Hello, I'm back. I'm sorry about the longer wait, but I seriously just barely changed where I was going with this chapter. The basic idea is the same, but I did change the scenario a bit.
I don't own Penguins of Madagascar, just the story idea, and the spelling mistakes that I may have.
Rico was having a bad day. There was no particular reason why, nothing bad had happened. He was just in a rotten mood. Everybody has their off days every once in a while and now Rico was having one of those days. Everything that anybody did or said put him on edge and frustrated him.
Finally, Rico had had enough. He just needed some space for a bit. He needed to get out. He knew he wasn't supposed to, that he'd be in huge trouble if Officer X caught him again. But that just meant that he'd have to be extra careful to not get caught.
So, with backpack in hand, Rico snuck to the front door. He'd only be gone for an hour or two, with any luck, he'd be back before anybody realized he was gone.
"And where do you think you're going?" A voice cut in just as Rico was about to leave. He hesitantly turned around to see Kowalski behind him, and his friend did not look amused.
"Uh, nowhere." Rico chuckled nervously.
"You weren't seriously thinking of going out by yourself, were you?" Rico's guilty expression said yes, that was exactly what he had been thinking. Kowalski grew frustrated. "After what Officer X said? I can't believe even you would be so stupid as to think that it would be a good idea to-" Kowalski trailed off when he saw the startled, almost scared, expression on Rico's face. Kowalski took a deep breath. Getting angry would do no good now.
"I'm sorry." Kowalski apologized. "I just don't want you to get in trouble, and I'm sure you don't want that either." Rico shook his head. "Well, if you don't want any trouble either, then why were you about to sneak out again when you know you're not allowed out by yourself anymore?"
"I go' somethin' I nee' 'oo do." Rico grumbled.
"Do you need to do it by yourself?" Kowalski asked. Rico thought for a second before shaking his head. "So the answer is simple, I'll just go with you. Alright?" Rico grinned and nodded. He didn't mind having someone go with him, he just needed to get out.
Kowalski didn't know where they were going, but he honestly didn't need to. This was Rico's time, Kowalski was just accompanying him. The two of them took a taxi to Central Park, which surprised Kowalski. Rico just didn't strike him as the type of guy who liked hanging around at a park.
Rico walked determinedly through the park, so he clearly had a destination in mind. They walked for a few minutes, Kowalski wondering the whole time what they were doing there. Finally, Rico stopped, and Kowalski could tell where they had been going to.
"The Central Park Zoo, interesting." Kowalski commented. "Do you always come here when you go out?"
"Uh-huh." Rico nodded. "I li'e the pen'uins."
"Penguins?" Kowalski was flabbergasted. Rico being into lions or bears made sense. But cute adorable penguins?
"Yeah, pen'uins." Rico repeated. "Wha' 'bou' 'oo?"
"Me? Well, I, um, like the...the dolphins." Kowalski muttered, his face going red. Dolphins had been the favorite animal of his old girlfriend, Doris. Now, they were Kowalski's favorite animal, simply because they reminded him of her. Yes, he was still crazy about her.
If Rico could tell that Kowalski was embarrassed, he didn't bring it up. He just led the way through the zoo to look at the animals. They spent most of their time watching the penguins, Rico like it most watching them swim around. Though they did also go see the dolphins, which Kowalski appreciated.
They left the zoo nearly an hour later, but remained in the park. Rico told Kowalski that there was something he wanted to do, alone, and that it would only take a few minutes. So Kowalski left him alone and went for a short walk around. During that walk he passed by someone selling snow cones.
It was rather hot outside, and Kowalski did have a sweet tooth, so he bought a couple of snow cones before heading back. When Kowalski returned to where he had left Rico, it was to find his friend sitting on the ground, writing something. A moment later he finished and put whatever he had been writing in an envelope.
"What's that?" Kowalski asked curiously as he came closer. He handed Rico one of the snow cones.
"A le''er for my mama." Rico answered.
"A letter for your mom?" Kowalski asked. "You're mom's still...around?"
"In Gua'emala." Rico said. "I ca' wri'e 'oo her, bu' no' see 'er."
"Why can't you see your mom?" Kowalski asked.
"They say she a unfi' paren'." Rico said. "'cause I ma'e the house go kaboom."
Kowalski bit his lip. That kind of sounded awful. Rico loved explosives, and for them to be the reason that he was in the foster system in the first place seemed cruelly ironic.
"Alrigh', le's go." Rico put the letter in his backpack, stood up, and stretched.
"Are we going back now?" Kowalski asked.
"Nope." Rico said. He began to walk off, and Kowalski followed him. They left Central Park and walked through the city. Once again, Kowalski was in the dark of their location, but, again, he was fine with it. Rico knew where he was going. Well, at least Kowalski thought that Rico knew where he was going. But after a half hour of walking, Kowalski was beginning to doubt it.
"Rico, do you know where we're going?" Kowalski asked.
"Yup." was all Rico said.
"...Well, where are we going?" Kowalski asked when Rico didn't elaborate. Suddenly, Rico stopped and Kowalski nearly walked into him.
"Here." Rico said as he gestured to the building in front of them. Kowalski, who hadn't been paying much attention to the building they had passed, looked and his jaw nearly dropped at what he saw. They were standing in front of an old church.
