A/N: Judy and Nick plan the details of their fight, while developments continue for both of them in their lives.

Getting sick wasn't fun. Neither was the downward spiral that came with work right after. Oh well, at least things are better now (fingers crossed :P).

Thanks to Bloodfox22, Wolfx1120, J Shute, Declanflannery, Tinbuzzard11, side-fish, Medic 27, aomagrat, MapleHoneySyrup, BoltDMC, Guest, InTheLionsDenOnDA, RassyEyefur, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, D Fox, and sondreadful for reviewing!

Also, a special thanks to BeecroftA for editing this chapter.

Chapter 22: Reflections of My Life

"Okay, let's go through this one last time…" Nick started, sitting down on his mattress.

"Alright, I'm all ears."

Nick glanced over, a smirk forming on his face. Judy, who had just sat down on her own bed, looked at him in confusion for a second, before it hit her.

"Oh you—don't say it, Nick." She gritted her teeth, mentally bracing herself.

"Yes, you're 'all ears' all right." His smirk grew wider.

"I told you not to say it." Judy groaned.

"You can't possibly expect me to not say it when you set it up so nicely like that. Now, as I was saying…let's go through the list to make sure we're agreeable on everything."

"Fine," she grumbled. Nick cleared his throat, flipping his notepad back to the first page.

"So, the fight will take place in three months, right after the last of my physical exams. It'll be like the academy sparring sessions that we do in the ring. Oh, speaking of that, I was just thinking we should have the match in that very ring itself. That would mean it'll have to be on a Friday night—no one else should be in the academy then." Nick twirled his pen in his paw.

"I'm sure there's a whole bunch of other abandoned places we could find to spar. Why the academy ring?" Judy asked, leaning back against her pillow.

"It's more convenient." Nick shrugged. "Besides, it's pretty symbolic since we've both been there ourselves. What better way to settle who would win in a fight than on the very stage where a bunny took down a fully-grown rhino? And by the way, you still haven't told me how you actually did that."

"I could show you during our match." Judy grinned at him.

"Heh, I thought you'd say that. Anyway, the rules should be more or less the same as the usual sparring sessions. Meaning no teeth, no claws, and…oh, let me add on one more thing—no equipment and weapons." Nick started writing in his notebook.

"Weapons?" Judy gave Nick a look. "What kind of weapons? And why are you writing these rules down, anyway? They're not exactly hard to memorise."

"It's good to have things in black and white, just in case." Nick glanced up at her. "As for weapons, I'm talking about things like fox-shaped muzzles. I don't want you getting any funny ideas about some sort of potential 'exposure therapy' session you might have planned for me."

"Of course not!" Judy looked mildly insulted by the notion. "I would never do something like that."

"The video you were watching on it recently suggests otherwise. And before you ask, no, I did not snoop through your phone. I saw you watching it in bed yesterday while I was trying to sleep. You really need to turn down your screen brightness; it's bad for your eyes." Nick smirked.

"That's…" Judy seemed a little flustered. "I mean, I know it's a little late to be looking at videos like this after what I did to you last week, but I just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something hurtful to you."

"As far as I remember, you put that muzzle on yourself, not me." Nick replied, amused.

"I know it's still a touchy subject to you. I haven't gone through what you have—not to that extent. So that's why I…" she trailed off towards the end, before she quickly added: "I'm fine with just using our paws."

Hmm…I wonder what she had planned to say, Nick thought.

"Alright then. So, winner is whoever admits defeat, or whoever pins the other down for ten seconds."

"Or once it's clear who the winner is." Judy said.

"Something tells me you and I are going to have very different ideas of what that means." Nick said. "We all know how you hate to lose."

"So what do you suggest? A referee?"

"I do know a couple of people with experience in this area…" Nick tapped his chin.

"I kinda feel like the person you pick may be a little biased. Just a little." Judy rolled her eyes. "Forget the referee thing; I think we're both mature enough to admit defeat when we need to."

"Are you sure about that? I haven't told you what I'm planning to make you do once you lose." Nick returned the smirk.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Nick. I haven't told you anything either."

