A/N: I know this isn't an original concept, but I'm hoping that the way it's done is original. It's original because I'm actually setting this is the time of the 1920s, it takes place over a longer period of time than the movie, and some of them actually have dogs. I'm aware this is almost an alternate universe of the universe, but so are most humanised versions, so hopefully you can forgive me for that
I've tried to keep the designs as similar to their dog selves as possible, but some parts (like Tramp's eye colour) are changed because it fitted the humanisation slightly better. Okay, I'll let you begin now…
(awful chapter title is awful)
Chapter One: Lady and Tramp
Lady had always been the only child of a wealthy family which held something resembling a nobility status. She behaved properly and was courteous and polite, and although her parents worried that she was lonely, she never let on if she was. She had only two friends, and seemed to not mind that she had nobody else. Her Aunt Sarah disliked her immensely, but that was okay too, because Aunt Sarah never really came over.
Still, Lady's parents didn't want her to be a lonely girl, because it's important to have good friends, especially when one is young, so on her fifteenth birthday, they burst into her room holding a hat box and announced that she was only getting one real present this year; everything else would be to help her care for it.
Rubbing the sleep from her big brown eyes, Lady sat up and yawned. She was pale and delicate, well-fed though not fat, with long, glossy, wavy brown hair. She gently took the box from her parents and set it down on her lap to untie the ribbon holding it shut. Immediately she could feel something squirming.
Her present this year was alive?
Pulling the ribbon on the box out of its bow, Lady heard a shuffling from inside the box, and then saw a tiny dark nose poke the lid off from inside. Removing the lid, Lady gasped in joy.
Inside the box was a golden cocker spaniel puppy, an adorable little girl with brown ears and a red ribbon on her neck. Lady lifted the puppy out of the box and the little thing seemed almost to smile at her, wagging its tail and desperately trying to lick her face.
"She's all yours," Lady's mother said. "A special friend, just for you."
Lady clutched the puppy to her chest and beamed at her parents. "Thank you so much," she gushed. "She's just perfect."
The first night was quite funny, as although the puppy – who she named Missy – had been allowed to sleep in Lady's room, Lady had not wanted the pup to sleep on the bed with her (mostly because Missy was so small, and Lady didn't want to accidentally roll over and squash the poor thing). Missy, on the other hand, had different ideas. She immediately hopped out of her little basket, sat beside Lady's bed, and cried until Lady finally put the basket next to the bed, the dog in the basket, and lay on her front so her hand could dangle over the side and also lay in the basket.
Still, she found Missy's pleasant, squirming warm form very comforting.
As Missy grew, they developed a night-time routine whereby Lady would tell Missy it was bedtime and Missy would hop into her basket, tail wagging happily, sitting nicely and watching Lady. The second Lady was in bed, though, with her head on the pillow, Missy was jumping onto the bed with her and settling down by her side, and Lady would fall asleep with her hand on Missy's back. Missy always moved by morning, though, because Lady would wake up with the spaniel's head on her legs.
It didn't take long for Lady and Missy to do everything together. Missy sat by Lady's chair at the dinner table during breakfast, lunch and dinner. They enjoyed walks together, played in the garden, sat in front of the fire as Lady read, and Missy even let Lady bathe her. Lady began getting up when Missy did, and running out to fetch the newspaper (and keep Missy from digging up the garden) with her.
Two weeks before her seventeenth birthday, Lady was sitting down at the breakfast table with Missy by her side, and her mother said, "I want to talk to you about something, Lady."
"Yes, mother?" Lady asked politely.
"I don't want you to worry," Lady's mother told her, "but your father and I are going to try for another baby."
"Oh." Was there any other appropriate response to that?
"It's not that we don't love you," her mother continued, "but you've grown up so quickly. Why, soon you'll be finding a suitor to marry!"
"I'm not worried, mother," Lady said. "I think it's a fine idea. I was just surprised."
"I'm glad you're okay with it," her mother said, serving breakfast. Lady slipped a rasher of bacon into Missy's bowl, and Missy wagged her tail in appreciation. "Now, let's talk about your seventeenth."
Lady blinked in confusion. "My seventeenth, mother?"
"Yes, Lady, your seventeenth. Your father might object to it, but I think we should hold a party to introduce you to the young men of town this year. You're old enough now."
Lady perked up. She'd never been to a party before. "That sounds wonderful, mother."
"Missy won't be able to go," her mother said apologetically. "Dogs and parties aren't a good combination."
"No, I understand," Lady answered, somewhat more downtrodden than before.
"I think I shall get you a necklace for your birthday; a beautiful one, with gold and diamonds."
"Can it look like Missy's collar?" Lady asked. Her mother gave a small smirk. Lady's hair was very similar to the soft, wavy fur of Missy's ears, and Lady loved the idea that the two looked like one another.
"Of course it can," her mother said.
"Thank you, mother," Lady said. They finished breakfast in silence, and Lady excused herself from the table so she could take Missy for a walk.
