Judy made good time riding JD. With his longer legs and larger body, he had stamina that the smaller Island Emus lacked, which meant he easily maintained his fast, ground eating gait that was somewhere between a walk and a jog. But as she came up to the long drive that led to the Lazy 'L' Ranch, Judy slowed JD down to a casual walk to cool the large bird down after the long ride.

During the ride, Judy's irritation with her mom's meddling had grown exponentially. This time, her mom hadn't simply set her up on a blind date, but she had basically set her up with a live-in boyfriend. Judy knew partners in Search and Rescue shared living quarters. They would have separate beds, of course, but if they started dating like Bonnie was hoping they would, it wouldn't take Jazzy (What kind of name was that, anyways?) long to decide that sleeping in separate beds was a waste of their time together seeing as they were not only dating but already living together. Especially since partners in Search and Rescue typically spent a lot of time alone together as they patrolled the vast forests that covered the mountains.

Of course, if it was Nick she was spending long hours patrolling with, and who she was rooming with—and dating—then Judy would probably see the extra bed as a waste, too. But that was only if it was Nick and he actually saw her as something much more than a friend, something permanent. Not some buck she had never met and who had such a weird sounding name. Not that Judy usually had a problem with weird names. Quite a few residents of Bunnyburrow came up with some very colorful names for their kits, so Judy was more likely to pity the poor kit than tease him.

But for her mom to try and force her into such a relationship using such underhanded methods had her temper flaring. Judy had shared her hopes for the future with her mom in confidence, so for Bonnie to use her new dream as a means to marry her off was more than Judy could stomach. Scowling at the impossible situation her mom had tried to set her up in (she was a grown doe with her own life to live, for crying out loud!), Judy kneaded the reins between her fingers as her ears lay stiff against her back. The fact she had to drag Ryan into her hustle in order to head Bonnie off irked her even worse.

Judy had just reconnected with Ryan, had officially friend-zoned him (Patty-Mae assured her he was fine with it), and now her mom was expecting them to get married, and by the end of summer, Judy was sure, if Bonnie had any say in it. Judy knew she would have to tell Ryan about her little hustle so he wasn't surprised when he met Bonnie and she started treating him like a long-lost son-in-law.

Hitting the saddle horn, Judy growled under her breath, "Mom, just stay out of my love-life! I already know who I'm going to marry, whether you accept him or not!" Judy knew she couldn't tell her mom about falling for Nick, otherwise Bonnie would redouble her efforts of marrying her daughter off to the first buck who would take her.

Although Bonnie was slowly (emphasis on the word 'slowly') warming up to her kits marrying outside their species (Bonnie had to accept it or miss out on several of her kits' weddings), there was no way Judy's mother would be fine with one of them marrying a predator, especially a fox. Gideon had really cemented the 'dangerous, untrustworthy' fox stereotype in her parents' minds when he clawed her as a kit. The fact they had given Gideon a second chance and agreed to partner with him was still a huge shock to Judy. She was proud of her parents, but still shocked.

But still, being business partners with a fox, or even a close friend to one, was completely different from dating or marrying one. That just wasn't something Judy could see her mom being okay with. Although Bonnie was more supportive of Judy having predator friends when she was growing up, she would still warn her daughter to be careful around her friends' sharp claws and not to rough house with them.

Her mom was constantly reminding her that her predator friends weren't rabbits and so she absolutely could not get pawsy with them like she would other rabbits, that she had to maintain a respectful distance with them (not that Judy listened once she was at their houses). So if Bonnie were to learn that Judy not only wanted to get pawsy with Nick, but that she also hoped to one day feel his killer claws sliding through her fur and his sharp teeth nipping at her skin before he completely devoured her—Bonnie wouldn't be able to sleep at night until she had her daughter wedded to a 'respectable' buck—'respectable' meaning any buck who would take her and remove the 'threat' of this predator having his 'wicked way' with her daughter.

With a huff, Judy tried to push her negative feelings back down as she rode through the gates of the Lazy 'L' Ranch. Riding towards the barns while looking around, she spotted the kits from yesterday riding around in the corral while practicing their showmanship. With a grin, Judy recalled several of her siblings and a few of her friends riding around the corral with the chest puffed out while trying to prove they both looked (the kits were dressed in their fanciest cowboy outfits, with their birds wearing fancy bridles, saddles, chest piece, and leg guards) and rode better than the competition (they all sat straight in the saddle with their shoulders back and their chins up while posing for imaginary judges).

Seeing as Ryan's brothers weren't around to harass her and feeling immensely grateful for that fact, Judy rode over to the fence and called to the one kit whose name she knew. "Hi, Alec."

Alec turned around in the saddle to see who was calling him. Seeing the gray doe from yesterday, he called over, "Hey, Judy! You lookin' for Patty-Mae again?"

Judy shook her head. "Not right now. I'm here to see your Uncle Ryan. Is he around?"

Alec nodded, then pointed off to one of the large, wooden sheds on the property, this one painted a light sky blue. "He's over in the Carpentry Shed fixin' a saddle."

