Well, Part 2 has arrived; which means we'll get a chance to see how Bolt about Mittens saying that she loves him; if he can get past the wrenching pain in his gut. Speaking of which…

A/N: I do not own Bolt or any of its characters. All characters are the property of Disney and its subsidiaries.

Sweet and Sour PART 2

"So, how long have you been in love with Bolt?" Rhino asked the broken-hearted feline, hoping she would fill in some gaps.

"Um, well… I guess it started when we both came home with him. He was just… always there when I needed him." Mittens explained

"And… you never told him?" Rhino asked

"Obviously not!" Mittens said sarcastically.

"Okay, relax…. you'll just have to wait until he comes home." Rhino said trying to think of something to say. Mittens looked at the hamster and gave him a look of rage and curiosity, wondering why he would say that.

"Rhino, you just told me to relax, and you expect THAT to do the trick? Bolt… could die… today!" Mittens asked as if he was stupid.

"We don't have a choice, cat." Rhino said forcefully. Mittens looked back at the window, wishing she could just open the door with her paws and chase down the car. But as it was, Rhino was right. The small black cat walked to the couch in a slump, and lay down on the corner cushion, preparing for what would be one of the longest nights of her life.

(Bolt)

The white shepherd was being hoisted out of the back seat of the car, and rushed into some building known only as… the vet. Bolt had been to the vet once a year for a check-up, but this was no check-up. This was life or death! And that only made his nerves all the shakier, even though he couldn't feel them beneath the searing pain in his gut. Penny, still carrying Bolt in her arms, walked inside the building with her mom only steps behind.

"Are you the Russo's?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes, we are." Penny answered in a panic.

"Okay, I'll run and grab Dr. Hanter." the receptionist said as she got out of her seat and walked to the back room. Seconds later, Dr. Hanter appeared with his lab coat on, and ready to go.

"Hello. Please follow me." Hanter ordered, to which Penny and her mother obeyed. As they entered the back room he had just come from, Bolt was set on the examination table, still cringing in pain.

"So, what exactly happened?" Hanter asked

"He got into our chocolate syrup bottle." Catherine answered

"Oooh! Alright, I'm gonna have to ask you guys to leave the room."

"What are you gonna do?" Penny asked

"You'll just have to trust me." Hanter answered as he looked Penny in the eye. He knew she was scared, and didn't want to be separated from her dog; however, for the sake of her sanity, it was better if she wasn't around. Penny gave a small nod as she followed her mother back out into the waiting room, and the door shut. Dr. Hanter turned the table around so that Bolt could look at him.

"Hey buddy! I'm gonna do my best to make sure you make it outta here alive, okay?" Dr. Hanter said looking at the dying canine. Bolt managed to look up momentarily at the only person he could fully trust to save his life, and whined a little, hoping the doctor understood what he was trying to say.

"You're welcome!" Hanter said smiling as he gently picked Bolt up and carried him out of the examination room and into the prepping room….used mostly for surgery.

(Penny and her mom)

"How could this have happened?" Catherine asked as she and Penny waited anxiously in the waiting room.

"The window in the kitchen was open, and the wind knocked over the bottle. If I had just put it back in the fridge, this wouldn't be happening." Penny said breaking down and crying into her lap. Catherine scooted over to her daughter and pulled her into her shoulder to cry freely.

"This was nobody's fault, sweetheart! You had no idea what was happening." Catherine said with assurance. Even with the kind words, Penny still felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

(Back to Bolt)

"Okay, buddy. I need you to drink some water. Can you do that for me?" Dr. Hanter asked as he placed a small bowl of water in front of the canine's muzzle. Bolt slowly lifted his head, and sniffed the bowl. After figuring out what was in his face, he began drinking. At first, it tasted like ordinary water; however, as he continued to down gulp after gulp, he noticed that something about the water made it taste bitter. Blaming it on his stomach screaming, he finished off what was left of the murky-tasting water. It did seem to help just having something inside his system that WASN'T causing him to shriek.

"Thank you, Bolt. I'll be back in in just a few minutes." Hanter said before leaving the room, and walking down the hallway to the waiting room. As he passed one of his assistants, he nodded to her, suggesting that what he was planning was working. She gave a nod back, and went back to work. Dr. Hanter walked into view of Penny and her mother, and smiled as he caught their eye.

"How is he?" Catherine asked with Penny sitting right next to her, wondering the same thing.

"He'll be fine, but he shouldn't be doing much physical activity for the next few weeks. I just gave him a bowl with half water and half hydrogen peroxide, and he drank it all." Hanter explained. Penny and her mom looked at the vet, wondering what he was thinking.

