NOTE: I rewrote the Chapter. Again. XD

Disclaimer: Madagascar DOES NOT belong to me. Madagascar and all of it's canon characters belongs to Dreamworks and I am not using this story to create a profit. Please support the official release.


Chapter II - Love In the Air


Gia had been nervous throughout the whole trip from the mountainous region to their destination at the English Port, where the Circus crew did their best to get all of their Circusey needs into the huge boat that was responsible for their safe voyage to America. The Penguins and the monkeys, thanks to their master disguise as the King of Versailles, as well as their whole lot of money earned from all those shows, bought the boat themselves and fired the humans, claiming that they had navigated a boat once, though Gia wasn't interested in finding out if that story was true or not. The Zoosters didn't seem fazed out by it so Gia trusted them.

But the pretty Jaguar wasn't nervous about the boat ride, or if they had forgotten anyone, or how in the world they would last a few days on sea without anyone tipping over, no, she was nervous about the competition. She hadn't been one in a few good years since Vitay's accident and loss of passion, that was true, and that was during her adolescent years. She had become nervous for her family, more specifically everyone in the Circus. Her previous acts that had helped them win became rusty, and she did not believe that their time being off the spot light really affected them all too much.

Besides, they've only been in the European version of the competition, and those weren't too big as she had seen. They had never been invited to an American competition. Was Circo Zaragoza even ready for this next big step back to stardom? Her heart gave her the loudest YES! she had ever received but her mind, a big party pooper it was, thought otherwise. It kept telling her it was simply not to be. Oh, which to believe? What if they were really not ready for this? She sighed, laying her head onto the metal bar, she hated her mind sometimes.

Now Alex, the presumed retired "King" of New York City, had been walking along the edge of the ship's lower deck, making sure that everyone was having a good time and, hopefully, not overboard and drowning. That would be a very terrible situation to be in, he hated the water but if it was necessary, well, he must put up with it in order to make sure his pals were safe. But the situation he soon found himself in was almost as big of a mishap, well, for a certain someone. As he climbed the ladder, leading to the Upper deck, he caught a glimpse of the lone Jaguar girl, looking out into the setting sun that had barely begun to touch the water. She looked troubled, and unhappy. Alex now saw it his mission to figure out what was bothering the only female he had grown so fond of so quickly.

He straightened his posture, and moved in an overly swagger manner towards her, and slid next to her, smiling the most charming smile he could come up with. "Yo" he greeted her, catching the Jaguar's attention.

"Oh. Hello, Alex" she greeted before looking back at the sun. Alex could not help but gape at Gia; she looked very pretty in the sunlight, illuminating her eyes and figure quite nicely. He shook his head, reminding himself of his mission.

"Hey what's wrong? You look pretty down. That's not the Gia we know and love" the Jaguar smiled faintly before finally sighing, almost as if she were in despair.

"Alex, I-I am worried. Do you believe we are good enough for the competition? Are we really ready for this big step?" Alex stared at her blankly.

"Of course I do! Vitaly with his impossible hoop jump, Marty and Stefano on the cannons, Gloria and Melman on the Tightrope, the dogs with the rocket-powered skates, Julien and Sonya on her super cool motorcycle, plus you and me on the Trapeze? Let's be realistic- we'll totally blow them away! The humans will love it!" he exclaimed. "I mean look at us, we're so happy because the reasons we're even going is because we're one of the best! Don't you think we'll knock the pants outta our competition?" Gia slouched guiltily.

"I know they can Alex, it's just, my head-"

"Never mind what your heads telling you, what does your soul say?"

"Uhm, my soul?"

"Uhm, yeah, same thing as a heart, whatever you guys like to call a heart where you come from!" Gia smiled slightly.

"My heart says we can, but-"

"Then there's your answer! I mean, who cares what others tell you unless you know what you believe. Our Circus is the best- I mean look at us!" he extended his arm over to the lower deck to emphasize his point. As Gia looked down, she saw where all of her friends laughed and went to the edge of the boat to get a better look at the dolphins who greeted them happily. Then she saw the Penguins, who seemed to be looking at one of their comrades sobbing, calling out: "DORIS!"

She looked back at Alex who smiled at her. "Circus stick together. And together we can totally outshine anyone! If your heart believes in them, well, obviously, so should you!" Gia looked over the deck again before smiling widely. She immediately hugged Alex, which made his cheeks redden with untold glee.

"Thank you, Alex. I needed these words. I will not doubt our Circus again!" Alex nodded and watched as Gia sighed happily, content with his answer and looked back at the sunset. It looked to be halfway underwater now. Okay, okay. Breathe, Alex. It's just Gia. Yeah. Just- he looked at her again. He watched as the water reflected off the sun's form, watching it shimmer with tiny sparkles, and how it also reflected Gia's visage, he saw that she looked happy in that spot. As the sun set in deeper, Alex watched as the sky turned a bright orange color and how the dolphins came up to the surface every now and then. He looked back at Gia, and, with his eyes, trailed down her arm to see that one hand was not hanging onto the bar. It was now or never, he thought.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, a bit of a high jump in his voice. "Will ya look at that sunset? It's beautiful, right Gia?" the female feline laughed at him and smiled.

"Yes, it is really bello" she commented. Alex hesitated for the next step, until he looked at her again. He took her hand in his.

Gia jumped slightly at the sudden touch between paws but found that she enjoyed his warm hands with hers. Alex then scratched his head nervously. Gia raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she asked. Alex merely laughed nervously.

