Well, hello there, all! This is the first time I'm writing a fanfic for "The Fox And The Hound". Speaking of first times, this is not only the first time when there's been a FATH fanfic that's had part of the movie "Frozen" incorporated into it, the part in question is the scene where Anna and Elsa sing the reprise of "For The First Time In Forever". Yep, I'm making a distorted version, or, to put it another way, parody of "For The First Time In Forever(Reprise)" be one of the main parts of this story. It's the reason for the title I've given it, in fact.

In this tale(or is that tail? HA, HA!), Chief dies due to old age finally catching up to him and Amos decides that, since he refuses to live in a world where Chief is dead but Tod and Vixey are still alive, change of heart and altered opinion on foxes be damned, he'll go on a hunt to kill them both. Unsurprisingly, Copper objects to this, but Amos makes sure, albeit in a way that doesn't hurt the hound, that his only remaining pet dog will not interfere if he is not going to help him on his search for the foxes.

But Copper finds a way to get to where Tod is in the forest, although unfortunately enough, it's after Slade has found Tod and Vixey. However, the hunter fails to kill them, even if he manages to make it so that his missed gunshots still injure them due to what they need to do to dodge them leading to both getting hurt bad. Worse, Tod and Vixey lose each other in the mayhem and danger they're in for a time, and even though Slade also loses sight of them and therefore has no choice but to go back home while accepting the fact that he failed his hunt and will have to try a second hunt to get the foxes sometime or other, the problem is that Tod and Vixey believe each other to be dead.

Fortunately, Copper going into the forest and finding Tod is what follows him hearing from where he's been put by his owner that Vixey is actually alive and has made her way to Widow Tweed's house, where her injuries are being treated by its owner. It's part of what spurs him to get out and find Tod to make sure he's still alive and also inform him that Vixey is not dead and that there is a way that things can go back to the way that they were before when he and Tod were little, along with how they can go back to the way they were when Tod and Vixey were mates prior to this happenstance.

Will Copper succeed in convincing Tod to follow his lead and in the process set everything right and see to it that their friendship is restored and Tod is brought the right way to be reunited with not only Vixey, but also Widow Tweed? Let's find out the answer by the reading of this story, with the aforementioned parody of the reprise of "For The First Time In Forever" having it so that Tod fills Elsa's role and Copper fills Anna's role.

THINGS TO NOTE:

There are many things this story is meant to do, but one of the top things it's intended to do is cater to fans of Tod, those who were unhappy with the way that "The Fox And The Hound" ended and/or really hated Amos Slade in particular.

The following story is a post-series fanfic. To be precise, it takes place about three weeks after the events of "The Fox And The Hound".

I own none of the characters. They all belong to "The Fox And The Hound". And I don't own the song "For The First Time In Forever(Reprise)" that I'm parodying, either, because that belongs to "Frozen". Needless to say, everything in this story belongs to Disney.

For The First Tod In Forever(Coppe-Reprise)

Sometimes, one thing leading to another is all that's required to create the sort of situation that you otherwise would have never thought possible.

Despite how Amos Slade had previously changed his attitude towards foxes and accepted how Copper and Tod would always feel about each other whether they could be together or not, the problem was that this was mostly subverted three weeks after it happened.

Why and how so? Well, Chief, the other dog he had as a pet along with Copper, due to how he was old to begin with and aged further with the following weeks, like any living being, human or animal, does, passed away due to how the old age in question finally caught up to him after all these years.

Besides the fact that he was sad to see his dog go, Amos Slade decided that he would not tolerate living in a world where Tod and Vixey were alive but Chief wasn't. So, even though he still loved his remaining dog, Copper, and was glad that he was at least alive, he planned to go on a hunt for Tod and Vixey, whether he found them both or would come across them separately.

And, since he knew that Copper would not aid him in this hunt, given his friendship with Tod and vice versa, especially after he protected Tod from how he had his gun aimed at him the last time Tod was in his sights, he simply did what he thought was best to do under the sort of circumstances he was now dealt.

