"The Universe is everything we can touch, feel, sense, measure or detect. It includes living things, planets, stars, galaxies, dust clouds, light, and even time. Before the birth of the Universe, time, space and matter did not exist."
- from the website of the European Space Agency
"æther, also called quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere"
- quote by George Smoot III from "Aristotle's Physics"
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.
- by Lewis B. Smedes
A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating this story. I got caught up in another project but hopefully this chapter will make it worth your while. I have the next chapter all ready for submission as well as I'm just waiting for my editor, NightWolf0179, to review it. He's been helping me out with his story and I'm helping him out with his. This fellow is still in school and I'm amazed at how maturely he writes. Check out his stories in FanFiction.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by ©Disney. Any resemblance to actual persons or mammals, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Certain concepts in this chapter are referenced from the story, A Tail of Love written by Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps. The OC, Robby Peterson, is owned by Cookboss88 and is used with their permission. The OCs, Serendipity and Karma were created by kittah4 and are also used with their permission. I apologize in advance to authors whose works I may have not acknowledged. Cheesiness factor may rot your gut. You have been warned!
Two ethereal beings were playing tag in the vastness of what is known to mammals as space. They had come to our region of the universe because they had been kicked out by their mother for being too rowdy in their plane of existence. The smaller one looked like it had short front paws, long hind legs, long ears and what appeared to be a fluffy little tail. The bigger being appeared to be also four-legged but had a much longer muzzle compared to the other and a rather long bushy tail. As the bigger one playfully chased after the smaller one, its long tail inadvertently brushed against our sun, causing a concentrated beam of light and deadly radiation to speed towards the earth. It took the beam approximately eight minutes to reach the outer atmosphere of the planet. The exosphere slowed down the solar wind that came with the light thus preventing a disruption in the electrical grid of the civilized countries. The beam of light went through the ionosphere and mesosphere like a hot knife through butter. As it passed through the stratosphere, all of the harmful radiation that came along with the light was successfully filtered out so that only the light and heat from that original mini-solar flare passed through the troposphere and came to shine on a secluded glen where two naked mammals blissfully slept the sleep of satiated lovers.
Nick groggily awoke from his stupor as he felt the increased warmth and light of the afternoon sun as it shone on his eyes. Where am I? Nick thought.
The last thing he remembered seeing was a pure white light then nothing else. Slowly, the memories came flooding back: the picnic, his having orally pleasured Judy's body to several orgasms, her magical ministrations with her ears, the howling…she made me howl even though we weren't knotted! he realized with a jolt. She really has some spell over me. Would wonders never cease? he bewilderedly thought.
He attempted to sit up but the grey mass of fur on his chest that was lightly snoring impeded his actions. Given Judy's penchant for violence when she was in her heat cycle, he thought to err on the side of caution and would allow her to wake up on her own good time. Besides, he had nothing better to do at the moment except take in her beauty as she slept on his chest. He clasped his paws behind his head and observed her as she dozed on him. He slowly took a deep whiff, focusing on her unique earthy, flowery scent in order to isolate it, imprinting it forever on his brain. Eau de Judy. He'd never get tired of smelling it. Of smelling her. She had recently become his reason for waking each morning.
The last ten years were empty husks compared to the last two days that they had been together. He reviewed those years in his mind. Although he did have a pack and he always had been there for them, he had gone home at the end of the day, alone, to an empty bed, no one at the doorway waiting for him. He felt guilty for feeling selfish. It wasn't that he hated giving of himself. He rather enjoyed being there for others, helping them, leading them, their feeling of trust and dependence on him. Yet, there were times he had craved for this feeling of intimacy that he now felt. If there was one singular unique being on this planet who loved him as much as he loved her, who willingly gave of herself as much as he did to her, it was Judy. His soul mate.
As the sun slowly started its descent, Judy stirred. As her eyes opened, she looked up at Nick's face and gave him the warmest, most loving smile he had ever seen. His body went numb with joy and his heart began to beat at such a pace that it was threatening to burst.
"I must have died and gone to heaven," said Nick huskily as he fought back a tear, "because I can't take my eyes off this beautiful angel on my chest."
"Oh, Nick…you say the corniest things!" chided Judy fondly.
Nick just smiled. "Corny? No, Judy. I haven't said enough about how I feel about you. You deserve more than what I have to offer," Nick began, as he raised himself up on his elbow to look at her face directly. He reached out a paw to caress her right cheek. "My life has been empty these last ten years and now that you're back in my life, the last two days have been deliriously heavenly. I wonder why I should even be so blessed to have you. These marks on your cheek are testament on how I hurt you and the pain you went through over the years. And yet, even though I wounded you, here you are, loving me despite my transgression. I ask myself if I even deserve you?"
