A/N: RainbowRose17, you caught my mistake! Molar is a shark, not a dolphin. I was tired when I wrote that. Thank you though, love! And now, on with the chapter! Read and review!

It was a surprisingly peaceful day. No impending threats, no tension, and the sun was out!

"It's been a fantastic day…" Shelley grinned, swimming peacefully in the waters of the otter habitat. "The guys took us on a tour of the zoo."

"So you finally got to meet everyone!" Marlene smiled.

"The lemurs are growing on me."

"Yeah, but there's no one we like quite so much as you, Marlene," Nina admitted.

"Aww!" Marlene gushed. "Thank you, guys!" She noticed Hunter struggling with her flippers in the corner. "What's up with her?"

"Phil tried to teach her sign language," Sandy explained, "but it's hard when you don't have fingers."

"That's rough. Hey, Sandy, I bet you made some friends today!"

"You know, I did. That elephant is really sweet. I also like Joey. His accent is awesome."

"Ooh…" Marlene smirked. "Do I sense a little crush developing?"

Shelley snorted. "Oh, please. We know she only has eyes for Skipper."

"I do not!" Sandy groaned. "I don't even know where you got that idea."

Marlene smiled. "You know, there was this one time where Alice put too much chlorine in the water, and my fur was bleached totally white. Skipper thought I was a different otter, and he was head over heels for me."

She frowned. "He was?"

"You're jealous."

Sandy rolled her eyes. "You think you're so smart. Why don't we pick on Nina?"

"If you must know," Nina smiled, "Private and I are just having fun. He's an amazing friend and one of the sweetest animals I've ever met."

"He's certainly toothache-inducing."

"Actually, I was going to get him a snow cone as a thanks for showing me around. I should probably do that now." She got up.

"Get one for all of us!" Sandy called after her right before she left.

"Snow cones, swimming, and no trouble…" Shelley kicked her feet up. "This is the life."

XX

"So, I've been meaning to ask…." Sam caught Sandy off guard at the penguin habitat. "Now that your archenemy isn't much of a threat anymore, do we still work together or do we have to go back to hating each other?"

She laughed. "No, I think we can still work together. I'd say we even make a pretty good team…um, all of us, not just the two of us individually."

"Right. Anyways, should call it a night. I've got reason to believe Ringtail is going to be an annoyance tomorrow."

"Hey, Skipper?" Sandy sighed. "Can I tell you something?"

"You haven't been working for Hans this whole time, have you?!" He turned on her.

"What?! No! Who's Hans?! Never mind! I just…" She inched closer. "I just kind of…I have to say that…I have fee…um, I think I have a cr…I…I like-"

"SANDY!" Shelley swam up, her face shaking with worry. "Where's Nina?!"