "And we'd take walks together, or play Pooh sticks..."
"Pooh sticks?" Neptune wondered but her question was ignored.
"And every day, I'd eat some honey" Pooh continued. "Just one small smackeral would taste very good right now."
"Sounds like someone I know" Sora quipped. "Right, Neptune?"
"Huh?" Neptune just looked at him funny. "Yeah. Sure"
This only made the boy grimace at the sight.
"Well" Kairi suggested. "We could all go and find some honey for you if you'd like"
"Ah, that would be lovely" the bear cheered a bit. "But now everyone's gone..."
"Gone, huh..." Neptune mumbled to herself.
"All my friends, and my favorite Hunny Tree, too..."
The girl in the parka clenched her fist. "No. Not this time..."
"Everyone must've gone away while I was napping. I think..." Pooh thought aloud as he hopped back down. "So, who knows? Maybe I shall end up going away somewhere as well."
Neptune gritted her teeth. This is all starting to sound distressing similar...
"But I wonder, how do I say goodbye to myself? Think, think, think"
This is too much. Neptune's gotta say something...
But a loud, rumbling noise interrupted her train of thought.
"Oh, my tummy must be getting rather rumbly..."
And so, Winnie the Pooh marched on, leaving the open area for his humble abode.
"This is troubling..." Kairi pondered.
"No kidding" Sora said. "He's been out here for a long time now"
"Well, we got all the pages" the islander girl beamed. "So, we'll manage this step-by-step. Eventually, Pooh will get all his friends and honey back!"
Sora nodded. "Sounds like a plan!"
But then, he looked around and noticed something strange...
"Wait, where did Neptune go?"
100 Acre Wood – Pooh's Howse
"Oh bother" Pooh bemoaned as he inspected his only hunny pot. "There's no more hunny left"
"WAAAAAIIIITTT!"
"If only the Hunny Tree would visit..." Pooh pondered as he put the pot down. "then, I could eat my fill."
"STOOOOOPPPPP!"
Suddenly, a girl wearing a white parka barged straight into his house from the window (which was open, thankfully)!
"Oh dear!" Pooh jumped in surprise. "Who goes there?"
Wasting no time, Neptune immediately grabs the bear by his shoulders.
"Don't throw your life away yet! You've got a lot left to live for!"
Pooh could only look at the desperate girl with confusion.
"Are you okay?" the bear asked the girl. "You seem out of sorts. I would offer you some hunny to feel better, but alas, I am all out..."
"You want honey, right?" Neptune said quickly. "Then I'll scour the whole book for a source! Nothing will stop me from making you happy!"
She then dashed out of the house, leaving as quickly as she came in, not even noticing her companions entering the scene as they did.
"She's running around like a woman possessed..." Kairi noted.
Sora nodded. "I hope we can calm her down, somehow"
"Was she really being affected by what IF said?" the islander girl wondered.
"Maybe, but I don't think either of them meant anything bad from what they said." the islander boy figured.
"Excuse me" Pooh said, approaching the pair. "I would like to go get some hunny, but I do not know if my favorite Hunny Tree is still there."
The pair looked to each other with knowing smiles.
"In that case..." Sora started.
"Why don't you lead the way, Pooh?" Kairi finished.
100 Acre Woods – Hunny Tree
"Oooof!"
Neptune fell down for the umpteenth time as she futilely tried to climb up the Hunny Tree.
"Why does climbing a tree feel so difficult!?" the girl in the parka complained. "If only I can transform into that tall me again..."
Neptune slapped herself. "No! Don't think like that. Right now, you gotta focus or Pooh Bear will never be happy!"
Getting up, she tried climbing up again to grab some hunny, all the while she was being watched by a small figure.
"She sure is quite reckless out there..." the figure said, shyly hiding within a log. "Will she be okay there?"
"Hey, there she is!"
"Neptune!"
The figure immediately hid upon hearing the sound of two strangers, a boy and another girl, entering the area.
"Who are they?" the figure wondered, noticing how unusual the two appeared. "They d-don't look like they're from around here..."
"Hey!" the other girl shouted.
"Get down from there!" the boy yelled.
"No!" the first girl shouted back. "Not until I got some honey!"
"Hunny?"
The figure, a small pig-like creature who is rather thin, popped his head out of the log to see what was going on.
"Well, you're not going to get it like that!" the boy shouted.
"Besides, shouldn't you worry about the bees that are defending their honey?" the other girl shouted.
"Bees?"
Neptune looked around, and sure enough, a swarm of bees came, bearing down on the invader.
"Gah! Get away! My bod's too adorable to be stung!"
In her efforts to swat the bees away, she stumbled and fell down the tree...again...
"Oof!"
"Neptune!"
"You okay!?"
