A/N: Hello everyone!

I know, this is not the next chapter of "Embrace It", I'm sorry XD but it was a request from DrummerMax64 with a bit of a deadline, so…yeah lol

Update on EI progress though: I have hurt my left pinkie, so I can't type as much as before. Doctor's orders. So chapter 41 will be even more delayed, but I'll work on it as much as I can. Just be patient with me lol

Without further ado, enjoy!

~Star


"Carrots, I really don't see what the problem would have been."

"Here we go again."

"Hear me out." Nick said as he walked beside his girlfriend, a grey bunny doe by the name of Judy Hopps. The two had been dating for a little over a year now, and had decided to go to the beach on their day off. It was a bit after eleven in the morning, and they were currently trying to find a spot amongst the other beach goers. Not bothering with a T-shirt, Nick was bare-chested and wearing dark green trunks. He had a turquoise-striped towel draped over one shoulder, and a large beach bag on his other shoulder. "All I'm saying is this," he gestured to himself with a paw, doing a little body roll in the process, "deserves to be on display. It would be a sin, otherwise."

Dressed in a white coverup that did its job, Judy glared at her boyfriend. "For the last time, Nick, no. You are not wearing a speedo."

"And I'm not." The tod pointed to his green trunks before sending Judy a wink. "I'm just saying, this tod would have been able to rock a pair."

"That's the problem." Judy mumbled under her breath, but not low enough as Nick's ears perked at her words. Ears falling limply behind her back, face hot with her blush, Judy turned away from her fox. "I mean, uh, I didn't—"

"Aw, is my little Carrots jealous?" Nick teased as he bumped her with his hip, a smirk on his face.

Judy scoffed in an attempt to save face. "Please. Of what? Your scruffiness?" She shot back, her grip on the small cooler in her paws tightening slightly.

"Ouch." Nick said in mock pain, bringing a paw to his chest. "That hurt, Carrots. In fact, I think I'm dying."

"Oh hush." The doe elbowed the tod's side lightly, shaking her head at his theatrics. She was unable to stop a smile from tugging at her lips. It stretched even further when Nick took hold of her paw, the two making their way across the white sand as they looked for a place to settle down. Being a little after eleven in the morning, the shoreline of Delta Beach in the Canal District was packed. It took a moment to navigate through the other beach goers, but they were able to find a nice spot under some of the larger vegetation by the shore.

"This is actually a great location." Judy said as they began to put their stuff down. "The shade is just big enough for all of our stuff." She reached into the large beach bag the fox had been carrying, and brought out a large pale yellow blanket. After unfolding it and setting in on the sand, the two of them put their belongings on it.

"And, we don't need to waste money on those ridiculously expensive umbrellas for rent over there." Nick jerked his head at a few other mammals that had large red umbrellas over their stuff. "Knew a guy who took advantage of that. Good money."

"Of course you do." Judy teased, getting a grin out of the fox. "Because you know everyone."

"Damn straight I do." The tod grinned.

Once they were settled, the two decided they would enjoy the sea before eating lunch. "Working up an appetite", as Nick had put it. Before going in, Judy had taken off her white covering, revealing a vivid purple two piece that, while modest enough, revealed to the world the generous curves of her body. It was a favorite of the tod's, and the doe wore it with that knowledge in mind.

'It does have its drawbacks, though.' Nick thought as he dragged his eyes from his girlfriend, to glare at a few males rabbits that had paused a bit to look in their direction. When they caught the gaze of the tod, they quickly turned away, their pace increasing as they left. 'That's right, keep walking.'

"Come on, Nick!" Judy beamed at her fox, oblivious as to what had just transpired. Taking a hold of his paw, she tugged her mate along. "Let's go enjoy the water!" While it wasn't her first time at the beach—Nick had rectified that as soon as he had discovered such a transgression—it certainly wasn't something she did everyday, and still sort of a novelty for her.

Emerald eyes growing fond, Nick allowed Judy to drag him across white sand to the shimmering waves, ignoring the glances they no doubt were drawing. While interspecies couples were nothing new, mammals were still getting used to the idea of pred/prey couples.

