Chapter 22 Summary:

For her 31st birthday, Skye takes Judy camping down along the Big Sur coast. While Judy surfs, Skye explores the beach, and encounters something sacred. Returning home, Skye is confronted with loss, and Judy must step up. In the end, their relationship changes, even as it defines their lives forever.

Notes:

This one was... difficult. Sometimes the words just flow, and other times they are a struggle. This was one of the latter, a shorter chapter, not even 5000 words long. It took me two weeks to figure out how to write this one, with many starts and stops, fits and edits. But it is finally done, and I present it here for you. Enjoy.

Flashback: 8 years ago on the Big Sur

Skye and Judy drove down the coast as the last pale red glimmers of the sunset faded over the ocean, unveiling the night's parade of brilliant stars overhead. Judy, entranced, watched out the truck window as the surf, glowing a neon blue, crashed on the rocks below her. Who would have thought this existed just t hree hours outside of town! the excited rabbit thought to herself.

Skye drove the custom Hasenwagen truck down Route 1 like she rode her motorcycles, as an extension of herself. She shifted smoothly as she took the corners, the over-sized engine growling as she braked going in, and the turbocharger whining in anticipation as she accelerated going out. But even with all that power at her claw tips, the vixen carefully drove the speed limit, not tempting fate on the dark and curving coastal road. She wasn't really a trill-seeker, certainly not the same way that her bunny was. For her, driving was an expression of mechanics and practiced control.

She glanced over at Judy, and smiled. Yeah, keep it smooth and steady tonight. Tomorrow was soon enough for adrenaline fueled terror. Judy planned to show Skye her surfing skills on her short surfboard she affectionately called "The Stump", but Skye wasn't really keen on the concept. While Judy absolutely loved the ocean, Skye was terrified of it, a legacy of nightmares earned working on her father's fishing boat in the stormy northern seas. She avoided the open ocean as much as possible and could barely even swim without panicking. She planned on hunting for seashells while Judy rode the waves.

She understood, in part, the furious spirit that drove her rabbit, and while she loved the bunny for the way she expressed that spirit, at times she was also frightened by it's strength. She knew that part of it came as a reaction to all the years that Judy had spent at Cliffside, but she also sensed that there was more to it, something hidden deep under the occasional nightmare that Judy still suffered from; nightmares that had waned in intensity since that night three months ago, when they had their late night confessional.

Skye patiently didn't pry, knowing that in time her lover would come to trust her, and then she could finally discover just who this Nick character was, why he meant so much to the rabbit, and why Judy was so haunted by his death.

Skye pulled off Route 1 to spend the night in a beach side camp ground that ran along side Baskett Creek. Judy was nodding off as they pulled in, but she shook it off as they bumped off the pavement and on to the dirt road leading up to the camping site. Skye hunted about until she found their assigned pad, and pulled the truck into the spot. She turned off the key, and the rumbling engine died with a sigh. "We're here!" she pointed out to the rabbit as she slid out off the door.

"Yay..." Judy exclaimed tiredly. It had been a long, busy shift at the restaurant, and this deep in the night all Judy could think about was a soft bed and a warm vixen to snuggle into. She slid out of her door, and stumbled back to the camper. Skye unlocked and opened the rear door, and boosted the smaller female into the portal before climbing in herself, closing it behind her. They both undressed as quickly a possible before climbing up into the cab-over bed. Skye snuggled up to her little bunny as the big spoon, and kissed her on the back of her gray neck. Judy just mumbled as she batted at Skye's questing nose, before curling up to sleep. The vixen smiled in the dark, and she laid her nose over her bunny's ears as she too fell deep asleep. And dreamed.

She was cruising down a quiet country lane, the trees turned brilliant shades of gold and crimson, the sunlight dappling through their branches. But as she rode her rumbling beast, she was joined by weasels riding on chromed motorcycles. They whined, as they jostled in beside her, that her motorcycles were defective since they couldn't reach the bike pegs with their weasel legs. Except that it wasn't her bikes that were defective but that their weasel legs were too short.