"Thanks, Alec," Judy replied as she turned JD's head and rode to the shed. After tying the reins around a fence post, Judy entered the shed and looked around. There was sawdust everywhere, along with several different table saws and tools used in woodworking. She also saw quite a few piles of boards, neatly stacked according to their size. Judy could tell right away that the wood was being used to make furniture. There were several dressers and chest of drawers in various stages of being built, along with a large dining room table with matching chairs. The table and chairs, though, were much too big for a rabbit to sit at, which made Judy wonder which large mammal in town had ordered it.

Deciding that was a question for another time, she spied Ryan sitting at a long table in the back. Just as Alec had said, Ryan was leaning over a saddle sitting on the table as he was replacing a couple of the side straps. His long ears (which were a medium tan with darker hairs mixed in) were drooping slightly over the saddle's hard back as he leaned over it. With his attention on his fingers and the straps he was working with, he didn't see her enter the shed which gave Judy a chance to get a good look at him.

Having not seen him in years, Judy had to admit that Ryan looked good. He was wearing a dark pair of blue jeans and a short-sleeved, dark-tan button up cowboy shirt with black trim that matched his tan and black fur perfectly. She could also tell that he had put on a bit of muscle as her friend now filled out his shirt nicely.

Walking over to him, Judy watched his tan ear flick in her direction, but he didn't look up as he was focused on his work. Stepping up to the table, Judy gripped the back of a chair sitting across from her friend and said, "Hey, Ryan, how's it going?"

Ryan jumped and nearly fell off his chair. Gripping his shirt covering the spot where his heart was now frantically pounding, Ryan exclaimed, "Geez, Judy, give a guy a heart attack, why don't you!?"

With her ears drooping, a small, apologetic smile lifted the corners of Judy's mouth as she murmured, "Sorry. I thought you heard me."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan rubbed his chest for a moment, saying, "Yeah, I heard you, but I figured you were one of my brothers come in to grab a tool. I wasn't expecting anyone to talk to me."

With a shrug, Judy repeated, "Sorry."

Ryan waved off her apology and then motioned towards the chair she stood behind. "Have a seat." Watching his high school crush sit across from him, Ryan tilted his head curiously and asked, "So what's up? I thought you were coming later this afternoon." Before meeting her yesterday, Ryan hadn't seen Judy in years and yet she looked as cute today as she did back in high school. Her gray fur had a silvery hue to it and her vibrant purple eyes shimmered like cut amethysts. The only difference Ryan could see from the doe he knew then to the doe standing before him now was that her confidence had taken a hit. In high school, her eyes had always been clear with determination—she knew where she was going, she had absolute confidence in getting there, and she wasn't going to let anyone get in her way.

But now, when meeting her bright, amethyst gaze, Ryan could see a hint of doubt and worry clouding her vision. With the protests and violence that had swept through Zootopia immediately after her speech, coupled with so many predators fleeing the city after losing their homes and jobs, along with being hounded and mistreated by prey, Ryan could understand the hit to Judy's confidence. But now, knowing about Nick Wilde, Ryan understood her doubt and worry even better. Having fallen in love with a predator from the big city, and not knowing where he was, how he was doing, or if she would ever see him again, while also worrying about whether he could or would ever forgive her for her thoughtless words and actions—of course Judy had lost some of her fearless confidence.

Nodding, Judy replied, "That was the plan, but I had to escape my mom, so here I am." Spreading her paws across the table, she gave a weak chuckle, but then a blush darkened her ears as she remembered how she hustled her mom. Glancing off towards the left, Judy saw one of the table saws that did decorative molding.

Ryan sat back in his chair, the saddle in front of him already forgotten. Judy wasn't acting like she did yesterday. While trying to figure out why she was suddenly acting bashful, he played with a faux leather strip in his paws. He already knew he was friend-zoned and that Judy was in love with a city fox. So why did she need to see him and why was she being all bashful about it? Did she think he would read more into her being here than she wanted him to?

With a flick of his ear, he asked, "Judy, why are you here?" At her sharp and somewhat guilty look (why was she feeling guilty?), Ryan sat up straighter and hurriedly said, "Not that I'm not happy to see you! I'm glad you're here . . . I'm just a bit confused is all."

As her nose started twitching, he ran a paw through his headfur and pointed out, "If all you wanted to do was escape your mom, you just needed to hop in the saddle and take a ride down the lane, not ride an hour away just to see me. I mean," Ryan pointed to himself with the faux leather strips, "I'm friend-zoned and you have the hots for Nick, right?" At Judy's nod, he added, "Sooo, why are you here?"

Judy's shoulders slumped as a heavy sigh escaped her. Putting her face in her paws, she groaned. "I hustled my mom today and the hustle involved you."

Ryan sat up straighter as his eyes widened. "What did she do? And what did you do?"

Rubbing her face in her palms, Judy mumbled, "Like you said, I'm in love with Nick, but I'm pretty sure my mom is convinced that you and I will be dating by the end of the day. In the hour it's taken me to ride here, she probably has our whole wedding planned and the names of our first litter picked out." Judy peaked through her fingers to see Ryan's shocked expression.

