Chapter 2

Written by Aninat131

Edited by Cimar

Artwork by MykeGreyWolf on DA

Focus. I need to be focused.

Nick found himself walking more briskly than usual along the sandy beach. Throngs of beachgoers moved along the wide expanse, running, laughing, taking photos…it definitely wasn't the place to be for some peace and quiet.

The edge of the lookout post began to come into view in the corner of Nick's eye, and he forced himself to slow his pace down a little.

She should be able to see any incidents from here.

He couldn't believe he had actually talked himself into doing this. After picking up the kid by the water up, Nick brought him to the Snack Shack for a nice popsicle. On the way there, a part of him was trying to talk him out of doing this. But the more he thought about it then, the more convinced he got.

"You're crazy! Think this through before you do something stupid!"

"I have thought this through. I'm going to wait for someone to get in trouble out there in the ocean, and then I'm going to go rescue him. Judy will definitely see it, with how vigilant she is. She'll rush out to rescue him, but since I'm already on the beach, I'll get there faster. I'll pretend to have been stung by a jellyfish, so Judy will have to come and rescue me. And then, when she's trying to treat the wound, I'll wake up with a gasp, and 'conveniently' kiss her on her lips because of the delirium. No CPR, no risk of broken ribs. It's fool-proof!"

"But what about the victim? How are you going to 'drown' and stop him from drowning? What if he actually dies from this?"

Nick bit his lip hesitantly.

"Yeah, that's kind of a problem…"

"Why are you talking to yourself, Mr Lifeguard?"

Nick spun, only to see no one.

"Down here, Mr Lifeguard."

Nick looked down. A familiar looking bear cub was looking back up at him with a smile.

"Hey, you're…that kid from just now. The one who hates sand. I just realise I never got your name."

"It's Kinoe. But you can call me Kin."

Nick never really paid attention before, but the bear cub was pretty short. He only came up to Nick's stomach in height, but he didn't look the slightest bit intimidated. In fact, his brown eyes only showed intrigue. Curiosity.

"Ah, okay then, Kin. What are you doing here? I thought I already left you with an ice cream at the Snack Shack. Also, just call me Nick. I'm not that old."

"Okay, Mr Old Lifeguard Nick." Kin said, grinning. "Anyway, why are you talking to yourself? Do lifeguards do that a lot?"

"Nah, I'm just…" Nicks eyes wandered over to the lookout tower. "It's adult stuff."

"You're not an adult." Kin replied.

"Well, dang, you got me there." Nick chuckled. "Alright fine. I'm just wondering how I can get a girl to kiss me."

"Ooooh," Kin's eyes widened. "Why don't you just ask her to kiss you?"

"Okay, you're probably too young for me to be talking to you about this kinda thing."

"I'm already nine!" Kin pouted in response. "And I know about this sort of stuff! My brothers always talk about it all the time."

"You're nine?!" Nick exclaimed. "I thought you were like, six, or something."

"Don't make fun of my size!" Kin yelled, glaring daggers at Nick.

"Okay okay!" Nick raised his hands in surrender. "Anyway, it's not as easy as just telling her that I want to kiss her. She's my friend, and if she finds out that I want to kiss her, but she doesn't like me, things will get…weird."

"That sounds just like my brother," Kin replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He liked a girl and tried to kiss her too."

"Oh? And how did that turn out?"

"The girl slapped him. He was sad."

Nick winced at the thought of Judy slapping him. He knew that was a very real possibility. Whether she would actually do it was another matter altogether. He began pacing around again.

"So what are you gonna do?" the bear cub asked, his head following Nick as he left a circular impression trail in the sand.

"Well, I kinda had a plan, but it's pretty dangerous."

That didn't seem to dissuade Kin. In fact, he seemed even more excited at the prospect of danger.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was thinking of going to rescue someone who's drowning, then pretend to get stung by a jellyfish so she'll come and rescue me. Then I can use that chance to kiss her."

