Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters, but I do own Alex the penguin, Sam, Ethan, and Victoria.

The flat-headed penguin paced their lair, grumbling to himself and wondering what that lemur wanted to talk to him about. Then he halted, realizing. The kids! Of course, he thought, rolling his eyes. Ringtail must have finally snapped and he's probably going to demand they do something about this problem once and for all. Skipper's flippers folded into fists, and he silently dared the spoiled king to threaten his daughter.

"Dad?"

The leader was knocked out of his thoughts by his eldest daughter, and he looked up to see Alex standing beside him. He looked past her to see Rico and Private watching him uneasily, and behind them was Victoria, Sam's mother and Skipper's second mate for like a couple of months until she abandoned him and Sam.

Skipper raised her, but he had help from his team and Alex. Victoria didn't help or show up until just recently, and Skipper is expecting her to leave any day now. She's already been here for a while, and he didn't dare think she would stay. It was just a matter of time before she left again.

Tearing his gaze off of Victoria, he focused on Alex. "What?" he snapped, which caused Alex to take a step back. Suddenly all his anger vanished like dew in sunshine. He frowned. "I'm sorry, Alex," he said. He realized he was going insane, and it was all because of that lemur! A new kind of anger and hatred swept over him, but he forced it down as he addressed all of them.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I'm just going crazy wondering what that lemur wants to talk to me about!"

"There's no point stressing over it," Alex told him. "While we wait, why don't we go topside and… um…" She hesitated and then went on," And not play but spend some time in the snow?"

Skipper wasn't convinced that he shouldn't worry about why Julien wanted to speak to him alone. But he nodded and stepped back as Rico rushed out of the HQ, like he was eager to make more of their enemies from snow and then destroy them.

Private followed more slowly, casting Skipper an anxious look. He hesitated beside his leader, but Skipper gave him a reassuring look and said," I'm fine."

Still Private looked worried, but he moved to follow Rico.

Turning toward Alex, he saw that she was staring at Kowalski's lab door. He also noticed that Victoria was looking in that direction, too, and Skipper wondered if she was worried about Sam. But he didn't speak to her. Instead he walked over to Alex and said," You know playing in the snow isn't really his kind of fun. Building inventions and all that is. Plus, he has Sam to help him when you're busy doing something else."

Skipper felt sorry for his daughter when he noticed the deep sadness in her eyes. But she nodded and walked over to the ladder.

Skipper looked at the lab door once more, before finally acknowledging Victoria, who lingered nearby. "Are you coming?" he asked.

She hesitated, looking guarded yet hopeful. At last, she nodded and walked over to him. She looked like she was about to say something, but he didn't want to hear any of her excuses. Ever since she came back, she's been trying to explain why she left, but if he had a conversation with her, he'll end up yelling at her, and he didn't think it was worth it. She wasn't worth it.

Turning his back on her, he walked over to the ladder and climbed out.

Once topside, Skipper jumped over the gates and joined the others. Rico was building another snow villain, and he stiffened when he recognized Hans the Puffin. But he forced himself to relax, telling himself that it wasn't really him and soon it'll just be another pile of slush like that snow Blowhole.

Nearby, Private was sitting by himself, staring off into space. Suddenly worried about him, Skipper walked over to him. As he approached, the young penguin turned sad eyes on him.

"What's wrong, young private?" Skipper asked.

"I'm just worried about Sam and Ethan, and also Julien. And you. I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm really worried."

"Don't worry about me," he said. "I can handle whatever Julien or life throws at me. And don't worry about Sam, either. I'll protect her with my life. And Alex, too," he added, glancing at the female penguin who was building something with snow.

Private still looked worried, but before he could speak, Alex called out to Skipper and the leader was torn between his teammate and his daughter. As he hesitated, Private said," Go. I'll help Rico with his Snow Hans." He didn't look thrilled about that, but he got up and walked over there. Skipper saw that Victoria had joined Rico, and now her and Private helped put more details onto the snow villain.

Sighing, Skipper walked over to Alex, who asked if he wanted to build a snow penguin. He nodded and as they worked, Alex smiled at her father, which confused him. "What?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Oh nothing," she replied, glancing away as she patted snow into place. "Just… growing up, I always pictured moments like this with you, except of course, I never knew it'd be in snow since Florida isn't known for its snowfall." There was laughter in her voice, but Skipper felt the familiar pang of guilt and regret that he always felt when he remembered that he abandoned Alex and her mother.