Blinking, Ryan muttered, "Wow." With a shake of his head, he repeated, "Just—wow." He wasn't mad at Judy for involving him in such a scheme. He even found it kinda funny in a backwards sort of way. He was highly interested, though, in learning how Bonnie would be convinced of all this. Motioning towards Judy with his faux leather strips, he said, "Okay, so how did all this come about?"

Judy groaned again, then grabbed her ears and pulled on them. After a moment, she released her ears and sat up. Spreading her paws out across the table again, she said, "Okay, so I told my mom about wanting to join Search and Rescue the other night and she seemed happy enough." With a huff, she added, "I naïvely thought that she'd back down on getting me married off since I had a new goal to work towards." Scowling now, Judy continued, "Wrong. I came in this morning from working with Toot-toot and my mom's there to inform me that she already found me a trainer/partner/live-in boyfriend up at Search and Rescue, and ain't I sooo lucky—I get to go to the rodeo with him this weekend!"

Ryan sat in shock as he watched Judy pull on her ears again while scowling at the memories of what her mom was up to. Running a paw through his head fur, Ryan then leaned forward and asked, "She seriously did all of that?!"

Pulling on her ears while her nose twitched, Judy exclaimed, "Yes! She can't wait for me to pack my bags and move up there with him!" Ryan's jaw went slack and Judy released her ears and threw her paws up in the air. "My lifelong dream just went up in smokes, I ruined the best friendship I've ever had, Zootopia is tearing itself apart because of what I said, and all my mom can think about is getting me married off and pregnant so I can finally 'experience the joys of motherhood' as she puts it." Judy used air quotes at her mom's words. Grabbing her ears again, she moaned out, "As if getting married and having kits will solve everything."

Ryan sat back and shook his head, feeling extremely glad his mother wasn't like that. Of course, it helped that jackrabbits, like most hares, had far fewer kits than most rabbits. Shaking his head again, he met Judy's dismal expression and said, "Wow. Okay, I now know why you're hiding from your mother." With his nose twitching at his friend's plight, he said, "So how do I factor into all this?" Ryan pointed to himself.

Judy's dismal expression turned to one of guilt as she pulled her ears over to hide her face. "I told my mom about meeting you yesterday, and how I learned you'd had a crush on me in high school." Taking a deep breath, she continued saying, "That I would have dated you if you had asked, and that we were meeting for brunch today and going shopping at the hardware store for supplies for our cabin-fixing trip tomorrow morning."

Ryan's eyes widened again as his nose continued twitching. With a flick of his ear, he exclaimed, "You told her we were dating!?"

Releasing her ears, Judy sat up and exclaimed back, "Of course not! I told her we were meeting as friends to catch up on old times. And I did tell her Patty-Mae and Joey were going to the mountains with us." Shaking her head, she added, "Do you know what my mom said when I told her we were just friends?" At Ryan's head shake, she said, "That's how the best relationships start."

At Ryan's shocked gaze, Judy grabbed her ears again and hid behind them as she dropped her face onto the table. "I'm sorry. I know it was stupid, but I was so desperate to get my mom off my back." Groaning, she added, "That's no excuse, though. I shouldn't have used you to hustle her." With her voice dropping down to a mere whisper, she mumbled, "I'll completely understand if you don't want to see me again."

Ryan's ears dropped at seeing Judy wallowing in her misery. With a heavy sigh, he replied, "I'm not mad at you, Judy. If my mom did that to me, I'd probably do the same thing." Shaking his head, he added, "If I'm mad at anyone, it would be your mom for putting you in this position."

Judy lifted her face enough to peak at Ryan from behind her ears. "You mean that?"

Ryan nodded, then turned to look at a pile of tigerwood as he thought for a moment. Tapping his chin with the faux leather strip, he then turned to Judy and said, "Okay, here's the deal—I'll let you use me as a scapegoat to keep your mom off of your back, but in return, you have to help me out with a small problem of my own."

Sitting up, Judy physically brightened as she clapped her paws together. "Really!? Yes! I'll do anything to help. Just tell me what I can do, and I'll do it."

"Okay, I'm in a similar boat as you when it comes to my love-life."

Judy blinked as this was the last thing she expected Ryan to say. "What?"

Ryan leaned over the table and grinned. "Let's just say you're not the only one who fell for a predator." Judy's ears perked forward as her jaw dropped on the table. At her stunned silence, Ryan grinned widely and explained, "I've liked this girl for over two years, but she's hot one minute and cold the next so I can't figure out if she likes me or not. I need you to talk to her and figure out if she feels the same way about me or if I'm just seeing things that aren't there."

Judy nodded, but then asked, "I can do this, but if you think she might like you, why haven't you just asked her?"

Ryan ran his blunt claws through his head fur. "Like your fox, there's a lot of stigmas about her species, so she's been bullied a lot in the past. I'm afraid if I ask her out and she's not interested, and word gets out, that a lot of hateful rumors might start up. Then again, if she is interested, she might be afraid to date me for the same reason, and that might be why she keeps acting hot and cold all the time."

