Author's Note:

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Here's a little Skilene fanfic for ya to go along with the holiday. R&R!

Marlene grinned giddily as she gazed at the date on her calendar. It was finally her favorite holiday of all time and that was July 4th.

She loved that particular date because she absolutely adored fireworks. She loved watching them explode up in the air before her eyes; the rockets bursting into vibrate colors to light up the inky-black night sky.

Not to mention the second best part of the celebration of America, and that was spending time with your family and friends. Back at her old zoo in Northern California she would always watch the fireworks from on top of her family's otter habitat with them.

She missed those days dearly and she wished her family and friends would appear in Central Park Zoo to watch the show with her, but she knew that was impossible. They were way across the country, literally.

After all, she had new friends that would accompany her: the penguins. She was one hundred percent positive that Rico, Private and Kowalski were looking forward to watching the show tonight.

She smiled as she thought of Rico. He just loved explosions and she knew that he would get a good kick out of tonight's show along with Private and Kowalski.

Marlene bit her lip as she thought of Skipper, her emotions changing drastically.

She knew she liked him the first time she met him. Her only problem was confessing it to him. She just didn't have the guts to, even though she wished she did.

She made her way to the window and stared out at the sunset, knowing that the fireworks would be starting soon. Her gaze then moved over to the penguins' habitat, picturing the four inside the HQ, working on something 'top secret'.

She giggled at the thought, knowing that it was probably true. But she didn't care if they were working on a teleportation system, she was heading over there.

***

"Ooh! I can't wait for the show tonight! I've never been so excited in my life!" Private voiced as he slapped on a hat that made him look like Dr. Seuss, except it was red, white and blue with stars wrapped around above the brim. "I've always loved watching the fireworks."

"Yeah, yeah!" Rico exclaimed as he bounced up and down, anticipating the night as much as Private.

"I hear you. No doubt Rico is going to go crazy tonight with all of the explosions." Kowalski chuckled as the pull-trigger happy penguin began panting, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Private glanced over at Skipper who was lying down in his bunk. "Skipper, aren't you coming? The sun is gonna set soon!"

"I think I'll pass, Private. I was never big on fireworks. I just don't see the point in them like you three do! I'll stay behind and perhaps clean up the place, and maybe work on my martial arts." He glanced past them at the bowling pins. "Those ninjas are gonna get it tonight."

Private was about to argue with his leader, much to his fear, but the door swinging open interrupted him.

"Hey guys!" Marlene shouted, her voice echoing off of the walls, much to Skipper's annoyance. "Are you guys as stoked about tonight's show as much as I am?!"

"Absolutely, Marlene. We're all set to go," Kowalski said with a grin.

Marlene smiled at the three as they all headed out to the outside of the exhibit. "Wait… where's Skipper?"

Skipper's eyes widened at the sound of his name and immediately threw his blanket up over his head, praying he wouldn't be noticed.

"He's not coming, Marlene. He says that fireworks have no point. Don't even try to reason with him, you'll never get him to crack," Private muttered just before he disappeared out of the fish bowl hole. "If you're looking for him, he's in his bunk!"

Private turned around to Kowalski. "Why does Marlene want Skipper to go so bad?" He gave Kowlaski a weird look as he grinned.

"It's over your ears and below your knees, Private. Don't worry about this kind of stuff just yet." Kowalski patted him on the back before jumping into the water.

"Thanks a lot, Private," Skipper growled under his breath, throwing the green blanket off of him. "The little nuisance."

He looked up at Marlene to see her arms crossed over her white and brown chest. Skipper couldn't help but grin. She was so adorable when she was mad.

"Why aren't you going to the fireworks show, Skipper?" Marlene asked with her voice lower in volume since it was just the two of them.

"I just have better things to do than watch a bunch of chemical filled rockets burst up in the sky," Skipper replied with a shrug as he made his way to the periscope.

Marlene frowned. "Skippy, there's much more to it than that! You left out the best part: the colors that they bring when they do explode. You don't think that's a beautiful sight?"

"I just… don't see the point, is all. And don't call me 'Skippy'."

"Skipper," Marlene sighed, "why don't you go? I guarantee you'll have a great time!"