How others chose to perceive them was the furthest thing from his mind as Nick's eyes took on a mischievous glint, his hold on her paw tightening as their feet touched the water. Just as she turned to him in question, the tod pulled her into his arms, eliciting a gasp from the doe. He then proceeded to hoist her up and onto his shoulder, her rear facing the waves as she shrieked with laughter, her small fists pounding lightly against his back.

"Hey!" Judy laughed breathlessly as she smacked the tod's back once more. Ears flushed with mild embarrassment—they were in public, for peas' sake!—she was all giggles as Nick wadded further into the waves. "Put me down!"

"As the lady commands!" Nick grinned as he took hold of her waist

"Nick, wha—No!" Judy shrieked as the tod tossed her from his shoulder and into the waves with a great splash. When she resurfaced a moment later, it was to the snickering face of her mate. His amusement only increased as she expelled water from her mouth slowly, her expression unamused. It was when she smirked at him that he stopped. "So you think that's funny, huh?" Raising a paw, she brought it down on the water sharply, splashing Nick in the face.

Chuckling as he cleared the water from his eyes, Nick gave her a challenging smirk. "Oh, you've done it now."

Thus begun an epic war of fierce water splashes, giddy shrieks, and blubbering protests as the couple tried to one-up the other. An hour or so later, their hunger for food, rather than victory, compelled them to come to a momentary truce. Getting out of the water, the two made it back to their spot in the shade.

"What did you pack for us, Carrots?" Nick asked as he sat himself down on the blanket after the two had dried off a bit, letting the heat of the day do the rest.

Judy smiled to herself as she opened the cooler. "Something special." The doe said with excitement as she sifted through the wrapped sandwiches. Since they didn't live together, it had given Judy the ability to surprise her fox with a treat.

"Do tell." Nick pushed gently, and only got another smile from his doe as she handed him a Saran-wrapped sandwich with an "N". Thanking her, and curiosity now piqued, the tod unwrapped the sandwich and his mouth watered as a savory scent hit him.

Turkey. His mate had made him a turkey sandwich. Surprised and excited emeralds flicked up to meet pleased amethyst.

"I know you don't get to eat it often, so…" Judy trailed off as she tugged at one of her ears, the long appendage heating up as Nick continued to stare. It was the first time she had made him anything with real meat, so his surprise was warranted, but being his sole focused embarrassed the doe.

Leaning forward to close the space between them, the tod placed a soft kiss to Judy's lips. "Thanks, Judy." Nick smiled at her, a warmth spreading out from his chest as he took a bite out of his sandwich, savoring the taste. Having grown up without someone to look after him for most of his life, these little things endeared the doe that much more to Nick. Most prey didn't even touch real meat, as they were uncomfortable with the idea of it having once been alive. He didn't expect this of her, as he would have understood, but he should have known better than to expect the norm from her. His girlfriend was Judy Hopps, after all.

Watching Nick eat something she made filled Judy with a sense of satisfaction she could not deny, and was all smiles as she unwrapped her own avocado, basil, and mustard sandwich. Grabbing two water bottles from the cooler, the two enjoyed their lunch together, taking in the sights and sounds around them as they engaged in small talk.

~o.8.o~

Sometime later found the fox and rabbit on their stomachs, their blanket moved a few feet so they could enjoy the sun. Both wearing shades to protect their eyes, they had decided to relax a bit and sunbath before venturing into the sea once more. The combination of the sun, a full belly, and the sounds of the other beach goers threatened to lure the bunny into a slight doze.

The sounds of paws sifting through sand caught the attention of both Nick and Judy, their ears perking. Nick was the first to lower his shades a bit as he hoisted himself onto his forearms, frowning as he took in the approaching rabbit bucks from before. Except this time, there were two does with them. Sliding his shades back in place, the tod allowed a smirk to flit across his face as he crossed his arms, resting his chin atop them.

"How can we assist you folks?" Nick said in an overly polite tone that went right over the rabbits' heads as they came to a stop a few feet from the couple. They were obviously a bit nervous, being so close to the fox.

"You're Judy Hopps, right?" One of the bucks, a brown rabbit with brown eyes asked, his eyes shifting between Nick and Judy.

