Hello again, my pretties! Thanks for all the input. I'm so super-sorry this took so long. DDDDDD: Hope you all enjoy it!

The harsh torrents of wind swept 2D's hair wildly about his head, making small lashes out of the azure locks, and they whipped at his cheeks, eyes, and neck, leaving his face and neck stinging and tingling.

He wasn't sure exactly where he'd end up or what direction he was going to, but he knew he was headed in the general direction of land, and there had to be some form of land in any direction, so he'd score one way or the other here. He looked down below him, the monolith that was Plastic Beach stained the horizon like a smudge on a painting behind him. Pirate ships littered the waters below the small plane. He didn't know why the pirates hadn't tried blowing the ugly place clean out of the water again like they had once or twice, but he didn't want to be around when they did.

It was such an ugly thing, that Plastic Beach. Every useless thing, every piece of flotsam and jetsam, every wasted item ever thrown out in the world conglomerated and stuck, held together by some ungodly substance, into a giant, disgusting mass. Yes, Plastic Beach was the very manifestation of everything wrong, evil, and foul on this Earth. It was the symbol of wastefulness, disregard to valuables (2D spent a rare day out on the beach picking up whatever he could find - the money that some of the various items that washed up could be sold for varied from hundreds well into the thousands and more), and ultimately, human greed. People strive for the newest and best, and then throw it out when the newer and the better comes along. And Christ, what a stupid name Murdoc had given to it! Not a creative name in the least. And to top off this miserable, stinking plastic cake, that sod Murdoc owned the damn thing, and 2D just couldn't stand being stuck in that terrible place and being crushed under Murdoc's bony, greasy thumb. 2D absolutely abhorred Murdoc lately. He was rude, liked to get shitfaced something atrocious all the time, and his skin was turning green! Probably from all the drugs he'd done in his life. Being an addict to so many things finally took its toll

The sea churned beneath him, and the birds ducked and dodged to stay out of his way (how birds even got so far out in the ocean as Plastic Beach, he couldn't tell). All seemed to be going smoothly; the plane was plenty full of gas and it flew without a hitch, but her knew he had to make it far away before his attempt to escape caught the attention of-

The plane suddenly shook violently as bullets riddled the sides and wings, making awful sounds as bullets hit and tore through metal, barely missing 2D's legs and torso.

Murdoc.

"Now where're yeh goin' all of 'e sudden like that, 2D? I told you it would be a long time before I let yeh leave, didn't I?" Murdoc called.

The green skinned man was closing in on 2D in a hang glider equipped with two loaded guns. He rose substantially in the small glider and circled 2D's plane. The bullets were beginning to cause the aircraft severe damage, and it shook violently as 2D struggled to retain control over it. Below him, the whale's massive head began to poke out of the water. He growled, knowing he wasn't going to be able to escape this time. He closed his pitch black eyes as the craft began to sink, and then started spiraling down towards the ocean.

"Damn yeh, Murdoooc!" He cried up to the heavens as the aircraft plunged.

The plane landed smack in the gargantuan whale's path, and 2D cowered in the seat as the huge animal surrounded him, the blue-gray tail kicking water up for 5, 10, 15 meters into the pale blue sky. Murdoc chuckled above him as the whale circled the small plane and landed on the beach to get a boat to recapture 2D with. The singer cursed to himself as he shook in fear of the whale.

The sounds of water flowing outside of the window and the groans of the sea kept 2D awake in the dead of night –according to his clock, anyways- staring at the wall, facing away from the small round window. His thoughts turned to Noodle and Russel as they did so frequently in the past few weeks, months, maybe even a year, he didn't know or care anymore. He had last seen Noodle in the El Manana video shoot. The terror of watching the floating island shot down and Noodle lost was still fresh in his mind, the anger of hearing Murdoc brush the whole thing off as if the fact that she had dies was nothing to him, then the hope he felt when he heard she hadn't really died, all rushed back into his mind. He hadn't seen Russel since before he and Murdoc had visited New York and Gorillaz performed its final shows before splitting up. Back then, Russel was as enigmatic as he'd ever been, working on his taxidermy and trying to keep the peace, but since Noodle had disappeared he was more distant, quieter, as if he wasn't already quiet enough. 2D felt sorry for Russel, the bond he and Noodle shared was something the large drummer held close to his heart.

2D moaned quietly as his head began to reel from all these thoughts and emotions filling his typically drugged mind. The stress of it was starting to make his poor head ache awfully. He didn't even bother to look for any specific pain relievers, he just grabbed at a group of them and pried open a bottle half full of the pain relieving pills, and, having plucked out a few more capsules than the recommended dose as always, quickly tossed them into his mouth and swallowed them dry.

From what he could tell, being beneath the surface of the water, it was around the early evening, but there was nothing to do, nothing to occupy himself with, and of course, never anyone to talk to or listen to. He didn't feel like playing pong on his computer, watching old zombie movies, or messing around with his multiplug –the entertainment would only last so long, anyways- so he drew the curtains over his tiny circular window, turned off the lights in the room, and lay down on his bed and attempted to clear his mind. Before long, sleep finally took him, and he dreamed dark, grey dreams, just like the dark, grey world he now lived in.

Sometime in the middle of the night, 2D's dreams took him towards Noodle. She was standing in front of him, the only standing out within a large, empty, bluish grey space. She looked just like he had remembered her as a young girl, but something was off, something about her aura. It was somehow even warmer, brighter, and livelier than he could remember. He took a few steps closer, and a sensation not unlike a cool breeze on a hot day hit him, causing him to close his eyes. He felt new, it was like his body was more refreshed and healthier than it had been in years, but he also felt like he was not alone, he felt a strange and comfortable familiarity that he'd long since forgotten. A word that would describe the sensation played on the edge of his mind as Noodle began to change. She grew taller and her body began to take a more matured shape. Soon enough she was a grown woman, beautiful and regal. Looking at her now, he remembered just how much he cared for the little Japanese girl. She was his best friend, and he just wanted to have her back more than anything in the world. He hadn't seen her in so long now, he missed the years of watching her go from a teenager to a young woman, and he missed seeing her being able to drive a car or get her first boyfriend, go on her first date... All those missed milestones and memories made him feel like a parent separated from his only child.

He took another step closer to Noodle, and suddenly she hugged him with a force that nearly knocked him back to the ground.

"I miss you." She finally said, and he nearly gasped, her voice was so lovely.

She faded away, leaving 2D all alone in the empty space. He was there, in silence, without thought for what seemed like eons, and finally he knew the name of the sensation he was feeling.

Love.

Okay! There's one chapter.

Just to clarify, we're talking about platonic love, but it would have sounded stupid if the chapter ended 'Platonic love,' yes? Yes.

Anyways, thank you so so sooo much for reading; my computer decided to be stupid and erase what I'd written of the next chapter, but it will arrive (hopefully much, much sooner than this one did). I understand that this chapter isn't as long as some of the others, but it was one of those where much of the content comes from the words that aren't said, if that makes sense. Also, it's far less dialogue heavy than the last chapter, so there's less necessity for it to be so long unless I go really deeply into details of the setting and characters. If you all want that though, feel free to say so in a review.

Reviews are always appreciated, and thanks so much to the crowd who reviewed with the last chapter and stuck with me, and again sooo sorry this took so long.