Thanks go to the following reviewers: DarthChew, GhostWolf88, aomagrat, Spectra98, x_uve, seakard

Writing this almost brought me to tears. You'd think that, since I'd written this once before, that I would be prepared for it. Anyway, I won't say 'enjoy', but please, read on.

WE SHALL NEVER MEET AGAIN

Robin opened his eyes. He could hear padding in the hallway outside his room. He fumbled for his phone. Grabbing hold of it from the bedside table, Robin glanced blearily-eyed at it. The clock said 4:25.

Robin yawned. It was far too early to be awake, even if his Dad did make him go to bed early the previous night. Was his grandmother awake? Or was his Dad out there?

He could hear the creaking of the door across the hallway. Behind that door was the room of Viola, his grandmother.

Robin shut his eyes, trying to get back to sleep.

It didn't last. Robin's ear twitched as he heard what sounded like a snuffling sound. Opening his eyes once more and rubbing them, he tentatively got out of bed. Pushing the door open slightly, Robin peered out.

He could see the door across the hall was opened slightly. That strange snuffling sound reached his ears again.

Robin pushed his door open further and crept towards the room opposite. As he got closer, he saw his Dad, on his knees by the bed Viola Wilde was sleeping in. Viola's face looked peaceful. Nick, on the other hand, had his head bowed, and his paws were clasped around one of Viola's.

"Dad?" Robin called out tentatively. Nick didn't answer directly, instead letting out something that sounded like a choked sob.

"Dad?" Robin repeated. Nick turned to look to Robin. Robin could see tear tracks down his father's muzzle.

"Son…" Nick said finally, "call an ambulance."

Robin stared, mouth agape, at the figure lying in the bed. Viola still looked at peace, and Robin realised what had happened: she had died in the night. Robin turned around, returned to his bedroom, picked his phone up and dialled 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" the call operator queried.

"I think… I think my grandmother is dead," Robin stammered, tears coming to his eyes as the full force of the statement came to him.

"Okay, stay calm," the operator responded. "Can you tell me your address?"

Robin gave the address to the operator and they told him that an ambulance would be there soon. Within ten minutes, it had pulled up outside the apartment and paramedics and a wolf doctor had disembarked and entered the apartment. The doctor went into Viola's room and looked her over. He felt her wrists and her neck. Shaking his head, he stood up.

"Time of death is within the last two hours. Time is now 4:56 AM, which I will be declaring as time of death for the records," The doctor said sombrely, turning to Nick. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wilde."

Nick felt so numb he didn't bother to contradict the doctor on his name. The doctor stepped aside as the paramedics wheeled a gurney in. They gently lifted Viola out of the bed and onto it, covering her up before taking her out of the apartment. The doctor remained behind.

"I've been following Viola's case since her diagnosis," the doctor told Nick. "Glioblastoma is an unpleasant way to go and we were hoping that it could be treated. I know that she wasn't whole in mind at the end, but… it's better that she went out in peace like she has."

The doctor left shortly after, leaving Nick alone with Robin.

Across the city, Judy was awoken by the sound of her phone's ringtone, a new song by a resurgent Gazelle, titled 'Hope Is Eternal'. Her paw flew out from under the cover and she fumbled for her phone. Sitting up, bleary-eyed, she noticed the time was 5:00 – half an hour before her alarm was meant to go off.

It could only mean that this was a phone call, and there were only a few people that would bother her this early in the morning. Unlocking the screen, Judy saw that it was Nick. A sinking feeling entered the pit of her stomach as she answered it.

"Nick…" Judy yawned. "It's too early to call…"

"She's gone," Nick cut across Judy. Judy rubbed her eyes, Nick's words not registering in her mind for a moment.

"Carrots?" Nick's voice sounded choked.

"Who's gone?" Judy asked dazedly.

"Mom… she's…" Nick said. "She went in the night."

Judy suddenly felt very awake.

"A doctor came out half an hour ago… I went in to check on her and…" Nick said, stopping himself.

"Oh… Oh, Nick…" Judy said, a tear forming in her eye, "I'm so sorry…"

"I… helped her to bed last night, and… I went in to check on her this morning… she wasn't breathing. She looked… at peace."

"Oh, Nick…" Judy sniffed. "I can be round there quickly…"

"You don't have to," Nick replied.

