Light at the End of the Tunnel

Emptiness. That was all the lone fox could feel as he looked over the hill to a place he knew all too well. His old home, his old caretaker, his old friend...the last one cut through in particular as the events of the last few days ran back across his mind...instead of a warm reunion, all he had gotten was reluctance through mixed messages, cold reception from someone who he'd once considered to be a friend, and the same friend giving a bittersweet goodbye after the debacle with the bear. A single tear trailed down from his eye to his cheek, and then finally onto the ground with a plop.

"It's...it's just not fair…" Tod whimpered as he lowered his muzzle down to look at the ground, "Why is that I have to lose...everything in life…?"

The vulpine thought back to how his birth mother had left him in the vicinity near the kind old lady's residence, her name being Widow Tweed. Tod had always shared a loving bond with his adoptive mother, regardless of her being a human and him being a fox, she had treated him as if he was her own, which made it all the more painful when he'd ventured out into the forest, saying goodbye to the only parental figure he had ever known...and having been raised under the care of a human hadn't translated well when adapting to forest life, seeing as he'd never spent much time in there during his life, Tod had found the new environment almost alien as if he was an outlier to the traditional fox of the forest...which he was in all honesty...the thought of being ill-prepared to survive out in this completely different place to that of his old home sent an uneasy chill down Tod's body, and it hadn't been like Vixey or Big Mama had been of any real help in that endeavor either, the former wanting to have an exact number of kits from the moment she looked at him and the latter essentially forcing the two vulpines together...Tod's face gave way to an ugly grimace as he thought back to the circumstances, he wasn't ready to become a father, especially with his lack of experience when it came to forest life, in addition to being given a request for six kits which he found to be rather absurd for someone he just met, and it didn't bode well with him that his second mentor figure had practically made a huge spiel out of him and Vixey being together as if it were a necessity.

"Ugh, I'm such a pushover…why is everyone always picking on me..." Tod put a paw to his face, exasperated to add yet another thing to his list of woes.

"Hooooooo, I've been having all these things being thrust in my face and it's like I'm just supposed to accept it...yet I can't...I can't be a father and I don't wanna be a father with someone I barely know", The fox continued as he whapped at the ground, looking quite agitated, "If this is forest rules, then I say it's silly! Why can't I ever decide for myself, why does everyone always have to decide for me, I'm a person, too!" Tod's claws began to grip at the ground as his irritation only continued to increase.

"But, noooooooo, everyone has to push poor old Tod around like he's just made to suffer like he can't have a moment's peace spending it with someone he cares about, someone he…" Tod cut himself off mid-rant as he thought back to his old friend, Copper. He could never forget that face, since the day they met, and the times they had played together when they were young, how they'd made a pledge to best friends forever...Tod's irritation faded into sadness...which came with the tears forming in his eyes, but he tried not to let him slip out.

"I will not cry...I will not cry...I will not cry…" The fox repeated, his voice growing all the meeker as he said it over and over...before he let out a loud YELL up to the sky and dug his claws into the grass before finally letting the tears drip down his face, bringing his head down to the ground to sob as he covered his eyes with his paws, the pain in his voice sounding as if he'd been holding it back for a long time.

"I...I...I just...why…" The vulpine sobbed into the ground, he didn't care how he looked acting so weak, all he wanted to do was lay there and let the tears fall, finally having the chance to let out his inner turmoil. "I just...I want him...I want my life back...I just...want things to go back to the way they used to be...~" Tod blubbered through his sobs, not caring who happened to be passing by to see him, all he felt at the moment was nothing but...broken...this was it, he really had no else to turn to but himself...he was so lost in his own pain that he didn't notice the figure standing before him.

"Tod…?" A familiar voice said as fox slowly lifted his face out of his paws, unsure if he'd heard correctly, but that sounded like...through his teary eyes, he could make out the sight of a familiar hound staring down at him.

"C...C...Copper?" Tod stuttered, blinking twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but standing before him, not with an aura of hostility, but more of concern, was indeed his old friend, Copper. The hound lowered his head down to the fox to gently lick at his face.

"Are you...actually, that question's rhetorical, but...can I help you by any chance…?" Copper asked as he saw his former companion slowly pick himself off the ground.

"W-Well...can you...stay here...I just...I just wanna be in your company...please…" Tod replied, his voice sounding hurt, which didn't settle with Copper as he gave an affectionate nuzzle to the fox's face.

"Look...I'm really sorry...about everything...the way I acted before was...uncalled for, especially since I jumped the gun on something that wasn't your fault…" The hound said, his voice low and sounding remorseful. "In fact, nothing that transpired should have happened...all you wanted was to see me again...you're a real friend, Tod…"

Copper waited for Tod to respond and frowned sadly when he could see the tears once again welling up in the fox's eyes...only to brief catch the look on his face transforming into a smile as he felt himself being pushed to the ground on his back with a pair of foxy lips matching contact with his own, making a muffled sound of surprise.

"Oh, Copper...I love you!" Tod proclaimed, not even hesitant about what he had just done as he was too happy to care, finally feeling a sense of joy spread across his body as he delivered another kiss to Copper's lips...only when he pulled away this time, he recomposed himself with a paw on his face. "S-Sorry...got a little excited there…"

Copper stood back, unable to comprehend what had just occurred...but a warm smile coming across his face as he went up to Tod's muzzle. "No need to be sorry", He murred as he returned the fox's gesture with a kiss of his own, Tod looking a little surprised at first...before his eyes became half-lidded with pleasure at the feeling of his friend's lips against his own. The two parted lips to give each other breath before Copper spoke up.

"Let me take you back...I'll bring you home…" He said with genuine feeling in his voice as Tod looked up in surprise.

"You...you mean...back where we...but...what about Amos and Chief, they'll never-" Tod began to hesitate before he felt Copper putting a paw to his lips.

"You being next to me is all I care about, I don't care what anyone says, and if they've boo to say about it, then they'll have to get through me", Copper proclaimed, not an ounce of falsehood in his voice as Tod looked at him with quite possibly the most enthralled face he'd ever seen.

"Oh, thank you...thank you…" Tod said with gratitude as he nuzzled underneath the hound's muzzle, smiling broadly for the first time in ages. The two gazed into each other's eyes, both filled with pure happiness and affection as they shared another kiss before they made their way down the hill towards their old home. Tod, in particular, couldn't have felt happier that night as he finally felt as if the hole in his heart had finally been sealed whole.