A/N: As always my writing isn't perfect and the character of Puss is obviously OOC :( I'm sorry to disappoint but I'm trying!

I don't own anything!

"If you're not a prince, why should I kiss you?" Snow White asked lips pulled back into a sneer. Puss resisted the urge to roll his eyes; she was as stuck up as he remembered.

"Because, uh, I am handsome?"

The princess rolled her eyes and kicked him out of her home, Dopey giving him the fist from behind her dress. The cat, now man, hissed, but of course it wasn't as effective as it would have been if he had been in his original form.

He had refrained from telling people he was Puss In Boots and instead walked door to door to find a princess that would be willing to kiss him. Rapunzel was too busy dealing with her fake hair to spare time; Cinderella kissed him but it didn't work and Sleeping Beauty...well she was busy sleeping.

Puss did steal a kiss from her but it didn't wake her up nor did it change him back. Thinking back to what the bottle had said, he scowled.

True love turned out to be an absolute must in this situation and that was enough to put him in a sour mood.

This is ridiculous! True love, pfft. I should get enough from these kisses. No woman should be able to resist my charm, he thought, annoyed as he stalked away from yet another princess.

The last option he had was Snow White even though he wasn't particularly fond of her. She was a feisty one and though he certainly had respect and was attracted to strong women...Snow white was...just plain arrogant.

Puss stalked off in the opposite direction, away from the town and the princesses. The sun was setting and the first day was nearly over. He sighed as he looked up at the sky that was turning darker by the second; different shades of purple mixed with colours that resembled a deep orange.

It was soothing to look at, but the frustration from the days' events settled within him and the sense of calmness immediately disappeared.

He aimlessly walked into the forest, kicking around pebbles. Puss didn't even bother looking at his surroundings and frankly, he didn't care.

"This is not a good sign," he mumbled to himself. Already exhausted, he seated himself on a rock, carving random letters on the floor with his sword.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream from behind him caught his attention. He spun around everything in his body alert. If he had fur on his body, they would have stood up in attention – in this case, he had to be satisfied with the human hair on his body sticking up instead.

He was well aware that the sound had come from deep in the woods. Puss grabbed his sword and ventured through bushes before coming to a clearing.

Luckily his human figure wasn't large and was lean enough to hide behind places people would not notice.

The spot he had chosen was behind a tree and poking his head out, his eyes widened. He watched a young, mocha-skinned woman being dragged out from a carriage and into a tiny, vintage cottage by two large men. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out her face, but it was hard considering it was covered by a brown bag.

"Let me go, you-you evil butts!" she cried, struggling in their hold.

Butts? Puss thought, raising his eyebrow. He didn't know whether he was to be amused or surprised. The woman wasn't well-versed in insults, that was plain to see.

Well, hear.

Puss' ears twitched, suddenly alert of his surroundings. His eyes drank in the area quickly; no one would get very suspicious of the place, considering the garden seemed to be well taken care of.

What Puss couldn't get his head wrapped around, however, was the fact that there was a nice looking cottage in the middle of the forest.

It is a bit too nice, he observed, eyes narrowed.

He wanted to save the woman but could not risk being caught. He was not as agile as he was when he was a cat; his human self would only slow him down.

But I am Puss in Boots, after all. I was the great cat burglar Santiago de Compostela and was never caught! And, if I am in luck, she might be a princess who is desperate for love, he thought, proudly.

After a good second of thinking, the rational part of him won him over and he slowly inched closer to the cottage. Rolling through the bushes as stealthily as he could, he pressed himself against the wall of the house and looked over the side to see the two men exit the house.

"Get me out of here! Please, let me out! Someone!"

He could hear the panic in the woman's voice that seemed to come from above him. The men ignored her wails and glanced around briefly, causing Puss to settle back into his hiding position. As he watched them enter the carriage and ride away, he turned and jumped onto the wall.

Using his sword as a grip for one hand, he used the brick wall to climb up and swing through the window, breaking the glass. He rolled onto the floor and flew into a standing position with his sword pointing towards the ground.

"Do not fear as Puss is here!" he said in confidence. "It is your lucky day, senor-...ita?" His firm voice faltered as he stared at the woman in front of him.

He had expected her to be a beautiful woman – a princess, more precisely.

But she didn't look it.

Puss believed all women were beautiful and though there was a sense of beauty in her (he couldn't see it, honestly), she wasn't his type. She was far better looking than the ogre females he had seen and Doris, so that counted for something, he supposed.

His eyes travelled to the outfit she was wearing; a simple, dark blue villager dress, the skirt of it ripped and dirty.

She had beautiful brown skin, but small dark eyes, a slightly large nose and big lips. She wasn't ugly, but not gorgeous either.

Definitely not someone he would flirt with ever.

And this is who I believed could be a princess? He thought, wanting to stab himself with the sword. This is ridiculous! Why must I be cursed with this fate?!

As he was having an internal meltdown, the woman looked at him with confused eyes.

"Um, you could have just used the front door?"

