Warm Smiles and Blueberries
By Sirenfox
Aster was just finishing up in his garden when he realized that Jack was missing.
The little winter spirit had shown up intent on dragging Aster to North's place to Celebrate Christmas Eve. It was Jack's first Christmas as a Guardian and they had all wanted to make it special for their youngest member.
But Aster still had a few chores to get done, so he'd shooed Jack off telling him to entertain himself and he'd be done soon.
Thinking back, that might have been a bad idea. There was no telling what kind of trouble Jack could get up to if left in the Warren on his own.
With a heavy sigh, Aster went in search of his missing friend, half of him dreading what he might find.
When Aster finally found him, Jack was sitting on the ground staring at what looked to be an old photo.
One of Aster's old photos.
His heart clenched at what that meant but he pushed it aside and continued his trek to the boy's side.
Jack looked up at him as he came closer, puzzlement in his clear blue eyes. "Who is this?" He asked softly.
Aster sank down next to the boy and took the photo from him, his paws feeling large and clunky as they handled the delicate item. The ancient pain always present in his heart flared up and Aster had to clench his jaw as he fought it back down.
He hadn't looked at this picture in centuries. Had almost forgotten it existed. It was actually a bit of a miracle it had survived at all.
He swallowed hard and finally glanced down at the image. Three familiar faces looked back at him, the two grey rabbits framing a smirking fox, who was unaware they were both giving him bunny ears.
Aster was painfully young in the picture, but still standing heads taller than both his companions.
"Tha's meh sister, Judy, an' 'er partner, Nick. They wer' the pookan equivalent of a police officer. This was the firs' time ah ev'r met im."
He tore his eyes away from the smiling faces and glanced back at Jack. He couldn't help the small curl of his lips at the boy's wide eyed wonder and honest curiosity. It was fairly obvious the kid was expecting a story.
Aster's eyes gravitated back to the photo, maybe he could talk about it…just this once.
***blueberry smiles***
"You sure you got everything this time, Carrots?" An amused Nick asked from where he was leaning up against the crumbling brick of Judy's apartment building.
They had been at this since before the sun had come up and she was running late, as she'd informed him repeatedly over the past two hours.
The grey rabbit shoved the last of her overstuffed suitcases into her trunk and slammed it shut, before whirling around to beam over at her best friend.
"I think so." She said, mentally scrolling down her checklist.
Nick peered around her at the straining trunk, mirth causing his eyes to gleam. "So, what's in all those bags anyway?" He asked curiously. It wasn't like Judy to lug around so much shit. She was usually such a down to earth gal. "Got some hot date waiting for ya back in Podunk." He teased. He couldn't think of any other reason she would have packed so much, and appear so frazzled.
"It's Bunnyburrow." She corrected with an annoyed twitch of the nose, "And no, there is no 'hot date'. I had to make sure I had enough souvenirs for everyone."
Nick's brow furrowed in confusion and he knew he'd regret asking…but, "Who's everyone?"
"My siblings." She said offhand. Nick's eyes shifted between the girl and the trunk dubiously, but she wasn't paying him any mind, "I have to make sure I at least have enough to cover the younger kits or someone is bond to get upset. And that's a disaster just waiting to happen, if you know what I mean."
Nick didn't actually know what she meant, since he was an only child and all. But judging by the look on her face it couldn't be good.
While he was contemplating the complexities of a large family, Judy finished with all the last minute details before darting forward and glomping Nick around the middle.
Nick gasped in shock, arms flailing uselessly for a brief moment before he gave her a quick squeeze back then an awkward pat on the head to tell her he'd had enough.
"I'll see you when I get back next week." She said as she pulled away.
"I'll be here." He snarked back sarcastically. Seriously, where else would he be? But his sass brought a smile to her lips, and that's why he did it.
"When are you leaving?" She asked curiously, "You never said."
Nick arched an eyebrow at the odd question, "And where, exactly, am I going again?"
Now it was Judy's turn to frown in confusion, "To visit your family. For thanksgiving." She added when he didn't appear to understand why he was meant to be visiting family.
Ah. Well, this was awkward. "Sorry to break it to ya, carrots, but there's no family to go see." He meant it in a nonchalant, I'm over it, sort of deal. But as always Judy over-reacted. Nick watched her eyes bulge and her ears flatten to her head. He could feel his own copying her as he became increasingly uncomfortable.
"What? Nick! I'm so sorry, why didn't you say anything?" She babbled.
Nick shrugged carelessly. It really wasn't that big of a deal, he'd been on his own for a long, long time.
There was silence between them as Judy studied him with shrewd eyes. It went on for so long he couldn't help but start fidgeting.
