A/N
Why, hello there, dear readers.
Welcome to the first chapter of "Glimpses"

This is meant to be a collection of short stories with each one no longer than about 2000 words.
None of these stories are in any way related to each other or to other stories I've written so far.
Also, since I'll only work on this collection in between other stories or chapters (or when I need a little break from them), updates will probably be rather sporadic.

A huge thanks to A big admirer of time for proofreading this one. Even a short story contains some errors here and there XD

Certain Nights

"I'm sorry, Nick."
Her words carried a force that made his head reel from the impact.

Knees shaking, he took an unsteady step towards the grey-furred bunny doe standing before him with a feeling like his feet were a mile away from his body.

"What-"
His voice was nothing more than a croak, his throat dry and rough.
"What do you mean? I... I love you, Judy."

Shaking her head, she regarded the tod with pity.
"I'm so sorry."

When she turned around, walking away from him, his world was shaken to its core.

The night seemed to swallow her.

He felt numb.
His body.
His mind.

He didn't even realize it when he fell to his knees.
Didn't notice he ripped his jeans.
Didn't feel the shard of glass that embedded itself into the pad of his right palm when he got down on his front paws, despair gripping at every fiber of his being.

He was alone.
The one person he longed to be with more than anything else had turned him down.
Mammals were passing by, ignoring the fox who was almost lying on the ground.
No one cared about the pained whine that slowly rose to a scream.
No one but the pale moon.

"Nick!"
He shot up.

Darkness.

Not the dim twilight of an artificially illuminated night on the streets of Zootopia.
The blackness inside of his apartment.

Predatory gaze piercing the dark, he looked around frantically.

His bedroom.

Only faint traces of light seeped in through the gaps of the closed rolling shutters.

"Are you alright?"
He turned his head, facing in the direction of the voice.

It was too dark to discern colors, but he knew the eyes regarding him were of an utmost beautiful violet.

"Judy?"

Soft, velvety paws were cupping his cheeks while the doe who laid next to him got up on her knees, rising further until their noses met and her forehead touched his.

"Of course it's me, my dumb fox. Who did you expect?"
She tried to joke, but the concern in her voice was evident.

She was right, though. Who did he expect?

Of course she would be here. My mate. We are mates!

Relieve flooded his veins. Slowly uncoiling muscles shook his whole body while a tear travelled down his cheek.

This wasn't his bedroom. It was theirs.

"I had a nightmare."

His voice trembled, and he hated it.

"What about?"

Gentle paws scratched the back of his head, one briefly drawing away to wipe off the little droplet swiftly.

"You."

The word was spoken with reluctance, the tod feeling torn between the wish to talk about it - getting it off his chest - and to keep it bottled up inside, not letting her see his vulnerability.

"Me?"

Judy's voice was gentle. An unspoken offer to him, letting him know she was there and would listen, no matter what he was going to tell her.

"I dreamed... I dreamed of when I confessed to you."

The doe hummed in acknowledgment, remembering that day quite clearly but not wanting to interrupt her mate. Her paws continued their gentle work.

"It was not even close to how it happened. In my dream, it was night. We were standing somewhere in the streets. And you turned me down. Just apologized before walking away."

His own paws - which had found their way around Judy, taking her in a gentle hug without him knowing when it happened - still shook imperceptibly.

Judy moved a little closer in his embrace.

"I would never do that. I stayed right with you. I wouldn't have been able to leave. Because I love you."

Tender words whispered into his laid-back ears reminded him of the truth.
The brief touch of a summer sun and a forest's earthy fragrance mixed with the first, shy taste of his bunny's lips passed through his mind. Memories of the most joyous moment of his life.

She was with him. She was right there. He felt her warmth seeping into his fur, felt her breath on his chest where her head had come to a rest.

He smelled her comforting scent, mingled with his.

"I know. I know, it's just..."

He drew away a little, staring intensely into the bunny's upturned eyes, not sure if she was able to see his without night vision.

But he could see hers. Full of affection.

"... just that I sometimes wonder why you would even love a broken and crooked mammal like me."
Whispered words, bearing almost a lifetime worth of abjection, frustration, and defamation leading to self-loathing and feelings of deficiency.

Without hesitating, Judy rose to her feet. One of her arms reached around the still kneeling, deflated reynard's shoulders, the other one around his head, gently drawing him to her.

Nick leaned his head against the doe's chest, listening to her familiar heartbeat while the doe rested her head on top of his, her nose nuzzling the bridge of his muzzle soothingly while she slowly rocked back and forth.

"You are not broken. The world had tried its worst, but you have merely gotten some dents and bent a little out of shape here and there. You just waited for the right time to shine, to show what and who you truly are. And it's beautiful."

A soft kiss was placed on his nose.

"And you aren't crooked either. You are just a mammal. A mammal with his faults and fears and wounds like all of us. Some of those wounds might be deep, but I'll stay with you and do my best to mend them."

She felt the front of her pajamas and the fur beneath growing moist.
Soft sniffling told her all she needed to know.

Her paws gently rubbed his head and shoulders.

After a moment, Nick leaned away from Judy. Cupping one of her cheeks, he kissed her; a tender yet passionate meeting of lips. Conveying as much of his love and affection as possible. And his gratitude.

"If I have endured all those years just to meet you, it was more than worth it."

An infinitesimally small part of his mind couldn't help but sneer at his cheesy words, but that part fell silent once it realized the truth they held.

Feeling more at ease with himself and having shaken off the specter of his dream, he cradled his mate to lie down once more.

Holding each other, the soft rhythm of their breathing was the only sound filling the small room as time gently flowed by.

"Thank you, Judy."

He wasn't sure if she even heard his words or had fallen asleep already.

"Always, Nick."

The small smile he wore stretched by a fraction, and by another when a quick lick to her nose drew a chuckle from the doe.

Silence settled over them once more, and he felt like he could finally fall asleep again.

"Say..."

A single soft word drew him back from slumber's edge.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have dreams like this often?"

A minute shift of his body caused his paws to gently ruffle her fur while the draft of his sigh made an ear of hers twitch.

"Not often. Only sometimes. Maybe once... or twice a month. On nights when my old doubts come back to haunt me."

Her nose briefly touched his lip - a short, affectionate nudge - before her tiny tongue gave his cheek a lick; a for her unusual act that proved even more how deeply she cared.

"Promise me something. When it happens again, wake me up. No matter the time or how much you wish to let me sleep. I want to be there for you, more than anything else."

Indecisiveness caused him to hesitate.

"Fluff, I-"

"Promise me, Nick."

Her demand was neither loud nor rough, but tender. A plea.

"...I promise."

Warm affection filled every corner of his body.
He sealed their pledge with another kiss.

Both huddled closer together, cuddling into each other.
And Judy silently swore to herself that she would always be there for her fox.
Whenever he needed her.

And especially.

On those certain nights.