Welcome to today's chapter. I'm skipping a lot of time, for various reasons. But now we are present in 2005. With that, we're now entering the realm of the movies and TV show. But that does mean I can throw passing mentions at the original movies now.

My thought is that in 2005, the idea for the show wasn't a thought yet and didn't become one until 2007. The show had its early special in late 2008, and the first episode with Marlene was in 2009, so you'll see or hear mention of those events. And of course we'll figure out where the parents went. Now let's get started with today's chapter, shall we?

CHAPTER 15 – Limitations

(P staying with Diana) I woke up gracefully, finally done with sleeping. As always, the first thing I saw was Sebastien. We had been married for over 10 years now and it brought me great joy that we were still together. I looked towards the back of the cave and saw my two children, Marlene and Emily. I loved them, even though they had caused some mischief in their lives.

It was getting close to Marlene's birthday as well, since it was now mid-July. In fact, her birthday was exactly a month away, August 12th. She would soon be double-digits, 10. Of course, Sebastien and I were getting on in years too. We could still do everything we had done before, but at a slightly slower pace. Only slightly.

Sebastien and I, mostly due to the children, hadn't been militarily active in almost 11 years now. Time really does fly when you're raising children. Of course, we were still doing the best to make sure they didn't turn out evil, which was excellent. We didn't want to have to fight our own children someday.

But the children were doing very well, just like everyone else. Everyone was all friends with each other, especially the children. They had their rivalries, but they also had their trust. And the rivalries were purely fun. They were all vying for the winner of each year's Internet Popularity Contest.

After ticket sales had been falling, and noticing our antics were more than just ruses, the aquarium bosses decided to help us help them. As the children competed to win the contests, more people would visit the aquarium's website and then buy tickets. It had clearly worked, especially for Marlene. She was a star. She had won three times, in 2002, 2003, and 2004. And this year she was aiming for a fourth trophy.

Emily wasn't as concerned with winning, she was mostly just concerned with having fun. She was just as capable as Marlene though. Both of them had their own quirky personalities, which we loved. Marlene was the somewhat loud show boater while Emily was a more reserved Otter. They had no resentment at each other and Marlene was always encouraging Emily to try and beat her. It was a good sister dynamic between those two.

Sebastien then started to stir. I helped him wake up with a kiss, which he immediately knew was coming from me. "Good morning," I said to him quietly, trying not to wake the kids. "Good morning Diana," he said happily to me. We stood up and headed out of the cave to talk without disturbing the children.

"So Sebastien, what's our plan today?" I asked him. "Well today is popularity contest day so we should make sure that the children stay safe by setting up spots for them to land and not be injured," he replied. "Good plan," I said, agreeing with him.

We were about to do so when the keepers came in. They always came in early on days like today, so we opted to stay in the shadows. "So has there been any news on those missing animals from the Central Park Zoo in New York?" the male keeper asked the female one. "No honey. It's weird, like they up and vanished," she said. *

"Well let's hope the animals here don't go crazy. At least it's really only Otters and Penguins we have to worry about, since we mostly just have fish," he said. "Agreed. But we need to watch them more closely. Our Otters especially seem to be more intelligent than any other animal we have," the female keeper said. "I agree with you on that honey. Once the prices come down we should upgrade the camera in here to HD. It would help both the Internet viewers and us," he said.

After they had checked to make sure everything was in place for today, they left. Sebastien and I then stepped out of the shadows and back into the light. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about those missing animals. What kind were they again?" I asked Sebastien.

"I think the main four that people were talking about were a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippo. I think some Penguins were involved too," Sebastein said. "Hmm. Penguins are strange creatures. As we've learned, from talking to them," I said. "Yes. I'm thinking a few of them are like what we were over 15 years ago. Do you think we should ask the General? It's been awhile since we contacted him," I said.

"Sure, let's ask him. It's been a few months since we last spoke. At least emails are a lot quicker since he got a Blackberry," Sebastien said. ** "If only we could get one. But the keepers have been very diligent about what gets into our habitats since those animals disappeared," I said.

"Plus the children would know about these activities. I'd prefer they not get involved until they're at least how old we were," Sebastien said. "I'd prefer they not get involved at all. I don't want them to suffer what we went through, or the other way around," I said.

"I'd like that even better. We will have to tell them the truth one day, no matter how hard it will be. They deserve to know the truth. After all, it's what brought them to us," Sebastien said. "I know. I just wish we hadn't lost our parents in the first place. Who knows, maybe we still would be here with them and our own children," I said sadly.

Sebastien gave me a hug, which I needed. Right after our hug was over we heard the girls waking up and went inside to greet them. "Good morning Marlene and Emily," Sebastein and I said happily to them. "Good morning Mom and Dad," replied, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"So are you two ready for the big day? Do you have all your plans worked out to try and win again?" I asked the girls. Marlene's eyes shot open immediately. "Oh absolutely Mom. I'm raring to go," she said. "How about you Emily?" Sebastein asked her. "Yep, I'm good too Dad," she replied.

"That's good. Are you going to tell us what you're going to do or are you going to leave it to our imaginations?" I asked them. "I've been working really hard while everyone has been sleeping," Marlene said. "I've been working hard too. Maybe I'll finally dethrone you this year sis," Emily said to Marlene. "Well good luck Emily. It would feel good to know that my sister beat me," Marlene said. That brought a smile to all our faces.

Suddenly Emily seemed to shake a little. "Are you alright dear?" Sebastien asked her. "I don't know. Maybe it was something I ate," she said. I began to feel a little sick as well. So did Sebastien. Marlene seemed ok, but I then sprinted to the back of the cave and found the drain. The three of us who felt sick then upchucked into the drain, our stomachs not happy at all with something we had eaten.

