Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I still only own the OCs. The rest of these amazing characters belong to DreamWorks.
Puss and Kitty soon reach the city square, which is where bandits usually strike. Seriously? Did these idiotas have no sense of originality? They strike the very center of town almost every time bandits attack. Upon arrival, the two famed swordfighters find nothing out of the ordinary.
"Well, I saw nothing, Kitty. Absolutely nada, mi amor," Puss announces after doing a sweep of the north side of San Ricardo.
"Nada por mi, también, Puss. Nothing for me as well," Kitty whispers as she tries to contain a yawn as she gets back from the south side of town.
"I don't understand it. Was that just a drill from the priest to see if we would respond?" Puss inquires, taking a moment to scratch the top of his head with his hat off his head while Kitty is distracted.
"I have no idea. But, if it was, I do not take very well to the idea. Who does he think he is waiting until we are about to go to sleep to ring the bell?" Kitty starts to say, which Puss instantly recognizes the slight anger in her voice.
If there is one thing that Puss in Boots learned very early about Kitty, it is that the tuxedo she-cat loves her sleep and is very moody when anyone interrupts her regular sleep pattern. That is why it was hard for them to travel for the first few weeks they were together as girlfriend and boyfriend after escaping the Golden Goose heist. Puss had wanted to sleep during the day and travel by night, as it would be cooler to walk at night and they would have a lower risk of being caught. Kitty had argued the opposite. If they traveled during the day, there would be fewer guards exploring in the hot deserts of Spain and they could sleep during the cool night and under the stars. Plus- and Kitty never told Puss this until after they had been together for years- Kitty did not like anyone disrupting her usual schedule of sleeping during the night. In her usually unstable life, it comforted Kitty to have one thing constant in her life. If she couldn't control anything else in her life, at least she could control the time she went to sleep each day.
Puss begins to walk over to his lover, slipping his arms around her waist from behind and softly pulling her backwards onto his soft, warm chest.
"How about we head back to our casa and worry about the threats tomorrow?" he suggests in a calm voice, which makes Kitty close her eyes as she listens to her lover's soothing voice.
"That sounds good to me, Ginger," Kitty purrs as Puss rubs one of his orange and white paws over her cheek and whiskers.
"Sí, it does. Now, let's return to our house and retire for the evening. Tomorrow we can have a swordfight between the two of us to improve and practice new ways to scare those idiota bandidos," Puss whispers, pulling away before heading off towards their house on the hill with his boots echoing on the cobblestone road.
"You had me at swordfight," Kitty laughs as she catches up to Puss with a smile on her face. "But, do know you are going to lose to me tomorrow," she challenges, her blue eyes shining in the moonlight.
"We shall see, Kitty," Puss grins, taking one of her soft paws in one of his relatively rougher ones before heading towards their house.
The two gatos reach their new home about ten minutes later thanks to their quick reflexes and jumping on top of the other citizens of San Ricardo's rooftops. Upon entering their house, the two tired swordfighters trudge up the stairs, both of them exhausted from today. They trekked through the desert to find a city that sold paint, then had to trek back with the buckets of paint, and then proceeded to have a paint war while also painting their bedroom, the bedroom next to theirs, and the kitchen. With this weighing on their minds, Kitty and Puss instantly take their boots, belts with the swords still attached, and Puss' hat off before literally jumping into bed. After falling on the bed rather harshly, Puss lets out a happy sigh before pulling back the sheet and blanket. The ginger cat then crawls under the covers, kicking the blanket down near the end of the bed and closer to Kitty. Said tuxedo she-cat crawls into bed beside her husband before settling down next to Puss with a smile on her face.
"I had the most amazing time with you today, Puss," Kitty softly says as she begins to drift off into a sleep-like state as the quiet of the night surrounds the two of them.
"You did? Today?" Puss replies in shock, not knowing what was so special about today. "What made today so special, mi amor?" he continues, pressing a light kiss to the top of Kitty's head before giving her lips a kiss as well. "We walked through a desert. Twice."
