Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters, but I do own Alex the penguin, and the two younger kids, Sam and Ethan.
Skipper's daughter, Alex, sat on top of the clock tower, staring ahead at the setting sun, the sky a brilliant red and orange color. As she remembered what tomorrow was, a wave of sadness washed over her. She was thinking about her mother, Daisy, who passed away very recently. She had to fight back tears when she recalled how she had promised to return before she left on her journey to find her father. But right when she was thinking she ought to go home to see everyone, she received news that Daisy had gotten sick and died.
Now, tomorrow was Mother's Day, and she was thinking about Daisy, who raised her.
But I left her behind, she thought miserably. I didn't know the last time I saw her would be the last time.
She jumped when someone touched her shoulder and she turned, relaxing. It was only her half-sister, Sam, who must have climbed up without Alex realizing. Suddenly she remembered that Sam didn't have a mother here, either; even if she wasn't here, as far as Sam and the others knew, she was still out there somewhere, alive and well.
Before she could stop herself, Alex blurted out," Oh Sam, I'm so sorry! I know what you must be feeling right now!"
Sam blinked, confusion in her ice-blue eyes. "Sorry? What for?" she asked.
"You must know what tomorrow is?" Alex reminded her gently, and understanding entered Sam's eyes, then a blaze of anger.
"Oh, that." She turned her head away. "I don't care about tomorrow."
Alex stared at her. "Y-You don't?" she stammered, taken aback by her anger.
Shaking her head, Sam growled," She didn't care enough about me to stay so why should I care about a stupid holiday celebrating mothers when I don't have one?"
Despite her harsh words, Alex could see that her sister did care. She reached out to give her a comforting pat on the shoulder and opened her beak to tell her that it was okay if she did care. But before she could do that, Sam snapped around and stormed off, leaving Alex to stare after her in shock.
Poor Sam, she thought to herself, and decided to follow her.
Sam was waiting for her on the ground. "Ethan's mother isn't here either," the younger penguin began," so we were going to get together and do something fun. You can come with us if you want," she added after a moment.
Alex eyed her uncertainty. "Does Skipper know this?" she eventually asked.
Sam hesitated, then shook her head. "Please don't tell him," she begged. "I just want to spend the day with Ethan without our dads freaking out."
"I won't tell him," Alex finally said after a long pause. "And sure, I'll come with you." Even if she doesn't want to admit it, Alex told herself, I know Sam is sad about tomorrow and the least I can do is be there for her.
They start heading back, and they are almost to the penguin habitat when King Julien appeared in front of them. Alex dipped her head in greeting, and Sam looked around hopefully as if she expected to see the king's son. But there was no sign of Ethan.
"Hello, my penguin subject," King Julien said to Alex, and she returned the greeting. "So, doing anything tomorrow?" he went on.
Alex glanced at Sam before answering. "I'm spending the day with Sam and Ethan, Your Majesty."
The king frowned, but he nodded and turned to leave. Alex watched him go, but she looked away when Sam tugged on her flipper. With one last glance over her shoulder at her king, she followed her sister inside, where they found their father and his team. They were all doing their own thing: Private was watching TV, Skipper and Rico were playing cards, and Kowalski was in his lab, but he came out when Alex called him.
The six penguins gathered around the table, playing some card game Skipper made up, until it was time to go to bed. The leader said goodnight to his daughters, and Kowalski gave Alex a kiss on the forehead, before joining his friends near the bunks. Alex watched them settle down, then turned to Sam.
"Couch or floor?" she asked.
Sam shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Floor, I guess," she decided after a few moments of thinking.
The sisters went to bed without another word, but Alex could feel Sam's sadness like it was her own, and she silently vowed to make tomorrow the best day of the young penguin's life.
Someone shaking her disturbed Alex's sleep, and she jerked awake, startled out of the nightmare she had been having. For a moment, she laid there, gazing blankly up at the ceiling and remembering what she just saw. She had been back at the zoo she had grown up in, with both her mother and father there. And she could feel that Grace and Jason were there, too, but she couldn't see them.
Her parents were teaching her something, when suddenly her father disappeared, and it was just Alex and her mother. Then Daisy vanished too, and she was left alone. Briefly she had caught a glimpse of Sam, Kowalski, and the other two, but she felt utterly alone, and she cried out desperately for someone, her voice echoing in the emptiness.
