Archive of Our Own ^beta

After a long journey, crossing the country in search of his human, discovering what it was like to be a dog, Bolt was finally living the way every dog should live: comfortably in a house, with humans who loved him and his best friends he met on his journey, Mittens and Rhino.

In the first days of his new life as a normal dog, Bolt would wake up in the morning with Penny, follow her around the house, to the kitchen, where he ate from his bowl. Generally, Mittens and Rhino would wake up some time later and find Bolt already finishing his meal. For them, it was a routine, much better than the adventures they had been through.

After getting ready for school, Penny played with Bolt before saying goodbye. After all, she also has a normal life. Bolt would accompany her to the school bus that stopped in front of their house. She would say goodbye to him before getting on the bus, and he knew she would be fine.

When he was walking back to the house, across the grass, he saw Mittens on the steps right after the front entrance, enjoying the morning sun. Seeing that he was on the grass, she thought of teaching him one more dog thing. As he approached, Mittens spoke about rolling in the grass.

"Bolt, roll in the grass," she smiled.

"Roll in the grass?" he replied confusedly.

"Go on, roll in the grass," she insisted.

Bolt then started to roll in the grass as she had told him. He was feeling something he had never felt before. He stopped rolling and lay with his paws up and his back resting on the grass, looking at the blue sky. It was a mix of new sensations: the dew of the grass on his fur, the smell of wet grass in the morning, fresh air, and the sound of birds. Bolt had never felt so alive and in touch with so many things.

"Are you okay?" Mittens asked, because he had been still for a while.

"Yes, I am," Bolt replied, still distracted by what he was feeling. "It's just that I've never felt like this before."

"It's good, isn't it?" she got up from the steps to see how he was doing better. It was an adorable scene.

"Too good, I can't explain it," he got up, shook himself dry, and went to the steps.

"You don't have to," she smiled and went inside the house.

Bolt followed her inside, and the two went to the couch where Rhino was already, looking for an interesting channel on television. As Rhino flipped through the channels, no one noticed, but on a news channel, it was being said that the recording studio of Bolt's old series was being investigated for animal cruelty, as someone from inside leaked to the press that Bolt was kept there for 5 years without being able to be a real dog. Despite this, the series was still airing on television.

Rhino stopped changing channels when he found Bolt's series. It was still his favorite series, even knowing that Bolt next to him was just a common dog; it was still an inspiration. While the images of the series played, Mittens began to understand the supposed powers he claimed to have. Bolt started to remember what it was like to live in the studio and realized something he hadn't noticed, especially because he was now lying peacefully on the couch with his friends. Mittens realized that he had changed a lot and for the better since they met in New York. She more or less knew why but wanted to understand more, so she asked him some things.

"Bolt, do you miss being there?" she looked at Bolt and then at the television.

"Would you believe me if I said no?" he looked at her, smiling.

"I think I would," she smiled back.

"How could you not, Bolt?" Rhino was surprised.

"I can see it now," he stretched out on the couch. "That it was very stressful."

"I imagine," Mittens looked at the television, showing the action scenes of the series. "It shouldn't have been easy."

"Seriously?" Rhino asked, as Bolt's revelation somewhat broke the expectation that being there was great.

"I had a constant fear of losing Penny to the green-eyed man," he looked at the two of them. "I didn't even sleep properly because of it." He sighed sadly.

"I didn't imagine it was that bad," Rhino said with a sad tone.

"Now I know that here is much better. It's something I never had before." He smiled at the two of them, and they smiled back. Bolt only had a peaceful sleep after he went to the country house. Mittens loved his smile.

At that moment, the three of them smelled an incredible scent from the kitchen; Penny's mother was cooking.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find something to eat." Rhino jumped off the couch and went to the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. He turned off the television since no one would be watching anyway.

"You've changed so much since you left that studio," Mittens smiled. She liked the normal Bolt.

"You taught me," he yawned. "Remember?"

"Yes, I remember," she smiled. "There's no way to forget."

Bolt nestled on the couch to take a nap, something he never had time to do at the studio. He is a much less stressed and calmer dog; now he can sleep for long hours without worry. This time on the couch, he felt the fur of another animal touching his belly. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was Mittens. He was surprised for a moment, but he didn't mind. Curiously, he was comfortable with his number one natural enemy resting on his belly. It wasn't the first time she had done this, but Bolt wasn't used to the idea that a cat could be so comfortable near a dog.

During the trip across the United States, Bolt was so worried about saving or returning to Penny that he ended up not paying attention to what he felt for the cat. Still, he knew it was because of her that he felt good about being a normal dog. Mittens, on the other hand, valued what she had with Bolt. He was the first person to worry about her since she was abandoned. She realized this when Bolt returned to that animal shelter just to rescue her, a street cat who, until that moment, apparently had no value.

After a few hours on the couch, the two of them felt someone else sit on the couch. Penny's mother sat down to have lunch while watching television. She noticed that the two of them were napping together and thought, "They are so cute together. Penny will love seeing the two of them like this." They knew that every time she sat down to have lunch, it was a sign that there was food in their bowls. Mittens heard Bolt's stomach rumble with hunger and immediately got off him. Bolt went to eat first, and Mittens lay down next to Penny's mother to receive a little affection.