He grumpily looked in the direction she was pointing at; the door was left wide open. His shoulders hunched.

"Of course, I knew that. Now spill, woman! What are you doing here in this place?"

She face-palmed. "I didn't want to come here! I was kidnapped from my home-town and I managed to run away at first but then they caught me and shoved me in here."

Puss slowly put the sword he was aiming at her face, down but still scrutinised her with squinted green eyes.

"Hmm, and how shall I know if what you are telling me is the truth?"

"Well, I guess you're just going to have trust my word on this. How did you know I was here so fast anyway? Aren't we in the middle of nowhere?"

"Indeed we are," he said, reaching up to stroke his whiskers...that he didn't have. Grumbling to himself, he brought his hand down reluctantly. "Look, senori—woman. Do not ask me so many questions. I witnessed you being brought here and thought to rescue you would be a kind gesture."

"Right. Well, um, thank you for helping me. But we're still technically not out, yet," she said with a sheepish smile. Puss looked around and face-palmed.

They were having a nice 'chit-chat' in the cottage without even moving. Without thinking, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out to the woods.

"W-wait, what are you doing?!" she yelled from behind him. "Are you taking me back home?"

Puss scoffed as he stalked through the path leading towards Far Far Away.

"Of course I am. I have matters of my own that I have to deal with, woman. I am merely a ca—man trying to find his way back."

He wasn't necessarily lying. It was just a small exaggeration. He was on a quest, but she didn't need to know that.

She tugged on his arm, stopping them from moving any further. Puss turned around and faced her with a heavy sigh leaving his lips. The woman stared at him, eyes big with fear.

"I can't go back home! They'll find me there. Please, just let me accompany you for a little while. I promise I can help."

Puss wanted to combat that; how would the woman be able to help him? He was a solo cat. He could do things on his own without a partner!

But...having her around would also help him in a way, too. Perhaps women would find him even more attractive walking beside a girl like her who was definitely not a princess and offer to kiss him!

It was a long stretch – he never put down women like that – but he was desperate.

Plus, his human body slowed him down. A partner was probably the best thing in his situation.

Puss sighed and nodded his head, weakly in response.

"Very well. I suppose you do owe me."

"I owe you?"

"Who saved you from that prison you were in?"

Realisation settled in her eyes and she sheepishly looked down, wringing her hands together.

"You did."

"Exactly."

Puss smirked in victory and they continued to walk in silence. She walked behind him but he preferred it that way. He had meant for them to go in the direction of where Fairy Godmother's house used to be but realising it was getting dark, he decided to stop halfway.

They still needed to find a place to sleep in for the night after all.

So heading in the direction of where Shrek's swamp was instead, seemed to be the safest idea. Which was also a dumb idea, as it was in the opposite direction. Though they turned around yet again, the woman was, surprisingly, quiet.

Puss glanced behind his shoulder reluctantly to see the woman gazing at the surroundings as if she had never seen a forest before. The corner of his lips curled up in amusement, but he said nothing.

After a few seconds, he sighed. It was getting boring and quite frankly a little awkward with none of them saying anything. He didn't really want to initiate a conversation with her but a question had been bugging him; he just wanted to let it out into the open.

He waited for her to walk beside him instead of behind him and cleared his throat, awkwardly.

"If you do not mind," he began; she looked up at him with curious, dark eyes. "Would you perhaps be open to...kissing me?"

She stopped walking abruptly and Puss turned to see why. Her eyes were narrowed, a frown so deep framing her mouth. Her very aura exuded venom and Puss blinked at the sudden animosity he was faced with.

In an instant, she brought her hand down, the outstretched palm making contact with his cheek. A yowl escaped his lips as the force of the contact caused his head to snap to the side almost comically.

Puss spluttered in shock; he couldn't believe that the incessant woman had dared to touch him in such a way.

"You dare hit me?! Who do you think you are?!" he exclaimed. His green eyes had enlarged as he looked at the woman glaring at him, hands on her hips.

"Who do you think you are?! Who in their right minds would ask something like that to someone they just met?"

"What?" Puss responded, innocently. "I was merely asking a question! A no would have been enough, you crazy woman!"

"Did you think that just because I'm from a poor village I would be so shallow as to kiss the first man that comes calling?!"

"Uh, no?" he was confused because that was not what Puss was thinking at all.

"And I'm not a crazy woman," she continued with a huff. "I have a name, thank you very much."

Puss rolled his eyes and muttered, "I do not remember asking for it." She glowered at him. "For someone who was so helpless back in the cottage, you are actually a very nasty woman. Perhaps I should just take you back there," he teased.

Her shoulders seemed to tense up at that, her jaw dropping slightly as fear replaced the anger in her deep eyes.

At the triumphant grin on Puss' face, however, she pursed her lips and shook her head before turning. He was only teasing her but to see her so flustered was amusing.

"What an annoying human being," she muttered under breath as she stomped in the direction they were headed originally.

Well, you will be shocked to find that I am indeed not ahuman being! he yelled at her in his head. Instead, Puss settled on glaring at her retreating back, rubbing his cheeks.

