Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters. I do own the penguin Alex in this story.

Alex tasted fish as Kowalski kissed her. She wasn't sure what to do at first, so she just stood there like an idiot. Finally her brain made sense of what was happening and she pushed him off her. She stared at him, too shocked to speak. She knew he had been looking at her weirdly but this...

Embarrassment washed over her when he blinked kindly at her with that same look in his eyes that was beginning to feel familiar to her. Then it all started to make sense. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, he's been staring at her with that look. Could it be love at first sight? she wondered.

Then that look vanished to be replaced with fear. Quickly he looked away and backed up a pace or two. "I'm s-sorry," he stammered. "I guess I couldn't help myself… couldn't hold back any longer…"

Alex's heart ached. She wasn't sure if she felt the same way toward him, but that kiss definitely stirred up feelings inside her that she didn't know she had; feelings she's never felt before. Before she could say anything though, Kowalski started backing off more. She wanted to call after him, but for some reason she was frozen where she stood and when she opened her beak, no sound came out.

She watched with sadness as the tall penguin jumped out of the habitat. Maybe I do like him too, she thought with a heavy heart. I'm not sure… She looked up at the platform and sighed. Maybe I should focus on keeping my promise. I don't care what Kowalski says. I'm gonna stay loyal to my king!

Joining the others back on the platform, she saw that Skipper had stopped attacking Julien, but he was still glaring at the ring-tailed lemur. The king was standing beside his tall chair, fixing his crown on top of his head, while Maurice and the little lemur, Mort, dusted him off and smoothed his ruffled fur.

She slid over to him on her belly and asked," Are you okay, Your Majesty?" She looked him over and was satisfied that he didn't seem hurt.

But before Julien could reply, Skipper grabbed Alex's flipper and dragged her away. "How can you call him that?" he demanded. "He's no king!"

Alex faced him. "He's my king."

Private stepped forward. "Why do you want to be his subject?" the young penguin asked with a glance at his leader before turning back to Alex.

Alex looked at Julien, then at her father, answering Private but speaking to Skipper. "I made him a promise, and I always keep my promises."

"What kind of promise?" Skipper demanded.

She snatched her flipper away from Skipper and ran back to Julien, standing close to him. She turned to face her father, forcing herself not to flinch away from his anger. "I promised to always be a loyal subject to him."

Suddenly Skipper was pulling her away again "Oh, no, no," he said with a shake of his head. "I do not think so." He pushed Alex toward Private and Rico; the two penguins grabbed her and forced her to stay put while her father walked over to Julien. "You brainwashed my daughter, Ringtail!"

The lemur blinked, clearly surprised. "I did no such thing," he protested. "She was looking at me like a king so I did the only thing I thought was right; I asked her to join my kingdom." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Anger blazed in Skipper's ice blue eyes. "You didn't have to do that!" he snapped. "I'm gonna take her back to HQ," he added in a low, dangerous voice. "And you will never make her do anything else for you again." In a flash he grabbed the back of the taller animal's neck and dragged him down so that they were at eye level with each other. Alex tried to get loose to help the king but her father's teammates had a firm grip on her. "Is that clear?" Skipper growled quietly.

Julien gulped, then nodded. Skipper pushed the lemur away, which caused him to stumble backwards into Maurice and Mort. The leader of the penguins turned back to Private and Rico, signaling for all of them to leave. His teammates nodded, but before anyone could move, Rico coughed up something and handed it to Julien, who blinked down at the object.

Alex saw that it was a small black device with buttons. She instantly recognized it as something she's seen humans listen to music with, but before she had the chance to tell this to the king, Mort started jumping up and down in excitement.

"It's my little music player!" the little lemur said.

"Your music player?" Julien demanded, looking down at Mort.

"It's the MP3 Player you wanted," Maurice told his king.

"Oh." Julien closed his paw around the human device and called out a "thank you!" as the penguins left the habitat.

They landed on the other side of the wall, Private and Rico still holding onto Alex. As they turned toward the penguins' HQ, Alex soon stopped fighting, realizing it was useless. It wasn't until they arrived outside their home that Private let go of Alex and looked around.

"Where's Kowalski?" he asked, turning confused eyes on Skipper.

Alex had forgotten about the tall penguin and their kiss, but as soon as Private said that, it all came rushing back to her. She glanced around, also wondering where he had gone. She didn't see any sign of him. Maybe he's already in HQ, she thought, hoping he was.

Skipper blinked, obviously surprised to hear one of his teammates missing. Obviously he was so upset with Julien that he didn't realize. "Go check if he's inside," he ordered Private. Turning to Alex, he told her," Go with him. I'm going to have a little talk with you later, but for now I don't want you to leave HQ."

Alex opened her beak to protest, but the look Private shot her told her not to, so she sighed and followed him into the habitat. They dropped in through the entrance on the island, but once inside there was still no sign of Kowalski. Private went back up to report to his leader, while Alex sighed to herself and sat down on the steps.

Some day, she grumbled, beginning to reflect on everything that's happened today. She was still upset with her father for not returning to her and her mother, but it felt like she learned the truth ages ago when she thought about what's happened since then.

When she was on her journey here to find Skipper, she never once thought she'd become the newest subject to some king she only just met. But she liked the connection between them, even if she didn't really understand it. She sighed and stared down at her feet, recalling the kiss with Kowalski. And now I think I might have feelings for him…

So much has happened in just a few hours… she thought. This wasn't how I thought today would turn out when I met my father!

The sound of someone dropping into the HQ distracted Alex from her thoughts, and she looked up to see Private waddling over to join her. "Skippah said he and Rico are going to go find—" He broke off suddenly and sat down beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

Alex sighed and turned her face away from her. "Just… thinking about… everything that's happened today." She sighed and added," So much drama…" She knew it was going to be hard seeing her father but she never considered all of this…

"I'm sorry," Private apologized, frowning. "I guess you never expected all this when you found your father…"

Alex nodded. "Does he always treat the king this way or is it because of me?" she asked, glancing at the penguin beside her.

"He's never really liked Julien," he explained. "He's always getting in our way and interrupting our missions, and he keeps us up many nights with his parties." Suddenly he smiled and hopped to his feet. "But hey, it's really cool to have another penguin around!" he went on, and Alex realized he was trying to distract her from everything. She didn't mind; she needed to think about something else. "And one younger than me too! I've always been the youngest and that's made me feel out of place, but now that you're here, we can hang out and get to know each other!" He smiled kindly at Alex.

She smiled back and followed him over to the couch, sitting down beside him.

"I think Skippah and the others might be gone for a bit," he said. "Why don't you tell me all about yourself?"

Alex really didn't want to, but she knew if she refused, she'd hurt his feelings. She took a deep breath and began. "My full name is Alexandria," she told him, pushing away her discomfort about Private's interest in her. "But everyone just calls me Alex, because you know, it's shorter."

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