The figure saw the other two approaching the first girl, but couldn't move out of his hiding place.
"Will they be okay?"
"Oh! I found them! And my favorite hunny tree, too!"
The figure turned around and saw a familiar friend entering the area.
"Pooh!"
He then ran out of his hiding place and approached the round bear.
"Oh, Piglet!" the bear greeted the tiny figure. "It's so good to see you!"
"And you, too!" Piglet greeted back. "I was getting so scared being alone around here."
"Really now?" Pooh asked, glancing at the figures ahead. "Even though my new friends are right there?"
"New friends?" Piglet looked at the bear's general direction. "You know them, Pooh?"
The bear nodded. "They said they will help get me some hunny from the Hunny Tree!"
"Well" Piglet stuttered. "One of them tried to, but she kept falling from the tree. At this rate, she could get hurt from tumbling too much."
Pooh got to his thinking pose. "Think, think. How do we get up the tree for some hunny?"
Piglet looked around and noticed a strange object near the log.
"Maybe that will help!"
Eventually, Piglet took the object, a blue balloon and gave it to Pooh, which didn't escape the notice of the others.
"Excellent!" Pooh cheered. "With this, I can finally get some hunny."
"But..." Neptune started. "Wouldn't it be more effective to just store it up?"
Sora raised an eyebrow at that.
"Well" Kairi answered. "It's more fun this way, right Pooh?"
The bear nodded, looking up to see the top hole of the tree where the most honey would be stored.
"Okay, here I go!"
Letting the balloon guide his path, Pooh made his way up to the Hunny Tree.
However...
"The bees!"
At Piglet's warning, the trio noticed that the swarm of bees have returned.
"Oh no!" Sora cried.
"We gotta swat them away or they're gonna pop the balloon!" Neptune shouted.
The two brought out their weapons and started jumping up the branches to swat the bees away.
"Go get them, guys!" Kairi cheered. "You can do it!"
The two kept swatting the bees away, but they're just too many!
"Oh no!"
One of the bees snuck away and encroached upon Pooh's balloon...
POP!
"Oh dear..."
...and popped the balloon the bear was riding on, causing him to fall...
"Pooh!" Sora called out.
"He's falling!" Kairi panicked.
Thinking fast, Neptune immediately scaled the branches and caught the falling bear before he could fall!
Sora groaned as the bees became too numerous.
"Why don't you all buzz off!?"
He cast a mighty Aeroga spell around himself, scattering all the bees away!
"Is Pooh alright!?" Sora shouted, catching his breath.
"He's cool!" Neptune shouted back as she faced the little bear. "That was reckless. You gotta be more careful next time"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Neptune..." Pooh apologized as his tummy rumbled. "But as you can hear, my tummy's all a-rumbly..."
Neptune sighed. "You know what, we're getting pretty close, so I'll carry you the rest of the way. How about that?"
Pooh brightened. "That would make me a happy bear, Neptune. Thank you!"
The girl gave a small smile. "Glad to hear it."
Holding the bear tight, Neptune bucked her legs as she prepared to make a dash for the top.
"Now hang on tight!"
She then leapt branch after branch. Without the bees, the climb was relatively peaceful.
"There we are!"
Neptune stopped her climb once she noticed that they were on the top of the tree, with the largest source of hunny located near it.
"Here you go" Neptune said, putting the bear in the nearby hole. "Now eat to your heart's content!"
"Oh, gladly!"
Pooh began to eat through the honey storage like the hungry, hungry bear that he was.
"It is rather funny what I'd do for hunny..."
Traverse Town – Third District - Merlin's Hut
"And thus, with the help of his new friends, the hungry Pooh Bear managed to eat up his fill of hunny from his favorite Hunny Tree..."
Histoire was busy observing the once-empty book for any changes, in addition to inserting the torn pages in once she was called to do so from the inside.
In fact, she has inserted the next page on the book, causing a small shimmer to emerge as the book's contents began to be restored.
"I see they're making good progress on that book" Merlin noted as he sipped his tea.
"Indeed" the tome lady nodded. "I hope that not only will be the book be fully restored, but that Neptune can find the spring in her step again after what happened..."
"Indeed" Merlin noted, stroking his large beard.
Histoire looked back at the book glumly. "I wonder if it was a good idea to tell them all what happened. Even though I had no idea, I may have caused a friction in our ranks because of my story..."
Merlin, still stroking his beard, gathered his thoughts. "That may be, but I do not believe that it is meaningless."
Histoire looked to the great wizard.
"People go through their lives, faced with not only joy and reward, but also with pain and tribulations. It is simply a fact of life. Right now, they're all going through the trauma that they should have experienced that came with their memories. If they cannot overcome that pain and move forward, then they will never succeed in life..."