Judy immediately understood where Ryan was coming from. Although interspecies couples were gaining ground, a pred-prey relationship was unheard of, and if one of the species (or both) was already looked down on by society, being together could bring down a lot worse bigotry and harassment. Some mammals wouldn't be able to handle the added slander and specism—the hate that might be leveled at them for loving someone so different from themselves.

This made Judy worry about her own love-life. Even if Nick came to love her, would he be willing to face worse prejudice than he had already faced? With a shake of her head, she amended, What he continued to face on a daily basis? Did she have a right to ask him to stick his neck out for her if the world decided a predator and prey shouldn't be together?

Ryan watched the play of emotions that crossed Judy's face. Surprise, understanding, and then worry. Ryan didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know what she was worrying about. "You're thinking about Nick and whether he'd want to be in a relationship with a rabbit even if he does like you?"

Judy's ears drooped. "Is it that obvious?" she asked.

Ryan gave a light chuckle. "I wouldn't worry too much. If Nick was willing to risk his life to keep you alive and support your dream, and had even agreed to struggle through the ZPA to become a big city fox cop alongside you, then I don't think he'll be scared off of dating a rabbit just because there'll be a few mammals who don't approve."

A little hope entered Judy's amethyst gaze. "You really think so? You think he might actually like me?"

Ryan shrugged. "I can't say a hundred percent, but I can't think of another male willing to do all these things for a girl he didn't like."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Judy's mouth and she took a deep breath. With a nod, she said, "Okay, so tell me about the girl you like. What's her name?"

"Her name is Daisy and you can meet her when we're at the hardware store." Ryan paused a moment, then said, "You were serious about going to the hardware store, right?"

Judy nodded. "Yeah. I figured you would have a better idea of what we might need than I do."

Grinning, Ryan stood up saying, "Sounds great. We'll put your bird up and take my truck into town. After brunch we can head over to the store and I'll introduce you to Daisy."

Beaming now, Judy stood up and pushed her chair back under the table. "Okay, and while we're eating, you have to tell me all about her."

Ryan gave a nod as they left the carpentry barn. "I will if you tell me all about Nick."

"Deal," Judy said excitedly. After putting JD in the small pasture to graze, they climbed into Ryan's deep-green crew cab dodge truck. Grinning at each other, and feeling happy in finding another bunny who had a special predator in their heart, they headed into town while discussing what they might need at the store, with Judy making a list from a small notepad she kept in her fanny pack.

-/-/-

Daryl, Roger, and Billy had since been joined by Jerry as they waited for the two pelts (Gideon and the city fox) to return from their morning deliveries. Upon Gideon's return, Daryl was annoyed to see Judy's pelt was no longer with the rotund country fox. Bunnyburrow was a wide, spread out community, which meant the filthy pelt could be anywhere. Heaven forbid Gideon dropped him off at the Hopps' family burrow.

After sitting and fuming for a bit, he got a call from their sister, Susan, saying that the city pelt had shown up at the rodeo grounds and was getting real chummy with their dad and several of their siblings and cousins, Shaylee being the chummiest with the red pelt.

With a scowl, Daryl hung up the phone. Of course, Shaylee would get close to the filthy pelt. Although she didn't hang around a lot of predators like their sister Judy, Shaylee wasn't bothered by them. She even stood up for them when they were getting bullied. It was disgusting how much sympathy she showed them, as if they deserved any sort of compassion.

Shoving his phone in his pocket as he stood up, he turned to his brothers and said, "Come on, we got to get over to the rodeo grounds. Gideon dropped the pelt off there and he's trying to suck up to dad by helping out." With a dark smirk crossing his short muzzle, Daryl added, "I think the pelt might just have an accident while he's there."

As Daryl, Roger, Billy, and Jerry climbed into Daryl's loud pickup truck and drove out of town, a dark green dodge truck drove up and parked outside the café the bucks had been sitting at earlier that morning.

Ryan and Judy climbed out, laughing as they grabbed a chair at one of the outside tables and sat down. After the waiter came and took their order, the two went back to talking, though they waited until their food arrived before Judy told Ryan all about the wild otter chase her and Nick had gone on, how he was such a jerk that first day, and how she had to blackmail him in guise of a hustle, seeing as Nick had hustled her the day before.

Ryan laughed to hear how Judy got back at the slick todd who hustled twenty bucks from her. Then he asked about how things changed between them. Judy admitted that it started when he refused to escape by himself when Manchas was chasing them, but what really changed for her was when Nick stood up to Bogo, the chief of Police, and saved her career. No one had stood up for her like that before. And then he went and helped her prove she was a real cop. After all the danger she put him through—that he willingly went through for her—how could she not fall in love with him?

Ryan agreed wholeheartedly. Patty-Mae had told him a little of what Judy had claimed Nick had done for her, but hearing it firstpaw from Judy herself made him appreciate the todd all that much more, and hoped more than ever that Nick came looking for her. From what he was hearing, Nick needed Judy as much as she needed him.