"Oh, Puss. Some of the time you act so dumb," Kitty laughs before opening her eyes to see Puss' face scrunched up in slight anger and he looks insulted as well. "It was a joke, Ginger. Don't take it so literally," she softly remarks, rubbing one of her paws over his furry cheek while using the other paw to rub the fur on Puss' strong arm that is currently wrapped around her waist and chest.
"You know how I feel about people talking about me like that, Kitty," Puss whispers, reflecting onto his time as a much younger cat.
The things the others said about his intelligence….. None of them were positive comments to say the least, and it made Puss insecure about his intelligence. He could be intelligent, good-looking, and brave! No one ever said someone- or some cat, as it is in this case- can't be all three.
"I know, Puss. I'm sorry, my love. Now, I was trying to say that I had the most amazing time today because I was with you," Kitty purrs, curling up to where she is pressed against Puss' side as he wraps his arms tighter around her. "You silly gato. You don't know that you don't have to do anything special to make me happy. Just being with you is enough to make me have a good day, Puss. You're the first thing in my life that has stayed constant; you've never abandoned me," the she-cat continues, drowsiness starting to overcome her voice.
"And I feel the same about you, Kitty, mi corazón. Buenas noches, my sweet Kitty," Puss whispers to her as a yawn overcomes his voice.
Puss then lays his head down on his pillow, keeping his arms wrapped around his wife as sleep starts to overcome both of them. The ginger cat can't help but fall asleep with a smile on his face, thinking of what Kitty said makes him fall asleep content. Kitty doesn't stir in her sleep hardly at all during the night, keeping herself against Puss' side and feeling his body heat next to her is the only comfort she needs. Just knowing he is right there by her side is enough to make Kitty Softpaws- now Kitty in Boots- fall asleep in no more than three minutes, one of her paws holding onto Puss' arm as if daring him to move. And, if he does, Kitty is sure to feel it and wake up to see what he is doing or where he is going. The two famous swordfighters never know when danger may be present or may follow them around or back to their new home.
The next morning comes earlier than expected and Puss wakes up with a slight groan as the sun creeps in through their bedroom window.
"Kitty, turn the light off, por favor," Puss mumbles, throwing one of his paws over his eyes to try and shield out the incoming light.
"You expect me to turn off the sun?" Kitty asks in a slightly humored voice, pressing a light kiss to Puss' head. "You are a very silly gato indeed, Puss," Kitty laughs, which makes Puss chuckle lightly.
"I guess you can't turn the sun off, Kitty. What time is it, anyway?" the famous outlaw turned hero inquires with a slight bit of amusement in his voice as he realizes how silly the request he made asks. "It feels like we just went to sleep," Puss remarks, wiping at his sparkling green eyes as the sun brightly shines through the window, aimed almost directly at Puss' face and eyes.
"We got about five hours' of sleep, Puss," Kitty answers back, moving out of the bed and making her way over to her boots. "We were out until almost one in the morning checking on the town. It's about six in the morning now," the tuxedo she-cat finishes her response, slipping on her brown boots in the process.
"Remind me again why we chose to have a bell signal if intruders were in town," Puss jokes, getting out of the bed reluctantly and heading over to the dresser.
Puss reaches up to the top of the dresser and gets his hat down from its resting place before placing the faded leather accessory on the top of his head. Next, Puss reaches down and collects his belt and boots off the ground, being careful not to stab his leg or paw with the blade of his sword. He slips the belt on quickly, making sure not to scratch his sword up against anything in their newly bought house. Now that he has his belt and sword secure, Puss slips on his famous black Corinthian leather boots that have given him his name of Puss in Boots.
"It was your idea," Kitty remarks in a deadpan expression, which makes a smile appear on Puss' face as he heads for their bedroom door, Kitty following beside him.
"Yes, well….. Now, I believe we have a swordfight to attend," the ginger gato smiles, heading down the stairs of their house to the bottom floor.
"Prepare to lose, Ginger," Kitty challenges with a grin, sliding down the stair rail to reach the bottom of the stairs before Puss.
With that, the two of them head out of their house on the hill, making sure to lock the door just in case any bandits find it while they are gone.
Swords clang against one another in the heat of battle and neither opponent is willing to give up or give in. To the right, an opponent clothed in all black slides backwards, bracing his sword for the incoming attack from his left. To the left, the other opponent waits, brown boots lifting off the ground as she leaps through the air towards the male to her right. Metal clashes in the air as the female clothed in brown flies above the man in black and their swords make contact.