The tome lady pursed her lips. "You certainly give some...interesting advice there, Merlin"
Merlin sipped his tea again. "I am not only a Great Wizard, but I was once the royal advisor to a great and noble king! I've been around the youth's time, from his birth to his eventual departure. Though there were times I wished I could've advised him better. Perhaps then, his kingdom could still stand after that one rebellion..."
Histoire hummed. "Perhaps this is your trial as well..."
"Oh?"
"Your experiences have taught you much, and though you have left your king's service, you still go out of your way to provide aid and advice to those who seek it. In a way, this is your trial to put everything you have learned, and will learn, to good use for the future. That is how I see it, anyway"
She then looked back onto the book, its contents filling out. "Although, that could also be me wishing to take in such an advice"
Merlin hummed. "We long-lived folks have much on our plates now, don't we?"
Histoire giggled. "That we do."
100 Acre Wood – Rabbit's Howse
"GET BACK HERE!"
"Bouncing is fun!"
Neptune was busy chasing around a bouncing...tiger(?) across the carrot garden.
"Please!" Rabbit, a yellow-furred...rabbit, pleaded. "Do keep Tigger and his incessant bouncing away from my carrots! Pooh needs that juice to get out!"
"I'm...working on that!" Neptune exclaimed as she prevented the bouncing Tigger from hopping onto another carrot.
"Woo-hoo!" Tigger cheered. "This new bouncing spot is quite vast! I think I'll enjoy it here!"
"Oh no!" Neptune yelled. "Vegetable gardens DO NOT make good bouncing spots!"
"Will we be okay with this?" Kairi wondered, shaking her head as she sneakily gathered some carrots.
"She's still not feeling well..." Sora noted, keeping an eye on Neptune and Tigger. "Normally, she'd be bouncing off with him. You know, 'Like a Kangaroo!'?"
"Kanga-Roo?" Piglet said, tilting his head. "You know Kanga and Roo?"
"Ah, no" Sora quickly corrected himself. "It's...an expression of speech. Yeah"
"If you say so" Piglet said. "Still, Roo loved bouncing around with Tigger, especially in their old bouncing spot. I wonder where it went..."
"Don't worry" Kairi reassured. "We'll find it"
Sora nodded. "But first, we gotta get Pooh out of that hole."
Once they gathered the carrots they needed, they went back to Rabbit's House to prepare the juice.
Meanwhile...
"What's goin' on?" Tigger bemoaned, having lost his energy. "Nobody keeps up with Tiggers!"
Neptune, gasping for breath, replies smugly. "How's...that? Don't mess...with this Nep..."
Tigger, however, ignored her, opting to check his tail instead. "Maybe there's somethin' wrong with my tail..."
Satisfied with his round of bouncing, he jumped off the garden.
Neptune slumped down. "At least...the rabbit'll be...happy..."
But then, she heard a loud thud coming further ahead.
"Not good!"
She ran to the scene of the crime, and found Pooh, now out of the rabbit hole, and sitting on the ground with scattered vegetables and his head stuck in a pot of hunny.
"You're kidding me..."
"Oh bother. Where am I? It's ever so dark in here. Well, it isn't so bad, I suppose. There is plenty of hunny."
Neptune sighed at the sight. "Well, at least the bear's satisfied. Small mercies or whatever..."
100 Acre Wood – Starry Hill
"Oh dear..." Pooh bemoaned as he shook the water out of his system. "I didn't think I'd be taking a nice soaking today..."
Neptune groaned. "Why are we even doing this!? How is THIS going to find a stinkin' tail!?"
"Hey, hey" Sora tried to calm the girl down. "Relax, Neptune"
"How am I supposed to relax like this!?" Neptune snapped back at him. "We're in the middle of a problem here!"
Sora was taken aback by her declaration, and after a few seconds, Neptune was too.
"Oh, sorry!" Neptune apologized. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what I was saying! I...!"
"No, no" Sora said, shaking his hands. "It's alright. I can take it."
"Sorry, I just..." Neptune said glumly. "I...need a minute..."
She then walked down the hill, leaving a confused Pooh and a distressed Sora and Kairi behind.
"Oh dear..." Pooh said. "Will she be okay? She seemed very sad..."
"You know what?" Sora replied, crossing his arms. "I wonder about that, too..."
Meanwhile, Neptune walked past the bridge and took a seat next to a set of sticks near the riverbank.
The girl sighed, burying her head on her knees. "What am I doing? I normally don't feel this down...or obsessed...or...RESPONSIBLE!"
"Maybe you're just having a moment of doubt right there..."
She raised her head to see a rather blue (both in body and attitude) hippopotamus talking to her.
"Oh, hey Eeyore" Neptune greeted. "Sorry, we're still trying to find your tail..."
"It's alright..." Eeyore said. "No point in crying over spilt milk anyhow..."