"I thought you said that there weren't any jellyfish in the water at this time of the year."

"It doesn't mean that it's impossible, only unlikely. But still, the problem is that I can't save someone and pretend to drown at the same time."

"What if I did it?"

Nick's head spun.

"What?"

"Yeah! I'm a great swimmer! Let me go into the water, and you can come 'rescue' me. I can totally look like I'm in trouble," the bear cub, his eyes lighting up all of a sudden.

"But that's…"

"Or you could just swim over to me in the water and tell me to get out like you did just now."

Nick was about to roll his eyes, but he stopped himself short.

"Wait a second. If you go far out enough, I can rush out into the water to bring you back…"

"And then you can pretend to be stung!" Kin finished, beaming proudly. "Whaddya think?"

Nick instinctively tried to think of a way to shoot Kin down, but after a moment of thinking, he realised he didn't really have a good objection to the bear cub's plan. It was exactly what he wanted.

"…I think you'd make a good hustler, Kin." Nick finally replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What's that?" Kin asked, cocking his head.

"That's not important now. It's a great plan, really. But I can't risk you doing this. There may not be jellyfish, but going that far out by yourself is super dangerous." Nick took his hand off Kin's shoulder. "What would your mom say if she saw you out there?"

"She'd probably get all screamy and make a big fuss. Hey, maybe she'll get so mad that we won't have to come back to the beach anymore!" Kin replied brightly.

"Yeesh, you really need to work this thing out with your family. Doing something ridiculous like this to get their attention isn't exactly a great idea…"

Kin raised an eyebrow. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah something something I should be doing the same thing with the girl I like blah blah blah…"

"Nah, it's okay," Kin dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Once you get your kiss, you can go back to being a boring lifeguard and I don't have to come to the beach anymore. So, do you wanna do this or not?"

"Hmm…this still sounds awfully generous of you to help me like this, Kin. What else is in it for you?" Nick asked, an eyebrow raised.

Kinoe thought to himself for a moment.

"I like your sunglasses."

Nick's eyes travelled down, to where his admittedly expensive set of designer shades were hanging from his shirt. He'd just been able to afford it with his savings, as a little gift to himself for becoming a full-fledged lifeguard. He hesitated, holding them in his hand for a moment.

"…If this actually works, it's yours."

You're crazy you're crazy you're crazy—

Nick silenced the voice in his head that was screaming at him that this was a terrible idea. Perhaps one day, when he got older and matured into a respectable adult, he would look back on this day and wholeheartedly agree that this was a terrible idea.

But for now, adrenaline and hormones convinced him that this was the best idea ever.

The beach was still teeming with people, and they didn't give Nick a second glance as he walked past. He sifted through the crowd as if he were one of them, tucking his sunglasses back into their casing. He wasn't going to drag his expensive designer shades into the water, whether he was eventually going to give them to Kin or not.

Said bear cub had already agreed to the plan, but he'd asked for some time to use the bathroom first before meeting Nick somewhere closer to the watchtower. Nick had obliged, and was now standing in the shade of a big palm tree, being sure to avoid being in the line of sight of the watchtower.

"Where is he?" Nick mumbled to himself.

As a pair of giraffes moved out of the way, Nick spotted him. The brown-furred cub was running up towards the tree, wearing a blue swimsuit and goggles.

"I'm here I'm here!" Kin panted, skidding to a stop in the sand in front of Nick.

"You sure took your time," Nick remarked, stretching his arms.

"I had to get my goggles too." He pointed to the pair that he wore on his head. "Oh yeah, about that lifeguard you like…is it that bunny girl in the tower?" Kin motioned behind him. Nick hesitated a moment, before answering.

"Yeah, she is."

"Oh okay. I'm gonna go swim around there. Is that okay?" Kin asked, pointing towards a slightly less crowded part of the water. Nick blinked.

"Wait, that's all you wanted to say about her?"

"What did you want me to say about her?" Kin asked, confused. Nick shook his head.

