Chapter II:
Reunion
Puss slowly came to a halt upon the dirt path he had been following for hours, uncertainty setting in. Looking onward, his gaze followed the path as it extended up a hill, and just beyond that hill he knew he would find the little white cottage that had once been his home. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it only seemed to get bigger. The sound of his heart pounding in his ears drowned out all other natural sounds that surrounded him.
You can do this. This is your family, after all.
Taking a deep breath, the cat slowly walked forward, each step making his heart creep more and more into his throat. Coming over the hill, his pale green eyes gazed upon the tiny cottage. Taking a moment to look around, he saw that nothing had changed about it, nor its surroundings. Off to the left, he spotted the white, picket fence, though he did notice that a lot of the paint had peeled. The red barn that he remembered being a vibrant, fiery red as a kitten was now slightly discolored, appearing to be more brown than red. Of course even before he left, it had already been showing the results of its long time exposure to the elements.
But despite the cosmetic imperfections, it was still a beautiful sight to behold.
The feline stood atop that hill for the longest time, his eyes roaming over each memorable sight again and again. He always knew he would return to his home sooner or later, but he had always hoped it would never be under these circumstances. He found himself frozen where he stood again, fearing what awaited him inside that cottage. It wasn't just the fear of seeing his mother lying in a bed, unable to move that made his stomach churn. He wasn't sure how his brother, Víctor or his father would react when they saw him. He was certain it would be anything but positive. He stared down at his boots, feeling like the biggest coward who ever walked the earth.
The feline lifted his head sharply as he heard the front door swing open. He watched as a cream-colored cat emerged from the cottage, his gaze downcast as he approached the cobblestone well that sat off a few feet from the cottage. He lowered the bucket into the well, never once bothering to look up. Puss could only stare at the cat with a joyous gaze. He parted his lips as he was overcome with a desperate need to call out to the other cat, but he could not find his voice. Only when he saw the feline prepare to go back inside did he finally manage to force words to leave his tongue.
"Beni!" he yelled, instantly catching the other cat's attention. He turned sharply, his quick exertions causing a bit of water to slosh out of the bucket he clutched tightly against his chest. The cat's brown eyes widened instantly the moment he spotted Puss atop the hill, and the bucket slipped from his grasp, hitting the ground and spilling its contents at his feet.
"Ciro!" he cried with sheer joy, taking off in a mad dash to meet the red cat, who was now running to meet him as well. They met each other in a crushing embrace, the sheer force of which knocked Puss' hat from his head. "Hermano! Mi hermano!" the younger cat cried happily, fighting back tears.
Puss thought for certain he would suffocate if the other cat tightened his hold even the slightest bit more. Nonetheless, he clapped his back and pulled away, beaming at his little brother.
"I…I didn't know you were going to come," the lighter cat said, still clearly overwhelmed by his brother's presence. Puss bent down to pick up his fallen hat, dusting it off before placing it back atop his head again.
"Of course I came. It's our mother, Benito."
Benito nodded solemnly, looking towards the ground.
"How is she?" Puss asked softly. As his brother lifted his gaze to meet his again, he didn't need any sort of vocal response; he could see in his eyes that the news wasn't good, though he didn't expect it to be.
"We…" Benito swallowed. "We don't think she's going to make it through the night." He let out a shaky breath, and Puss could see that he was trying his hardest not to cry. "It kills me to look at her, Ciro." The younger cat turned away for a moment. "I don't think I can handle this. And Papi…Papi hardly says a word. It's killing him, Ciro!"
Puss suddenly felt a great deal of self-loathing for having not been there all this time, a feeling which had always lingered in the back of his mind ever since he first departed from his home, but now that feeling had intensified beyond measure.
Benito's voice broke the uncomfortable silence. "We should probably get inside. I know Mamá would love to see you." The other cat started to turn but stopped abruptly, his eyes looking on past his brother. Furrowing his brows, Puss turned to follow his brother's gaze and quickly, his eyes were just as wide as his.
"¡Oh, Dios mío!" Benito shouted, taking a step back. Puss quickly slapped a paw over his mouth.
