Alright, before I begin, I guess I should say a few things. First off, this is my first fanfiction, so PLEASE review! Next off, I do NOT own the POM or any of the characters I write about here (besides my Anna and Millie) but I also use some song lyrics and titles. I don't own those either; all credit goes to the respective owners. But enough of that! Go ahead and read my story, and don't forget to tell me what you think!

On the way out to one of their missions, the penguins encountered a large, clearly marked crate on their own doorstep. It was wooden, and stamped in red, bold letters.

"What the…?" Skipper took a step back, since he had nearly face planted into the carte upon leaping outside. "Kowalski? Analysis!"

Kowalski whipped out his clipboard, and began pacing around the box, making notes. "It would appear that Alice has left us a box, Skipper."

"I can see that, Kowalski. I need you to tell me what's inside it."

"Then we should open it." Kowalski replaced his clipboard, and put his hands on his hips.

But suddenly, from inside the box, they heard a noise. At first, it was muffled, and sounded like scuffling. But then they leaned in a bit closer, and words were distinguishable.

"…us out! Hey! Can anyone hear me?"

The voice was feminine, yet very bold and loud. The men recoiled.

"It's a penguin!" Kowalski cried out.

"We should let it out, Skippa! What if she's afraid of the dark?" Private wrapped his flippers over his head in sadness and woe. "The deep, deep dark."

"Affirmative, men. Rico, crowbar!"

"GACK!"

Skipper braced himself against the box, and strained his muscles against it. Instantly, the box side fell away, revealing a dark and seemingly vacant inside.

And then, out into the morning sunlight, stepped a female penguin. She was pretty, yet she looked tough and dangerous. Her head feathers were ruffled and blown over her right eye, and her beak was pursed. Her eyes, sharp and green, probed them all. "Where are we?" she asked, in curt English with a slight accent.

But before they had time to catch their breath, she turned around and hollered into the dark crate behind her. "Anna! Get out here!"

"I'm coming," came the meek, almost silent reply. "I just dropped my, eh, pencil."

"No you didn't." the other female said, smirking slightly. "You just don't want to meet the new people."

"That's not true," the voice whispered, but they could still hear it.

"Then come on!" The other penguin seemed impatient. For someone only slightly taller than Private's height, she was intimidating. She gripped her hips with her flippers, and tapped her foot. When she heard no reply, she groaned and ran back into the crate.

They could all hear a scuffling, and then a small shriek as another penguin was pushed out into the light.

And they all gasped.

"You're…you're…" Skipper groped for words.

"Twins!" Private shrieked.

"Identical twins," corrected Kowalski, but no one was bothering to listen to him.

The new penguin seemed shy. She had the same eye color, but they seemed softer and more trusting than the eyes of her sister. Her bangs were swept in front of her left eye, and she was being almost pushed out of the box by her doppelganger.

"I don't want…don't…stop it!" She didn't seem to see the other penguins, and then she was left standing outside the box, unprotected. Her eyes got huge, and she gulped.

Her twin came up beside her. "See, Anna, its not so bad. I knew you could do it."

Anna seemed to be extremely nervous upon noticing the other penguins. "Oh, um, hi." She stumbled over her words, looking only at the floor. Her accent was decidedly French, as was her counterpart's.

"Well, where are we?" the abrasive twin asked, startling the men. "You never answered."

Before Skipper could retort, Kowalski stepped in. "Welcome to New York! You are currently residing upon Manhattan, at the Central Park Zoo."

Anna risked a glance up, and smiled briefly at him before looking back down.

Kowalski felt slightly upset, yet bemused, that she was so uncomfortable. "Madam?"

Anna, startled upon realizing that he was addressing her, jumped to answer. "Please, call me Anna."

Private took over. "Anna, we aren't going to hurt you."

At this, the twin stepped in. "Call me Millie. And I know that you won't hurt her, and so does she. She's just terribly shy. It fades as you get to know her."

Anna nodded, still fixated upon the ground. "I'm sorry." She whispered, barely audible.

"Its alright, nothing to be sorry for! Chronic Shyness is a condition that affects approximately 93% percent of the population." Kowalski said, wanting to make her more comfortable around them. He instantly wished he knew some jokes.

But for some reason, she tittered and looked up. He was struck with how bright her eyes were.

Like little stars, he thought dumbly, before being snapped back to the present by Millie.

"So, where do we sleep? We came all the way from Versailles, and we're exhausted." She started looking around the area surrounding them. "Not much room," She commented.

"Millie!" Anna suddenly reproached, causing them all to jump.

