Love in the Ocean

Chapter 1 – Cute Nicknames

Captain Barnacles began his day like he always did; he was always the early bird whose breakfast was a healthy bowl of cornflakes cereal, and then he would always took the Gup-A out to check around the outside of the Octopod to make sure it was still functioning, but then he headed out to see if there was any sea life in need of help.

Most mornings were peaceful; Barnacles hardly found any creatures in danger…but that was going to change this one cool autumn morning out in some tropical waters.

Captain Barnacles had his eyes peeled for any sign of danger, and his paws were clasped tightly to the Gup-A's wheel while swimming over a colorful reef when…

"AAAHHH!"

"SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP!"

Barnacles' ears instantly perked up when he heard the screams of what sounded like two girls, and he swore he heard it come from below, further deep into the coral reef; the polar bear swooped down to get a better view, and what saw shocked, so he immediately activated his air bubble and got out of the submarine.

He quickly swam down to what seemed like a distressed female dolphin laying on some sponge beds, and there was female polar bear by her side; the polar bear wore a dark orange jacket with the same color jeans and boots, and she also wore a fluffy, long, white scarf around her neck, and had her hair done in a short pony tail, which was inside an air bubble much like Barnacles.

"What's the problem?" Barnacles asked firmly.

"Oh, thank goodness; this is my friend Penelope, and she just went into to labor to have her baby, but she lost her pod," the female polar bear explained with fear, as her dolphin friend started panting slightly.

"Can you please help us?" the female bear pleaded.

"Of course. Can you make it to the Octopod? It's not that far a swim, and I have a friend there that could help," Barnacles replied softly to Penelope.

"I-I think so…" Penelope said meekly while starting to swim off the sponge bed, "yes…I think I can make it."

So, with that, Barnacles and the female polar bear got into the Gup-A, and they swam slowly so Penelope could catch up, as Barnacles lead her to the Octopod.

Luckily, they were able to make it just in the nick of time into the launch bay when Penelope couldn't swim anymore, and Peso was successfully able to help her prepare to have her baby, and now, the whole crew was gathered in the launch bay to be there for her.

"Is this your first baby, Miss Penelope?" Peso questioned while remaining by the said pregnant dolphin's side.

"Yes…and I'm very scared…you know what you're doing, right?" Penelope asked in pain.

"I sure do; I can assure you, Miss Penelope, both you and your unborn calf are in great fins. Now, calm down, and take deep breaths in and out," Peso explained firmly, and Penelope did as he said.

"Ok, ok…can you please hold my fin, Bonnie?" Penelope questioned while holding her fin up to the female polar bear.

"Of course, I'm right here, Penelope," Bonnie reassured while grabbing her fin.

"Wait a minute…Bonnie?!" Barnacles asked with shock when he realized something about the said polar bear.

"What?" Bonnie questioned, but then her eyes popped wide and she squinted at Barnacles for a second before smiling brightly.

"Barnacles?!"

"AAAAHHH!" Penelope suddenly screamed.

"Guys, I don't think now is the time!" Peso pointed out while jumping into the water to deliver the calf.

"Oh, right…you can do it, Penelope!" Bonnie cheered while averting her attention back to the said dolphin in labor, and that's when the calf started to come out.

But about eight minutes later, Peso had helped Penelope safely give birth to her first calf, as the young dolphin was snuggled underneath his mother's fin, and the whole crew was happy to see the adorable baby.

"Congratulations, Miss Penelope; you and your son are perfectly healthy," Peso happily pointed out.

"Oh, thank you all SO much; I never would have been brave enough to go through this alone," Penelope said with a smile, "and thank you especially, Bonnie and Captain Barnacles for coming to my rescue."

"What are friends for?" Bonnie asked while smiling.

"Always happy to help," Barnacles added.

"What are you going to name him, anyway?" Shellington soon questioned.

"I'm going to call him…Bonnie," Penelope replied softly, and her son Bonnie reacted to his new name by giving his mom a little chitter.

"Awww…shucks," Bonnie, the polar bear, said sheepishly while blushing.

"Now, I advise for you and your son stay here for the day while we look for your pod on the sonar," Peso pointed out gently.

"Ok. Thank you again, Peso," Penelope sighed.

"By the way, Cap, you looked like you and Bonnie here knew each other," Tweak added with confusion.

"Yes, we do. Octonauts, this is my best friend Bonnie; she grew up with my sister Bianca and I, and we've all been great friends since we were cubs…but we haven't exactly stayed connected for a long time, huh?" Barnacles introduced his old friend.

"No, but I don't blame you; you've been busy helping sea life all over the world, and I'm so proud of you for that," Bonnie reassured while placing a paw on Barnacles' shoulder, "oh, but still miss our cub hood days; always going head to head with each other when wrestling."

"Yes, those were the good old days," Barnacles sighed with a smile.

"And we can't forget the cutest names we had for each other!" Bonnie added whimsically.

"U-uh, maybe not mention that, Bonnie…" Barnacles muttered under his breath while starting to blush.

"Names, eh? What kind of names, Matey?" Kwazii asked with a grin.

"I always called him Barney," Bonnie replied, and Kwazii immediately tried to stifle a laugh.

"Oh, and what was that name you called me? It's been so long, I just can't remember," Bonnie stated sarcastically.

