A/N: Sorry if this one is not as good as the others, I've been somewhat having a writer's block. So, if you would like, you can put in your suggestions for the next chapters in the reviews. It would be much appreciated!
Skipper awoke, earlier than the other penguins as usual, in the silence and darkness of his HQ. He tried to shift his position, as he guessed he was sitting there for hours, not moving, until he felt something shuffle near him. He tensed up as he shot a glance to his right, trying to scope out any possible threat that entered the HQ, but he relaxed as he remembered he had fell asleep with Private in his arms.
'How do I tell him? How can I tell one of my team-mates, practically my brother, that I think I love him?' Skipper was still so caught up in his thoughts, but he realized one thing. Private was not his brother. No, he was something more. He was someone who gave Skipper a reason to wake up in the morning. Someone to make Skipper smile and forget about the bad things, even in the most difficult of situations. He smiled as his thoughts disappeared from view, watching the little penguin bury his head deeper into Skipper's chest in the darkness. Skipper felt his own eyes grow heavy as he leaned in closer to Private, his beak gently touching the little penguin's head. "Goodnight." He whispered, drifting off to sleep, knowing everything would be okay as he saw Private let out a small smile.
Once the morning arrived, Kowalski and Rico had left their bunks, while Skipper and Private had stood up from the couch they slept in. Skipper cracked his back has he yawned heavily. He looked at Private with a smile and said jokingly,
"Not the best idea to fall asleep on a couch. Is it, soldier?" Private giggled as he turned on the television, now staring intently at it. After the team had gotten themselves situated for the morning, they had gone topside. Skipper had still felt terrible for what he did yesterday, so when the team had lined up to be told what their training exercise was, he had said,
"Alright, men. Today we will be working on our melee combat," He said, tossing a bamboo sword to each of the men. Private's face had lit up as Skipper continued, "Kowalski, train with Rico. Private... you're with me."
"Oh, um...Skippah, I'd thought you didn't want to train with me." Private said, blushing a little as he traced a circle on the ground with his foot. He stopped and looked up as he felt Skipper's flipper (Ha, that rhymed:D) on his shoulder.
"Private. I want you to forget everything that happened yesterday. I don't know what came over me, and... I'm sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you." Private just stared at him, seeming to be deep in thought about something.
"Private...?" The little penguin snapped out of his trance, and looked up to Skipper. He noticed the despair on Skipper's face.
"You.. you really care about me that much?" Private asked in a low voice. It was now Skipper's turn to be lost in a trance of thought, trying to find the right words. 'Should I just come out and say it? No, the others are here. What would they say? What would Private say?' The commanding officer looked back down to Private and smiled.
"Of course I do, Private. You mean everything to me. If I had lost you, I just.. I don't know what I'd do." Private lit up at Skipper's response and hugged him as hard as he could.
"Oh, thank you Skippah! I'm sorry for hugging you but what you said it...it means so much to me!"
Skipper's face turned slightly red at the hug out in the open. He took a glance toward Kowalski and Rico, who were too busy training to notice the moment between the two. He could suddenly feel his flippers moving, as if by themselves. Around Private. After what felt like a lifetime, the two pulled away. Skipper felt another smile form as Private said happily,
"Alright, then. Let's get training!"
After the training session, the four had put on the "cute and cuddly" act as the zoo opened and people rushed in to see the animals. Skipper had been doing exceptionally well, as most of the zoo-goers' attention was on him. After a while, he had noticed something was off. It didn't seem like anyone was even giving Private a glance, even though he was usually the cutest and most cuddly. He looked around for the little penguin, not finding him anywhere. Confused, but still waving and dancing around, Skipper had turned to Kowalski.
"Kowalski: Do you have Private's location?" Kowalski looked around the entire habitat, but turned back to Skipper and said,
"Negative, sir. Perhaps he went into the headquarters?" Skipper slapped himself for not noticing earlier and grabbed some of the fish as he slid back into the HQ, unnoticed by the zoo-goers.
"Rico, do you notice something..different..about Skipper?" Kowalski asked, half knowing he might not get an audible answer.
"Iunnow" Rico managed to growl out. "Why?" Kowalski was surprised Rico hadn't noticed, but replied,
"It seems he has grown more attached to Private, though I am not sure why." Kowalski was pondering the ideas of why Skipper was spending more time with Private, when he remembered last night.
"Could... Could it be that something more happened last night that we don't know about?" He asked, half to Rico, half to himself. He didn't wait for Rico to reply as he quickly pulled out his notebook and began to write.
Again, sorry if this one seems a bit lacking what I usually write, but I've still got a few ideas and I promise the next chapter will be good!
