CHAPTER 1

One Saturday evening, a plump male red fox came out from his house with a tray of freshly baked pies in his paws. He walked toward his van parked in the driveway, opened its back doors, and placed the plate inside. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the pink apron he wore, he closed the doors, got into the driver's seat, and drove off to deliver his famous pies.

And on the same day, over a few miles away, a middle-aged female sheep named Henrietta was enjoying with her two children — Sharla and Gareth — at their home.

Sharla had traveled up from the city of Zootopia the night before, arriving very late at her mother's house. She had slept deeply in her old bedroom and hadn't woken up until noon. She'd stayed in bed for a few minutes, enjoying the usual quietness that couldn't be found in the city or any place else but here. Right here, she could feel once again a young country girl just like before she had moved into the city and begun pursuing her dream job. She wanted to be a successful writer, and now she was a rookie journalist for a starter.

She loved coming home to Bunnyburrow, even though she'd rented an apartment and lived her life down in Zootopia for years. There was something about this countryside that brought her back. Despite the 211-mile journey by the train, she always found herself relaxing the further the city she got. Usually, by the time she arrived at Bunnyburrow train station and called a local taxi to her mother's home, it was dark already and she couldn't see the rolling green hills or farmland, but she knew they were there.

And upon this visit, she was hoping that being back to her hometown would give her time to think about her future. She knew she had a long way to go before she could become a famous writer. However, working at the newspaper was not really what she thought and hoped for. And her boss always gave her a headache every time she sent a new article to him. But if she was to give up her job now, the road to her dream would disappear in a flash.

Anyway, now here she was, a twenty-four-year-old ewe sitting at the dining table with her younger brother, the two of them enjoying their mother's cooking.

"Mom, you haven't lost your touch," said Sharla. "These vegetables are great. No one can make quite like you."

"I don't know what's so special about it," replied her mother. "It's only a bit of grilled vegetables. I've been doing them the same way all these years."

"Exactly," said the black ewe. "That's the whole point — it's very comforting to find that something doesn't change."

"Finish them off then, all of you. I don't want any left," said Henrietta with a smile, then turned to her younger child. "Gareth, my dear. You forgot to bring your girlfriend for me to see again. I begin to think she is your imaginary."

"Sorry, mom," said Gareth. "Betty couldn't make it today due to her urgent college project. You know, college. Some instructors always give their students a sudden project just before the final exam."

"All right," said his mother, nodding. "Are you serious about her?"

"Well, mom, we're just seeing each other for 6 months now. I think there's still a lot of things to know one another before we can decide that. Besides, we're still students. It's way too fast to think about starting a family, right?"

There was a silence around the table for a brief moment and then Henrietta began again, plainly and softly, "I'm not going to be here forever you know."

"There's nothing wrong, is there?" asked Sharla anxiously, knowing that what exactly was her mother meant.

"Nothing as far as I know," replied Henrietta. "Just thinking life is short. We can be dead at any time by anything."

A silence fell upon them again. Sharla and Gareth knew why their mother was being right this. It had happened to her a year ago when John Barnes — Henrietta's husband and a father of Sharla and Gareth — had suffered a heart attack and died while farming. His death had left a big hole in all their lives.

"How's the work, Sharla?" asked Gareth. He felt somehow responsible for the way this conversation was going and he thought it better to redirect it onto the safer ground by changing the subject. "Have you found any handsome buck you interest while working at Zootopia Time?"

"Well, thanks for asking, Gareth," said Sharla with a hefty dose of sarcasm in her voice. She really hated when anyone, and especially her brother, asked her about her love life. She wanted to scream out loud that she wasn't yet interested in it — although she also dreamed of settling down with the loved one. Since she moved out living in the city, all she cared and wanted was to make her dream came true. She hoped that she would find someone along her way, but all bucks that she had met wasn't capturing her eyes, at all that her colleagues begin to think that she was homo.

"My boss always gives me a headache by telling me to change this part and that part to make the story compelling," continued Sharla. "You know, sometimes he nearly changed the fact in that article and turned the victim into criminal."

"Typical," said Henrietta. "Anyway, you got a good start in that newspaper with the scoop about the Nighthowler incident from…the girl of Hopps house… What's her name again?"

"It's Judy Hopps," said Sharla, smiling at the thought of her childhood friend who had protected her from bullies in the past. "She's kinda my idol too for pursuing the dream. I'll be a dream chaser like her and become a great writer one day."

"And any interesting buck at work?" asked Gareth, not forgetting the main question. "You're still not answering it."

"Well…" She stalled for a few moments to find her excuse, but nothing came to her. But it was then that the doorbell rang saving her. "I-I'll go," she said and walked out of the dining room.

Henrietta and Gareth could hear her opening the front door, then her gasp, and then the slam of the door. They were confused with all that happened, and when Sharla came back in she looked shocked.

"Good Lord, What happened?" asked Henrietta, looking at Sharla with surprise and a little fear in her eyes. "Who's at the door?"

"It's…" The black ewe gulped. "It's Gideon Grey."

'Family Meal'

A/N: Well this is my second fanfiction of this movie. It's inspired by the novel that I once read while I was a college student. When I reread it, I can't help thinking to make a story about these two particular characters. How they meet, how they feel about each other, and how the relationship between them grow. I'll update this story weekly if my work doesn't take my time away. Also, my Terror Crow project is still alive, but it might take some time to perfect the plot. I've found a lot of flows in the plot and needed to fix them.

Anyways, I will be pleased to see your reviews and criticisms, but please be civilized and reasonable. And if you have any suggestion and question, feel free to PM me. I will contact you back ASAP.

Disclaimer: All Zootopia rights belong to Disney, not me. I don't own it.