"Hey..." Neptune said, scooting closer to the depressed animal. "Don't give up just yet. I'm sure your tail is out here somewhere. We just hafta find it..."
Eeyore hummed. "I appreciate the sentiment, really. I just hope you find what you're looking for, too..."
"Huh?"
"Your eyes look like they're looking for something. Something that seems impossible and out of reach. My advice? Better just give up on that while you're still ahead..."
Neptune became incensed upon hearing this, standing up in defiance. "No way! I'm not giving up on that! Not when I know that finding that makes her happy! I'm not going to stop making people smile! That's not me!"
"Neptune! Watch out!"
"Kairi?"
Upon hearing that, she looked up to see Pooh flying towards her...
"Hit the deck!"
...and in her haste, she grabbed Eeyore and jumped down for cover!
"Oh dear!"
The two looked to see Pooh landing on the stack of sticks, leaving them scattered on the floor.
"Well, so much for a safe haven..." Eeyore lamented.
"That's alright" Neptune reassured. "We can just build a better one..."
"You don't have to go all the way for me..." Eeyore said.
"Nonsense!" Neptune cheered. "I won't stop until I see a smile on your face!"
Eeyore sighed. "Alright. Don't let me stop you..."
"Is everyone okay?" Kairi asked around.
"We're good!" Neptune tried to reassure her. "What about you, Pooh?"
"Oh, I'll be alright" Pooh said as he got up. "Hold on..."
He then noticed something unusual from the plle of sticks on the ground...
"Hey, isn't that...?"
"Yes, it's Eeyore's tail!"
With his tail found, Kairi reattached the tail and with that, Eeyore was satisfied with the outcome, for the most part.
Neptune, on the other hand, still feels down, judging by her heavy sighing.
"You look quite down, little fella!"
She looked to see Tigger facing her, keeping his balance with his tail.
"I'm not down..."
"Oh, I don't think so!" Tigger exclaimed. "I can spot a sad face when I see 'em! What you need is a lil' bouncin'!"
"Huh?"
"He's right!" Kairi said, grabbing Neptune's arm. "A little bit of bouncing might be just the thing you need to cheer up, Neptune!"
"H-Hey, that's cool and all..." Neptune started. "But I don't need any help, really. Let me just..."
"Nuh-uh!" Kairi stopped her. "You are in serious need of cheer right now, so let's get hopping!"
She then dragged Neptune out of the area before the girl in the parka could decide.
100 Acre Woods – Tigger's Bouncin' Spot
"C'mon, lil' Neptune!" Tigger shouted.
"Come bounce with us!" a little kangaroo, named Roo, invited.
Kairi giggled as she bounced along with the two. "It's fun, I promise!"
Neptune, however just looked on with a longing look.
"Aren't you going in after them?"
She then looked to see Sora and Pooh approaching her.
"I dunno, Sora" Neptune admitted. "I guess I'm...not in a mood to bounce"
"Why not?" Pooh asked.
The girl in the parka sighed. "I dunno. I'm just not...feeling it, I guess?"
Sora and Pooh looked at each other and nodded.
They then grabbed each of Neptune's hands...
"Ahhhhhh" Neptune sounded. "What are you two doing?"
"Helping you out, of course!" Sora cheered.
"A little bouncing may turn your frown upside down" Pooh said.
Neptune forced out a laugh. "Thanks, but uh, I'm good"
She tried to release their grasp, but their hold tightened. She is trapped!
"Come on, Neptune" Sora said with a bright cheer. "No one likes a debby-downer like that!"
"Let's bounce!"
The two then dragged Neptune onto the bouncing spot...
"W-Wait a sec! I need to be ready and stuff! Woah!"
...and began to bounce around the logs.
"There ya go! That's the spirit!"
"Isn't bouncing fun!?"
"Hahahaha! Wheeeeee!"
"Wa-hoo!"
"Ohohohohoho!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
They bounced and bounced and bounced...
Until...
"Hooo..." Sora breathed, exhausted. "That was...quite a workout, huh?"
Kairi inhaled and exhaled over and over. "Yeah! Haven't bounced that much since...ever, actually!"
"So, what..." Neptune said. "Was the point...of all that?"
Tigger hummed. "It appears the lady is still feelin' under the weather, wouldn't you say, Roo?"
Roo nodded. "Guess we have to pull out the big ones for this!"
"The big ones?" Neptune grimaced.
Tigger and Roo bounced off the area, entering what seems to be a giant pot sitting near the middle of the bouncing spot!
"That's the big one!?" the girl in the parka exclaimed.
"Catch!"
Suddenly, a giant chestnut was launched from the giant pot...
"Woah!"
...causing Neptune to scramble to grab it!
"Phew!"
