A silence fell over all. Thick and suffocating and probably lasting less then a minute but feeling much, much longer. King Julien, Maurice, and Mort looked helplessly at Clover, Julien hoping against hope that it was all just a horrible dream that he would wake up from any moment.
Becca glared amber daggers straight at Clover, her razor sharp words slicing through the silence. "So, you admit it then? That you allowed the fossa to waltz right in and kill lemurs, almost kill all of us?" Becca spread out an arm to indicate the crowd behind her.
Clover looked right back into Becca's blazing eyes as she gave a firm, solemn, "Yes."
An avalanche of voices came tumbling forth and slamming in at all sides. Voices piling on top of each other, blending together into one ear splitting entity drilling through skulls and hearts. Julien, Maurice, and Mort gazed upon Clover in horror while she looked back at them helpless and somber.
"Get out." Becca started to say to Clover dangerously low and then she managed to shout above it all, "Get out! Haven't you done enough!? Get out! Leave us!", her blazing eyes looking ready to burn Clover to a crisp.
Clover winced back. Then set her face into a stern expression, turned around, yanked on Dr. S and ordered, "Come."
In his stunned state, he obediently followed her and they disappeared into the jungle, the clamor of the crowd and desperate cries of Clover's friends on their backs.
…
"Dr. S?"
"Yes?" Dr. S eagerly looked over at Clover. She hadn't said much since they had slipped away from everyone. It was just the two of them making their way through the jungle, Clover showing him how to do parameter checks. Well, more like Clover did the parameter checking with Dr. S following close behind, she giving the occasional comment but mostly going about the task in silence. Silence that had gotten very uncomfortable and all Dr. S wanted was for something to cut through the tension already.
"Do you know what's happened with Mary Ann? Why she didn't keep the other fossa away?" Clover went on to ask.
"Bout as much as everyone else and that's not much. The fossa just showed up at your wedding reception and have kept coming ever since." He saw a pained look flash over Clover's face. Then it was gone, her voice level as she continued.
"And has Mary Ann been seen among them?"
"I haven't seen her and from what I've heard, nobody else has either. Not a trace since the day she chased away those other fossa."
"The same day Sage proposed." Clover said in a grim fashion and from the shocked expression on her face a second later, Dr. S guessed she hadn't meant to say that out loud. He gave her a puzzled look and she then quickly added, a little nervous like, "So uh, no one has any idea what happened to her then?"
"No but there are theories, everyone I know of agreeing that she was probably given an ultimatum by the other fossa. That she either break her promise to King Julien and allow the fossa to go back to hunting you lemurs or be over thrown and killed. Then there's that split, some thinking that she choose to betray you guys so she could remain queen while others think that she refused and was killed for it." Dr. S recapped the rumors he had heard swirling around the hospital. Then added his own opinion. "Personally, I think she's dead."
"You don't know that!" Clover turned on Dr. S, who leaned back away from her, startled. Her eyes were manic as she continued to say, "You said yourself there hasn't been a trace of her, right?! So she could very well be alive and well and is too ashamed and a coward to show herself! Admit it!" Once done with her rant, Clover started to pant, keeping her wild jungle green eyes on Dr. S, who stared back at her confused and also a little frightened.
"You're right, sh-she could be. I d-didn't say she couldn't, I was just repeating what other people said and g-giving my own theory. I didn't say it was the right one." Dr. S stuttered, keeping his distance.
Clover's face fell and her wild eyes simmered down. "Dr. S, I...I'm sorry. I just..." She looked away from him in shame and embarrassment.
Dr. S knew that he had touched a nerve and decided that no good would come from poking it more, so he didn't. "It's fine. Let's talk about something else. Anything else you want to know?"
Clover was glad for the change of subject and she did have a few things she wished to inquire about. "A few things, actually. One being, what's going to happen with your doctor job. Is the plan for you to keep doing that along with kingdom security or finding a replacement or what?"
"Oh no, I'm not gonna stop being a doctor. Nurse Phantom's going to help pick up the slack on that job. I just have two jobs now."
"And that brings me to another point. Where exactly are you and Nurse Phantom working now? You're not still in the cave, right? Cause, that's too far away from the village in a you need to act as quickly as possible situation." Clover pointed out.