"…Nothing. Never mind. Yeah, over there is fine. Be careful out there, kid."

"Yeesh you're starting to sound like my mother…" Kin muttered to himself under his breath, turning around and running towards the spot Nick had marked out.

Nick exhaled. Welp, here goes nothing…

With that, Nick stepped out as casually as he could into the sunlight and continued his 'patrol' along the beach. Every few seconds, he would glance towards his right, watching Kin wade further and further out into the sea. His heart was already beating in anticipation of what was to come.

Okay, just a little bit further. Once he's far enough, I'll blow my whistle and rush into the water after him. That should get Carrot's attention.

He glanced back at the watchtower. His eyes widened.

The bunny wasn't there.

"Wait, whe—"

He felt a sudden rush of wind to his left. He spun, only to see a cottontail disappear into the crowd. He felt his blood run cold.

"Carrots!" He yelled. Bursting into a sprint, Nick ducked and weaved through the beachgoers. Picnic mats and beach umbrellas littered the area, but Nick was fortunately agile enough to avoid all of them, barely jumping over a pair of kids working on a sandcastle.

And yet, by the time he reached the edge of the water, Judy was already waist-deep in it, beginning to swim towards Kin. Said bear cub turned at the sound of the whistle. He looked at Nick, confused as to why the whistles weren't coming from him. Kin looked at Judy, and then back at Nick. They both locked eyes. Even though the bear cub was quite a distance away, Nick knew what he was thinking.

Okay, this wasn't supposed to happen.

The red fox's arms slumped by his side as he watched his carefully thought-out plan sink into the water. Judy was already by Kin's side, mumbling words that Nick could pretty much guess word for word. Just like that, it was over. He sighed.

Back to the drawing board…

On the bright side, it looked like most of the beachgoers weren't paying much attention to the scene out there. That was his only consolation, he supposed. Kin was already swimming back to shore. Nick began pacing around again. It was unlikely that Judy would be amused at the thought of having to swim out into the water again to drag Kin out. Which meant that Nick would have to think of another way to get his kiss…

Great, do I really have to go with the original plan?

"...Nick…Nick!"

A cough interrupted his thoughts. Kin emerged from the water, shaking his head while bringing his hands up to his face.

"Urgh, I think I got some water in my eye…" the bear cub groaned, pulling his goggles off. "Nick, there's a problem—"

"I know, I know, I messed up. Things didn't go according to plan…"

"No! Not that! There's a real problem! A real problem!"

From the urgent tone in the cub's voice, Nick had a feeling he was serious. He felt a shiver run through his skin under his fur.

"What do you mean? Wait, where's the bunny lifeguard?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem…" Kin said, turning. Both of their gazes moved to the water. Not too far from where Kin was, a large pair of ears poked out of the water surface. Nick frowned, narrowing his eyes. What was Judy still doing out there?

"Oh no…" Kin mumbled.

"What? What is it?" Nick said, stepping towards the water.

"She said she saw some jellyfish in the water. Like, real jellyfish."

It only took two seconds to process Kin's words, before Nick sprinted towards the water as fast as he could. His feet kicked up sprays of water and sand as he dived headfirst into the sea. His arms and legs practically moved by themselves as a result of muscle memory. And yet, everything still felt so heavy underwater. The waves pushed back at him, slowing him down even further.

I'm moving too slowly! Move…faster!

The pair of ears were coming closer into view now. They bobbed in the water like a listless buoy.

It's okay, I'm almost there. Carrots knows how to keep her head above water. As long as I can pull her away from the jellyfish, she'll be fine.

And then the worst thing that could have happened, happened.

Judy's head went under.

"Carrots!" He cried out instinctively, getting a mouthful of seawater in the process. He spat it out, ignoring the vile taste. He paddled as fast as he could, but forced himself to slow down as he approached the area where she went under. The last thing that he needed was to get stung himself.