"We're not done yet!" Tigger declared from within the pot.
"Huh?"
More chestnuts started coming out from the giant pot, forcing Neptune to run up to them and grab them, but...
"This is..." Neptune groaned as she is carrying too many chesnuts on her hands. "...way too many..."
"What are you doing!?"
She turned to see Sora, Kairi and Pooh shouting at her.
"Don't just grab them!" Sora shouted.
"You gotta throw them right back at 'em!" Kairi yelled.
"But, how?" Neptune yelled back.
"What, else?" Tigger said from within the pot. "You gotta bounce 'em back at us!"
"C'mon, Neptune!" Roo cheered from within the pot. "Bounce, like mama and me!"
Neptune whimpered. "Do I gotta?"
"Please, Neptune!" Pooh cheered from the sides. "We would be really happy if you could play with us."
"Happy..."
Just as she uttered the word, another chestnut was thrown out of the pot...
"I gotta make them happy..."
"Neptune!" Sora called out.
"It's coming right at you!" Kairi warned the girl.
"I have to...MAKE THEM HAPPY!"
Throwing all the chestnuts she gathered away, she made a great leap and spiked the incoming projectile to the giant pot like a volleyball!
"How's that!?"
Tigger laughed. "Not bad, little lady!"
"But we're not done yet!" Roo boasted. "We've got more where those came from!"
Neptune slapped her fist, ready for action. "Bring it!"
The bouncing duo threw another chestnut at the girl in the parka, causing Neptune to jump up and spike it back!
"There we go!" Kairi cheered.
"That's it!" Sora shouted.
"You're doing great!" Pooh said.
And so, Neptune kept spiking chestnut after chestnut after chestnut, each spike causing cracks on the giant pot.
"That's the way!" the islander boy exclaimed.
"Go, go! Neptune!" the islander girl cheered.
Neptune started hopping in place, ready for the next wave. "Come on! I can do this all day!"
"Oh dear..." Tigger murmured. "Looks like our little pot's goin' a crackin'"
"Well, we still have one last nut" Roo said, lifting the last chesnut. "What do we do?"
"The only thing we can do, my bouncy little friend!" Tigger exclaimed. "We throw it!"
With a mighty heave, the duo threw the chestnut out with all their might!
"Could this be it?" Pooh wondered.
"It's a really big one!" Sora noitced.
"You got this, Neptune!" Kairi cheered once more.
"It's big, but..."
As the chestnut drew closer...
"...I won't LOSE TO YOU!"
...Neptune made a great leap and...
"NEPTUNE...KICK!"
...KICKED the chestnut all the way back to the pot, shattering it with a loud crack!
"Haah...haah" Neptune took deep breaths as she landed back to the ground. "How's...that...?"
After a good three seconds of silence, she was greeted with claps and cheers from her friends.
"That was awesome!" Sora cheered.
"Amazing kick you got there!" Kairi exclaimed
"That was spectacular!" Pooh congratulated
"You were a hopping master out there!" Tigger complimented.
"Bouncing like me and Mama!" Roo chirped.
As she reveled in the cheers, she began to smile and laugh!
"Hahaha! Ahahahahaha~!"
Sora and Kairi looked at each other and nodded. This is a good sign, indeed.
100 Acre Wood – Starry Hill
"Whew!" Kairi breathed in as she enjoyed the view of the starry sky. "Today's been quite the adventure, huh?"
"Playing hide and seek at the muddy pond, huh?" Sora recalled as he nodded. "It was a lot of fun, I tell you!"
Neptune stayed silent, instead opting to enjoy the night view while lying down on the grass.
"I'm so glad we're all together again" Piglet said with a happy laugh. "I didn't know what to do when I was all alone."
"Aw, Piglet, you gotta be brave" Tigger said.
"You weren't lonely?"
"Lonely? Are you kiddin'?" the bouncing tiger hopped. "I'm a Tigger. The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one."
"So, you say" Kairi replied. "But admit it, it's much more fun when you're bouncing with friends, right?"
"Well, yes, there's that." TIgger quickly replied with nervous laughter.
"Think, think, think"
Sora turned to his side to see Pooh gathering his thoughts. "Hey Pooh, what are you thinking about now?"
"Oh well, I was just thinking about what to think about" Pooh admitted.
Sora and Kairi chuckled at that.
"This feels nice, you know?"
Everyone turned to Neptune, who finally spoke after being silent for a while.
"Unwinding. Having fun. Just...you know, not thinking about the heavy stuff for a while? It feels kinda nice."
Sora and Kairi shared knowing smiles.
"Well, we're glad to hear that" Kairi said.
"Are you feeling better now?" Sora asked.
"A little, yeah" Neptune answered. "But I'm still stumped."
"Stumped on what, if I may ask?" an owl named...Owl wished to know.