"Nick." She began slowly, "Were you planning to spend Thanksgiving alone." That sounded like an accusation. Why did that sound like an accusation?
"No." He answered quickly, maybe a bit too quickly (being a cop was proving detrimental to his ability to tell a convincing lie…he'd have to work on that.) "I have Fennec!" He declared only to wince the minute the name left his lips.
He peaked over at Judy and - yep, there was the hand on the hip and the foot tapping thing she did whenever she caught him in a lie.
Okay, so Fennec was a bit of a stretch. They both knew the smaller fox was probably squirreled away in some hole somewhere with the strongest bottle of alcohol he could get his paws on. It was how he celebrated. Don't judge.
Judy sighed, her hand dropping to her side as she stared up at him with impossibly wide eyes, her ears slicked back and her nose twitching. "You thought I would let you stay here, alone, on thanksgiving?" She sounded hurt and it was enough to have his own ears twitching back…again.
He just shrugged, "Well, yeah." He admitted. "Look, Judy, don't sweat it. It's not the first time, and it sure won't be the last." But even as he said it he could see the determination squaring her jaw.
"Get in the car." she ordered shortly.
It was on the tip of Nick's tongue to argue the point, but one look at Judy's face convinced him of the folly of that idea.
He got in the car.
*blueberry smiles*
Pulling up to the Hopp's farm a vision of fear struck Nick upside the head as he stared out the window at the throng of kit's playing on the front lawn.
"Uh…exactly how many siblings do you have?" He asked worriedly. Some of those kits had to be her nieces and nephews…right?
Judy parked the car in the empty field the family was using as a makeshift parking lot.
"Four hundred and seventy three." Judy answered his question absently, unaware of her friend's jaw dropping in shocked horror.
"Yer joking." He choked, staring at the rabbit with wide eyes.
Judy glanced at the fox's face and couldn't contain her giggle, "No, actually. But you should see your face." She opened the door and hopped out, leaning back into the cab for one last parting jab, "I told you we were good at multiplying."
She closed the door and headed back to open the trunk, leaving Nick up front to stew in his disbelief.
A moment later he scrambled around the side of the car, his claws accidentally scratching the paint. "Four hundred? Really?" Judy nodded, amused by Nick's wide eyes and flat ears. "How do you remember them all?"
"Well. I am a bunny." She smirked at him as if that explained everything. He was starting to believe it did.
***blueberry smiles***
Somehow Nick ended up lugging all the bags up to the house, he was so weighed down by sack's and boxes he almost tripped over the sudden flood of fluffy fur floating passed his ankles.
"Judy!" He heard echoed by a multitude of voices and before he had time to blink his partner disappeared under a wave of silver fur.
"Officer down!" Nick yelped, " I repeat, we have an officer down." He winked at a nearby kit who curled forwards in a fit of giggles.
Smirking, he started pushing the kits' aside with his back paw, careful not to nick anyone with his claws, "Alright guys, we get it, we do. Your excited. But if you don't let her up, she can't give you your presents."
That caught their attention, and Nick realized, too late, that that might have been a mistake.
"Presents!" The children squealed, turning to pounce on the fox instead.
"Ack!" He gasped as he lost his balance, landing at the bottom of the bunny pile. One fluffy baby bunny butt somehow landed on his cheek squishing his face sideways into the grass.
Judy sat up now that she was free, laughing as she watched her fox friend struggle.
He glowered at her between the baby bunny bodies, but he too was smiling.
***blueberry smiles***
It didn't take Nick long to realized that he was never going to remember every single rabbit he was introduced to, and he was madly surprised he hadn't lost Judy in the crowd already.
They finally squeezed passed the throng clustered around the door - Judy stopping to hug everyone they passed. He noticed she never hesitated over names, proving her earlier claim to be true. She really did recognize everyone.
Although the majority of the family was gathered outside, it was still overflowing inside the house as well.
He supposed that's what happened when 400 plus bunnies (and all of their respective families) all gathered in one place.
Just thinking about it boggled his mind, and he couldn't stop his eyes from just drinking it in.
He scanned over all the kit's clustered around the tv, his brain taking a few extra seconds longer than usual to process what his eyes were telling him. But when he did, his eyes snapped back to the kits and he couldn't help but gape in awe.
As if sensing eyes on him, the focus of Nick's attention shifted to frown over one broad shoulder. Bright green eyes instantly locked on Nick, confusion flashing through them briefly before he spotted Judy standing beside the fox, understanding quickly replaced the boy's confusion.
The rabbit rolled his eyes and turned back to his movie, but Nick noticed he kept an ear cocked in his direction.