But we both know what you're thinking, so why not come out and just say it? Nick thought. The words itched in his throat, but he held them back. It was oh-so-tempting to call her out on it and watch her squirm and attempt to deny it, but he decided he didn't want to go down that road. Not today.

"…Either way, I can't believe we took an entire month to come up with these rules," Nick replied, settling for a dismissive shrug instead. He closed the notebook and tucked it into the shelf behind him.

"I've been busy, okay?"

"With what? As far as I can see, you don't seem to have much on your plate other than entertaining schoolchildren and dodging drooling reporters. And I haven't seen you doing that lately either." Nick rummaged through the shelf above now, pulling out a small backpack and stuffing various pieces of clothing inside.

"Things have quietened down a little on that end actually. Chief Bogo's been letting me handle some actual policework as a result. Mostly patrols, handling protests, a few petty theft cases, stuff with more paperwork than action really."

"Are you really still looking for action? I thought that naïve wide-eyed bunny would have already learnt her lesson by now."

"I never said I was looking for action." Judy retorted.

"You sure sounded like it, though." Nick teased. "What kind of protests are they, anyway?"

"Mostly about the upcoming election. But there's still a few anti-predator ones." She scoffed in disdain. "I can't believe that people still buy into that stuff."

"You used to as well, y'know." Nick chuckled, tossing one last t-shirt into his bag before zipping it up. "So try to be a little understanding, Carrots."

"I am understanding!" Judy retorted, folding her arms with a huff. "Have you heard what they say during their protests? It's awful stuff; even I wasn't nearly that bad."

"If you're talking about the new 'Prey Renaissance Movement' that's been trending on Furbook for the last week, then yes, I've heard it. And all I can say is…meh. I haven't lost any sleep over it." He shrugged. "It's nothing compared to the Ferals for Naturalism group."

"…Do I even want to know what that is?"

"Oh, it's just a group of mammals that think that we should revert back to the good old days. Natural law and all that. Including foxes like me hunting and eating bunnies like you. There's even a multi-chapter section dedicated to how to cook and serve different types of prey, like stuffing, live roasting on an open grill—"

"—Okay, I regret asking. Thanks, Nick." Judy pressed her ears against her head with a shudder.

"Always glad to help." Nick stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Anyway, it's about time for me to return to my humble prison quarters." "It's still a travesty to have to go back in on Sunday night, by the way."

"Yes, Nick, I know." Judy rolled her eyes, letting go of her ears. "And as usual, try to stay out of trouble, okay? I wouldn't want you getting 'injured' and chickening out of the fight."

"Same to you, Carrots. Try not to trip and fall on that bad leg of yours, 'kay? Besides, you're going to need both your legs when you're wearing Finnick's elephant costume and toot-toot-ing yourself through Savannah Central."

Judy paused, seeming to take a moment to picture the image in her head.

"Is that what you're planning to use your win for?"

"Not necessarily, but it's good to keep you guessing. See ya, Carrots." Nick waved, walking out the front door and shutting it behind him.

Now alone, Judy sighed, slumping back onto her bed. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest at the thought of Nick's parting comment.

I can't believe he's thinking of making me wear that elephant costume…she thought to herself. Her mind couldn't help but picture all the potentially humiliating things he could make her do if he won.

That is, if he won.

"Well, I'm not going to give him that chance." She mumbled out loud now. "Yeah, that's right. He's not going to get that chance, because I'm going to win. I got this." She clenched her fists, psyching herself up.

"That's right! You've got this, bunny cop!" A voice called through the wall. "We're with you!"

"Yeah!" The second part of the unmistakable duo echoed. "And if you lose, we think you'd still look cute in an elephant costume—ow!"

"Shut up, Pronk!"

"But that was what you said earlie—OW!"

Judy chuckled, shaking her head.

"Thanks for the confidence, guys."

The night passed without much fanfare, which was a welcome relief for Judy. Monday morning came quickly, and before she knew it, she was back in the precinct doing paperwork at her desk after the usual morning briefing at the bullpen.

Well, she would have been, if not for an ominous note stuck to her monitor saying that the Chief wanted to see her.

