Thanks to the reviewers: Mike900, GhostWolf88 (both AO3 and FFN), Victor John Foxfire, x_uve

HOMECOMING

The sights, sounds and smells of Zootopia were different to what Nick remembered, yet there was still something… familiar about them. Reassuring, as if the city was telling him 'I might look different, but I'm the same underneath'.

Nick wasn't entirely sure that reassurance worked. The animosity that he had was long evaporated, but he hadn't been brave enough to bring himself back to the city.

He regretted that the moment he heard his mother was dying. His thoughts had been consumed by what he should expect on the ride over to the Rainforest District.

"We're here," the cab driver said as he pulled up outside the giant artificial tree stump that housed an apartment building. Credit where credit was due: when Nick was last here, the artificial stump looked dirty and some of the apartments were worse for wear, both inside and out. It seemed that whoever owned the building now had decided to clean it up so it wasn't an eyesore.

The apartment that Viola occupied was one of the larger apartments in the base of the building. Nick stared at the door, wondering what he was about to face.

"Twenty bucks, pal," the cab driver announced the total for the ride, breaking Nick from his thoughts. He fished out his wallet and handed him the money before getting out of the cab, Robin following suit. The driver popped the boot and Nick retrieved their bags. Closing the boot, Nick once again faced the apartment as the cab drove off.

"Well, here we are," Nick remarked, steeling himself.

"Are you alright, Dad?" Robin asked.

Nick had to repress the urge to reply with a simple 'no'.

"I'll be fine," Nick turned a smile to Robin. He faced forward, drew in a long breath and stepped forward, reaching the door of number 1955. Putting his bag down, he raised a paw and knocked. A long moment followed, and finally the door opened. Nick had to look down to see who was there.

The diminutive figure before them was Nick's old hustling buddy, Finnick. His real name was Fred Fenrickson, though he didn't like to hear his given name. The older fennec wore the same expression he always wore: one of perpetual annoyance. His eyes scanned up and down both Nick and Robin.

"You better come in," Finnick said after appraising Nick. Normally Nick would make a joke about the lack of a 'hello', but he didn't think the situation was right. Nick and Robin picked up their bags and entered.

"Gotta warn ya, it ain't a pretty sight," Finnick remarked solemnly as he led them into the living room. The place was just as Nick remembered it. The walls were still decorated in the same tropical-print wallpaper. The couches looked a little more worn than the last time Nick had been here.

"Viola, you have a visitor," Finnick remarked.

Nick's eyes were drawn to the figure sat in the single sofa chair. Viola Wilde looked terrible. Apart from her greying fur, which lacked the sheen Nick remembered, Nick noticed she looked much thinner, and the skin on her face was sunken. Her arms trembled as she tried to stand up. Finnick passed her a cane leaned up against the seat and she clambered to her feet, unsteadily making her way over to Nick.

"… Nicky?" Viola said.

"Hi, Ma," Nick replied, attempting to keep his emotions in check, "I'm home."

'I wish I had come home sooner.'

Viola closed the small distance between them and reached for Nick around the waist, pulling him into a hug.

"You came home," Viola whispered, tears streaming down her face. "You're really here… I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Ma," Nick allowed a tear to fall. The pair stayed like that, mother and son, for a while before Viola let Nick go. Robin bent down and picked Viola's cane, passing it to her.

"Thank you, young lad," Viola smiled weakly. "You look… just like your father when he was your age."

"You remember him?" Nick asked. He didn't know just what his mother remembered or not.

"I'm not all gone, Nicky," Viola smiled sadly. "Where's your mate? I've been looking forward to meeting her in person… what was her name, again?"

Nick stiffened slightly, and Robin's face fell.

"Ma… Skye passed last year," Nick told her.

"Oh…" Viola replied. "Oh, Nicky, I am sorry." Her face became distressed, and she added: "You told me, didn't you? Oh, Nicky, I'm…"

Nick put a paw on her shoulder.

"Ma, it's okay," Nick said sympathetically. "I know."

"They tell me I've only got weeks left," Viola said as she slowly ambled back to her seat and descended into it. "I… I didn't want you to see me like this. I wanted you to remember the good…"

"How long, Ma?" Nick asked. "Please, just tell me how long you've known?"

"I've known for a year," Viola answered. "First, I was forgetting to do things. I thought it was just old age."

"You're not old, Ma," Nick replied.

"I might be dying, and I might have this thing in my head, but your lies could never fool me, Nicky," Viola let a small, sad chuckle escape her lips. "I started getting these trembles. And the headaches… sometimes I thought I might pass out from them. Frederick went with me to the appointments and he's been visiting me to help… there's this nice young hare boy that… I must have known him, maybe I met him somewhere… but he visits a lot. He's not a bad jack, but I think he has problems at home…"

Nick smiled sadly. Viola had volunteered at a shelter when she was younger. That was how Nick remembered her: always willing to give mammals a chance. Nick did feel concern, however, at this unknown jack entering her life at such a precarious stage. He glanced at Finnick, communicating silently with him.

