FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thanks for the Fox

Chapter 6: Family and Hope

Judy had given a little bit of thought to how she might have explained things to Vivienne if Nick had asked her to, but Nick eagerly wanted to tell it all instead. The bunny had been the one to explain things to Finnick, after all, so it would not have surprise her to be given the lead by her suddenly very flustered partner. However, despite being a bit emotional still, Nick plowed right on through to tell his mother everything.

This was actually troublesome to Judy because her partner acted like he was unable to consider the implications of telling his mother exactly what she asked for. Everything. First, he openly explained what he had been doing when he met Judy, and how he had treated her when they first met. This obviously infuriated the vixen, but she remained quiet even if the insides of her flattened ears were visibly red anytime they flicked in agitation.

Vivienne then appeared utterly shocked when she found out that Judy had used literal blackmail to coerce her son into helping her, and that put the shoe on the other foot in a hurry. Now Judy was the one beaten down with a death glare. Quietly, the bunny was beginning to panic. How could he be so free in telling his mother that? It was told entirely from his point of view so the circumstances for Judy's behavior and her desperation to get the case solved were omitted. But she dared not to interject and interrupt because it really was Nick's right to tell her all of this. On top of that, Judy already knew she was going to have to answer for her being dishonest with Nick, so she did not want to add to the friction.

He continued to explain, neither ashamed nor hesitant, saying everything as if it wasn't even about the two mammals there in front of the vixen. In mere moments, Vivienne was visibly angry at Nick again because he literally interfered with a police investigation just to damage Judy. With how the first day was sounding, Judy knew Nick's mom had to be confused as to how the two were friends at all.

The mood for the vixen became instead horrified when, to Judy's utter shock, Nick held absolutely nothing back about the incident with Mr. Big. Vivienne's son was going to be killed by a mob boss. The little doe could not believe he calmly and casually told his mother that he almost got iced. Vivienne cupped her muzzle and listened breathlessly as it was revealed that Judy's undisclosed heroic actions earlier in the day were likely all that prevented their demise. Nick even explained that this had been after a mistake he had made some years before doing less-than-honest business with a very dangerous mammal.

Vivienne looked thankful that Judy had been able to prevent that, if indirectly, and the lady fox actually finally had to excuse herself to the restroom a moment. Judy suspected that this was to recover her composure. While she was there, Judy jumped up and held her paws out at Nick.

She gritted her teeth and hissed, "What the f-flaming compost heaps are you doing, Nick?!" Her partner calmly smiled back.

"I'm telling her how everything happened." He said simply.

Judy held her ears in her fists as she regarded her partner with a panicked expression. She forced a whisper, "Not all of it, you're freaking her out!" The bunny paced anxiously.

"No, I'm freaking you out. She deserves to know all of it." The fox clarified.

"Nick, some of the stuff about the Nighthowler Case was not released to the general public, you can't tell her until after the trials for Jesse and Woolter are done." The bunny was openly exasperated.

Nick smiled and said reassuringly, "I understand your concern, but I can tell her. She might worry, she might fret, but I won't lie. Not to her. Never again." His expression was so serious that Judy immediately felt like a heel to even suggest it. She had omitted a lot of the more dangerous, scary parts of the ordeal in her explanation to her parents, but Nick did not seem to feel that was necessary with his.

The vixen returned and sat down again, and Nick continued to explain. She looked instantly horrified once again as he gave very vivid detail about the incident with Manchas in the rain forest. Vivienne watched Judy carefully as her son explained that she risked her life to save him, and then he told her about not just escaping onto the gondola to save himself. He would not leave the bunny.

This confused the vixen a bit. It was actually the first time she asked for clarification and corroboration. Given how they had not gotten along she was surprised to find that they would do that for each other. She was far more surprised as Nick finally explained what Bogo had been doing to Judy. She showed immediate concern that this mammal was now Nick's boss, but they both assured the vixen things were not so bad as that part of the story made it look. She had to dab her eyes again as Nick explained that he stood up to the buffalo and began to help Judy on his own, no longer inhibiting her investigation.

He then explained the night at the old hospital, finding the missing mammals. Again the vixen was mortified at the sheer danger of it. Judy flushed them both, and then they fell so far into the water below. She was especially worried that this was done without a team effort from the ZPD, but she at least understood why at that point. She was less upset at Judy and Nick at that point, however. It seemed that Nick understood to a degree how his mother would react to the full on truth. She was riveted, unable to break away from the story.

Finally they got to the part about the news conference and the vixen waved a paw at Nick, saying softly, "No, I know about that. I was watching. Good heavens I had no idea you were even there. So many folks got so angry about that! You must have needed to guard her tooth and nail from so many mammals after that little mess up." Nick looked suddenly pained. It was the first time that Judy saw him actually hesitate about part of the explanation and it was strange for her to watch. She knew how bad it hurt him.

He answered softly, "I... I left her, mom. I got mad and stormed out. I wasn't gonna speak to her again." He looked down sadly. Vivienne looked at Judy, who obviously looked pained hearing him say it that way. He forgave her under that bridge. She knew that, but she had not considered, not until that moment, that he knew it hurt her too. She never told him that she forgave him for leaving. Judy honestly thought she was the only one who needed to apologize. To hear him say it to his mother, he was the one who messed that up, not her.

