Prologue Comments:

This one-shot was inspired by TheWinterBunny's Hold On To Me on DeviantArt

Hold On To Me

They say that it's not the darkness itself that they are afraid of, but rather what's inside that darkness that sends chills down the spines of anyone that tastes the fear within the nocturnal atmosphere. Anyone who suffers under such circumstances normally has the comfort of another, whether they are in the figment of their imagination or a real individual. If that individual's imagination is their enemy, perhaps it would be best if there was someone else near them to save them from an enemy that had current residence within their minds.

During the clap of lightning across the ebony skies covered in dark blue clouds that were pouring out their bitter tears, a pair of eyes slowly began to open. They were purple, and put the most precious amethyst stones to shame because of their pure color.

Despite the sensitivity of her ears (simply because she was a rabbit, thus such a thing very normal for her kind), she woke up for another reason altogether. Although she had moved out of her tiny apartment and into a comfortable house that was just right for a couple just starting out, Judy's body had long been trained to drown out any unnecessary noise and only wake up when it was necessary. From the occasional car going by during the late night shifts in Zootopia to the neighbors that argued too much - Judy had heard them all, and was quite used to them.

However, there was one thing she was not quite used to, and that was the whole reason her ears had twitched and woke her up in the first place, compelling the first bunny officer to look at her companion at arms that she had recently engaged in a more personal relationship with. They had always loved one another, but it wasn't until sometime ago that they had decided to take that love to the next level. It wasn't easy (heck, anything between predator and prey was never easy), but the matter of whether or not it was easy didn't stop Judy, and that influence became rather strong on Nick after their famous case together. They had been through so much up until this point, and there was very little, if anything, that could stop them now.

Apparently, there was something stopping Nick. To be more specific, there was something hindering him, and all while under the influence of sleep, which her ears picked up and brought her into this worried state.

There was so much about Nick right now that was... well... not Nick. She knew him too well - that's how she fell in love with him in the first place. However, there was still so much about him she didn't know, especially the motives behind the light snarling that was coming from his mouth even though his back was facing her and his form was facing the other side of the bed. If it had not been for the orange fur, perhaps it would have been harder to see him the darkness because of the dark attire that he was wearing: a simple black top and gray shorts that was only so much lighter than his tank top. However, if there was any detail that was bothering her the most, it was the fact that his ears were flat against his skull and the slight shaking that was coming from his body.

Nick's form was indicating that he was frightened, in some manner or another, but definitely not from the storm. If it had anything to do with the lightening, then his body would have jolted from every clap of lightning that flashed across the dark sky. Besides, it wasn't Nick that had the lightning problem a long time ago. Ironically, it had been her that suffered from such a trauma, and it had been Nick who pulled her through that short time of trouble in her life.

If there was one thing about love, it was that kept no track of debts. Even if Nick never did it, Judy would have still felt obligated to help him: right now was no different. Sitting up in her purple pajamas, she glanced over at the window to see that the blinds were still open before turning her attention to Nick, turning on the lamp that was near the bed before proceeding to help him out of the cage that he had put himself in.

"Nick?" Judy said gently, putting her paw on his shoulder in the attempt to wake him up, increasing her voice level whenever the previous one didn't work, "Nick, wake up."

As another clap of lightning crashed across the sky, Nick's eyes opened as about as fast as the sound of thunder passed their house.

"Nick!"

From the sudden jolt that went through his body, Judy understood that it was more than just fear - he had woken up from whatever state he was in, turning his head behind him from the feel of a paw he later came to understand that it belonged to his partner. His green eyes alone told her that he had been scared just a few minutes ago: the small pupils was enough. However, Nick didn't allow it to last long as a heavy sigh left his muzzle, sitting up and covering his face with one of his paws. Given the fact that his other paw was holding onto the blanket as if his life depended on it, it was only further evidence to prove to Judy that she had every right to worry.

"Nick," she said softly, "...Were you... having a bad dream...?"

He laughed a little - a small pathetic laugh, but one nonetheless.

"Don't worry, Carrots, I'm alright," Nick replied, his voice a little groggy from sleep but pitifully obvious with pain, "Just try to get some shut-eye - I'm going to grab a glass of water."