They were halfway through their meal when Judy asked Ryan about his own flame and Ryan was more than happy to talk about Daisy, the love of his life. After taking a drink of his fresh-squeezed strawberry lemonade, he explained how Daisy's family moved to Bunnyburrow not long after they graduated high school—about the time Judy moved to Podunk to attend college.

Judy nodded as she remembered those days. The first year she was attending college, she came home about every other weekend and her mom and several of her sisters always had a buck lined up for her to date Saturday night. It got so bad she dreaded coming home. The second year at college, she only came home about once a month, but by her last two years at college, Judy only came home for the holidays. But this didn't stop her mom and sisters from somehow conning bucks into waylaying her at college and trying to hook up with her. It got to the point that she began questioning any buck who showed an interest in her.

But that wasn't what was important right now. The important thing right now was learning more about Ryan's mysterious girl. He refused to tell her Daisy's species, stating only that she was bullied a lot, even as a young adult—which is how they met.

The first time she came to town, Daisy got turned around and then ran into some of the town bullies, a gang of miscreants made up of a pawful of sheep with a few rabbits and prairie dogs they used as lackeys. They were led by a larger (large to a rabbit), black-faced ram with two large horns that curled around and framed both sides of his narrow face, one of which was bent, who was known as Butch. Rumor had it, his real name was Francis, a sissy's name according to the ram in question, so he had all his friends call him Butch until the name stuck.

Ryan had been coming out of the hardware store (which is where Daisy now worked), when he heard her crying in an alley as they pushed her around and taunted her with specist slurs. Dropping the bag of nails and screws he'd just bought, Ryan did a jump kick to the back of Butch's head, knocking him unconscious for a few minutes. Ryan knew that if he hit Butch anywhere else, with him being a muscular ram who loved to literally butt heads, that the stubborn sheep would hardly feel the attack. But the back of the head, near the base of the skull was always an effective place to attack.

Ryan learned all about pressure points from taking karate the last two years of high school in an effort to gain some coordination. The first several months attending, he feared it was a wasted effort because if you looked in the dictionary under Klutz/klutziness you would have seen his picture. But Ryan persevered and it really paid off in saving Daisy, because after knocking Butch out with his cheap shot, he had a scuffle with the rest of the gang. But with Butch out of the way, the others didn't put up that much of a fight.

After the others ran away with their tails tucked between their legs, he and Daisy escaped before Butch could wake up and cause more problems. Daisy then helped patch up the few cuts and bruises he received from the scuffle. After he got cleaned up, Ryan showed Daisy around town and then they stopped for an ice cream cone before finding a bench at the park to sit and talk.

Come to find out, he and Daisy had a lot in common. They both loved the countryside and exploring the rolling hills from the back of a bird. And like Ryan, she had taken 4H in middle school and high school and signed up for the barrel racing event at any of the rodeos she was able to attend. And later, when Ryan signed up for his minor in Veterinary Medicine, Daisy signed up too and they shared classes together.

As the days and months went by, they saw a lot more of each other and soon Daisy became his shadow at most of the events held here at Bunnyburrow. Not just the rodeo, but the Carrots Day Festival, the Fair, the big corn maze put on every year at Halloween, and of course the Pumpkin Chunkin Competition each November, along with the normal holiday events (parades, pageants, and dances) that were put on throughout the year during major holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day.

But Daisy was a predator, and a pretty shy one at that due to the bullying her species received, so it took Ryan a couple of years to develop a physical attraction and romantic feelings for her. But he had them now, and desperately wished he knew whether asking her out was a good thing that she wanted as much as he did, or if him asking her out would put her on the spot and cause her problems. She didn't have the highest self-esteem, so Ryan wasn't sure if Daisy just saw him as a really good friend, but nothing more due to him being a jackrabbit and all, or if there was more on her part but she was just too afraid to act on it.

It didn't help that about the time Ryan decided he wanted to ask her out, she started acting hot towards him one minute with being all excited to talk to him, and then turning ice cold the next and refusing to hang out or running from him like he was some pariah. It left him all confused and tied his stomach in knots as he wasn't sure how to proceed. It wouldn't be so much trouble if they were both preds or both prey, but a pred-prey relationship was unheard of in these parts so Ryan wasn't sure what to do.

Judy sympathized with Ryan, as she'd had similar fears herself the last few days since realizing her feelings for Nick. But at the same time, she wasn't going to let fear stand in her way. As long as Nick wanted her back, she wasn't going to let anyone or anything stand in their way—even if they had to live as hermits at Grandma's cabin.

Ryan chuckled. "You know, Judy, if me and Daisy do hook up, you might have to share your cabin with us." At Judy's chuckle and nod of agreement, he glanced off down the street at the mammals going about their lives. "I know Patty-Mae will support us seeing how gung-ho she is about getting you and Nick together, and I know there's quite a few others here in town who probably won't be bothered by a pred-prey relationship, and there are plenty others I think who will keep their opinions to themselves if they don't approve, but then there's mammals like Butch and his gang, and their specist families who won't turn a blind eye."

Judy groaned as she sat back in her chair. "Don't remind me," she said with another groan. "I dread telling my mom about my feelings for Nick, and I'm terrified of a few of my most specist sibling's, aunts, uncles, and grandparents finding out I'm wanting to take a fox as my mate."