That was when Sam had woken her, and now she laid there on the couch, panting and trying to calm her racing heart. Finally, she turned her head to see her sister standing there, confusion in her eyes.
Not wanting to explain her troubling dream to her, Alex rose and opened her beak to ask if she was ready for the best day ever, but just then their father called to them from across the room.
"Zoo's about to open." He jerked his head at the ladder where the other three were climbing up and out of the HQ. "You two going to be okay in here?" he asked, his eyes revealing that he didn't forget what day it was.
Alex looked at Sam before walking over to Skipper. "Actually, Sam and I thought we'd go into the park and spend the day together," she admitted carefully, deliberately leaving out that they were also taking the young prince, Ethan.
The leader hesitated, before finally nodding. "Okay then," he consented. "But be careful," he quickly added. "Stay together. And do everything your sister tells you," he went on to Sam, eyeing his youngest daughter.
She nodded obediently, but there was a sparkle in her eyes, and Alex couldn't help but wonder if Sam would listen to her when she told her something. But she shrugged the thought away, and the sisters said goodbye to their father. They left the lair the back way, ducking behind a bin when someone walked by.
As they waited for an opening, Sam explained that her and Ethan made a pact to not mention their mothers all day, but Alex wasn't sure if she wanted to make the same agreement. She didn't feel any ill feelings toward Daisy; her mother had been very sweet and caring, and she loved Alex twice as much as most parents, in place of Skipper not being there.
She remembered when she was very little, and her mother would comfort her after she had a nightmare. She had always been there for her, and she could never say anything bad about her. But just thinking about her today and that she could never speak to her again made Alex's heart ache, and she decided to agree with what her sister and Ethan wanted.
She noticed that Sam was staring at her with a pleading look, and she realized with a pang of pity that some of the sadness in the young penguin's eyes was there because she was missing her mother, even though she had just been a hatchling when Victoria left.
She never seemed into the whole mother thing, Alex thought to herself. But how can anyone abandon their child? If only Victoria could see the pain she caused within her daughter… Would she regret leaving?
At least they still had Skipper, and Alex knew he would do anything to protect his daughters.
"Okay," she finally said. "No mention of anyone's mother."
Now, they head toward the park, where Sam said Ethan would be waiting for them. Once or twice they were almost spotted, but they made it to the entrance of the zoo unchallenged. Still keeping an eye out, the sisters entered the park. It didn't take long to find Ethan, who was hiding underneath a bush so not to be seen.
"What should we do first?" Alex asked.
"Let's go exploring," Sam answered, and she took the lead to the center of the park, where they found a family laying out a picnic. The animals ducked behind a tree, watching the man and woman setting everything up, while their kids, a boy and a girl, played in the short grass.
As they watched, the girl picked a flower and skipped back to her mother, holding it out to her. The woman smiled and took the flower, thanking the little girl. Alex felt warmed by the young girl's actions; she glanced at her companions, and noticed the deep sadness in Ethan's eyes and she briefly wondered what was going through his mind. But she was distracted when Sam let out a snort of disgust and turned away.
For a few moments, Ethan stayed where he was, gazing longingly at the family, and suddenly Alex knew what he was thinking. He was imagining what it would have been like if his mother had stayed and helped raise him!
Poor guy, she thought, frowning. She had met Ethan's mother, Emily, while she had been at the zoo, and she had been a great mother, but her love for her home had been greater than her love for her family, and she had returned to Madagascar, leaving Ethan with his father. She knew Julien talked alot about Emily and made sure Ethan knew what a great lemur she is, but the look on the young prince's face revealed his yearning that she had stayed.
Before Alex could think of anything to say, Ethan turned and followed Sam. Quickly Alex ran after them. After that, Sam deliberately avoided all the families in the area that were clearly celebrating Mother's Day, but it seemed like everyone they saw was there with their mom.
Finally, they came to a quiet spot beside a lake, and Alex settled herself underneath a tree. She stared up at the almost cloudless sky, but she looked down as Sam and Ethan came up.
"We're going swimming," her sister announced. "Wanna join us?"
Alex shook her head, but she followed them down to the water and sat on the shore. She watched as they jumped in, and began to think. She realized that seeing all the mothers obviously enjoying their special day was making her miss Daisy even more. She wondered if her mother was still alive, if she would be there with her, or at least send her a card somehow. Her heart broke when she told herself that she'll never be able to celebrate another holiday with her again.
