A/N: I was supposed to update this yesterday, so I'm sorry that it's late. I honestly do apologize to all... Five of you reading this. Three of you are Ponytail 30527, Soothesayer16, and Knockknocktimerico. Thanks, you guys, for reading and reviewing. Seriously, I love reviews. Send me your reviews! Do, please!
Chapter 3: I Do/Do Not Know You
Peanut looked at Roz, who smiled at him. "Not me, little brother. Your OTHER sister." His eyes widened. He had ANOTHER sister!? "Yeah, our oldest sibling, Xiao Ren. We just call her Renni. Actually, mom." Roz's face darkened with worry and concern, as did Cube's when he sat next to her. "That's why we're here."
Cube and Roz left California some months ago. Their zoo had gotten a giant shipment of animals, mostly babies, and, finding that baby otters were only fun for a little while, the pair decided to leave it all in the dust. The first choice was to find their aunts or uncle, but they only knew that their aunts were in Southern California, so that's where they went. When they got there, however, they found their aunts... but not Renni, who was supposed to be with them. They told the two that she left one day, in search of her mom, and never came back. Thus began an awesome trip cross-country, and, a good few months and more than a dozen adventures later, they got to New York City.
Which got them to the current point of still not knowing where Renni was. "We were hoping she was here with you, but..." Looking around, she obviously wasn't there. Marlene frowned, and shook her head, telling them she hadn't even heard from Renni for the longest time. If anything, this only made Roz and Cube sadder. Peanut supposed he should be too... she was his sister too, after all... But he didn't know her, or what was going on, really. "I guess there's only one thing to do." Roz, resolved. All eyes were on her as she thought about it, and, reading Cube's stare, made her decision. "We stay until further notice." Everyone cheered, and Peanut seemed the most excited. Just wait till everyone found out he had a brother and a sister! (Technically, he had two sisters, but Roz was there and Renni was not...)
Since it was late, the three of them decided to relax on the floor. Marlene was on a couple of popcorn sacks above them, curled up and in the early stages of sleep. It was then that Peanut tried to get to know his new brother and sister better. "So... You... had a dad?" When Roz nodded yes, he delved deeper. "What was your dad like?"
A soft noise came from her throat. "Our dad." She said. Peanut asked her to repeat herself, but she just shook her head, saying never mind. "Cube looks just like him, you know?" She said, looking back at her big brother. He was leaning back, asleep, it had been a big day for him. "He was... a musician. And a fighter. One time..." She proceeded to tell him a great story about how he stopped a tiger, just by singing to it. Most of it was probably fiction, because she said she wasn't there, but Peanut enjoyed it too. Unbeknownst to either of them, so did Marlene. She remembered that story. It was true, but she said nothing, and just listened. "He really was a hero, Peanut." She thought for a minute, considering her little brother. "I think you would have liked him." A smile crossed her face as she patted his head. "And I know he would have liked you."
The boy scooted closer to her, and she held him in a tight backwards hug. While she was messing with the fur on his head, he heard her say that she's glad she got a new brother. Not that there was anything wrong with her other one. "Really? But... you just met me."
Roz shrugged. "It doesn't matter." Brown eyes peaked at him from somewhere above and he smiled. "You're family, even if I never met you, I'd be glad that I had a brother like you." Not long afterward, the two were fast asleep, very glad to have found comfort in their new family.
Something very warm and wet woke Peanut up only a few hours later. He looked down at his leg, and saw... his sister. "Roz... Rooooz.... ROOOOZZZ..." This was becoming very uncomfortable, very fast. "ROZALIN!" Peanut yelled, waking her up, along with everyone else in the habitat. She looked around, not really sure what his problem was. "You're holding my leg and drooling. Is this something I need to get used to, or..." Marlene snickered and Roz looked extremely embarrassed. Apologizing, she let go of his leg and began to rub her arms.