"Hey, that's cheating!" the opponent clothed in black yells over the sound of their swords bouncing off of one another's weapon of choice.
"All is fair in love and war, Ginger," the second opponent smirks, landing on her feet perfectly after her adventure through the air.
"Not flying over my head," Puss argues, thrusting his sword towards Kitty, which the she-cat easily dodges, swiping her sword through the air towards the ginger gato.
"Just shut your mouth, sore loser," Kitty jokes as she laughs before making contact with Puss' sword, the tang of metal filling the air. "Fight with honor and accept your defeat like a real hombre does," the tuxedo she-cat grins before parrying Puss' attack, which flings Puss backwards a little as he digs his heels into the ground to stay upright as he deflects Kitty's sword.
"I'm not going to lose. You are, Kitty."
"In your furry dreams, Puss."
Puss jabs downward with his sword, knocking Kitty's sword out of her paw as she tries to knock him off balance.
"How is that even possible?" Kitty inquires in shock before flipping backwards through the air, grabbing her sword from the ground as Puss slides to try and grab it before Kitty can reclaim her weapon.
"Someone's impressed," Puss grins, now laying on his back as he looks up at Kitty with a goofy, yet adorable smile on his face.
"Yes, actually, I am. You've never succeeded in disarming me before, Puss," Kitty laughs uncontrollably while extending a paw to help her husband up from the dusty ground.
"Yeah? Well, now I have some practice, mi amor. Don't expect me to go so easy on you again," Puss chuckles, accepting Kitty's paw as he gets up from the dust-covered ground.
"I still won, Ginger," Kitty smirks, pushing Puss backwards once he is up by pressing her paw forcefully against his chest which sends him stumbling back.
"By cheating, remember," the ginger gato remarks under his breath before throwing his sword in the air and catching it in his right paw. "Excellent workout! Now let's do the right arm!" Puss shouts, charging towards Kitty with a confident smile on his face.
He is going to beat her this time if it is the last thing he ever does.
A few minutes later, Puss ends up on his back in the dust. Again. Kitty stands over him yet again, holding his sword and her own over Puss' head. A triumphant smirk crosses her lips as she stares down at her lover as he looks up at her with a disappointed, yet loving, look on his face.
"One last chance, Kitty," Puss pleads, using his famous big eyes trick to try and convince her to fight him one more time.
"You've already been given fifteen last chances, Puss," Kitty deadpans, causing Puss to scoff at this statement. "Admit it. I'm a better swordfighter than you," she sasses, putting her paws on her hips as best as she can with holding two swords in her grip.
"I've never lost a fight," Puss boldly says, pushing himself up from the ground, as Kitty seems to be too into her gloating to offer him a paw up.
"Except for fifteen times to your wife just now," Kitty smirks, knowing that Puss' explanation for why he has been losing so much to her.
"I don't fight women! Okay?" Puss remarks rather forcefully, wanting Kitty to remember his values and morals. Not to mention his honor….. "I love them!" he continues, moving closer to Kitty with a charming smile on his face as he tries to get his sword back from Kitty without her noticing what his plans are.
"Oh? You love women. Plural," the she-cat inquires, trying her best to make her voice sound terribly angry at her husband and partner in crime and saving towns.
"By them, I mean you," Puss recovers, blowing a kiss at Kitty as he cups his paws around her soft cheeks as he tries to fix his mistake in choice of words. "Obviously. I have no other woman in my life, Kitty, mi amor," the ginger tom cat continues, which makes Kitty sigh at his antics and attempts to recover from his terrible first sentence about loving women and not just one woman.
"Okay, I forgive you. Now, what makes you think I will fight you again?" Kitty smiles at him, giving him his sword back before running one of her paws across Puss' face.
"I'm just getting warmed up. I haven't been much of a challenge yet," Puss softly remarks, looking into Kitty's light blue eyes as they sparkle in the rising sun. "I apologize; it's too early in the morning for me to concentrate and be on top of my game," he starts to say, only to be cut off by Kitty.