Vivienne asked incredulously, "Why did you leave her? I mean, she messed up, but stuff turned to crap so quickly! I remember reading about the fights, the protests... You finally checked on her, didn't you?" she asked. Judy put her paw on that of his mother. She was about to say something in Nick's defense, but wasn't sure if his mother knew the whole story about why he reacted the way he did. Nick had an old wound reopened by Judy, but the bunny didn't think she had the right to tell her that.

Her partner answered in a sullen tone, "I left her because I thought she was just like the rest of the city. Self-righteous, self-aggrandizing, self, self, self." He shook his head. "I spent... gosh... weeks coming up with the speech I was going to use on her. I was gonna let her really know how it felt from a fox point of view." Judy folded her ears back. She had not heard this part of the story before and she remained silent. She never knew he even thought about her that much after it happened. He looked down as he continued to talk, "I was nothing but mad the whole time, and stuff kept going wrong. They ejected me from my apartment because the hustle wasn't doing great. No one wanted to be near a fox that could suddenly go off the deep end while he was close enough to take cash from them." He explained. Judy gritted her teeth. She knew about the apartment thing and lamented it openly despite Nick reassuring her that was because of what Bellwether was doing, not because of Judy's press conference.

Vivienne finally interjected, "Look, Nicky, she was obviously never trained for that kind of thing, and grew up with a bunny point of view-"

Nick cut her off, "I know mom. I'm getting to that." He gave a long sigh, again struggling with how to honestly explain what happened next. Vivienne put her paws on her knees and listened. Judy listened too. "I stewed over it for a few months. I knew I shouldn't have left. I saw a video Finnick sent me on Ewetube of Judy being bounced around in the middle of a protest. I guess Fin thought it would cheer me up because I was so angry at her, but it didn't. She looked so miserable and I hated seeing that."

Judy widened her eyes at that, ears back. She had never known this happened. She hadn't asked, sure, but it was so important. Had Nick changed his mind about her even before she asked for his forgiveness? Judy scooted a little closer, knowing her expression was making it clear to Vivienne that this was something that the bunny was interested in hearing as well. Nick's mother glanced at her and looked so sad that the two younger mammals had suffered like that, but she did not interrupt.

Nick continued, in a softer tone, "It bothered me every single day after that, so I finally had enough and went to see if I could set things straight. I went to meet Judy at the ZPD. I wanted to talk about it, tell her how I felt, let her explain her side of things like rational adults. I felt like maybe she didn't even understand why I was so upset and that would have been an injustice, right? She deserved a chance to know how I felt and tell me how she saw it." Nick looked down again, shame in his eyes as he spoke. "Some hippo was at the desk, real blunt and kind of rude, I have no idea how he got stuck with that duty, but man he looked so miserable. Anyway, he said... Judy resigned. She was just... gone." Nick sounded so sullen about it. The bunny put a paw to her chest. She didn't know he had actually looked for her at the ZPD. Why has he never said anything about this?

"What? But she fought so hard!" Vivienne cried as looked at Judy with a pained expression. The bunny had told her on the train about how she became a cop, and how long it took, and that a lot of things stood against her and she made it. Hearing that she had been nearly destroyed in all of this obviously hit Vivienne hard.

Nick interjected, "...and she felt responsible for all the crap happening. The fights, the persecution, the unhappiness..." he explained. Judy looked away, not wanting to think about that chapter of her life much, hoping the story moved on soon. She still felt responsible and there was still so much more to fix about that single mistake.

Vivienne huffed in frustration, "It was that maniac sheep, not Judy! She didn't make those mammals go nuts!" Vivienne stood up, so exasperated by this, and gestured as she said a bit more loudly, "Blowwether was even at the press conference, they arrested the sheep who grilled Judy from the press pool for being a part of the conspiracy. It was a setup! They talked about that at the diner all the time, everyone knows it." Nick could not help but laugh at his mom's nickname for the now incarcerated ewe. He waved again to calm her down.

After he chuckled a bit more at that, he continued to speak, "I couldn't really do much after that, of course. I didn't know where she had gone. My feelings changed almost immediately, and I had no idea what I wanted to say to her. She might not have ended her dream if I had been there with her. If she had someone to help her manage the damage or at least support her, maybe it would have gone very different." He explained. Judy gritted her teeth. He was feeling guilt over it. She would talk with him later about it.

"I wish I'd been there for you both, I really do..." Vivienne said sadly, reaching out and taking her son's paw.

Nick resumed, "I watched for her on the streets for days after that, not even knowing she left the city. She went back to Bunnyburrow." Judy nodded at that in confirmation to his mother. Her partner then perked up a bit. "Then, just a few days after that, less than a week actually... Judy shows up at the place where I was hanging out. Finnick called ahead to let me know she was coming. He wanted to give me a chance to leave if I didn't want to deal with her, but he said she acted pretty desperate. I still wanted to know what she was feeling, so I guess I kind of gave her the quiet treatment, but she gave me an honest response, laid it all out, and I accepted it. I realized... as she was talking to me, apologizing, I didn't need her apology half as much as I needed her friendship." Vivienne crossed her arms over her chest with a sweet expression of happiness, cooing softly. Nick waved it away and murmured, "Yeah, yeah, we hugged it out, real emotional, pretty location, best memory, but that's where it got good." He explained.