"What? I was just saying." Millie continued her walk around the place, and Skipper stepped in front of her.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said, "but you didn't give me and my team a chance to introduce ourselves. I'm Skipper."

"I'm Private!" the littlest jumped.

"Rico!" Rico blurted, looking a little crazed.

"And I'm Kowalski," Kowalski affirmed, "but did you say you both came from Versailles? As in, Versailles, France?"

"Yes," Anna said, quietly, and they all turned to look at her. At least she was looking up at them now. "We learned English at the community college there."

"College?" Skipper said, "How old are you…two?" he added, as an afterthought.

"Fifteen," Millie said, suddenly appearing between him and Anna. "And I didn't study at the college, she did. She just taught me the language saying that 'we might need it someday'."

"Well, we did, after all." Anna mumbled, not unkindly, and Kowalski resisted the urge to laugh. He was afraid it might offend her.

"Well, since the humans apparently dictated that we should share a habitat, follow me." Skipper said reluctantly. He led them over to the H.Q. and kicked away the fishbowl.

"Wow," Anna whispered, as if to herself. "That must have taken weeks to tunnel through. This is a mixture of sand, rocks and man-made sealants. Also known as 'concrete'. It's extremely tough and versatile. I'd estimate it took you about fifteen spoons to dig this thing?"

Kowalski, shocked slightly, grinned. "Well, yes, that's correct."

"Oh great." Skipper mumbled. "Another egghead. As if one wasn't enough."

"What was that?" Millie asked, as they all clambered down the ladder. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing." Skipper denied, walking away from her.

But she cut him off. "I heard you, you lying jerk. Now you'd better withdraw that comment about my sister or else I'll-"

But just as suddenly, Anna was there between them. She stared Millie in the face. "Millie, please. Its ok, he didn't mean it, I'm sure. Besides, I didn't hear it. No harm done. Please, please don't get us in trouble on our first day."

Millie, glaring at Skipper still, backed off. Anna turned around to face him. "I'm sorry. She has, um, anger issues. And over-protectiveness." She raised her voice at that part, glancing at Millie, who was checking out the science lab.

"Cool, look, Anna. Geek tools. Your alley." Millie scooped up a large glowing something and started juggling it.

"Don't touch that!" Kowalski flew across the room and snatched it out of the air. "That is part of a highly delicate scientific experiment!" and then, "Those aren't geek tools."

"Millie!" Anna scolded, sounding more disappointed than angry. "Remember what happened the last time you did that?"

"It didn't blow up that much," Millie muttered, as she walked away. "Just half the house. We still had the bathroom. And those are so geek tools."

"Yea, and half a kitchen." Anna shook her head. "I'm sorry. Kowalski, right?"

"Yes. And you're…"

"Anna. Well, actually, my real name is Anastasia, but you can call me Anna. It's quicker." Anna helped him stabilize the orb of glowing-ness, and continued. "And Millie's real name is actually-"

And that is when a large, white and black blur flew at Anna and slapped a flipper over her mouth.

"I told you not to tell anyone!" Millie hissed, clearly angry.

Anna pried her twins' flipper off of her beak. "And I told you not to destroy anyone's fusion-powered nuclear transformer again, either." She sounded joking, not angry. "Goodness, I was just going to tell him your name."

"I hate my name!" Millie hissed again, "Don't tell him! Or anyone!"

"But Millie's a nice name," Private sounded crushed.

"My name isn't Millie," Millie said, catapulting herself onto a vacant bunk on the opposite side of the habitat. (There were two extra bunks there; Manfreddi's and Johnson's) "I just tell people to call me that."

Private was wise enough not to ask her real name.

Kowalski was looking at Anna in a whole new light. "You know what my invention is?"

She looked abashed. "Well, yes. I am an amateur scientist."

"Amateur? No one could have recognized that unless they have a degree in physics!" His eyes widened happily, hardly daring to think; "Do you?"

"Yes, I do." Anna seemed shy again.

Kowalski allowed the silence to build, but inside he was flying. Another scientist! Yes! Finally, some intelligent conversation!

Skipper interrupted the pause. "Well, your bunks are over there. Make yourselves at home."

Anna thanked him politely as she walked over to sleep, clearly exhausted. "I'll be up in a few hours."

"I won't." Millie sighed, automatically having taken the bottom bunk. She rolled over and sighed deeply. "Goodnight!"

Anna rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Goodnight, Je-"

And that was when a pillow flew up from the bottom bunk, and smacked Anna in the face.