"Of course I do, Nick," Judy replied. "You're going to have a lot to do and… I wouldn't let you do it alone. That's what friends are for."

There was a brief moment of silence. Judy figured Nick needed a moment and she allowed it.

"Thanks, Judy," Nick replied. He bade goodbye and ended the call. Tears silently falling down her face, Judy got out of bed and headed for Nicholas' room, adjacent to hers. Opening the door gently, Judy peaked into the room.

"Nicky?" Judy called softly. There was no answer from Nicholas, so she stepped into his room. He was fast asleep.

"Nicky, wake up…" Judy whispered. The mass in the bed stirred.

"Leave m'lone…" Nicholas grumbled.

"It's important…" Judy replied. "It's about Grandma Wilde…"

Nicholas sat up slowly and rubbed at his eyes.

"Nicky, she… I'm so sorry…" Judy began, tears welling up in her eyes. Nicholas felt the blood drain from his ears. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but whatever he wanted to say would not come. Judy closed the gap and wrapped her arm around him.

"I'm sorry… she's gone…" Judy said.

For a while, she sat like that with Nicholas. He didn't resist, but Judy let him cry into her shoulder. She had not seen him like this before, and she felt so helpless.

The drive didn't take long in the early morning traffic. When Judy pulled up outside Viola's apartment in the Rainforest District, she noticed Finnick's van already outside. She and Nicholas got out of the car and walked up to the front porch. She pressed the door bell and waited. It wasn't long before the door opened, and there stood Nick.

Nick wore a white vest and slacks, and it looked like he hadn't slept properly. Judy could see bags under his eyes, his fur damp underneath them.

"I said there wasn't a need for you to come," Nick said grimly.

"Yes, there was," Judy said. "There's every need for me to be here. Like I said, I'm not going to let you be alone when right now, you need your friends. And she was Nicholas' grandmother too."

Nick let out a pained sigh as fresh tears trickled down his muzzle. Judy felt an immense anguish at the sight. She had seen him upset, but never in this way, and it drove a dagger through her heart to see him and be unable to do anything to stop his pain. But if there was something she could do to help, then she was going to do it.

'Appropriate can go to Hell,' Judy thought, closing the distance between her and Nick and putting her arms around him in a hug. Nick tensed up, not expecting Judy's action, but after a moment, he allowed his grief to come through and he wept into Judy's arms. Tears welled up in Judy's eyes again.

"Yo, you gonna let her in?" Finnick came out from the kitchen, a grim look on his face.

Nick bade Judy and Nicholas inside and went to the kitchen to fetch refreshments. Robin followed him, displaying awkwardness around Judy by stealing glances at her then quickly looking away as he fidgeted nervously.

Nick returned to the living room with a caroffee, which he gave to Judy, and he set a glass of water down on the table in front of Nicholas, before sitting down in one of the armchairs.

"This might come across a little insensitive, but…" Judy began, "have you thought about her funeral yet?"

Nick said nothing. He wasn't ready to start thinking about that yet.

"Do you know if she had a will?" Judy asked.

"She does," Nick said. "I'm the executor."

"Did she say how she would like to be…?" Judy began.

"She always talked about being buried with my father," Nick replied. "As much as I disliked my old man… it was her wish."

Another moment of silence between the two.

"Nick, if there's anything I can do…" Judy began.

Nick didn't answer straight away.

"Our son might need you more than I do right now," Nick replied. The reply took Judy by surprise: this was the first spoken acknowledgement Nick had made of Nicholas being their son as opposed to her son. Turning to face Nicholas, Judy noticed he was staring blankly into the air, not really taking anything in. His fur was damp with recent tears. Judy moved to sit next to Nicholas, and a new tear fell from his face. She put a paw on his shoulder. Judy looked to Nick. She gestured for him to come over, something he seemed surprised by, but he acquiesced. Sitting on the other side of Nicholas, he tentatively placed a paw on the boy's free shoulder. Nicholas stiffened at the touch, but did not throw Nick's paw off. Tears fell from the eyes of all three.

They were not thinking of it, but that had been the first true reunion, brought about by their shared grief.

And that's a wrap on this chapter. The original two chapters had a lot of repetition so it made sense to merge them.