"Oh no, we're not staying in the cave..." Cue the sudden dark clouds appearing out of thin air and the random flash of lighting accompanied with booming thunder. Then just as quickly as it appeared, the storm clouds roll away, leaving behind white puffy ones floating in a blue sky. "...Anymore. We're in the old medical hut now, which is being renovated into a real hospital. It's coming along quite nicely actually, would you like to see?"
Clover said yes, she would and soon, they were at Club Moist Hospital at it's brand new location.
On the outside, one could see that the medical hut turned hospital had been greatly added unto. The medical hut itself now had walls, making up the entrance and waiting room attached to the rest of the building. The interior of the waiting room was arranged in typical fashion like it's cave location before, though the new surroundings provided a different kind of atmosphere. Cold gray cave walls had been replaced by warm brown wooden ones. Where once it had been claustrophobic and dark, was now more open with a tall ceiling and windows where sunlight streamed in, bathing the room in warm light. It was still a hospital, with a less then ideal doctor and nurse team in charge but still, Clover felt it was an improvement.
"This actually looks nice, for a hospital anyway. It's definitely an improvement on the cave." Clover commented as she looked about her surroundings.
"Hey, the cave..." The thunder was loud and clear and Dr. S could see flashes of light out of the corner of his eye. Then he continued. "...was a great hospital. Served me and the kingdom well. Though I have to admit, this isn't so bad. Got it's perks. Oh, like the warm spots." He got a little giddy at the last sentence.
"Warm spots?" Clover asked, confused.
Dr. S slithered into one of patches of sunlight shining through. He closed his eyes, grinned and said, "Mmmm, don't even have to go outside to sun myself now."
"That's all he can think about?" Clover thought to herself, annoyed, then she said out loud, "You know there's also the practical benefits, right? You're not only close by for fossa attacks but also for medical emergencies. Now it will take lemurs less time to get to the hospital or for you to make house calls."
"Oh yeah, Nurse Phantom will be happy. Won't to have to carry equipment as far anymore." Was Dr. S's response.
"Uh huh and…?" Clover was hoping he would say something along the lines of this all being good for his patients as well.
"And what?" Dr. S looked at her confused, unsure of what she wanted him to add.
"Clover! Clover, where are you?" King Julien's muffled frantic voice could be heard right before he came rushing into the room through the double doors followed by Maurice, Mort, and Nurse Phantom.
"Told you he'd be here sooner or later." Nurse Phantom said. Maurice gave him a quick side ways scowl.
"What the heck, Clover?!" King Julien got right up into Clover's face. She winced from the sheer volume and proximity. He lowered it down some to say, "How could you let Alex and Becca say those horrible things about you and to agree with them?! Just...why? Why did you say that you left us all to die!?"
"Because it's the truth! I left you all with nothing and no one to protect you!" Clover argued.
"You thought Mary Ann would keep us safe! You thought we would keep ourselves safe!" King Julien fired back.
"I should have taken precautions to make sure you all would be safe!"
"Fine, yes, you should have but you didn't mean to hurt anyone! Love made you dumb!"
"It doesn't matter if it did!"
"Yes it does matter! People think you're some kind of monster!"
"Maybe I deserve it!" Julien started to argue that but Clover pressed on, arguing with great conviction. "When I first thought that Sage was proposing to me, all I thought about was him and becoming queen of his kingdom and acquiring an army and weapons. I didn't think about who or what would be protecting you or Maurice or Mort or anyone after I was gone, I didn't think to prepare you all before I left, none of that crossed my mind! Because all I was focused on was me, me, me! What I wanted and what I was going to get! I didn't think about all of you and your needs and if I had...if I had just thought of someone else besides myself, maybe then lemurs wouldn't have died and the rest of you wouldn't have suffered so much." Her voice was drenched in bitterness and regret and her contrite heart was clear as crystal. There was a hitch caught in her throat and she took a hard swallow. Her eyes had gotten misty and she rubbed at them to try and halt the tears before they could freely flow. She then finished with, her voice raspy. "I was selfish and careless and put you all through hell and if that doesn't deserve hatred, then I don't know what does."