"Well, you see..." Neptune sighed. "There's this friend I have. A while ago, we were told that she and another friend were living in this place and had forgotten about it. When they remembered, they were feeling really sad about it. I tried to cheer them up like I always did, but then she got mad, told me that she would feel better if I, quote unquote, 'did my goddess-darned job'. But that's what I've been doing all this time!"
The girl sighed again. "And so, just like Pooh Bear here, I've been think, think, thinking about it all this time, but you know what I came up with?"
Three seconds of silence later...
"Nothing! No matter how much I rack my brain or even thought like another friend I know, I just...couldn't come up with anything, and knowing I couldn't find a way to make her happy again, it...really bothers me..."
She placed her arm against her eyes. "I don't know what I should tell her. I don't know if could keep anyone else happy if I can't do the same for her. Do I...even deserve to be happy after all this?"
Everyone looked at each other, wondering what to tell her after all this.
"Neptune..."
Kairi approached her, sitting down next to the girl.
"I think the question you should be asking yourself is, are you happy with how things are going?"
"Me?"
The islander girl nodded. "The way I see it, if I want to make others smile, I have to be able to smile as well. But not just curl my lips to look like I am. I want to be able to smile from my heart, so the happiness that I spread could also to reach other's hearts too."
"Smile..." Neptune repeated. "From my own heart..."
"So, let me ask you again" Kairi said. "What makes you happy? What thoughts let you feel that bubbly feeling inside your heart as your lips curl into a smile?"
Neptune gave it some thought, and as she did, she recalled all the times she spent with her friends...
Enjoying Compa's pudding...
Exchanging barbs with IF...
Messing with Donald...
Laughing with Goofy...
Chatting with Histy...
Just being around Noire...
And adventuring with Sora...
"There's..." Neptune said, her eyes beginning to water. "...a lot of that, you know?"
Kairi smiled at that. "Neptune, you deserve to be happy just as much as everyone else. You don't have to shoulder the burden yourself."
"But..." Neptune protested, dropping her arm as she raised herself up. "I'm a CPU. A goddess of a fallen world. I feel like I have to keep everyone happy. I feel like I must be the responsible one, and not be like the other CPU's who just...failed at everything."
"That's wrong!"
Sora stood up and approached his fellow Keyblade Wielder.
"Sora?"
"The reason we enjoyed your company is because of who you are, not WHAT you are. We didn't ask for a CPU or a fellow Keyblade Wielder or whatever. We just want to be able to smile and keep adventuring with our friend right here."
"Are you sure?" Neptune cried. "Are you really okay with just plain ol' Neptune here?"
"Sure, we're sure!"
The boy then looked around. "Isn't that right, guys?"
"Well, I don't disagree with that..." Rabbit admitted.
"Happiness is often the result of the best medicine, that is to say, laughter..." Owl answered.
"I prefer a happier Neptune myself..." Eeyore remarked.
"Did you see how happy you were when you were bouncin'? That's real happiness right there!" Tigger exclaimed.
"Yeah! You were great!" Roo followed.
"I'd like to see you smile more, too!" Piglet said.
"We would be happy if you are happy, too!" Pooh finished.
"You guys..."
Neptune couldn't hold her tears back, and let out a loud cry.
"Waaaaaaaaaahhhhh~! I'm so sorry, everyone! I didn't mean to make you worry about me! I just wanted to see you all smile! I just wanted to see my friends back there smile again too! I just...I just...!"
She then felt something warm hugging her from the side.
"Pooh?"
"I heard that, if someone is crying, you should give them a warm hug to comfort them and to tell them, that everything will be alright."
Neptune sniffed as she wiped the tears with her sleeve. "Thanks, Pooh Bear, you're the best"
The girl in the parka got up with a spring to her step.
"Okay, no more sad Nep! This time, if I'm gonna make others smile, I gotta make me happy too! Right from the bottom of my heart, right?"
She looked to the two islanders, who gave her an approving nod.
Neptune looked back and faced the moon.
"You hear that, moon!?" Neptune yelled. "I'm gonna be a better and happier person! Because Neptune equals happiness, and you better believe it!"
Sora laughed. "Why would you yell at the moon for that?"
Neptune shrugged. "I need to yell at something to get this heavy feeling out of my system somehow, you know?"
Kairi giggled. "Okay, we get it."
Neptune, still smiling, approached her two friends. "All this time, you've both been trying to cheer me up, huh? Sorry about that"
Sora shook his head. "Don't apologize."
"It's okay to be sad and angry sometimes, you know?" Kairi noted. "The important thing is, you shouldn't lose sight of who you are. Of what your heart really wants."
"Of what my heart really wants, huh?" Neptune noted. "You know, girl friend, you could make a killer business making fortune cookies with those kind of sayings!"
