Mina shoved Gideon toward the shack and headed back toward the house. she crept down the hall trying not to get caught by her mother or grandmother. she finally made it to her Aunt Judy's room and saw that dumb fox laying on the large bed flipping the pages of the journal back and forth. in his other hand he was holding Judy's engagement ring. he looked like he was doing homework, and he was crying.
"I've never seen a fox cry before" Mina said crossing her arms and glaring at him again.
"yeah? well savor the sight kid" nick said not looking up, "It's pretty rare" he kept rereading those last pages over and over again.
"probably about as rare as seeing when aunt judy gets sad." Mina said looking over his shoulder. nick realized she was reading over his shoulder
"Listen baby carrots, this is grown up stuff," He said closing the book "I don't think your mom or grandma would apreciate me teaching you what it means to be twitterpated."
"What are you doing with Aunt Judy's journal?" mina said reaching over to snatch it away from nick, who pulled it away and held it up high to where she couldnt reach it. "She used to write you letters in it!" mina was jumping to try and reach it.
"Yeah? well she threw it at me" nick said rubbing his chest where the book hit him
"Did it hurt?" mina asked finally deciding she didn't want the book.
"Yeah it did." nick said
"Good" Mina said flopping on the bed
"If you're here to cheer me up it isn't working" nick said sitting up
"Good" Mina said again. "I don't want to cheer you up, i want you to feel guilty for whatever you did to make Aunt Judy run out of the room crying like that"
"You're a little late for that, mini fluff," nick said shaking the book in his paw "I already read the letters"
"Okay so how are you gonna fix it?" Mina asked
"I don't know" Nick answered holding his chin in his paw thoughtfully
"You could go away and leave Aunt judy here with us," Mina said "But that would only make her more sad."
"Yeah, thats what your aunt judy and i were fighting about," nick said "i'd be gone already if your grandma hadn't figured us out."
"Grandma is too smart sometimes" Mina said smugly
"You really don't like me too much, do you fuzzball?" nick asked looking at the smirking little bunny infront of him.
"Nope," she said crossing her ankles infront of her "But aunt judy does, and i want her to be happy" she leaned against the footboard of the bed "so you better figure out how to fix this, or i'll show you what my aunt judy taught me" she lifted one of her feet and wiggled it in the air.
"i'm not good at things like this, really" nick said rubbing the back of his neck. "if this was a con, sure i could no problem, but this is real. i can't just walk up to her and say all those messy mushy things to her" nick rambled on and that made mina mad that he was being a stupid fox. "i've thought it all out, we don't know how long the case is going to last. we can't be recognized by anybody we knew from the city. i'm not even sure staying here is a good idea nor how long we can stay before someone from town recognizes us. that's is no life for a lady, always on the run? what kind of future is that?"
"Oh for heavensakes! would you quit moanin and moping around already!" mina yelled giving him a swift kick to the jaw. Nick yelped again as he fell to the floor dropping the ring and the book on the bed. Mina looked over the edge of the bed at him.
"What did you do that for?" nick asked wiping some blood off his lip.
"I was trying to knock some sense into you." mina said handing him a box of tissues from the bedside table and picking up the ring. she sat on the edge of the bed and watched nick sit up.
"If you keep focusing on the reasons you can't do something, then you won't be able to." Mina looked at the ring in her hand, "But if you took the time to learn from Aunt Judy, you'd see that there is only onething that stops you from being the you that you want to be"
"And what, my fluffy tailed kickboxer may i ask, is that?" Nick asked from his place on the floor.
"Your attitude" Mina said dropping the ring into nicks open paw.
"What do i say to her?" Nick asked looking down at the ring "Surely she knows how much i truly care for her."
"After that fight?" mina asked incredulously "i doubt it,"
Nick hung his head, the little cottontail was right and he knew it.
"Come on," Mina said standing infront of him "You need to practice." her ears perked up as she faintly heard Judy and Gideon running through the back door and down the hall. "You can pretend i'm aunt judy"
Nick gave Mina a suspicious look.