Clover's friends hated seeing her in so much pain and hearing her being so cruel to herself and their own hearts were breaking in response.
"Clover, you're not the only one who was careless." King Julien started to say gently. Clover gave him a puzzled look. "When you first told us you were leaving, I was worried about the kingdom's safety. Tried to train an army, went up against what we thought were fake fossa that turned out to be real fossa. That we thought we had defeated, even after they broke through our net and Mary Ann ended up being the one who drove them away. For some reason, I thought that proved that we could defend ourselves, even though clearly that wasn't the case at all and then Sage proposed and that keeping the kingdom safe was just wiped right out of my mind until...you know. I should never have taken something so important so lightly and then just completely forget about it but I did and what I'm trying to say is, you're not the only one who screwed up. You're not the only one who messed up and people got hurt because of it." The shame gnawing inside his heart was transparent as well.
Clover's face melted into concern and she said gently to him, "...Keeping everyone safe isn't your job, your majesty."
"Yes it is! A good king does everything he can to make sure his peoples are safe, which I didn't do and because of that, lemurs died and when I tried to come up with something to save everyone else, it just made things a million times worse! So much of the pain and hurt lately was because of my stupid ideas!" Julien argued back bitterly.
"At least you were trying to make things right! At least you've been here for everyone, unlike me, who was off in la la honeymoon land this whole time! You…!" Clover started to fire back when she was interrupted by,
"Fossa!" Willie's all too familiar cry was heard coming from outside, Clover's words dying on her tongue. She would have bolted right out of there and beat the fossa to a bloody pulp if Dr. S hadn't bolted past her first, accidentally shoving her to the ground while he zipped on out of the building like a flash of lighting.
"Clover, are you alright!?" Maurice called out in concern as he and the others rushed over to her side. Clover got right back up, looked towards the double doors with a fearful expression and rushed outside with the others following close behind.
But once outside the building, there was no sign of Dr. S.
"Where is he!?" Clover demanded as she looked around franticly for any sight of the snake doctor. And then they all heard loud, gleeful laughter in Dr. S's voice, accompanied by whimpers and whines and howls from other creatures. Following the noise a short distance, the group soon saw what was happening.
There were the fossa, some fleeing into the jungle whimpering and whining and howling as they went, while others were standing their ground on trembling legs. They looked on with fearful eyes upon Dr. S, who was giggling like a hyena. He was holding in his coils what looked like a pitchfork with two skulls pinned to it's spikes. It's long jaws rattled as Dr. S waved them about proudly like a macabre flag, making it seem like they were laughing along with him.
"Your friends here thought they could beat me. They were wrong but hey, third times the charm, right?" Dr. S said, wearing a sinister grin, holding his morbid staff still so his fellow carnivores could have a good look at what was left of their fallen comrades. "Go ahead and try, I dare you."
None stepped forward. There wasn't even a growl and showing of fangs. The fossa's eyes reminded wide as saucers, glued to Dr. S as their bodies continued to quake.
Dr. S looked to each of them, his wicked grin wide, showing off rows of yellowed fangs. Then his eyes contracted to slits and he shouted,
"Boo!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" The fossa screamed as one, turning tail and bolting, Dr. S chasing after them while cackling gleefully the whole time. He continued to laugh, throwing his head back in triumph after stopping in his tracks and the last fossa faded out of sight.
"Boy, am I glad he's on our side." Ted commented. This got him a round of uh huhs and yeps up in the trees where he and several other lemurs had darted up for safety, all a little unnerved by their scaly savior's creepy behavior. Nonetheless they were still grateful and as Dr. S's laugher died down, lemurs emerged from their hiding spots to go up to him and express that gratitude.
"That. Was. Magnificent!" King Julien rushed over and hugged Dr. S, taking him by surprise.
"Way to go, buddy." Nurse Phantom gave a warm smile to his friend, who smiled back.
"Wow, you really did...again!" Was Maurice's stunned comment. He still didn't have complete faith in Dr. S but he couldn't deny what he had just witnessed either and he had meant what he said about giving the eccentric snake a chance.