The islander girl chuckled. "Once I know how to, you'll be the first to taste one"
"Oooohhh~!" Neptune cooed. "Lookin' forward to that!"
"Hey!" Sora shouted. "What about me?"
"Nuh-uh" Kairi teased. "You gotta wait your turn!"
"Yeah, get in line and wait like a good boy, buck-o!" Neptune guffawed.
"Aw, come on!"
The girls then began to laugh as Sora got up in a stomp.
"Ah, alright, laugh it up!"
Once Kairi stopped laughing, she stood up as well.
"Okay, we should really get going"
"Wait, where are you all going?" Piglet asked.
"Well, we still got friends to look for" Neptune answered.
Sora nodded. "They're waiting for us out there"
"Bounce on back again!" Tigger declared.
"I hope you find your friends!" Piglet wished them luck.
The three of them hopped down the hill and headed for the bridge, but not before waving them goodbye on the way out.
"Sora, Kairi, Neptune, don't forget...We shall always be here. If you'd like to visit again, that is"
Traverse Town – Second District – Alleyway
"Now, who's a good boy?"
Compa laid out some treats for the few Dalmatians that they are walking with.
"That sure was an exhausting walk, huh?" Donald said, slumping down.
"No kidding" IF replied, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "That weird Heartless was no joke with their sniping abilities"
"Well, you know what they say" Goofy remarked. "You gotta run to live for another day!"
"I'll say" Compa said, approaching her friends. "Still, it is nice we got some time to ourselves..."
"Yeah, you can say that..." IF replied, her expression forlorn.
Suddenly, they heard something from the nearby waters.
"Who's there?" IF shouted, raising her qatars.
"Take it easy!"
"It's just us!"
From the nearby waterway emerged three familiar figures and one small figure accompanying them.
"Nep?" IF said.
"Sora!" Donald exclaimed
"Kairi!" Compa greeted.
"Histy's with them, too!" Goofy pointed out.
"Hey, guys!" Sora greeted the rest of the party.
"How'd you know we'd be here?" the royal captain asked them.
"Merlin told us you'd be here" Kairi answered.
"And you all swam to get here?" Donald wondered.
"Don't worry about me" Kairi reassured. "I'm good enough to swim through this kind of water. Islander, remember?"
"Okay, but what about Nep-Nep?" Compa wished to inquire about her friend.
"Aw, smokes..." Neptune complained. "My parka's all drenched now. This'll take a while to get rid off..."
"Hey, at least it's not whale saliva..." Sora joked.
"THAT WAS NO JOKING MATTER, BRO!" Neptune yelled. "A girl's hygiene is VERY important, especially if it's your soul-siblings!"
"H-Hey" IF tried to grab someone's attention. "Nep?"
"Hm?" Neptune turned to see her guild friend, and then remembered something important. "Oh, hey Iffy..."
No one else spoke for the next three seconds, the alleyway filled with naught but the occasional barks from the Dalmatians.
"So..."
"About what happened..."
And then the two bowed to each other!
"I'M SO SORRY!"
The two were taken aback when they said the same thing.
"Wait, why are you apologizing!?"
The two girls began to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
"Why don't you go first, Nep?" IF insisted.
"Ah, okay..." Neptune replied, clearing her throat. "So, I just want to say...I'm really sorry for being an insensitive jerk back there. I saw how much you and Compa are hurting from remembering everything about Gamindustri and all that. I should've given you two time to process all that before cheering you up. That was totally my bad, so...forgive me?"
"I would like to apologize as well" Histoire butted in, bowing in apology. "If I have not told you all my story, this friction would not have happened. I do not mean to cause a break in our ranks just before you all are prepared to seal the Final Keyhole, and for that, I am truly sorry"
"It's not your fault, Histy" Compa reassured. "To be fair, we kinda pushed you into telling us that story, so that's also on us, too"
"You are too kind, Compa..." Histy murmured.
"What she said" IF nodded, turning to Neptune. "And Nep..."
Neptune gulped, bracing herself for the worst.
"I...want to say sorry too"
"Why?"
"I was supposed to be the cool-headed one, remember? But then, I snapped at you and said something I shouldn't have said to you. I bet you were still trying to think of a way to get Gamindustri back, right?"
"Well..." Neptune stuttered. "Maybe..."
IF sighed. "Figures. You always go out of your way to keep us happy, right?"
"I mean...yeah?" the girl in the parka admitted. "I like it when we're happy, so I gotta keep it that way."
"I see." the guild agent replied. "Well, about what I said back then...you can forget it!"
This caught Neptune by surprise! "What?"
"It's true that I'm still processing over what really happened" the guild agent admitted. "I recall it all, you know? The job I worked at. The people I used to work with. The life I had. I remember it all now."