Why didn't he just talk to me during the morning brief? Judy thought to herself as she hurried down the hallway towards his office. This wasn't like the Chief. Usually, he had no problem making his comments or asking his questions in front of everyone else.

Despite her unease, she found herself in front of his office door, which was slightly ajar. She gave it a couple of quick knocks.

"Chief?"

No response. Judy craned her neck to peek through the crack in the door. She could see a shadow moving ever so slightly inside. She pulled back and knocked again.

"Chief? Are you there?"

She heard the sound of rustling papers and pens, followed by a small grunt.

"Yes, Hopps. Come in." The gruff voice of the Chief called out.

As Judy pushed the door open, she was greeted by two mountains of papers and files sitting precariously on Bogo's desk, one on each side of the buffalo. Said buffalo was sitting in his chair, looking rather groggy. The fur on the side of his face did look suspiciously flat, like it had been slept on. Judy mentally reminded herself not to stare at it for too long.

"What is it, Hopps?"

"You…asked me to come see you, sir." Judy replied, a tinge of confusion in her voice. "There was a note on my desk."

Bogo paused for a moment, before pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head a couple of times.

"Ah yes, that's right. I did want to speak to you about something." he cleared his throat, looking more awake now.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"Yes." Bogo replied bluntly. He placed his elbows on his table, leaning forward towards her. "As I reminded in the briefing this morning, there's been a noticeable increase in protests with the elections coming up. Especially anti-predator ones. That's why I've asked you to help with handling the protestors over the last couple of weeks."

Judy nodded wordlessly, swallowing a little saliva that had built up in her throat. Bogo's mouth curled up into a scowl, as if he wasn't satisfied with her response.

"Ever since I gave you that assignment, I haven't heard a peep from you. And that has me deeply concerned. Is there something I should know, Hopps?"

Judy shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I…don't understand, Chief."

Bogo looked straight at her, his eyes boring into her own.

"Do you remember when you first returned to work from your injury three months ago? It didn't even take you a day before you ran up to me asking how you could help give the predators their jobs back. But now it's been two weeks since I gave you this assignment, and you haven't barged into my office since then. Not even once."

"That doesn't mean anything's wrong, sir."

Bogo folded his arms.

"Of course not. I don't think there's anything wrong at all. But I know you don't think that. I already know how you operate, Hopps. You can't let injustice slide if there's something you can do to stop it. In fact, I half-expected you to put on a spandex costume and start fighting crime by night by now, just to get it out of your system."

Judy laughed, before realising the Chief wasn't laughing with her. She quickly stifled it with a paw over her mouth. "I'm no vigilante, Chief. I'm just doing what I can."

"You've spent the better part of the last three months trying to mend predator-prey relations. And you're telling me you don't feel distressed that things haven't been looking up despite your best efforts? Not even a little?"

Judy swallowed some saliva that had built up in her throat. She could have tried to deny it outright, but Bogo would probably have seen through that immediately.

"I guess that isn't entirely wrong…" she finally admitted. "The whole predator-prey divide is still there, but now everyone's just using the elections as a cover for it."

"And?"

"…I guess I don't feel great about it."

"That's more like it." Bogo sighed, sounding relieved. "You're not thinking of quitting again, are you?"

"No, sir."

"Excellent. The last thing I need is Rhinestone breathing down my neck on why you left. Again." He deadpanned. "Look, Hopps. I want you to know that you're doing a fine job. Despite what you may be seeing and hearing out there, things in Zootopia are getting better. And your work has made a difference."

"Chief…"

"I'm not just saying that to make you feel better, in case you were wondering." Bogo reached over to the haystack of files and papers, rummaging around for a bit until he found a few pieces of paper, which he handed over to Judy. Taking them with both paws, she turned it over. It seemed to be a printed email chain.

Who even prints emails, anyway?

It wasn't a very long email chain, but it seemed to involve quite a few big names that Judy recognised. Mostly higher-ups from the other precincts in Zootopia. It seemed to be a status update on staffing matters. She scanned through the three pages, reading them once, then twice. She then looked up, her eyes wide.

"Chief, is this…?"