"This is great Puss, but you have to stop letting me beat you," Kitty jokes, knowing she can get the truth out of Puss this way by examining his tone of voice in his response.
"Yes. Letting you beat me," Puss says in an unamused and not as sincere voice.
Kitty knows she has gotten the truth out of Puss by his response. He isn't letting her beat him. He's just losing. Kitty always figured she is a better swordfighter than Puss; now she has the proof behind it.
"I am sure you need a little break," the ginger tabby remarks in a breathless tone as his flanks heave due to all of the sword-fighting he and Kitty have done so far this morning. "I will get us some leche," Puss tells his lover, slipping his sword back into its sheath on his side.
"Gracias, Ginger," Kitty smiles, pressing a kiss to one side of his face before back-flipping into the air and landing on the roof nearby.
Puss 'wows' as she lands perfectly on the edge of the nearby roof. Kitty then sits near the edge of the roof, dangling her boots over the side of the roof before lying down on her back to look at the clouds rolling through the sky. Content with his wife's safety, Puss heads for the local cantina in town to get both himself and Kitty some leche as a reward for their hard work at practicing for in case a bigger threat comes into town. In addition, the cool leche would serve as a temporary relief from the blazing sun shining well above them by now.
After getting the leche from the cantina, Puss hops up onto the roof next to Kitty, making the she-cat open her eyes as she hears him approach. Kitty had closed her eyes as she waited on Puss, the cool breeze flowing through her fur and cooling her down after her extensive sword training with Puss.
"I brought lunch, too," Puss grins, setting down a small box in front of his lover.
"What did you bring for lunch, Puss?" Kitty inquires in a curious tone, not knowing that Puss was going to bring lunch back for the two of them.
"I still got the leche for us, Kitty. And I also got us some bocadillos de chorizo," Puss replies, opening up the box to reveal four sandwiches inside with chorizo and peppers, along with cheese and a light sauce on the top of the meat.
"It smells amazing, Ginger. I'm glad you thought of getting us bocadillos de chorizo for lunch; you know I love them," Kitty gratefully remarks, kissing Puss' lips as the ginger outlaw gets closer.
Puss returns the kiss, pressing one of his paws against Kitty's face, just enjoying this quiet moment alone with her overlooking San Ricardo. The two pull apart a little bit later and Puss begins to pass his love one of her sandwiches, along with a glass of leche as she reclines one the roof, pressing her back against Puss' chest.
"I do my best to please you, my love. Now, I believe we have a matter to attend to," Puss says with a smirk appearing on his face and his green eyes lighting up.
"Oh, and what is that?" Kitty asks as she stares back at Puss with a challenging look on her face as well.
Puss takes a bite of his first bocadillo de chorizo before responding to his true love.
"What if I beat you in a sword-fight, then we have an uninterrupted dinner at home on Friday?" Puss suggests, thinking of the lack of quiet dinners he and Kitty have had since they got married not too long ago. "What do you say?" he asks, using his best persuasive face to try and convince his wife to go along with his plan.
"You beat me in a sword-fight?" Kitty scoffs, not believing what she is hearing or if she's even hearing right. "Please," she laughs, making Puss place a piece of chorizo on Kitty's nose with a laugh of his own.
"Fine. Then take the bet," Puss tells Kitty, his imagination getting to work on how he can beat Kitty at their next sword-fight.
"So, if I was to let you cook for me," Kitty begins before noticing the hopeful smile on Puss' face. "And I'm not saying I am," the she-cat tells him right after noticing this expression on her husband's face.
She doesn't want him to get his hopes up too early. He still has to beat her at a sword-fight and convince her he is a good enough cook to make them dinner.
"What would you cook?" she inquires in a tone of voice that one uses when talking to someone taking an oral test.
Or, in this case, deciding on whether or not he would be a good cook for an uninterrupted dinner the two of them would have for the first time as a married couple. It's felt like forever since they've had a dinner with just the two of them. Every other dinner has either been with other friends or in the Cat Cantina and Glitter Box with other cats watching their every move.
"I'll tell you what," Puss speaks up in his usual voice, which snaps Kitty out of her own thoughts. "You name it, I'll cook it," the ginger tabby decides on an answer, his voice not losing any of its usual bravado and confidence, even though Puss knows that he cannot cook to save his life.