"Isn't hydrogen peroxide a poison?" Catherine asked blatantly.

"To humans, yes; but, a dog's stomach is like a sewer, and the hydrogen peroxide acts as a cleaning agent. One of my assistants knows what's going on, and she'll come inform me when Bolt is finished."

"Finished with what?" Penny asked

"Vomiting." Hanter said plainly.

Dog Fact: To humans, hydrogen peroxide is used primarily for cleaning a wound or as an oral rinse. However, if you're dog ever gets into chocolate, you can either give it a bowl made up of half water and half hydrogen peroxide, or feed it 2 tablespoons of straight hydrogen peroxide. Give it about half an hour, make sure that they're outside, and eventually, they will throw up the contents of their stomach. It will save you a trip to the vet's office, and a hefty bill.

"And you're sure this'll work?" Penny asked

"Positive. Make sure he's off his feet as much as possible for the next few weeks, and give him plenty of water. The hydrogen peroxide may get rid of the chocolate problem, but it can also dehydrate a dog's stomach very rapidly. Basically, if he whines, it's because he's thirsty, and he'll be thirsty a whole lot." Hanter continued to explain as he sat with Catherine and Penny in the waiting room.

"Dr. Hanter!" called his assistant from the hallway.

"Yes!" Hanter responded

"Bolt's done." she said with a smile of relief on her face, causing Dr. Hanter to smile right back. The vet got up and led Penny and Catherine to the back room, where Bolt was sleeping soundly on a large blanket in the examination room. Penny sighed in contentment, happy to see her 'good boy' in a moment where he wasn't squirming in pain.

"He looks so much better." Catherine said smiling.

"I bet he feels it too." Penny said with a wider smile.

"He's on a low-dose sedative, because throwing up can cause severe dizziness for a dog. He'll wake up tomorrow morning, but for now, he'll sleep like a rock." Hanter's assistant explained to the group.

"Thank you, Gloria." Hanter said

"Yes! Thank you! To the both of you." Penny said looking at the vet and assistant. They both gave accepting nods before lifting Bolt from his blanket, and carrying him to the car. Penny waited with the exhausted canine in the car, while her mother took care of the vet bill. As they waited for Catherine to finish, Penny stroked Bolt's fur as his head lay on her lap in the back seat.

"You're a good boy... You're my good boy!" Penny whispered into Bolt's ear, causing it to twitch as he slept. Penny snickered silently at the sight. The driver's side door of the car opened up and Catherine slid inside, starting the car shortly after.

"How's he doing?" Catherine asked as she looked in the rear view mirror, back at Penny.

"He looks so much better." Penny said smiling. The car ride home took about 30 minutes, but felt like so much longer. Penny opened the door, and carried the sleeping dog up the front steps of their house. As the front door opened, Mittens and Rhino woke up from their snooze on the couch. Mittens instantly jumped off of the cushion and ran towards Penny.

"It's okay, Mittens. Bolt's gonna be okay." Penny said smiling. Mittens looked back at Rhino, who was still on the couch, but had a 'be-awesome' sized smile on his face. Mittens laughed a little in response to it, but soon after, felt tears forming in her eyes. She still had a chance to hear how Bolt felt about her.

"Are you okay?" Rhino asked the feline.

"Bolt's alive! Of course I'm okay." Mittens answered as more tears came streaming from her eyes. Rhino smiled as he reached for the power button on the TV remote, and flipped on 'Criminal Minds'. As Penny set him down on his bed in the living room, Mittens snuck up and crawled into the bed alongside the sleeping canine. As she tried to find a comfortable position, she felt an arm pull her into Bolt's soft chest. She turned her head as far as she could to find that it was Bolt's arm. He was subconsciously pulling her towards him, not that she minded much at all. She squirmed a little and settled herself as Bolt's strong grip got a little tighter around her back, and her face nuzzled against his chest. It wasn't long before she fell asleep in his grasp, dreaming of, if anything, that the night wouldn't end. Even if the morning came and he didn't love her, she still had this one moment to cherish.

"Phew! I hope we never have to relive that nightmare again." Penny said as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"I agree." Catherine said walking into the kitchen. Penny looked at the table and realized something…. something…. incomplete.

"Oh crap! My project! I never finished it." Penny said as she glanced at all of the supplies on the table. She then looked over at the clock on the wall, which read 11:14pm.

"Were we really at the vet's office for that long?" Penny asked astonished.