"Shush," he scolded. "It's all right, they mean us no harm." Puss turned again to glare at the approaching ogre and donkey. As the younger cat tried to muffle a response, Puss quickly removed his paw to allow him to speak.
"Is…Is that the ogre you wrote about in your letters?"
"Sí."
"Oh," replied Benito, sounding a bit relieved at hearing this, though he still couldn't help but stare at the ogre with wide eyes. He had never seen one in person before, only heard the stories.
"I can't believe they followed me," Puss growled under his breath as he went to meet his approaching friends. Seeing the displeasured look on the cat's face, both Donkey and Shrek's smiles instantly faded. "What are you doing here?" the cat asked the two in a demanding tone.
"We know what's goin' on," replied Shrek. "Or…I mean…we know you told us before, but we never realized you were being serious, Puss." Shrek's tone was now etched with sympathy. "We just wanted to help."
"But…I never even told you where I was going or what had happened," Puss replied, now more confused than angered by the ogre's presence.
"Yeah, well…ugh…we kind of read your letter," Donkey chimed in nervously. The cat's anger quickly returned, which was no surprise to Donkey.
"You had no right to do that!" the feline yelled, pointing a finger at his talkative friend.
"Puss, we just didn't understand why you ran out of there in such a hurry. We knew something was up," Shrek tried to reason, his brows knitting together in confusion as he noticed Puss looking over his shoulder again and again, seeming nervous about something. He shifted his gaze towards the lighter-colored cat as he saw him approach, looking a bit fearful.
"I ain't gonna hurt ya," said the ogre, a bit of annoyance in his tone at seeing the cat's fear.
"You his brother?" asked Donkey, cracking a smile.
The cat looked towards the donkey, only just now acknowledging that he was even there. "Oh…ugh, yes. Benito," he said.
"Donkey," the donkey introduced himself, ignoring Puss' obvious agitation.
"Ugh…Shrek," said the ogre, half-heartedly waving a hand at the younger cat. Puss rolled his eyes.
"Great. Now that you all know each other, you can leave now."
"Oh, c'mon, Puss!" Donkey protested. "We're your friends!"
"Look, both of you need to leave!" the cat ordered threateningly, pointing a finger in the direction which the ogre and donkey had journeyed from.
"Puss…"
"Leave, I said! I do not need you here! I don't need your help!"
A twinge of hurt crossed the ogre's face, but he managed to resist his usual instinct to protest and did not respond this time, not wanting to agitate his friend anymore than he already had. He simply turned and slowly started making his way along the dirt path, back in the direction he had come. Donkey stood staring after him for a few moments, feeling that he should protest but quickly decided against it. He followed after his friend, ears lowered.
Sighing, Puss turned and started making his way towards the cottage, more guilt accumulating atop his already heavily burdened shoulders.
"They were just trying to help," said Benito as he came to walk beside his brother.
"Beni, you know just as well as I do why he can't be here," said Puss sternly, glancing at his younger sibling out of the corner of his eye.
"Papi…I know."
The two felines slowly entered the cottage, Benito leading the way. Puss couldn't help but feel like he was walking to his own execution.
0ooooooo0
Shrek came to an abrupt halt at the top of the hill, causing Donkey to bump into him.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked, walking around to the front to glance up at his friend. Shrek simply shook his head and started heading back in the direction of the cottage. "Shrek! What are you doin', man? Puss doesn't want us around! You really wanna tick him off even more?"
Ignoring the donkey, Shrek walked back towards the cottage with quick strides, Donkey trotting along beside him, highly confused now. They walked around the cottage and towards the back where they found a single window. Shrek took notice of the cobblestone pathway, but didn't bother to follow it to see where it led. He had a seat by the window, hoping his keen hearing may be able to pick up voices from inside. Leaning back against the wall, he noted with amusement that even in a sitting position, his head still nearly touched the red-tiled roof, but he had to remind himself that this cottage did house cats, not humans.
"Shrek," Donkey hissed, walking to the opposite side of the window, making sure to keep his head lowered as he walked under it. "What are we doin'? This is crazy."
"I'm just curious," the ogre replied, not really sure himself why he was trying to find out what was going on inside. He knew he shouldn't be doing this.