He stiffened, suddenly realizing something for the first time. He left his family like Victoria left hers, and Alex grew up hating him. But after she went on a journey to find him, she slowly began to forgive him. If Alex could see in her heart to give him another chance, should he also do the same for Victoria?

He looked over at her. She was standing back with Private as Rico destroyed the Snow Hans with a bat. The same moment he looked over at her, she looked up and their eyes met. Quickly he looked away and focused on building the snow penguin. But without warning his brain said, Sam had no problem forgiving her. So why can't you?

He couldn't answer that question and for the longest time he refused to think at all.

Time went by and when Skipper looked up he saw that the sun was going down. He glanced up and took a deep breath. I should go meet him now, he thought. Honestly, up until now, he had forgotten about the lemur and their meeting. He had been having such a great time playing in the snow with his daughter, even tossing snowballs at her, but she managed to get him back by sneaking up behind him and kicking snow onto his back. He wanted to stay and continued to enjoy himself in the snow with her.

But I promised to meet him, he reminded himself, silently cursing. He started waddling in the direction of the shipping and receiving area, only to halt when Alex called him back. He was surprised to see worry in her eyes.

"Be careful, dad," she said.

Careful? he wanted to snort. I could easily take on that lemur if he tried anything! But all he said out loud was," I will," and he hugged her, before dropping to his stomach and sliding to where he told Julien to meet him.

When he arrived, he jumped to his feet and looked around. At first, he didn't see anyone; then he spotted a flicker of movement above him as the lemur king appeared on top of a box and looked down at him.

"Finally!" Julien exclaimed. "I've been here forever!"

"You have?" Skipper asked, surprised, and he looked up at the sun that was just vanishing behind the buildings in the distance. He turned back to the lemur.

"Um… well… maybe not forever…" he stammered, scratching his head. "But it felt like it was forever!" Before Skipper could say anything, he jumped down beside him, glancing behind the penguin, then all around, and even under him, making Skipper slip on some ice. "Nobody followed you, did they?" He eyed the leader suspiciously.

Isn't it my job to be suspicious? Skipper thought, but all he said out loud was," Nobody followed me." He glared at the lemur, crossing his flippers over his chest. "What did you want to tell me?"

At first the lemur didn't reply. He just walked farther into the building and hopped onto a box, where he sat, crossing his legs. Then he snapped his fingers and to Skipper's utter shock, Maurice came out from behind a box and handed his king a mango. Anger burned inside Skipper and he slid over to the lemurs.

"What is he doing here if you wanted it to just be us?" he demanded, pointing accusingly at the aye-aye, who stepped back from the penguin.

Julien took a bite from the fruit, looking down at the angry bird, and then took another bite without so much as a word.

"I asked to come," Maurice told Skipper since it seemed unlikely that Julien was going to say anything. "I thought I could help the king to convince you."

Skipper eyed the lemur. "Convince me?" he echoed, suddenly having a very bad feeling. He knew these lemurs were up to something, and now they've come up with some plan that they wanted to try to convince Skipper to go along with. Well, he didn't want to have any part of it. Before Maurice could say more, Skipper turned to walk away, growling over his shoulder," I should have never come! I knew I couldn't trust you, Ringtail!"

He heard something behind him and then suddenly the lemur king was in front of him. "Why can't you be trusting me?" he demanded.

Maurice ran to his king's side, murmuring something to him; Skipper thought he heard Ethan's name, but he wasn't sure nor did he care. He did not like the lemurs and he wanted to get far away from them. He tried to push past Julien, but the king grabbed his flipper and repeated his question.

The penguin spun around and around until the lemur lost his grip and flew off, landing on the other side of the building. He slowly walked over to him, towering over him and glaring down at him. "I do not trust you because you are always distracting my team and keeping us up with late night parties." Skipper's brow bent as he leaned in closer to the lemur, growling at him," Oh and it's very obvious that you're only hanging with Alex to anger me and hurt Kowalski, so stop it!"

Without another word, the lead penguin spun on his heels and slid on his belly to the entrance of the area, hopping down into the snow. He landed with a soft thump; then he started heading back to his own habitat. Anger and hatred burned in him, almost driving out the bitter nip of the winter air.

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