"Here?" Kowalski asked uncomfortably. He was a man of science, he didn't believe in the existence of a god and had never been inside a church before. He didn't know what to expect.
"Uh-huh. C'mon." Rico grabbed Kowalski's arm and dragged him inside before he could protest anymore. They went through the main hallway and came to a large room, where the church services were likely held each Sunday. The chapel. There were many benches for sitting at in the room. Rico took a seat in the back, and Kowalski joined him.
"Do you come here often?" Kowalski whispered. He may not be religious, but he was respectful, and there were other people there too. Kowalski knew that, with the way the room was designed, his voice would carry if he spoke in a normal tone. He didn't want to bother the other people there.
"Uh-huh." Rico nodded.
"...What do you do here?" Kowalski asked. He really had no idea what people did when they went to church. He also thought that people only went to church on sunday, but it wasn't sunday, yet there were people there, so that was wrong.
"Sit, think, an' pray." Rico answered. "'elps calm me down."
Kowalski supposed the room did have a peaceful atmosphere about it, though he believed it had something to do with the beautiful architecture and art that this church, as well as many others, had.
"So you come here to pray to this god of yours?" Kowalski asked, though he knew the answer before Rico nodded. "And does he...answer you?"
"Yeah, I thi'k he does." Rico said. "He cares 'bou' me." Kowalski furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't serious, was he? Did Rico honestly think that there was really some all powerful god who cared about him?
"Rico, if god exists and does care about you, about all of us, then why does he let bad things happen?" Kowalski asked. "How could he let you be taken from you mom? And let my dad hurt me? Why would he allow you to be sent to that foster home that hurt you like that?"
Rico frowned and looked at the ground. Kowalski felt a little guilty. He hadn't meant to make Rico feel bad, he just wanted answers. He'd had people try to convert him before, but whenever he asked why god let bad things happen, they said it was either because he either didn't have enough faith, or he deserved it.
That was absurd. He had just been a kid. He was still a kid, and so was Rico, yet all these terrible things had happened to them. What could they have possibly done to deserve getting hurt the way they had? Nothing.
"...I don' know." Rico murmured after a minute. "I'm no' God." Rico lifted his head and looked Kowalski in the eye. "Bu' I do belie'e in 'im."
"But, why wouldn't god help you while you were in that foster home?" Kowalski asked. Two years is a long time to be living in pain and fear.
"He di' 'elp." Rico said simply with a small smile. "I escaped."
Kowalski shut his mouth at that point. There was still a lot he didn't understand about how someone could believe in a god, especially Rico. But Rico was a stubborn kid, and Kowalski could tell that his faith was deep. Kowalski wouldn't be able to change his view, and honestly, he didn't want to. His belief in god gave Rico strength somehow, and Kowalski could respect that. It just wasn't for him.
Kowalski stood up and showed himself out. Rico had come to this church to worship privately, not to be interrogated about his beliefs. Kowalski left the church to take a walk around the block. He wouldn't be gone long, just long enough to give Rico time to think and pray like he wanted to.
Rico noticed that Kowalski had left, but didn't try to stop him. He knew he'd be back later. While he was gone though, Rico prayed. He didn't pray for anything specifically, he just prayed for the sake of praying. While he did so, he felt calmer, less chaotic. He didn't feel anxious or destructive like he usually did. He just felt at peace.
After a while, Rico stopped. He didn't know how long he had been there, though it couldn't have been very long. It didn't matter though, his visit had still been beneficial. Out in the hallway Rico found Kowalski waiting for him.
"Hey." Kowalski greeted him in a tone that almost sounded like he was embarrassed. "So, that chain of yours, did it use to have something on it?" Kowalski asked. Rico blinked and looked down at the metal necklace chain he always wore around his neck.
"Yup." Rico said.
"Did it happen to be something like this?" Kowalski asked as he held out his hand. Rico gasped. Kowalski was holding a small celtic cross pendant that looked perfect for putting on a necklace.
"How'd 'oo know?" Rico asked.
"Well, I was just taking a walk down the street when I passed a vendor of sorts selling these pendants for a fair price. I know that many christians have cross necklaces, and I noticed that you sometimes clutch to that chain of yours like a lifeline when you're scared, so I just thought maybe you had a cross on it too. But, obviously, you don't have one anymore, so I thought you'd appreciate another, and…" Kowalski's rambling was cut off when Rico tackled him into a hug.
"Gracias." Rico muttered.
"No problem." Kowalski said awkwardly. "So, uh, we'd better be heading back soon, don't you think?"
"Uh-huh." Rico smiled and together the two of them began their journey back.
Well, I like it, especially the ending. If only it hadn't been so difficult to write for some reason. But I pushed forward, and am happy with it. I hope you also liked it.
So, yeah, I don't know, I read in another Fanfic, I can't remember which one, where Rico was strongly religious. I really liked the idea, so I used it...I hope that whoever wrote the fic I'm talking about is okay with that.
It just makes sense to me, it just reinforces the fact that Rico and Kowalski are totally opposite. Not only in a brain vs brawn way, but in a science vs religion kind of way too. I think it works, and I hope that I wrote it in a way that it makes sense.