Graduation was coming soon- and Neptune was not entirely sure how he felt about it. The Academy had become his home. It was the first place he'd ever felt safe- respected, cared for.. He'd learned so much about himself, and about others. Been through so many things. Between the arrival of the Nixie and the discovery of the Kumiho, Neptune could easily say that his time at the Academy was eventful.
He'd even found love- both platonic and romantic. Before? He'd never have even given it the vaguest of thoughts. The Academy pulled him from the depths of despair, from truly believing himself to be the worst of the worst, a sorry excuse for a grimm that never should have been awakened to... What he was now. He was still bent and broken in a few ways, but slowly and surely, he was coming into his own. Gaining confidence. The ability to take initiative. Even loud people didn't scare him as much as they used to.
And he owed it all to Miss Ava and Mister Kirket. Through their hard work, he'd healed slowly and been shown that he wasn't of those things... And of course, Maria and Melisara's gentle guidance. So graduation was a bundle of mixed feelings for him. It meant their hard work had succeeded- he was going to be a fully realized adult soon. But on the other hand, it meant leaving this safe haven.
At least temporarily.
He had decided that he wanted to give back to the place that had saved him. He was going to go to Community College and study how to be a caretaker, then apply to work at the Academy to help other kids. Kids that may have come from a place like he had. It was the best thing he could think of doing- he just... needed to do it.
Filling out the applications had required some assistance. He still had trouble reading things sometimes- between his eye and dyslexia it was a real chore to get things done. He hoped that wouldn't disqualify him - aside from the obvious want to repay the Academy, he did genuinely love children. Thankfully both Maria and Kirket were willing to help him with the application process, both taking their time to patiently explain things while he filled the forms out.
He had worried about funds, but Kirket assured him that there were programs he could apply for that would help him pay for school. And he could always get a part-time job if he wanted! If he were lucky, he could even get one at a daycare and possibly be able to use it for credit towards his degree. Admittedly he liked the idea of that, maybe he could get done with school faster that way.
When graduation came around, he'd be ready. He'd submitted all of his papers, applied for grants that would cover the rest of the tuition he couldn't manage on his own, and even sent out some job applications. He was really becoming a part of the world- something his mother had told him he'd never be able to do.
Well, this proved her wrong.
