Forever means forever
He sped through the water, searching for fish. His swimming had improved drastically since he embarked upon his epic journey so long ago: he didn't have as many baby feathers to slow him down now, and he found that his split tail gave him a speed advantage over his contemporaries.
As he swam, an all-too-familiar blur streaked by him. Eager to speak to her, he arced backwards. She did the same, their combined wakes forming a perfect heart. As they leveled out, coming face to face with each other, Mumble opened his beak.
"Gloria…", he began, before finding himself lost for words.
She smiled. "Almost reminds me of that time, when we were younger, and you tried to talk to me. You were so shy, remember?". And still, nothing's changed she thought.
Mumble blushed beneath the downy feathers covering his face, "Yeah, I remember. I never finished my sentence, did I?"
Gloria shook her head, "but you did, Mumble. You said I was very 'fish'". She laughed, gently mocking him.
He chuckled a little. "Well, that isn't what I meant to say. I meant to say—"
"—no", Gloria interjected. A look of confusion crept across Mumble's fluffy face. "I don't want you to ruin it", she explained, "That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."
He frowned at her, "But…I called you a fish". He laughed some more, "surely someone's called you something nicer before."
She smiled warmly into his bright, blue eyes. "Of course, Mumble. But you said it with such sincerity. The way your feelings were so strong, so honest, that you overcame your shyness to let me know…that you loved me for me. That, instead of commenting on how I look or how I sing, you commented on how I am. That, Mumble, is the nicest thing anyone has ever had the courage to do for me."
"Oh. You're welcome…I guess", Mumble replied, still a little confused. This time, Gloria laughed too.
As they stared passionately into each other's eyes, their heads crept forwards involuntarily—leaning inward ever so slowly. Just as their beaks were about to meet, a yell broke out a short distance from where Mumble and Gloria were speaking.
"Leopard Seal!"
Gloria's eyes widened in fear, her emotions reflected in Mumble's white, down-covered face.
They bolted, swerving in every direction. The other penguins that had been out hunting cut across their path periodically, frantically trying to escape the predator. Mumble and Gloria stuck together.
They swam in silent panic for a while, before an unnerving calm swept through the water. "Why don't I see anyone else?", Gloria asked Mumble, in confusion.
Just then, she felt something sharp snap down dangerously close to her tail. She didn't need to turn around: she could put two and two together.
"Mumble, behind us!", she shouted. Mumble didn't need to be told twice.
Just as things seemed as though they couldn't get any worse, a familiar voice thundered in their ears:
"I'll get you this time sausage!", the seal growled threateningly.
Mumble's beak split into a grin as he remembered the amigos taunting the beached seal. "Try to keep up, fatty!", Mumble said, poking fun at the seal that had given him the scars on his tail.
The two penguins continued to swim. They changed direction constantly in the hopes of shaking the seal, but to no avail. It struck again, barely missing Gloria's right flipper as she let out a scream, and then again, this time bringing its jaws down somewhere near Mumble, and his yell was added to hers. They needed to get out of the water quickly.
Gloria could see land ahead; they would just make it!
"Mumble, I can see the shore! Hurry!"
He didn't reply, but he must've understood because he began thrusting furiously through the water. As Gloria felt the seal make one last attempt at its prey, she leapt from the water, coming down hard on the ice. She heard Mumble's body thud to the ground behind her and emit a subsequent grunt.
Gloria began to walk away from the water, quickly putting as much distance as possible between her and the seal.
"Whew, that was too close Happy Feet", Gloria exclaimed, the adrenaline putting her in an ecstatic mood.
"What's the matter, twinkletoes? Did the big scary seal frighten you?".
Again, she received no response. She was a little confused, but not yet worried. She turned around and felt her spirits plummet.
"No…", she whispered, "MUMBLE!"
She ran as fast as her short legs would carry her towards the water's edge. There, Mumble lay on his back. A large gash in his side was dripping blood onto the ice, where a sizeable, crimson puddle had already formed.
"Ah…", Mumble groaned in agony.
"Mumble! It's okay! You'll be okay!", Gloria was hysterical. "We need to get help!" Her whole world was crashing down around her. It couldn't be, not Mumble!
Mumble drew a deep breath and tried hard to suppress his groans. His face was contorted with pain. We he spoke, though in a weak, raspy voice, he did so in a calm manner that unnerved Gloria: "It's too late Gloria. I'm not going to make it. But don't worry—you'll survive without me. You'll find someone else to care for you."
Gloria began to cry, "I don't want someone else, Mumble, I want you! We were supposed to be together forever!" She didn't want to think about a world without Mumble…there was no world without Mumble.
Mumble remained silent for a while, drawing rattling breaths. "Forever…isn't such a long time, really." He was talking more to himself now, but Gloria took no notice.
She was beginning to become angry with Mumble and his wise demeanor. Why was he so resigned! He should be trying to get up! He should be telling her to go for help!
"No, Mumble, forever means forever! This is not how things were supposed to be!" Why was he giving up so easily?
Mumble just let out a long sigh. For a moment, the two just stayed there. Mumble was panting, his breathing becoming more difficult with each passing second. Gloria stood with her head bowed over the man she loved, her tears soaking into the baby feathers on his chest.
As Mumble's body began to shiver, he opened his beak: "I don't have much time left, Gloria—" Mumble began, but she cut him off.
"Don't speak like that, Mumble! Let me go get help! You're going to be okay! We'll grow old together! We'll have an egg! We'll be a family!"
Mumble's eyes began to water. He continued as if he hadn't heard her: "—but before I go, Gloria, I just wanted to say…" his voice was barely audible.
"you're so…fish."
His eyelids slowly began to droop over the pale blue spheres that had stolen Gloria's heart, never to open again. He died in the hands of the one who cared for him more than any other.
Gloria stood there, mourning over his body for hours. Her brain told her he was gone but her heart simply wouldn't accept it. Of all the penguins that meet this fate every year, why did it have to be him?
Finally, when darkness began to cast a shadow over the icy waters, she gave Mumble one last kiss before leaving his side, never to return. As she left, she sang a final goodbye:
From the back of your big blue eyes
I knew you'd be gone as soon as you could
And I hoped you would
I could see that you weren't yourself
And the lines on your side did tell
It's just as well
You'd never be yourself again
Saw you last night
Dance by the light of the moon
Stars in your eyes
Free from the life that you knew
You're the magic that holds the sky up from the ground
You're the breath that blows these cool winds 'round
Trade places with an angel now
Saw you last night
Dance by the light of the moon
Stars in your eyes
Free from the life that you knew
Saw you last night
Stars in the sky
Smiled up at you