As she pointed this out to them, the trees gave way to icebergs and she was suddenly paddling along in her sealskin qayaq, while the weasels swam along side her. They complained and clutched at her, pulling on her oar as they climbed up onto her qayaq. Their weight tipped her over and she fell into the cold dark sea. They drifted down with her, complaints bubbling out of their mouths as they sank, and as she fought with them she became wrapped up in the long tendrils of kelp that reached up from the bottom. Skye fought against the clutching dark fronds, trying to free herself so that she could swim to the surface, but a heavy paw with blunted fingers reached across her chest and pulled her down into the crushing deep.

Skye awoke, gasping for air, her startled blue-gold eyes blinking in the dim moonlight streaming in through the camper's skylights. She couldn't move her arms, and there was a heavy weight across her right side. She fought to control her breathing, and looked down to take stock her situation. She found herself tangled up in the sheets with a sleeping Judy laid out over her chest and right arm, mumbling about being too short to reach the pedals.

Skye extracted her left arm from her cocoon, and used it to gently pry Judy off her chest, sliding her back down to the bed. Once she was freed of the lagamorphic embrace, she slide out of the tangled sheets, and off the bunk, dropping lightly to the camper floor. She padded quietly back to the bathroom, and closed door. Turning on the light, she stared into the mirror, seeking answers to her nameless fears in her reflection. Seeing that no answers were forth coming, she shook her head, and splashed some water over her muzzle. Breathing deeply, she calmed herself, and found her center.

She turned off the light, and left the bathroom. Looking back to the darkened alcove, she could see that Judy was starting to thrash. Not Good! she thought as she hurried back to the bed, gathering the rabbit into her arms and whispering into her long ears, "I'm here, babe. I've got you. You're safe. You're always safe. I'll always be here for you."

Judy mumbled as her arms and paws were captured in a strong embrace. She rooted her nose in the dense fur of Skye's chest, and with a sigh she settled back to sleep. Skye breathed her own sigh, one of relief that there wouldn't be any screaming tonight, and followed her rabbit into a dreamless slumber.

Skye woke an empty bunk, her bunny nowhere to be found. She sat up, confusion etched on her face. She quickly dressed and as she headed out the back door she saw the note stuck in the door frame. Opening the door, she stepped out into the morning light, and unfolded the note.

"Skye, I'm down at the beach with a couple of locals. The seas are glassy and the waves are peeling left, so I've gone to find me some barrels. I'll be back before breakfast."

Skye no idea what any of that meant, so she closed the door behind her, and walked out of the campground and across the road to the beach trail head. She walked along it until she reached a platform overlooking the beach. Looking down, she could see the beach spreading north and south, with rocky islands to the south. She turned back to look north, and in the distance she could see three small figures riding along the waves, the middle one wearing a pink suit. That had to be Judy.

With a sigh of relief, Skye turned to walk back down the stairs to the beach. Reaching the beach, she looked out over the sea as her love flitted in and out of the wave crests. She shivered, as her memories of waves crashing over her involved wildly pitching boats lost in stormy seas. It was not anything she could ever learn to love to do, she was sure. But that her rabbit did was simply a testament to Judy's indomitable spirit. She smiled at that realization – that you don't have to share someone's passion to love them for the expression of their passion.

She turned south to, walking toward the rocks at the south end of the beach, and as she did she stubbed her toe. Hopping a few steps, she turned to search for the offending rock. Her toe still smarting, she knelt down and uncovered a large evergreen stone the size of her fist.

Jade.

She had come looking for seashells, but instead had found a green wonder. She examined the deep green stone, shot through with white occlusions, like a frozen droplet of storm driven seas. It was very pretty, so she put it in her pants pocket. She started casting about, looking for more. She spotted more green glints in a pile of rocks by cliff-side, and she moved in that direction.