Namely, he let Copper know what he would do, albeit on his own this time for obvious reasons, and although Copper predictably gave barks of protest, Slade simply dealt with them as he picked Copper up and ignored the struggling his pet hound did for the whole of the time he gently but firmly kept him in his hands and walked into his bedroom. He then placed Copper on the bed.

Following this, he swiftly went out the door and shut it quickly and firmly but also in a way so that he made sure it wasn't too loud(because for all his vices, flaws and unlikable traits, he loved Copper, especially since he was now his only remaining pet), an instant before saying: "All right, Copper, I'll be back soon enough to feed and water you, and I leave you here to await my return and not have to assist me in this particular hunt out of respect for the relationship you and Tod have."

Copper was unsurprisingly still barking his objection to what his owner was intent on doing, and for such petty, trivial reasons as the ones Slade had explained to him when he informed him of what he did prior to bringing him up to that room, no less. And at the time when he'd seemingly learned his lesson about Copper's friendship with Tod and just fully recovered/healed from his leg injury, too!

However, shortly after Amos Slade had gathered up what he'd need for his hunt and left the house to track down Tod and Vixey, Copper, who'd tried so hard to think of a way to try and avert what was fixing to happen and aid the two foxes, noticed that the window in the room he was in was unlocked, as Slade had forgotten to lock it much earlier in the day than even the time Chief had passed on.

Knowing that this was the once chance he had at saving Tod and Vixey's lives if it wasn't too late, Copper quickly acted and pushed the window open, then he climbed out and closed the window up. Following this, he swiftly and nimbly but also carefully and with much balance made his way off of where he stood near the window and onto the ground.

Then he ran fast towards the forest, only to hear some very loud gunshots that had to have come from the shotgun which his master was using to either kill the two foxes he was hunting for or try and fail to do so.

Thinking to himself: "Dear God! Either I'm too late, or I need to hurry unless I want the chances I'm too late to increase considerably!" So he upped his speed as much as he was able to, also thinking to himself: "Well, either way, one thing is for sure!"

Just after he'd entered deep enough into the forest to be certain that he was in the part of it where Tod and/or Vixey stood a chance of being spotted, although he'd also have to look out for Slade for obvious reasons, he said in his mind: "Namely that, as much as I love Slade, I can't continue to be his pet!"

Copper sniffed, looked and listened this way and that for Tod and/or Vixey, and although his nose and ears made it clear to him that Tod and Vixey, despite both being alive, had been driven apart without even realizing it by the noise of the gunshot and the fact that they had no choice but to do everything possible to get away as soon as possible, plus ironically both gotten themselves badly injured by accidentally running into a tree each(far away from each other at that point despite neither expecting it nor meaning it, just like neither meant to ram into a tree and hurt themselves bad but it still happened all the same), the problem(aside from the obvious problem)was as follows.

All Copper saw of either fox was their shadows, and then only briefly. What's worse, he soon thereafter saw Slade's shadow, and quickly took off so there would be no chance that Slade would see his shadow, much less he himself.

Following this, Copper thought on: "After all, it took only him barely having finished recovering from an injury he received from his own trap, the tragic but, sadly, inevitable passing of Chief and the supposed excuse to kill Tod and Vixey he got from losing Chief to make it so that he went back on his decision to stop hating foxes and let Tod and Vixey live along with accepting my friendship to Tod and vice versa! That said, I have to stop being his pet, even if it is a rather sudden, jarring, abrupt and seemingly arbitrary kind of change and decision!"

Copper's attempts to find one or both of the foxes before Slade did kept on while he was also thinking: "So, first of all, I've got to find those foxes and make sure they aren't killed, if in fact they are still alive by this point, especially since I don't know how serious those injuries of theirs are, and second of all, it's pretty clear that my best bet is to make my way to Widow Tweed's house along with those foxes, provided I'm even able to find both of them, and see to it their injuries get treated and that they become her pets along with me!"

