Disclaimer: The rights to Oliver and Company go to their respective owners. I just own this fanfic, no copyright intended!

Author's note: This is the third one-shot I've written for a Disney movie. This is the sequel to my one-shot 'Runaway Rita,' so if you haven't read that yet, you might want to do that. Rated K. Hope you have a Happy Leap Year!

Rita's Reunion

Fanfic by Brockster550

Nine months have passed since Sykes and his dobermans, Roscoe and Desoto, were defeated. Fagin and his dogs have been living much more peacefully since, now they weren't under constant threat. Dodger (a male mongrel) and Rita (a female saluki) were strolling the streets of New York City on a nice 10:30 AM morning, looking for food to bring back to their barge for themselves and the rest of their dog friends. As the search for food progressed, a familiar scent reached Rita's nose somehow.

"Rita, you okay?" asked Dodger.

"Oh yeah," assured Rita. "Just some kind of smell I remember from like a year ago."

As the saluki continued following where the smell was coming from, Dodger followed her in bewilderment. It was leading them to somewhere in Central Park and Rita gasped in surprise to come across her previous owner, Vicky. Dodger widened his eyes in surprise when he spotted Rita's surprised expression and turned his head towards what caught Rita's attention. Rita saw that Vicky was doing well, her dark-blonde hair was still in braids. Vicky had her back turned to Rita and Dodger, unaware of what surprises awaited her. Rita felt her legs trembling at the fact that she spotted Vicky, nervous to approach her.

"Rita, is that your former owner?" asked Dodger.

"Uh-huh!" Rita nervously replied. "I just hadn't seen her for a year or so. I've been with you, Fagin and the rest of our dog friends for three months when Oliver visited the barge for the first time. It's been like nine months since we took down Sykes, Roscoe and Desoto once and for all. Vicky adored me so much that she never wanted to give me up, but her father was persistent in taking me to a pound."

"Is that why you're nervous to approach her?" asked Dodger.

"Pretty much!" Rita admitted. "When you haven't seen a previous owner after a certain time, it makes you nervous to approach them when you unexpectedly cross paths with them."

Dodger nodded his head to show that he understood. They continued observing Vicky (who still had her back turned to the dogs), and she was waiting in line to get a soda to drink. After she paid for it, Vicky walked over to where her parents were waiting. Rita and Dodger quickly and quietly followed Vicky, making sure to stay out of sight. Rita was taken aback to see that Vicky and her mother were there with a man who Rita hadn't met before (which must've meant that Vicky's parents divorced recently). The man was very affectionate to Vicky and her mother, as shown how he was hugging them. The man had blue eyes and combed brown hair. They continued walking around Central Park, with Rita and Dodger following them (forgetting about their duty to get food). They eventually reached the Central Park Lake, where Vicky began watching the ducks and geese swimming while drinking sip of her soda. Taking a deep breath, Rita slowly started approaching Vicky (with a few encouraging nods from Dodger).

"Wow, a saluki, I haven't seen one in…!" said Vicky in surprise before getting a closer look. "Wait, this can't be! Can it?"

Rita, feeling hopeful, started picking the pace up (with Dodger following closely, but keeping a reasonable distance). As soon as Rita was close enough, Vicky examined the dog closer and saw the collar on Rita's neck. Vicky's green eyes widened in shick when she realized that it was Rita (she remembered decorating the pink collar for her, and engraving Rita's name on it. It appeared to have been cleaned up and fixed as best as possible).

"Oh, Rita!" Vicky cried, her eyes welling up with happy tears as she hugged the dog. "It's been forever since I last saw you, I missed you sooooooo much!"

Rita felt tears welling up as she felt Vicky giving her a hug. Vicky's mother and the man accompanying them jogged up to them, unaware of the mongrel nearby.

"Rita!" Vicky's mother exclaimed, petting the dog as she spotted the collar. "Where have you been?"

Rita started barking some as if to tell Vicky, her mother and the man to follow her and Dodger. The three humans began following the dogs with intrigued expressions on their faces. It took a while before they returned to the boat docks where Fagin's barge was located. By that time, Fagin (a slender scrawny man in a green trench coat, red shirt, jeans, brown eyes, and balding ginger hair) arrived back home and saw that Dodger and Rita had a few visitors following them.

"May I help you?" Fagin asked the visitors.

"Yes," Vicky's mother began explaining. "I'm Andrea. This is my daughter, Vicky. And my boyfriend, Darrell. We found your dogs in Central Park."

"Oh, well, thank you! I'm Fagin." said Fagin as he introduced himself. Then he asked, "Was that why you came here?"

"Yes, partly that, but it mostly has to do with Rita." Andrea continued explaining.

"Oh, was she your dog?" asked Fagin.

"Yes, she was." Andrea confirmed. "Vicky and I haven't seen her in a year."

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" Fagin apologized, before explaining himself. "I spotted Rita close by here last year and she was suffering from starvation, so I tend her back to health. I did spend a month looking for her owners because of the collar on her neck, but… I gave up because it didn't seem likely I'd ever find them. If you want, I'll give Rita back to you. No need to pay me for her."

"We still feel that we should," Darrell reasoned with Fagin. "It's never easy when you have to give pets away. We can also give you some time to say goodbye to Rita if it makes you feel better."

Understanding the reasons, Fagin nodded his head and showed Darrell, Andrea and Vicky down into his barge (with Dodger and Rita following). Once they were in, Fagin showed his visitors around while Rita met up with Francis, Einstein and Tito. Francis was a male tan-furred bulldog, Einstein was a dark-gray furred great dane and Tito was a tan-furred chihuahua.

"Guys!" Rita began informing Francis, Einstein and Tito. "I'll be going back to my previous owners soon. Dodger and I came upon Vicky, her mother Andrea, and her boyfriend earlier today."

"It's for the best, Vicky was beyond excited to have seen Rita," said Dodger. "Their reunion was such a wonderful sight."

"Wish you didn't have to go, Rita," Tito replied in a sad voice. "But we know Dodger is right, it's for the best."

"It won't be the same without you," Francis told Rita, choking up with emotion. "But we won't forget you."

"Good luck, Rita," said Einstein, also choking up with emotion. "Even if you won't be here physically, you'll still be with us in some way."

"Thanks alot, you all!" said Rita with a grateful smile, a tear flowing from her left eye. "It was fun while it lasted, but I won't forget any of you, including Oliver."

Fagin was in the living room on his barge, waiting for Andrea and Darrell to pay him for Rita. Vicky was smiling while crying happy to have Rita back in her life.

"Thank you, Mr. Fagin!" Vicky responded, utterly grateful.

"You're welcome, Vicky!" said Fagin happily, giving the girl a smile.

Once he was paid for Rita, Fagin waved goodbye to Darrell, Andrea and Vicky as they left with Rita. The saluki gave Fagin and his dogs a farewell smile before following Vicky and her folks. Vicky gave Rita another hug as they continued following Andrea and Darrell. Fagin, Dodger, Einstein, Francis and Tito continued watching the departure until Rita, Vicky, Andrea and Darrell were no longer in sight. As sad as it was, they were also happy for Rita to reunite with her previous owners. Regardless, they would always see Rita as one of them, and Rita would always consider herself part of the gang in return.

The End!