"Hey, guys, look at this!" Marlene ran in one day a few months later. It was December now, and a few days until Christmas. Anna had been decorating the H.Q. all week, and Marlene gasped when she saw the tree. It was glittering and coated with icicles and ornaments of various size and color.

"Wow, guys, I like the decorations! Seems like you are really getting into the spirit this year." Marlene tapped a wreath near 'Privates First Prize'.

"It's all Anna," Skipper muttered, batting a large clump of holly.

"Yea, ALL Anna." Millie grumbled. "Dumb glittering lights."

Anna rolled her eyes at those two, and smiled at Marlene. "Anyway, what did you want to show us?"

Marlene handed them a colorful roster. "This. It's an invite to the lemur's Christmas Party."

Anna beamed happily. "Oooh, sounds like fun!"

"Fun?" Skipper asked, sounding like he thought Anna was mental. "Those lemurs will cause the most frustrating, annoying, ridiculous party ever seen. We aren't going, Marlene, so give it up."

"Party? Heck, yea, I'm going!" Millie grinned, "I love to party!"

"Yea!" Rico said, bringing out his nun chucks.

"I think a Christmas Party would be a nice change of pace around here." Anna said, handing Kowalski the flyer. "You guys seem so uptight."

"We have to be paranoid." Skipper said, raising his flippers and swirling them in front of her face. "Dr. Blowhole doesn't sleep, and neither do we. Remember that, now forget we ever said it."

Anna's eyes got larger as she followed his flippers, and Kowalski grabbed her shoulders and jiggled her slightly. Her eyes came back into focus, and she blinked twice. "Thanks," she said, looking up into his eyes.

He stood there for a second more, still looking down into her soft green eyes. They sparkled with gratitude, and she seemed so sweet when she thanked him. How could anyone not adore her? And then, aware that everyone was looking at him, he let go of her shoulders and stepped to her side.

"I'll go if…" he was going to say, 'if Anna goes', but then he changed it. "…if there's candy."

"So that's everyone, except you, Skipper." Marlene said.

"What about me?" Private asked, left out.

"Oh, you know you go with majority," Marlene dismissed it, "Please, please Skipper?"

"Ah what the heck?" Skipper said, smiling a little. "Sure, lets all go to the party. Maybe it'll be fun."

"Woo-hoo!" Marlene cheered, snatching the flyer back. "I'll go tell them! See you then!"

"Marlene can be so naïve," Skipper said, going back to sipping his coffee. "But no where near as naïve as Anna."

"What?" Anna asked, getting out from under the tree where she was attaching the skirt, (it didn't help that she know had a large amount of wreath wrapped around her head) and Millie chuckled.

Later, at the party, Anna was sitting over at one of the tables, with Marlene.

"So, don't deny it." Marlene said, while Anna ate another piece of taffy. "Which of them do you like?"

"W-what do you mean…?" Anna asked, purposefully stuffing her mouth with sugar-filled goodies.

"You know what I mean," Marlene said suspiciously, while they watched Rico and Millie dance up on stage to whatever random, hard-rock music was playing. "Who is it? Is it Rico?"

Anna choked. "N-no," she coughed.

"Aha! So you DO like one of them," Marlene said slyly, "So which one is it? Private?"

"No," Anna blushed. "Of course not. He's younger than me!"

"Oh, right." Marlene frowned, "Is it…Skipper?"

"Nope. Too…um, commando I guess." Anna looked away, realizing that she had played into Marlene's hand by leaving only one penguin.

"Soo…" Marlene drug it out, watching Anna's mouth twitch and her cheeks flush with color. "It's Kowalski then, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you're…of course not…that's absolutely…yes." Anna moaned, slamming her head down onto the table top. "Yes, that's true."

"I knew it!" Marlene crowed, swallowing her gum. "I knew it. So how long have you liked him?"

"That's…confidential." Anna said, trying to sound in control.

"It was ever since you saw him, wasn't it?"

"Yes!" Anna said, feeling like a lump of lead. "How do you know these things?"

"I have my ways." Marlene said.

Anna watched Kowalski talk with Skipper, and she wished he would talk to her. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Millie came over and drug her out of her seat.

"Come on, Anna! Karaoke time!" Millie said, handing her a microphone.

"What? No, no!" Anna refused, trying to escape her sisters clutches. "No karaoke."

"Yes, karaoke!" Julien cried, dropping down besides them. "Millie here tells me you can sing like bird. So, I want you both up on stage to sing like tomorrow is gone forever!"

"No way," Anna said, handing Millie the microphone back.

"Aw, come on Anna!" Marlene persuaded, as did everyone else. "Come on. Please?"

"Alright, fine." Anna said, snatching the mic again and allowed Millie to hustle her up onstage. "What song are we singing? Nothing hard-core, I hope?"

We're singing 'The Best Day' by Taylor Swift." Millie said, as the intro to the song came on. Anna gripped her microphone nervously, and allowed Millie to sing the first set, like they always did.

Millie:

I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run

Anna:

Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

Millie:

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you're not scared of anything at all

Anna:

Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

Millie:

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys

Anna:

And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names

Millie and Anna:

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school

But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you

Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay

But I know I had the best day with you today

Millie:

I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am

Anna:

I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you

Anna:

There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me

Millie:

It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

Anna and Millie:

And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
For staying back and watching me shine
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today

Anna's soprano and Millie's alto were perfectly matched, down to the last note. Everyone clapped when they finished, and Anna clambered off the stage awkwardly while Millie lived it up with posing.