And he explained everything that happened next. To Judy's creeping dread he didn't leave a single bit of it out. The looks of horror came back to the vixen's countenance as Nick used novelist detail recounting what he was technically was not allowed to tell anyone... about the train with contraband, the crash, the fight in the museum, and finally, the trap laid out for Bellwether. Fortunately he explained what the trick was supposed to be instead of going for the dramatic and explaining the switched pellet after the fact. Still, Nick being shot in the neck with what was supposed to be a Nighthowler in order to force him to literally kill and eat his best friend for Bellwether's apparent amusement was too much. It presented the need for another bathroom break from the absolutely enraged vixen. There was a great deal of grumbling and distress from behind that closed door that sensitive rabbit ears could pick up. Judy felt sincerely that at no time was it ever going to be a good idea to have Dawn Bellwether and Vivienne Wilde in the same building.

Refreshed, Vivienne returned and listened about the ruse itself, cupping her muzzle in shock at how far the bunny and fox went to trick Bellwether. Judy figured that the surprise was about the gall it took for both of them to play that kind of trick on the former mayor without knowing what else she might be able to do to them. They had staked their lives on that ruse.

However, that was not what the vixen fixated on. She said in a slow and calculated tone, "His teeth..." she pointed at her son. "Around your neck?" she asked in a wavering tone. The bunny nodded. Vivienne looked blankly at her smiling son a moment then back to Judy.

The bunny said reassuringly, "It was a very convincing trick, but in the end, I couldn't hold the seriousness of it because he was so gentle that it tickled! I would've started squealing with laughter had I not broken character," she chuckled.

"Nick..." his mother stated softly, "There's such a thing as primal instinct... You realize if you had scared Judy badly enough... I mean... Acting or not, b-bunnies are known for exiting stage life from hard enough scares." She sounded genuinely concerned. Judy thought back to the moment. She had not been the slightest bit afraid as she felt his jaws close around her throat. Was it that hard to believe?

Nick tried to deflate his mother's concern. He said, "She knew I wouldn't hurt her. Truthfully, I think I was more scared than she was. If I had even accidentally harmed her during that, I'd have needed therapy forever!" he said plaintively. He then explained the aftermath, taking Judy to the hospital, the ZPD putting her up in a hotel for a few days. Nick stayed with her so she would not have to go outside and give it away to the media where she was while she recovered. This gave her time to produce her report for everything that happened.

That brought up the obvious detail that Vivienne openly inquired about, "How did you end up being a cop again, though? I mean... You didn't exactly endear yourself upon the rule of law through all of that."

Judy smiled and answered. "Well, I wasn't real popular with Bogo after, no, but he saw reason, and he did not want it to get out that the person who solved the case had been mistreated by him, even if he regretted it. He created a narrative of my performing these actions as a private citizen for the ZPD, and the DA dropped any possible charges resulting from destruction of city property and the like in exchange for my full testimony. Nick's little tax issue was dropped as well since his corroboration was absolutely critical. Nick agreed to go into the police academy afterward as part of his deal with the DA."

"It was my intention anyway. I'd already made up my mind on that, but we used it as leverage. That and agreeing to have them draft my back taxes out of my checks." Nick added.

Judy spoke again, "It was requested that his involvement not be public record until after the last of the trials from it were done. They wanted him to be treated fairly in the academy." she explained. "He graduated, top honors, as I knew he would, about three months ago, and we've been partners ever since!" Vivienne widened her eyes and stood up suddenly.

"What?" she asked.

Nick nodded and stated cheerfully, "I am Judy Hopps' partner on the force. Like I said, we trust each other with our lives. We're a great team!" His mother was suddenly completely exasperated.

"Nicholas!" she cried, "By my count, that bunny nearly killed you five separate times in the first 48 hours you were with her! How are you alive after three months of Judy Hopps?" At first, Judy's heart sank like a rock, fearing that after Nick's story, in his point of view, Vivienne Wilde did not at all care for her son being around the reckless and unorthodox bunny. The younger fox just laughed at his mom jovially, and his mother laughed as well, showing that she was teasing her son. Nick hugged the vixen comfortingly.

"Worry not, Mother," he stated, getting a bit of a blanching expression from the vixen who apparently preferred 'Mom' instead. "Judy and I have settled down nicely. We're like an old married couple now!" He grinned. Her expression went blank and Judy's entire body felt like it was engulfed in flames. Poor choice of words fox, given what she already appeared to suspect early on. She rubbed the back of her head uncomfortably. Judy had no idea if the comment was intentional, given how obviously embarrassed she must have looked. Nick dispelled the awkward moment with a serious question. "What I want to know, Judy, is exactly how you just happened to find my mom in New Reynard. You just stopped by the diner and there she was? How did you even get to a point of knowing who she was?" he asked. Judy rubbed the back of her head with worry. This was it. It was time to come clean. She hoped he'd not be too angry.