Scrambling over the rock pile, she landed on the other side on all fours and froze, for staring back at her was a mammal skull. A shiver of fear rolled through her white fur, for at first she thought, based on it's size, that it was a bear skull. But as she looked closer, she realized that it's brain case was too small. It wasn't the skull of a bear, but that of a seal, a very large seal. Remembering the stories her grandfather had taught her about the hunting he did in his youth, she guessed that it could be the skull an elephant seal, maybe that of a bull.

She stood up, and cast her gaze about the ring of boulders surrounding the skull, but she didn't see any other bones, just the sun bleached skull of a giant seal, staring out to sea. It was a grave that she stood in, this ring of stone, she realized; a sacred place. She backed up, and climbed back up on the boulders to leave, and as she did, she spotted a small pink surfer in the distance. Judy, riding waves twice as tall as she was.

As she watched, Judy cut back and forth down the face of the wave, as the crest reached over her and crashed down behind her. But suddenly, the wave structure changed, and it all crashed over the diminutive rabbit, and she disappeared from view. Shocked, and filled with panic, Skye shot to her feet atop the boulder. She wanted to rush out there to save her rabbit, but she could barely swim.

But like a cork, a surfboard popped to the surface behind the wave, and emerging next to it was a small figure dressed in pink. The little rabbit climbed back on to the board, and started paddling back out, trying to position herself to catch the next big wave.

Skye stood on the rock, breathing in relief. She dropped her paws to her side, and as she did, she felt the jade still in her pocket. Looking down, she understood what she was supposed to do. She turned back into the ring of stone, and knelt before the skull. She pulled the stone from her pocket, and placed the jade stone atop the skull. Sitting back, she sang in Qikiqtani, her people's tongue, a song that her grandmother had taught her long ago.

I think over again my small adventures, my fears,

These small ones that seemed so big.

For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

And yet there is only one great thing,

The only thing.

To live to see the great day that dawns

And the light that fills the world.

Remembering her nightmare from last night, she prayed to Sedna, the Goddess of the Sea.

O Sedna, please accept this offering and be appeased. She is the light of my heart, she who is my littlest rabbit. I had not thought to ever find one like her, willing to face me without fear. Please, do not take her from me, for she is the light that fills my world.

She bowed before the skull, stood, and after climbing over the boulder she left the ring of stone behind her, walking back up the beach.

Later that evening they sat before the campfire, sharing a camp chair while Judy nestled into Skye's lap. Judy idly munched on some cucumber slices while the vixen stroked her paws down her bunny's belly. Judy shivered in delight and then responded to the touch by stretching her muzzle upwards and nuzzling into the underside of her vixen's throat.

Whoops, Skye thought, I better ask my question before she gets going. Again. Skye pulled her paws away, and cleared her throat.

"Aww..." Judy complained, "Put those paws back. I was liking that!"

"In a minute," Skye promised the impatient bunny, "I was going to tell you what I wanted for my 31st birthday."

Judy perked, and she turned to face her vixen. "Yes, please tell me!" She bounced a bit on the fox's lap.

Skye laughed at her excitement, and caught Judy's paws in hers, "Light of my heart, will you move in with me?"

Judy didn't even hesitate when she belted out, "YES!" She launched herself up and out of the fox's lap and wrapped her arms around Skye's neck, crushed her muzzle against Skye's. Skye responded by opening her mouth and accepting Judy's questing tongue, but her inner ear issued an immediate alert, breaking through her enjoyment of the moment. Judy's momentum had changed Skye's balance in the chair, and the white fox found that they were tipping backwards.

