A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 10

Lola let out a huff after she had chased Charlie out of her uncle's café before turning around, and walking back over to where Randi was cleaning one of the tables. Lola took a seat at the table and let out a sigh as she leaned against the table with her head lying on top of her front paws. Randi looked over at Lola in concern for a moment before sitting down at the table with her.

"You okay?" asked Randi in concern.

"Yeah," replied Lola in a grouchy voice as she stared down at the table top. "That con artist has some nerve in coming around to my uncle's café again. I thought he'd learned his lesson after what I did to him last time."

"What did you do to him last time?" asked Randi with a raised eyebrow.

Lola let out a huffed chuckle as she looked up at Randi with a smirk imprinted upon her face.

"Trust me, you don't want to," said Lola.

Randi gave her a confused look before he shrugged his shoulders and decided to change the subject to the next question that came knocking into his head.

"Lola…is Reggie really your uncle?" questioned the half breed as Lola look up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean…you two don't look…well…"

Lola let out another chuckle as she sat up to look at Randi better as a soft smile replaced her usual smirk.

"Uncle Reggie isn't really my uncle," answered Lola. "He's actually my godfather who was a friend of my mother."

Randi became interested when Lola mentioned her mother: "Where is your mom, shouldn't she be around here helping Reggie with the café?"

Lola's smile turned into a frown as a sad expression came over her features. She turned her eyes downwards to look at the surface of the table that they were sitting at. Lola was quiet for a moment before she took in a deep breath and answered Randi's question.

"My mother…died in an accident," explained Lola without looking up at Randi. "My uncle told me that my mother had been late for work and he went out to look for her. He searched for my mother for an hour, until he finally found her lying dead on the street. He said that my mother must have gotten distracted by something, and didn't watch where she was going when a car suddenly hit her."

Randi's ears drooped down in sadness after Lola told him about what happened to her mother.

"Sorry," voiced Randi as he turned his gaze away from Lola.

Lola only shook her head in her way of saying it was alright. The two lapsed into a moment of silence before Randi asked another question.

"What about…your dad?" asked Randi curiously.

Lola let out a huff as her eyes glared down at the surface of the wooden table. She didn't reply to Randi's question for a while, but when she did it was in a voice that was full of sadness and, if Randi didn't know any better, anger.

"My dad wasn't around when I was born," said Lola in a low growl. "My mother said that he had been busy somewhere else and that he had to leave us. When I was a young pup, I had always believed that he would come back to me and my mother someday, but I gave up that hope after my mother's accident."

Randi bit his lower lip in shame and began to scratch the back of his neck in awkwardness at the situation that he now found himself in. Lola save him the trouble of saying anything by turning her gaze up to look up at the night sky above them.

"I don't care anyways," said Lola in a voice that was softer than before. "He left and I have no intention of looking for him. My Uncle Reggie is the only one that I'll ever need in this world."

"Oh…that's…that's good to hear," muttered Randi in a small voice that held a note of disappointment as he turned to look down at the table top again.

Lola noticed the note in his voice as she turned to look at Randi with a raised eyebrow for a moment. Her face then softened as a smile appeared on her muzzle before she spoke again.

"But you know…it doesn't hurt to have a friend by your side either," she added.

Randi blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Lola, who was smiling at him. A blush began to form on Randi's cheeks and he was glad that his fur was able to hide it from Lola.

"T-thanks," said Randi as he smiled back at Lola. "I'm also glad that I could have a friend like you around as well."

Lola let out a chuckle before her features took on a thoughtful look. Randi saw the look and became curious to what Lola was thinking.

"You know," started Lola as she stood up from the table. "Since you're new on the streets, how about I show you around? I can show you all the places that you can use as escape routes and I know of some of the best restaurants around here as well."

Randi became interested at what Lola had said before he answered Lola by nodding his head 'yes'. With that, Lola told her uncle that she and Randi were going to venture around the city for a while. After being told by her uncle to be careful, Randi and Lola walked out of the café together. Lola had decided to take Randi to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner that night as they walked side by side under the dark starlit night. Lola led him to an Italian restaurant that she knew of and was friends with the owners there. They walked around to the back before Lola told him to stay hidden around the corner for a moment. Lola confidently walked up to the back door of the restaurant, and used her front left paw to scratch at its wooden surface. The owner of the restaurant answered the door and was over joyed to see Lola, but Randi was surprised by the owner calling Lola by a different name.

"Bella!" exclaimed the owner happily. "It's is so good to see you again girl. It has been quite a while since you came to visit."

Lola playfully barked at the owner before she turned to where Randi was hiding before motion for him to come forward. Randi slowly walked out from around the shadows of the corner as he cautiously made his way up to the owner. The owner was a little surprised that Lola had a male companion, but was happy to meet him none the less.

"Well…looks to me like you brought along a special guest tonight," said the owner with a wink. "Let me set up a table for you and your friend."

The owner went back into the restaurant to get a few things. When he did, Randi got the chance to talk to Lola as he asked her a question.

"Why did he call you, Bella?" asked Randi curiously.

"Well…let's just say that once in a while I would visit different restaurants and they would give me a name that best fit me, since they don't know my real name." Lola explained with a smile. "And trust me, being called Bella is a better name than some of the other names I've been given."

"I'll take your word for it," said Randi with a chuckle.

The owner of the restaurant soon came back out with a large table/basket. On top of the basket was a blue and white checkered table cloth. The owner then placed a small basked of bread sticks and a lit candle on an empty champagne bottle. The owner then pulled out the menu for Lola and Randi to look at as he leaned the menu up against the bread sticks. After looking over the menu, Lola turned to look at the owner and barked to let the owner know what they wanted. The owner didn't hesitate as he quickly walked back into the kitchen and told one of his kitchen staff, who Lola was also friends with, what Lola and Randi wanted. The owner and staff had a small argument about dogs not being able to talk, but the owner soon came back out again with a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Randi and Lola looked at one another with a smile before they began to dig in. As they ate, the owner and his kitchen staff member came out and began to play music, while also sing to them. Randi was really enjoying himself as he listened to the song that the owner and his staff member were singing and playing. Randi was completely distracted by what was going on that he didn't realize that the strand of spaghetti he was eating was the same strand that Lola was eating. Lola had also been distracted by the owner and the staff member's song as well as she ate the strand of spaghetti. The two dogs continued eating the same strand of spaghetti before the met in the middle. That action caused the two dogs to touch noses with their eyes widening in shock.

Lola quickly nipped off her end of the spaghetti strand and turned away from Randi with a blush that was luckily hidden under her fur. Randi blinked in surprise at what had just happened before a smile appeared on his face. Randi then used the tip of his nose to push a meatball from his side of the plate over to Lola's side. Lola looked down at the meatball before looking at Randi with a soft smile upon her face. Randi smiled back Lola before he slowly shifted up to female dog's side. Lola also shifted up to Randi and soon the two of them were pressed up against each other as they began to nuzzle one another. Randi began to feel warm inside his chest and he knew what this feeling was. This was a feeling that he once had with Jade, except…this was a different feeling. Unlike before when his legs had been reduced to being shaky as jelly and feeling light headed by Jade, Randi felt like his heart was soaring and that he was more comfortable around Lola. Lola had come to like Randi for who he was, while Jade had only liked Randi as Spike and wanted him to be filthy rich. Lola had been more of a true friend to him than anyone else at Careface's casino and had given him a chance at a new life.

Randi could feel his heart beat fast, but steady within his chest as his tail, along with Lola's tail, began to wag in happiness. Randi now knew that he was not only friends with Lola, but was also in love with her and he had a feeling…that also…Lola loved him in return.

To be continued