" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"
Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter.I know that I'm posting new chapters faster than I usually do, but that's because I had just completed the sequel to " Skipper's Skipper", which now leaves me more time to work on this story. Warning: I may revise this chapter, again. Please enjoy.
Chapter 4
Skipper glanced over at Marlene, who smiled at him. " Good," King Julien stretched and yawned. " If anyone
is to be needing me, I will to being sleeping on my bouncy-bounce house. Goodnight." The lemur king exited
off to his home, with Maurice following not too far behind.
Maurice stopped for a moment, just outside of the bathroom door then turned to Skipper and Marlene. "
Since you two are done arguing," the Aye-Aye raised an eyebrow. " Do you want me to send Private and Rico
back here?"
" Sure. Go ahead," Skipper responded, shrugging. Maurice nodded his head then followed King Julien outside,
leaving the other three behind to talk. King Julien went straight back to the lemur habitat and collapsed on
his bounce house, snoring loudly. Meanwhile, Maurice stopped by where the mother duck lived, along with
her ducklings, and walked towards the group, which was sitting over by the bushes.
Private was busy trying to talk to the mother duck, while helping her and Rico keep the ducklings asleep by
rocking them and, or singing lullabies. " So…um," Private stuttered nervously, as he was rocking one of the
ducklings, gently in his flippers. " H…how often w… would you say that you n…need an extra wing to…w…
watch your d…ducklings?"
" Almost everyday," the mother duck muttered as she rocked one of the other ducklings, gently. " But, I'm
used to watching them full-time by myself."
" Why is that," Private raised an eyebrow.
" Well to tell you the truth, Private, I," the mother duck stammered, but was cut off by Maurice.
" Private? Rico," Maurice walked up to the penguins. " Everything is okay. You can go back home now."
" Alright," Private responded in his normal tone. " Thank-you, Maurice."
" Don't mention it," Maurice stated kindly then headed straight for the lemur habitat. " Goodnight."
Private said good-bye back and turned to Rico, who groaned then set the duckling down in the nest, which
was hidden in a bush. Private did the same thing as Rico did. Neither of them wanted to leave the mother
duck's place, but they had to. " Come on, Rico," the young penguin barked. " Let's go home." Rico groaned,
again, then waddled over to Private. Private turned to the mother duck as a blush creeped upon his face. "
Well, I…I guess this means goodbye, then," the young penguin stuttered nervously. " A…at least,
until...morning. Th...that is if you're not d...doing anything, that is."
" Nonsense. The only thing that I'll be doing is taking care of the ducklings," the mother duck retorted with a
smile then paused. " Well, see you in the morning and thanks for stopping by. I really needed the extra
help."
" N…no problem," Private waved good-bye as he and Rico began waddling back to the headquarters. The
mother duck waved back and went back to watching her ducklings. After the two penguins had gone inside
the headquarters, through the fishbowl entrance, they saw that Skipper and Kowalski were still awake,
standing over by the table, talking. Marlene had already finished talking to Skipper, made plans, and went
home to sleep. Neither Skipper nor Kowalski had noticed that Private and Rico had entered the headquarters.
" I feel like such an idiot, after tonight," Skipper grumbled softly.
" Why," Kowalski raised a curious eyebrow. " You got Marlene back. Didn't you?"
" Yes, but still, I almost lost her over some, ridiculous misunderstanding," Skipper raised his voice.
" But you won her back by listening to her. Not to mention that you both accepted each other's apologies,"
Kowalski stated reasonably. " That, and you agreed to help Marlene make brunch at her place in the morning
and get to finish your date with her later."
" That was just a stroke of luck, Kowalski," Skipper glared at the tall penguin. " I might not get that chance,
again, the next time I act like that around her."
" Why must you be so negative," Kowalski raised his voice. " Look. Before you start assuming anything, just
remember to approach the problem carefully with questions. Alright?"
" Kowalski," Skipper muttered irritably and folded his flippers. " My brain is not trained to do that."
" Wow," Private widened his eyes as he and Rico waddled up to the two penguins. " You can train your
brain? How much would that cost?" Kowalski and Skipper froze as they were approached. They had no idea
that they were listening in on them. Well, Rico they did not mind, because he was older, but as for Private, he
was still at an age to where he really did not understand relationships, yet, let alone how they worked.