Dropping her face into her paws, she mumbled,"I can just hear my mom saying, 'Now, Judy, dearie, you know you can't have any kits if you're sleeping with a fox. How are you going to discover the joys of motherhood if you don't have any kits?'" Shaking her head still hiding in her paws, Judy added, "And then my mom will put her paws on her hips and give me this look while saying, 'And you know no buck is going to want to marry you after being touched by a fox.' Ugh!" she cried while grabbing her ears and tugging on them.

Ryan watched her a minute, then had to chuckle when a thought struck him. As Judy looked up with a questioning eye, he said, "Well, that will solve your buck problem, won't it?" Judy twitched an ear and Ryan added, "Take Nick as your mate and not another buck will bother you, even if your mom tries to hornswoggle them into dating you."

Judy stared a moment longer, then she started laughing. With a much brighter smile, she replied, "Yes, there is that. Just look and you'll find a silver lining in just about everything, right?" Ryan gave her a nod and Judy picked up her mixed berry lemonade and took a drink. Relaxing back into her chair, she tilted her head and asked, "So what about you?"

Looking up from his plate of veggie lasagna, Ryan asked, "What do you mean?"

"I want to take Nick as my mate." With a flick of her ear towards her friend, Judy asked, "What about you?"

Ryan's eyes widened for a moment, then a smug grin spread across his face. Reaching into his pocket, he said, "I'm way ahead of you there." At Judy's raised brow, he pulled out a navy-blue, velvet ring box with a rounded top and handed it to her.

Judy felt surprised as she took the velvety box, but it was nothing to the surprise she felt at seeing the stunning engagement ring nestled inside. It had a nice diamond in the middle, not too big but not tiny either, snuggled between two bright, sky-blue sapphires. Reaching in, she paused and looked at Ryan. At his nod, she carefully pulled the ring out to get a better look at it.

While watching Judy ogle the ring he bought for Daisy, Ryan explained, "I bought that six months ago, when it was first put on display." With a wave of his paw, he explained, "I figured if I waited to buy it until I needed it, then the ring would already be gone." Shrugging, he added, "I've been carrying it around ever since, trying to find a good time to ask Daisy out on a date, but she either runs out on me before I can ask or someone walks in and interrupts us."

Raking his fingers through his headfur, Ryan added, "You have no idea how frustrating it has been for me, having the girl of my dreams right there in front of me, and not knowing if she even wants to date a jackrabbit or if she finds the idea disgusting."

Judy nodded in sympathy. Still studying the ring, she turned it over to find an inscription on the inside band. It read: To Daisy, my one true love. Ryan. "Awww," she murmured while placing a paw over her heart. "Daisy is so lucky to have you."

Ryan nodded and said, "Honestly, as long as we've known each other and have been dancing around this unofficial relationship, I just want to skip the whole dating thing and just marry her. It doesn't help that some of my brothers have teased me about dating her since she's the only girl I actively hang out with. The worst part—they tease me about her being my 'little girlfriend'—and I want it to be true soo badly, and yet they're just giving me a hard time. They think a pred-prey couple is just too weird and so they don't believe we'll ever actually date."

With her ears drooping, Judy murmured, "That's just awful, Ryan."

Nodding, Ryan added, "I even broke my brother Lucas's nose when he was badmouthing Daisy for being a dirty predator. It shut him up, but also clued him into the fact I really do like Daisy." With a shake of his head and irritated flick of his tail, he added, "Lucas doesn't tease me anymore. In fact, he doesn't talk to me all. And whenever he sees me, he always gives me this disgusted look."

Judy gave a slight nod as her gaze dropped to the table. Staring unseeingly at the last few bites of her veggie burger and fries, she muttered, "Well, I guess I know what I can expect when my family finds out about Nick."

Reaching over, Ryan put his paw on Judy's arm and said, "At least now we know we're not alone in our love for a predator." With a warm, encouraging smile, Ryan added, "You have no idea how good it feels to know I'm not in this boat alone anymore."

With her ears perking up and a bright smile spreading across her face, Judy replied, "You're right. We don't have to get through this alone. And once we get our predators on board, then we can sail these stormy seas in good company."

Chuckling, Ryan said, "Yes, we'll be in excellent company." Glancing around, he added, "And I think we'll have more mammals supporting us, or at least treating us indifferently, than there will be specist pricks putting us down or trying to break us up."

With a nod, Judy then pointed to her friend and said, "The specist pricks might be the minority, but you know they'll be the loudest."

Ryan conceded her point, then ran a paw through his head fur. "You're right. Daisy already gets bullied enough by the loudest and worst of the jerks, I can't even imagine what they'll say or do to her if we actually started dating."

Judy nodded as she gripped Ryan's paw in support. "If Daisy does have the courage to date you, know that you're not alone. I'll do whatever it takes to help keep the bigots off your backs. And I'm sure Patty-Mae and Joey will be there, too, considering they're helping me with Nick." At Ryan's nod of thanks, Judy looked back down at the engagement ring in her paw. Rereading the sentence of endearment Ryan had inscribed on the inside, Judy sighed, then pressed her fist over her heart. With another heavy sigh, she murmured, "I really hope Nick says something like this to me one day."