"Yes. We're targeting the move by the end of next month. We're still finalising a couple of things, so we won't be making any announcement until next week."

Judy could feel her heart beating inside her chest. She hadn't been as down as Bogo had made it seem, but reading the words in the paper in front of her was like a shot of energy right into her chest. She read the final paragraph again.

"Effective at the end of next month, all predators are to return to their original postings prior to the reshuffling as a result of former Mayor Lionheart's arrest six months ago."

"Commissioner Rhinestone made special mention to your efforts during our meeting last week, by the way." Bogo added. "I thought that would be good for you to know."

Judy barely heard Bogo's words. Her mind was too busy processing the ones written on the paper in front of her.

That means Fangmeyer, Wolfard, Delgato…and Clawhauser…

A growing warmth spread through her chest as she thought about the chubby cheetah finally returning to the front desk, donuts in paw and a silly grin on his face.

"Chief…thank you."

"Will that be all, Hopps? If there's nothing else, I have a literal mountain of work that needs to be done." Bogo put his reading glasses on, picking a file from the top of the stack beside him and flipping it open. He wasn't even looking at her now, but Judy knew what that meant.

"Yes Chief. That's all from me."

She quickly excused herself and left the office, closing the door behind her firmly—just in case the chief felt like going back to his nap. She had been standing in the same spot eight minutes ago, but now, she had a considerably wider smile on her face. She almost couldn't believe how much her mood had changed in such a short time.

I should probably get back to my desk before someone asks why I have a silly grin on my face.

She could have gone straight back to work, but the urge to share the good news was too strong. The first person that came to mind was Nick, but he was probably busy with his morning training at this hour. However, the second person that came to mind probably didn't have too much on his plate—other than a couple dozen donuts, maybe.

I'm sure I could take a few minutes to tell Ben the good news.

Feeling a spring in her step, Judy sprinted down the stairs, taking them two at a time—which was quite a feat considering her size. She dashed through the main lobby, weaving in and out of the multitude of mammals walking around. No one paid her much mind as she headed down the familiar musty hallway towards the records department. She'd been there so many times now that she could probably find her way to Clawhauser's room with her eyes closed.

As she approached the room, her ears perked up at the sound of something…crunching. Immediately after, the smell of potato chips wafted into her nose. She was definitely on the right track. Skidding to a stop in front of the door, she raised her paws to knock. Before her paws touched the door though, it swung open from the inside, revealing a rather surprised-looking cheetah, with a not-as-surprising bag of chips in his hand.

"Ben!" Judy exclaimed.

"Judy!" Clawhauser exclaimed back. "You…look happy. Did something happen?"

"It finally happened, Ben! He finally said it!"

"He…said it?"

"Yes, he did!" Judy nodded proudly.

The cheetah's eyes lit up like Christmas lights all of a sudden, his paws shaking excitedly.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, you mean he said it to you? Out loud?"

"Yup! I just came out of his office; he said all the predators will have their jobs back by the end of the month. You're going to be at the front desk again, Ben!"

Clawhauser opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed to stop himself short, his brow furrowing for a moment. Judy did a double take; she'd expected a lot of reactions, but confusion was definitely not one of them.

"Ben?" she asked.

"Wait wait wait, you meant the Chief? So that means you weren't talking about…oh…"

"Talking about what?" Judy replied, cocking her head in similar confusion.

"Oh it's nothing!" Clawhauser dismissed with a wave of his paw. "This is great news, Judy!"

The puzzled look on his face disappeared as fast as it had come, which only left Judy even more confused as to what he had been expecting to hear.

"Yes…it is. Anyway, Chief Bogo isn't going to announce it until next week or so, but I just had to tell you. But please don't go telling anyone else first, okay?"

"Of course, Judy! I won't tell anyone. Pinky promise!" he stuck out a single digit of his paw at her. Judy smiled, returning the gesture by shaking it with her own paw. Thinking about it now, it seemed a little odd to ask the likely biggest gossip in the ZPD to keep a secret as big as this. But Judy felt like he deserved to know, since she was partially the reason why he was down here in the first place.

