A/N: I don't own the minis, except for Roz and Cube. And I only own this plot. But I think it's awesome. The usual thanks to Ponytail30527, for being awesome, as usual, and.... yeah! That's all.

Chapter Ten: Just Practice

Roz lead the way back to the penguins' habitat, where Cube and Athena were bonding over some mugs of hot chocolate and stories Kowalski was telling them about the old days. The pair seemed to be enjoying each other's company more and more, Cube glad he had someone to match wits with, and Athena glad she had someone she could finally relate to. It seemed as though such a perfect time shouldn't end…

A blond ball of fur came rushing in, almost falling into Kowalski's lap. "Sorry, Kowalski. I need to borrow Athena right quick. Just for a minute." Roz said, tugging at her. Athena didn't look like she wanted to go though. On the contrary, she was thinking of a reason to stay. But Roz wasn't having any of it and she pulled her up anyways. "JUST for a minute, Athena, please?" Both girls sighed as Athena finally got up and headed toward the hatch, then over to the lemur habitat.

"I don't get it, Roz, what did you want that you couldn't tell me about downstairs?" In truth, Roz didn't want to get everyone involved. The less people who knew about this, the better. That, and if she said no, there would be more people telling her that it wasn't a good idea in the first place. They would be on her side… it was, after all, her singing voice. "Come on, tell me what's—"

It happened almost instantly. There was a whistle, and Athena kinda turned colors faster than a stop light. "Athena! Long time, no talkin' to." Buck said, rushing up to her at an impossible speed. "How you doin'?" His eyebrows went up in probably the creepiest way the girls had ever seen, causing Athena to recoil. Though, it wasn't until she saw his brother that the picture started to take form in her mind.

She knew. "Roz… what am I doing here? Tell me right NOW!"

This wasn't going to end very well, was it?

"Okay, so we KINDA have a problem…" She started, but was stopped almost immediately by Athena's flipper in her face.

Behind it, she could see that Athena… well, she wasn't very pleased, to say the least. "We have a problem? WE have a problem!? Yes, WE do have a problem. WE now have two boys in the zoo that are girl crazy. THAT is a problem, Roz!" To her credit, Roz never realized that the boys were all that girl crazy. Sure they stared at her tail end the whole time they were running to the zoo. And yeah, they did try to hug her an awful lot. And everything they said seemed to be some sort of… Oh… Poopy.

Definitely wasn't going to end well.

So maybe they now had TWO problems. "Okay, so that wasn't the smartest move…" At this, Athena had to scoff. "I didn't know! But we really need your help! Please, I'm… I messed up. Royally. And I'm sorry, I'm trying to fix it, though! Please?" Roz wasn't used to begging. She wasn't used to apologizing. And she REALLY wasn't used to doing stuff for animals she didn't really care for. Athena caught Roz staring off into space and looked around, finally spotting J.J. a few feet away, looking miserable. So that's what this was about…

Athena sighed, not sure what she was going to even do. It wasn't as if she didn't like to sing, she loved it. But she wasn't sure how she would do in front of a huge crowd! "Roz, I… I have stage fright. I can't sing in front of people!" There was no way she was going to risk messing up in front of everybody, and if Cube had ever laughed at her… She didn't know what she'd do. "I'd like to help, but—" Roz shrugged and nodded, as if she understood, and a little voice awakened in the back of Athena's mind. "Wait." The little otter turned around, looking a bit more hopeful. "What if I just… practice with you guys. I mean, you'll get your dance down and everything… BUT I WON'T SING ON STAGE! Just… practice. Without people watching."

It seemed like a reasonable enough deal. Roz smiled at her and shook her flipper. "Agreed!" To her, this was like a baby step forward for her to sing up on that stage anyways. "Though now… I think we should pick a different song. Buck, Jack, get your instruments ready! I have a plan!"

Looking down at the lyrics on the page, Athena wasn't a hundred percent sure she wanted to go through with this. In fact, she wasn't sure of any of this. What if she got stage fright again, threw up everywhere and ruined the whole talent show for EVERYBODY!? Cube was just telling her how excited he was to be working the equipment, not to mention Buttons' juggling act and the girls' talent show, and—

"Athena? We need yah!" Buck said smartly. Jack looked to his brother, giving him a double thumbs up. "I told you that would work!" Jack high-fived his brother as the penguin in front of them rolled her eyes. "I told you that works!" Athena couldn't help but shake her head. No, no it didn't. It didn't matter, though. She'd sing for now. Then, when it was all over, she'd go back home. And back to Cube… As the boys started to play, Athena thought back to their date. He was sweet and nice… he walked her home, but she didn't go inside. Instead, she stayed out, thinking about everything that had transpired that night. The stars had never looked brighter, she noticed. And her voice never felt stronger.

Roz, on the other hand, never felt weaker. Capoeira by herself was easy. To her own music, at her own pace.