The water wasn't exactly super clear—which probably explained the awful taste—so Nick couldn't exactly see the jellyfish clearly. But there were definitely things floating about down there. His heart was beating so fast he thought he would spit it out of his mouth.

No, damn it! I can't be scared!

Taking a deep breath, Nick plunged himself under the water. He could barely keep his eyes open, which made him regret not grabbing Kin's goggles earlier while he was on the beach. Judy couldn't have sunk that far down…

Something thin and tendril-like brushed past his arm. Nick froze. But a heartbeat later, he realised that he wasn't feeling any pain. It was probably not a jellyfish, thankfully. In the murky water, he could make out the distinct outline of Judy. She still looked like she was moving, albeit weakly. He stretched out his arm towards her in the water. He felt something thin and bony. It felt like her arm.

Nick pulled.

It felt like an eternity, but Nick finally felt himself breaking through the water surface. What was clearly Judy's arm followed soon after, along with her head. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't coughing out any water.

That's not a good sign…it was possible that there was water in her lungs.

He took a moment to wrap an arm around her chest and under her armpits, before wading towards the shore. Thankfully, the current was now on his side, and he soon found his legs touching the shallow seabed. He pulled the light bunny out of the water, taking a few steps onto the beach before laying her on it. In the back of his head, he heard the sound of drums and singing, but he ignored it.

She's not breathing! I need to get the water out of her lungs!

Despite having done the procedure hundreds of times in training, Nick still felt woefully unprepared with a real body in front of him. He knelt on the sand, with both his knees on either side of Judy's legs. He placed his right palm over his left, resting them on her chest. The drum beats were getting louder. They were making his head spin. In fact, everything was starting to spin. His knees felt weak. It felt like Judy was slipping away beneath him. He took a deep breath and prepared himself.

And at that very moment, the bunny below him sat up abruptly. Nick opened his mouth to yelp, but that seemed to be exactly what Judy wanted. A soft pair of bunny lips pressed against his, making him freeze stiff.

What.

Nick didn't know how long the bunny's lips were pressed against his, but it felt like an eternity. Everything seemed to fade away in that moment: the heat, the pounding drums, the nearby screaming. As his brain tried to process what was going on, Judy finally pulled away, visibly embarrassed, but very much alive.

Eternity suddenly seemed a lot shorter than he'd hoped.

The two of them stared at each other, neither daring to blink. Nick felt the blood flowing to his brain again, and he vaguely became aware that he was in an incredibly compromising position with Judy under him. She didn't seem too concerned about it though. And that belatedly started turning the gears in his head.

"Judy."

"Hi Nick." The bunny replied, sounding sheepish. "It's not often you call me by my real name."

"You…I…the jellyfish…" Nick's eyes started roaming around her body.

"There aren't any. Bogo told us that it's not jellyfish season, remember?"

"But that means…"

"I faked it."

"That's…"

"Because I like you. Dummy," Judy huffed. "You do too, don't you?"

"Y-yes…wait, how long have you known?" Nick asked, the coherence starting to come back to his voice.

"Is that really important right now?" Judy asked, cocking her head.

"Kinda."

"Well let's just say I've been waiting for you to say something for a while. I'm really impressed you were willing to go so far just to try and get a kiss from me, though." She replied coyly.

"You knew about that too?"

"Let's just say a little fly on the wall told me."

"…Kin?"

Judy nodded.

Nick sighed. "I should've known."

"Anyway, can we pick this up again after we're done with our shifts? We're still probably going to get fired if anyone finds out about this," Judy said, looking around nervously.

Oh shoot. Nick tensed up.

"Carrots, please tell me that there isn't a huge crowd of people standing around watching us."

"Nah, I think we're fine. Thanks to the Tiki fire show."

Nick looked around, finally shuffling away from Judy to give some space between them. True enough, most of the beachgoers were more focused on a traditional fire spinning performance, with the band of leopards drawing the attention of the beach. The few people that weren't paying attention to the show weren't exactly concerned with the fox and bunny on the sand either. Nick heaved a sigh of relief. He stood up and brushed the sand off his legs. Judy followed suit soon after.