With a grin, Ryan pointed to her, saying, "If he's half the todd you make him out to be, then I'm sure he will sooner or later."

With a warm nod, Judy put the ring back in the box and handed it to Ryan, saying, "Okay, now I really have to meet Daisy." Looking down at his plate with a couple of bites of lasagna left on it, she asked, "You ready to go?"

Slipping the ring box back in his pocket, Ryan stood up, saying, "Yep, let's go."

After he paid their tab (for once Judy didn't mind having a buck pay for her), Judy hooked her arm through Ryan's and said, "Come on, Scapegoat, let's go meet your girlfriend."

Ryan raised his brow at Judy's nickname for him, but let it slide with a laugh. Instead, he pointed out, "She's not my girlfriend."

With a chuckle, Judy replied, "Oh yes, she is—," a wide grin spread across her face, "she just doesn't know it yet."

Ryan laughed again as they arrived at his truck and the two hopped inside. Driving down the street and around the corner, they stopped at Mike's Hardware store situated halfway down the block. Ryan met Judy's bright, eager smile and said, "Well, you ready?"

With a giggle, Judy added, "I was born ready." She couldn't wait to meet Daisy.

-/-/-

Travis stood rooted to the sidewalk as he stared down the street, half afraid he was dreaming. Gideon had sent him out to do some grocery shopping, but every store he'd been to had denied him access, stating that he, Gideon, and the new red fox in town were not welcome today or in the foreseeable future. Travis knew Mandy and her specist siblings had put the store owners up to it. They must think that if Nick couldn't eat, then he wouldn't stick around town. Too bad they didn't know Shaylee was helping Nick. Seeing how close Nick and Shaylee seemed to be, Travis doubted Shaylee would turn him down if Nick asked her to do some shopping for him.

But that was beside the point. Wiping a paw down his face, Travis looked down the street again, afraid he was seeing things. But no, nothing had changed. What had him rooted to the concrete was the scene unfolding across the street and a few shops down, at the outdoor café that sat catty-corner from Gideon's bakery.

Judy was eating lunch with a buck, a jackrabbit named Ryan Leaps whom Judy had gone to high school with. Travis was a year older than Judy and so was in the grade ahead of her. Gideon was two years older, but flunked 2nd grade and so had to repeat it, which put him in the same grade as Travis—just ahead of Judy and Ryan. This meant they knew about the one buck Judy didn't seem to mind having around—even if he was the klutziest bunny in school (which made it hard to forget him, especially after watching him attempt to play any kind of sport).

Seeing Judy having, what appeared to be a date, with a buck wasn't out of the ordinary—Bonnie was always setting Judy up on blind dates—but what caught Travis's attention was the fact Judy actually appeared to be enjoying this date. Not only was Judy smiling at Ryan, but she was laughing with him, too. This was not normal for Judy as she rarely smiled on any of the blind dates Travis remembered seeing her on before.

This normally wouldn't bother Travis, but Gideon had told him this morning that Shaylee gave Nick a video last night where Judy had apparently confessed to liking Nick, and from the way Nick was talking afterwards, he apparently was warming up to the idea. Travis thought a bunny and a fox dating seemed extremely weird, and he wasn't sure exactly how it would work, with Nick being a pred and Judy prey, but Travis wasn't one to judge. He'd done enough stuff in the past he wished people would forget and stop judging him by, so he wasn't going to pass judgement on these two just because they may have found love in an odd place.

But that being said, why was Judy on a date with a buck if she was wanting to chase after Nick? This left Travis feeling very confused. But before he could walk over and tell Judy about Nick, a voice at his side distracted him.

"Excuse me, can we get by?" a female coyote asked. She was holding paws with several pups and Travis was blocking the door to the toy store they wished to enter.

Stepping to the side, Travis stood in front of the storefront window to allow the family to enter. This toy store, Uncle Vinny's Timeless Toys, had a working train set in the window, attracting customers as the little black engine pulled several passenger cars and the little red caboose through the little village and the forested hills the train track ran through. As several of the pups were pointing and whispering about the train set, Travis wondered if they hoped to get a set for their birthday or something.

After the family disappeared inside the store, Travis looked back over at the café where Judy and Ryan were eating and his jaw dropped. Ryan had handed Judy a ring box, and by the way the sunlight was sparking off the ring inside, Travis could only guess it was a diamond ring. Was Ryan proposing to Judy?!

Travis was so shocked at the outrageous idea (this was Judy Hopps they were talking about and she didn't give bucks the time a day!) that he didn't notice the next group of mammals coming his way until they were blocking his view. But unlike the nice coyote mom, this group wasn't nice. Not at all.

"Hey, runt, what ya looking at?" a ram sneered in a gruff voice, even as he pushed Travis, making him bump up against the glass window behind him.

"What do you want, Butch?" Travis sneered back at his childhood bully.

