Return the Fanaloka

A gentle breeze tickled the fur of Julien's ear. It twitched as he aroused from his slumbers. He had this odd feeling, as though he was being watched. Julien opened one eye and sleepily glanced around. Not seeing anything right away, he closed his eyes again and turned over.

Wait a minute. Why was his nose now damp and warm?

Julien's eyes opened wide and he found himself nose to nose with a familiar, but long forgotten fuzzy face. "KARL?!" He quickly leaned away.

"Hello, Julien." The fanaloka waved at him with a flirtatious grin. "Did you miss me?"

"WHAT ARE —?! HOW ARE—?!" The lemur sputtered, scooting back along the bouncy castle floor. He glanced anxiously towards Maurice and Mort who were still sound asleep only a few feet away. Maybe if he screamed really loudly—

Karl jumped up and laid a digit against Julien's lips. "Shh, shh, all in good time, Julien. But let's not wake your associates, mmm? I promise I don't mean you any harm. After all, I'm retired, remember?" He chuckled.

Julien squinted at him suspiciously—and hesitantly. It had been a long time since he had seen or heard from anyone he had known from Madagascar, besides Maurice and Mort. Maybe it would be okay? He finally nodded with a sigh. "Fine, Karl. We can do the talking thing."

"Excellent." He gently squeezed Julien's shoulders as he helped him stand up. He stepped out from the bouncy and waited for him on the ground.

The lemur looked again towards Maurice, but then sighed and followed Karl out. Waking Maurice would just cause him to freakity freak out after all, then the penguins would hear and be getting all up in their business—Which might be useful later when he's done with Karl, actually. He'd keep that idea as a back up.

Julien walked over to the smoothie bar where Karl awaited him and sat on a stool with a sigh. "So are you going to do the explaining thing now, Karl?"

The fanaloka leaned on his elbow and looked at his lemur companion. "It truly has been awhile, hasn't it? You have...Changed, Julien."

"What do you mean by that?" He squinted at him again.

"Well, for instance, you're here and not at your beloved kingdom in Madagascar. Imagine my surprise when I dropped by to visit you from Florida just to see that you had left the kingdom in the claws of a gecko." He shook his head. "I just couldn't believe Timo when he said you had left with some New York giants. I know my esteemed rival would never have even thought of such a thing before. Not my esteemed rival who turned down several opportunities in the past in order to put his kingdom first. Surely not." Karl sighed and sat up. "And yet...Here you are, in a New York zoo. I'm just...Shocked, Julien. I truly am."

Julien looked away and bit his lip. "...Stevie was a good king, right?"

Karl for a moment only stared at him. "You're kidding, right? You know a gecko is not capable of ruling a kingdom of lemurs! You were the only lemur who spoke gecko, Julien!" He rubbed his brow for a second as he carefully considered his words. "I myself went and told Clover about the state of your kingdom. For now she's keeping the kingdom under her protective watch, but they need their king, Julien. They need you."

"But...I...I can't, Karl." He laid his ears back, looking at the grass and his feet.

"Of course you can!"

"No! You don't understand!" He lifted his crown and ran his hand over his fur before repositioning it. "I...I may not legally be fit to be king of Madagascar. There was this whole...Clemyson issue where he brought these documents that said I may not have even been born there!...I...I can't return to my peoples as a fraud."

The fanaloka tilted his head. "Were the documents authentic?"

"How am I supposed to be knowing?! They were documents! They had my baby booty prints!"

"...And you're certain they were yours? And this 'Clemyson' fellow? Who is he?"

Julien sighed, shrugging. "I don't know, man. Some lemur wanting to take my kingdom; he's at another zoo now."

"Then I would assume he forged the documents or altered the originals. Julien, even if you were not born on the mainland...You are the true king of Madagascar. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you are the best king Madagascar has ever had."

The ring-tailed lemur looked at him with moist eyes and a small smile. "You really think so?"

"I know so, Julien." He smiled and laid his paw on Julien's hand. "Your kingdom misses you...I miss you. Why don't you come back to Madagascar with me and leave this—" he lazily gestured around the habitat, "—mockery behind?"

Julien looked around his habitat, biting his lip. "It...is rather mocky of Madagascar, isn't it?"

"Incredibly. Don't you miss having a multitude of adoring subjects? The freedom to go and come as you please? I'm sure you're not allowed that here."

"...Yeah…"

"So what do you say? Just you and me?" He took Julien's hand in his paws and held it close. "We could leave tonight even, right away."

Julien started to pull away, shaking his head. "I can't leave Maurice...and Mort—Though it's actually tempting to leave Mort...But he is really loyal."

Karl nodded, keeping a firm grasp of Julien's hand. "Then we can take them back with us, if that's what you want."

"I would like that." The lemur smiled at him.

"So is that a yes? You'll come back to Madagascar with me?" The fanaloka's ears perked up and his smile broadened.

"Yes, but...Not tonight." He took his hand back from him. "I obviously cannot be leaving my New York subjects without giving them the chance of throwing me a superduper going away party, Karl."

Karl opened his mouth to argue but then sighed and nodded with a smile. "As you wish, my king. We'll leave tomorrow night."

"Eh. I don't know, maybe. Maurice knows my schedule."

The fanaloka took a deep breath. "Right...Of course. You must be so busy with your New York subjects." He rolled his eyes slightly. "But I really believe that speed is of the utmost importance, Julien."

"It'll be soon. Don't get your tail in a knot." Julien waved him off. "We can talk more tomorrow, but I'm going back to get the royal zees."

"Oh."

Julien started to walk back towards the bouncy before he paused and looked over his shoulder at him. "I guess you can stay in my super cool bouncy castle tonight, too. Just none of the creepy cuddling, okay?" He pointed his finger at him before continuing on his way back to bed.

A broad smile crossed Karl's face before he followed behind him. "No creepy cuddling, fanaloka's honor."