She sighed softly and stated in a slow and cautious tone, "Well... No, not... not exactly." She was not sure what to say now. She had lied to him outright. She lied when he trusted her. She decided to work backwards, that way when it became obvious what she'd done he would not have to interrupt her to be irritated by it. "I would not have found her at all, except old Elliot... he pointed me to the Diner. " She then narrowed her eyes. Wait a minute, there was no way, in a town that size, that old fox would not have known Vivienne worked at the Diner. She widened her eyes. It was on purpose. He didn't tell her anything until he knew that her interests were genuine. Then he told her right where to find Nick's mom! That crafty old... She was broken out of her musing as the vixen looked to Nick and then back to Judy.

"Wait, old Elliot, the town caretaker? Like... very old fox?" the lady vixen asked.

Judy looked blankly at Nick's confused-looking mom. "Yeah. Silvering fur, wore a nice white or cream suit?" the bunny offered.

"No, he didn't send you to the diner, hon." The vixen looked suddenly uncomfortable, then dismissive. Judy paused. Now what? Nick blinked at that, looking confused. Her partner shook his head and spoke up.

"Okay, so maybe not Elliot, but some fox told you to check out the Diner?" Nick asked, seeming to try to push the story along, away from the distraction. Judy blinked at that. No, she knew who she spoke with, he was so kind, and she was never going to forget him. She racked her brain for his full name.

"No, I'm serious. It was Elliot... Scratch? Scratchy? Scritch... Scritchard! Elliot Scritchard!" she announced triumphantly. Names were often challenging for the bunny.

"Judy, dear..." Vivienne murmured softly, ears back. The bunny felt better that the older vixen sounded genuinely kind to her after everything had been explained. What she said next derailed the bunny.

"Elliot Scritchard died 11 years ago, sweetie." The vixen stated with concern. "You can't possibly have met him." Judy looked bewildered at the vixen. She then looked back at her son. Nick looked shocked too. Judy knew from experience that her partner did not have a taste for spooky stuff. Judy liked scary movies, but this was _not_a movie and the implication was genuinely terrifying. Judy thought hard about the experience. The wisdom he appeared to have. The ancient feel of his touch. The slowness of his movements. The rattling sound of his voice. How he seemed to know exactly what to say and ask, as if placed there for that very moment in time for that exact purpose. Had the curious onlookers seen her talking to nothing? Was that why they were watching her? Judy suddenly felt a sinking feeling of dread, pins and needles in her paws. Everything she could imagine a ghost encounter to be like was what she had experienced. No, that could not be right! There was no such thing! She looked plaintively to Vivienne and back to Nick.

"Y-You must be mistaken, he was there! I met him... H-He was so kind..." Judy stammered. The vixen picked up her purse suddenly and began rummaging in it. Judy wrung her paws, seeing that Nick looked genuinely worried too.

"One moment, hold on... I have proof, I'm not kidding. He's really... Okay, here it is..." She pulled out a little velvet bag, and then dropped a round object from it. She handed it to Judy. It was a large heavy pewter coin. She held her breath. She was curious to find out how this was the static proof that she had seen a real ghost. There was a stylized almost gothic calligraphy-style word. It took her a second to really read it. GOT. Were those initials? That didn't seem to be for the old fox. She turned the heavy coin over in her fingers. YOU. Judy blinked at that, and then winced, looking up at the vixen. Her mouth was wide open in a huge grin, her son covering his face in grim resignation.

"Got you?! Oh sweet cheese and crackers, I have to deal with two of you now?!" Judy cried, standing up, putting her paws on her cheeks. Vivienne burst into a fit of laughter.

"Mom!" Nick cried. "You've held on to that thing for twenty years and you use it now?! Right after you put a crimp in my tail about scaring bunnies!?" She grinned brightly at her son and nodded rapidly. Nick reached for the coin and took it from Judy, inspecting it. He held it up, smiling.

Vivienne said cheerfully, "Nicholas pranked me when he was like... twelve or thirteen." The vixen laughed. She finally sighed, appearing to be in great spirits. Nick handed the coin back to her and she put it back in her bag. It was obviously a memento now. Vivienne then stood up, stretching a bit. She looked to her son and asked meekly, "Would you mind terribly if I used your shower? I went straight from work to here, shopping and cooking, I could use a softening." Nick smiled at the lady fox and nodded happily.

"Sure, Mom! Towels are in the little closet just opposite the bathroom door offset from my bedroom. I will straighten up in my room a bit and you can flop in there later, I'll sleep on the couch. I doze off there half the time anyway." Nick's tone was bright and cheerful as well. Judy felt like she was seeing real cheer from him where for a year it had merely been forced. He was delighted that his mother was staying the night. Judy sighed happily at how things had worked out as Vivienne padded off to freshen up. She almost forgot that she had managed to dodge Nick's questioning. Almost.