Lady awaited her birthday, over the next two weeks, with a mixture of dread and nerves knotted in her stomach. Missy was the one who woke her up, of course, when it turned six. She groaned, stood up, stretched and opened the bedroom door so Missy could go and do her business in the garden. Lady followed, and was so tired she was halfway down the stairs before she realised she was seventeen now.
Her father was talking excitedly into the phone, apparently to Aunt Sarah, when she arrived at the foot of the stairs. He paused to greet her, said goodbye to Aunt Sarah, and hugged her.
"Happy birthday, Lady," her father said softly. Lady was almost as tall as he was now, and he pulled back to look at her. "You look just as beautiful as your mother."
Lady blushed and tried to change the subject. "Why were you on the phone so early, Father? Do you and Mother have good news?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly. Though she hadn't known what to think at first, she had to admit she was excited at the prospect of having a baby brother or sister to care for.
"Yes, we do," her father said, beaming. Then he frowned. "Your aunt, I swear… I don't know what her problem is. You're a fine young lady, Lady."
Lady shrugged helplessly. "You know how Aunt Sarah is, Father. We can't do anything about her."
"Well, let's not worry about that," her father said, beaming again. "Happy birthday, dear."
He lead her into the kitchen, where her mother and Missy were already waiting with a spectacular looking breakfast, a portion of which Missy was already helping herself to. It seemed Mother had a big day planned, but the first thing she did was present Lady with her new necklace. Just as requested, it was very similar to Missy' collar: a golden circle almost like a license, attached to a blue strap, rather like a choker necklace. The name Lady was engraved in the circle, and a number of small diamonds were dotted around the name, evenly spaced in another circular shape. Lady immediately put the necklace on.
"We really do match now, Missy!" she exclaimed happily, hugging her mother and whispering "Congratulations!" in her ear.
"Have your breakfast quickly and take Missy out for a walk," her mother said. "We've got a lot to do today."
"You can show your new necklace to Jock and Trusty," her father said. "I'm sure they'll like it." Jock and Trusty, maybe because they were Lady's only two friends or maybe because the three had known each other for a long time, were the only boys Father seemed to be comfortable with. They were a little older than her, and unmarried, but they had always meant well.
Lady dressed for the warm August weather in a light brown shirt and a long blue skirt, clipped Missy's leash onto her collar and took her out, strolling up to Jock's house first on their way to the park.
Jock was just heading out with his dog, a little Scottie called Barra (named, apparently, after a Scottish island). Jock was a dark-haired Scotsman, shorter than Lady, with a small moustache. He usually wore a red tartan kilt, and seemed not to mind the cold too much. He was also an expert on jewellery, often collecting the stuff himself and always calling jewellery his treasure when he looked it over, no matter whose it was.
"Good morning Jock!" Lady called, and waited with Missy for Jock and Barra to catch up. "Notice anything different?"
She saw Jock's eyes snap to the necklace briefly, and knew he was joking when he said, "New haircut?"
Lady shook her head. "Guess again."
"Ye've had your nails done?"
"No…"
Lady craned her neck and puffed out her chest to show off the necklace.
"Well I'll be," Jock said, feigning surprise. "A bonnie new necklace. Come here, let me have a look at my new treasure."
Lady smirked a little and removed the necklace for Jock to inspect. He looked it over a couple of times, handed it back and said. "Beautiful, lassie, absolutely beautiful, and very expensive-looking, too. Ye better take good care of it."
"Oh, I will," Lady promised. "Mother had it made to look just like Missy's collar."
"Well, that's lovely," Jock said. "We'd better go show it to Trusty on the way to the park. You know how sensitive he is about these things."
Trusty was tall and dark, and always accompanied by his bloodhound. The bloodhound was also called Trusty, and they had to call him Trusty Dog to avoid confusion. They had run for a while with Trusty's grandfather tracking down criminals, before the grandfather had retired and Trusty Dog had lost his sense of smell.
"But we must never let on that we know, lassie," Jock always said. "Terrible thing, really. Should never have happened to a dog."
Whether Trusty himself knew his dog had no sense of smell or not was anyone's guess, but he was always trying to convince someone – whether himself or them, they didn't know – that Trusty Dog was still a fine tracker. However, an equally terribly development had recently occurred. Trusty's eyesight appeared to have deteriorated, while he used to be one of the best at spotting anything out of place. Again, Lady and Jock never let on they knew, because it would break Trusty's heart to know he and Trusty Dog weren't still the crack team they used to be.
When they reached Trusty's house, he was desperately apologising to Trusty Dog, probably having stepped on his paw. They had to clear their throats before he realised either of them were there, but when he did, his sight was good enough to say, "Why Miss Lady, you have a new necklace!"
"Uh-huh," Lady said, as they went along their way to the park. "Mother and Father are throwing a debutante party for me tonight, so I can meet others my age."
"Aye," Jock said, "we heard."
"Oh, say you'll go," Lady begged, "the both of you! Please? Missy can't go, and I don't want to be alone at the party without her!"
"O' course we'll go, lassie," Jock promised. "We wouldn't dream of leavin' ye all alone in a big party like that."