Then, not for the first time that day, she wondered why Sam's and Ethan's mothers left them. She wondered how they would react to seeing their kids now, playing together in the water and laughing. Suddenly she wondered what would have happened if Victoria or Emily or even both had decided to take their kids with them. It would certainly be lonely without Sam to talk to or hang out with when their father was on a mission.
And if Emily had taken Ethan, King Julien would have been devastated, she thought to herself, unable to imagine her king losing his one and only son; she knew how much he loved teaching Ethan about how to rule a kingdom. Even though Ethan had no desire to take over after his father, she knew Julien still saw himself as a mentor to his son.
She was knocked out of her thoughts when Sam called out to her. "Hey, Alex! Come in! The water's great!"
At first, Alex shook her head, but then she decided it might be fun. She stood up, took a few paces backward, then ran forward. Jumping into the air, she dived in, going underwater. When she popped up, she was surprised to not see her sister or Ethan. Then they splashed up beside her and jumped on top of her, dragging her down again.
Resurfacing, they laughed and continued to play in the water, until they all climbed out, tired but in good spirits. For a while, they all sat there without speaking, but when the sun started to sink low in the sky, Alex got to her feet.
"It's time we returned to the zoo," she announced.
They were still traveling through the park when Ethan suddenly blurted out," I wish my mother was being here!"
Sam shot him a glance and tried to change the subject. "Did you see the way I dived underwater? I-" But she broke off when Alex raised a flipper to silence her.
"Go on," Alex told Ethan gently, and he gave her a sad but relieved look.
"I miss her so much," he admitted quietly. "I don't even remember her, but I am still missing her. Father says good things about her. He says she was loving me very much, but she heard Madagascar calling her home. But," he quickly added," I'm not blaming her for leaving. Even though I barely remember her or even what she looks like, I still love her and miss her and hope one day to be seeing her again."
Alex nodded in understanding. "Even though I still have a good memory of Daisy, I'm afraid of forgetting her some day," she confessed. "I remind myself every day of how kind and caring she was, and that she loved me very much. She had to play both parents, but she never showed any resentment, if she felt any at all. But she didn't like talking about Skipper, and when I was old enough to realize that he wasn't coming back, I stopped asking about him, until I decided to go find him." She sighed and bowed her head. "I miss her so much, and I keep thinking I need to return to see her again, but I tell myself that if I returned, she wouldn't be there…"
Suddenly Sam halted and cried out loudly," Why did she leave?" She swung her head around to look at her friends, tears running down her face. "Didn't she love me? I can't even learn anything about her because Skipper refuses to talk about her!"
Alex froze, unsure what to say. Sam's mother, Victoria, had stayed just long enough to form some sort of relationship with Skipper and bear him Sam, but not long after she hatched, Victoria decided to leave. Skipper had been heartbroken, even if he tried to hide it behind his anger, and he ordered that none of the others, Alex included, say anything about her to Sam.
But now Alex realized she had to tell her sister something. She couldn't just watch Sam break down like this and remain silent.
Taking a deep breath, Alex began. "Victoria was a lot like Skipper," she told her. "She was hard-headed and proud, and even knew more fighting moves." She hesitated, then decided to leave out the part where Victoria once belonged to a group of cats who took over the lemur kingdom on Madagascar; not for the first time, Alex felt like they didn't hear the whole story about that time, but she knew it was too late to find anything else out. Victoria had left and she seriously doubted they will ever see her again.
But she didn't say anything of this to Sam, knowing the last thing she needed was more confusion and anger. She took a steady breath and then went on. "But hey, we still have Skipper, don't we?" She looked at Ethan. "And I know you miss Emily, but you have King Julien, and also Maurice and Mort. And we have Kowalski, Private, and Rico, too," she added to Sam. "Even though we don't have mothers, we still have our fathers and friends who love us very much. Don't think about what we don't have. Think about what we do have."
Sam and Ethan exchanged a look, then nodded, both looking happier.
As they continued to head to the zoo, Alex smiled to herself, realizing that they also have each other, though she didn't say this out loud. She had a feeling her friends already knew that, and she didn't need to remind them.
The End!
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