Nick said in a somewhat darker tone, "Sit back down, Judy." Her blood ran a little cold, and her attention jerked from her happy musings to a very serious-looking red fox which remained alone with her in the room. Her ears flattened. He used her real name, not a nickname. She slowly sat down, paws between her knees. No Vivienne to rescue her this time. The prank was obviously an attempt at that. She looked up sadly at Nick as he sat beside her.

"Yes?" she asked nervously.

His voice was soft and his words slow and carefully chosen. "If I were to... say... give this Gary mammal a call... The one who had work he needed help with..." he started.

"Gideon." Judy offered.

"Yes, Gideon... If I called Gideon right now, and asked him what he had you doing in New Reynard today... what might such a mammal's reply to that question be?" The red vulpine's tail flicked in nervous agitation on the couch as he sat right beside Judy. Her heart pounded.

She offered meekly, "He'd maybe say... Ah don't know what in tarnation yer talkin' about!" She emulated his rural accent. Nick put his paws on his muzzle and rubbed downward as it obviously confirmed his suspicion. Judy had not told him the truth. He looked very concerned. Judy hated this. It was so happy just moments ago and now she was terrified. After a bit of time, the fox spoke up again.

"So you did lie to me. I gave you my full trust there and you just... threw that... untruth out there?" he asked with a curious tone more than a condescending one. Judy had thought quite a bit on the return train ride about how she might answer that inevitable question.

And that's exactly how she answered it. "I did, yes. But I didn't want to cause you a lot of additional stress. After all... you might still be getting over that nasty flu you had back before the academy." She looked down, knowing it was low, but she wanted to make a point. The ruse was for him, not against him. He chuckled slightly at that.

"Ca- Fluff..." he corrected himself, perhaps serious about trying not to use that nickname. Judy wondered how long that would last. He continued. "Okay, I will award you that point, and if you forgive my misrepresentation of the facts back then, I will forgive yours, but... I really have to know..." he looked up, as if trying genuinely to calm himself. Judy cringed a little, beginning to worry if he was really restraining himself from just blowing up. He got up, pacing a bit in front of the bunny. "...and I want you to be completely honest here... How long? How long have you known my mother was alive?" Judy widened her eyes. He thought she was hiding that from him? Judy shook her head vigorously, and then looked at the clock, then her partner.

"Oh Nick! Only about... six hours! I promise I didn't know she was alive!" Nick's slightly hurt expression turned to one a lot more distressed.

He gestured somewhat wildly, raising his voice a little, "What were you doing in New Reynard then?!" he asked. "Mom said you were there looking for her, but you didn't _know_she was alive this morning when you left? Help me understand, Fluff!"

Judy held her smaller paws up, trying to calm Nick as she spoke in a softer tone, "Look, I had a reason, okay, hold on, I'll explain!" Nick gestured again, indicating that was very much welcome. She inhaled deeply. It was going to sound so stupid and invasive and meddlesome. There was no way around it, so she decided just to put it all out in front of him and let him kick it around if he wanted. She would not get upset. "Nick... Bunnies are super sentimental." She looked into his eyes. His expression didn't change, but he sat back down on the couch.

Concern still in his eyes he nodded. "I've become aware, yes." He confessed.

Judy sighed softly and said, "I was trying to find where your mother was buried, Nick. I... I found out with a bit of record searching that your father was there in New Reynard, so I figured I would give that a try." Nick looked even worse. Judy cringed. Yeah, she dug herself a hole, no denying it. She sighed and just kept going. "I wasn't just being nosey, Nick, I had something I had to do!" she said desperately, and then tried to quiet herself. Nick remained still, sitting on the couch beside her. Judy smoothed her ears back as if they were a mess.

Nick spoke a little softer, apparently winning the battle to calm himself. "What did you need, Fluff? I mean... you didn't know her, what were you doing there? Why would you go all the way out there to see where she was? You were giving me space, did you think you'd just convince me eventually to go out there and put me in front of her memorial unexpectedly?" Nick asked. Judy winced, not because it sounded a bit crass, but that it might have actually been a thing she would have considered if he waited too long to visit the site. The bunny shook her head though.

There was a whimper in her voice as she spoke, she couldn't help it. "I wanted to talk to her, alright? Me. Just me. You didn't have to go," she said plaintively. Nick's features went slack. Something appeared to catch him off guard. At least he didn't seem to be interested in teasing her about her sentimentality.

He looked his partner in the eyes and asked softly, "Why?" His ears were back, his face gut-wrenchingly sad.

Judy straightened up a little, his sudden meekness giving her a little more courage to keep talking. "A couple things, actually..." She sucked in a deep breath and said, her tone hushed, "To tell her that you had friends who cared for your happiness, and those friends wanted you in their lives. I wanted to tell her that you were seeing a new city from the one you thought you knew..." She looked down at her feet. It had to sound so silly to him. She continued, pinching her eyes shut, trying not to cry. "To tell her that I would do everything I could to keep you safe and that we all wanted you to be happy." That was genuine, but she'd told him that before. It was not new. It was her promise as his partner, and she'd even said it a few times to encourage him while he was at the academy. He didn't say anything for a moment. Judy then added the last part, having hoped she would not have to say it. He'd tease her for it, she just knew, but she wilted a bit and murmured, "And to tell her thank you."