'Has anything gone missing?' was Nick's intention.

Finnick shook his head, and Nick was satisfied: if Finnick hadn't seen anything go missing, then odds were that it was true. He had a protective streak as far as Viola was concerned.

"Nicky, your taste in suits is still terrible," Viola chuckled, bringing Nick out of his thoughts.

"This?" Nick indicated. "I just threw it on."

"Some things never change," Viola smiled weakly. "If you changed your shirt and tie, you'd be dressed for a funeral."

'Maybe I am,' Nick added mentally, but not wanting to voice it for fear of upsetting his mother.

"I hope you don't mean mine," Viola continued on, as if she had read Nick's mind. "I know it's coming, but I don't want you to mourn me. I want to be remembered as I was, during the good times."

Nick had stowed his bag in what was his old room. The bed was still there. He offered to take the couch, in order to give the bed to Robin at night. He had removed his jacket and loosened his tie.

"I don't need a babysitter," Viola insisted, "I'll be fine."

"I'm just here to be with you," Nick answered. "Besides, we'd have to find a hotel."

"I don't mean to throw you out, Nicky," Viola said. "I just don't want to be pitied or treated with kid gloves."

"I promise I won't do either of those," Nick vowed. He left Viola in the living room and found Finnick in the kitchen, fixing hot drinks. Tea was a favourite of Viola's. It always had been. When Nick drank it, he usually liked it black, without any milk or sweeteners, but overall, he preferred coffee.

"Hey, Fin…" Nick said. "Thank you for looking out for Ma."

"'S nothin', Nick," Finnick answered. "Your Ma did the same for me once. She a sweet lady, Nick."

"Under different circumstances, I might have had something to say about that," Nick remarked.

"Yeah, I know ya," Finnick agreed, "Probably be somethin' like I'm chasin' her skirt."

"Now, that would be disrespectful," Nick said. "You'd be lucky to reach it."

A small smirk appeared on his face, as Finnick glared at him.

"Yeah, missed you too, buddy," Nick remarked.

As Finnick placed the cups on a tray, Nick turned to him.

"Any idea who this jack who's been coming round is?" Nick asked.

"I've seen him around, but I've been busy with my business, Nick," Finnick replied. Finnick ran an ice cream stand. Nick had noted the irony some time ago, since that was originally the hustle that he and Nick had pulled off. "Nobody I know knows who he is, but they probably don't care about some kid anyway."

"Well, I'll keep an eye out for him," Nick said.

He helped Finnick in with the drinks and sat down in the seat adjacent to his mother. There was relative silence as they drank at first, but Viola broke the silence.

"Are you going to be doing anything while you're here, Nicky?" Viola asked. "Your boy hasn't seen the city before. It'd be nice to take him around it."

"I'm just going to be here for you, Ma," Nick answered. "I'll… take care of things after, then head home."

Viola smiled sadly.

A knock came at the door. Finnick went to get up.

"That's okay, I've got it," Nick said, putting his drink down and heading for the front door. He opened it to find a curious sight before him.

His first thought was that this was the jack that Viola had told him about, but there were a few things that were off. The ears were wrong – jacks had large, rounded ears – even larger than rabbits' ears, but this 'jack' had shorter, narrower ears with pointed tips. The muzzle was wrong – it was a little longer and wider than it should be. He noted the 'jack' also had a stubby, narrower tail that was longer than it should have been.

The last thing that Nick was drawn to were his eyes. Brilliant purple eyes. He had seen those eyes before. Known them.

The oddities of the 'jack' started to pile on top of other in Nick's mind. Pushing his suspicions aside, he spoke as if he was completely unaware of just who this youngster was.

"You the jack that's been helping Ma out?" Nick asked. "Thanks for taking care of her for…"

The 'jack', his face a mask of rage, swung a fist straight at Nick and he evaded it.

"Whoa, bud, what's your problem?" Nick remarked. The commotion had caused both Robin and Finnick to emerge from the living room to observe.

The enraged youth, teeth bared – Nick noted that he had canines like a fox – turned and fled.

"No, you don't…" Nick ran forward and caught hold of the youth by the arm.

"I said 'what's your problem?'" Nick said, a little angry. "You show up uninvited, you try to swing at me, and then make a run for it. What do you want? Who are you?"

"Let go of me!" the youth snarled. "Let go! My Mom is…"

"Your Mom could be the Energizer Bunny for all I care," Nick said, "but I have a thought on who she really might be."

The youth stopped struggling, but his face was still angry, his eyes boring into Nick.

"Figured it out, have you, Dad?" the youth said.

Caught off-guard by the comment, Nick let the youth go and he tumbled to the ground.

And that's the end of this chapter! Again, I hope this shows the 'same story, different execution' I was going for.