It appears young Roz has a confession to make. "I was having the best dream... my love was in it." At that second, Marlene felt two things: Completely Confused and Very Old. Her little daughter didn't fall in love, or have crushes, she was too young for that. And if she did, that would mean the girl was getting older, and if she was then surely Marlene-- OH MY GOSH, was that a wrinkle!? As her mother had an internal panic attack, Roz continued. "You see, I... I... I am in love... with pineapple." Oh. Well then. False alarm. Cube was relentless with his laughter, and didn't even bother to hold it in, even when choking on it. "Yes, get your sick laughs in now, but what we have is special." Getting up, Roz makes sure her mouth is clean before making her way out of the cave. Her mother and brothers only asked her where she was going. "I have to find pineapple. I need to tell him how I feel." She turned around and sighed, before stating dramatically, "Don't wait up."
It was hard to tell if she was being 100% serious, or if she was 50% serious and 50% playing them all.
Overcome with silent giggles, it took a while for Cube to even get off the floor. "That was the greatest th-thing I've ever seen!" He said, wiping the tears away. It seemed that that wasn't normal for the girl, and Peanut was the only one thoughtful enough to ask about it. "Oh, no. That's not normal." Cube was taken over by a new wave of giggles. "At least, not for Roz. I never knew," He had to stop when he burst out laughing. "How she felt about... Pineapple!" Both he and his mother fell on top of each other, laughing hard. "Did you see how straight faced she was?" Peanut chuckled a bit before getting his blanket and sitting with his mom and brother, who instantly wrapped his arms around him.
Meanwhile, Roz was facing her fears head-on, and let her love know exactly what she felt. "You see, I've felt this way for a long time, and I didn't even know it, or want to admit it. But it's time now. Pineapple... I love you." The pineapple didn't answer, just rolled over on it's side. But the girl took this as a yes. To what... I'm not even sure. "Oh, pineapple, you've made me so happy!" Squealed Roz, before getting a knife and cutting it open. "You're sweet... and juicy... Mmm... and really tasty on pizza." She said, enjoying what could possibly be the greatest night of her life.
The next morning found a very sticky, and very full Roz laying near the entrance of her new home. She rubbed her self with her pineapple covered hands and looked around, stretching slowly. The zoo was bright and now that it had people, she thought she could get used to living here. Her hands were starting to stick together, so she took a quick dip in the pool, much to the people's enjoyment. A sly smile crossed her face. The otter never really tried entertaining the humans before... this could be... enlightening. Very quickly, she tip-toed back into the cave, grabbed a speaker and her brother's iPod, and slid back outside.
A quick set up later, and she was ready to perform! Little did she know, she was being watched by the boys at Julian's place. "Who is the littlest otter?" Julian asked Maurice, careful not to tread on his son, or any of his little guests. His chubby friend simply shrugged, and both began to watch her. The others slowly started to wake up. Marshal glared across the sidewalk at the otter habitat.
As his eyes grazed across Roz's dancing form he felt himself getting irritated, but he wasn't sure exactly why. It must have been her impression on him from the night before.. "Oh. That's Roz, one of Marlene's kids. I guess she's a show off too." The song Roz was dancing to was bouncy, and the guests were enjoying every second of it. So were Julian and his son. "They arrived last night, her and her brother."
No one was listening to him, and Roz finished her routine by falling onto the ground. The crowd went crazy, waking up the rest of the zoo. "That was a blast! Now I know why other animals do it." She said, trying to catch her breath, and making a few bows at the same times. Her main routine was just her basic capoeira moves, put to music. It was an area of study in which she was something of an expert. The girl couldn't really dance, but she could fight well. A couple of minutes passed before Cube, Peanut and Marlene came out to see a very excited and pumped up Roz. Their mother suggested they take a tour of the zoo, so they could get acquainted with everyone.
A second later, they were off, heading first to Julian's place. Peanut mentioned his sleep-over and Roz looked confused. "You were supposed to be here last night? But you were with us, what about your friends?" It really touched Roz that her brother gave up playing with her friends to get to know her. But before she could say anything else, she was accosted by a very bouncy ball of brown fur.
