Disclaimer: The Fox and the Hound is the property of Daniel P. Mannix and Walt Disney Studios, not mine.

The Next Political Dynasty: I understand, I hate it when my review doesn't go in either! Keep reading!

SunRise19: Don't worry about that, besides Amos will be too glad to see his dogs to want to shoot foxes anyway. Keep reading!

Anonymous but Impressed: Wow, now I have dynamite work! That's one compliment I haven't heard yet! Thanks, and keep reading!

The Fox and the Hound 3: The Next Generation

Part One: The Younger Years

Chapter Fifteen: Quality Time

The kids were over-thrilled to see their loved ones again. Swift and Autumn were busy yakking to Tod about what all had happened to them. He was so happy to see them, he didn't even think about punishing them for running away in the first place.

Copper was being greeted with kisses from his three puppies, and they were all talking at the same time about what happened that he really couldn't understand what they were saying. But it didn't matter, he was glad to see them again.

Smoky scampered over to Chief and wrapped his front paws around the older dog's leg to give him a hug. "I'm sorry for what happened, Uncle Chief, I didn't mean for any of it to happen!"

"What are you talking about? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I did! It was my idea for us to cross the fence while you were sleepin', and I got us kidnapped, and then you got hurt, and we all thought you were dead, and I thought it was all my fault and—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Chief told him. "Sonny, it's okay. I'm fine, honest to goodness I am. You're too young to be blaming yourself for stuff that's out of your control. You're a kid, you want to go exploring, and that's fine. I should of been watching you kids more closely. So you stop worrying yourself over this kind of thing, and be a kid."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do. Now you run along and play with your . . . friends," he finished slowly, seeing the two fox cubs. He gave a sigh. Oh well, Copper had played with a fox when he was pup, so why couldn't his kids do the same thing? Smoky gave Chief a lick on the nose before running off with his siblings to see the fox cubs.

"Hey, uh, Smoky?" Swift said a little nervously. "Sorry I was acting like a big jerk and all earlier. And I never actually thanked you for—"

"Please, don't thank me," Smoky interrupted, holding a paw in the air. "It was nothing. And I'm sorry for being a jerk too. Friends?"

Swift smiled. "Okay, friends."

Tod and Copper watched their children with pride. They may or may not have gotten along with each other, but it seemed that they were friends now.

"Brings back old memories, huh?" Tod finally said as he watched them all romp in the grass.

"Sure does," Copper responded, remembering when he and Tod first met. But a roaring sound approaching them all ceased him from looking back into the past. They all immediately recognized the sound as some trucks coming towards them. Tod called his two cubs over to him.

"I hate to run, but we need to get out of here. Vixey is probably worried to death over us," Tod told them. "Say good-bye, kids."

"Good-bye, Ace! 'Bye, Beulah! 'Bye, Smoky!" the cubs waved.

"It was nice seeing you again, Tod," Copper told the fox before he disappeared into the forest.

"You too, pal. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime."

"Yeah. Well, you guys better go before the humans see you and want to hunt you down or something."

"Right, come on cubs, let's go see Mom!"

With that, the foxes dashed off into the woods, leaving the five hounds by the empty warehouse. The pups all wagged their tails, glad they had made friends with Swift and Autumn after all.

"I'm going to miss having a girl to talk to," Beulah sighed when the foxes were out of sight. "It was nice getting to meet new people."

"Yeah. You reckon will ever see them again, Ace?" Smoky asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'm sure we will someday, but not anytime soon."

By this time, about three jeeps had pulled up, one of them belonging to their Master, Amos. When he saw his missing dogs, he slammed on the brakes, parked the truck, and jumped out to see them. Belle was with him as well, and she rushed over to see the family.

All the dogs greeted Amos with wagging tails and happy barks. He pulled the two older dogs into a hug and the puppies bounced around at his heels. When they saw their mother, they ran over to see her. She gave them all a kiss, glad they were safe, and then rubbed noses with Copper.

"Mr. Slade, we caught the two men that were working for your brother," the sheriff said to Amos. "They should be spending about a couple of years in jail, considering that they can't pay the fine. And they swear that they didn't know they had taken the puppies either."

"Oh please! Criminals, they are such liars."

Tod and the cubs watched the happy little reunion from the top of a far off boulder. He was glad to see that Copper had managed to form a happy family just like the fox had done himself. Autumn pawed her dad's leg, causing him to look down.

"Daddy, are we ever going to see them again?" she asked.

"I don't know, sweetie. You might, you might not. But I wouldn't count on it being anytime soon."

Swift sighed. "It's going to be weird just having a girl to hang around again. I got used to having guys around."

"Speak for yourself, I have to put up with you alone again," Autumn told her brother, although she didn't really mean it. "Come on, Daddy, let's go home."

Aw, the kids found their parents, Amos found his dogs again, and nobody died! But will they? Don't forget, there's a part two to this fic, for whenever the kids are about a year old. They may be friends now but will they continue to be so when tragedy once again strikes? Stay tuned, and please review!