…

"Ahem…I called you…Bon-Bon," Barnacles cleared his throat, and his blush became even redder, and that's when Kwazii suddenly burst out laughing.

"Do you always have to deal with this?" Bonnie questioned while cocking an eyebrow at the pirate cat now rolling all over the floor in crazed laughter.

"You have no idea," Barnacles muttered in reply.

"Hmm…what if I was on your crew?" Bonnie asked with a smile.

"What? You want to be an Octonaut?" Barnacles asked with shock, but everyone else was just as surprised.

"Sure. Why not? We've got some catching up to do anyway, right old buddy?" Bonnie replied.

"Well…ok…now that I think about it, I could really use a co-captain," Barnacles thought out loud.

"I'd be happy to be your co-captain!" Bonnie cheered.

"Then welcome aboard, Co-captain Bonnie!" Barnacles said firmly with a smile, and he saluted to her, and she saluted back.

The other Octonauts cheered for their newest crew member, and even Kwazii stopped laughing to cheer for Bonnie.

"Aye, welcome aboard, Matey!"

"And for my first mission, I'd like to help look for Penelope's pod," Bonnie added firmly, and then she glanced at the Gup-A, "mind if I take that one out—Captain?"

"The Gup-A? Well…are you a good driver?" Barnacles asked with worry.

"I've never actually driven anything before," Bonnie replied, and everyone's eyes went wide.

"I wouldn't advise you ta drive any of the Gups without any drivin' experience, Co-Cap," Tweak added.

"But nonetheless, everyone's help counts; I'll take the Gup-A out on the search for the pod, but you can come with me," Barnacles pointed out, "and maybe I'll teach you to drive."

About an hour had gone by, and Barnacles and Bonnie were still searching for Penelope's pod in the Gup-A, and they were so far out that they couldn't even see the Octopod anymore.

"So…how is it…being a captain, I mean?" Bonnie asked slowly to break the awkward silence.

"It's all worth it; the crew is like my family, and I'll do anything to protect them—to protect all that are innocent, in fact," Barnacles replied, but then he shook her head, "well, what about you? What have you been up to all these years, Bonnie?"

"I've actually been swimming south ever since you left the arctic, in hopes that maybe I would find you again, but I was mostly trying to help sea life too."

"Hmm. Sounds like we haven't missed much, but it's still great to see you again, Bonnie, and even better to have you on my crew."

"It's a pleasure to be an Octonaut, Barney."

"Um, yeah, about our names…could we please not use them in front of the other?" Barnacles asked while blushing again.

"Why? Is such a strong and brave polar bear like you afraid of being called a cute name by your best friend, who always beat you whenever we wrestled—Feather Paws?" Bonnie prolonged with a smirk.

"I had forgot that that name was actually YOUR idea," Barnacles grumbled under his breath with realization.

"Anyway, when can I learn to drive the Gup-A?"

"Well, I can teach you now, actually."

With that, Barnacles moved out of the way, and Bonnie immediately leapt over and took the wheel; she smiled brightly and her eyes were filled with excitement.

"Now, since you're a first-time driver, just take it slow-AAAHHH!" Barnacles tried to explain, but Bonnie suddenly sped the submarine up, and the sudden extreme acceleration nearly knocked Barnacles off his feet.

Bonnie drove the Gup-A all over the place; she was swimming up, diving down, and even barrel rolling while barely nicking some rocks or coral.

"I SAID TAKE IT SLOW!"

That's when Bonnie suddenly slammed down on the breaks, and the breaking was so immediate, that Barnacles was literally thrown forward and landed flat on the windshield.

"Whoops…you ok?" Bonnie chuckled sheepishly while reaching up to help Barnacles down.

"Sure… but I guess that wasn't TOO bad for your first time…much better than Shellington, anyway," Barnacles joked, but when Bonnie reached up to help him down, she grabbed his hips, and things only got worse when she pulled him down; Barnacles lost his balance, and he accidentally fell back onto Bonnie.

The two were sent in a bit of a tumble, and when they stopped, they found themselves in the awkward position that Barnacles was flat on his back…and Bonnie was lying on top of him. But soon, they shook the dizziness from their eyes, and they gasped when they realized what position they were in.

"U-uh…" was all Bonnie could say, as she sat up, and now she was straddling Barnacles, making things more awkward.

"Ahem…this is awkward," Barnacles muttered, and they both started to blush and avoid eye contact, but that's when Bonnie finally pushed herself off, and she leant a hand to Barnacles to take, in which he took.

"You're, uh…you're a pretty good teacher," Bonnie chuckled with embarrassment.

"Why don't we, um…?"

"Never speak of this?" Bonnie interrupted.

"Yes, let's not."

When the two polar bears returned to the Octopod, the rest of the crew was very confused as to why they returned to soon with no news on Penelope's pod.

"Ya mean ya didn't one dolphin pod?" Kwazii asked with suspicion.

"Besides, you two weren't gone that long," Shellington added.

"Yes, well…we think there might be some…technical difficulties with the Gup-A," Barnacles lied.

"And…I haven't been shown around the Octopod yet, so I should really familiarize myself with the ship!" Bonnie quickly added while lying too, and she and Barnacles darted out of the launch bay.

…

"What was all that about?" Dashie questioned.

You guys decide. Do you want this to be a collection of drabbles, or a progressing story?

Also, I might create a female OC for Shellington in the future, but I might take other requests too, so don't be afraid to ask.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!