Chapter 37: Times of Change

Alex opened his eyes, slowly. Everything in sight was brighter than the sun itself, an endless white blur. He felt weightless. Alex lifted into a sitting position with great ease.

Then the light faded and his surroundings became clearer. Alex saw red bricks. Green grass. A concrete podium. He was back in his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo. But the lion felt displaced and ethereal. 'Is this what happens when you die?' Alex thought to himself, 'Do you go to where you feel most at home?... It's just not home without my friends. Melman, Gloria, and-'

"Marty?" Alex asked seeing a black and white figure in the enclosure next to him.

The zebra leapt down beside the lion, "Alex!" he grasped Alex's paw, "You don't know how good it is to see you!"

Alex was overjoyed, but within a second he felt a great sadness, "Marty...did you die too?"

"What?" Marty was confused. He suddenly realized what Alex meant, "Oh! No! Alex, you're alive!"

"I am?" Alex looked around, confused. He looked down and saw new clean bandages around his waist and ankle. He felt cheerful once more, "I am!" Despite the evidence, the lion questioned, "But I feel so weird... kinda floaty."

Marty laughed, "That would be the painkillers."

Alex smiled at the thought, but his expression once again grew neutral. He gazed up at Marty with his piercing eyes, "Marty, I was so afraid I left you. What happened to me?"

Marty gazed back with equal intensity. He sat beside Alex and let out a sigh. Even though Alex was alive he found it emotional to explain, "We got off the plane and zoo-keeper Joe came, I think you remember that."

Alex nodded.

Marty continued, "Well then you fell and when I reached down you had no pulse. Joe had you put into an ambulance for people. Me, Melman, and Gloria were put onto a truck and taken back to the zoo." Marty told the curious lion, "I heard the zoo vets talking. You were clinically dead for over a minute. But they revived you in the ambulance, making you the first lion in history to be resuscitated. They're going to put you in Guinness and everything."

For the first time in his life, the thought of fame didn't seem the least bit appeasing in Alex's mind. After a lengthened silence Alex spoke, "What happened then?"

Marty answered, "They did a blood transfusion with a lioness from a zoo in Jersey. After that, they gave you fresh bandages and some pain medicine. They must have just put you in your enclosure last night. You were asleep for four days."

"Four days!" Alex repeated.

Marty nodded, "I was starting to think that you'd never wake up."

Alex smiled once more, "Thanks for being there for me, Marty."

Marty answered, "Thanks for not leaving me." Marty was finally assured that everything was going to be alright, and this was all he wanted.

Alex looked at the sky, "What time is it?"

"Early," Marty answered, "The zoo isn't even open yet."

"How is everyone else?" Alex asked.

"Fine, fine," Marty acknowledged, "Melman actually cancelled a doctors appointment to stay and talk to us."

"Wow! That's new," the lion was surprised, "And Gloria?"

Marty replied, "She's right at home again, though really worried about you. You know we're as much her children as we are her friends."

Alex chuckled lightly, "Yeah, she's always looking out for me." Alex's expression shifted to worry, "What about Julien? He was allowed to stay right? They didn't send him back to Madagascar, did they?"

"Alex," Marty instructed, "Look behind you."

Alex turned his head over his shoulder. Julien was sleeping on the other side of Alex's podium.

"They made him a home in the primate area, but he couldn't stand the thought of you waking up and him missing it," Marty explained.

"I take it Julien didn't count on falling asleep," Alex stated.

At the sound of his name, Julien yawned and stretched. He blinked twice before looking around and to his surprise see his friend. "Alex!" he exclaimed, "They must have put you in here after I dozed off. Are you feeling fine, now?"

"Better than I did," Alex smiled.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind, "Alex is that you?" A head drifted into the enclosure over a brick wall.

"Melman!" Alex greeted fondly.

The giraffe clutched his heart, "I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I spent a lot of time in the vet ward."

"It's about time you woke up," Gloria teased from her corner. With a thud, she jumped down and hugged Alex fondly.

"Well, all of us are back safe and sound," Melman stated happily.