Meanwhile, not too far away, a skinny boy of about eighteen had just woken up. He had a real name, but he went by the name Tramp. He was very thin, with scruffy greyish-black hair and happy, intelligent blue eyes. He wore a dirty dress shirt whose sleeves had been torn off above the elbows at different lengths, a too-big pair of dirty grey shorts which were ripped at the knee and held up with suspenders, and a pair of old shoes.
He was friendly and popular, and so was his grey mutt, Champ. They didn't actually have a home, but they ran errands for friends, who gave them a place to sleep and a meal to eat. They had spent the night on the beaten old couch of one of these friends, and Tramp left behind a couple of dollar bills he had found in his pocket, deciding to take Champ to the park for the morning. Champ didn't have a leash or a collar; Champ had just come along one day a couple of years ago and decided to be his dog.
On the way, Tramp and Champ stopped by an Italian restaurant, Tony's, and Joe gave them breakfast. Then they headed for the park, stopping occasionally to look in shop windows.
"…and so, Mother and Father are going to have a baby," Lady explained, as they came into the park.
"That's wonderful, Miss Lady," Trusty said.
"Aye," Jock agreed. "Just you wait. They smell an' beller a lot, an' Missy won' be allowed to play wi' it, but babies are very sweet."
"I'm sure it will be," Lady said, "whether it's a girl or a boy."
"An' how did your – ah – aunt take to the news?" Jock asked. He and Trusty, like her parents, were well aware that Lady's great aunt did not like her.
"Father wasn't too pleased with her," Lady said, "so she must have been very excited." Every time Aunt Sarah and Father talked about Lady, Father got more and more annoyed, until he mentioned something about Lady which Aunt Sarah struggled to find faults with, and then he would grin at Lady, becoming increasingly smug. Sometimes when this happened on the phone, Lady and Mother would listen in – usually with the extension on the landing – and try not to laugh too audibly as Aunt Sarah became increasingly flustered.
Missy was tugging at the leash, presumably having spotted a dog she wanted to play with. Lady patted her on the head and reassured her that she'd be let off in a minute.
"It's a'right, lassie," Jock said gently. "Her opinion doesn't matter."
"I agree," Lady said. "Thank you."
Suddenly Missy wasn't gently tugging at her leash anymore. She was racing off, and Lady was taken so much by surprise that she didn't have time to dig her heels in and stop Missy. She was dragged along until Missy reached whoever she wanted to meet, and just as Lady thought she could kneel down to unclip the leash, Missy and another dog began to run in circles around Lady and the other dog's owner, tying them together with the leash.
"Oh!" Lady exclaimed, as the two dogs finally came to a standstill. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey," the other person chuckled, "I'm not complaining."
Missy had succeeded in tying Lady to a handsome – if in need of a few good meals and a proper bath – young man with striking blue eyes. He flashed her a brilliant grin and held her waist to keep her from falling as Missy tried to move again.
"Lassie!" Jock called, as he and Trusty bounded over with their dogs. "Are ye alright?"
"I'm fine," Lady said, placing a hand on the dirty boy's chest to put some distance between them, "but could you unclip Missy's leash so we can get free?"
Trusty obliged, and the leash slackened, allowing Lady and the boy to untangle themselves.
"Is that your dog?" Jock asked, gesturing to the thin, grey dog Missy had run off to play with.
"Well, sort of," the boy said. "Champ chose me, instead of the other way around."
"It's so strange," Lady muttered thoughtfully. "Missy's never done that before."
"Well, some people just know when they like each other," the boy said, shrugging. "Must be the same with dogs."
The boy winked at Lady, who blushed despite herself. Truth be told, nobody had ever flirted with her before.
"Who are you, anyway?" Jock asked suspiciously.
"They call me Tramp," the boy said, puffing out his chest in a proud fashion.
"Tramp?" Lady asked.
"That's right, Pige," Tramp answered. "See, we're street boys, Champ and me."
Lady pursed her lips. "Well, good for you. But my name's Lady, not Pige."
"Lady, huh? I'll stick with Pige. Sounds more like I'm using an actual name. Not that yours isn't nice, of course."
Lady didn't respond, unsure what to say. Jock and Trusty seemed wary of Tramp, and she was somewhat uncertain of him herself, but he either ignored this or didn't notice, and kept trying to rekindle the conversation as they watched the dogs play.
Finally Lady, Jock and Trusty left, but Tramp called Lady back just as she was clipping Missy's leash back onto her collar. Jock and Trusty paused, but she waved them on, promising that she'd catch up in a minute.
"Can I help you?" she asked Tramp, straightening up.
"Well – not to be too forward, Pige – I've sort of taken a liking to you. Would it be wrong if I saw you again some time? Or are you and your friends too good for a couple of poor little street boys like Champ and me?"
Lady faltered. She wanted to play it cool, to wave him off and for that to be it. But something about the look in his eyes told her that wouldn't be it anyway.
Oh, who was she kidding? She liked him just a little bit.
"That wouldn't be a problem at all," Lady said. "In fact, I think that would be very nice."
