A few days ago, she'd been happily humming in the Hopps Family kitchen, making lunch for her fox. She remembered how strange and wonderful it had felt. Now she felt terrible, she kept thinking that maybe she should've told Junior off instead of trying to be polite. She called him again, and again he declined. She let out a ragged sigh, he was avoiding her. He had jumped to conclusions about that conversation he'd overheard as he was coming back from the bathroom. She tried again, this time it went to his voicemail before he could decline.
"Danny, listen. I know you don't wanna' hear from me right now, but it's very important that we talk this out! Please!" she pleaded, "Call me back…"
She didn't know what else to do, she tried to get back to work but her job had become hazardous to her paws while she couldn't stop thinking about him. A thought occurred to her.
"Vanilla Foxglove! She's a psychologist, maybe she can help me!" she thought.
She made her way to their spa but upon seeing her, the middle sister, Angel refused to let her past the entrance.
"Please Angel, let me talk to Nilla!" she pleaded.
"Nilla?" the fox asked, "I would think you'd be here to see Danny."
Angel didn't realize that she shouldn't have mentioned him until it had already slipped out. The bunny darted off towards the office before Angel could stop her. Jane busted into the office, clearly in a panic.
"Danny!" she exclaimed.
But Nilla was the only other person in the aforementioned office.
"You just missed him," the arctic vixen stated calmly.
"Sorry Nilla, she got away from me," Angel stated as she caught up.
"It's alright, Angel. Leave us and go back to watching the entrance," Nilla stated, more of as an asking than commanding.
"You sure? Well alright," the slightly younger vixen replied.
Nilla shut the door behind Angel before turning her attention to the bunny.
"Please, sit down and tell me what's on your mind," Nilla requested.
As she sat down, she drew in a deep breath.
"Nilla, I really screwed up! I was just trying to be polite to an old friend of his and now… Now… I don't know what to do! He won't talk to me…! I-I have to tell my side!" she sobbed.
"I had a feeling this was a misunderstanding. Daniel has had a habit of jumping to conclusions when his paranoia takes over. I suppose I should help you two sort this out but bear in mind, I'm not trained in relationship counselling," Nilla explained.
"I understand…" the rabbit affirmed.
"I need to figure out our approach. Maybe I can get your sister-..." Nilla started, her tone slowing as the philosophical lightbulb lit.
"You-you have an idea?" Jane asked tentatively.
"Luke!" Nilla exclaimed.
"Luke? My nephew Luke?" the bunny asked.
"Yeah! Think about it, Luke is Judy's son right? And Judy is your sister," Nilla exclaimed.
"Um yeah, that much is a given," Jane replied.
"And that fox you've been chasing is Nick's older brother. The very same Nick that your sister is engaged to and already has a son with!" Nilla explained excitedly.
"Where are you going with this…?" Jane asked.
"Thick-skulled rabbit! Take advantage of that fact to get him to talk to you when you visit and he happens to be there!" she exclaimed.
"So how do I find out when he's going to be there?" said "thick-skulled" rabbit asked.
"Leave that to me… I'll have a talk with Mama Wilde, she won't like this but once she knows it's for her oldest's own good, she'll play along," the arctic fox chuckled.
"What if she doesn't? What if she hates me!?" Jane started to panic.
"Calm down. Lillian Wilde isn't the kind to hate anyone. She might be angry with you but she could never hate anyone and once we explain your side, she'll come around," Nilla replied.
Lillian wasn't willing to be part of the plan but relented when she learned that it was all due to a misunderstanding. Of course, she'd managed to get Daniel's side from him but she knew that wasn't the whole story. The aging vixen agreed to Nilla's plan to let the two of them talk out their problems. The day after that phonecall, Jane hopped into the truck and drove off to Zootopia. She worried the whole way there that the beat up old pickup truck would pull into her sister's new driveway too late in the afternoon for her to say anything to the fox she was still crazy about. Those fears ended up being dashed as not only was it around noon when she arrived but she found his motorcycle also parked outside the residence. Unsure and nervous about all of this, she steeled her nerves and knocked on the door. The same fox she'd been thinking about the entire day through answered.
"Oh, it's you," he stated dryly.
"Who's at the door, Danny?" Lillian asked from the living room.
"Just one of Judy's sisters, come to see her nephew no doubt," he grumbled.
"Oh good, with two of you here, I don't feel so nervous about leaving to take care of some errands," she stated.
"Wa-wait! Mom! Wh-what if something happens to Luke?" Daniel exclaimed nervously.
"Emergency contact numbers are on the fridge. As are Nick and Judy's numbers, take care kids, don't burn the house down," Lillian laughed as she left.
Jane held her infant nephew while sitting on the couch and sat in silence with him sitting in the couch with her in silence. She tried to search for the words to say to him but all that happened was that her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. She felt ashamed of herself, not only for not knowing what to say but for what she considered to be her fault in all of this misunderstanding.
"Well, you wanted your chance to speak your peace. Here it is," he sighed.
"I know what you think you overheard and saw but the truth is, I turned him down. I don't want to be betrayed so why would I be the first to betray you?" she replied.
He remained silent, she didn't know if he was actually considering anything she said or if he was even listening at this point but she continued, her voice shaking, she wasn't sure if it was because she was scared he wouldn't accept her back or if she was just on the verge of tears. It wasn't just her voice trembling, her whole body trembled.
"I-I know I probably sh-should've turned him down m-more directly but-but I wanted to be polite. I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made you doubt me," she stuttered, unable to control her shivering.
He continued to say nothing but pulled her close and gradually her shivering abated. She wasn't completely relaxed, she didn't know if this meant he forgave her and she was scared to ask.
"S-so, um… Can-can you forgive me…?" she asked nervously.
"There's nothing for me to forgive. I was the one in the wrong. I'm sorry I put you through all this," he replied.
"I think it goes without saying, but I forgive you. I just want us to be together," she stated.
"Dumb bunny…" Daniel chuckled.
"Dumber fox," she laughed back.
The two leaned in to kiss but the front door opened and they pulled away.
"Mom, we're home!" Nick's voice rang out.
"Mom's not here, she said she had some errands," Danny explained.
"Oh, ok. So where's Stinky?" Nick asked.
That was when Daniel remembered that his bunny was holding a sleeping fox kit the entire time.
"How was he?" Judy asked.
"He's been sleeping like a log the entire time we've had to watch him," Jane answered with a bright smile.
"So… Didn't get up to any mischief while he was, did you?" Nick asked with a grin.
"No…" the older tod huffed before leaving.
Jane just laughed at her boyfriend's attitude before handing off her nephew to her sister and leaving herself. Their next date was just them watching movies at his apartment. Well, sitting on the couch pretending to watch. Really she just wanted to cuddle and fall asleep like this. Daniel tried to be his usual self but she already knew he was just "acting tough".
"I'll get you to open up to me someday… For now, I'm just happy that we can be together again," she thought.
She let out a contented sigh before letting sleep take her. Instinctively, he put his arms around her and held her close. Taking in her scent, deep down he felt happy and content for the first time in a long time. Like all of his recent misfortunes were distant memories. As he fell asleep he could feel the memories of his deployment slip away into the back of his mind. Those memories would haunt him forever but for now they just didn't seem to matter.