"You just can't stay out of people's business, can you? C'mon, Shrek, shouldn't we respect his privacy? Pssh, listen to me. I'm the one that read that letter."
"Donkey, just be quiet for two minutes. Can you even do that?"
"But we-"
"Look, I don't know, alright? I don't know what I'm doing. I just…can't leave."
0ooooooo0
Puss slowly made his way down the hallway, passing the kitchen, then next his bedroom before finally coming to his parents' bedroom at the other end of the cottage, where just beyond that door he knew he would find his mother, weak and frail from her illness. Placing one paw on the door, he took a deep breath and slowly pushed it open.
Three pairs of eyes suddenly looked his way, some with looks of joy and others surprise. Puss removed his hat from his head, holding it against his chest.
"Ciro," his mother greeted with a happy sigh. The weakness in her tone caused Puss' heart to wince. His father and brother slowly stood and started heading for the door to give Puss some time with his mother. His father only glanced at him briefly as he walked by, his expression rather hard for Puss to read. Víctor's, however, wasn't. Puss could no doubt sense a bit of hostility in his tawny eyes as he walked past, and he was almost certain he felt the room get a little colder the moment he walked by. Puss inwardly sighed, fearing his relationship with his brother was even more damaged than it had been when he first left home.
Puss slowly walked into the room, resting his hat on the foot of the bed. "My baby," he heard his mother say quietly. She forced as much joy into her words as her weakened voice would allow.
Puss forced a smile of his own. "Hola, Mamá," he said quietly, finding it hard to look at the other feline out of fear of what he'd see. He couldn't bear the sight of his mother lying in a bed, unable to move.
"Oh, come on, you can look at your mother."
Puss finally looked up, though he quickly wanted to look away. But despite his mother's weakened state, her brown eyes still held the fire they always did. She held out a paw to him, and he slowly reached over to take it. "Beautiful Ciro," she said with obvious pride. "Seeing your face again was not something I thought I'd live to see."
Those words clamped onto Puss' heart tightly, bringing his self-hate to a whole new level. He wrenched his paw out of his mother's and turned on his heels. "I should have come sooner," he said angrily, walking over to shut the door. His mother looked at him sadly, her paw still hovering in the air for a moment before she laid it at her side.
"Mijo, surely you just got the letter recently? How could you have known?"
"That's not what I mean!"
The female's smile slowly faded as she took note of her son's quivering lip.
"You've been sick for a year! I should have returned months ago!" he said. He paced the floor at the foot of his mother's bed, his tail swishing from side to side in agitation. Looking over towards the window, he scowled. "Why are the curtains drawn?! You should be able to see out! And the window should be open, too! You need fresh air!" he yelled before running over and throwing open the curtains, nearly ripping them from their rod. Undoing the latch, he let the window swing out, letting in the fresh scent of grass and flowers.
"Please, calm yourself, mijo."
Puss wiped his eyes. "There was no reason for me to not be here. I don't live that far away."
His mother shook her head. "Ciro, did Víctor say anything to you?"
"Víctor has a right to be angry, Mom! I should have been at your side every day, supporting you!"
"Ciro, you silence yourself right now!" his mother scolded. "Now you sit down."
Puss did as his mother asked, or demanded rather, and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing the wall.
"Darling, please stop torturing yourself. There's no reason for it. From the day you left home up until this very moment you have journeyed all across the country to find money to help us. You sent us every last shilling you earned from working at a pub. Mijo, you have never stopped supporting us."
Puss shook his head. "I'm sure Papi was disgusted by that. He certainly didn't teach me everything he knows only for me to end up working in a pub."
"Disgusted? By what? Working an honest job to earn money for your family? No, mijo, he most certainly was not. Ciro, you weren't just seeking money for yourself, you were helping your entire family by any means necessary."
Puss felt a bit of relief at hearing these words. He had never known how his father may have reacted had he found out his son was working at a pub of all places, but his desperation for money had reached beyond comprehension, and humans always seemed to have qualms about giving jobs to animals, thus making other possible fields of work downright impossible.