Dancing? A completely different thing entirely.

J.J. would show the steps to the girls, the girls would copy and they'd move on. At least that was the theory.

In reality, Maurisa got it, Roz would fall or trip, or not get it at all. "Maybe," J.J. suggested after Roz fell down for the third time. "We should just… do something easier." Maurisa felt badly for the otter… then again, she still wanted to do well. And this was just as much her act as it was J.J.'s. She could dance well too, you know.

Besides, if she did a good job… everyone would notice. And she wouldn't just be J.J.'s servant anymore. Not that she hated it, but there was more to her than that. For instance, her math skills weren't half bad. "I can't do it, okay?!" Or maybe, Maurisa thought, she didn't really WANT to.

"Yes you can, just let me help you!" Well, if that wasn't the shocker of the century. J.J. was offering to help someone who wasn't himself. That wasn't normal. His paw and hers joined and he helped her stand up again. "Maurisa, help me out over here." There it was again, that word! Help. So help her if she didn't have a heart attack for J.J. surprising her. She got the others to start the music over again. "Okay, do this." J.J. could be a real prince sometimes, Maurisa noted, as he walked (more like crawled) his way through the motions with the otter girl.

Maurisa's steps mimicked the prince's, as she followed along in her own way. And for the longest time, Maurisa didn't think Roz would get the steps. She looked about as coordinated as a baby giraffe. But apparently, J.J. was a great teacher, at least with dancing anyways, and with a little coaching, she picked up the choreography with ease.

By the end of the day, both girls were evenly matched in steps and moves down to the millisecond. Athena belted out the last note and the girls struck their poses. "We did it!" Roz laughed while jumping up and down. Maurisa felt the same, of course, but she just didn't have the energy her friend seemed to.

There was a moment of brief insanity where Roz was reaching out to hug her mentor in thanks… when she remembered who she was about to hug and leaned toward Maurisa and Athena instead. "You girls are awesome! Athena, are you SURE you don't…"

Oh boy, there she went. J.J. had to roll his eyes. Roz was arguing with Athena, trying to convince her that stage fright wasn't a real thing. "Roz, yes it is, you just don't understand it!" Athena's voice rose as she got less bemused and more irritated. J.J. knew the real reason the otter was pushing for that, though. If nothing else, she was trying to help a friend, honestly and truly.

J.J. felt his face grow warm when he thought about the girl, knowing a hundred percent what he felt about her, just… not how to put it in words so that she would understand. Then again… Roz didn't even like him like that. He knew that. That didn't mean she hated him. He could still—

"J.J.!" A voice out of nowhere seemed to scream into his ear, snapping him out of his daydream. "I said… thank you for helping me." It was Roz, a few feet in front of him, smiling slightly.

She sounded like she was sorry for something at the same time, he noted, though she didn't really look it. "Sure Roz. Any time." He said, watching her go.

"Oh, J.J., you got a girlfriend?" Maurisa was just joking, but the prince didn't even laugh.

Instead, he shook his head and said, "You don't even understand" before leaving to go to bed. His servant just rolled her eyes and went back to watching her friends walk home. Athena hopped down the little hole, Buck and Jack, though they weren't really friends, hopped the fence, but not before blowing her a kiss. To which she wrinkled her nose and looked around again. Roz was the last one to get home and was currently getting tackled by her little brother.

Maurisa watched them play-fight the whole time, weaving and unweaving her fingers together. J.J. was more than wrong. She did so understand. Looking around once more, she could see Marshal walking Elli home, making Maurisa smile. She wasn't the only one who understood. It made her wonder what would have happened if this whole talent show never took place.

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Next Time On Geeze Do-- Hey! Watch it,will yah! I'm trying to do the "Next time" thing over here!

Sorry, Miss Author lady. But it's way too crowded back here for you to be writing our reactions!
Yeah, and we're not even ready yet... Has anybody seen my microphone?
I've got a microphone for you...
Shut it, Buck, or I'll rearrange your face!
You talk tough, Marshal, but you got the game to back it up?
Look dude, I know you probably want to kick the bijeebers out of this guy, but we've got a comedy show to put on!
You are SO lucky!
That's what Elli said--
Alright, that does it! Let me go, I'm going to kill him!
Marshal! Don't!
It's a mad house back here! Author-lady, what are you doing here? You've gotta write all this down!
What do you think I'm TRYING to do!? Geeze Doumani!

So, things are hectic back stage, as you can tell, there's a lot going on to prepare for the talent show--

Sorry, excuse me, you haven't seen a cute little otter around, have yah?
Why would a giant alligator want to know that?
Well, I got something for her...
Ah! You're giving away the story! Knock it off and go back to the sewer!
But if I go, who will convince the people to review?
I'll figure it out.

Please review, and I'll see you after my spring break!