More time had elapsed since those summer days when the new penguin had been thrown into the mix. The holiday festivities seemed to come and go like a tidal wave of cheer. It was a wonderful sight to see how the entire zoo transformed for the children, both human and animal, just to spread joy and grant wishes.

It was during the coming months, when the weather was still cold and mud started mixing with snow while everything waited to thaw that the melancholic atmosphere started gnawing at the birds' mental health.

Jo in particular found these days rather bleak, and she had lived with the others for four and a half months. Over this time, a strong friendship grew with Private, as she understood what the others wrote off as immature.

Instead, she listened to him and in return he gave her advice for various duties, Skipper's quirks and punishments, military jargon and information, and keeping a lookout for any issues that could arise.

Another odd sort of friendship that arose was with Rico. She appreciated his unspoken wisdom, seeing the method to his presumed madness, and she learned a lot of street smarts from the rugged bird.

His paintings had come a long way, too. In fact, Skipper had asked if he wanted to join Jo(e) in the art's and crafts division of their unit (which was now a legitimate name for it and not a snide comment), but the bird shook his head. Rather, the only subject he really wished to depict was his one and only Ms. Perky.

For the resident artist, there was never a single subject lingered upon too long. The HQ was brighter since the landscape painting was added to the wall, and she had given Skipper a present of a full figure dapper cowboy penguin painting since he really didn't ask for many favors himself.

This was a direct contrast to the second in command, who even after all this time and seemingly taking Private's words to heart, didn't quite grasp how his constant nitpicking edits were taking their toll. Over and over, with each passing invention, a little more of her artistic strength was wearing out.

Now, with the chilly dank days ahead, and on a particularly gray day, she moped around in her studio. As she sat burnt out from the most recent round of editing, Private patted her back softly.

"What's the matter, Jo?" He asked with a small waver to his voice.

Sitting up a little, glancing around, and back to Private she made sure they were alone before saying anything.

"I know I can confide in you…"

Her apprehensive tone, cautious glances, and forlorn eyes clued the tiny penguin into a revelation.

"I knew you had a crush on Kowalski!"

"What!?" She turned towards Private, brows slightly furrowed with her beak agape. "No!"

"Skipper, then?"

"Huh?"

"Hmm, Rico is a ladies man…" Private went down the list, used to this process when he would have tea with Marlene before.

" If not Rico, then it must be me!" He chuckled nervously, before adding "Just kidding." Unless?

"Would you cut it out?" She was a bit miffed at him. "Not every friendship has to lead to a romance just because I'm a girl."

"Oh…" Private felt utterly embarrassed now, not to mention the fact Skipper still didn't know the truth. Not that that would change anything, but it was awfully rude of him to assume. "I wasn't thinking of that."

"Besides…" She saw him sadden, and wanted to lighten the mood, especially since today was so miserable in general. She did her best Skipper impression. "Inter-unit relationships are strictly forbidden especially after the banquet mishap of '85."

Private started giggling at her pose and it cleared any tension between them as they both laughed about that old case file.

"Well, what did you want to tell me 'bout Kowalski then?" Private rubbed an eye as he got back to business.

"How did you know it was about Kowalski?" She questioned. When the bird gave her a look of who else would it be, she continued, "He has been running me through the ringer when it comes to edits…"

"I tried to warn him not to misuse his authority!" Private shook his head.

"It's not about that, I'm fine with respecting his position." She got up to stretch, tucking in her chair. "I just wish he would tell me what to change all at once so I can do it all in segments, not tiny fragments of information over an entire day."

"Hm." Private was thinking, not sure of what he could do. Looking at the floor, and the little claw scratches, he recalled their first sparring match and their conversation the day they met. "I could arrange a meeting, and mediate for you!"

"A meeting?"

"Yeah! I'll set it up and we can work it out!" He cheered up, leaning forward and nodding excitedly. Jo was a bit apprehensive at the idea, but maybe it would be helpful.

"Thank you." She came over to hug the other, who reciprocated with a smile, glad to have another hug loving penguin around.

The artist decided to take a short break, heading down to the garage to hang out with Rico while awaiting more orders from Skipper. Everything was slow these days, but Private was able to corner Kowalski coming out from the hidden elevator that led to their top secret areas of HQ.

"I've been looking everywhere-" The Brit had started coughing a bit, his voice sounding distinctly different, like a villain from a certain video game. With a whimper he touched a flipper to his beak. "Pardon, but I've been looking everywhere for you Kowalski!"

"Tyson's necktie!" The scientist came over, quickly depressing Private's tongue with a popsicle stick and looking down his throat. "No wonder, with a voice like that you must be in pain!" Private pushed the concerned penguin away.

"Oh no, it was just a frog in me throat is all." He anxiously glanced at the popsicle stick, trying to discern where it had come from.

"Then… what did you need?" Kowalski asked, trying to be a bit more amicable to the young Corporal since their spat a while back.

"Well, you see, Jo wanted to arrange a meeting to talk to you about something that has been troubling for some time…" He started to explain, when he noticed the other flipping through his clipboard of notes.

"Hm, very well." He rearranged some papers before speaking. "I'll be in the lab. Was that all?"

