Chapter 1: A common beginning?

It had been a few months since the day Penny had taken the picture with her three best friends; this photo was currently lying in a picture frame in the middle of a house in California. The girl now went to school and led a normal life, as did her pets, which were now playing in the courtyard of the house.

"Come on! Or are you already tired, dog?" Mittens shouted to Bolt as she ran, holding Rhino´s sphere with one of her paws, which they were using as a playball (with him inside it).

"Of course not, I´m just warming up," the shepherd replied as he gained speed to reach her out and take the sphere from her. The he started running in the opposite direction, away from Mittens. "Now catch me if you can!"

"Oh no, not that," she said playfully as she struggled to catch up with Bolt. However, he was much faster, and would have left her behind, had it not been for the white dog suddenly stopped dead, causing Mittens to collide with him and sending both to the ground, she on top of him, while Rhino shot out inside his ball.

"What happened, Bolt?"

"Sorry," he replied, still on the floor. "For a second I thought I saw… Ah, it was nothing."

Then they realized how close they were to each other, for they had not moved after the crash; they looked into each other's eyes without saying anything, getting lost in each other´s gaze. For one second, it was a wonderful moment. Then the moment was over.

"Ahem," Apparently, Rhino was back. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," they both said in unison as they parted and looked away. It seemed as if the hamster was going to insist, but then they heard Penny´s voice from the house, calling them.

"Bolt, Mittens, Rhino, I'm home! Come on, time to eat!"

Taking advantage of the girl´s call, Bolt ran into the house, mentally thanking Penny for getting him out of that situation; his two friends were not left behind, and arrived shortly after him to the kitchen, where their food was already served. Mealtime passed in silence, it seemed that every one of them was thinking. Shortly after, Rhino was the first one to finish.

"Well, if you look for me, I´ll be watching the magic box." He said as he headed for the living room.

"I´ll be outside by the tree," Bolt told Mittens before leaving the kitchen, but the cat seemed to be lost in her thoughts. "Mittens, are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I think I´ll go upstairs to take a little nap." She answered quickly before running off to Penny´s room.

Each of the three spent all the afternoon submerged in their own thoughts, although all of them were referring to the same subject.

Bolt´s P.O.V.

What was that when we were playing? When she was on top of me, it felt, well, well. It´s not the first time, I´ve been feeling this strange thing in my chest whenever I´m near her, and it feels good, but I don´t know what… could it be love? Is it possible that I am falling in love with Mittens? Is that a right thing? I mean, she is my best friend, she showed me the real world and how to be a normal dog too. But, love? I don´t know. I would have to talk to someone, though I don´t think Rhino knows much about it; he always complains when there is something romantic on T.V. No, I have to find someone I can talk about this. And I need to think it over. I have to clear my mind.

Mittens´ P.O.V.

I don´t know how longer I´ll be able to keep quiet. For a long time I´ve wanted to tell him how I feel but… I´m not sure how would he take it. He is my best friend after all; and being near him, having his company, is the best thing I could ask for. Besides, he´s a dog, and I´m a cat; how abnormal is that? How would others see us? Even though, well, they say love knows no boundaries, but it is different to say than to do. But that doesn´t matter, what worries me most is his reaction. He might not feel the same; he might take it the wrong way. I would not like to tell him and be rejected by him. I could not live with that. I know exactly what I feel for him, but that doesn´t make it any easier. I have to think this more, I have to plan it.

Rhino´s P.O.V.

Now what´s going on with those two always behaving strangely when the other one´s around? It´s like they have a secret or something. But what could it be? No idea, but it´s probably important, for them at least. Maybe I can get some information, but I would have to ask the very exact question. And I could start by seeing since when they behave like that… yes, it would help me to get an idea about it. But I´ll have to give myself time to analyze it better.

That was it for the rest of the afternoon. At dinner time, the three of them gathered in the kitchen, once more, without saying a word until they had finished. A little later they went up to Penny´s room to sleep. The last thing they said to each other was "Good night." before laying back and falling asleep.

Meanwhile, not far from the house, among some shrubs, two shadows were watching.

"Tell me again why are we here." Asked the first one to the second; its voice sounded thick but the tone it used was rather than that of a child.

"Because we received orders to watch over them," This one had a sweet, soft and tender voice, but the intonation was mature. "We have to be aware of what´s happening in that house."

"Do you want me to come in?"

"Don´t be reckless! We have to stay on the sidelines."

"Me? Reckless?" The first one echoed. "You´re the one who always ends up giving us away and…"

"Leave it, now. It looks like nothing will happen tonight, so let´s go back to the camp."

"Alright,"

So the two shadows ran out of their hideout and towards a nearby forest at an impressive speed, getting lost in the darkness of the night.

Hi there everyone, this is it for the first chapter. I´d like to say that reviews are more than welcome, specially if you spotted any grammar or spelling mistakes since I´ve already finished this story, and I´m just translating it (with a little help from google translator, I´ll admit) because of a request I received not long ago. Anyway thank you guys for reading, and I´ll update soon. See ya then.