Bolt arrived in the kitchen and saw Rhino sleeping inside the ball, and he thought, "He probably ate too much." While eating from his bowl, Bolt began to think about what he was feeling: "I like her. I feel good near her, or when she lies on my belly, it's so cozy. But why does all this feel so wrong? Is it so wrong for a dog to fall in love with a cat? Why is it so strange?" His thoughts were interrupted when she also entered the kitchen to eat. The two ate silently, and then each went to a different part of the house. Bolt needed to put his thoughts in order.

Bolt kept walking through the fields around the house while thinking about what he was feeling; he was very bothered by it. While his heart wanted one thing, his head wanted another. It was too much anguish for a dog. At least he could distract himself around the house or by playing with Mr. Carrot. When Penny came home, Bolt could forget these problems for a moment, but every time he looked at Mittens, those doubts always came back, especially at night, because she liked to snuggle up with him because he was warm.

A few days passed since Bolt started having this discomfort. Sometimes he spent the whole day outside the house just not to see Mittens. This caused her to feel strange, as she loved Bolt no matter what. On this day, when Bolt had been out of the house for some time, Rhino went to talk to her because he wanted to help his friend. Mittens was on the porch, looking at Bolt from afar when Rhino arrived. He noticed she was looking at him and waited a few minutes before starting to speak.

"You should talk to him," Rhino said.

"Rhino!" She jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," he chuckled.

"Very funny," she said, already recovering from the fright. "But what did you say? Talk to who?"

"To Bolt," Rhino looked at him from afar.

"He's been acting strange lately," she also looked.

"That's why you should talk to him," Rhino didn't want to reveal that Bolt had already opened up to him.

Mittens thought for a while, even hesitated, but then went to Bolt, who was on the lawn, walking in circles, repeating the same phrase to himself, very softly: "I can't love her." Despite speaking softly, Mittens heard and couldn't believe it. So she got closer and called him.

"Bolt," she tried not to startle him.

"Mittens!" he was a little startled. "I didn't see you."

"Are you okay?" she asked, with a calm voice.

"I think so," he didn't have the courage to say anything else.

"I wanted to ask you something," she knew he was lying but didn't want to be too direct.

"You can ask," he sat down on the lawn.

"It's a doubt I had about what we went through together," she slowly approached. "Why did you rescue me from that animal place, even though I'm a stray cat?" She tried to be subtle and at the same time clear up a doubt she really had.

Bolt took a deep breath before answering.

"I couldn't leave you there," he looked at her. "After everything I put you through."

"No one had ever worried about me like that before," she sat down in front of him.

He was speechless seeing her in front of him, but he continued.

"It was nothing much," he tried to change the subject, shyly.

"It was important to me," she looked him in the eyes.

"I didn't know," he looked away. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said calmly and smiled at him.

She put her paws around Bolt's neck and hugged him gently. All that anguish, for a moment, seemed not to exist. She felt that Bolt was more relaxed.

"Let's go back inside," she then released Bolt from her hug and was heading back into the house when she was interrupted.

"Mittens," Bolt took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Of course," she turned back to him.

"Is it wrong for a dog to feel so good near a cat?" It was as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he asked that.

"No, Bolt, not at all," she looked him in the eyes.

"I... I'll wait out here, Penny will be home soon," he didn't expect that answer, so he was very surprised and changed the subject immediately.

Mittens continued inside the house while Bolt lay down on the porch, still a little confused about what he was feeling. He realized that Mittens didn't care if it was wrong or not, but she loved being near him anyway. Slowly, that anguish began to improve. He started to understand that he was worried about something he shouldn't be.

In a few minutes, Penny arrived home and was greeted with jumps of joy and licks from Bolt. He always greeted her like that; after all, he crossed an entire country for her. Then, Penny gave affection to her other pets, greeted her mother, left her things in her room, and went to play with Bolt outside. She knew that Bolt missed her very much, so she made sure to have good moments with him.

A few hours later, at night, Bolt was tired from playing so much with Penny. He finished eating from his bowl and went to lie down in his dog bed, which was next to Penny's bed. A few minutes later, he felt Mittens snuggling up with him again. It didn't seem like such a strange idea to Bolt, but he still asked.

"Mittens, isn't it strange, you and me like this..." he asked softly.

"Maybe, but I don't care," she stretched and turned towards him. "It's warm and comfortable here. I feel good with you. I feel safe. I wouldn't trade this for anything," she yawned and closed her eyes to sleep.

At that moment, Bolt understood what really mattered.

"I wouldn't trade it for anything either," he whispered, and then closed his eyes to sleep.

Penny entered the room a few minutes later, saw the two of them, and thought they looked very cute together. She put a blanket over them and stroked their heads. Bolt understood that he was worrying too much about whether it was wrong or strange and forgetting that he also loved being close to her and that she was his safe harbor when he was lost and didn't know what it meant to be a dog. He also knew that he felt good near her. Bolt slept peacefully, enjoying the moment, which was not the first nor would it be the last. He knew he was just a dog, but that was enough for everyone.

Everything was fine.