"Yes, that's me." Judy said as she pushed herself into a seating position. She smiled up at the rabbits, which seemed to encourage them, much to Nick's ire.

One of the does spoke up. "Well, we're about to have a bit of a volleyball battle between males and females, and we were wondering if you'd like to join?"

Judy's ears popped up at that, and Nick could not suppress his chuckle at how adorable it made her look. "Really?"

"Well, yeah." The other doe gushed. "You're the first bunny officer, and a female at that! We could really use you on our team!"

The gray doe blushed at the praise, but smiled at the four rabbits. "Sure!" She then turned to Nick, a competitive gleam in her eyes. "Doesn't that sound like fun, Nick? Bet we could cream your team!"

'My dear, sweet, ignorant Carrots.' Nick thought fondly as his mate didn't seem to get the fact that they had no intention of asking him to join. Before he could break it to her, the buck that hadn't spoken yet decided to break the news to her.

"Well, it's actually more for mammals our...height. He's too tall." The buck said hesitantly, gaining a frown from Judy. Nick had to give him props from finding a way to avoid saying "No Preds Allowed".

"Oh." Judy said, disappointment clear in her tone. She then shook her head. "I'm sorry, then. The answer's 'no'."

The tod let out a sigh at his mate's disappointed posture, knowing he'd do anything to keep her smiling. This was proven true as he pushed himself into a seating position and placed a paw on her head, ruffling her head fur a bit as he leaned in close to her face. "It's okay, Fluff. Go have fun; I'll be your cheerleader."

Her ears perked up again at Nick's words, and he felt his chest warm as she tried to hide her eagerness. "You sure?"

One of his genuine smiles was his answer. "Positive."

"Okay, let's do this!" Judy cheered as she launched herself to her feet, a small gray fist pumping into the air. It caused the other rabbits to cheer along with her, and Nick once again chuckled at her enthusiasm. Pushing their blanket back into the shade, the rabbit and fox duo then followed the four rabbits to the volleyball net not too far from them.

"We got another teammate!" One of the bucks announced, gaining the attention of the mammals gathered around the net. While there was beaver and two other hares mixed into the group, the majority of them were rabbits, and there wasn't a predator amongst them.

Nick wasn't surprised in the least. Nor was he surprised that Judy missed the fact that many of them were gazing at him cautiously. Not liking the way some of the bucks were looking at his mate—he knew he should have insisted she put the covering back on—the tod acted impulsively as he grabbed her arm, halting her from joining the female team. When she turned, mouth open to ask him what he wanted, the fox swooped in quickly and pressed his lips firmly against hers. The surprised doe squeaked in shock, but quickly closed her eyes in pleasure as the tod took advantage of her open mouth, his tongue and the tilting of his muzzle deepening the kiss. All the while, the fox kept his gaze on the various male rabbits around them, his gaze and display saying it all.

'She's mine; back off.'

Once he was sure every male in the vicinity got the message, Nick ended the kiss, a slight popping noise sounding as their lips unfused. He smirked at the slightly dazed, questioning look Judy gave him. "For luck."

Blushing furiously, Judy punched Nick in the arm as she giggled, before running to join the female team, her tail twitching happily as she went. The gray doe wasn't the only one blushing, many of the does that had watched giggling as well as Judy joined them.

Smirking at his handiwork, the tod sat down in one of the chairs by the volleyball net, looking forward to seeing his bunny tear the other team apart. While their invitation of his mate had come with ulterior motives that he had swiftly put an end to, based on the disgruntled and somewhat disgusted looks from the rabbit bucks, they had no idea what fresh hell they had released upon themselves.

Indeed, not even ten minutes into the match and the females were leading 5-0, much to the fox's amusement. As he had told her, Nick had taken his duty as her cheerleader very seriously, getting up to cheer on his bunny while booing the other team as the game progressed. While he had gotten flak from the bucks and single beaver for his efforts, it had been worth it to see his bunny blush and smile at his antics.

"Are you Officer Wilde?"

So focused was he on cheering his bunny, Nick didn't notice the female otter and red vixen until the otter spoke, spooking him slightly. Placing a paw on his chest to calm his racing heart, the tod gave the two females his standard smirk. "Didn't see you there. Yes, I'm Officer Wilde."