She didn't hesitate or try to compensate, as she reacted by pulling her bunny into a ball of gray and white fur and cradled her in her chest as they fell backwards and landed with a thump, the breath being knocked out of Skye's lungs with a slight 'oof!' as Judy's weight landed on her. But it was a short chair, and they were small mammals, so the fall didn't generated any significant force other than to startle them both.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, are you okay?" Judy frantically queried a gasping Skye. Skye's gasps of surprise quickly turned into laughter, as she squeezed her bunny to her chest, "Ha ha ha… Yes, yes… I'm fine, I'm fine." She laughed. She turned to look at Judy's concerned face, "I take it that was an enthusiastic yes?"

Judy sat up, her paws resting on Skye's chest, "Most definitely, yes." Judy sat for a moment, as she screwed up her muzzle, and then sat up straight, straddling Skye's' stomach, "Except… Can we wait a couple of months?"

Skye looked up at her in askance, her brows furrowed. Judy hurried along, "Just until Moni graduates? Please? She's been a really good roommate to me; really supportive, and I don't want to leave her alone. She can't afford her apartment by herself, and she wouldn't be able to find another roommate in the two months she has left before she goes home." Judy finished up, a concerned look on her face.

Skye slowly smiled as she reached her paw up to stroked down Judy's jawline and throat, "Of course." She replied. Actually, as she thought about it further, the delay would give me a chance to sort through my crap and make room for Judy at the same time.

Judy smiled in return, her face framed in golden fire light on one side and silver moon light on the other, as she leaned in to complete the thank you kiss that gravity had so rudely interrupted.

Like all good things, the weekend also had to come to an end, as Skye had a shop to manage and Judy had shifts at Dee's to cover. They packed up the camper the next morning for the drive back home, and Judy waved goodbye to the Big Sur. She was going to have to come back to this place – so many happy memories here.

They drove north along Route 1, the windows down to let the sea air into the car. Skye had the deep blue Pacifica ocean swells to her left, and Judy had the rugged Golden State mountains to her right. The turbo charger whined, complaining that the arctic vixen wasn't using it to it's fullest potential. Skye ignored it's entreaty, preferring to take the trip home sedately, driving the speed limit and trying to stretch out their time together.

They spent most of the four hour drive back in silence, having said most important things the night before.

Skye pulled up before her shop and parked the truck. Judy got out to unlock the front door and walked in, stopping to pick up the mail. Bill, Invoice, Junk Mail, Junk Mail, wait a minute… Who's Tonraq?

Judy turned and called out the door at the vixen just getting out of the truck, "Hey, Skye? Is Tonraq another one of your relatives? You've go a letter from them."

Skye strode up, a frown on her muzzle as she held out her paw, "Tonraq is my father. Why did he send me a letter? He never writes."

Judy handed her the letter, her eyebrow quirking, sensitive to the change in her girlfriend's manner. Sky ripped open the envelope, extracted the letter, and began to read. Her eyes went wide as her paw flew to her mouth and she leaned against the open doorjamb as she read down the letter. As she finished the short letter, her eyes began to fill with tears and she slid to the floor, her head sinking between her knees as she began to sob.

Concerned, Judy knelt beside her, placing her right paw on Skye's arm, while reaching for the letter with her other paw. She gently pulled the letter from Skye's limp grasp, and turned it over so she could read it. It was written in the Qikiqtani dialect, much like the letters that Skye got from her brother. Skye had slowly been teaching Judy to read it, but most of what was in the letter was incomprehensible to her. Judy reached up with her right paw and started to stroke Skye's head, leaning in to kiss her brow. She just stayed there, rest her head on Skye's, just being there for her. Skye was always patient with her, so she could afford to wait a bit to see what had upset her vixen so much.

Skye slide her paw up to hold Judy's, and they stayed that way for a spell before Skye spoke. "It's my mother. She has ovarian cancer, but she missed most of the warning signs, so now it's spread to her spine and pelvis. The tribal doctor gives her 6 months to live at the outside." She raise her muzzle to face Judy's, her eyes red from the tears she had shed.

"Oh, babe, I'm so sorry!" Judy's face melt with concern, as she reached around Skye's neck to hug her white head to her chest. "I'm so sorry..."