"Really? I'm impressed by your offer, Ginger."
"Of course, Kitty. Anything for you, mi reina."
"Okay, I'll take your wager. Just don't be too upset if you lose," the tuxedo she-cat smiles before finishing her second sandwich and leaping down from the roof.
Puss follows suit, jumping off the roof and landing on his boots with a loud thud. The two cats then get into their sword-fighting positions, ready to take on each other to see who will win the bet.
Kitty jumps towards Puss before slipping his hat off of his head and plopping it onto her own.
"I got your hat," she smiles, making Puss drop his sword to the ground before he steals the hat back from Kitty.
"And now I have it back," Puss says before sticking his tongue out at her and plopping his hat back on his head.
"Promise me that when you lose we can go back home and take a break from training for today," Kitty bargains, looking Puss in his eyes with a serious tone present in her voice.
"What makes you think I will lose?" the tabby inquires, looking Kitty in her eyes as he doesn't know why she automatically thinks he will lose at a sword-fight between the two of them.
"Woman's intuition," she smirks, pausing to allow him a moment to think. "So, do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal, mi amor. Now….. En garde!" Puss shouts in response, preparing to grab his sword off of the ground.
The only problem is that the sword is no longer there.
Puss' sword is now in Kitty's hand, its metal glinting in the sunlight.
"You lost, so let's go home," Kitty triumphantly tells Puss as she starts to walk away from him.
"You cheated, so I take it back," Puss counters, taking his sword out of Kitty's paws before getting in the proper first stance for the sword-fight.
"I don't have the time to give you the proper instruction," Kitty laughs, knowing very well of her fifteen victories over Puss today alone.
"I have had the proper instruction since I was a kitten," the tom cat responds before charging at Kitty as he tries to disarm her and beat the love of his life as fast as he can where he can solidify their dinner date together.
Kitty lunges forward as well, swiping at Puss' shoulder only to have the ginger tabby leap out of the way in just the nick of time. Puss then retaliates by jumping in the air, hitting his blade against Kitty's which sends a reverberating clang throughout the courtyard. The tuxedo she-cat parries the blow, sending Puss backwards only a few inches before he stomps his boots into the cobblestone and stopping himself from sliding backwards any further.
Thirty minutes later, Kitty and Puss are still engaged in the same sword-fight. Neither one of them has given up, nor do they show any signs of letting up their current battle.
"Truce?" Kitty inquires, stopping as she lands close to Puss with her sword outstretched.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Puss shakes his head in agreement, lowering his own sword as he decides the day is getting too hot for them to continue fighting under the blazing hot sun.
"Truce it is," Puss says, sticking out one of his paws to shake Kitty's paw as do friends after an argument.
"Well, I don't know, but it looks like to me that we won't have a dinner on Friday night," Kitty regretfully tells Puss, having gotten used to the idea and looking forward to seeing how bad- or on the off chance good- Puss will do at preparing them dinner.
"I think we will have dinner. I have your sword!" Puss triumphantly cheers, holding up said weapon in his paw.
"Oh, no, no, no, no! That's cheating!" Kitty yells at him, doing her best to jump up and grab the sword Puss is holding up above his head.
"Oh, no, it's not," Puss assures her, remembering what she did to him not too long ago. "I believe you pulled a similar stunt thirty minutes ago, mi amor. You thought you had won then. So, now I have won."
Kitty sighs in defeat, knowing it is no use for her to argue when Puss is this insistent that he has won.
"Fine. I guess we can do dinner at our house on Friday without any interruptions," she gives in, resting her head against Puss' chest as he wraps his arms around her.
"I look forward to it, Kitty," Puss purrs, rubbing his whiskers against the side of Kitty's face. "Now, let's go back home and take a mid-day nap. I don't know about you, but I think that tonight is going to be a very busy night for us being heroes of San Ricardo!"
"I'm sure we will have bandits of some sort enter town tonight or else it we will have to go out and find some bandits to fight," Kitty laughs, looping her arm in the crook of Puss' arm and they begin walking back towards their home on the hill.