"And besides, if you had been here, who would we have had to write us all those exciting letters about your adventures? That was something I always looked forward to week after week. They never disappointed me. If you weren't battling knights, you were battling ogres…and you even befriended an ogre."
Puss allowed a small smile to grace his features.
"Benito idolizes you. Every time we got a new letter, he'd have to go and brag to everyone about how his big brother was fighting in one battle right after another."
Puss couldn't help but feel that that idolization wasn't deserved.
"Though I have to say…your letters may have been exciting, but they did scare me. And I also wasn't too thrilled to hear that you had been arrested."
Puss looked to his mother with a sheepish grin. "What did Papá have to say about that?"
"Oh, he got a kick out of it. But that's just the way your father is," the female commented with clear annoyance, rolling her eyes. "But this was why I was never a big fan of this tradition, Ciro. There are too many risks involved, and I constantly worried about you, which was why I was actually a bit relieved to hear you had taken a job."
Not getting a response, the female looked back to her son, seeing that his face had fallen again, and he appeared to be deep in thought.
"And about Víctor…don't let anything he says get under your skin, mijo. He just doesn't understand. You have to understand that this has been very hard for him."
"I know, Mom," Puss replied with a single nod.
"You have no reason to feel any amount of guilt. You've taken on so many responsibilities in your life. You've done more for us than a parent could possibly expect from their child, Ciro. So stop blaming yourself."
Puss turned and smiled at his mother, though despite her words, the guilt still lingered there, but he was certainly not about to cause her anymore mental stress by protesting her reassuring words. He stood up and moved a bit closer to her, taking her paw in his again.
"And…" she started, smiling up at her son, "what's important is you're here now."
Suddenly, the female turned her head and began coughing violently. Puss quickly leapt to his feet and ran around to the other side of the bed, quickly snatching the glass of water that sat on the small table. Slipping his paw behind his mother's neck, he lifted her head up and put the glass to her lips. She was only able to take in a bit of the liquid before she was coughing again. Puss could only watch helplessly, feeling utterly useless. Once the ordeal seemed to have passed, his mother patted him reassuringly on the arm.
Puss sat down again, hoping he wouldn't have to see his mother go through another agonizing ordeal like that again. He looked at her with surprise when he noticed her forcing herself into a sitting position.
"Mamá, don't," he said quickly as he put a paw on her shoulder, but she gently pushed it away.
"I'm fine."
The female reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace that hung there. "I gave Benito my fan, and Victor my jewelry box. Odd things to give to boys, I know, but I wanted you all to have something." She held out the necklace to Puss. "And for you, I want you to take this."
Puss slowly reached out his trembling paw and grasped the necklace. "Thank you." He closed his paw tightly around the pendant, resting it in his lap. His mother sighed when she noticed his shoulders begin to shake.
"Please, mijo, I don't want to see you cry."
Puss shook his head, wiping his eyes. "This isn't fair," he said as he leaned his head against his mother's chest. As he felt his mother's paw rest itself on top of his head, he felt like a kitten again, seeking his mother's comfort. He closed his eyes, pretending everything he knew now was no more: his mother was not ill, there were no responsibilities, no traditions to carry, and he was an innocent child in his mother's warm embrace. For a brief moment he managed to fool himself into believing he was living in a flashback. The only thing he acknowledged at that moment was the gentle caress of his mother's paw and the quiet beat of her heart.
Thump, thump.
It was oddly soothing.
Thump, thump.
It could easily put him to sleep just as easily as any lullaby could.
Thump, thump.
He truly didn't know where he was anymore.
……Thump.
And then the beatings stopped.
Author's Note: I really didn't get much more added to this story between updates. I got about a thousand words added, but that was about it. I was really hoping to get at least 3,000 words added to it, but I have another story that has been due to be updated for a long time, and I've tried focusing on getting the next chapter complete these last couple of days, so my focus has been split between this story and that one. I want to try and update the other story tomorrow, which will then leave room for me to focus on this story for a while.
Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I really wasn't expecting to even get five since this doesn't seem to be a fandom that gets a lot of reviews. But I was very happy for what I did get, and I hope to get more!