Judy stiffened at the use of her real name as Nick only used it when he was being serious. She reached out to grab his paw. "Nick!" she admonished him, "Don't ever say that! Don't ever doubt yourself! You are the kindest, sweetest mammal I have ever known. You have always been there for me even though I was blind to your love. If anyone should be asking for forgiveness, it should be me," as she raised her head to gaze straight into his emerald orbs, the moistness threatening to appear in hers. "I never acknowledged you for the true friend that you were. Even when your father confirmed what I had suspected, I still hesitated to consider you anything more than just a friend. I knew you were in love with me but I was afraid. And because of my fear, you ended up getting hurt," Judy said as she rubbed her cheek on his paw. "I shouldn't be here receiving your love."
Nick gathered her up in his arms as he sat up placing her on his lap. "We both got hurt. I, at least, was able to find a pack and a mission in life to get me through the pain. But I have no idea how you fared these last ten years? What was your life like? How were you treated? These things haunt me. But I don't have the power to go back and change the past or remove the hurt no matter how much I want to."
Judy reached out to wrap her arms around his wide chest, her paws barely touching each other. She laid her head on his chest with a sigh. "I, too, wish that. My life wasn't easy after you left. I had to keep proving myself over and over again. I was lonely and the pain of losing you was at times unbearable. But, I learnt from someone close that one shouldn't try to change the past, as that is what has made us who we are in the present."
Nick slowly stroked Judy's back, as he held her, absorbing what she had said. "You're right. We can't change the past. We shouldn't. We both need to let the guilt go as it's an unnecessary weight," Nick said smiling, "and although forgetting is hard, we can forgive each other. That way we can change the memory into a hope for the future."
"Nick," Judy said as she lifted her head from his shoulder, "that's beautiful. You Zoogled that didn't you?" she said accusingly with a small smile forming on her lips.
Nick chuckled. "Can't keep anything from you, can I, Carrots? Yeah, I subscribe to DailyQuotes and this was by a Red Panda by the name of Lewis Smee," he sheepishly admitted.
She gave him a smug look with half-lidded eyes. "Well, at least your performance in the sack is original," she smirked.
"So," Nick asked as he laughed at how quickly she changed subjects, "am I all that I'm cracked up to be?" as he waggled his eyebrows.
"Mmmm…you definitely aced it, Slick. I think we're going to need to talk to Bonnie about getting you some of Finnick's 'energy pills' cause I find you really addictive," Judy simpered as she stretched her hind paw to caress Nick's maleness. "I don't want you keeling over too early," she snickered.
"Now you're making me blush and worry, Officer!" Nick laughed as Judy's hind paw tickled his masculinity. "As a gentlemammal, I will always make it my mission to please my mate in any way that I can. I just hope I can keep up with her," he smirked. "By the way, have you ever met her?" he said, as he leaned back on the ground with his paws behind his head, gazing up at the trees and listing Judy's various accomplishments with admiration in his voice. "She's a driven bunny who never lets her target out of her sight not till she's chased them down. She's the first bunny cybercrime specialist of Zootopia with an impressive record of assisted arrests due to leads generated by her cybercrime investigative skills. She crashed at least five known organized crime websites within three days of joining the department, which led to the major disruption of their illicit operations. She also managed to uncover a plot being planned by her former boss, Mayor Bellwether by tracing the various suspicious email exchanges emanating from the former mayor's office. Said sheep was going to revive the dreaded predator collars by instilling the fear of predators through the use of the 'Nighthowler Serum'. In bringing the incriminating emails to light, the plot was uncovered, the cowardly ewe and her cohorts arrested and she prevented an outright civil war between species." Nick then turned his head to face her. "She may be height-challenged but that hasn't stopped her for reaching for the stars. She's warm, loving, caring, and has a mean set of ears." This merited a punch from Judy. "Oh, yeah, and a wicked right punch as well," Nick managed to gasp, clasping his stomach, while trying not to laugh and groan in pain from the well-placed hit to his midriff at the same time.
"You're really a jerk, Nicholas Wilde!" Judy said as she shook her paw at him, feigning displeasure yet at the same time secretly pleased that he had been monitoring her career. "You start out so romantic only to goof it up with something totally inappropriate." Judy said trying to hide her smile.