The sudden squeals of glee and flirtatious smiles made Nick's ears begin to droop. 'Oh no.'

Black-tipped bunny ears twitched at the high-pitched sounds, causing Judy to turn in the direction they came from. Her nose twitched slightly as she spotted two females with her fox, taking in their provocative swimwear. She felt a twinge of jealousy that had recently become familiar begin to rise within her, but settled down as her fox kept a modest distance from the obviously flirtatious females.

'Dummy, you have nothing to worry about. Nick won't'

Her thought cut off when she saw the vixen place a paw on her fox's shoulder. She did not see Nick shake off the paw, his expression becoming annoyed as he shook his head and pointed towards where Judy was. She did not see the females back off with resigned disappointment. All she saw was someone trying to make a pass at her fox.

'My fox!'

The jealousy that surged within her was so strong that Judy didn't hear the warnings shouted towards her, her focus solely on her fox. It wasn't until something rammed into her face with enough force to knock her into the sand, lip throbbing from where she'd bitten into it, that she realized they'd been warning her of the incoming volleyball.

Slightly dazed, the doe brought a paw up to her lip, the sounds around her muted as she pulled her paw back a bit to look at it.

It was stained red.

Still slightly dazed, she stared at it dumbly until she felt large paws gently grip her shoulders, and looked up into concerned emerald eyes. It was then she registered the fox was talking to her.

"—kay, Judy? Judy?"

"I...I'm fine." She said, slapping his paw away when he made to tilt her chin towards him. "I said I'm fine!"

"You're not fine, you're bleeding." Nick scoffed. He saw her struggle to get up, and went to help her, placing his paws under her arms to hoist her up as he himself stood up.

As the tod did this, giggling reached Judy's ears, and she glanced up to see the female otter and vixen with paws over their mouths, their eyes focused in on the doe as they failed to stifled their giggles. Humiliation and anger swelled within her, and she impulsively took it out on the mammal nearest her. Which, unfortunately, was Nick.

"I said I'm fine!" Judy insisted as she pushed away from Nick. Her eyes widened as she took in her fox's surprised expression, and felt even worse. Ashamed, she quickly turned away from him and ran.

A frown steadily took over Nick's face, his mask slipping as he tried to figure out her sudden change in mood. The sound of stifled giggled made his ear twitch, the tod turning to find the two females that had been bothering him in a fit of giggles. They stopped abruptly when they noticed his glare.

Ignoring the mammals around him, Nick brushed off his swim trunks, and made to go after his emotional bunny. Scanning the crowd, he frowned when he saw no sight of her. 'Damn rabbit's feet. Why she gotta be so fast?' The tod grumbled as he sniffed the air slightly, searching for her scent.

Meanwhile, Judy found her way to the surfboard and kayak rental store along the beach strip, and burst into the female restroom. Grateful that she was the only mammal in there at the moment, she turned on the faucet and splashed the cool water onto her face. Still panting from her run, she then inspected her lip. Seeing that it had stopped bleeding for the most part, the doe grabbed a few paper towels and dabbed at it a bit. She then grabbed a few more and dried her face. Once that was done, the doe stared at her reflection as her breathing steadily slowed down.

Embarrassed and ashamed violet eyes stared back at her, and Judy groaned as she closed her eyes. "Stupid, why'd you react like that? They were doing it on purpose to get a rise out of you, and you let them! Why?!" She demanded of herself, and knew exactly why as the image of the vixen laying a paw on her fox made her grit her teeth.

The sudden opening of the bathroom door had Judy's ears popping up in surprise, making her whirl around. She was further surprised to come fact-to-face with a familiar, panting, red fox tod.

"N-Nick?! What are you doing in-in the female bathroom?" Judy asked when she found her voice.

"Do you know how hard it is to track you with all the other scents on this beach?" The fox asked instead as he stalked towards his surprised mate.

The surprise didn't last long for the doe, as she folded her arms, expression annoyed. "I didn't ask you to follow me."