"You are the one who was dancing before, almost as good as me." Roz groaned, obviously disgusted. She pushed him, and brushed herself off before shrugging. Prince J.J sat up and watched her with excited yellow eyes. When he got a closer look at her, she was actually very pretty, he thought.
"If that's what you want to call it. But I wasn't dancing." From somewhere above her, Marshal laughed. It took most of everything she had not to just jump up and pound him right then. "I wasn't! I was... fighting." She finished lamely. Jumping down in front of her, Marshal glared. For some reason, they just didn't click. He crossed his arms and challenged her, asking her to show him.
At first, she didn't really want to, she'd rather go around the zoo and just have fun. But the more he asked, the more she couldn't resist... and soon, she was stepping back and forth... what Marshal could only consider as dancing. Her footwork became more frantic, and she added flips and cartwheels to whatever it was she was doing. Cube smiled. His little sister had been working on those moves ever since Skipper left, and... Oh, speak of the devil. The penguin leader was watching a few yards away, seemingly impressed with the moves the young otter was performing without fault.
Unfortunately, Marshal didn't realize he was being watched, and he threw a short punch at the girl, which she leap-frogged over with ease before kicking back and hitting him in the back. He fell on his face, and everyone around him laughed, though stopped when he glared up at them. "Aww, did you fall down?" Roz smiled and bounced her way to Skipper, who picked her up with ease. "Don't worry, I bet your dad never told you that I beat him when I was your age." The penguin looked a little offended. As a matter of fact, he hadn't told anyone about that. "Skipper, did you see!? I've been practicing, I've gotten LOADS better." She said, excitedly. Skipper smiled as she told him all about her newest moves and studies, much to Marshal's displeasure. It wasn't that he didn't like Roz. He barely knew her. But she was sucking up to his dad, and it was starting to annoy him. Just because he knew her first, and she had come across the country to visit them. He would have to talk to his dad about that himself.
The group started toward the slasher habitat, to go say hello to the girls, just for a quick introduction.
All of the girls were already awake, and had been since the crowds came in. They were nestled in the back, playing silly games girls usually did at slumber parties. "Okay, Athena, your turn. Pick a number." Haley instructed. Elli held up a cootie-catcher (Where they got one, I do not know. But girls will find them, and play with them.) and Athena rolled her eyes. She didn't really believe in this type of thing, but she picked a number, then a color, then another color. "Your first boyfriend will be... a mystery!" She said. That was only an option because they ran out of boys.
Elli's laugh echoed around the cave, and the other penguin just smiled. She highly doubted her first boyfriend would be a mystery. He'd have to be someone she knew, and that she could share things with. Someone fun, and smart, and--
A loud knocking noise came from the front of the cave, and the girls yelled for whoever it was to come in. It was Marlene, followed by Skipper, who was holding a... something. The thing laughed and looked around at the other girls. It was an otter, one who was about their age. Skipper introduced her as Roz, then looked around and pushed another otter to the foreground, known as Cube. "These are my brother and sister!" Peanut said loudly, causing the girls to jump up and look at the two curiously. The girl was hugging Skipper while watching them all, shyly, but still slightly pleased. Cube, on the other hand, was smiling and laughing and talking with... Athena's dad. Her eyes grew wide as she looked him over. His hands and forearms were covered with big gray gloves, and he was talking to her father about things she thought no one else was smart enough to understand...
"Athena? You okay?" Elli had only seen this look on her friend a few times before, and then right after, Athena would shriek "EUREKA!" and rush off to do some scientific thing. This time, she was just staring at the boy otter and-- oh. OH! It finally clicked. The young penguin's beak curled up into a knowing smile and she nudged Haley and Maurisa, while Lily and Nellie watched eagerly. "I think we found Athena's mystery boy." She whispered, causing the girls to giggle shrilly. Just then, Athena snapped out of whatever trance she was in to look around, and question her friend's loud giggles.