"Wow, Anna," Marlene said appraisingly, "You guys can really sing!"

"Thanks," Anna said, still feeling a little embarrassed even as the next song came on. "We used to take choir at school, so we got used to singing together. We were the only people in that class. Our school was small."

"Apparently," Marlene said, before she walked over to talk to Skipper.

Anna was barely given time to gather her cool back up when Kowalski approached. "Hey, Anna," he said, making her spin around to face him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Kowalski! Nothing, I'm doing nothing." Anna ignored the fact that Marlene was winking at her from behind Kowalski's back. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." He said, and waited for her to say something, because he was absolutely tongue-tied just by looking at her.

"This party is actually kind of nice," Anna said, "I mean, I was expecting something more…"

"Rocker-style?" Kowalski said, smirking.

"Yea, pretty much." Anna said, sitting down in a nearby chair. "But it is actually calm, and almost Christmas themed."

Kowalski laughed at that. "I think Marlene may have helped Julian with the planning. That is my theory as to why she was so gung-ho about us coming tonight."

"Good theory," Anna said, and allowed herself to listen to the music playing. 'Yellow' by Coldplay was on now.

"Aw, I love this song!" Anna said, and allowed herself to hum the tune a little bit.

Kowalski wanted to ask her to dance. But at the thought of talking to her, his mouth went dry and his mind went blank. Kowalski had never been in this type of situation before. Oh come on! Skipper would know exactly what to say! And he isn't the 'options guy', for crying out loud! Just talk to her…she is a penguin the same as you.

"Um, Anna?"

Anna looked up, and saw this look of intense nervousness on Kowalski's face. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if…perhaps you wouldn't mind…if it would please you to…would you like to dance? You know, with me?" He finally spit it out, and looked her straight in the eyes.

But Anna was freaking out on the inside.

I have to say something sophisticated and cool. Casual. Isn't this where, in the movies, the heroine says something smart and witty back to him? And for goodness sakes, don't stare at him like an idiot.

"Uh, um…yes. I would like that, very much." Anna and Kowalski awkwardly walked out to the dance floor, and weren't quite sure how to start. The music was playing, the others were dancing, but they couldn't seem to jump in with the beat.

"I have to warn you, I've never done this before," Anna said, as they locked fingers and started to dance. "So it'll be pretty bad."

"I haven't either," Kowalski said, "But we seem pretty evenly matched."

Anna allowed herself to relax, and smile. "Yes. Yes, we do."

Meanwhile, the punch bowl was being drunk dry by Rico and Millie, while Skipper stood beside Maurice. Private was playing limbo with Julian and Mort.

"Well, well, well, will you look at that." Maurice said, spinning Skipper around to see Anna and Kowalski, laughing and dancing. "I knew they would fall for each other some day."

"Sweet Nancy Dradles!" Skipper cried, spitting punch all over the floor. "I can't believe it! That's one of my men dancing with a female? Allowing himself to be distracted? But that's impossible! My men are well trained, far too professional to fall 'in love'!"

"That female is Anna, so it's not a big surprise." Maurice mumbled, drinking some more punch.

"What do you mean, it's not a surprise?"

"All I'm saying is that Kowalski and Anna have been destined since day one, so you can't be angry." Maurice shambled off to Julian's call.

"Who says?" Skipper lectured, pacing. "I can't allow my men to become distracted by some eyelash-batting female who wanders across their path! No, I have to keep them on track! Besides, love can be a dangerous game, and Kowalski is just a boy of sixteen! He could get hurt! No, no, I have to speak to him about this, later. When Anna isn't around."

Unfortunately for the couple, Anna was eventually drug away by her sister to play limbo, and Kowalski was left alone. Skipper seized his chance.

I have to act natural, he thought, sipping some more punch. "Oh, hey, Kowalski." He said, leaning against the table.

Kowalski, who had been daydreaming, was snapped to reality. "Hmm? Oh, hey, Skipper."

"Yea. Hey to you to, Kowalski. So…what have you been up to?" Skipper said, trying to sound casual, but not exactly succeeding.

"Oh, nothing." Kowalski said, but he grinned when he remembered how Anna and him had danced for almost an hour, and never run out of things to say.

"Really?" Skipper just couldn't play the casual game. "Is dancing with a green-eyed, female scientist sweetheart nothing?"

Kowalski was suddenly nervous. "H-huh?"

"Exactly! It's not! So what were you doing, dancing with Anna?"

"Skipper, what are you talking abo…alright, fine! We just danced to a few songs, nothing else. We're friends, Skipper."

"Right, just like Manfreddi and Johnson were friends with those buck-toothed alligator-sharks in central America." Skipper said, advancing on his soldier with menace. "And do you know what happened to them, Kowalski?"

Kowalski gulped. "N-no…"

"Neither do I. And that's the scary part!"

"Oh, Skipper, it was nothing. Really." Kowalski said.

"Well whatever it was, I don't want it to happen again, understand?"

Kowalski sighed. "Affirmative."

"Good." Skipper relaxed his grip on his tin cup, and allowed himself another cup of punch.

But Kowalski knew, even as he said the word, the only thing that was 'affirmative' was how he felt about Anna.