"Of course I'm going to follow you." The tod said in exasperation as he stopped in front of the doe. "You're hurt; I'm not about to leave you unattended."

"Well, I don't need you!" Judy nearly shouted, pausing slightly at the hurt expression that flitted across Nick's face at her words. 'Stop it.' "Why don't you go back to those females you let touch you!"

"Are we really doing this? Now?" The fox asked incredulously. There had been bouts of jealousy before, from the both of them, but never this bad.

"You can't deny it; I saw you!" 'You're being stupid and you know it. Stop it.' Judy thought at herself, but couldn't seem to get a hold of her emotions, her nose twitching furiously as she scented the foreign scent on her fox. It only made her more upset. "You let her touch you!"

Anger took over Nick's face, masking the hurt beneath it. "A little trust would be nice, Hopps, especially when I trusted you with those bucks." He pointed a clawed digit at her as he stressed the word 'you'.

She flinched at the use of her last name, the fox only using it when he was genuinely upset with her. "What do you mean?"

"You can't be that dense!" The fox nearly snarled. "Those bucks only wanted you to play in their game because they wanted a chance to hook up with you."

Judy looked scandalized. "That's not true!"

"Wake up, Hopps!" Nick got in real close to her face, invading her personal bubble and their noses nearly touching as he waved a paw near his head in a mock manner. "I don't know what goes on in that country-bumpkin head of yours, but males don't always have th—"

The tod was cut off by a pair of lips crashing firmly into his own, small paws gripping at his neck fur angrily as the doe tried to bring him in closer. His words had infuriated the doe, the desire to shut him up and her lingering jealousy causing her to lung forward and ignore the pain as their lips collided. Nick responded in kind, the movement of his lips unforgiving as he brutally kissed the doe now in his arms. Consumed with passion and emotion, the fox hoisted Judy off the floor and sat her rear on the counter, wedging himself firmly between her legs.

While the two had partaken of passionate make-out sessions before, they had never had one like this, even when they occasionally butted heads. It was heated and angry, the two practically fighting each other with furious kisses and clingy paws. As one drew a grunt from the other, they retaliated in kind by drawing a sound in some way from their 'attacker'.

Steadily, as the seconds passed, their movements became less aggressive and more sensual, the pair losing themselves to each other as pleasure finally pierced through their anger and jealousy. Licking her lip affectionately, Nick moved his muzzle to Judy's neck, showering it with teasing kisses and nips, her gripping paws and sweet sounds telling him how much she was enjoying it.

The sudden opening of the bathroom's door, and a shocked "Ohmigawd!", had the two mammals pulling their muzzles apart just in time to see a spotted tail disappear behind the closing door.

Embarrassed and out of breath, Nick made to pull away completely from Judy, only to be stopped by small paws gripping his chest fur tightly. He looked down at the doe as she pressed her face into his ruff, nuzzling it.

"I'm sorry." Came her muffled voice, her warm breath heating up the skin under his fur. He felt her shift a bit, and then wide amethyst was gazing up at him. "I...didn't mean to act that way. I just don't want—she didn't have to….you're mine." She ended up squeaking the last few words, her ears and cheeks flushed red as she hide her face in his chest once more.

Nick chuckled at the display, hugging the doe closer to him. "I know, Fluff. Just hear me out next time, okay? I can't help it if they suddenly reach out when I least expect it." He nuzzled the top of her head. "Jealous Carrots is hot though." He teased, earning another squeak from the bunny.

Before more could be said or done, the door to the bathroom opened once more, revealing an unamused female giant otter with the store's logo on her shirt. She crossed her arms and raised a brow at the couple.

"Uh," Nick said as he separated from Judy completely, "I can explain?"

~o.8.o~

After getting chewed out by the store owner, Nick checked Judy's lip. Deeming it to be non-life-threatening, the two had decided to pack up their beach things and get something to eat at one of the restaurants by the beach. They decided on some outside eatery that catered to both prey and predators. Once they had their fill, they headed back to their car to grab their change of clothes, wanting to be a bit more covered as the weathered cooled off a bit as evening rolled in.

Judy was dressed in a white off-the-shoulder blouse and loose shorts that went to about mid-thigh. Holding her paw as the couple walked along the beach, Nick was dressed in green Bermuda shorts and a loose white V-neck t-shirt.