"Do i need to knock some more sense into you?" mina asked threateningly
"okay okay" Nick said with a chuckle and he got up on one knee holding up the ring. after a moment his head fell as he tried to surpress a small laugh
"I can't do this" he said.
"Oh! Come! On!" Mina exclaimed "You aren't talking to me! you're talking to Aunt Judy! if you can't look at me then just close your eyes!"
"Don't kick me if it isn't perfect" nick said closing his eyes "Cause it isn't going to be perfect"
"It'd doesnt have to be" Mina said as she saw Judy and Gideon run into the room. She put a finger to her lips, and went over to judy quietly and pulled her back toward nick. Gideon couldn't believe mina got a fox to close his eyes so willingly. he stood there as mina pushed Judy infront of Nick.
"What are you waiting for?" mina asked slowly backing away
"I'm trying to think of what to say to her." nick said in annoyance
"Don't think, just talk" mina retorted "and remember, faint hearts never won fair ladies."
"alright here we go." nick mumbled. he heaved a heavy sigh. he could smell her sweet perfume, but then again he was in her room. he reached forward and took the paw of the bunny before him.
"I read your letters. most of them were scribbled over and crossed out, but that last one, those last pages broke my heart. if i ever recieve another letter like that from you, i'll be getting my own one way ticket to where ever you are, just so that you and i can be together." he took a deep breath "You were right, we are partners, and I should have regarded you as such. instead i treated you like someone frail and fragil, someone who could be taken away and crushed. i treated you like a bunny who could be torn to peices, not a rabbit with the ability to take down a rhino with just her foot" He and Judy let out a small breathy laugh together "It scares me that i could have lost you in an instant, and it scares me evn more that i would have been the reason." nick said "The truth is that i loved you even then, even after the press conference, i loved you even then. it hurt me more that i couldn't find you again, then someone told me you had left, i thought you had given up on me. I was so angry but i loved you even then. and you didn't give up on me, because you don't know when to quit. and that's what i love about you." his eyes were still closed but his chest puffed out with pride "I love you now, like i loved you even then. you don't give up and you don't quit. even when we don't see eye to eye, you don't stop until we get to the bottom of things, even when things get rough, you don't give up. you don't quit doing what you do, you don't stop being you just because it doesn't suit the rest of the world and that just makes me love you even more you made this world a better place just by being in it, and i can only hope to make this world a better place with you." nicks eyes opened and he smiled a sheepish, goofy grin "i know i probably sound so stupid stumbling over words like this and you are probably trying so hard not to roll on the floor and bust out laughing, but what i'm trying to say is that i love you, Judy, my darling, i love you more than life itself, and i can't hide it any longer. I love you now, more than i loved you then. there isn't anything else to say really except" he took the ring and slipped it on her finger "Judy Hopps, will you marry me sweetheart?"
"Oh nick! i thought you'd never ask!" judy said throwing herself into his arms and knocking him back on his tail. one of his arms was wrapped around judy the othe supported both their weights. Gideon and Mina watched as Judy kissed Nick with longing passion.
"How did you get him to close his eyes?" Gideon asked
"I threatened to kick him again" mina replied with a sense of pride for the fact that she could get a predator, other than her uncle gideon of course, to do what she wanted.
"You rabbits are kinda violent ain't ya?" gideon asked as he rubbed his nose from that faded 16 year old memory.
"only when we encounter a dumb fox, not you uncle gideon, just the really dumb ones." this comment made him smile as he watched mina stomp over to Nick and Judy. "Alright you two, break it up, Mama doesn't want me to learn multiplication until i'm 27, and i'm only 10!"
"Sorry Mina," judy said standing "Wait, did you just say you kicked him?"
"She did,"Nick said standing and rubbing his still sore jaw
"I could tell you where she learned her moves from" gideon said stepping forward. the two foxes glared at each other both looking up and down at the other.
"I OUGHTA CLOBBER YOU!" they said at the same time both taking a fighting stance.