Just after Copper's thoughts that happened at the same time as his searching and tracking concluded with: "Lucky thing is, she'll be more than happy to have her old pet fox back along with a new pet fox and a new pet hound! Along with how she'll doubtless gladly treat the fox's injuries and protect them and me alike from my former owner's wrath! Especially since, if she did what she did with Tod before, she'll definitely do what is to come with him along with giving me and Vixey similar treatment!" he caught sight of one of the foxes he sought.

It was Tod. And what's more, Copper had, just a second after catching sight of him, heard Slade walking away grumpily and in irritation, obviously able to tell that he not only hadn't killed either fox he sought after and targeted, but neither was anywhere to be seen and his barely healed leg was starting to bother him via sudden pains.

So, knowing that he had to get home and rest up, as well as that there was no way he'd be able to try this again for a while, given his need to take it easy on his barely back to normal leg and how foxes and all other animals alike would be quite wary of him for at least some time after this, he mumbled under his breath how exasperated, annoyed and all around disappointed he was. He kept it quiet because doing it loudly and enraged-like was sure to lead to him doing stuff that would test the limits of how his leg had gotten better just enough to be the way it was before his injury.

Copper made sure to keep out of sight until he was absolutely sure that Slade was far enough away to not be seen and there was no way his former owner would spot even so much as a trace of his shadow.

Once that happened, Copper turned his attention back to Tod, who all this time had been crying. Copper thought he knew what was causing Tod's tears, but he decided to first let Tod know that he was here and thus reintroduce himself to the fox, and then find out for sure what was making Tod cry harder than, quite frankly, he ever had in his life.

He gently(but audibly enough to be heard by Tod with or without the noise made from the fox's crying)said: "Tod?" Tod suddenly paused from crying and looked over to the source of the voice, ignoring the most recent tears that were still going down his cheeks after leaving his eyes.

And as soon as he saw who was standing in front of him, those same eyes opened most widely as Tod went from saddened to surprised. Tod gaped and then said: "Copper?"

"The one and only, Tod." Copper replied. "I'm not here with Slade, by the way. I'm here to help both you and Vixey!" Tod then replied: "Vixey? She's been killed! Not only did I hear her crash into that tree, wherever it was, but there was total silence after that! I can't see her anywhere, and I can smell her blood! I've lost her! My love is gone! Just like my mother!"

He was about to resume crying, but Copper averted it. You see, Copper smelled Vixey's blood during the time Tod did, but could also hear dragging noises that Tod had not because of the sounds made from his crying upon believing Vixey had been killed by the tree she'd crashed into.

I know this hasn't been mentioned before, but it will be now. And the thing is that even though he didn't have time to focus on it much because of how he still had Tod to look for even after he heard these noises, he could tell that the only logical answer for the dragging sounds was that Vixey had to have known about Widow Tweed, the way that Tod had no doubt told her about the woman following their becoming mates at the end of what would lead into the last three weeks.

And Vixey had very likely smelled some of Widow Tweed's scent on Tod during the time they got to know each other, since her mate had previously spent so much time with Widow Tweed. After she had the knowledge and understanding of the scent that she did, she had obviously not forgotten it, as she was clearly dragging herself in the direction the familiar scent of Widow Tweed led her in.

And this was undoubtedly because Vixey knew it was her best bet to get herself to Widow Tweed's house for treatment of her injuries, the way that the damage she took when crashing into that tree at such a high velocity were most considerable even though she wasn't a goner and didn't have any broken bones or ruptured organs.

Knowing that the current lack of those dragging noises had to mean that Vixey had reached her destination, especially since there were no noises to indicate that anything had happened to her before she got there which Copper had heard prior to the dragging noises stopping, Copper swiftly took to attempting to make the truth known to Tod.

He began by going: "Tod, wait, I…" But Tod jumped in and said: "Copper, no! I don't want any more pain, upset, anguish or anything similar for either of us! And what's this about not being here with Slade? He loves you almost like a son, and you're so loyal to him, too! Not to mention your need for a master as well as a home also being part of what keeps you with him!"

"That used to be the case," Copper responded, "but here's the thing." He then all out explained what had happened and what it led to, right up to the moment they were in right now. After he was done, Tod asked: "Seriously? Slade was going to kill me and Vixey just because Chief died of old age? I'm sorry about it happening, mind you, and I give you my condolences, but he completely tossed aside his change of heart just for how he didn't want to live in a world where Chief wasn't alive while my mate and I were?"

