"Brainy! I was gonna tell you that Hot Dogs are human food, not actual dogs!" Krypto chided the girl, finally reaching her.

Brainy chewed the tasty food and swallowed with a big grin. "It's great!"

Krypto grinned as well. "It is!" His grin became even wider when the Hot Dog vendor shrugged and threw him some food, too, which he caught at the speed of light.

The two glanced at each other with their mouths full and tails wagging and began to laugh.

"So...! What do you wanna do next?" Krypto asked the violet Saluki next to him after he was done gobbling up his Hot Dog.

"I don't know," Brainy politely nibbled on the last of her food. "Um, what do you have in mind?"

Krypto glanced another way with a thoughtful expression before his whole face brightened up. "I have an idea!" he told his friend as his strong tail began wagging one side to the other.

"Huh?" Brainy's head tilted to the side. "What is it?"

Krypto chuckled mischievously. "Let's just say there's water involved."
---

Soon enough, the two dogs were in front of a wide, peaceful clear lake. Brainy could hear the subtle sound of insects and birds chirping, as well as the fish under the water swimming around. "This... this is a really beautiful place," Brainy muttered with big, amazed eyes. "Earth truly is wonderful."

"It is," Krypto agreed with a nod, "You don't know how happy I am to wake up here everyday..." He sighed blissfully before suddenly turning away and running off.

Before Brainy could ask where he was going, his Super Speed brought him back in front of her with a spacious wooden canoe between his fangs.

"Eh?! What is that for?" Brainy asked, taking a few steps back.

"Hehe! For getting across the lake!" The Labrador Retriever let the canoe fall into the water, causing a loud splash. "Come on!" He signaled for her to jump in with him.

Brainy looked at him with slight surprise for a moment before playfully rolling her green eyes and chuckling. "Alright."

Now that the two of them were inside, Krypto slowly pushed the canoe apart from the shore they had been standing in previously, and the small boat moved forward.

Krypto excitedly moved to the front, raising his head so he could look at the scenery ahead. "Woohoo!" He howled joyfully, his tongue hanging out like a classic dog. "Look at that, Brains!" He pointed with his black nose to a fish leaping out of the water, nearly reaching the sky. "Isn't it cool?!"

Meanwhile, Brainy stared at him with a content smile, a small blush decorating her cheeks. "Yes..." She wasn't looking at the fish, but at Krypto. "It is cool."

Krypto gave her a big, cheerful grin and proceeded to calm down a little by sitting in front of her. "Being around nature always relaxes me..." Superdog revealed, letting his head bob down as he inhaled the fresh air. "Being the leader of such an important group such as the Dog Star Patrol must get stressful sometimes."

Brainy immediately looked up at him with curiosity.

Krypto slowly raised his golden eyes so he could look directly at Brainy's green ones. "So I'm glad you're spending time here," he said sincerely. "I'm glad you're trying to relax... for once. You deserve it."

Brainy looked at him without exact words to reply before smiling gently. "Thank you... you truly are a precious friend."

It was Krypto's turn to smile with embarrassment. He laughed softly. "I can say the same about you, Brains."

The violet Saluki was about to speak again when Krypto surpassed her. "I wish Kiara could relax once in a while," he whispered with a daydreaming smile, "She's always so tight on her schedule, and really strict about being a proper superhero, sometimes she forgets she's a dog, too."

Brainy didn't know what to reply, especially since her disappointment would be too obvious. "Krypto..." The name escaped her mouth.

"Huh?" The white dog responded with confusion, snapping out of his thoughts.

"There..." Brainy began, "There is something I must confess to you." This was it. She was going to do it.

Her words swirled inside her head like a hurricane, destroying everything else in her outstanding brain.

"What is it?" Krypto asked, oblivious.

"Ok, what is it with you and Brainy?! What happened this morning?!" Streaky's voice suddenly boomed inside her head; this took her by surprise, as she stepped back in the boat with a soft gasp.

This caused the canoe to tilt to her side. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Krypto struggled to keep his paws from sliding; he tried to use his claws to keep a hold of the wood but it clearly wasn't enough. Gravity won, and the dog fell right on top of the alien Saluki.

"Streaky... there's nothing between me and Brains..." Now Krypto's voice from the past rang through her ears as she stared at the white canine with astonished eyes.

Krypto looked at her with the exact same expression.

"You've got it all wrong." Krypto blinked at her while flashbacks rushed through Brainy's head. "You know I love Kiara."

Brainy put her weight over her arms, slowly managing to get away from Krypto before she clumsily managed to stand. Her eyebrows creased deeply as she suddenly felt dizzy.

"I saw it coming." She could hear her past self saying with a broken voice. She harshly shook her head, her muzzle facing down.

Then she glanced upwards. And her confused eyes met with Krypto's shaken ones. He was worried about her.

"Brainy... is just my good friend. A good friend... like you... I never thought she felt like that." She stared at him as his eyes struggled to keep looking at hers, and he turned away with shame.

"But... I couldn't ever develop romantic feelings for her... I..."

Brainy's green eyes widened. She finally understood.

She finally understood what her heart wanted.

She extended her violet paw in front of Krypto, and she noticed how he timidly shifted his gaze towards her again. A sincere, bittersweet smile spread through her face, reaching her eyes.

Krypto smiled back; silently thanking her as he grabbed her paw and she helped him up. Once he was sitting up, his smile became warmer alongside his glowing eyes. "Brainy... you're a very precious friend to me," he said gently.

Brainy nodded slightly. She loved him, and so did he. But their love was friendship.

And she accepted that. She giggled for a second, covering her muzzle with her other paw. Small tears surfaced from the borders of her eyelashes, but they weren't necessarily sad.

Krypto opened his arms wide, and she immediately jumped in to wrap him in a tight hug, and he responded the same way. "Thank you..." he muttered, caressing her purple hair. "Thank you, Brainy..."

"Thank you, Krypto..." she replied, her smile growing even more. "I... I'm happy."

"Me too," he chuckled.

Then they pushed away a bit so they could look at each other's faces again and laugh.

They passed by a tall, blossoming tree before hugging again.

What her heart truly wanted, was for Krypto to be happy. And if that meant being happy with someone else, then she was satisfied with that.

-
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