(Four months later)

Rose hopped between vehicles as she evaded her pursuers in the moving traffic, a smile never leaving her face as she remained confident they were nowhere in sight. She anticipated hearing Einstein causing a commotion before locating her whereabouts.

Dodger and she had separated, instructing the gang to ensure they met their high standards. Additionally, they simply desired to kickstart the day with heaps of enjoyment. Rose observed that Dodger had reverted to his carefree demeanor, indicating a positive turn of events for them.

Rose dashed ahead, leaping from one car to another. Glancing back, she caught sight of a dog far behind. Swiftly, she changed direction to the right, skillfully maneuvering through the traffic to maintain her pace.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Rita approaching. Suddenly, she found herself on the opposite side of the street, twirling around before gracefully lowering herself into a playful bow.

The rest of the group was still behind her. Suddenly, Dodger was being pursued by Einstein and Francis. Rita quickly turned around and intercepted the shepherd mix, wagging her tail. "I've got you now, Rosie!" the saluki/afghan hound mix barked happily, tail held high in elation.

Rose let out a playful growl towards her closest friend, bouncing around with excitement. Suddenly, she felt a thud on her head. "Ouch! Hey!" Rose yelped, gazing up to see Tito tossing the object.

Tito let out a loud laugh as he exclaimed, "Caught you, Rosita!" while sliding down the taxi's windshield. Suddenly, Rosita felt a hand on her neck and a warm breath against her fur. Reacting quickly, she jumped onto another taxi with Rita close behind.

The three dogs were wrestling on the roof of the taxi, then slipped down the windshield. The taxi driver honked loudly to try to get them to stop, but the playful pups were too caught up in their game to listen.

In no time, the six dogs were playfully fighting, barking and laughing. Rose and Dodger decided to escape the chaos and dashed towards Central Park. "You did good," Dodger praised the group, wagging his tail. Rose smiled in response, nodding in agreement.

"You know what? Francis is actually improving his car surfing skills," Rose commented, giving a nod towards the bulldog. Francis lifted his head with a sense of pride, realizing that his life with Fagin wasn't as terrible as he had once believed and that he was making significant progress in keeping up with his friends.

A voice they recognized called out, "Hey! Rose! Dodger!" The six dogs turned their heads and spotted Kaiden making his way towards them. Rose's face instantly brightened as she caught sight of her brother.

"How's it going, Kaiden? Been a while since we last saw you," Dodger asked. Kaiden noticed the significant changes in Dodger's appearance and also observed that his sister seemed content and at ease.

Rose walked over to her brother and bumped her head affectionately. "We've missed you, Kaiden," Rose said, smiling at him. She was also expecting to see their father somewhere around here.

Rose approached her brother and playfully bumped her head against his. "I've missed you, Kaiden," she said with a smile. She was also hoping to catch a glimpse of their father in the vicinity.

Kaiden nipped down on her ears, seeing that his sister was much different than the last time he saw her. He then glanced down at Tito's ears, seeing that they were notched. "What happened to your ears, Tito?" he asked with a head tilt.

Tito chuckled, his excitement evident as he exclaimed, "These scars are badges of honor!" His ears bore a permanent mark that would serve as a reminder of his experiences.

The young chihuahua didn't care about the obstacles he faced; instead, he viewed them as fuel for his determination and wore them proudly. "What were you doing?" Kaiden asked him.

"Naturally, my duty is to safeguard these senoritas!" he exclaimed cheerfully. Rose and Rita exchanged knowing glances, clearly unimpressed by the chihuahua's behavior. There were numerous instances when he had to be restrained from engaging in fights; he frequently overlooked his small stature.

"Rose, is that really you?" a voice she recognized called out. Turning her head, Rose spotted her and Kaiden's dad walking towards them. "Dad!" she exclaimed, walking over to the sturdy German Shepherd.

Kaiden was taken aback, "Dad?" he questioned, feeling puzzled by the situation. Bandit greeted him warmly, "How have you been, kiddo?" as he affectionately nuzzled Rose on the head.

"I've been great, Dad! Let me make introductions. This here is Kaiden, my brother," she said, looking over at Kaiden.

Bandit was taken aback when he saw the male shepherd mix. It was unexpected to find out he had a son too. Kaiden approached the German shepherd and gazed at him. The most striking feature for Bandit was Kaiden's vivid blue eyes, resembling Celeste's perfectly.

"You look just like your mother," he said. "I do?" Kaiden asked, perking his ears up a bit. "Yeah, you have her eyes," Bandit replied, "I'm glad that I got to finally meet you, my son,"

"It's nice to finally meet you, Dad," Kaiden said, nuzzling the german shepherd under his neck. Then, Rose turned her attention towards the gang, ready to introduce them.

