Pansy and Portia were staring at him with anticipation. "I-I just want you to know that even if I don't love you as a mate, I will always love you as a very close friend," Perry stammered. "Please understand that."

The two female platypuses nodded together, with hopeful expressions on both their faces.

"There's amazing things about both of you," Perry said. "Pansy, you're loyal and brilliant and skilled. Portia, you're fiery and caring and skilled." He paused. "But…my heart knows who it loves."

Pansy held her breath. Portia bit her lower beak.

"And that's Portia."

Pansy turned away and closed her eyes in disappointment. Portia's hands flew to cover her mouth in shock, tears glistening in her eyes. Perry ran to the button that controlled the cage doors and opened Portia's cell. Portia immediately ran out and tackled Perry in a hug. Then they kissed, and it was the best kiss of Perry's life.

When they broke apart, Perry turned towards Pansy, who was still sitting where she was. "Pansy…"

The orange platypus moved suddenly and wrapped Perry in a hug, tears falling down her face. "I'll always be here as a friend for you, Perry. No matter what."

"Y-you're not mad?"

"I can't be mad at someone for not loving me," Pansy admitted. "Even though it hurts because I thought you were going to choose me, you healed my heart and helped me trust guys again. It's thanks to you that I didn't close myself off to love after what Pally did to me. For that, I will always be grateful. The disappointment will sting for a while but I'll move on. I'll always be here as a friend for you."

Perry hugged Pansy back, close to crying himself. "Thank you, Pansy."

Pansy then let go of Perry and allowed he and Portia to kiss again. "We're mates now, right?" Portia muttered in his ear.

"Of course," Perry said, smiling. "I love you, Portia."

"I love you too, Perry."

"Sorry to interrupt," Pansy interrupted. "But someone's going to have to tell Major Monogram, and he's definitely not going to be happy about this."

To the female platypuses' surprise, Perry was grinning. "Don't worry, I have a secret weapon up my sleeve."

"Really?" Pansy said.

"OWCA's bylaws dictate that if an OWCA agent takes a mate outside of OWCA, and if the mate wants to, then the organisation has to let that mate join OWCA, or at least begin training to join OWCA."

Portia gasped. "Really? I can join OWCA?

"Yep. Besides, if you can prove to Major Monogram that you're willing to be on our side, he'll definitely see that you're a valuable asset to us."

Portia beamed and hugged Perry again. "I'll get to stay with you?"

"We stay together."

"Then let's head up to Major Monogram's office," Pansy said. "I'll come with you for support."

They almost failed to even get out the door; Ellie the Eagle was definitely stricter on regulation than Harry and Maggie had been. "I can't let the prisoner out without expressed orders from Major Monogram," she said.

"She's my mate," Perry argued, feeling a warm glow in his heart as he said that. "That means she's at least allowed to go into OWCA's office floor. Besides, both Pansy and I will be with her."

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "I need permission from Major Monogram."

"We're going to get permission," Pansy said, thinking quickly.

Ellie swung her gaze on Pansy. "Alright, but you better know what you're doing."

"I do, thanks." Perry narrowed his eyes back at Ellie as he passed. He had never truly liked Ellie: she was too much of a planner and she disliked Perry, who was very spontaneous.

Perry led the way up to the busy office floor. Because of Portia's various escapades, it was rare that they bumped into someone on their way to Major Monogram's office who didn't immediately give them a death glare. Even though the hatred wasn't really directed at him, Perry still felt uncomfortable under the angry glares of his colleagues. Even Terry and Tallulah frowned in their direction as they passed, which did hurt Perry a little.

When they finally got to Major Monogram's office, Carl was sitting outside behind his own desk, and he gave them a look of astonishment as Pansy knocked on the major's door. Perry gave an awkward smile back as he and the two girls went through the door. Major Monogram was once again seated behind his desk, but he sharply stood up when the three platypuses came in. "Agent P, what is this?" he snapped. "Why is the prisoner out of her cell again?"

Pansy stepped forwards. "Agent P and Portia are mates now, sir."

Major Monogram looked like he was about to faint. "They're what?"

"I love Perry," Portia said defensively.

"And I love Portia," Perry added. "And since OWCA's bylaws state that any agent's mate who wants to join OWCA can join OWCA, Portia is legally entitled to at least a four week training period."

Major Monogram's face went through a variety of emotions. Before it could settle on one, Portia stepped past Pansy and went straight up to Major Monogram's desk. "Sir, I am very sorry for all the grief I have caused you. I was ignorant of the fact that I was being used by Kirk Kennedy. But I have seen the light. Perry helped me see the light. ARCHANGEL is bad, I know that now. OWCA is the good organisation. I want to be a reliable, dependable, and skilled OWCA agent. I'm already trained in various martial arts. Besides, I have lots of in-date information about ARCHANGEL that I can and will share. I will do absolutely anything I can to prove to you that I can be a great OWCA agent."

Major Monogram considered this, a very hard-to-read expression on his face.

"For what it's worth, I think we'd benefit hugely from Portia's presence," Perry said, raising his paw slightly.

"That's enough from you, Agent P."

Perry fell silent.

Major Monogram narrowed his eyes at Portia but his expression relaxed slightly when he saw how tightly Perry and Portia were holding hands. "And you're okay with this, Agent Pansy?"

"Yes, sir."

Major Monogram nodded. "Then I assign you to be her Supervising Officer. Agent P, you can sit in on training but I expect you to stay away from her while Agent Pansy is training, yes?"

Perry gaped at his superior. He had not expected the major to agree to the plan at all, let alone so readily.

"Agent P?" repeated Major Monogram impatiently.

Perry gave his head a little shake but Portia grabbed Major Monogram's hand and shook it. "Thank you, sir. You will not regret this."

Major Monogram retracted his hand. "I expect you to pull your weight."

Portia saluted. "Absolutely, sir!"

With that, the three platypuses left the office. Perry stared at Portia for a moment in silence before he picked her up and swung her around in utter joy. "You're joining OWCA!"

"I'm joining OWCA!" laughed Portia.

As Perry put his mate down, the same thought was buzzing through his head:

I have a mate and she's joining OWCA!

"I have to tell Pinky," Perry stated, beginning to run off. "Pansy, look after Portia!"

He ran all the way to the medical bay and found Pinky up and walking around. When the Chihuahua spotted Perry, he turned away. Perry, remembering their argument, walked slowly up to his best friend. "Pinks?"

"You aggravate me so much at times, Perry the Platypus," sighed Pinky. "I just wish sometimes that you wouldn't abuse regulations like that."

"I know." Perry bowed his head. "But I've got some news to tell you."

Pinky narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Portia's my mate now and she's going to join OWCA."

Pinky stared at Perry, who grimaced at the ground, waiting for his best friend to give him a million and one reasons why that wasn't a good idea. But instead, Pinky darted over to Perry and hugged him around the waist. "That's great, Perry. I know how hard this was for you to bear but if you're happy, I'm happy."

Perry was happy.

…

*cries in happiness* that's it, folks. That's the happy ending I prepared when I started writing this story :) except there's still an epilogue to go so this is the penultimate chapter