"Um, yes, actually." Private was astonished at how willing the scientist was to discuss issues with the lowest rank. After all, since the new penguin arrival it seemed that power had gone to his head exponentially.

Instead of slamming the laboratory door, Kowalski kept it open. Private peeped out of the hatch, not seeing Jo anywhere, but seeing their Captain walking around the perimeter of their habitat. Trying not to disturb Skipper, he shut the latch and headed for the garage, Kowalski glancing at the awkward shuffle of quickly slapping feet just outside the door. That's why he kept it closed most of the time.

From halfway down the tunnel to the garage, he heard Rico and Jo laughing. Upon entering, he watched as the pair played catch from either side of the vehicle.

"Jo!" He came up next to her, and Rico let him join in the game as he passed the regurgitated ball to him. Private passed it back in perfect tandem with the others.

"Hey Private!" She smiled wide, catching the ball and tossing it back. "Is it already time for the next Lunacorns episode?"

"This evening, yes-" The little bird nodded, catching and tossing the ball before adding "-but Kowalski is waiting for us now!"

"Woah!" Jo felt a panic wash over her, and Rico couldn't stop the already thrown ball as it hit her arms held over her chest. "Already?"

"I was surprised too!" Private said, as Rico waved them on, finding the rolling ball and tossing it to his doll. The duo slid down the tunnel, and Private gently nudged her arm as reassurance. "Don't be nervous, it'll all work out."

"I hope…" She was terrified, and didn't like rocking the boat so to speak. So far, there were only a few occasions she spoke up to her superior, and each time she cringed in retrospect at the interaction.

Her panic rose as she rounded the corner, seeing the lab door open. Private motioned for her to take a breath, and it helped. Taking a small moment before waddling into the lab.

It was worse than the first time he had given her an assignment.

Kowalski took note of her demeanor as she came to sit across from him, Private off to their left. This moment of awkward hesitation lingered, before the scientist raised a flipper to start the conversation.

"Is this about your crush? I'm sorry, but my heart belongs to a dolphin named-"

"What!?" She wanted to crawl in a hole for fifty years. "No! Why would you even think that?"

"Propinquity, the standard cause." He tapped his clipboard. "I also have several pieces of evidence to support my hypothesis if you really want me to digress…"

Private was in awe at Kowalski's self-centeredness, but it was Jo who became the most fired up at these claims.

"I'm around you so often because my studio is in your lab, and I happen to love science with all of my heart!" This only crossed off two of the thirty-seven pieces of evidence, but Kowalski wanted to get back to his work and shifted the topic forward.

"Fine, then what is this meeting about?" He made a mental note to put a quarter in the show-off jar. Private nodded at her in support.

"I don't mean any disrespect, sir, and it has been wonderful working with you… but your edits-" She got a little caught up in how she worded her complaint, "-they are ripping the life out of my art."

Kowalski and Private gave each other a wide eyed look at that analogy, but she continued.

"It is very important to get them made, I know. I just would rather make a lot of changes at once instead of having you constantly pointing out flaws and fixes over my shoulder." As she stopped speaking, she realized another silence would follow, and spoke more to fill the space.

"Not that you don't have every reason to ask for the changes, or that I mind discussing the science behind why…" Realizing it had been a bad choice to keep speaking, and unable to take back the double negative, she trailed off.

"I just…"

"You just want me to compile my changes instead of pointing them out as they appear." Kowalski finished her sentence correctly for once.

It sounded so simple, and he pondered why she hadn't been able to ask over these months. The cause of all those arguments boiled down to a simple miscommunication.

The lab drew quiet, but Kowalski got up, placing a flipper on her shoulder.

"From now on I'll do so." With a glance at Private who seemed contented with the success of the meeting, he added, "You also have permission to calmly bring these issues to my attention, I do make mistakes." Most of their arguments were made worse by the rookie's temper... She would need to do better, but maybe it was time to turn over a new leaf when it came to the lab and working with him.

She smiled up at him, before a small chuckle from Private brought their attention to the Corporal as he teased Jo.

"See? No reason to be nervous!" He hadn't even really needed to mediate.

"Nervous?" Kowalski turned back to Jo, raising a brow.

"I thought you wouldn't want to listen, like the other times…" She brought her flippers up cautiously as Kowalski casually slid his clipboard under an arm.

"To someone with a love of science, I'll gladly lend an ear." The genius recalled the rift Private had mentioned, finally connecting the dots and offering non-invention related conversation. The confused Brit patted the side of his head.

"Do we have ears?" He knew he could hear and had ears per se, but hadn't a clue how or if that was the proper word for them.

"Yes, just not the external conch that funnels sound. Our feathers obscure the opening to the middle ear on either side of the head." Kowalski doodled a quick diagram, and Private noted that the scientist's art had been subtly improving, too.

"A great example of adaptation through evolution!" Jo beamed, relaxing in the lab for the first time as she thought of how penguins were designed to be perfect underwater travelers.

Once the two he sought to mediate had started talking about Darwin, discovery, and draftsmanship, Private was able to leave them to it. By the end of the day, the newest invention schematic was looking much better by comparison to all the others that had been fought over.

The artist's analogy finally made sense as Kowalski and Private looked at the new work. Her heart was easily seen within the latest scientific renderings, and the littlest penguin was overjoyed to have helped build a bridge to this resolution.