Being the dumb fox that he was, Judy realized right then and there that she needed to persuade him to talk to her, and she needed to do it fast or her opportunity to get him to talk would fall deeper and deeper into jokes and sarcasm - so was his way of being a sly fox: something that had not been completely shaken off after giving up his life as a con-artist. Nonetheless, she didn't like to see her dumb fox suffer, and she needed to be a sly bunny in order to capture him on time, and knew she had succeeded when her paw rested on his shoulder.

She had to move quickly, and did so by moving towards Nick's direction. Since her reflexes surpassed the speed he was going at the moment, it was no surprise that she was able to stop Nick from getting up from the bed. Due to the reassuring squeeze that left her paw a few seconds later, there was a clear indication that she wasn't going to let go anytime soon. She wasn't going to let him go anyway, especially when there was something wrong, and getting a glass of water was definitely not going to help the situation.

"Come on... please... talk to me."

He didn't say anything, and the silence only broken by the rain and another flash of lightning that went by later. Since Nick wasn't moving, that was a start, and Judy made up her mind to take the opportunity while she still had it.

After all, she knew that she got him with the word "please".

There was only one thing that kept dawning on her, and decided that it would be best to be straightforward with it.

"Was it... something from before?"

He didn't say anything, at least not immediately, but after a good minute or two of the sound of the rain reaching their ears, an answer finally left Nick's muzzle and to Judy's ears. Nick, however, didn't give her the answer she was seeking to get from him without first turning his form and looking at her. It was hard to see it, given the darkness around them, but the darkness was actually comforting, because Nick was already feeling bad by having to talk about this in the first place. However, he knew that Judy was only trying to help, and the situation would actually be worse if he didn't say anything.

Love was funny like that. Some things about love you just can't argue.

She didn't blame him when he went to turn off the lamp light that Judy had turned on a while ago. Perhaps he didn't want her to see his guilt.

"Judy... do you remember when we were in the cable car?"

Nick was using her real name - this was perfectly serious, as to be expected. She only nodded because she didn't want to miss anything that the fox had to say. Her worry didn't cease when he was rubbing his face, as if the source of his worry was there.

Of course, he was talking about the time Nick stood up for her in front of Chief Bogo after the savage panther got away.

"Well... I don't know how else to break it to you... but I find myself occasionally thinking about that point in my life..."

His kit years...

"Of course, I'm not a kit," Nick remarked, raising his paws for emphasis, "At least not anymore, but the feeling is still there... I haven't completely forgotten the feeling of that muzzle on me, or when I'm in a cage, as if..."

His voice started to drift off as if it was hard from the beginning to talk about it. Then again, it was hard from the beginning, but they knew each other well enough, or perhaps they wouldn't have fallen in such passionate love for one another or taken the step that they did into moving into the same house.

They were even able to finish the thoughts of the other, which was impressive for their stage in life. One would expect a married couple to do what they were capable of, but they also were well aware of the fact that they needed more time, no matter how good they looked to the public, and they were going to take this one step at a time.

That's just what people did when they are in love. A relationship between a predator and prey were no different.

"...As if you were savage?"

Nick flinched a little from what Judy had said, but it wasn't like he wasn't looking for that word - he just didn't have the heart for it to come out. The word alone and the taste on his lips that it left occasionally made him feel weak, and this weakness he couldn't express to anyone else except Judy. It wasn't normal for a predator to feel this way, but then again, how was that new? Gazzel's hit Try Everything was just an emphasis of going after what you wanted and don't let the idea of failure hinder you, even if that turns out to be the outcome. Since when was there anything remotely normal about Nick's life? From what he could recall, not a darn thing, especially his taste in women, despite being the first of the duo to realize that he had special affections for the cute bunny he was pouring out his heart to and had given long before that.

There was nothing else to be said, because all of the feelings were before them, but Judy had something else better in mind for her distraught partner. Reaching out to him, she took the much larger creature into her smaller, but very reassuring, embrace. While she had serious strength in her legs that made her small appearance incredibly deceptive, her arms had strength of their own as she took Nick down with her. If the fox had not registered in time and caught onto what she was doing, perhaps more of his form would have been plastered all over her and he wouldn't have been at the proper angle to get the kiss that soon followed.