"Thanks, Ben. Anyway, I probably should get back to work. Need to get a report done before the afternoon patrol. I'll catch up with you again, okay?"

"Oh, okay!" Clawhauser replied. "By the way, before you go…how's Nick doing in the academy? Is he doing fine?"

"Oh yeah, he is. He's doing just fine. A bit too fine, in fact."

"Seems that he's on track to becoming a cop, huh?" Clawhauser grinned. "Do you have anything special planned for the graduation ceremony?"

Yeah, I was thinking a good left hook and an uppercut, Judy thought. It would have been a funny reply, but she decided to keep the thought to herself. She hadn't told anyone else about the fight with Nick, and as much fun as Clawhauser was to talk to, she didn't want to let him know about Nick's mom. And she really didn't want him to know that she could possibly be wearing a cute elephant costume if she were to lose the bet.

She blinked, pushing the image out of her head for what must have been the eighth time that morning.

"…Oh, nothing special. Maybe just going for a celebration dinner. Nothing too fancy."

"Ahh, I see…" Clawhauser nodded. "Well, you can tell me more next time. See you, Judy! And thanks for the great news!"

"See you, Ben!" Judy waved, before jogging off back upstairs.

As the sound of Judy's footsteps faded into the distance, Clawhauser shut the door, jumping into his chair and spinning back to his desk, a wide grin plastered over his face. Cackling evilly to himself, he opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a printed photo he'd taken three months ago, of a certain bunny and fox hugging in the precinct lobby.

"Oh, she's definitely got something planned for him."

"You ready?" Robbie called out.

Nick put his left foot forward, bending his knees slightly with his arms raised. Eyes pointed straight forward, he opened his right fist, motioning for the bunny to come at him.

"Whenever you are."

The bunny standing in front of him crouched for a split second before his legs sprang forward. He lunged fist-first straight at Nick, leaving the fox with barely enough time to lift his arms to block the blow. Robbie landed on the ground, and the bunny immediately twisted his body to deliver a follow-up side kick with his right leg. Nick caught said leg with both paws, barely stopping it before it connected with his chest. Even so, the fox found himself almost stumbling backwards from the sheer force of the kick.

Jeez, he really took me seriously when I told him not to hold back, Nick thought. He shoved his weight forward, causing Robbie to stumble off balance and fall backwards. The bunny instinctively stretched his arms out behind him to cushion the impact. Once his paws contacted the ground, he spun around quickly to get himself back on his feet. Once again, Robbie lunged at him, this time leading with a left hook. Nick shifted backwards to the avoid the fist, before using his paw to grab the bunny's outstretched arm and yank him straight up into the air. He was heavier than Judy, though Nick couldn't be entirely sure; it wasn't really fair to compare a sleeping Judy with an actively struggling Robbie.

Robbie thrashed around, but he wasn't strong enough to stop himself from being lifted into the air. Nick was starting to feel pleased with himself, until he realised that lifting a small bunny in the air meant that…

"Hrrg…yah!" Robbie used his free arm to grab on to Nick's paw and thrusted his leg straight at Nick's chest. Nick inhaled sharply, bracing for the kick to knock the wind out of him. But the foot hung just in front of his stomach, not moving any further.

"Hey, I actually got you! I actually got you!" Robbie exclaimed with a silly grin, still wiggling in mid-air.

"Heh, so you did. I'll remember not to try that move on your sister." Nick slowly lowered Robbie to the ground.

"To be fair, I'm not really good at this sort of thing. I'm sure Judy is much better at it." Robbie clenched his left paw a couple of times. In the corner of his eye, Nick could've sworn he saw Robbie flinch, though it was gone as fast as it had come.

"Did I hurt you?" Nick immediately took a step closer, looking the bunny's arm over.

"Huh? No, it's just my wrist. You did just lift me right off the ground." Robbie extended his arm towards Nick, giving it a gentle squeeze to show that it was alright.

"Sorry about that, Flatfoot. Let's call it a day. Our dinner's almost here, anyway."

"…Alright."