Judy, seeing her partner's distraction, glanced around, easily locating what had caught his attention. "That's my little brother, Aster." She explained with a fond smile.
Little? Little! No, that particular bunny was anything but little. He towered over the other kits even while seated on the floor.
"Holy blueberries, Judy. What are you guys feeding that kid?" He gasped in disbelief.
Judy gave him a funny look, but answered anyway. "Uh…carrots?"
Nick blinked slowly, "R -ight." He drawled, not taking his eyes off the strange boy.
Slowly his attention was pulled to the tv, curious about what could command such devoted attention from a room full of rowdy kits.
"What are you guys watching?" He asked as he lifted a couple of the kit's out of the way to make room on the sofa for Judy and himself. He wasn't prepared for the kit's to then decide he made for a good pillow and to snuggle back against him with nose twitches and contented sighs.
Judy grinned at him smugly, but he chose to ignore her in favor of her brother, who had perked up at the question. The boy twisted where he sat to address Nick, talking animatedly and waving his arms around. The kit was still fairly young, maybe in his mid to late teens judging by his gangly limbs, but his voice was surprisingly deep when he gave his answer, "Bunnymund."
Judy leaned over and mock whispered, "It's only his favorite superhero of all time. Aster practically worships him."
Aster stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to his movie.
"Oh yeah. Real mature Aster." Judy taunted. Nick laughed, shaking his head as he looked back to the movie.
This was going to be an interesting holiday.
***blueberry smiles***
Interesting was one way to put it.
The movie had just finished playing when Judy's mom's voice traveled through the hall behind him. "Supper's ready. Everyone need's to come out and get something to eat. That means you Aster! You need to eat more, you're practically wasting way."
Aster groaned loudly amidst a cacophony of giggles. "I eat just fine ma." He yelled back as he rose from the floor.
Nick was already off the sofa by this point and could only gawk as the kit went up…and just kept going.
"Damn. Just how tall are you?" He asked, it was a valid question, most rabbits barely reached his stomach, and they never grew taller than his chin. But this kit towered so far above him he had to crane his neck back in hopes the boy would be able to hear him.
Judy jabbed him hard in the ribs with her elbow for his insensitive question, but Aster just looked mildly amused and more then a little cocky as he fell into step next to Nick, "Six foot one." He answered proudly.
Nick's eyebrows climbed up his face a couple inches at that answer, "And with your ears?" He wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
Aster smirked at him sideways, "Seven."
"Damn." Nick murmured again and Aster just laughed.
Dinner was a … different… affair. There was plenty of food for everyone, Nick was particularly interested in the fresh blueberry pie.
Seriously, Bunnyburrow had the best blueberries ever.
He and Judy took a seat by Aster and a handful of the younger kits, who seemed to flock to Aster in droves.
Apparently, Aster told the best stories (he was a bit of a bookworm and all too willing to share his findings) and, the part Nick thought was cool, the kit was well on his way to becoming a master in three different forms of marshal arts with no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
Nick was seriously impressed, and he could see just how proud Judy was of her brother.
***blueberry smiles***
The weekend passed way to quickly for Nick and Judy, despite having to repeat their first case over and over for the enraptured kits.
Before they had a chance to head out, Judy's mom pulled Nick aside. "Judy told me what happened." She informed him gently, reaching up to cup his face between her paws in a gesture Nick could only describe as 'motherly'. "I just want you to know, you are always welcome here. The kits love you -we love you."
Nick swallowed thickly, eyes wide and completely at a loss for what to say.
She smiled at him and patted his cheek, "We'll see you at Christmas, now won't we?"
Nick jerked his head in a quick affirmation and she nodded with approval. He walked outside to find Judy waiting for him with a warm smile and fond eyes.
"Come on, big guy. We've got a long drive ahead of us."
Nick got into the car, still dazed but with a warm ball of light in his heart and a lump in his throat. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long, long time.
The drive back to Zootopia was silent, but it was a comfortable silence filled with warm smiles and blueberries.
***Blueberry Smiles***
"Wait…" Jack said after Aster finished his tale, "So, your name isn't Bunny?"
Aster raised an eyebrow at the boy before shaking his head with a fond smile, "Com'on ya larkin. We've been dilly-dallyin' long enough. We got a party wai'n fer us up at the Pole."
Jack's amused smile told Aster he knew he was being sidetracked, but he allowed it anyway.
Aster smiled softly down at the photo before tucking it safely away and following the hyper Guardian of Fun back to the North Pole to spend Christmas with his new family.
And now we know the real reason behind Aster's last name! But all joking aside, I hope you liked it. These two movies were just begging for a crossover, but I was having a hard time pinning down a plot...
Review!