"I'm afraid so." Copper nodded, right before adding: "So, as hard, painful, all of a sudden and unbelievable as it was for me, the way I've been Slade's pet and companion for so long and was his only still living pet, plus now no longer have an owner and thus have no home, I knew it was the only path I could follow as of the moment he made such a decision as the one he did! Anyway, not only are you still alive, thank God, but…"

"But what, Copper?" Tod interjected. "I thank you for what I can now see as your obviously sincere attempts to help Vixey and myself, but I'm hurt bad, even if no bones are broken or any organs damaged, and besides how I'm still bruised and bleeding after crashing into that tree, Slade's still around and a threat to all of us forest critters, foxes or otherwise, and worse yet, we still have to stay apart for the sake of each other's safety as far as I can tell and my poor Vixey's lost her life!"

"Don't you see, Tod?" Copper went out. "That's just it! It's what I've been trying to tell you but your emotional agony is keeping you from allowing me to let you know!"

Tod suddenly became confused, which he expressed in the look he gave to Copper, and Copper seized his chance to say: "It's not just the fact that I'm serious about not being Slade's hound anymore, it's also the fact that you're incorrect when you say we still don't have any choice but to live separate lives for the sake of one another's safety! In addition to how your physical wounds and emotional wounds alike can easily be treated!"

"Copper, I want to be happy to hear this, but what I'm hearing just doesn't compute! I'm sorry, but it doesn't!" Tod told him. "Then I'll do what I must to make it compute!" Copper told Tod.

Copper then said: "We no longer must be separate! I'm gone from Slade!"

He subsequently transitioned from speaking to singing, the latter coming out of him in the second sentence and continuing like so even though he spoke his first one: "Please don't be my foe again! Please, Tod, no encore! You don't have to keep your distance anymore! 'Cause for the first time in forever, our enmity's not law! For the first time in forever, we'll set things right paw in paw! We can head to Widow Tweed's together! You don't have to live in fear! 'Cause for the first time in forever, I will be right here!"

Tod responded first by speaking the hound's name via saying: "Copper…" Then he was singing, too, with the words: "Please go back home. Your life awaits. Go and have great fun and free meals never late!"

Copper began to respond with: "Yes, but…"

Tod kept up his singing with: "I know you mean well, but disappear. I lost Vixey, and my mom yesteryear. I'm a clear hazard to whoever's near."

But Copper sang: "Actually, you're not!"

Tod sang back: "What do you mean, I'm not?"

Copper sung in reply: "I have a feeling you don't know!"

Tod let out in song: "What do I not know?"

Copper would sing to answer him: "Vixey's alive and with the Widow."

The singing was paused in exchange for regular talking, with Tod asking: "What?"

Copper then explained: "Vixey dragged herself to Tweed's house and is in her care."

Tod gasped and asked: "In her care?"

But Copper assured him: "And she'll live! Plus, you'll return to her!"

Tod's reply was: "Copper, Slade lives near Widow Tweed!"

But Copper simply assured him: "He won't shoot! I'll see to it!" Then he resumed singing mode with: "'Cause for the first time in forever…"

Tod also resumed singing, his next song verse consisting of: "Oh, I'm such a fool! What's wrong with me?"

Copper kept up his resumed singing with: "…you don't have to be afraid!"

Tod continued his resumed singing by going: "No end to fate always deriding me!"

Copper kept singing using the words: "For keeps, we can be together!"

Tod's singing went on when he went out: "I'm just a living curse!"

Copper just sang on: "No second wedge drive from Slade!"

Tod made his singing go on with the use of: "Ohhhh, Copper, please, I only make things worse!"

Copper sang out: "Don't say that!"

Tod just sang: "But it's the truth!"

Copper sang after that: "Please do not think that way!"

Tod's next singing was made up of: "We're not still youths!"

Copper would then sing out: "But we are once more together!"

Tod, for his next sung line, let out only: "Oh!"

