Fluff File 7: Make it Better.
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AN: This is one I wrote later to cheer Cimar up. He published it, though he did a lot of edits out of fear of incurring the wrath of an anonymous 'fandom' member who we will call Mr V Heart (or Venom H) for the sake of this authors notes.
This is the original version, and also the last of the published fluff files. It's new stuff from here on out.
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Judy's ears were droopy. Really, really, droopy. Anyone who knew her could tell her that she wasn't okay, something she said herself. The really worrying thing though was that she said she deserved it. Deserved it for being just a bit too slow. Deserved it for letting the kitnapped mammal she'd been trying to find get hurt as she tried to escape. Just an hour before she found her, she'd tried to slip away and received a beating. Nothing too big, nothing life changing, but it wasn't nothing. It was something. Something that happened because Judy had been too slow, letting someone get hurt. No matter what anyone said, she believed that she held some fault for not being better. Not being faster. For not finding her sooner. Her partner and boyfriend Nick, though, knew that words wouldn't help her. So, gathering up all his friends, he prepared a little hustle.
Moping in a lonely seat in a bar, Judy sat, chin resting on her paws. She looked up as Nick sat down by her, smiling a little. "Hey Jude," he sung, as some piano chords rung out. "Don't make it bad…" She blinked, and spotted Clawhauser at the piano. "Take a sad song, and make it better…"
"Nick?" she glumly asked, not sure what was going on. The fox just carried on in his suave voice.
"Remember, to let her into your heart… Then you can start, to make it better." The chords of an acoustic guitar rung out, making her flinch slightly, and she saw Jack playing the instrument, Skye standing next to him with a tambourine. Was this a hustle of his? "Hey Jude," he sung again, just a bit stronger. "-Don't be afraid, you were made to… go out and get her." She looked up to him, the slight tension she felt fading away as he began gently petting and stroking one of her ears. "The minute," he began, before a choir rang up around, adding to the background. "-You let her under your skin, then you begin, to make it better."
Judy jolted as so many voices joined in on the last word and, looking around, she realised that so many of her friends and workmates were here. Her ears rose as some drums beat out, and her eyes widened as she saw Finnick manning them. Nick carried on singing, and stroking, his trademark smile on his face. "And anytime, you feel the pain… -Hey Jude, refrain," he went, before rubbing up next to her, the choir resuming. "Don't carry the world on, upon your shoulders. For well you know that it's a fool, who plays it cool, by making his world, a little colder…"
Everyone in the crowd let out the familiar set of 'Nah's', building up, and for the first time in a week a little smile grew on Judy. The fog was lifting, and boy was everyone making it sunny. She looked over, and then gasped as she saw her friends the Fanghanel's there too, just as Nick hit the next verse. "Hey Jude," he went, before Eliot and Chloe started with some heavy tambourines alongside Skye. Even their little Joey, Daniel, joined in, popping out of Chloe's pouch, instrument in paw. "-don't let me down," Nick went, teasingly shaking Judy. A sly look grew on her face, and she playfully punched him back. "You have found her, now go out and get her," he went, a gleeful smile on his muzzle as his bunny returned. He went in and hugged her tight. "Remember, to let her into your heart, then you can start, to make it better…"
A certain fox had made it much better for her, and she briefly snuggled up to him before the next verse came out. "So let it out and let it in, Hey Jude, begin… You're waiting for someone to perform with…" She defiantly pointed at herself and nodded. "And don't you know, that it's just you. Hey Jude, you'll do, the movement you need, is on your shoulders…"
Dancing slightly as another set of Nah's was called out, Judy grabbed Nick's paws and they walked out together, towards the stage. Cheers and hoots came out, as her fox began the last verse. "Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better. Remember, to let her under your skin, then you'll begin," he went, as they reached the microphone and sung out together. "To make it better, better, Better, BETTER, BETTER, BETTER, YEEEEAAAHHHHHHH!"
Together, eyes locking, they and the crowd sung out in unison. "NAAAAHHH! NAH NAH -NAH-NAH- NAAAAHHH! NAH NAH NAHHHH! HEEEEYYYYY JUDE!" Cheers and hollers rang out at the first one, but it was by no means the last. Fire back in the bunny, she and the fox roared it out, though his planning still popped up to shock her. Judy had to gasped as a brass band, let by chief Ramic, arrived, joining in at exactly the right time. Jack and Skye echoed some 'Hey's…', Finnick hollered, and Bogo did a random set of crazy Nah's, before Nick looked into her eyes, his signature smirk making an appearance. "They're talkin' 'bout you."
The biggest grin ever on her face, Judy leapt right up into his chest, feeling his arms wrap around her, as they all carried on singing into the night. He'd taken a sad Bun and made her better.