"Couldn't help it, Fluff. I swear these have a mind of their own," he snickered good-humoredly as he stretched out to affectionately run both his paws over her ears making Judy tremble with pleasure. "Besides, you know you love me," as he waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Do I? Not really sure right now," Judy smirked back. "Keep up the snark and you'll be sleeping outside tonight by yourself on the couch!" she said, wiggling her own eyebrows back at him challengingly.
"Ah, you wound me, Fluff," Nick said with a dramatic flourish, casting an arm over his eyes. "How could you hate on my charm?"
"How can I hate something that's non-existent, Slick? And you're milking the drama." Judy shot back drily with a grin, as she rested her chin on her paw.
Nick laughed. He had missed their playful repartee. "Okay, Carrots. You got me. I'll go back to the library and borrow the book of Miss Manners again," as he playfully bopped her twitching nose.
Suddenly, the breeze picked up causing the both of them to shiver due to the slight drop in ambient temperature from their surroundings. Nick scanned the area and noticed how low in the horizon the sun had dropped.
"Best we get dressed and head back to the cave," Nick suggested. "I don't want my mate freezing her rear off…although I hear chilled bun-buns are quite a delicacy!" he sniggered.
Judy suddenly came to a dawning realization. "That's the second time you called me your mate," she whispered awe-struck. "Do you really mean it?"
"Yes, yes, I do," confessed Nick happily as he lovingly gathered her again in his paws, bringing her closer to him as they lay on their sides. He wrapped his tail around her in order to keep her warm and gazed at her beautiful features while caressing her left cheek in his paw. "Even though we haven't knotted yet, my heart tells me that there can only be room for you. You're the one I want to spend eternity with. If I were ever to lose you, it would cause my heart to stop beating out of sheer loneliness. I want to be by your side, forever and a day," uttered Nick wholeheartedly and unashamedly.
Judy's eyes began to tear at his words as she lost herself in his tender confession. He had managed to drop his walls and offered her a glimpse into himself. She rubbed his paw with her cheek then buried her nose into Nick's broad, muscular chest where she breathed in his overpoweringly musky scent. Once…twice…thrice. In so doing, she had imprinted his unique scent onto her brain. Mine! Judy internalized with pride and satisfaction. She then lifted her head and reached for Nick's muzzle to engage him in a kiss.
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde," she declared in a stern official voice, as she got up to sit back on her haunches after they had broken the kiss, "I am placing you under arrest!"
Across the border, in Zootopia, high in the penthouse office of the Frederick Rupert Murdock Peterson Tower (or the FRuMP Tower as the media liked to call it for short), a buck in his early thirties was feverishly pacing the deep, richly carpeted floor while looking at his mobile phone, his digits flying across its face. "Ha!" exclaimed the slightly balding male rabbit, who tended to comb his fur over to the side to cover his receding furline, as he pressed the send button on his latest one hundred forty-character rant on his social media page in Woofer. "Let's see them refute my woof! I'll crush them like the weeds they are!" snarled the bunny. Suddenly, his phone rang from an unknown and unlisted number.
"Councilor Peterson here. Who is this?" snapped the buck, who tended to favor his left paw more as the cold tended to exacerbate the osteoarthritis over the last ten years from the injury he had suffered on his right. "Oh, it's you," he snuffled disappointedly. "Didn't I tell you not to call me here? What's that? They managed to slip away from you? And now they're together again after ten years? What the hell is my father paying you for? Find them! Stop them! I don't care how you do it. I don't need him making a return just when I'm about to launch my candidacy for vice-mayor of Zootopia!" he growled; as he looked across his office to a banner proclaiming his latest slogan, Make Zootopia Prey Again!
"What's that? Double the fee? Why you little weasel! Those weren't our original terms!" barked the male as he continued to listen. "Fine! If that's what it'll take to get them out of my fur, so be it! Now, I'm very busy and the next time I hear from you, it better be to say my problem has been solved! And don't call me on this phone again!" he shouted as he hung up on the caller. "Good luck on collecting that fee from me, idiot!" he muttered angrily under his breath. He then turned to study the various poster layouts on his desk, looking for the one that showed his best side, each one proudly proclaiming to the world, Robby Peterson for Vice-Mayor!
"And what are the charges, Officer?" Nick asked with a smug grin, propping his head up with his paw as he lay on his side, eyeing the fluffy grey bunny whom he had just poured his heart out to. I wonder where she's going with this? She looks adorable though. Trying to arrest me while completely naked, he internally chuckled.
