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

The rising moon was briefly covered by clouds as a gentle breeze stirred up. Then it cleared and the moon shone brightly in the night sky. From up on the clock tower, Kowalski looked down at his home far below him. He could see his friends searching for him, but he didn't want them to find him. He wanted some alone time with his thoughts for a while.

He wondered if it had been a good idea to reveal his feelings toward Alex. His experience with Doris the dolphin should have taught him that he can't act without at least thinking it over first. But he couldn't help himself. Ever since he laid eyes on Alex earlier that day, he could not get her out of his head, and he really wanted her to know how he felt about her.

Sighing deeply, he took out his notepad and crayon. He was going to weigh his options and hopefully find out what he should do next. But he couldn't lift the flipper that held the crayon. He just stared down at the blank piece of paper. He was confused when his vision became blurry, even more so when something wet fell out of his eyes. He slowly brought up his other flipper to his face and wiped away the unknown liquid. He stared down at it, suddenly realizing what it was.

I'm…. crying? he thought, shocked. Why am I crying? Why do I love her so much? he added angrily. I don't even know her!

But he wanted to get to know her. He longed to know every detail about her: Her favorite color, what kind of fish she preferred to eat, everything about her life, and how she sees the world. And more importantly, he wanted her opinion on scientific stuff and his inventions. He began to wonder if she even found science as fascinating as him. He couldn't think why anyone wouldn't. Even if she didn't, he would still love her. It didn't matter her likes or dislikes; nothing is going to stop him thinking about her or loving her.

I love hearing her voice, I love the way she looks, those sparkling blue eyes. And her smile… Oh! When she smiles, I feel all warm inside…. Then his happy thoughts turned dark.

"But the way she looked at me when I kissed her makes me think she doesn't feel the same about me…" Kowalski muttered to himself. Then he heard in his head Julien announcing that she was his newest subject and he recalled the way she'd stare at him... "I'm just freaking myself out," he decided. "There's no way she could like him…" He shook his head and wiped away his tears.

He looked down at his notepad. The first few pages were all wet. He frowned. His loneliness was messing with his mind. He couldn't think straight! He couldn't come up with any options that would help him get through this.

Sighing miserably, he got to his feet. He placed his notepad and crayon down, peering over the edge of the tower, staring down at the zoo far below.

I should find Alex…

There were things he had to tell her, and maybe then she'd see how much he truly loves her. He might even be able to talk some sense into her and make her realize that she didn't want to be Julien's subject. It was a long shot, but he had to do something.

His mind raced with ideas for the conversation as he climbed to the ground. Halfway down, he remembered that he forgot his notepad up there. He started heading back to get it, then he heard someone calling his name. He climbed the rest of the way down and came face to face with his leader.

"Where have you been, soldier?" Skipper demanded, and Kowalski tried not to flinch away from all the anger in his ice blue eyes. Was he still upset with his daughter or was that anger aimed at him?

Rico appeared, and looked the tall penguin up and down. Kowalski was uncomfortable under his gaze.

Sighing, Kowalski hung his head. "I'm sorry, Skipper," he murmured. "I just needed some time by myself. I had to think about a few things." He hoped they wouldn't ask what he had to think about, but as soon as he hoped that, his leader asked him that exact question. Kowalski rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should tell his friends what he did.

Before he could reply, Skipper sighed and shook his head. "You can explain yourself later, soldier," he decided, and Kowalski tried his best to hide his relief. "Right now, we should get back to HQ so I can talk to Alex."

They started heading back, and Kowalski could tell that Skipper was more annoyed than angry now. "I just don't understand that lemur sometimes," he muttered, but Kowalski wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to him. He just kept walking without replying though.

When they arrived back in their HQ, Skipper stormed over to Alex; the female penguin was sitting on the couch with Private. They seemed to be right in the middle of a conversation, but when she saw her father, Alex broke off and jumped to her feet, turning to face him bravely.

Kowalski admired her in every way, but he tried to hide his feelings as he waddled over there.

"What do you think you were doing, joining his bunch of idiotic followers?" Skipper demanded, glaring at his daughter in anger.

"I don't think he's that bad!" Alex protested.

Unable to see them fighting, Kowalski pushed in between his leader and the penguin he loved. "Skipper?" he asked, turning to him. "Can we talk?"

For a moment, he switched his glare on him, then he nodded and allowed his teammate to lead him away, but not before shooting another disapproving look at his daughter.

"Listen, Skipper," the tall penguin said once they were out of earshot of the others. "I'm not happy about Alex being Julien's subject either. But she wants to, for some reason. You two have been separated for years and now's your chance to reunite, not fight." He sighed and looked down at his feet, realizing that all this was going straight over his leader's head. He has always been too stubborn to hear reason.

So he was surprised when Skipper nodded in agreement. "You're right, Kowalski," he said unexpectedly. "I shouldn't be getting upset with Alex. She's new around here; she doesn't understand anything yet. Once she sees how annoying that lemur can be, she'll want nothing to do with him."

Kowalski was relieved that he was able to calm his leader down, and when they joined the others, Skipper apologized to his daughter for his behavior. Alex stared at him in shock.

"Really? You're not mad anymore?" she asked. "Just like that?" She looked at Kowalski, surprise in her eyes, and he smiled and shrugged slightly, silently telling her to go with it. She shook her head and turned to her father. "I'm sorry I upset you," she said, hugging him.

Skipper waved her apology away and hugged her back. "It's okay." Then he pulled away and turned to the rest of his team. "Come on, men. It's bedtime." He headed straight to the bunks with Private and Rico following him. Kowalski took a step after them, but he felt something pulling on his flipper, and he turned in surprise to see Alex blinking warm eyes at him.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning forward and laying a kiss on his cheek, which sent a shiver up his spine. "I know it may seem like I hate him," she continued, pulling away, and somehow Kowalski knew she meant Skipper. His guess was confirmed when she said," But he's still my father."

At first, Kowalski couldn't speak. He kept replaying her kissing him. Then he cleared his throat and pointed toward the couch. "Y-You can sleep there for now," he stammered, mentally slapping himself for sounding so stupid.

Alex smiled and let go of his flipper. As she went to the couch, he grabbed her a spare blanket and a pillow. "Good-night, Kowalski," she murmured as she laid down and closed her eyes.

For a moment he looked down at her and smiled. "Good-night, Alex," he said as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. He was hesitant at first but he was relieved when she didn't push him off. He waddled over to his own bed and climbed into it, staring across the room at the couch where he could see Alex already sound asleep. Then he fell asleep too, his dreams full of the beautiful penguin.

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