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 snow was starting to melt and the weather was warming up. The animals of the zoo were enjoying the early spring this year. Skipper and Julien sat together as their kids chased one another, laughing, unaware of the difference of their appearances. Julien studied his paw while Skipper looked over his flipper. They glanced at each other; then snorted and turned away.

They didn't care if their kids liked playing together; they would never become friends. Skipper glared at Julien, but the king wasn't paying attention. He was watching his son sneak up on Sam, who watched a flock of birds fly overhead. By the time she noticed the young lemur prince behind her, it was too late to dodge; he jumped on her and they rolled around on the ground.

Laughing, Sam threw snow in Ethan's face and dashed off, hiding behind a trash can. Curious now, Skipper wondered if his daughter was working on a counter attack, as she suddenly jumped out on Ethan, who had been edging closer to the can in search of his penguin friend.

"Why can't you two play like that?"

Skipper and Julien spun around at the voice, but relaxed when they saw Alex and Maurice. Alex sat beside her father, while the aye-aye went to his king. It had been Alex who had asked that question and she looked at Skipper with wide eyes.

"I don't play," Skipper grumbled.

Julien just rolled his eyes and turned away from the penguins.

Alex stood up and looked down at her father. "You played in the snow not that long ago," she reminded him. "We built a snow penguin."

Skipper cursed under his breath, glancing sideways to see Sam and Ethan run by as if they were racing each other.

"Why can't you take a lesson from your kids?" Alex demanded. "Look at them!" She pointed to them. "Carefree and not afraid to look past an animal's appearance. Now," she added, turning back to them," I don't know why you hate each other, but it needs to stop."

"You can't just stop hating someone," Skipper pointed out.

Alex met her father's gaze. "Yes, you can," she argued. "I stopped hating you. I put aside my hatred of you when I realized that I needed a father. I made myself forget all the times you weren't there for me, and kept telling myself that you're here for me now."

Skipper stared at his daughter, shocked. He always knew that she was upset with him for not being there when she was growing up, but he never even let himself believe she hated him.

She glanced at Sam and went on," Sam never admitted it, but she was angry at Victoria for leaving. I don't think she hated her, but she's clearly forgiven her and she's just happy that she came back."

As she spoke, Victoria appeared and murmured something to Sam, who nodded and dashed off with Ethan. Then Sam's mother walked over to them and Skipper felt himself stiffened. He forced himself to relax. He didn't know if he could get over hating Julien, but maybe he can forgive Victoria.

Alex let out a sigh and murmured to Maurice," Come on, let's go. There's nothing else I can say to them." The aye-aye nodded and followed her. Victoria hesitated for a moment, before leaving, too.

"She's right," Julien suddenly blurted. "We need to be putting aside our differences for the sake of our kids."

He put out his paw as if he expected Skipper to shake it, and after a moment of consideration, Skipper nodded and shook his paw, murmuring," For the kids."

Julien nodded. "For the kids."

Then they sat there, watching their kids play with each other and wondering if they could ever get along like that. It seems very unlikely, Skipper thought, still unconvinced that he and this entitled, spoiled king could ever be friends. Unlikely, but maybe one day he won't get on my nerves as much as he does now. Yeah, maybe one day…

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