" Private," Skipper began slowly, standing still with a nervous expression on his face. " How long have you
been standing there?"
" Ever since you said that you felt like an idiot," Private responded quickly then raised an eyebrow. " Why?"
" No reason," Skipper smiled. " Come on. We should all get to bed. It's getting late, or should I say really
early, in the morning. " Soon, all of the penguins climbed into their bunks and relaxed as the room quieted
down. As soon as it did, Skipper began speaking, again, but in a calm,but curious tone. " So," he rested his
flippers behind his head and leaned back on his pillow. " How was your time at the mother duck's place?"
" Wonderful, I guess," Private responded, unsurely. " But, I don't know how to say what I want to say to
her."
" What is it that you want to say to her," Skipper raised an eyebrow.
" I don't know," Private squeaked. " I can't really describe it."
" Ah, tongue-tied," Kowalski cut in, from his bunk at the very top, talking in a matter-of-fact tone. " That's
perfectly natural when talking to the opposite gender, in which you are attracted to. Though it does sound
correct, you should exercise caution when forcing your tongue to become untied. Otherwise, disaster may
strike. Though by waiting for the right moment, the tongue may untie itself, and will make everything fall into
place, no matter how the words project themselves. "
" Kowalski, what are you talking about," Private lowered his eyebrows, feeling confused, as the sound of
Rico's loud snore filled the air.
" I told Kowalski about your crush on the mother duck, earlier," Skipper retorted swiftly then paused before
speaking, again. " He means that it's okay if you can't think of the right words to say, in the given moment to
the girl that you're in love with. Take for example, Kowalski trying to talk to Doris the dolphin. Right,
Kowalski?"
" Right," Kowalski responded, thinkingm then spoke to Private. " And, no matter what I do, I still can't find the
right words to say to her, just like you can't find the right words to say to the mother duck. Maybe, if I write
them down and rehearse what I want to say? That might work."
" Or you could do what I did? Write them down in a diary and have Private send them without your
permission," Skipper added with a chuckle. " That's how Marlene knew how I felt about her."
" Yeah, but that occurred unexpectedly to you, Skipper," Kowalski raised an eyebrow as he yawned. " You
had no idea that that was even coming."
" True," Skipper responded with thought. " Anyways. Private, when the words come out, they come out on
their own. Maybe not in perfect order, but at least it's something, plus you can't force them. Trust me. I know.
I've shouted out awkward things to girls that I liked and it turned out pretty bad."
" What am I suppose to do then, Skipper," Private questioned worriedly as he covered his beak, while
yawning.
" Just relax and be the best you that you could possibly be. Girls like that," Skipper stated confidently then
yawned. " Well, goodnight." The lead penguin fell asleep, right away, and snored louder than the other
penguins ever could.
Private yawned one more time. " Goodnight," he stared at the top part of his bunk for a few seconds before
speaking, again. " Hey, Kowalski?"
" Yes, Private," Kowalski responded drowsily. He was drifting off to sleep.
" Since we are both having trouble talking to girls that we like. Do you think that we can possibly help each
other out," Private waited patiently for Kowalski to answer. Soon, he heard soft snoring. " Kowalski," the
young penguin peeked out from his bunk to find that the tall penguin had fallen asleep. " Guess, I'll wait until
morning to ask him then." Private went back into his bunk and curled up underneath his blanket. From there,
he went to sleep, as well, thinking about the mother duck, but at the same time, still trying to figure out how
he was going to say what he wanted to say to her. Also, he fell asleep, hoping that Kowalski was going to
answer his question about helping each other out. The young penguin tossed and turned then began to
snore quietly. He was really hoping that Kowalski's answer would be a "yes".
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Wow. Even Kowalski's having trouble talking to a girl that he has a crush on. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 5. Find out what happens later on in the morning when Skipper helps Marlene make brunch and figures out when to finish the date. Also, see if Kowalski answers Private's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW : There may now be more than two lead role characters in the plot. Also, the fourth chapter was mostly written to help tie in the other pairings, along with the Skilene plot of the story, to help move everything to it's present and future positions. Thank-you for reading this message.