"The charges are for a crime of passion, kidnapping and holding my heart hostage." Judy began with a smirk on her face as she lowered herself so that her face was level with Nick's, her ears flicking back and forth playfully. "There is also the small misdemeanor of being too cheesy." Judy grinned. She then grabbed Nick by the muzzle with both of her paws and stared affectionately into his emerald green eyes. "I will now read you your rights. You have the right to love me with all your heart. Anything you say about your love for me will be held against you for future reference by me. You have the right to be loved by me. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?" Judy giggled as she playfully nipped at his neck all the while pushing him on his back so that she could lie on top of him again.
"And I thought I was the comedian in this relationship," huffed Nick, distracted by Judy's nibbles. "Although, it did cross my mind where you'd be hiding the handcuffs given the very thorough cavity search I had performed on you," laughed Nick, dodging Judy's paw as she attempted to lightheartedly swat his muzzle.
"Hmph! For that crack, Captain Wilde," Judy mockingly declared, "I hold you in contempt of court and sentence you to cook dinner for me. If you're on your best behavior, you may get time in bed with me," Judy warned in jest, "and if not, you're on your own on the couch."
Nick awoke the next day, finding his arms full of a soft, warm, cuddly grey bunny who was facing away from him with her body snuggly pressed against his. He marveled at the fact that despite Mother Nature engineering their bodies differently, she fit perfectly into his side. Looking down at her, he never saw anything more precious to him; a mammal that he wanted to wake up every day to, cherishing each day with her as if it were his last. He had wrapped his tail around her body as they had slept and she had taken hold of it in her paws sometime in the night, as if it were a security blanket. Watching her nose twitch in her sleep, he couldn't help but think of how cute she looked.
"Don't call me cute, Slick," Judy mumbled as she dozed.
Startled, Nick thought, How does she do that? He mentally shook his head at the coincidence. As he lay with her in his arms, he began to think of their future together. Now that she's my mate, he decided, it's time my family met her. And I'm sure they'll want us to formalize it in the traditional manner, Nick happily thought, as his tail involuntarily started wagging. The movement woke up Judy who began to stretch languorously, and then giggled as she grabbed Nick's tail again to stop it from moving.
"Good morning," she cooed as she continued to hold his tail while still facing away from him, "what's a beautiful creature like you doing in my bed?"
Nick started to chuckle as he kissed the top of her head. "Morning Fluff!" he said as he laid his head between her ears. "I knew you'd find me irresistible," he smirked as he brought her closer to him.
"Oh, hi Nick! I wasn't talking to you." Judy said nonchalantly glancing up. "I'm talking to this wonderful fluffy beast in my paws. Aren't you a beautiful thing? Yes you are, yes you are! Who's a good little boy?" she fussed as she returned her attention to his tail.
Nick was a bit put-off. "You do know that that 'thing' is attached to me, right?"
"Oh, shush! Not everything is about you, you know?" Judy said as she reached up to pat his muzzle. "And don't call it a 'thing'! You'll hurt his feelings." Judy chided him as she continued to caress his appendage. "What's your name, you handsome devil?" she asked his tail as she ran her paws through the fur.
Nick attempted to pull his tail away but she had a very firm grip. He sighed as he rolled his eyes. Must be something with rabbits and their season, he reasoned as he struggled to make sense of Judy's behavior.
"Nick, he's not answering me! Does he hate me? He hates me Nick!" Judy wailed.
Nick decided to have a little fun of his own. "His name is Don Nicolas Antonio Francisco Assisi de Wilde," the fox started, "and he definitely likes you. See?" as he let his tail dip and caress Judy's cheeks, who began to coo with the attention. "He also wants you to meet his two hermanos, Mano y Izquierda, who also have taken a liking to you," as he quickly stretched out both paws to begin tickling Judy sides.
Judy was trapped in Nick's arms as his claws assailed her sides. She convulsed with laughter, tears streaming from her cheeks as Nick continued this delicious torture. "Ready to acknowledge your mate, Fluff?" Nick smirked as he stopped tickling her after a few minutes and gently caressed her cheek, letting her catch her breath.
"Oh, you…" as she managed to squirm around in his embrace to face him and lightheartedly pummeled his chest. "I was just playing. You really are a spoil-sport," she said as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Meanie fox!"
"Rambunctious bunny!" Nick shot back with a laugh. "You really are a pawful, you know that? I don't know where you get your energy. I could hardly keep up with you in the lovemaking department last night." Nick snickered as he instinctively began grooming her back with his claws slightly extended.
"Is that a complaint I'm hearing, Captain Wilde?" she asked challengingly as she snuggled closer to him. "If it is, I did warn you about how good we bunnies are at multiplying. So you better step up your game." Judy smiled while also grooming Nick in return by running her small claws through his chest fur.