Nick dusted himself off, before heading over to the nearby bench where both their bags were sitting. The sun hung low in the sky, with warm orange light casting long shadows across the grass in the open field behind them. In the distance, Nick could see the other cadets returning to their bunks, likely returning from dinner at the canteen.

"You know, you really shouldn't have insisted on going all out. It's too much of a risk," Nick said, flopping down on his side of the bench.

"I did promise to help you with your sparring to prepare for Judy. And besides, it's been more than a month since I took off my brace. My arm feels a lot better already, see?" Robbie flicked his wrists, clenching and unclenching his paw several times. True enough, he seemed to be doing it easily, without any obvious signs of discomfort. Either that, or he was getting better at lying. Which was definitely a possibility.

"It may feel fine, but that doesn't mean you should go giving it trouble." Nick motioned for the bunny to join him. Robbie obliged, climbing up the large bench and grabbing his own water bottle from his bag.

"I know, I know. I'm doing my best not to put too much strain on it, but I've got more important things to worry about than my arm."

"More important things, huh? Speaking of that, how are you holding up?"

"I'm…fine, I guess. Major Friedkin and the others have been really pushing me hard ever since I resumed the training. I've been able to keep up with the others, even if I'm behind most of the time. To be honest, I'm just glad they haven't kicked me off the program after being out of commission for so long." Robbie took a sip from his bottle.

"Major Noise Pollution hasn't said anything about kicking you out, surprisingly enough. So I don't think you've got anything to worry about on that end. But that wasn't what I was referring to."

Robbie looked up.

"Huh?"

"Like you said, it's been more than a month since you got injured. Which means it's also been more than a month since we were at the carnival with you-know-who."

Robbie rolled his eyes.

"Oh c'mon, it's not like we can't say her name. She's not Vole-demort."

"True." Nick shrugged, before adding: "You still haven't answered my question."

"It's…better," Robbie whispered, sounding hesitant to say it. "You were right—it did get easier. Lying to her, I mean. To be honest, it's scaring me how comfortable it's starting to become."

"You don't sound too happy about it. Still having second thoughts?"

"I suppose I do. I tried not to think about it, but that just made me think about it more. I still can't swallow the idea of lying to her—to everyone—like this…" Robbie sighed.

"I figured. Well, you've got to figure out how to handle that part on your own. Not much I can do to help you there." Nick shrugged.

"…Actually, I think there is." Robbie looked up at him with curious eyes. "Do you think I could ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"You've been through this before, haven't you? Lying, I mean. To someone from your family."

Nick took a swig from his bottle.

"I don't ever remember mentioning that to you." He raised an eyebrow.

"You've…hinted about them. Like when we first met, you mentioned you understood what it was like to keep things from family. And after the carnival, you said something about 'at least you didn't lie to them for twenty years'. I thought it was just a random number at first, but…it feels like there was something more to it."

Ah, so he finally caught on, Nick thought to himself. A part of him should have been disappointed that Robbie had figured it out, but then again, the other part knew that he hadn't exactly tried that hard to keep it from him in the first place.

"Well, you're not wrong, Flatfoot."

"So I'm right?"

"That's what I just said." Nick deadpanned. "Try to keep up."

"Sorry." Robbie shook his head sheepishly. "…If it's not too sensitive for you, do you think you could share your story with me?"

"Why do you want to know?" Nick asked.

"I just…want to know how you did it. How you got through these feelings."

Nick looked up at the sky, which was growing ever dimmer with each passing minute. Once again, he felt that familiar feeling of déjà vu. This time though, it felt somewhat different; he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason why.

"It's a long story, and not exactly one that I like telling. But if you think it'll help, I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"…Thanks, Nick." Robbie said quietly.

"I suppose the first thing you want to know is who I lied to."

Robbie nodded silently.

"That would be my mom. For the record, this has been going on since I was like, eight or nine. As for what it was about…let's just say we had different ideas on how the world worked. We couldn't see eye to eye, so to keep things from getting worse between us, I lied to her about what I did for a living."

"You mean your hustling gig that The Kong talked about before? What did he call it…'swindling money from unsuspecting suckers'?"