Nick's expression flickered to one of genuine curiosity. "Thank her? What for?" he asked. He at least did not seem angry at her now. This had been a very grueling five minutes or so. The doe looked up to Nick, into his curious green eyes.

She said in a tender voice, "For giving me you."

The words sounded so bunny-sentimental and sappy that she expected an immediate eye-roll so hard that Nick would have needed medical attention for it. She would see the eye-roll occasionally when they watched romantic comedies on the rare occasion that Nick allowed her to determine the fare for movie night.

She did not get an eye roll this time however. Nick's expression jerked to something of surprise, and then he snapped his head away, facing the front door as if someone just kicked it in, looking away from his partner. He did not say anything to her for a moment, stark still and tense. He brought his dark paws to his face a moment, wiping down again, and then ears perked as he heard his mother getting out of the bathroom. Judy looked in that direction and felt the couch shift a bit as Nick retreated into the kitchen. The bunny was a little concerned at first, but saw he was cleaning up the table and getting dishes sorted from the meal Judy had almost forgotten about. Vivienne smiled brightly as she entered.

"Now I feel foxier." She laughed, wearing a fluffy baby blue bath robe. Judy wondered if it was hers, or if Nick had it. It didn't really look gender specific. Judy smiled back at her partner's mother, not wanting her to think anything was wrong. Nick cleared his throat and moved swiftly over toward the bedroom, obviously avoiding looking at anyone.

"I'm... gonna straighten up in there." He pointed to his bedroom. "It'll be all ready to go in just a sec." he noted as he hurried past, not letting Judy see his face. She worried more, but didn't want to let that show in front of his mom. She found herself left alone again with another fox, and fearing what kind of conversation she might be subjected to. It had been a wonderful but slightly harrowing day. When Judy looked back at Vivienne, she was crying. The bunny's ears wilted back as she tried to figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was still just the general realization of everything.

She had no idea foxes were this emotional with all the teasing Nick gave her about bunnies. But after a moment she figured out what her attention was on. Vivienne had picked up the picture of Nick at graduation. It was a photo taken by a professional photographer in the crowd just after Judy had pinned the badge to his chest. There was a bright, proud grin on his face.

Judy offered softly, "I can get you a copy of this picture, if you like, Viv..." The lady fox wiped her muzzle with a puffy robe sleeve. She nodded, grinning to the bunny.

In a wavering voice Vivienne said, "I know I seem silly... Set off by this, but you don't.... you can't understand... I don't know how much you know about his youth, but Nicholas... suffered some setbacks in life. Hard ones." The bunny did not want to give away how much she knew because she did not know how much Nick shared with his mom about it, but she nodded.

"I know." She said softly.

"This..." the vixen held up the graduation picture of Nick. "This is proof that he's where he needs to be right now, and I want to show you why..." She opened her bag again, taking out a little yellow envelope. She reached into it, searching a short moment before taking out a picture of a little fox kit with green eyes. Judy's heart nearly shattered. The kit, obviously Nick, wore a Junior Ranger uniform. The bunny was definitely aware of that painful story, and she cupped her muzzle as she looked at the image, having to fight back tears herself. Even a bunny was ill suited to emotionally come to terms with the level of cute that Nick was as a kit. He was hurt maybe just hours after that picture was taken in a way that ultimately ruined the next 20 years of his life. That adorable little kit was nearly destroyed.

"Nick, he was so..." Judy couldn't think of a word to offer for it.

Vivienne understood the expression on the bunny. "So he did tell you, didn't he? If he told anyone, I had my bet that it'd have been you." Judy looked up and nodded, saying nothing more about it. It was not her place. His mother stated softly, "I'm not showing this to you to make you sad, Judy. Look at his expression there..." The bunny leaned down, looking at it carefully. His grin was so big she could see his back teeth, his ears out at kind of silly angles but high and happy, his bright green eyes flooded with life and energy as if he was about to fly apart at the seams with joy. It's how she would want any of her kits to look if she were a mother. It pained Judy to know that some mean part of the city took that away from him. She was reminded too that but days before a small part of the city, in the form of a closed-minded kangaroo mother, was eager to strip even more of his joy away if it could. It was so unfair.

Judy stammered, "I can't... I can't even deal with how cute he was as a kid." She smiled at his mother, knowing that she understood. The vixen called Judy's attention to the older, smaller photo again. The bunny looked down.

The vixen said in a softer, sad voice, "The day after this photo was taken, this smile... The one you see there... I never saw it again." Judy's breath died in her throat at that. "Not once. He would do the half-lidded smug smile if he was trying to fit into the moment, or the eyes wide goofy smile if he was just being funny, but not this. Not like that. Never again." Judy frowned at that, but looked up as Vivienne put her paws on Judy's shoulder. The fox's eyes were wet with barely restrained tears. "When Nick showed me his badge a little bit ago and I looked up..." Judy widened her eyes, a moment of reflection, and the image was so clear in her mind.