On the other hand, Rozalin was having little to no luck getting J.J. (Who she found out was Julian's son) to leave her ALONE. Hence the reason she stayed securely fastened to Skipper's neck, not wanting to be let down in case the shark formally known as the Prince decided to attack her. But she was starting to look like a child more and more, holding on to her favorite penguin's neck the whole time. Besides, J.J. was off with someone else, she saw him leave... or at least she thought she did. She jumped down and made her way to the girls.
Moving her bangs out of the way, she could count two penguins, two ducks, a lemur and some sort of wild cat thing. "Hi." She said simply. After that, she had NO clue what to do. Other animals her age weren't her thing. But making friends seemed to be a big thing around here.
The smallest penguin was the first to get up, shake her hand and introduce herself as Elli, Private's daughter. That made sense, Roz thought, considering the accent. She even took the time to introduce the others, including Kowalski's daughter, Athena, who was watching her brother very strangely. "Uhmm... what's wrong with--" She didn't even have to complete the sentence before the girls began their shrill titters again. Elli explained her theory and Roz's eyes grew to twice their normal size. "Really!? Adorable, but she's wasting her time." When Haley's face scrunched up and she asked her why, the otter knew she might be alienating herself by doing this, but they did ask. She called Cube over, and Kowalski turned to talk to Skipper instead. "Hey Cube, this is Athena. Kowalski's daughter."
At first, the two looked as though they'd hit it off. However, looks can be deceiving, and then this happened.
"I didn't know Kowalski had a daughter, though. Who's your mom?" Cube asked. His natural inquisitiveness usually got the best of him, but it almost always caused him trouble. Like this time.
"Actually... I'm adopted." A small blush appeared over Athena's beak, or so she thought, and she wished she could control it. Especially in front of Cube. He was so smart, and nice, and funny, and...
"Oh. Well, that makes sense. I mean, you know, you couldn't have just come from him." She raised an eyebrow as he said this, and the girls, who were listening in, looked shocked, not believing he had just said that. "Not that... you COULDN'T be his daughter, just... You know, it makes sense that you're adopted, Kowalski's a good guy for taking in an orphan." Jaws dropped as they listened to the conversation, or in this case, Cube's rambling, progress. Roz rubbed her temple. She knew it would be bad, but she didn't think it would get this bad. Or even get worse. Unfortunately, it did. "That's... that wasn't supposed to sound that bad. Just that, when your parents have died, you know--"
Roz decided then that she should end this before it got any more painful. For anyone. She pulled on Cube's arm, and screwed up her face, complaining how she left something at home. He sighed in relief and told her to stay there while he let the penguins know they were leaving. Nodding ruefully, she waited for him to leave before turning to the other girls, who were watching a very shocked and confused looking Athena space out. "Okay, I didn't even think it would be that bad." She admitted, not masking a humorless chuckle. "He must REALLY like her."
At that, Elli got very excited. If there was a chance that Athena could have the perfect boyfriend... "We should set them up!" She half whispered, and half yelled. Roz grinned. That was so cute, she had to fight to resist the urge to just squeeze the little penguin. As Elli, Nellie, Lily and Haley began to figure out a plan, Cube escorted Roz and Maurisa home, and waved a very shy good-bye to Athena, who waved back, not even looking as if she should.
The small blond otter waved good-bye to the other girls too, who all shouted their salutations back to her, asking if she could play another time or hang out with them. Roz smiled and nodded, all the while thinking how interesting this trip was turning out to be.
------------
Next Time on Geeze Doumani!
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Wait... what fight? Who's fighting? (A crowd has gathered around in a circle to watch a fight between two of the animals) Hey! Move! Okay, I need to see to be able to write about this... WHO'S FIGHTING!? Ugh, what animals!
See you next time!
Please Review.
(5 Days Till Chapter Four!)