"I guess so. Well, at least you only have one more liquid to go. I'd love to help you, honey; but I can't stay awake any longer." Catherine said apologetically.

"I understand." Penny said as she looked over at Bolt in his bed. All of a sudden, she noticed something else in the bed with him. It was Mittens. She smiled seeing the cuteness of the scene, and reached across the table, where her camera sat ready for her to use. Turning it on, she looked back at the sleeping couple and waited for the picture to load. As she snapped the photo and dispensed it, she slowly pulled the camera from her vision, and had an idea. The teenage girl pulled the photo from her camera, looking at it so intently.

"That's it!" Penny said setting the camera back on the table, and clearing the rest of it of the supplies she had scattered in every part. She ran up to her room and got to work. On what?

(The Next Day: 2:20pm)

"I'm basing this independent study project off of an incident that occurred at my house and a vet's office all of last night. The topic: 'Dogs and Chocolate'!" Penny said beginning the presentation of her project. In the course of 20 minutes, she managed to fit in almost every detail of the night before, mostly focusing on what she learned from the vet's office and what to do if your canine ingests chocolate. Using sympathy as a side-note, she gained more credit from the substitute teacher after hearing that Bolt had done the same thing. Penny had stayed up until almost 2 o'clock in the morning putting the presentation together, and she was hoping and praying that everything would work out in the end.

"Thank you very much, Penny! How is Bolt doing?" asked the substitute teacher.

"He's doing fine. I managed to snap this picture last night after everything had happened." Penny said passing the picture she'd taken of Bolt and Mittens sleeping around the class of 20+ students. A collection of 'Awww!'s were given throughout the passing of the picture until it got around to the substitute.

"Oh, that is just adorable!"

"I thought so too." Penny said smiling. After school was out, the grades were being displayed for the semester and Penny couldn't wait to see how she did. She met up with her boyfriend, Michael, outside the board where the grades were posted and gave him a kiss.

"Hey, how'd you do?" Penny asked Michael.

"Really well. I'm sittin' pretty with a 92% average for the semester." Michael said happy with his grades.

"That's awesome, baby!" Penny said complimenting her boyfriend.

"Thanks, but you might wanna take a look at YOUR grades for Parsons." Michael said leading Penny towards the grade section for her science class. What she saw made her smile widely.

"Oh my God! I did it!" Penny said excitedly. Her grade on the project was a 98%. As she rounded up the numbers in her head, she realized that she'd been bumped up to a 94% for the semester.

"I got a 94% for the semester." Penny said happily.

"Wait a minute! You beat me? Looks like I got my work cut out for me NEXT semester." Michael said with a sinister smile. Penny shook her head and laughed before kissing him. She walked out to the bus, where it was a 20 minutes ride home; one she had been waiting for since she'd left the same morning. She was finally gonna get to see Bolt awake since the night before.

(5 hours earlier)

It was now about 10:00am, and Bolt was beginning to wake up. As he opened his eyes, he felt something warm around his front, and looked down to find Mittens in his grasp and sleeping soundly. Bolt couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten home last night, but it didn't matter. What did matter was that he was alive. His stomach was still giving him grief, and his mouth felt very dry for some reason. He tried his best to wiggle his way out of the bed without waking Mittens up, but eventually, his impatience when it came to getting water made him get up too fast and Mittens' head fell to the bed, jolting her from her sleep.

"Wh-wha…" Mittens said trying to gain her composure, and looked around her to find that Bolt wasn't in his bed; in fact, he wasn't anywhere to be seen. She could hear faint noises coming from the kitchen and trotted towards the sounds, to find Bolt gulping down his entire bowl of water. At the rate he was drinking it; you would swear he'd been in the desert for 5 days without it. As Bolt came up for air seconds later, gasping but satisfied. After he calmed down, he was finally able to breathe normally, and turned around to find Mittens looking at him from the corner of the kitchen.

"Sorry… I tried my best not to wake you, but…"

"Oh no, it's fine. You…okay?" Mittens asked wondering what was going on. Bolt looked at the black cat and smiled as he thought about why she would ask that.

"I'm happy to be alive." Bolt said smiling, causing Mittens to smile right back.

"Bolt, I… about what I said last night; I didn't mean to throw you off like that, but you were…"

"I love you too." Bolt said plainly and cutting Mittens off. Mittens was completely frozen in place. Could what he said have been true? Did he really love her back?

"What?" Mittens asked in shock.