"Hooray! You did it! I knew you could!" Mort cheered, skipping gleefully around their scaly savior.
Xixi flew down and landed among the crowd. "Xixi here reporting live where Dr. S has just once again successfully defended the kingdom from the dreaded fossa. Dr. S, how does it feel to once again be everyone's hero?" She held her microphone up towards him.
"Uh...happy to help?" Was Dr. S's response, still quite taken aback by all the positive feedback he was getting. He wasn't used to so much praise all at once from so many different sources.
"And I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, we're happy to have it. Follow up question, what's with the uh...pitchfork there?" Xixi asked unnerved as she pointed out the skull adorned tool, wincing as she felt the empty eye sockets staring right through into her soul.
That Dr. S had an answer for, one that he was more then happy to give, holding up his macabre staff proudly. "Oh this. Well, after killing the second fossa, I got a wild hair to eat the body but not the head, so I could skin it and keep the skull. You see, scaring the living fossa with a dead one seemed to work the first time and I thought, why can't I do it again? So I skinned said skull, cleaned it and then I managed to find the body of the first fossa and did the same thing. Well, with the skull, couldn't eat the body, other animals had already eaten plenty of that. Then I found this pitchfork and wa la." He grinned while waving the gruesome staff a little, causing Xixi, Maurice and most everyone else to wince in repulsion while Nurse Phantom gave an amused smirk. That was so Dr. S.
"Hey, if it helps keep the kingdom safe, then I say let your creepy flag fly!" King Julien proclaimed. This was the third time that Dr. S had been a hero and King Julien was feeling fantastic about it. That was until he caught sight of Clover.
She was standing at a distance, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, watching everything unfold with a scowl on her face. Julien wondered what she could possibly be upset about. Dr. S had protected the kingdom again. Lemurs were safe. A little creeped out but still very much safe. And then Julien remembered their interrupted argument and everything leading up to it.
Oh, right.
Julien wished that Clover could see herself the way that he saw her. A fighter and not just when it came to beating up bad guys but also with things like sticking up for the little guy against injustice. That she stood by what she believed was right and didn't back down, even if that meant risking her own life to preserve other's lives. That she was one of the most courageous, selfless lemurs he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing and that he considered it a great honor to be one of her friends. That she was a good person who had made a mistake and not a monster. Now if only she could see it that way and everyone else as well.
There were more expressions of gratitude, questions from Xixi and just celebrating the fact that no one had died. Soon enough, the excitement died down and animals started to part ways. By that time, the sun had started making it's way down over a golden horizon. In the fading light, Julien could still see Clover leaning against the tree, her bright orange fur helping her stand out even with the growing shadows muting it's color. He walked towards her as did Maurice and Mort.
"I'm staying the night. It's getting dark and hawks apparently don't have the best night vision. So it's too dangerous to fly." She told them.
"Really? That's great! I mean, It'll be nice to have you here longer that is." Julien said excited at first, then tried to contain his enthusiasm.
"Wait, she's staying the night?" Horst said from a short distance.
"Yeah, is that okay with you, Horst?!" Mort shot back in anger.
"But you said yourself ya wasn't gonna leave until after seeing Dr. S against the fossa. Well, ya saw yourself that he did just fine, so why ain't ya leaving?" Pancho appeared and argued to Clover.
"It's too dark and even if it wasn't, Clover can stay as long as she wants!" Julien argued back at him.
"Come on, your majesty." Clover grabbed Julien's arm and dragged him away, with him looking over his shoulder and glaring at Pancho and Horst. Mort and Maurice threw their own glares, then followed after their friends.
"Clover about...about what we were arguing about easier..." Julien started to say.
"We can discuss that later. Right now, there's another reason I can't leave. I need to have a few words with Dr. S." Clover said firmly as Julien saw that they were heading back towards the hospital. "Words you need to hear too, your majesty." She gave a sideways glance at him, then stopped and looked over at Maurice and Mort. "Can you two sit this one out?"
Mort started to protest but Maurice put a paw across his mouth and said, "Of course. Come on Mort." He grabbed the smaller lemur's paw and lend him reluctantly away.