A dark, flat-toothed grin crossed Butch's mouth, even as he pushed Travis again, to the amusement of his cohorts who stood snickering as they surrounded the ferret, blocking his escape.

"Butch, when are you going to grow up!?" Travis snarled at him as he hunched in on himself. The fact Butch and his gang were harassing mammals in broad daylight showed just how bored they were today. They didn't have any little kits or old ladies to bother, so they must have decided Travis would make a good target.

"What are you talking about, runt?" Butch asked with a flick of his scarred ear. "I am growed up. I ain't gonna get any bigger."

Travis rolled his eyes, but he was saved from having to point out the obvious when a voice behind the group had Butch and his gang straightening up and spinning around with a touch of fear.

"Is there a problem here, boys?" Sheriff Bob asked as he walked up behind the group. As Butch was a black faced sheep, he wasn't nearly as tall as the sheriff. This meant Bob towered over the muscular ram, especially when figuring in his eight-point rack. Looking down on one of the town's worst bullies, Bob asked, "Well?"

Butch pasted on a fake smile and said, "No trouble, here Sheriff." Looking over to grab Travis and pull him to his side, Butch added, "Me and my friend here," he squeezed Travis's side, "were just having a little chat." Looking down, he added with a hardly disguised sneer, "Weren't we, Travis?"

Travis shook off the bully's arm and stepped towards the Sheriff. "I ain't your friend, Butch. Never have been, never will be."

Butch scowled at him, but Bob spoke up first. "Butch, I hope you haven't forgotten what the judge said the last time I had to take you in." Flicking one of his large tan ears, he added, "I take you in one more time for disturbing the peace or harassment, and the judge won't post bail. You'll just have to rot in jail for a while."

Butch scowled at the Sheriff this time, but he didn't argue. Turning back to his miscreant friends, he jerked his head forward and said, "Come on, it stinks around here."

As the tall deer buck watched the group move on, he turned back to Travis and asked, "Are you alright, Travis?" Bob had been sworn into the Sheriff's department here in Bunnyburrow about two years ago, but had been a deputy for years as he slowly worked his way up to Sheriff. This meant he had been around long enough to know the locals pretty well. He knew Travis had a juvenile record, but the buck had also seen the effort the ferret had put into changing, especially once he started dating the female who has since become his wife. It was something Bob wished Butch and his gang would do, but they were just mean spirited, and the Sheriff doubted they would ever change.

With a shrug, Travis straightened his shirt out and muttered, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Bob nodded to him, then said, "While I got you here, I wanted to ask about that new fox who's staying with Gideon. Is he a good friend of Gideon's? Has he known him long?"

Tilting his head, Travis asked, "Who? Nick?" At the Sheriff's nod, Travis shrugged, saying, "They're friends, but they haven't known each other long." Tilting his head in thought, he added, "If you want to know more about him, you should talk to Judy Hopps. Nick is her friend from Zootopia."

This surprised Bob, but Daryl's visit this morning now made a lot more sense. Daryl was especially specist against foxes, so if he heard one came down from the city to see his sister, he wouldn't like it. Waving towards the bakery, the Sheriff asked, "Is Nick with Gideon now?"

Travis shook his head. "Nah. Gideon dropped Nick off after making his morning deliveries." Motioning across town, he added, "Nick's at the Rodeo Grounds trying to help the Hopps finish setting up for the rodeo."

"He is?" This surprised Bob, as he wasn't expecting a city fox to get down on the level of a bunch of bunnies, especially if he had met more rabbits like Daryl.

Travis nodded. "Nick hasn't been able to get a hold of Judy since he arrived, so he's hoping to meet her when they're done for the day."

Bob nodded, but figured it still seemed like a lot of work just to say 'hi' to a friend. But it did show the fox was dedicated to seeing Judy again. And after what Judy had said about predators, it made him curious about the city fox who still held a high opinion of her. "Well, if the fox is over there, then maybe I might stop by and say hello. Who knows? I might be able to talk to Judy, too." With the tip of his Sheriff's hat, Bob headed back towards the Sheriff's station to get his cruiser. He had been making his rounds just before lunch like he normally did, and he was glad he had. He learned some interesting news today.

After watching the Sheriff leave, Travis glanced over at the café to see the table empty and Judy and Ryan nowhere to be found. With a scowl, Travis thought of Butch's horrid timing and regretted not being able to tell Judy about Nick being in town. As it was, he needed to talk to Gideon. How could Judy be laughing and carrying on with some buck if she was wanting to date Nick? It didn't make any sense.

Scanning the street to make sure no other bullies popped out at him, Travis hurried back to the bakery.

WingedKatt here. I hope you enjoyed learning about Ryan's own pred flame! The time for Nick and Judy to meet is steadily drawing closer. There's just a few more things they need to figure out/accomplish before they meet - but the clock is ticking! Next chapter, Judy will be meeting Daisy while Nick has a confrontation with Bonnie over her treatment of Judy, after which we'll learn why Stu was so anti-predator when his kits were growing up.

Ch. 20: Mission Accomplished, will post in 2 weeks. I hope you have a great weekend and a spooky Halloween. If you have any thoughts or questions, let me know.