There weren't that many mammals on the beach at that time, many of them having left much earlier in the day. So, the duo was able to enjoy the sound of the waves as they ebbed and flowed, the slowly changing colors of the sky adding to the peaceful silence between them. One or the other would comment on something every now and then, but for the most part, they walked in companionable silence.

"So, I've been thinking." Nick began after another stretch of silence between the two. When Judy looked up at him curiously, she could barely make out his slightly flustered expression in the waning light. "About this afternoon, with the whole jealousy thing..."

Judy's ears fell back down against her back, shame welling up inside her. "I said I was sorry—"

"I know, I know, Carrots." Nick assured her quickly. After a quick look around revealed that the nearest mammal was a torch key raccoon dressed in blue shorts and a white t-shirt waving a metal detector over the sand, complete with headphones, he took a deep breath before stepping in front of and turning to face her. The light from the setting sun hit his eyes, making them glow with more than just emotion. "I was thinking on how we can avoid that in the future."

Not getting what her fox was talking about, Judy made to ask, when the tod leaned in and nuzzled his cheek against hers. Confused by the sudden display of affection, but welcoming it all the same, the doe nuzzled him back. It was when the tod pulled back and swiped the underside of his chin against her cheek, his scent exploding in its potency, did she grasp what he meant. A surprised gasp left her as she looked up at the tod with wide eyes.

Nick kept his gaze on Judy as he lowered himself to one knee, one of his paws taking a hold of one of hers, while the other reached into the pocket of his shorts to pull out a small black box. He opened his mouth to speak, and swallowed thickly when no sound came out, before trying again. "Judy Lavern Hopps, wi—"

"YES!" Judy squealed as she propelled herself at Nick, a huge smile on her face.

The noise startled the nearby torch key raccoon, who pulled down his headphones and turned towards them, staring curiously at the odd pair.

The fox suddenly found himself on his back in the sand, a gleeful rabbit on top of him, kissing his face as she murmured "yes, yes, yes," over and over again. Nick chuckled with relief and love as he hugged her closer to him, a warmth blossoming out from his chest. He began to pet his now-fiancé as her voice began to wobble. Nuzzling her shoulder, he kissed it gently. "You bunnies, so emotional." After a moment, he placed his muzzle by her ear. "Do you want to see the ring?"

At her rapid nodding, the fox presented the box that he'd held firmly in his paw during her impromptu tackle, and opened it for Judy to see. Inside the velvet box sat a small white gold ring, the perfect size for a bunny doe. It had three gemstones on it; a heart-cut diamond with a smaller round-cut amethyst on either side of it.

Judy's eyes watered at the sight of it, her breath catching. "Oh, Nick...it's beautiful…!" She whispered. Gesturing for her paw, the doe held it out and felt her emotions soar as the fox placed the ring on her middle digit. It was a perfect fit. Gazing at the ring, her bottom lip wobbled a bit before she launched herself at Nick once more, gaining another chuckle from the tod. It turned into a purr as the doe scent-marked him, returning his earlier claim with her own.

The curious raccoon smiled as he realized what he was witnessing. Whipping out his smartphone, he went to take a picture, but paused. Shaking his head to himself with a chuckle, he pocketed the device before turning and ambling on down the beach away from the couple, giving them the extra privacy.

After an emotionally-charged moment, the bunny finally let the tod sit up, but didn't move off of him. Instead, she settled into his lap as the two faced out towards the sea, her back nestled against his chest as they watched the sunset.

Grabbing one of his paws into her own, Judy stroked the fur there with her thumb as she looked up at her fox. "I love you."

Leaning down, Nick gave his doe a lingering kiss. When they separated, he pressed his forehead to hers and lost himself in her warm gaze. "I love you, too."

FIN


And that is it! Literally, that is it!

I am not doing anymore oneshot requests lol nope, you can't sway me. It is too nerve wracking; kudos to authors who can do this, but it is no bueno for me :/

But I do hope you guys enjoyed this! I have no experience with anything that was written here soooo…please treat me kindly ^^; lol

Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Star