Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters. I do own Alex the penguin and the two younger kids, Sam and Ethan.

"When will they get here?" Sam asked as she looked up at her older sister, who sat beside her, eyes fixed on the rising sun. The younger penguin was surprised when Alex jumped.

Shaking her head, Alex turned to her. "I'm not sure," she answered as she looked down at the park.

Sam fidgeted. They were sitting on the clock tower. Ever since Alex watched that video of Jack announcing that he and Mark were returning to the zoo, the sisters have been coming here every morning to keep an eye out for the Youtubers. So far there haven't been any signs of them and today is the third day.

How much longer do we wait? she thought impatiently.

Finally she couldn't sit still any longer. Sam got to her feet and started leaving.

"Tell dad that I'm gonna stay here and watch a bit longer," Alex said over her shoulder.

"Roger," Sam replied, carefully climbing down the tower.

On the ground, she turned her feet toward home. She was almost there when she suddenly felt eyes watching her.

Instantly she fell into a fighting position, the way her father taught her to defend herself in case she came across an enemy.

She glanced around as she slowly moved toward the penguin habitat. She was aware that if the creature watching her was truly evil, she wouldn't stand a chance. She needed to get to Skipper and his team.

She screamed when she ran into something, but then relaxed as she turned around and realized it was just the gates of the enclosure. She braced herself to jump over. Before she did, something slammed into her, and she found herself laying on her stomach with someone pinning her down.

Panic seized her and she tried to lift her head, but her enemy pushed her face down. She was struggling to breathe when she felt her attacker bend over, and the smell of lychee nuts hit her. "Surprised ya," a familiar voice said in her ear.

Sudden anger washed away the panic and she pushed up with all her might, throwing off the young lemur. She spun around and came face to face with her friend. "Ethan!" she gasped, glaring at the prince. "Don't do that!"

Instantly worry entered his green eyes. "Sorry," he said. "Not funny, huh?" He looked down and shifted his feet. "I was only fooling. Didn't mean to be scaring you."

Sam frowned, the anger draining out of her. "It's fine," she assured him. She forced him to look up at her with her flipper. "No harm done. No reason to be sad." Still she saw the unhappy look on his face, so she decided to give him some news to cheer him up. "Remember that Irish guy, Jack?"

Ethan blinked. "From your magic box..." His voice trailed off for a moment, then he asked," What's it being called again?"

"Computer," Sam said. "It's called a computer. I told you many times. You were born here, not in the wild. You should know this." Despite her words, she was amused that Ethan still struggled with human words. "Anyway," she went on," Jack and his friend, Mark, are coming back. I hope they'll get here today. I really want to meet them!" She couldn't stop herself from doing a happy little bounce; then embarrassment washed over her.

But Ethan didn't seem to have noticed. "And your dad is going to let them come back?" he asked, shocked.

Sam understood how hard it must be to believe that Skipper would allow any human to get close to his team, especially now that he had his daughters to worry about on top of the others' safety. Almost as soon as Alex had told her sister about the time Jack and Mark came to the zoo, Sam had gone straight to Ethan and told him. She didn't keep anything from him, and she knew the young prince wouldn't tell anyone if she asked him not to. He even promised to never mention it to his father, King Julien, or his subjects.

Suddenly she realized she never replied to her friend. "It took a bit," she explained," but Alex and Kowalski talked him into it." She smiled and added," I can't wait to meet them!"

Ethan was about to respond, when a new voice sounded nearby.

They looked up to see Ethan's father, the king of the lemurs, walking to them, with his two subjects hurrying after them. Sam glanced nervously at Ethan, hoping his father wouldn't be too upset with them for talking. Julien and Skipper didn't like their kids seeing each other, and whenever they were spotted together, they were pulled apart.

To her surprise but relief, the king didn't look angry. He approached calmly and stopped in front of the young animals.

"Hello, penguin," he said to Sam, as Maurice and Mort stopped behind him.

Sam opened her beak to reply, but Ethan spoke before she could. "Her name's Sam, dad," he told Julien, tail twitching as if nervous about confronting the king.

Briefly anger flashed in his eyes, then laughter entered their depths and he patted Ethan on the head. "Of course, son." He turned back to the penguin. "So, Sam-" He said her name slowly-" Where's your sister?"

Sam immediately knew why he was being so nice. He only wanted to know where Alex was. The young member of her father's team, Private, had explained to her that a while ago, Alex had made a promise to King Julien that she will always be a loyal subject to him, and Sam has been noticing that Julien tries to get close to her sister every chance he gets. Private also told her that it's been revealed by one of Kowalski's inventions, that Alex and Julien are a perfect match, but since the discovery, nobody's spoken about it in front of either the king or Sam's sister. Especially not the fact that Julien had burst out laughing, expressing his feelings, or lack of, toward Alex.

At first Sam wasn't sure if she should tell Julien where Alex was. Skipper had told her to say nothing about the two humans coming here to the zoo to meet up with the penguins. Neither the king or Sam's father had any idea that the young prince knew, and Sam didn't want them to find out. She knew Skipper would be furious because Alex had been when Sam confessed telling Ethan about the last time the Youtubers came here.

However, before she could decide how to reply to the king, Alex came running up. She stopped beside her sister, panting. Sam knew from the excited look in her eyes that she must have spotted Jack and his friend. But since Julien and his subjects were there, she couldn't say anything about the humans.

As soon as Julien saw Alex, he brightened and walked over to her. "Hello, penguin subject," he greeted her, grinning.

"Hello, my king," Alex said quickly. She glanced impatiently at her sister, who shrugged. She knew they had to get rid of Julien so they could start planning their meeting with the Youtubers, but she wasn't sure how.

"I'm having a party," King Julien went on. "And I'm wanting you to be there this time."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Alex started," But I can't-"

"It's being that bossy penguin, isn't it?" the king demanded, angrily stomping his foot. "He won't let you be coming, huh?"

"No, King Julien, it's not Skipper. I'm just really busy right now, and I can't-"

But Julien wasn't listening to her. He turned and climbed over the gate surrounding the penguin habitat, calling for Maurice and Mort as he landed on the island. The two lemurs hurried after their king, leaving the sisters and Ethan alone outside the exhibit.

Alex sighed. "We don't have time for this! I just saw Jack and Mark in the park, and we need to go meet them before they get here and Alice sees them and sends them away!" She followed the lemurs, and now Sam and Ethan remained.

"What is your dad gonna do?" Sam asked Ethan, who shrugged.

After a moment, the young lemur said," But I might have a way to get him to go home."

"How?"

"Follow me." Ethan jumped over the gate, and Sam ran after him.

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