Skye pulled the letter out of Judy's paw and started again, "My father wants me to come back home to be with her in her final months. She can barely walk now, and he can't be home taking care of her and also running his boat." She stared at the letter and added in a small voice, "I don't know what to do…."

Judy knew that Skye was referring to her father whom she barely tolerated, "Do you love her?" she asked her fox.

Skye looked up at Judy, "Of course! She's my mom!"

Judy placed her paws on either side of the arctic fox's muzzle and gazed into her gold and blue eyes, "Then you need to go be with her, now." She stroked her paw down Skye's cheek, "While you still can."

"But my shop, and my relationship with you..." Skye stopped as Judy put her paw over her lips.

"You've got a good brand here, and loyal customers. They'll understand that you have to go home for 6 months, especially if you make arrangements with Big Dawg down the street to take up the slack for half a year. You've always had a great working relationship with his shop, since you started your business there." Judy shook her head, "And I certainly can't build your electric bikes. I can look pretty on them, but I don't have the engineering skills to make them work."

"As for me, I'll be right here, waiting for you." Judy gestured out the door, "I can't leave Moni alone right now, this close to her graduation. As much as I want to go with you, which I really do, she'd fall to pieces if she had to find another roommate right now." She nodded, "But after she leaves, you and I can discuss things, see how you are doing, and maybe then I can arrange to move somewhere closer to you, okay?" Judy promised her.

Skye nodded, "Okay."

The next two weeks flew by, as Skye finished out her motorcycle build orders, and transferred other orders she couldn't complete to local shops. Her tools and fixtures she ended up selling to Big Dawg's Hawgs down the street, since they had traded work back and forth for years. The old grizzled wolf would pick up supporting her customer base as well as her two employees. Her own personal motorcycles she sold off to loyal customers. She was left with just four bags of her personal effects, clothes, and mementos. Not much to show for nearly a decade of living in Gateway Bay City.

Skye had come here, almost right after college, at the age of twenty two to pursue her passion of custom electric motorcycles. She worked for Big Dawg for a couple of years, but as soon as the opportunity arose for her to open her own shop, she had jumped at the chance. And now the only thing left to show for that opportunity, after nine long years of hard work, was an empty shop with a for-sale sign swinging in the breeze outside.

Judy sat on a stool in the corner, quietly crying as her heart was filled with doubts. In just a few hours Skye will be gone from her life for the next six months or even longer. She had been abandoned before, so she thought she was calloused enough to handle this. But she was finding that after two weeks of preparation that she couldn't cope with the coming loss after all, even though she had originally encouraged Skye to go. Maybe it was because that Skye didn't want to leave her either that made this change in their relationship all so very bittersweet.

In a past life, she had found perfect passion with her fox and then lost him. In this life she had found a complete connection with Skye, and now she could be loosing her too. It wasn't fair, so not fair. But Judy couldn't scream about it, because Skye was loosing her mother too, and Judy couldn't allow her own need to hold her vixen back from loving her family. That wasn't how Skye rolled.

Judy remember how she had described it to her vixen three months ago, how that Skye 'loved without reservation and forgave without consequence'. Judy had to hold on to that as inspiration for her own life, and love Skye back without reservation, and forgive her for leaving without consequence.

"Hey, babe, you ready to go?" Skye called into the garage bay. She stepped out and looked around for her girlfriend. She saw Judy on the stool in the corner, and rushed over to her. "Oh, baby!" She picked up Judy, and hugged her to her chest.

Judy sobbed into her shoulder, "I don't want you to go."

"I know, sweetheart, I know. But I have too."

"I could still find a way to go with you, you know." Judy mumbled into her chest.