"Pretty much. We didn't have the best life when I was growing up, and it was mostly because the world hated foxes. But hey, I hated the world too, so I guess it evens out." Nick chuckled. "She always wished for me to stay on the straight and narrow; she didn't want me to end up like 'one of those foxes'. She never forced me though, and I think that made it worse. I didn't want to hurt her by going against what she believed in. So I lied. About what I did…about what I'm doing."

"You never told her the truth?"

"Never."

"For twenty years?" Robbie asked.

Nick nodded. Robbie paused, seeming to process just how long that actually was.

"And in all that time, she never said anything? Never suspected anything?"

I'm pretty sure that she knows, Nick thought. The words almost left his mouth, but he couldn't find it in himself to say it. He knew what Robbie would inevitably say next if he did.

"If she already knows, then why won't you tell her?"

He wasn't prepared to answer that question.

"No, she never said anything. Either way, it doesn't matter now. Things turned out the way they did, and it's better this way. For everyone."

"Did you ever think about just coming clean about it?" Robbie asked quietly.

It's not too late. You can stop him from going down this path.

Nick sighed.

"I did. Lots of times. But knowing her, that's probably the worst thing I could do. I figured that we could just preserve what we had left by just never bringing it up. Sometimes, some things are better left unsaid, you know?"

"I know…I get what you mean, but…do you ever wish that it were different?"

The question gave Nick pause. For some reason, hearing the question left an odd sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was because the stark truth of the matter was staring him right in the face. He knew what his answer was; he just didn't want to say it. But he knew that his moment of hesitation had already answered the question for him.

"…I guess I do."

Robbie looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He didn't say a word, but Nick could tell that he'd been waiting for him to say something along those lines.

"Look, Flatfoot, you…" Nick paused, thinking carefully about what he was going to say next. "You don't need to lie to your sister forever. Just…until telling the truth becomes convenient. Instead of trying to keep it to yourself forever, how about just telling her when you think the time is right? That way, you can give yourself a way out."

"That's…a really good idea, actually."

"Of course it is. It came from me."

"I suppose I could tell her if I don't make it out of the academy." Robbie thought out loud. "Maybe I could go with you and tell her everything then. And hope she doesn't get too mad."

"That's only if you fail." Nick pointed out. "And I wouldn't be too worried about her; she'll probably be too busy being mad at me for helping you lie to her. Imagine the look on her face when she realises she got duped the entire day we were at the carnival."

Robbie chuckled. "I'd rather not. Like you said, I just hope that she's understanding about it."

"I'm sure she'll be." Nick placed a reassuring paw on the bunny's shoulder. "So, feel better now?"

"I do, Nick. Thanks."

"Excellent. As long as it helps you sleep at night. Anyway, Kong is almost here. About time too—I'm starving." Nick stood up, stretching his arms. "Shall we go pick up our dinner?"

The bunny nodded, drumming his paws on the edge of the bench for a moment. As they grabbed their things and got off the bench, Robbie looked up at him.

"Nick?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you still waiting too?"

"For what?" Nick glanced over.

"For your time to be right. With your mom."

Nick adjusted the strap around his shoulder.

"…Heh, it's different for me. But don't you worry about it. You just need to focus on yourself. I've got everything under control on my side. And I probably don't need to tell you this, but don't go blabbing about this to anyone. Especially your sister."

"Of course." Robbie nodded. He didn't say anything else, not seeming to want to push the subject any further. Silence fell between the two, leaving Nick to grapple with his own thoughts. Surprisingly, the conversation went better than he expected. And yet, a single sentence echoed in his head, repeating the same question over and over.

"If she already knows, why won't you tell her?"

Perhaps he was just scared of what would follow. Nick wasn't stupid; he knew his mother wasn't either. She probably had a good idea of what he had been doing since he was a kit. Even though he was finally doing something that she would probably be proud of him for, that didn't erase the last twenty years of him avoiding and lying to her.

"But do you…ever wish it was different?" the voice whispered.

Nick glanced over at the brown bunny in the corner of his eye.

Yes, I do. Nick thought. As much as he'd been trying to deny it all this time, he knew the truth deep down in his heart.

Deep down, he truly did want to make things right again.