The bright grin he gave to his mom when she saw his badge, that moment when his mother just instantly exploded. Judy looked suddenly back down to the picture of the tiny fox kit, so overflowing with pride in his crisp meaningful uniform. That smile. She looked back to the picture of Nick at his graduation. While she was absent in the picture itself, she had been there, he had been smiling at her. Both the smile he'd just given his mom and the one in the graduation photo were exactly the same as that joyful little kit. She buried her face in her little paws. Too much! Vivienne pulled her close to let her softly cry. It was so sad, but so happy at the same time.

Judy whimpered out against Vivienne's shoulder, "I'm glad. I'm glad you get to see it again." She had looked forward to the happiness she was bringing home for Nick, but had not realized how overwhelming it would be. Vivienne however, was not done with Judy's heart.

She said in that soft, motherly tone, "Judy, you know you did a good thing, do not worry about anything you've done here. Do not question yourself..." The young doe blinked at that, wondering if the vixen had overheard her conversation with Nick, or just read the expressions earlier. The vixen's green eyes locked on amethyst irises of the bunny. "You are a clever bunny. I know that you are perfectly aware that you brought home a mother to a son who had truly believed he'd lost her, and that was a lovely thing Judy. It's a trophy for the wall of life, but I need you to understand that what you did for Nick is nothing compared to what you did for me. I did not think my son was dead, but I believed him to be gone, all the same. It's so much worse looking into his eyes and not seeing him anymore. You didn't just walk into a Diner and find him, bunny. You tore him back from somewhere no one else in the world could go." Judy was stunned at what Vivienne was saying, and she was utterly speechless.

The bunny finally spoke after having to really think of what she could say and not seem ungrateful for that kind of praise. "Vivienne, I... I didn't do that alone, you know. Nick has some good friends now, and getting through the academy... that was all on his own. He's a great mammal, I don't have to tell you that." Judy wanted to hang some of the laurels on her partner. He had every reason to be proud of what he was. The vixen spoke up again softly.

"I know he was meant to be great, and the world took it away. I tried, Judy, I tried so hard to give it back, to put him back on the right path, but he didn't need me pushing him, he needed to follow someone he believed in more than himself. And I am glad it was you." She smiled warmly at Judy and the bunny just hugged her. The bunny didn't know what else to say. She then sniffled a bit as Nick returned. He looked with a little genuine concern at Judy. The doe stood up rather suddenly, realizing the time. She did not want to have to go back to her apartment too terribly late. She really did not want Nick to miss out on time to talk to his mom tonight, just the two of them. They would certainly have a lot to say to each other.

Judy said softly, "I should... I should actually head back, it's already almost ten. I didn't realize how fast the evening had gone." The bunny said breathlessly. Nick looked to his mother and smiled.

"You okay having some tea and waiting up for me till I get back? I'm gonna walk Judy back to her apartment." The bunny waved at Nick frantically.

"Oh no, I don't need you to do that, Nick, I am fine on my own, remember, we're both cops!" she laughed.

The male vulpine nodded. "Yep, and I'm your partner, so I have your back!"

Vivienne laughed hard at that. "Ahaaahaa! You are so right... Like an old married couple." Judy's ears went flat to hide the scarlet in them again. Vivienne gestured to the door. "Go, go... I can't possibly sleep for a while yet, I would be delighted to help myself to some tea." She moved over to the kitchen again as Nick shooed the bunny out the door.

Judy followed Nick as he casually headed out of the apartment building. She felt like he wanted to finish the talk they were having before and her nerves were so frazzled after dealing with her partner's very appreciative mother that she wasn't sure she could flip-flop back to a less happy Nick. He said nothing for some way as Judy followed behind him. Was he really just walking her back safely? Was he so overwhelmed with everything that he could not talk to her? She felt a little silly for worrying obsessively about it, and did not notice when Nick stopped short. She crashed right into the back of him, stepping on his pillowy fox tail. He didn't protest, though she certainly hopped right off of it. He turned and looked at Judy with incomprehensible eyes. They shined in the pale light of streetlamps that lit the small park they had been walking past but his mood was not so readable. He looked... lost?

He finally spoke in a deeper, softer tone than normal, "Judy... I want you to know I am not mad at you." Her heart did a happy flip. She did not smile though. She did not want to let on how much gladness that filled her with. She felt a 'but' coming on. But... she disappointed him, right. But... he was not sure he could trust her again. But... she could have messed up their friendship with her nosey obsession.

She offered preemptively, "Nick, I know... And I'm glad..." she answered slowly. "... But I am sorry. I should not have done those things without even talking to you about it. I was nosey and I could have messed things up and I will talk more and act less," she stated firmly. Nick looked directly into her eyes. His own were filled with serious intensity.