If only they had noticed the hazel eyes watching them from the shadows….
Night approaches and the bell rings five times like the night before.
"Well, I do believe that's our cue," Puss remarks from the kitchen table where he is sitting while flipping through the newspaper he and Kitty found at their door upon arriving back from training.
"I told you we would have some bandits to chase out tonight," Kitty smiles, slipping on her belt as she walks down from the upstairs bathroom.
"Hey, I told you that," Puss laughs, setting the newspaper down before jumping onto his paws and grabbing his trusty sword.
"Well, I told you we would go find some bandits regardless, so I, in all technicality, told you," the she-cat grins, pressing one slow, soft kiss to Puss' lips.
"Whatever. Let's just go run these idiota bandits out of town where we can come back to our casa and actually get a decent night's sleep for a change," the ginger tabby smirks, running out the door before doing the spinning through the air thing that everyone likes.
Kitty follows behind him, also spinning through the air, not one to be outdone by her husband. The two gatos soon reach the courtyard, having heard scared screams from that region of town as they made their way across the rooftops.
"You should not be here, señor," Puss growls as he and Kitty step out from the shadows to see a man with a red mask and solid black clothing waiting for them in the town's square.
"I shall go wherever I shall like, cat. And there's nothing you can do about it!" the stranger yells, his voice deep and loud like thunder echoing throughout the sky.
"Do I know you?" Puss inquires as Kitty appears in the shadows beside him, her soft paws moving to her belt to grab her sword as Puss distracts their new guest.
"No, you don't. But, I know you," the strange man remarks, moving his hands up to his chest while talking. "Both of you. I'm not a big fan, in case you couldn't tell," he continues with a smirk, the fabric of his mask stretching out with the different facial expression.
"You are not welcome here, señor," Kitty adds in, not wanting the man to think that she is silent in the presence of Puss.
She's not that kind of female. Kitty can say what she pleases any time she wants to and doesn't care what anyone else says. Marrying Puss has done nothing to curb her free spirit or her independent ways; she's just come to accept that she now is married and has a forever partner in crime to help her settle scores.
"You have five seconds to get out before I make you," Kitty hisses at the stranger, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Kitty Softpaws, how nice to finally meet you," the masked man comments, his hands now crackling with a red energy as he charges up a spell.
"Boots," Puss and Kitty remark together, both staring daggers at the unknown man who is now hovering off of the ground.
You read that right. He's hovering above the ground, a red aura surrounding him as he continues to charge up some sort of spell in his hands.
"I beg your pardon?" the masked man inquires in confusion, not sure why the two cats suddenly both said a type of footwear out loud together.
"Her last name is Boots now, idiota. We're married," Puss explains before jumping into the air to try and fling himself at the hovering magician.
Or whatever this weird stranger is…. Of that Puss in Boots is not certain.
"Fear me, if you dare!" Puss shouts, swiping at the floating man with all the effort he can muster before falling back down to the ground.
Fortunately for the ginger outlaw, he lands back on his boots and not on his back or butt. Kitty offers him a paw up before she leaps onto the roof nearby and looking between both Puss and the new villain.
"We have justice to deliver!" Kitty shouts over the howling wind, jumping off the roof of the building towards the floating magician.
"But, you won't be safe! You could get hurt!" Puss calls up to her, not wanting to see his love struck down by any magic spells.
"I can take care of myself!" Kitty calls back at him before dodging the fireball the stranger throws at her.
However, her jump does come with some success. Kitty manages to slash at the wrist of the floating man, which makes the magician unable to use that hand for magic until he gets the bleeding to stop. Unfortunately for the man in the mask, that wound would not stop bleeding for several hours due to Kitty's precise movement with her sword.
"Besides, this magician can't even catch me!" she taunts as she lands back on the ground near Puss.
"I AM A SORCERER!" the masked man yells ferociously, summoning a lightning bolt and preparing to use it against the two cats below him. "The world will soon know the name Bloodsmith as I shall exact my vengeance on all of those who have wronged me and my associate!" Bloodsmith the sorcerer continues to shout before throwing the lightning bolt in Kitty's direction.
Puss jumps in front of his wife, deflecting the lightning bolt back at Bloodsmith with his sword.