"Oh, baby, I wish that were true, I really do. But even if you could get past the border guards, my hometown is no place for a rabbit. It's really a carnivore only town. You would be the only herbivore for miles. You wouldn't be able to even get rabbit food there. And it smells like rotting fish all day long, so you wouldn't be able to keep anything down anyway. The only jobs available are on the fishing boats or the seafood canning factory, and they are all dangerous. You would be miserable. Hell, I grew up there, and I know I'm going to be miserable."

She walked around the shop, hold the little rabbit in her strong arms, stroking her ears with her paw.

Skye explained to her, "My father never accepted me as a lesbian, and he would never accept you. He would pretend you don't even exist, and just harp on me to get married to some local male so I can have kits. It's no place for you. I'm only going because my mom is sick and she needs me, not because my father asked, or because I agree with what he thinks about me."

"It's no place for you at all, littlest rabbit. No, I need you here, where I know you will be safe; where you can have friends who accept you; where you can get food and a job. I need somebody to remember all that I love about this place, to keep it alive in their hearts for me. I especially need somebody who will go to the top of my favorite mountain, and watch the fog roll in for me. Can you do that for me, light of my heart?" Skye looked down at her bunny. Judy just nodded.

"Okay. I have one last gift for you, and then we need to head to the airport." She carried the little rabbit outside and set her down, pointing at the waiting camper truck. Judy turned around to look and gasped in surprise. Skye had detailed a Hopps pink bunny face logo on the truck doors, and emblazoned below that was a surfboard laid on it's side with the letters 'J. J.' stenciled on it. She turned back to look at the vixen, delight in her eyes.

Skye held out the keys to her rabbit, "Here. The Beast is yours now; my birthday gift to you. Something to remember me by. Figured you would need something to haul your surfboard around in, and if you can't find an apartment right away after your roommate leaves, you could always just stay in the camper."

Judy took the keys, "Thank you! You didn't have too! And with my family's farm logo on it too?" She grinned.

Skye just nodded, "Yeah, you convinced me that family is important, so that's my reminder to you as well. Your mom won't be around forever either, you know. I think that maybe you should reach out to her as well?"

Judy just nodded, unwilling to argue the point, even though she was sure she had burned that bridge.

Skye returned to her empty shop to grab her luggage, which she stashed in the camper, and then slid into the passenger side while Judy jumped into the driver side, started the truck, and drove them off to the airport.

They stood before the jet-way, having one last embrace before Skye departed. Skye kissed away her bunny's tears and sighed with a smile, "Don't cry, light of my heart. This isn't good-bye, you know. I will see you again, I promise."

Judy sniffed, and wiped her face with the back of her paw, "I'm gonna hold you to that promise, cause I will be waiting for you."

Skye nodded, "My grandma used to tell me a legend from my tribe about an arctic hare that had married a female arctic fox. Eventually the hare became ashamed at his inability to provide game for his wife, and the two separated tearfully." She reached down to cup and lift her bunny's chin. "Shed no more tears, my little arctic hare. You provided everything I've ever needed in a mate and more. I love you, always remember that." She bent to kiss Judy's lips one last time.

"I love you, too." Judy whispered back. Skye nodded and let go of her rabbit. Picking up her bag with tears of her own threatening to spill over, she strode down the jet-way, knowing that if she turned around and grabbed Judy, she might not be able to let go again.

Judy waved at her retreating form, yelling out, "I'll see you soon!"

Little did Judy know that she wouldn't see her vixen again for another eight years.

Post-it Note:

I really struggled to write this chapter. I managed to get about 1500 words down before I ran into a brick wall, with two scenes done, but I was missing the bookends as well as the middle. I discussed this with Dakzoo, and he encouraged me write what I needed to write, and to take the time to do it right, not trying to force it into the constraints of what my self imposed schedule dictated. So I took another week of research into the beliefs and fears of the Inuit people before I managed to come up with what you have just read.

It's part of the nature of story telling - if it feels wrong, don't force it. Step back, and consider what your characters would think, and they will tell you how the story is supposed to go. Have faith in them. Have faith in the story.