The guild agent placed a hand onto her heart. "And quite frankly, I miss them so much. I still feel guilty over being unable to save them, losing them to the Heartless. I was...really sad...and frustrated..."
"Iffy..." Compa said.
"And during all that, I ended up taking my anger out on you, on the sole goddess still standing with us. But it's not just you, Nep. I blamed the Heartless for taking everything from me. I blamed the CPU's for not doing their job in guiding us through such a hard time and instead just made things worse! But worst of all...I hated myself for being so powerless before!"
"IF..." Sora said this time.
"But...just because all that happened, that doesn't mean you should be at fault, Nep."
Neptune looked up, her eyes filled with hope.
"Sure, you screw up on occasion and often times, you'd rather nap and eat pudding over doing work, but you're really reliable when the moment strikes. You're fun to have around, Nep. Exchanging all those barbs with you felt so...natural that I just couldn't imagine my life without you or anyone here anymore..."
"Oh, Iffy..." Compa cried.
"So, as much as I missed my old life and a part of me do want to see them again, I'm not going to give up what we have here, what we built throughout our whole journey. This camaraderie we have here?"
IF approached Neptune, patting her on the shoulder.
"I would never trade it for anything in the worlds. You all mean so much to me now, you know?"
"You would really?" Neptune cried. "Even to a crummy CPU like me?"
IF shook her head. "It doesn't matter if you're a CPU or not. As far as I know, this girl in front of me, this Nep in front of me, she's my best friend and that's all that matters to me."
Neptune sniffed again. "Oh, why did you go and say all those cool things? It took me a while to come up with my speech and everything, and here you are, just flooring me in the feels department!"
IF chuckled. "I dunno. I just spoke with my heart, that's all"
"What matters is not how many words you used" Compa said, approaching the two. "It's how much what you mean with what you said matters."
"And we got your message loud and clear, Nep" IF reassured. "So, lean on us. You don't have to force yourself to smile for our sakes, you know?"
"Oh, you guys..."
Neptune began to cry again. "Gosh, this ol' Nep's been crying way too much today. I don't think my poor heart can take it!"
"Then" Kairi proposed. "Let's help her with that!"
Compa nodded. "Group hug, everyone!"
Neptune was taken by surprise when everyone started to hug her.
"This warmth...So, this is what home feels like..."
The female Keyblade wielder then began to glow abright.
"Oh!"
"This light..." Sora noticed.
"Could it be...?" IF wondered.
Everyone gained some distance, letting Neptune extend her right hand as she closed her eyes.
A loud shing was heard!
When Neptune opened her eyes, she felt something on her hand...
"Is that...?" Donald asked.
"It is!" Goofy answered.
"Incredible!" Histoire exclaimed.
"Look what came back" IF said.
...it was her own Keyblade!
"YES! NEP'S BACK IN ACTION, BABY!"
"Nep-Nep can use her Keyblade again!" Compa cheered.
Kairi giggled. "Better late than never, right?"
Neptune laughed. "Hm-hm-hm! A hero always comes at the eleventh hour! It's Hero Standard 101, right, my brother?"
Sora chuckled as the islander girl shrugged. "Whatever you say, my sister!"
As the group began to chatter some small talk, Histoire couldn't help but shed a tear.
"To have found such a warm and loving place out here, one that will no doubt fill you with strength and the sense of belonging...I'm really happy for you, Neptune"
Meanwhile, back in Merlin's house, the once-empty book, now filled with pages of a new story, laid on the nearby desk, its cover now showing that of a boy and two girls, walking hand in hand with a bear and his friends.
AN: And I am back, and with a relatively chill part of the chapter, too! Gotta release all that tension and mend bridges and all that! Gotta say, finding a way to portray Neptune at her low point is...challenging (so far I've only seen three (hehe) instances where that happened. In the original game (after IF and Compa beat her up from going all Leeroy Jenkins after her memories were restored), the anime (after finding out Peashy has gone missing and became Yellow Heart), and Victory-II's Normal Ending (where Uzume died). The one thing I noticed that she likes to do is make people smile, so I played into that and explore around it, both the positives and negatives. Hopefully this portrayal is alright, since I think Neptune having an introspective moment is quite rare in her series (most of that went into Nepgear, which...tracks, given her character).
Next up would be the return trip to Hollow Bastion, but...let's just say, our party's taking a hefty detour going back, and I've got something else cooking up that may (or may not) surprise you. See you then!
PS: In regards to what happened at the Fall of Gamindustri and what caused it to happen, I recommend looking up Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road (it used to be playable in mobile phones, but you can't even download or play it anymore. Better go find it on Youtube. Just be warned of KH spoilers past BBS, KH3 and even Union Cross if you decided to look into it)