Disclaimer: I do not own Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters. I do own Dany and Chloe and Chloe's parents and the idea for this story, though I had a lot of help with it from my best friend.

Once out of the lemur habitat, Dany snatched her arm from Marlene. She turned to go back to Chloe, but her roommate blocked her way.

"Move!" Dany ordered.

"No, we need to get back to our habitat before Alice sees us." Marlene pushed her toward the otter exhibit, but before they went very far, heavy footsteps shook the ground underneath them and Alice came into view. Dany and Marlene looked around in alarm; they were right out in the open!

A flash of black and white, and Dany was knocked over and dragged behind a wall. She looked up just in time to see one of the other penguins pulling Marlene into hiding, then she turned on the lead penguin.

"You didn't have to knock into me like that!" she growled.

"You're welcome," Skipper snorted, and shame washed over Dany. She just snapped at her idol! Now he'll never let me join the team! She was so crazed with worry about Chloe that for a moment she forgot who she was talking to. She opened her mouth to apologize, but then she saw that Alice was holding a large cage and inside the cage was… Chloe's parents!

She braced herself to come out of hiding to rescue them, but Skipper blocked her way. Idol or not, she was getting tired of people getting in her way!

"Animals come and go," the lead penguin told her. "Those lemurs are being transported to another zoo. That's the life we live here. Sometimes we must say goodbye."

Dany stared at him. "You knew?" she gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"They didn't want us to tell anyone," Kowalski said gently. "We tried keeping them here, but they said they knew what they were doing, said it's what's best for Chloe."

"What's best for her?" Dany echoed. "Losing her parents? How is that what's best?"

Skipper shrugged. "We don't ask questions. They are her parents so they know what's best for their daughter, even if we don't understand."

Dany shook her head desperately, heartbeats away from springing on the lead penguin, only holding back when she reminded herself that he's more skilled in battle than her. And if I attack him, I'll never be able to join them some day!

Suddenly she remembered Chloe and realized that her friend might need her. Without another word, she ran back to the lemur habitat; nobody stopped her, and she was grateful for that at least.

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Chloe couldn't take her eyes off the door where Alice disappeared through with her parents, not even when Julien and his subjects took a few hesitant steps toward her. She heard the king whispering behind her.

"Go talk to her, Maurice," the ringtail murmured.

"Why me?" Maurice whispered back.

"Because I said so, and I'm your king."

Chloe sighed softly. After another moment she pulled her gaze away from the door and turned to the newcomers. "I don't want to talk," she said, unable to put any emotion in her voice. She lost her home when the king moved in and ruined everything. Now she lost her parents too. What else could possibly happen?

"Chloe," Maurice said unsurely. "Listen… I-I'm sorry. What can we do to make it better?"

Chloe stared at him blankly. "Bring my parents back."

"I-I don't think we can do that… I'm sorry…"

Chloe numbly turned away from them and took a step toward the cave, when she heard someone calling her name. She looked up to see Dany running across the lemur habitat, halting in front of her.

"C-Chloe," she panted. "I-I just saw… your parents." She took a deep breath and steadied her voice. "Are you okay?"

Chloe shook her head, wondering what to say. Suddenly she burst into tears and threw herself at Dany. "Oh Dany," she sobbed. "She took them away. And I was helpless! I couldn't do anything to stop it! I'm never gonna see my parents again!"

Dany patted her back, murmuring softly to her. Oddly it was comforting just hearing her otter friend's voice. She snuggled deeper into Dany's fur, drinking in her warm, familiar scent.

A voice interrupted the moment. The best friends turned to Julien as the king took a step toward them. "This is very sad and all," he started, ignoring Maurice when the aye-aye opened his mouth to say something. He flicked his adviser with his tail to silence him. "But may I remind you, you—" He pointed to Dany—" is not welcome here because of the things you said to me. So you must leave. Goodbye."

Chloe stared at him. "Y-You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes I am," Julien replied, stubbornly crossing his arms.

"I'm not leaving!" Dany growled. "I can go and come as I please." She snorted and deliberately turned her back on him.

The king was about to respond, looking furious but Chloe forestalled him. "No. Dany, let's go."

"Go?" Dany echoed.

"I can't be here another minute," the red ruffed lemur whispered. "Let's get out of here." Without looking to see if Dany would follow her, she ran to the wall and jumped over it, landing outside of her habitat. She ran in a random direction, hardly noticing the humans around her. A couple of times she was almost stepped on but managed to stumble out of the way just in time.

"Chloe!" she heard Dany calling after her. "Chloe, wait up!"

Finally, Chloe ducked behind a building, tears streaming down her face. Dany appeared beside her. "Chloe! Chloe, it's okay!"

"No it's not!" Chloe suddenly turned on Dany, and the otter looked at her, startled, but anger and sadness boiled inside Chloe and she was unable to keep herself from taking it out on her friend. "How could this possibly be okay? First that lemur shows up and starts bossing us around and saying we can't hang out anymore. And now my parents are gone! What is okay about that?"

"Fine, it's not okay," Dany reluctantly admitted. She wasn't sure what to say for a long moment, then she murmured," If there's anything I can do to make it better, I'll do it."

Chloe looked up, hope rising in her. "You'll get my parents back?" She threw herself at Dany, and they stumbled backwards. They fell to the ground, Chloe landing on top of Dany, hugging her tightly.

Dany wrapped her arms around her and then sat up. "Um… well I'm not sure…" Hope started draining from Chloe, and Dany must have noticed the look on her face because she quickly added," I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I am going to do it. I'll get your parents back, Coco."

"Oh, Dany! Thank you! Thank you!"

Dany just nodded and smiled.

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