He turned around to argue more with her, but as it turns out, she was standing directly behind him. He gasped slightly as his hard lips became dangerously close to hers. He swallowed and backed up, suddenly nervous.

She blinked as she noticed a blush showing through his white feathers, feeling one of her own under her white fur. "Skipper… can you please go? For me?" She smiled innocently at him; watching his blush grow and feeling her own become hotter.

Skipper sighed under her smile and her rich hazel eyes. He just couldn't say no to her. It was time to face the music and finally accept his true feelings for her. He just didn't have the reflex to resist her any longer.

He cleared his throat as well as his mushy thoughts. "Oh, alright. I guess one little night couldn't hurt."

She grinned happily and grabbed hold of his flipper.

As soon as Marlene turned around, Skipper smiled softly at her excitement of him going. He showed no struggle against her touch on his flipper, no longer desiring to fight back away from her.

The zoo itself wasn't going to set off the fireworks; it was a little ways off in the distance, over by one of the human parks. That was a minor problem for the animals because they always had to find their own good seating positions.

Skipper hummed as he looked around, then he spotted it. On top of the highest peak in the zoo: the zoo bell. The bell only rang when opening time came, which meant they were perfectly safe up there.

Skipper glanced down at Marlene who was trying to find them a spot. "Come on, I've found the perfect location."

"But what about the others?" Marlene asked him as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Ah, they're okay. They don't need us. Come on, the zoo clock would be perfect." Skipper hooked his flipper in Marlene's arm and made their way to the tower that overlooked the zoo itself.

Marlene smiled. "Wow, now you want to see the fireworks." She gazed dreamily at him, admiring his profile.

"Well, you're the one that hypnotized me," Skipper shot back playfully. He glanced down at her when her giggle reached his ears, bringing yet another grin to his beak.

As they scaled the side of the clock, Marlene clung to Skipper's side with his flipper wrapped around her waist. She looked down nervously at the ground, but somehow felt safe with him.

"Don't worry, I've got you," Skipper soothed her nerves.

She sighed with relief as soon as they reached the top, reclining back against the metal bell with satisfied smiles.

The clock was indeed the highest point because from where they were sitting they would have no trouble at all in seeing the fireworks show. They could see the whole zoo and beyond.

"Wow… this is great, Skipper," Marlene whispered in awe.

"It's no problem. What's the point of watching a fireworks show when you can't even see them?"

"Hm, well back in the HQ you said that there wasn't any point in watching fireworks, period. What happened?" Marlene smirked, knowing she had him cornered.

"You happened, Marlene." He smiled at her, and for once, the grin was sincere and not his usual sarcastic smirk.

She was about to ask what he meant by that but a boom and a crackle in the distance interrupted her. She immediately looked back out just in time to see a purple flare expanding into a bright flower across the sky. "Oohh…" she whispered with her eyes wide in awe.

Skipper smiled as he continued to watch the sky burst into colors. All colors of the rainbow flooded the sky, like the heavens was a giant canvas just waiting to be highlighted. "Wow… I've never seen something so beautiful. I've forgotten what it's like to… to actually see this. It's sad, really." He glanced down at the otter next to him before turning back to the show.

"Yeah, I would always watch the fireworks back in California with my family. We would always have a great time." She looked up at Skipper and smiled, seeing his eyes far away and awestruck. "I'm just glad I got to spend the moment with you, Skippy."

"I'm happy you made me come. I would have missed so much." Skipper smiled down at her, his blue eyes turning brighter as a white and blue firework went off.

Marlene chuckled and nuzzled into his side, her body buried into his soft feathers.

Skipper froze and stiffened for a moment at Marlene's romantic response. He blinked a few times before realizing that Marlene's gesture was what he had wanted to happen. He smiled and relaxed to enjoy the rest of the show.

He put a flipper around her waist and pulled her close, never wanting to let go. "Happy Fourth of July, Marlene."

Author's Note:

Aww, he just couldn't resist against her any longer. How sweet is that? And I want to thanks Shadows in the Starlight for giving me this idea. If you haven't read her Skilene Fourth of July story, go and read it now! It's her first one and it's one of the best I've read :)