Kona opened his present excitedly. He stopped.

"What is it?" He asked, curiously. Kowalski smiled.

"It's a leaf. It's been preserved, I had gotten in from my father. He told me about all the kinds of chemical reactions that take place in this one small leave. This is what produces everything that's required for life on this planted." Kowalski said proudly. Kona stared at it in amazement. Kowalski's smiled when Kona hugged him.

"I love it!" He yelled. Kowalski couldn't help but think how great it was they both had a love for science, otherwise he might have had a hard time finding him something… Kowalski frowned, and looked up when he saw a shadow shifting in the doorway. His eyebrows knitted together, seeing the penguin that stood there.

"Just a minute, Kona, I need to talk to our guest here." Kowalski said quietly. Kona nodded, smiling. Kowalski walked up to the emperor penguin, who appeared to have obtained many more scars, almost like bite marks from a small fish.

"Sir. Is there something I can do?" Kowalski asked. The penguin looked down at him.

"Remember that favor?" He asked. Kowalski nodded.

"Yes of course, if it's time I'd be more than happy to repay my debt. You and… your team who does not appear to be here, did save my life after all. What do you want?" Kowalski asked. Slowly the penguin leaned down to Kowalski's eye level.

"What I want… is your son."

Kowalski stared at him, almost as if trying to decide whether or not it was some cruel joke… Soon enough though, he realized that the penguin was being completely serious.

"My- My son? No!" Kowalski said harshly, trying to keep his voice down so not to alarm Kona. The penguin frowned, his expression changing.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter. I'm taking him back to base for military training." He said.

"Over my dead body." Kowalski growled, flippers tightening. The penguin narrowed his eyes at him.

"As easy as that would be, it would make your son a bit uncooperative, don't you think?" He said. Kowalski stood his ground, and the penguin became angry.

"Hand him over," He growled, "or I kill him. You know you can't keep him safe from me." he hissed. Kowalski stood there, mind racing over his options. This penguin, was bigger… trained… Kowalski didn't stand a chance. Kowalski's heart raced, and his mind panicked at the thought of losing the last bit of family he had, his own son at that… but he knew he had no choice.

Kowalski stiffly turned.

"Kona." Kowalski said. Kona looked up. His smile fell when he saw his dad's expression.

"What's goin' on?" He asked. Kowalski swallowed.

"This man… He's from… the military. He's here to take you back to base for training." Kowalski's heart nearly shattered then and there, when he saw kona drop the leaf, looking up at him with wide, panicked eyes.

"You're coming too, right Dad?" He asked.

"'Fraid not." The penguin said, stepping into their home. "He's a bit too old for the training courses. We train while we're young, so the information sticks." He said, tapping his head. "Side's we could use a smart one like you." He said. Kona looked up at his dad.

"I… I don't want to go…" He said quietly.

"It'll be alright…" Kowalski said, walking up to him, taking a hold of his flipper. "You're going to learn a lot of things, more than I could ever teach you… and… maybe, when you have your own family, you might be able to do better than I did…" Kowalski said, his eyes starting to sting. Kona looked up at Kowalski pleadingly.

"Please, I don't want to go…" He pleaded. Kowalski let go of his flipper, the emperor penguin grabbing hold of it. Kowalski leaned down and picked up the leaf.

"Here," He whispered. "Take it with you. I want you to take it, so every time you look at it… you wont forget… and you'll know… and you'll know that I wont forget… and remember, that if you don't come back soon, I'll go out and find you myself… and that…" Kowalski looked down at his son, who was crying now.

"And that I love you, and I won't ever let anything happen to you. Train hard, Kona, okay. Train hard, so one day you can beat the living daylights out of a leopard seal that's attacking some helpless victim, or so you can beat an orca all on your own. Can you do that for me?" He asked quietly. Kona nodded, beak trembling.

"Come one solder." The penguin grunted, turning around.

"I just want you to know," Kowalski said harshly, expression hardening, "That if he doesn't return here, in five years, I'm hunting you down myself." He said. The penguin grinned.

"I look forward to it." He said. He turned and left, kona at his side. Kowalski watched, seeing Kona look back at him.

"Bye Dad…" He whimpered. Kowalski waved.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay…" Kowalski whispered. "I promise…" Kowalski watched as the penguin disappeared with Kona, and continued to stand there for what seemed like hours afterwords, a sense of pure hopelessness hanging over him.

"That was the last I ever saw of Kona… Five years passed, and he never came back…" Kowalski watched his tears fall to the concrete floor. "That is, of course, when my love for science peaked. With nothing else left, there wasn't anything else I really could care about... I-" Kowalski's voice cracked a little, "I kept my promise, I went searching for him. Followed every lead I had… just… with no success." Kowalski smiled bitter sweetly.

"About five more years into my search I ran into Skipper and the others. I recognized him immediately, and I knew I couldn't let this kind of opportunity pass me up. I was quick to join the team, because I knew, if I did, then someday I'd run into that penguin again, and I'd find Kona…" Kowalski looked up at the others, and they saw his expression.

Pure determination.

"And this time, I'll be ready."

Alright guys, that's it. Now you HAVE to review. X3