"Well, you got me good, Carrots. I didn't see that coming at all."

"Yeah, you should have seen your face when I kissed you. I wish I'd taken a video." Judy snickered. "But you know, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just talked to me about this like a normal person…"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that you'd be interested in me? You always talked about me getting together with some vixens on the beach. I didn't think you'd be interested in a fox, much less me."

"Well…" Judy seemed to flush a little under her fur, looking down. "After spending so long with you, I guess things just kinda…happened, you know? It wasn't an overnight thing."

There was a small, slightly tense silence between the two of them. Nick took a moment to process her words, before he finally broke the silence.

"So…does this mean I can get another kiss once our shift ends?" Nick asked hopefully.

He felt a bunny punch land on his arm.

"That's for trying to put someone's life in danger just to try and sneak a kiss." She started walking away. Nick watched her go for a few seconds.

"Wait, what about the second part of the sentence where you kiss me and say 'That's for going through so much trouble just for me'?"

Judy laughed, glancing over her shoulder.

"Nice try, Slick. I'll see you after our shift ends."

The sun was beginning to set now, and a large portion of the beachgoers were packing up or moving to the nearby cafes and restaurants for dinner. A fox and bunny walked slowly through the emptying beach, walking a little bit closer together than when they started the day.

"The sunset is pretty, isn't it?" Judy asked, watching the orange ball of fire slowly sink below the horizon.

"More so than usual," Nick replied, smirking. There was a spring in his step that wasn't there before. "So are you going to tell me how long you've liked me or not?"

"I think I'll keep you guessing on that one. It's fun to see you try and figure things out."

"I should've known."

"By the way, what happened to your shades? You always wear them whenever we're at the beach," Judy asked. Nick chuckled, glancing over at a family of bears heading towards a grey sedan. The smallest of them, a young cub that looked no older than six, looked back one last time at Nick. He waved his hands high in the air, before pulling down a fancy pair of sunglasses over his eyes and giving a proud thumbs-up in Nick's direction.

"Hmm…let's just say I found someone who needed it more than I do."

"Really? That doesn't sound like you at all," Judy replied, her scepticism clear in her voice.

"Oh no, it's absolutely true, I swear. I'm sure I've changed his life for the better. He'll probably remember this for years to come."

"You gave it to Kinoe to play pretend in the water, didn't you?" Judy deadpanned.

"…I never said that."

"You didn't need to. It's written all over your face." She stopped walking, giving the red fox a look.

"Heh, maybe. But I'd much rather have something else on my face…like a certain pair of bunny lips."

"Wow. Smooth, Nick. Real smooth."

"But did it work?" Nick asked, tilting his head with a smile. Judy closed her eyes for a moment, letting the evening breeze blow through their fur. Finally, she opened her eyes, smiling wholeheartedly.

"I don't see why not."

And in the golden light of the setting sun, the fireworks began.

"Oh man, that was a good one." Judy yawned, stretching her arms as she stepped out of the pod.

"For you, maybe. I think I can still taste the seawater and sand in my mouth." Nick stuck his tongue out.

"Don't lie. You enjoyed that one as much as I did." Judy hopped out of her pod and headed towards the controls. Nick watched her, cocking his head.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Checking the simulation details. Would you care to explain why there were so many scantily-clad vixens in that simulation?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Ah, err…I was worried that if I put too many scantily-clad bunnies, you'd get jealous."

"Nice try," Judy chuckled. "Though thank you. I know you only have eyes for one bunny in your life."

Nick smiled and hugged his wife. "What can I say? You're the best bun around."

AN: Give it up for Aninat131! This was a fun What if...? idea that was passed around for a while so I'm glad that Aninat took this up and he did a marvelous job on it! So go check out his stories and follow/fav him alright? :D Do it! XD