"This lovely lady is under the protection of the legendary Puss in Boots!" Puss reveals as the lightning bolt just barely misses Bloodsmith.
"Why? Does the woman need protection from the big, bad world?" Bloodsmith taunts, making Kitty yowl with anger before she pounces towards the sorcerer once more.
"NO! I don't need protection from anyone, hombre!" Kitty yells at the top of her lungs before pouncing once more at the man named Bloodsmith.
"Then what was that little speech for? Hmm?" Bloodsmith demands as he prepares another fireball.
"That was merely to buy her time," Puss smirks, watching as Kitty scratches at Bloodsmith's face as the sorcerer has his attention on the ginger tabby and not Kitty.
Bloodsmith gasps at the impact and tries to fling Kitty off, only to have Kitty jump from the air and land in Puss' arms with a dramatic flair.
"And, allow me one question, Bloodsmith. What kind of name is that anyway?" Puss sasses the new villain, wanting to know where the heck the villain got that name.
"Bloodsmith is a name that should strike fear into your puny cat hearts! Instead of a blacksmith, I am Bloodsmith because I will make my living off of spilling your blood!" the sorcerer yells as he tosses the fireball, only to have it miss Puss and Kitty by about thirty feet.
The fireball also lands in a bucket of water, extinguishing every hint of the flame.
"You're a terrible villain! Did you know that?" Kitty asks with a smirk on her face at the utter terribleness of the sorcerer's magic and skill.
"No one makes me bleed my own blood!" Bloodsmith shouts out before disappearing into a cloud of red smoke. "That isn't the last you'll see of me!" an echo and spooky sounding voice belonging to the Bloodsmith calls after the sorcerer has disappeared from San Ricardo.
"Well, that was strange," Kitty remarks to Puss, not sure why the villain even bothered to come to town when he didn't actually do anything.
"Sí. It was very strange," Puss agrees as they head back towards their house.
Once again, the hazel eyes peek from the shadows watching the two gatos as they head back to their house to get some much-needed sleep for tomorrow's predictably busy day of chasing off evil-doers.
Friday night soon comes around and Puss is currently in the kitchen making dinner for Kitty and himself.
"How's it coming in here?" Kitty asks as she comes into the kitchen from the living room where Puss told her to wait until he comes out with the food.
"Ay, yi, yi! Mi amor! What part of wait in the living room for me was hard to understand?" Puss shouts out suddenly, moving away from the stove to push Kitty out of the kitchen. "I am perfectly capable of cooking us dinner, Kitty. Now, go. I shall be there shortly," Puss explains to her, shutting the kitchen door behind her where he will at least hear his love walk into the kitchen if she tries to sneak in again.
About fifteen minutes later, Puss brings out the paella he made for the two of them before setting it on the table in their living room. With the food set on the table, Puss sits down on the floor beside Kitty, placing the bottle of leche on the table between the two of them.
"Here you go," Puss smiles, passing Kitty's plate of paella towards her.
"Wow!" Kitty gasps, impressed with the plating Puss has managed to pull off. "This is beautiful," the she-cat tells her husband, knowing how hard he worked to make dinner for the two of them like he promised.
"I hope you like it," Puss smiles, very proud of his own work. "Let's try it, shall we?" the tom suggests, holding his fork up to his lips to prepare to eat his dish he prepared for his true love.
The two gatos each take a couple of bites of the paella. Kitty doesn't instantly spit out the food, which is a win in Puss' book. He honestly had doubts that the food would be terrible and that he'd accidentally make Kitty or himself sick by having terrible food. Puss wouldn't have meant for anyone to get sick, but the ginger tabby knows as well as his wife that he can't cook much of anything on a normal basis. The paella tonight turns out to be one of the dishes Puss actually can make.
"What do you think, Kitty?" Puss inquires in a hopeful tone as Kitty takes a sip of her leche.
"This is amazing, Puss," Kitty breathes before taking another bite of the paella. "You should make paella more often, Ginger," she continues, which brings a smile to Puss' lips. "Paella might just be your best dish ever," Kitty tells Puss with a proud smile on her face.
