Meanwhile, Perry had decided to get back to O.W.C.A. HQ. He did want to check in with Kiki. Now that he knew about Gypsy, he couldn't help wondering if Kiki did too.
The fox was sitting in a dorm room when he found her.
"Hey," he said. "Can we talk?"
Kiki glared up at him. "About what?"
"About what happened during the battle. With the vines."
Kiki scowled and said nothing.
"Kiki, please," sighed Perry.
"What about what happened earlier?" the fox finally demanded.
"Do you know where the vines came from?"
Kiki hesitated and stared at the ground. "Well… Do you?"
"Kiki, please stop stalling!"
"But I need to know!" Kiki snapped. "Do you know, or are you just asking to try and find out?"
"I want to know if you know!" Perry snapped back.
"Yes, I do, but unless you do, too, I'm not telling!"
Perry folded his arms. "Are you trying to protect someone?"
"Yes," Kiki said firmly.
"And..." Perry hesitated. "Is that person Gypsy?"
Kiki hesitated as well. "Y-Yes," she said finally.
"So you know about her powers, then?"
Kiki paused. "Yeah. D-Did she tell you, then?" Kiki twisted nervously.
Perry nodded. "Just a bit ago."
"What happened? She seemed REALLY convinced that she couldn't tell you."
Perry rubbed the back of his neck. "She kind of…didn't really have a choice anymore."
"You pressured her? Did you know she was hiding something?"
Perry bit the inside of his beak. "Yeah…"
Kiki scowled and folded her arms. "So now you have the answer to your question, leave me alone."
Perry hesitated. "Fine," he reluctantly said.
Kiki turned away from him, wincing as one of her cuts flared up.
"You should get some medical help..."
Kiki shook her head. "I've already been to Apollo and he prescribed me some kind of cream, but he's already suspicious of me because I refused to tell him what caused the cuts."
"Oh." Perry hesitated. "Alright. Bye, then, I guess."
"Yeah," Kiki mumbled. "Get going."
Perry rolled his eyes and left the room. She was frustrating sometimes. And when she wasn't being frustrating, she was being mean.
Perry exhaled. He had gotten used to it, but still…
He wished he and Kiki could be friends. Kiki was one of O.W.C.A.'s top five agents, and therefore very highly skills. He knew they could have been friends, if it weren't for Kiki hating him so much. But why DID she hate him so much? It had been years, and he still didn't know. He couldn't just ask her; she wouldn't tell HIM. Why… It was unknown.
Maybe he could ask Gypsy to ask her? They were a bit friendlier.
But not recently, he reminded himself. Remember Gypsy's crying fit yesterday?
Perry sighed. Maybe he should just let it be. Maybe it was something that would never be revealed to him.
And… If it wasn't, he'd be okay.
He decided to head home and check on Gypsy.
The she-cat was still asleep in bed when he found her. He smiled and sat down on the bed next to her, stroking her back.
She was beautiful. He had always seen it, but now that they were a couple, he appreciated it even more. Perry smiled and lightly nuzzled her fur. They were a couple now. It was hard to believe.
But he was happy.
…
When Gypsy woke up, she was surprised to feel a paw on her. She stirred and glanced up, smiling. "Hey."
Perry smiled back at her. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Better," she yawned. "I have a bit of a headache though."
"Oh." Perry hesitated. "Is there anything I can get to help?"
Gypsy shook her head. "Just a bit of fresh air. The earth can heal me."
"Okay."
Gypsy smirked. "Just "okay"?"
Perry grinned. "Your powers are just gonna take a bit of getting used to."
"Then why don't you take me outside and I'll show you some things I can do?"
"That sound nice," Perry smiled.
Gypsy smiled back. "Good. Lead the way."
Perry got up from the bed and helped Gypsy up as well. Then they headed out into the front yard.
Perry sat down on the grass. Gypsy stayed standing, breathing in the fresh air. "I feel better already."
"Great," Perry exhaled.
She sat down next to him and linked paws with him. She hesitated before resting her head on his shoulder.
"Even nature looks so much better when I'm with you," she murmured.
Perry smiled and kissed her forehead. "I...don't know if this is too soon to say, but I want to be honest." Gypsy inhaled deeply. "I love you, Perry."
Perry blinked and beamed. "I love you, too, Gypsy."
Gypsy sighed happily and squeezed Perry's paw. "Part of me was worried you didn't," she admitted.
"I will always love you."
Gypsy beamed. Perry smiled, leaned forward, and kissed her. Gypsy relaxed into it. It was their longest kiss yet. And arguably their best.
When they broke apart, Gypsy's cheeks were light red. She beamed at Perry. "Th-That was wonderful."
"I agree," Perry beamed back.
Gypsy blushed. "C-Could we do it a-again...?"
Perry smirked and kissed her again.
When they broke apart again, Gypsy created a small rose and handed it to him. Perry smiled and linked hands with her. "Thank you, Gypsy."
Gypsy smiled and nuzzled against him. "No problem. I can do it whenever you want."
Perry chuckled. "Only if you want to."
"Of course I do." Gypsy beamed and hugged Perry. "I'll always want to-."
She suddenly let out a cry of pain and clutched her chest, pulling back.
"Gypsy?!" Perry gasped.
"I'm sorry." Gypsy inhaled sharply. "I-I'm fine."
"What happened?" Perry asked anxiously.
"Just some pain," Gypsy croaked. "I'm fine."
"But what caused the pain?"
"Something natural dying..."
Perry rocked her gently. "I'll go see what it was."
"It must have been something fairly large to cause that amount of pain..."
Perry rested her on the grass. "Okay. I'll be back soon." He lightly kissed her forehead.
Gypsy smiled and lay down in the grass, watching as Perry headed off.
What was going on? That felt like another tree. It wasn't as bad as before, so perhaps it was a smaller tree. But still… That had been painful. Why were so many trees falling? Maybe it was good thing Perry was going to check...
She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.