"Do not mistake how I am acting right now... for anything negative about you." He stated this calmly. "I am going to admit something I never admit, so don't get used to it." The bunny swallowed hard. He closed his eyes a moment and then looked keenly back into hers. "You got to me Judy." The bunny perked her ears tall. Nick leaned down and put his arms around his partner, giving her a slow, warm hug. It was not terribly aggressive, but there was no caution or uncertainty behind it. Judy pushed her cheek to his shoulder. He'd given her a quick squeeze before, a few times perhaps. However, she could not remember anyone outside of her immediate family ever really hugging her. Not like this. She held her breath, uncertain what to say or do. Her partner finally continued to speak, over her shoulder, "... You do not..." his voice sounded anxious, strained. "You don't even have a frame of reference, Judy." He half-said, half squeaked her name. Violet eyes grew wet again. She blinked hard, trying not to let her emotions get overwhelming again. Near-whispering, her partner continued. "... You just bounce on into my life and you run around fixing this, patching up that, and soon it's like I have a brand new life... And before you say it, yeah, I know I did a lot of the work, but I had help, and most of it was you."

"Nick, you don't have to-..." She wanted to make sure he knew that she didn't expect any kind of special gratitude for it, she was just happy things worked out. Forgiving her snoopiness would be more than enough for her if she could hope to have that!

Nick cut her off, however. "Fluff, when I told you the thing about my mom it hurt me, not because I_was hurting about it - and I was... but because I knew it would hurt you too. Because finally I was broken in a way you could not possibly ever _hope to fix. But what the hell, Judy?!" he was obviously crying now, slightly shaking against her, but he held her so she would not see it. "You fixed that too! Somehow you still fixed it! When I realized that she was there because of_you_, I was ... I don't know... I could not believe it! I can't repay something like that! I can never repay that, you can't even understand how bad it was and I would never, ever want you to understand!" He sniffed. Judy freely but quietly cried too. She would never, ever forget this. Nick spoke again, softer. "I don't know how to even thank you for something like this! My mom doesn't know how to thank you for it." Judy looked out over the quiet park wide-eyed. She had never heard Nick in this state. She knew he needed it, but wasn't sure what to do with it. He was overwhelmed and this was completely out of character for him, but this was her partner with no walls. He needed to hear something from her. Judy was not good at this kind of thing. She just slipped her arms around him and hugged back, a little more firmly, she felt, than she'd ever hugged anyone before.

After some quiet thought, she murmured, "Nick, you know what my dream has been. Helping others. Being a cop. Making the world a better place... that's always been my dream. You and I go out there every day now... and we see all the ways that the world is not right. It's broken. It's always been a little broken. So often there's nothing we can do to really help it. Nick, what do you think you could give me that can match what I got when I saw you hold your mom again? No, I can't really imagine how it felt for you to lose her, but you can't know how it felt for me to give her back to you. My resolve once faltered. I lost my dream. I had no will and I was lost... and I still wear the scars of that whole mess... but Nick, I feel that spark, that pride I gave up. This is what I want to be, and you are a part of it." Judy sniffed, losing her battle with her emotions for a bit. Nick didn't owe a debt, not after how she felt tonight. Having a badge pinned on her was a proud moment in her life, but this... really helping, really making someone's world a better place...? That was the real dream.

Nick shook a little, unable to talk again for a little while. Judy squeezed him harder and he finally released her, becoming perhaps suddenly self-conscious about holding a bunny in the park at dusk. His cheeks were wet, but he used his sleeve to attend to that. Judy did so as well, both composing themselves.

Nick inhaled deeply and smiled at his partner. "Well then, I shall say this then. Thank you, Judy Hopps. You are a liar and a sharp-witted con-mammal on par with the fox before you, but you are a perfect friend and the best partner in the ZPD." He bowed elegantly as if to make his opinion official. Judy's ears burned.

She smirked and replied, after a second of reflection, "Thank _you_Nicholas Wilde. You are an insecure, emotional wreck on par with the bunny before you, but I would never give up on you, and I can't save the world without you." She grinned and they both laughed, resuming their walk toward her apartment.

After a brief silence, Nick remarked, "So... Bogo almost completely derailed your plans for this big surprise tonight, what are you gonna do to him when you get to work?" He was immediately very interested in revenge on the chief. Judy knew that he'd want to help with whatever prank she could dream of.

"Oh!" Judy piped sunnily. "He didn't ruin a thing! Your mom and I didn't get back to Zootopia on the train until right about the time you were supposed to get off work. I called Bogo and told him my plan so he'd make you stay until we were ready for you!" She skipped along ahead of her suddenly immobile partner. Nick stood there a moment as she pat-patted along before she heard him loudly cry,

"You got Bogo to do WHAT?!" Judy grinned as she skipped faster to prepare to outrun her partner, hearing his footfalls behind her begin at a full run. She looked behind her and cried out in playful fear before breaking into a full run. Foxes. So emotional.

*************

And so we close this story arc. The pair has a lot to do if they are going to help this city and they are never going to run out of hurts to heal and wrongs to right. Together, are they strong enough? It's not going to be easy. I have enjoyed so much telling this story, and look forward to writing more. Thank you one and all for your support and kind replies and constructive criticism. This has been a wonderful experience for me. Join me again soon!

_ _

• Alps Sarsis

_ _

Questions? Find me on Telegram as Alps Sarsis or email me at sarsis@gmail.com

_ _