It was brief, but nonetheless helpful for the situation as it broke shortly afterward so emerald could gaze at amethyst. Due to a great duration of practice, it had become normal for them to let the fox ease himself close to his beloved bunny as her much shorter arms wrapped as much around of his neck as possible. It may have been dark, but Judy could still see the stress in his eyes, even though he smiled in appreciation for trying to make him feel better on the account of the kiss. Since their foreheads were touching, it made the process a lot easier to not only give him the reassurance he needed, but to also prevent him from searching for any doubt that might have lingered in the room.

"You are not a savage, Nick," Judy said gently, "There's nothing about you that would compel anyone to muzzle you or put you in a cage. I know that because of how long we've known each other. I have no reason to be scared of you, and nobody else should be either."

As the words of complete honesty left her mouth, Nick's eyes narrowed, understanding and some level of relief going through them. However, he still had his doubts, and Judy knew that as he went down lower of Judy's form so his much larger head could cuddle under her chin, the bunny wrapping her arms around him in response. From the sudden move to desire a gesture such as this, it told Judy that Nick's dream must have been more vivid than his other ones, or at least it felt that way in his immediate memory. The only time she could think of where it was this bad was the time he confessed dreaming of when they were trying to get out of the museum, but they didn't switch the serum with the blueberry. To make it worse, he had actually went as far as actually killing her, and he was close to sick because of it. If she had not been so persistent about it, they would have broken up a long time ago, since Nick was literally avoiding her for reasons she didn't know until she practically had to beat it out of him.

Everyone had their flaws - there was no such thing as a perfect lover in Zootopia - Nick was just a dumb fox sometimes.

The fact that he made the first move told her everything she needed - maybe even more. Holding him as close as she could, she looked up at the window, which by now revealed that some of the clouds had stopped their downpour, moving out of the way for a full moon that was slowly bringing much-needed light into the room.

"Judy... if I'm not a savage... what am I, then?"

It was the worry-wort side talking, but she knew that she needed to give an honest answer. Besides, what other answer would she give her lover other than the one that was honestly on her heart? Lying never worked, so why add fuel to the fire? She would never have the heart to do such a thing, especially to Nick.

After all, she loved him.

There was only one thing that she could think of, and told him in a gentle voice what was honestly on her heart.

"You're mine."

If what she had said before didn't tug his heartstrings, it sure did now as the words soaked into his ears and through his mind. Keeping Judy as close as he could, a light sigh, as if a defeated sigh, left his lips. It wasn't so much the bad kind, but rather the kind that expressed relief as well as something had just broken. For Judy, it was the sign that he was going to let it all out.

That was okay, because that's what she had hoped he would do.

Now all she needed to do was hang on, and told him that she was going in for the long-haul by leaning over her lover and placing a light kiss on the top of his head.

Should it not dry by morning, Judy knew that she was going to have to wash the blanket of the tears Nick would soon litter them with. Despite the fact that cleaning a blanket was much easier than trying to get Nick to pour out all of the emotions that were storming inside of his heart, Judy knew that he so desperately needed to pour them out of his system. Bottling up everything inside might be what he was accustom to, but even now, Judy had hoped that one day she would break him of the habit of never letting anyone see that they got to him. The fact that he was trusting her whole-heartedly was a good start.

For now, he just needed to hang on, and she was going to hang on to him, because she knew that like the full moon that soon brought light into the dark atmosphere, everything was going to be okay.

That's all she could think of over and over again as she held her beloved.

Just hold on to me Nick...
I'm not going anywhere...
And everything is going to be okay.

Artist's Comments:

Thank you, once again, for reading another one of my fictions.

Due to the years of persistence on the matter, I am happy to say that this is the first fiction I've ever completed on livestream. If you wish to see the livestream with this fiction and others, please go to YouTube and find Moonspirit10. The videos that you will want to look for is numbers 12.1 and 12.2. I will also have the music the artist recommended, though I don't understand why it's okay to be in one video but not another.

I don't have so much on original ideas at the moment, but I will say that I am open for ideas that I feel okay with. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

May God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.