He was starting to regret the decision of having her join him.

A part of him wanted to punch himself for asking such a foolish question, though. He didn't like her but he still wanted to know what the answer would be. She was a woman with kissable lips, after all.

He was curious. And like he had admitted before: desperate, too, but she still didn't have to hit him.

"She is loco," he muttered angrily under his breath as he got up, following her.

"We shall make camp here!" Puss declared, standing on top of a rocky hill. It wasn't much, but there was a little barn they could bunk in until the sun rose again.

He was beyond exhausted; it all felt like a silly dream to him. Looking to the side at the woman, he shuddered.

A dream he wanted to wake up from very quickly.

"Here?" the woman replied, looking around as if she was afraid.

"Yes, here."

"Um...are you sure that's a good idea?" she squeaked out, bringing her arms around herself. Puss raised an eyebrow as he settled onto the ground.

"Yes, I am sure—look, if you do not want to stay here then you're welcome to go back. I, on the other hand, would like to get a good nights sleep before the sun rises." With that, he turned his back to her and shut his eyes, willing her to disappear as soon as the morning came.

"I'm...afraid of the dark, though."

Puss nearly snickered at that, pretending to cough instead. "Really?"

"Yeah...is there somewhere else we could stay?" she asked, softly. He sighed, rolling onto his back. She was clearly adamant on not letting him sleep.

"If you want, you can stay in the cave but that place is darker than the pits of hell!"

"So I'm guessing you've been to hell?"

Puss wanted to rip the hair off of his head and hers at this point.

"Wha—no! It was just a figure of speech, woman! Do you want me to help you or not?"

"I want your help!"

"Then do not question me and the way I speak." He cleared his throat. "Now, do exactly what I do."

She nodded eagerly like a little child and sat next to him. He once again shut his eyes and then turned around again, trying to ignore her presence.

"Seriously?" he heard her mutter and he shut his eyes even tighter. After a few seconds, he heard her grunt softly a little. Opening one eye, he peeked over his shoulder to see her back facing him, her body curled up into a ball.

She was shivering.

Puss sighed, gritting his teeth. He didn't want to have anything to do with the woman beside him but...she was a still a woman and he loved women, for cat's sake!

They were his weakness and he wanted to help her in any way she could; the gentleman side of him was coming out.

"You are cold, si?"

The woman stopped quivering to look over at him, dark eyes glistening with fresh tears. His lips curved downwards into a frown as his eyes met with the forlorn expression on her face.

Now I feel like I am the villain. She must be missing her family and here I am giving her a hard time, he thought, feeling more of a jerk as the minutes ticked by.

"Do not cry, senorita!" he said, puffing out his chest in an act of confidence. "We will find what I need and then I shall take you back home, safe and sound. Count on Puss in Boots!"

"Puss...in Boots?" she repeated, sceptically, her eyes wide with fascination.

He nodded. "Si. I am a ca—man named Puss, wearing boots!"

"Puss is a strange name for a man."

"Yes, but you see, it is unique, is it not?"

She nodded with a sigh. "I guess so."

"You guessed right and now you shall not fret."

"So, basically I should just lay my life in the hands of a stranger wearing boots?"

"Well, this stranger did save you!"

Her eyes thoughtful, she nodded, sniffling. "Why are you suddenly being nice to me?"

That caused Puss to stiffen. He cleared his throat and reached up to rub the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"It is cold and dark and we must rely on each other to get through this situation." He then added as an afterthought, "Plus I am a gentleman. I cannot stand to see people, especially lovely women, suffering!"

The woman let out a giggle, shocking the male. He stared at her with wide eyes, as if he hadn't ever heard a girl laugh before.

It was strange only because the smile suited her. It lit up her entire face and actually made it look ever so attractive too. He blinked slowly as if he was seeing the female species for the first time in his life.

Wow...was the only thing that came to his head.

He noticed the smile slip from her face as her eyes trailed his face. "What?"

Puss cleared his throat and looked away. "Nothing."

"It isn't 'nothing'. You were staring at me like you were judging me."

"I was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was too!"

"I do not have time to play this game!" he burst out, glaring at her. "Woman, go to sleep."

"My name is Jasmine. And I can't go to sleep in this cold weather."

Puss rolled his eyes, wanting to strangle something but repeated her name in his mind.

It is nice, I suppose but...not what I would have thought her name would be, he thought but then shrugged a second later. It didn't really matter to him much.

Puss then took off the cape that always hung around his neck discreetly and pushed it against Jasmine's face.

She glanced at it and then looked at him again, eyes wide with doubt.

"Are you sure?"

I will not be so sure if you do not take it now, he thought, annoyed.

"Si."

Without another word, she took it from his hand and wrapped the cloth around her shaking body. In an instant, it stopped as if it had been the warmth she had been craving. Puss nodded, satisfied, and then turned around again, closing his eyes.

He just wanted to be a cat again and get rid of Jasmine quick.