"Not complaining, my lovely Officer Hopps. Just admiring your ability to give everything and more to the mammal you love," as he ducked his head to sneak in a kiss. "As it is, I can hardly get enough of you. My very being wants to be with you every single minute of the day. The last ten years have been a barren desert and you are the oasis that quenches my soul. Being here with you, holding you in my arms, it still feels like a dream. And if it is," he whispered as he leant down for another kiss, "I never want to wake up." He lovingly locked lips with her as he tightened his embrace.
Judy swooned at his words as their kiss seemed to last forever. Her mind was in overdrive, her pulse was racing, her body felt like it was on fire and she felt as giddy as a teenager secretly kissing the school's bad boy under the bleachers. Her paws tightened on the fur on Nick's chest, eliciting a small whine of pain from him, as they hungrily sought each other's tongue. They eventually halted, more for the necessity to breathe, but their eyes reflected the hunger they felt for one another.
Nick contemplated on this feeling of completeness with Judy beside him. He knew that if they were going to take the next step, now was the time to have the 'fox talk'. "Judy," Nick began, "you asked me before why I hesitated to knot with you. The reason is because I need to know if you are prepared to accept the responsibility of being in love with a fox. Choosing a life-mate is a very serious decision, not one we foxes make lightly. You remember I keep saying, 'you'll be the death of me'? I mean that literally because once we make that life connection and for some reason, that connection gets broken, there is a very good chance that I wouldn't survive. I'm afraid to have you as my mate because I won't be able to give you a family and you'll leave. Yet," as he grasped her paws in his, continuing, "I'm also scared of not having you in my life. These last few days have opened my eyes and I'm prepared to take that risk. That is if you'll have me?" Nick fearfully asked.
"If you mean, to be with you and only you, together until the end of our lives?' Judy replied. "Yes, I am prepared to accept that. I think I was ready for this back when we were in high school but I was afraid to acknowledge my love for you because we were two different species. Back then, our being together would have been a huge scandal simply because you're a predator and I'm a prey. But after having been apart for so long," Judy grimaced at the painful memory, "I don't want us to be separated ever again. I couldn't bear it and I would be just as lost as you would," she said as she tried to burrow deeper into his chest, stretching her arms to reach as far back behind Nick as she could in order to hold him in a very tight embrace. "As for a family, we can always adopt as I'm sure there are many young kits out there who would love to have a wonderful mammal like yourself for a father." Judy beamed.
"And they would be delighted to have you as their mother," Nick gushed. "It's settled then," Nick said as he kissed the top of her head, "it's time you met my second family. Their village isn't too far away from here, and I'd like you to meet them. I'm sure they will be happy for us. Plus, we could participate in a most cherished First Mammal tradition."
"Second family? Whatever happened to your father, Nick?" Judy asked incredulously.
Nick hesitated for a moment, seeming to collect himself and his thoughts. Judy could see the pain inside him and she mentally kicked herself for asking too many questions. "Nick," Judy whispered as she attempted to comfort him by caressing his muzzle with her paw, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Nick acknowledged her gesture with a nod as he took her paw and kissed it. "No, you deserve to know if you're going to be my mate. There's a lot I haven't told you, Judy. I know I should have mentioned it before but give me time, okay? I'm still getting used to opening up as much as I have recently."
Judy was fine with his request. She knew Nick would still have stories that he wasn't ready to share with her yet but then she could be patient. After all, she wasn't going anywhere soon.
Nick continued with his story. "A few months after the incident with Robby, dad brought me to a First Mammal friend of his to take care of me while I was undergoing treatment and therapy. He said he needed to go back to Zootopia to take care of the shop and to see if he could sort it out with Robby's dad. He believed it was the right thing to do even though I pleaded with him not to. I've never heard from him since and…" Nick paused in order to take a deep breath for a moment, blinking back a few tears that threatened to fall as he continued. "I've always wondered what had happened to him. All of the avenues I've tried only come up with zilch," Nick recalled with sadness in his voice. "It hasn't been easy not having both parents around but then my First Mammal family readily took me in and never hesitated to show me their love. So, I'd like you to meet the mammals who became my second family and accepted me as one of their own," Nick said, this time with a tinge of pride in his voice.
Judy was astonished. Nick was starting to open up more and more to her. He had always preached, Never let them see that they get to you. But now, she saw him letting down his walls more often than before. She was happy that he was willing to share more and more of himself to her. "I'd be honoured to meet them, Nick," Judy said with a smile so warm it helped to ease the pain he felt in his heart.