"Gracias, mi reina. I appreciate your compliment, Kitty," Puss reveals to his wife with a grateful smile on his lips as he prepares to take another bite of paella. "I will make this more often for you, Kitty. Your approval is all I wished for when making this dish. I am most pleased that you are enjoying it, my love," he softly remarks, pressing a soft kiss to Kitty's paw which makes her laugh.
"You are a shameless flatterer, Ginger. I love you."
"I love you more, Kitty."
"I love you most, Puss."
After doing the dishes for the night together- Puss washed the plates and Kitty rinsed them before setting them on the counter to dry- the two gatos begin to relax for the night, just wanting to relax after their busy day. Both Kitty and Puss climb onto their couch before settling down next to each other. Puss climbs onto the couch first, leaving him at the back of the couch as Kitty climbs on and settles down with her back resting against Puss' chest. Puss strokes one of his paws through Kitty's fur, which makes the she-cat purr at her husband's touch as he draws tiny designs on her forehead with his paw. First, Puss draws out the outline of the letter I on Kitty's face, which makes her laugh at the awkward way Puss goes about drawing it. He starts near her chin and works his way up where the letter is drawn properly to him but is upside down to Kitty. Next, the ginger tabby draws a heart shape on his wife's face as he presses a kiss to her cheek in the process. And, finally, Puss ends his message by drawing the letter U on Kitty's forehead, which makes her smile at Puss' message to her.
"I love you, too," Kitty tells him softly, having nearly fallen asleep in Puss' tender embrace and especially as his soft paws caressed her face while spelling out a message.
"I am so glad we took tonight off, Kitty. I've had an amazing time cooking dinner for you and just spending a quiet evening with you in our home," Puss whispers in her ear, making Kitty laugh as his whiskers tickle her face and the side of her ear.
"So have I, Puss. I'm glad you talked me into having a quiet night at home. Good thing the bandits seemed to get our memo," the she-cat jokes, glad that no bandits ruined her night with Puss.
"Sí. They would not have wanted to see me if they interrupted our dinner or just this peaceful silence between the two of us," Puss chuckles as Kitty shifts a tiny bit in his arms into a more comfortable position.
Instead of laying with her back facing Puss, Kitty now turns to where she and Puss are chest to chest and their noses are just inches apart.
"You've got something on your lip," Kitty smiles at Puss, reaching one paw up to cup on side of his face.
"What is it?" Puss inquires as he looks down at his true love.
Puss doesn't even have time to react before Kitty crashes her lips against his with a smile present on her face. Both of their eyes instinctively close as they kiss, Puss' paw moving to hold the back of Kitty's head as she continues to kiss him. After a while, they pull apart and Puss has a surprised look on his face.
"I got it," Kitty grins at him, her blue eyes lighting up in the moonlight streaming in through the window of their living room.
"Well, Señora Kitty in Boots, I do believe you now have something on your lips," Puss smirks before moving his lips closer to hers and kissing her again.
The two of them end up watching a show on TV- Yes, San Ricardo has TVs just like Far, Far, Away- but neither of them sees the ending of whatever crime fighting show they are watching. Puss and Kitty have both fallen asleep next to each other on the couch since the busy day has taken its toll on them. In addition, the soft couch and being snuggled up together under a blanket made both of them feel so secure and safe that neither had the strength to battle sleep. The TV continues playing the same crime show on TV until they wake up the next morning around eleven and neither remember leaving the TV on or falling asleep without noticing.
Author's Note: And there's Chapter 10! I hope everyone enjoyed. I am so sorry for my prolonged absence this summer even though I promised weekly updates. Blame my summer work for school. Yes, I am happy to announce that I have finished all of my summer work for all of my classes that I am not even starting until two weeks from now. Yeah, if you remember, the work is for classes I haven't even started yet. Oh, one more thing. I am leaving for vacation in five days, so another week will pass without updates from me. I dedicate this chapter to my amazing FanFiction friend Rival Argentica! Even though we've never met in person, I feel like I've known you longer than just a few months. Good luck on your mid-terms, girl! In case I don't get another chapter up before my school starts on August 8th, I hope to hear from you girls and guys. Don't worry, there will be more of this story whenever I get the time! Until Chapter 11!