"Maybe she wants to congratulate him and give him some tips for guard duty?" Julien thought to himself, then he said out loud. "Fine, but don't think this gets you out of talking later." allowing himself to be lend on.
They found Dr. S and Nurse Phantom in the waiting room, having just beaten them there with Dr. S still holding the skull pitchfork.
"Oh, hey Clover, hey Julie. Did Dr. S do great or what?" Nurse Phantom said happily and then he noticed Clover's stern expression.
"I have a question for you." Clover said going over to stand before Dr. S, who was a little unnerved by the intense look she was giving him.
"Uh, sure Clover, what is it?" He said, putting down the pitchfork while keeping his eyes on her.
"Is this all a game to you?" She demanded to know, anger bubbling up.
.
.
.
"W-what? I -I don't...I don't understand..." Dr. S had no idea what she was talking about.
"Guarding the kingdom and everyone's lives, is it all just one big game to you?" Clover reiterated, the volume in her voice increasing as her anger boiled over.
"What? No! Why would you…?" Dr. S was utterly flabbergasted by this accusation.
"That!" Clover pointed an accusing finger towards Dr. S's macabre tool now leaning against the wall. "Seems you had quite a bit of fun waving it around.", venom oozing in her voice.
"Y-yes, I admit it was a little fun..."
"A little? You were laughing like a hyena on laughing gas the whole time! Like it was a game and that was your toy! Is-is that what everyone else is to you, toys for-for you to play with until you get bored and abandon them, leaving them all for dead!?"
"What the heck, Clover?!" King Julien exclaimed.
"How can you say that!?" Nurse Phantom demanded.
"Cause I'm not about to trust everyone's lives in the hands...scales...whatever, of someone who treats everything like a joke! I'm not cutting corners with everyone's safety, not again!" Clover shouted, then the fury in her eyes simmered into sorrow and she added, voice low and strangled by regret, "I won't do it, not again."
For a few moments, everyone stood around in silence, a million different emotions swirling about in their minds. Then Dr. S broke the silence, speaking gently to Clover. "Clover please, I am taking guarding the kingdom very seriously, I swear."
"How am I supposed to believe that? You don't take your responsibly as a doctor seriously, what makes protecting the kingdom any different?" Clover argued.
"Nurse Phantom." Was an answer that no one had been expecting.
"Me?" Nurse Phantom asked incredulously, pointing to himself, to which Dr. S nodded and went on to say,
"Yes, you. When King Julien first proposed that I should protect the kingdom, I tried to get out of it. I didn't want the job and I figured nobody else would want that either. And then Nurse Phantom had to go and agree with him, saying that we should give this crazy plan a chance and looked at me, begging me with those eyes and I couldn't say no, not to him." Dr. S briefly glanced over at his friend, who was hanging every word, then looked back at Clover.
"And then came the fossa attack. And there's Nurse Phantom along with King Julien and a whole bunch of other lemurs all facing down a pack of fossa with nothing but their own bodies and my medical tools and I'm told afterwards that they all had time to get away but didn't because they didn't want to abandon those who couldn't, our bed ridden patients." Clover took a sharp breath at Dr. S's words and looked over to King Julien, who gave a brief nod. Clover looked back at him in disbelief, horrified that he had risked his life like that, that lemurs had been so helpless. Then turned back to Dr. S.
"And I was so mad and confused and demanded Nurse Phantom tell me just what had possessed him to do such a thing? You wanna know what he told me? He told me that he didn't want to make anyone feel more abandoned then they already were, that he just couldn't leave them to die even if it meant that he died, that he really does care about all of you and I knew that he meant every single word and I finally realized just how much me protecting everyone meant to him." Dr. S turned to Nurse Phantom with warmth in his eyes as he said soft and earnest, "You're always there for me. Always willing to do so much for me. Shouldn't I return the favor?"
"Dr. S..." Nurse Phantom was stunned and touched and lost for words.
Dr. S turned back to Clover. "It's not that I'm not also doing this for King Julien and the rest, I am doing it for them too, honest. To tell you the truth, I have a little more respect for them now after seeing just how much they all care about each other. But most of all, I'm doing it for Nurse Phantom and I know you'd rather it be more for King Julien and everyone and if that's not enough, then I understand but if it can be enough then..." Dr. S had begun to ramble some, then stopped himself. "Then I promise you that I will continue to do all I can to keep everyone safe." He finished off with a humble bow.