Copper's singing kept going as the hound went: "Your life and Vixey's aren't severed!"

But Tod now sang: "AHHHHH..."

Copper's singing out was now made up of: "You just need to reunite!"

Tod then let on out in song: "WHY ME?"

Copper was able to tell that the last thing Tod sang was because he finally accepted both the truth and what it meant, as well as what his best bet was because of that, but, at the same time, couldn't help but give something of a groan because of how his track record with good fortune wasn't what you'd consider overall favorable.

Still, things would get better for him, Tod and Vixey alike from this point on, even though he was currently much more aware of it and expecting of it than Tod was. It was just a matter of how as the once more of the close friend status fox and hound made their way out of the forest and towards Widow Tweed's house and farm.

Just as they were about to reach their intended destination, Tod said: "Copper, I can't thank you enough. I know I made a bit of a fuss about it, something I couldn't control due to how sudden and jarring all of this and what it meant was, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm relieved beyond words that things are going to turn out okay for you, me, Vixey and Widow Tweed alike in every way after all."

"Hey, I've got that state of relief, too, Tod." Copper replied. "And no problem. Your apology's accepted, too. Especially since you just needed time to adjust to what the truth actually was despite how things seemed before and see what really lay ahead of you future-wise. And, again, mark my words. I'm not going to let Slade do anything to you. In addition to that, the shape you're currently in and what it looks like in terms of recovery for you and Vixey, from what I saw of her before coming to get you, I have little doubt that you'll both become her pets both Abigal and now me are."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Tod exclaimed. "I mean, sure the wild was nice and all, and I could have done without these wounds that'll undoubtedly need treating, just like Vixey would have preferred to avoid her own injuries that are now getting treatment, but since I started out as Widow Tweed's pet, and since what made it so I stopped being of that status and, until now, that of your best friend, was circumstances that neither of us wanted or planned, nor did anyone but Slade and-I'm very sorry, please forgive me for mentioning this-Chief after Slade made him think that way through upbringing, I don't think it's any surprise that it feels good to have my original home back, with my mate and best friend living there, too!"

"Of course it's no surprise, and especially since it feels just as good to me to have the home I do now! Always and forever. Just like is the case with all else we've got to look forward to in the near future!" Copper nodded. And by the time they finished what they'd said to each other, they were, in fact, right in front of Widow Tweed's farm.

And it was instantly clear to them that they were naught but moments away from endless love, constant free meals, eternal safety, continuous fun, incessant happiness and, of course, all of it accompanied by the best friends(and this time permanently)they would be living together and the lovers/mates that Tod would simultaneously be with Vixey and vice versa.

This among plenty else that made it so that it was so very clear indeed that they'd suddenly stepped out of hell and into heaven, so to speak. Their eyes opened widely and they grinned from ear to ear, not knowing whether to take it slow both for the sake of not suddenly appearing and giving Vixey and Widow Tweed a massive shock(since they both currently believed that Tod was dead, much like Tod, until Copper revealed the truth to him, had thought Vixey dead)and savoring this once-in-a-lifetime kind of defining moment or to not waste any time and undo all that needed undoing as well as settle all that needed settling and in the process make it so that for Widow Tweed, Vixey and themselves alike forever would finally begin for real, and in a way for the best.

What decision would they make, and why, and, for that matter, how exactly would things go down, even if it was certain things would be most favorable in the end one way or the other? Especially since, while Widow Tweed was most definitely in the house along with Vixey, Amos Slade's house still had its owner in it, and at one point or another, he was going to find out about what had just happened.

So this must leave those reading this story to wonder what is to be expected as most likely occurring in the very near future, not unlike Tod and Copper were left unable to help but wonder just that, their elation at how things were sure to turn out in the end one way or another notwithstanding.

THE END…POSSIBLY

So, how did you like it? Please rate and review, everyone, especially those of you who are my fellow Tod fans! Was this a good continuation of the movie for those of you who were unhappy with the way that it ended? Does anyone think I should make a sequel to this or two or three or however many? Please make your thoughts and feelings clear to me, everybody!