"Nothing. Well, okay, yeah, it's something, but-" he peeked at her expression. The sunlight reflected off her gold orbs. "You're beautiful. You know that?" Gia blushed, feeling quite embarrassed. She really, really, really liked Alex, but she wasn't sure if he was the right one. Well, there was one way of finding out, but... After a while she laughed.

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself, lion guy" she teased, making Alex's blush darken a bit. He pulled her close. Gia did not mind that at all. He took her cheek in his paw and turned her head to face him, almost romantically slow. Gia's eyes twinkled. He pulled her closer, their muzzles almost touching each other, separated by only a fraction of space. She closed her eyes as he did, just a bit further and-

"Come on-a Marty! I see some-a dolphins over here-a! Vitaly! You must-a come-a see them!" they heard a certain Sea Lion yell. Gia and Alex quickly pulled away from each other, stopping their intimate moment and blushing in response. They turned to face the sun straight ahead, their postures almost suspiciously straight, with no contact between their bodies at all. Soon the excited Sea Lion waddled past them to look over the edge, joined by Marty behind him, and Vitaly not too far away. Marty spotted the pair and smirked at Alex before going off to join Stefano's side.

"Wow! Look at those babies go! You know, I rode a few of them not too long ago. Man, I still owe them for the ride" he exclaimed as he saw a few jump at once, causing Stefano to eye him widely.

"Wow! Really-a? Vitaly! Did you hear-a that?" Vitaly finally came aboard, grunting in response. He spotted the two and raised a brow at their curiously strict positions next to each other. After while of studying them and their positions, his face turned from one of curiosity to suspicion, Alex smiled sheepishly, which unknowingly confirmed Vitaly's theory and made the tiger glare at the brown lion in response. He kept walking, still glaring but kept silent about the whole situation. The tiger walked over to Stefano's side, his arms crossed, and looked over the side where he could see the dolphins from a better view. A smile formed on his lips momentarily as he saw them, then back to its usual stoic self.

Alex grinned sheepishly at Gia, to which she responded by giggling silently. "I'm sorry" he said. Gia looked at him curiously.

"What are you sorry for, Alex?"

"I dunno. The moment just felt right and I went ahead but as soon as I heard Stefano yell 'Vitaly' I-" Gia burst out laughing, catching the attention of the tiger who snarled at Alex before looking back down the edge. Gia wiped a small tear from her eye before punching his arm playfully. Alex faked a laugh before rubbing his, now, sore arm.

"Alex, it is alright. No need to apologize, I understand. Besides, the moment was magical, even without the kiss" she explained to him. Alex was about to reply in gratitude by not thinking lowly of him before the Penguins showed up, standing in their usual military positions and with Kowalski rubbing a tissue on his eyelids. Skipper slid straight towards him.

"Evening, my psychotic lion, I merely came to inform you that we are about to land in New York in say-" he looked at Kowalski who held his clipboard up, embedded with numbers and equations. "Three to four hours"

"THIRTY FOUR HOURS!?" Alex exclaimed in disbelief which caught the attention of the other three. Skipper sighed and rolled his eyes.

"No three TO four hours!" he turned to leave before adding, "I thought we settled this shenanigan in Africa!" and left with his comrades in hot pursuit. Alex looked at Gia, blushing terribly, and the Jaguar responded by laughing.

0O0

"Come, my dear! We must see this romantic Sunset and I hope you enjoy the mood! I had to plant a stink bomb here a few hours ago to clear it!" Julien exclaimed to his beloved girlfriend, Sonya the brown bear, guiding her with her motorcycle to the edge of the boat. Julien looked at the sunset admiringly while Sonya merely grunted and yawned.

"I know, my dear" he said sighing. "It is a very beautiful sight! Almost as beautiful as you are!" Sonya grunted and Julien smiled, patting the bear's pink bow on her head. "Yes, yes, I know you want to ride but you must see this sunset! I mean, look at it! It has nothing in comparison to your beauty! You are more lovely than the Lemur goddess of love, and THAT is very beautiful!" he commented. Sonya grunted again and roared and Julien gasped.

He slid down her head to face her. "I did not mean it that way, you jealous thing, you" he said, kissing her nose. "It's just-" he hugged her face, "You are the most gorgeous creature my eyes have ever seen! I can't merely say it with mere words- OH! I shall sing a song about your beauty!" Julien jumped off her head to the bar in front of the bear. Sonya grunted curiously. Julien cleared his throat and opened his mouth-

So beautiful!

I've got a reason to dance along!

Rise up like the sun in the morning!

Come on, come on!

There's something about you,

It's driving me crazy

These feelings are so true,

I need you, I LOVE you!

Sadly, King Julien could not continue his song before Sonya grunted and unwittingly sped away on her motorcycle. Julien gasped. "Don't cry my love! All I said was true! Don't cryyyyyyyy!" and Julien jumped off the bar and ran towards the bear in the motorcycle, which was mostly likely causing havoc on the ship's interior as he ran.


If you all are wondering if this song is ACTUALLY a song- YES it is! And I give credit to Gabriel Davi for creating it- It's such a beautiful song! Listen to it on youtube! It fits with Juliens voice XD

Yes this is the NEW and IMPROVED Chapter 2! I am STILL using your OCs, I'm not gonna be a jerky jerk jerk and back out on what I promised! Hope you guys enojy this Chapter much more than the first! See the difference with my writing between planned and not planned? I hope so! X3