Nurse Phantom and King Julien stood in awe over what they had just heard. No one could read Clover's expression as she stood in silence as well, mulling over Dr. S's words. Finally she lifted the snake doctor's head to look her in the eyes and said,
"There's more to kingdom security then driving away enemies or even keeping an eye on King Julien, you know? There's perimeter checks, planning for all kinds of scenarios, tons of things. Are you willing to take on these responsibilities? Are you willing to let me teach you how?"
That was not the response Dr. S had been expecting but he quickly got over being stunned and said as serious as he could. "Yes, I am. Though, I guess this means Nurse Phantom will have to pick up more slack then I thought." He looked to Nurse Phantom. "Nurse Phantom, are you okay with that?"
"Of course." Nurse Phantom responded. Dr. S gave him a small smile, then once again faced Clover to say with conviction,
"Okay, I'm in."
"Good, your training begins tomorrow." Clover said firm and final.
….
It was late into the evening when King Julien found himself wandering out of his home to walk among those of his people. Passing by huts through various stages of completion and those of lemurs who were gracious enough to have offered to share their own with others.
King Julien's own home was filled with lemurs who had previously been staying in the medial hut and Mort, whose stump was still pinned underneath a fallen tree. Though it was annoying having so many roommates (especially when one of them was Mort) it wasn't the main reason that Julien was restless. No, there was much more going through his buzzing mind as he walked alone through a quiet kingdom.
And then he heard a brief squeak. Like the kind that the springs of a bed made when one jumped on it or of a trampoline. Then he realized that he was actually pretty close to the trampoline zone. He went on over there and found that someone was jumping on one of the trampolines and that someone was none other then Nurse Phantom.
Nurse Phantom came down, stretching the netting thin as his weight pressed upon it and then he was once again flying up into the air. The cream colored part of his fur shined in the moonlight and contrasted against a dark night sky. Julien could have sworn he heard giggling. And then came the disfigured lemur's descent back down to earth. Not a fast and hard plummet but slow, light and delicate like a feather dancing on the breeze.
"Whoa!" King Julien exclaimed in wonder. Which startled Nurse Phantom, who turned to see that he wasn't alone.
"Julie? What are you doing here?"
"That is so cool! How in the world are you doing that?" Was Julien's question. It took Nurse Phantom a second to realize what he meant. By then he had almost finished his gentle descent. He came back down upon the trampoline and climbed off as he explained.
"Oh, the floating. Well, of course you know about all my surgeries. Well, one of them was having all my old bones replaced with bird bones." He knocked a fist against his forearm, producing a hollow noise. "Completely hollow." He gave an awkward smile.
"That...is freaky deaky awesome!" King Julien said in awe and Nurse Phantom knew he meant it.
"Heh, yeah, it has it's perks." Nurse Phantom gave an amused smirk, then remembered his earlier inquiry. "What are you doing here?"
"I can say the same for you. Pretty late for solo tramping, isn't it?" King Julien asked back.
Nurse Phantom shrugged his shoulders. "Couldn't sleep. Too much to think about. Clover, Dr. S...is that why you're up too?"
King Julien let out a troubled sigh. "...Yes. It's Clover. Everyone thinks she's this heartless monster who wanted us all to die and she's just letting them say those horrible things and agreeing with them! I mean, this is Clover we're talking about here! You know, Clover, lemur with major anger issues whose always ready for a fight and yet, she's sure not fighting on that! You wanna know what she told me after we left you and Dr. S? That if Dr. S fails to protect the kingdom, that she's going to respect the contract and come back to live here and protect all of us, that her happiness doesn't matter as much everyone's lives! That everyone's safety is more important then being with her peoples and Sage! Tell me, does that sound like a monster to you!?" King Julien asked, imploring Nurse Phantom to see how false those accusations were.
"No, no it doesn't." Was Nurse Phantom's response, scrunching his face in thought. To which King Julien let out a sigh of relief. "For what it's worth, I don't think she's a monster...anymore."