"Are you guys ok?" Marlene asked us as we tried to get our bearings. "Maybe. I just won't eat anything for breakfast honey," I said to her. "How come you're fine?" Emily asked her older sister. "I don't know. I didn't have dinner last night. Maybe that's it," Marlene suggested. "You're probably right dear," Sebastien said to her.

With this mystery solved and the three of us who had puked feeling better, we all headed out of the cave. It seemed everyone else had gotten a little sick too, but we all felt fine now. After chatting for about an hour, the keepers came to help us get ready

They were telling us to be careful, like they always did. But when they were almost done with talking, I felt sick again. All the families ran into the caves and once again gagged into the drain again. It felt awful. We had caught some kind of bug, apparently. Since the keepers now obviously knew we were sick, the festivities would have to be postponed.

We finally stopped after about a minute or so. "Marlene, you're really lucky you didn't eat anything last night," Emily said to her, as she recovered. "I feel really bad for you sis. Something in the food last night was tainting them," Marlene said.

The keepers then approached the cave and coaxed us out. We complied, knowing they were going to take us to the vet. Everyone was with them already and once we were collected, we headed to the vet. We all tried to relax and keep last night's dinner down, but it was not happy with us.

We were thoroughly checked out and it was indeed food poisoning that had affected us. Marlene was the only one unaffected, as she hadn't eaten last night's dinner. The doctors recommended that the activities for today be postponed, due to the extenuating circumstances. The keepers wholeheartedly agreed, once again showing us that they really care for us.

(P to two weeks later and staying with Diana) It had been two weeks since the food poisoning had cancelled the usual Internet Popularity Contest events, but now they were back on and the kids were very excited. They had been practicing their routines like crazy since the doctors had cleared everyone for performances. The food was now being thoroughly checked even more now, to prevent the food poisoning from happening again.

"Are you two ready for the rescheduled contest?" I said to the children. "Absolutely Mom," Emily said to me. "I'm raring to go," Marlene said. We were just about to head out when the keepers appeared outside the habitat, beckoning us outside. This was irregular, as it felt earlier than usual.

We headed out curiously, wondering what was going on. "Good morning you four. As much as you're excited for the Internet Popularity Contest getting underway today, we have some bad news," the male keeper said to us. ***

"Marlene, the owners think you're responsible for making everyone sick in order to help yourself. As much as we've tried to convince them otherwise, they have the final say. They've banned you from winning this and any other Internet Popularity Contests in the future," the female keeper said. ****

"What? That's totally unfair," Marlene said. Naturally, they couldn't understand us but could easily tell that Marlene was not happy. "We're really sorry, but as much as we've tried to appeal over the last week, they said we would be fired if we gave you a trophy," the male keeper said.

"But we do have some consolation though. Even though you can't win ever again, you'll be allowed to keep your existing wins. And you'll also be able to help out anyone you choose to help them win, including your sister. Your help will only slightly help their rankings, so it'll still be on the main animal to perform well," the female keeper said to our eldest. *****

"Come on you two, chop, chop. Stop wasting time trying to communicate with the animals and get ready for them to perform," we heard an owner say. A few were nice, but this one was not at all, more concerned with money than the genuine care we were getting. Clearly they had blocked Marlene.

With that, the keepers left us, grumbling to themselves at this specific owner. "How can they do that? That's totally unfair. It was clearly food poisoning caused by a lack of oversight. They control us so well that I couldn't do anything if I tried," Marlene said, not at all happy with her new predicament. "I agree with you sis. There's got to be something we can do," Emily said to her sister.

Sebastien and I were stuck. We could get into the computer system, but that would cause a whole bunch of problems. Not only could we get our excellent keepers fired, but the children would find out about our past earlier than we wanted them to. With Marlene about to turn 10 and her sister following that 7 months later, it was far off from our desires of them being young adults so we could tell them our past.

Sebastien and I walked up to Marlene and gave her a hug, which she accepted, even though she was angry at her predicament. "We're very sorry this happened to you sweetheart. We wish we could help you," Sebastien said to her.

"Me too Dad. Maybe one day I'll be able to get this wiped off my record," Marlene said, turning her bad situation into a hope for the future. "There you go Marlene. Always remember to look at the positive side of things. It pays well to be an optimist," I said to her. ******

Marlene smiled. "Thanks Mom. I guess it does. Well sis, since I've been disqualified, how about I focus all my efforts on helping you?" she asked Emily. My youngest smiled. "Thanks Marlene. I'd really like that," she said, as they went inside to plan their next moves.

I was so happy we had raised these two in this way. As I was lost in my thoughts, Sebastien snuck up and kissed me. I happily kissed him back. "We're doing a good job raising those two," I said happily to him. "That we did Diana, that we did," he said happily, making us kiss again.

And that's where I will end today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, especially with my thoughts on Marlene's scandal. As to that, and anything else you might be curious about, please read the notes below. And if you enjoyed this story, please leave a review. They mean a lot, so I'd really appreciate them. See you in the next chapter!

* Obviously I'm referring to Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, the Penguins, and the chimps to when they were found outside of the zoo and then wound up in Madagascar.

** It's still 2005, so Blackberries were at the top of the popularity charts, with iPhones still two years away.

*** Remember, they somewhat know what's up, due to the rise of the Internet Popularity Contests. Just enough to think they operate like humans, but not enough to realize they are as intelligent as humans.

**** I wanted to go with something more innocent here. I felt that if I made Marlene do something drastic, it might be too out of character for her.

***** I made sure to put this in, as in "Tangled In The Web," Marlene is seen helping Julien try to win the Central Park Zoo's Internet Popularity Contest.

****** Based off their past, it's very evident that Diana and Sebastien would teach their children to be optimistic. This also is the reason why Marlene is more open to things such as new residents in the zoo, versus Skipper's paranoia.