The smile that graced Alex's face was wiped clean. His gaze sunk to the concrete floor, "...almost all of us..." he muttered with thoughts of Skipper in his mind. Alex slowly shook his head, "I never even got to say goodbye..."

Marty consoled him, "Alex, he stayed behind so we could save you, and now your safe so it all worked out... at least, the way Skipper planned it..."

"It could have been worked out better," Alex reflected.

"Alex," Gloria explained, "Skipper completed his mission. You're safe. We're home. And we can go back to our normal old lives."

Alex nodded weakly. He then feigned a yawn, "Well, I'm still a bit tired. I think I'll take a nap for a while. The guests won't be that upset if I'm not there at opening time."

"Alright, Al," Marty patted the lion on the back, "You take it easy, ok?"

"I will," Alex nodded.

"See-ya in a bit," Gloria climbed back over the wall and into her pool.

Melman craned back into his area.

Finally, only Alex and Julien remained.

"You don't mind if I stay in here a while," Julien pondered.

"It's fine," Alex told him, "Just don't make to much noise, alright?"

"You have my word," Julien did a strange kind of bow.

Alex laid himself down underneath his inactive heating lamp with his back to Julien. He stared blankly at the concrete. The truth was he wasn't tired at all. He felt as alert and awake as ever, but something was troubling him in the back of his mind. They were home, and he was safe...but something wasn't finished. Something was left unresolved... and Alex wanted to be alone to work it out.

He browsed through the contents of his mind but found numerous dead ends. Some time had past and the zoo had opened. Sounds of admiring guests floated in the air, but Alex still searched and searched for this missing link.

Finally, an answer came. An event replayed in Alex's head:

It was a sunny afternoon in a lush green valley. It was the valley of the Pala pride. Kuju and Malik were gone, but It still remained. But to Alex's joy, Pala told him that it could be cured. Though the news was hurtful to poor Melman and Gloria who had been kept from the knowledge of It the entire time. Feeling guilty, Alex ask to be left alone. In his sole state, Alex suffered another conversation with It before Marty came to Alex's side.

"What's that Al?" Marty asked.

"Oh, it's you Marty," Alex crossed his arms and lifted his eyebrow, "What part of, 'I want to be alone for a while' don't you get?"

Marty smiled coyly, "The part, where you really say it because you don't want to be left alone, despite what you're saying. Really, I just don't get it."

Alex laughed, "Marty, you know me too well."

The zebra nodded. His expression grew concerning, "I know you well enough to know you weren't comfortable a few seconds ago. What's up?"

Alex replied, "I was just dealing with It again. It's just bluffing, now. Besides, tomorrow I'll be free."

"I hope so," Marty answered. The zebra sat next to Alex, "You know, to have the old Alex back again would be great," Marty rested his chin on his hoof, "I remember when we didn't have to care about anything. Our life was planned out, and all we had to do is just laugh together and be happy."

"Marty, that's not a fulfilling life," Alex answered, "And you realized that before any of us"

"Then why do you want to go back?" Marty inquired.

"Don't you see, Marty?" he explained, "New York is our home. I love New York. It's where we can be away from stress. But that doesn't mean we have to fade into the background. I realized something, Marty."

"What is it?" Marty pondered.

Alex smiled back, "I came to this place, just looking to fill a selfish need. And look, I ended up helping them all. What I learned is that no matter where I go, I can make a difference. But, I want to go to New York. And I know if I go back, I can make a difference there too. We won't just be zoo animals living out a boring agenda from day to day. We'll be living eventful and fulfilling lives."

The link was revealed. The line repeated in Alex's head: "What I learned is that no matter where I go, I can make a difference."

'Make a difference,' Alex thought, 'That's what's missing. I wasn't just going to return to the zoo, I was going to make it better. I need to make sure that these sequences of events are never repeated. The next animal in my position just may not be as fortunate.' Alex lifted into a sitting position once more. "Julien," he called out.

The lemur responded attentively, "Yes?"

"Get on my shoulder," the lion instructed, "We have some things to do."