"W-what changed your mind?" Julien asked, genuinely curious and thrilled at having found another ally for Clover.
"It's like you're saying, Clover's words and actions don't match up with someone who doesn't care if we live or die. How she was with everyone, with Dr. S, how she kept going on about making sure we're all safe. Dr. S told me her reaction when she found out that he's her replacement and we both saw how she was when she thought that he was treating the whole situation like a joke. How she blames herself for slacking off on the job. That tells me that she cares a lot, that she feels really guilty for not doing enough before and is trying to atone for her mistakes now." Was Nurse Phantom's sincere answer.
"A-tone?" Julien didn't know that word.
"It means that you did something wrong and you're doing what you can to make up for that. In her own way, that's what Clover's doing." Nurse Phantom explained.
"Well that shouldn't have to involve agreeing with peoples when they call her a monster!" King Julien argued angrily.
"It's what she feels she deserves and people have every right to feel that way!" Nurse Phantom argued back.
"I know they do! I know they have every right to be angry but that doesn't mean they should get away with being so cruel to Clover or for her to feel like she deserves it! It's wrong, it's wrong!" King Julien slammed his fist against a nearby tree, sending stinging, stabbing pain coursing through his appendage.
Julien's eyes went wide and he squeaked out a small, "...Ow." Nurse Phantom winced, knowing that had to hurt. Julien then grabbed his wrist and cried out louder, "Ow, ow, ow!" This went on for some moments, Julien pacing and crying out while Nurse Phantom winced in response until enough of the pain subsided for Julien to settle down.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to check your paw?" Nurse Phantom offered.
"No, no I think it's okay. Where were we? Oh yeah, it's wro..." King Julien was about to once again slam the same fist against the same tree but luckily caught himself in time, awkwardly pulling away with Nurse Phantom's warning dying on his tongue.
Nurse Phantom walked up to Julien and suggested, "Look, maybe...maybe seeing Clover training Dr. S will help change lemur's minds?"
"You really think so?" King Julien asked, cautiously hopeful.
"I mean, that's how it was with me, for both you and Clover." Nurse Phantom told him.
"Me?" King Julien was confused by that.
"Yes. I was with most everyone else, doubting how much if you really cared about everyone. Then it flipped back and forth with you begging Frank for help and Dr. S and the plan and you being stubborn over it and then, and then you stood between us and the fossa and then you asked if everyone felt safe with Dr. S guarding the kingdom. Then I was convinced that you do care. What I'm saying is, maybe that could be the same for Clover, lemurs judging by her actions and seeing that she cares." Nurse Phantom explained.
"...Yeah, yeah! Everyone will see Clover really working hard to make sure Dr. S can protect us, and then they'll have to see how selfless she really is! Thank you, Nurse Phantom!" King Julien said with joy, hopes soaring high and he lunged for Nurse Phantom, wrapping him up in his arms in a tight, warm hug. Nurse Phantom stood stunned at first, unsure what to make of the gesture. How long had it been since the last time they had hugged? Had they done so at all after he came back from being banished? He knew they had touched via their special hand shake and such but couldn't recall them embracing each other even once, not when he first got back or since. Was the last time really before he was banished? Nurse Phantom slowly wrapped his own arms around Julien and gave his own warm squeeze.
Then all too soon, they pulled away. "We got to talk to Clover! You gotta tell her all you just told me! Come on!" Julien said enthusiastically, grabbing Nurse Phantom's paw and started to drag him off. But didn't even get out of the clearing before stopping. "Wait. Clover told me to leave her alone tonight and it's late and she might be asleep and she really needs it and…We'll talk to her in the morning." Julien explained.
"Okay, that sounds like a plan." Nurse Phantom said.
"Boy, I can't wait for morning!" Julien started off excited, then he realized, "...I'm too excited to sleep until morning."
Nurse Phantom gave an amused smirk in spite of himself and then he got an idea. "You know, I'm not tired yet either and was gonna jump on the trampolines some more. You can join me if you want?" He offered shy like, pointing over his shoulder towards said trampolines.
King Julien looked in that direction. That actually sounded nice and he gave a small smile as he said, "Yeah, I'd like that."