"And these guys here are the gang, the ones I've told you about. This is Dodger, Einstein, Rita, Francis, and the hot headed one here is Tito. Guys, this is my dad, Bandit," Rose introduced with a confident tail wag.

Being called a hothead, the chihuahua couldn't hide his annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Nice to meet you, Bandit," Dodger said in a respectful tone. "It's nice to meet you lot," the adult german shepherd said with a nod.

"A lot has happened since I last saw you," Rose told her father. Things were settled down now so it felt great to see Bandit after several weeks.

Bandit noticed that his daughter's eyes appeared to be brighter and she seemed less tired. He felt content seeing her in a better emotional state, especially when she was with her pack.

Bandit settled himself on the grass and inquired, "Hey, what's been going on since we last met?" Dodger replied, "Oh, you won't believe it! Rose and I got caught by those pesky dog catchers and ended up in the pound. And guess who we found there? Kaiden. He was in there when we got taken. We got every single dog, including this pitbull that Rose attacked a while back out of there,"

Kaiden's flopped ears flattened back a bit. "The inhumanity of that place… it was a place that humans, who dogs are supposed to look up to as friends, would stoop to this level of cruelty," he said with a shake to his voice.

Bandit's jaw dropped and he quickly got back to his paws. "Are you serious? You guys need to be more careful," he said seriously. Rose scratched her flopped ear, sounding unconcerned. "I did get us out of there with the help of the gang," she said to him.

"They won't mess with us again!" Tito yipped, "The six of us are armed with street savoir-faire!" Bandit couldn't believe that they had ended up in trouble with the humans, but he felt a sense of pride for his daughter who had saved all the dogs in the pound.

Additionally, he was surprised to discover that the pitbull he had previously saved Rose from was among the rescued dogs.

They proceeded to tell the german shepherd all of what they had to do in that pound to get the dogs out. Rose had put her life on the line to rescue not just her friend, but also her brother from that dangerous situation.

"Rose was really something; She made sure that we pulled it off and made sure that we got out of there in one piece. Scariest thing we've ever done but we got out of there alive," Rita said, hoping to put the german shepherd at ease.

"You really are something, Rose. I couldn't pull that off even when I was a street dog myself," Bandit said with a proud smile. Rose's eyes sparkled with admiration as she smiled at her father, her affection for her friends evident in her gaze as it met his.

"So, Rose, you and Kaiden up for a walk? Sounds to me like we've got some catching up," Bandit suggested. Rose's tail wagged, feeling excited to do that. "If you're here in a few hours. Got work to do with the gang," Rose suggested.

Dodger was somewhat relieved, yet he was also a bit sad that Rose was going to be with her father and brother, something he had never experienced himself. He didn't feel envious of Rose; he just wanted to be happy for her that she had at least one loving parent.

"Sounds good to me," Kaiden said. "You and me both, kiddo. We'll catch you later. You guys take care and don't get yourselves into trouble, you hear?" Bandit said as he turned around and started to walk away with Kaiden.

They watched the two dogs leave and then Rose and Dodger turned back to their gang. "Alright, lets get goin' everyone," Dodger told them.

*X*

Dodger and Rose confidently led the pack of six dogs as they roamed the streets, synchronized with the rhythm of the bustling city around them. They both jumped up on top of a truck and they let out an exultant howl into the air.

Their voices echoed and reverberated, seemingly bouncing off of the city's buildings. Rose and Dodger were joined by Rita, Francis, Einstein and Tito, which were music to their ears. This gave the two dogs self-confidence, giving them a sense of belonging.

Rita leapt over to car after car, throwing herself onto them with pure joy. This was everything she ever wanted. She came to their sides, each movement she made was light and very bouncy.

Soon enough, all six of them were standing at each other's sides, feeling united as one and not scared of the future that they'd face together.

Her journey began with the absence of a mother and the sole presence of her brother, but after losing him, she found a new path that led her to a loving family.

Dodger was the one to teach her how to car surf, how to get food from humans, and learn to trust again. He taught her how to move with the city and become one with it. She had friends that loved her for who she was before saving Rita from a life of solitude, then meeting a reluctant bulldog and a hyperactive chihuahua.

These two were equipped enough to be able to handle the city. No longer was Rose a saddened pup without a mother, she was one of New York's coolest quadruped and one of the leaders to the city's finest gang of dogs. This, however, was only the beginning of their story.

Hey, guys. Sorry I've been away for a long time. It was because of work and all that jazz. I'm glad I'm finally able to finish this story of my Rosie girl and how she became the second leader to Dodger's pack. Thank you for keeping up with me and I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story.

Also, I changed Jerald's name to Bandit because Jerald wasn't working out for me. It felt right to give him that name.