"I love you too, Mittens." Bolt said once more, and slowly walked towards her and kissed her lips softly. In an instant, the two animals seemed to make the world stand still. With their eyes closed, they continued to kiss for another 30 seconds before Bolt broke them apart.

"Really?" Mittens asked

"Yeah… really. All throughout the time I was at the vet, I kept thinking about what would happen if I didn't make it. I'd be abandoning you. And because of that….I realized that I DO love you. I already feel the need to protect you, and that'll never change. But, you mean more to me than just a friend." Bolt said in the most heartfelt way he could. Mittens stared at Bolt, who by now was trying his best to hold back tears of joy. The black cat buried her face into the canine's chest and cried silently with Bolt holding her gently with his free arm, almost like he was cradling her.

"I love you." Bolt said lowering his head towards Mittens' ears, and causing them to twitch when she heard his speak. His angelic voice made her feel so safe.

"I love you too, Bolt." Mittens said pulling her head out of his chest. Bolt leaned in and kissed her once more, this time, sending a shiver up her spine. After breaking the kiss again, Bolt lead Mittens to his bed, where they laid down wrapped in each other's fur.

"So, what exactly happened at the vet's office?" Mittens asked starting up a conversation.

"Oooh… where do I begin?" Bolt asked

(The night before: Bolt's POV)

"Okay, so this guy thinks some murky tasting water is gonna make me feel better? This guy is nuts" I thought as I got to my feet slowly. It DID feel good to have something in my stomach, though. I still felt the pain down there, but I could walk; that was a start. There wasn't really much I could do until the doc got back. All of a sudden, I felt this weird feeling in my stomach, and I know it wasn't the chocolate doing it.

Ugh… what's wrong now?" I asked myself as I continued to walk. And then…

"What did he do to me?" I asked myself once more; however, I didn't have time to answer due to one thing…. I started throwing up. I couldn't walk, I couldn't think, I could barely move at all. I could just stand there and let it all come up. I just wasn't able to keep it down. At one point, it got hard for me to breathe, but by the time I ran out of air, the hurling stopped and I was able to inhale.

"Oh my God! What the hell just happened?" I asked myself again. Suddenly, I heard the door to the office open, and I jumped back. I saw some random woman walk in and looked around to see the floor covered in the contents of my gut.

"Whoa, Bolt! It looks like it worked." the lady said. What? Was this supposed to happen? I took a couple steps back, not sure if she was gonna get upset, but she seemed to notice that I was a little uneasy

"Oh, it's okay, Bolt. I'll get this cleaned up. You're not in trouble." she said. I walked up closer to her, and she scratched my head gently, but then, I felt this small…prick in my side. Like someone just stuck a dart in my hip, and then…then…

(Present time)

"I don't remember much after that. I think I remember Penny talking to me, but my memory's not the best." Bolt said explaining the night to Mittens.

"Huh! Well now, the vet just scared me even more." Mittens said

"I don't know. I didn't feel too scared. But then again, I also don't remember everything." Bolt said laughing a little. Mittens smiled, just happy to have him alive.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I don't think I could lose you for real." Mittens said finally succumbing to a trail of tears that started running down her cheeks. Bolt reached around her back and pulled her head towards his own, doing his best to comfort her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mittens; now that I have you." Bolt said nuzzling her softly. Mittens continued to cry for a few more minutes, now that she felt like she could, and Bolt wasn't about to deny her the right.

"So, how do think Rhino's gonna take us being together?" Bolt asked his new mate.

"Ha!... I think he's just fine with it." Mittens said laughing a little bit. Bolt shook his head and rested it on the edge of the bed, where he tried to get some sleep. Mittens, however, looked at the stairs, where a little brown hamster was standing and watching. She gave a wink to Rhino, smiling as she did so, which caused him to return one of his own before he bounded up each of the steps to the 2nd floor, where he could still watch the 'magic box' and give Bolt and Mittens some privacy.

"Absolutely…. 'Be-Awesome'!"

**End of Story**

Well, this little 2-part short wasn't exactly what I had expected to bring back to the 'Bolt' page; however, I hope I did it justice anyway. As for what's to come from me, I have a bit of a surprise for you guys. My senior year English teacher decided to use 'The Adventure Continues' and 'Decoded' as teaching tools for the next semester's Advanced Composition class, which means that my work is gonna be seen by over 400 students, and they don't even know that I'm the author. It's kinda cool! And the only thing he wants me to do to repay him…. write a Part 3! So now, 'The Adventure Continues' and 'Decoded' will see a final act! A TRILOGY! I'll see you guys sometime next month with the 1st chapter. Have a great September!

Sayonara!