A/N: So… Erricane here. As you all know, because of last chapter… *sighs* Silver decided to add a Julie route. He said he doesn't mind if it won't ever happen. Just as long as there are some ship moments. It's just that, that guy really likes younger girls. Especially those that are two years younger than the main character. In this case, Max. Yes, Julie is 18, Max is 20. When I told him that, he just couldn't resist. So it's my fault in a way for letting him write that last chapter. Ah well. Can't do anything about it now. I was really impress by his writing skills though.
Anyway, I don't think this will be the last chapter. Rather, next will be the last. Because I always tend to write final chapters short, like an epilogue. Enough about this. Let's get this story going.
Disclaimer: Zootopia belongs to Disney.
That night, in Julie's room… The young hare twirled left and right in her red dress. It was a one piece dress with long sleeves all the way to the wrists. There was some white trimming on the end of it. She wore a white ribbon on her waist, fitting it perfectly to her size.
She smiled. "It'll be okay," she said to herself. "He's gonna embarrass himself too." She smiled gleefully and nodded with full of determination.
Meanwhile, in Sophie's room… Just like her little sister, Sophie also put on her dress, looking at her reflection. This wasn't her first time wearing a dress for the ball but she was getting a little nervous. After all, for first time, she'll be dancing with someone she knows since elementary school.
She sighed to her and nodded. "Don't worry…" she said, looking in the eyes of her reflection. "It's his first time too…" She blinked for a few times and slowly smiled after getting her wits together. There was nothing to be afraid of. She was someone she loved after all.
The two jills exited their rooms at the same time and head straight for the tod's only to run into each other. They both looked at each other for a while and smiled.
"You look great, Neechan!" Julie said looking at Sophie from ears to toe.
Hearing that comment she blushed, her ears drooped and looked away but with the smile still intact. "Th-thanks…" she said. She turned back to her sister and looked at her too. "You look wonderful yourself…"
Julie grinned innocently like a little kit and showed her a peace sign. "Arigatou!" she said cheerfully. "We have to look our best for Oniichan, right? Let's see who he'll go for!" she said, clenching her fist.
Sophie frowned with her smile getting weaker and shrugged while forming a drop of sweat. "R-right…" But she already knew Max's answer. Even the fox said it himself.
And just then, the door slowly opened slightly and Max's eye can be seen. He looked both at the two hares.
"Oniichan! We're both ready!" Julie expressed happily while Sophie's left ear covered half her face. She nodded and looked away.
The fox's eye squinted and he immediately shut the door.
The sisters were a little baffled at this and looked at each other for a second before focusing their attention to the door again.
"I am not going out there wearing this… This… THING," Max said behind the door.
Sophie sighed and placed her paw on her head. "Max, it's just a suit. How bad can it be?" In truth, Sophie just wanted to see how he looked like in that suit. And this was the chance to get him to wear it too.
"How bad could it be?" Max repeated her question. "This is how bad: I will look like some rich douchebag. The fact that one of my rules is not to lie, I'm pretty sure vultures will be all around me the moment I answer their questions. You know how rich mammals are." Max sounded agitated yet, he managed to kept his tone down and it was almost as though he wasn't.
"What does he mean by that?" Julie said tugging her sister's arm.
"He just doesn't like wearing suits or anything fancy is all…"
Julie's ears dropped and she pouted. "Then… Let's force him to come out!"
"W-wait! What if he's still changing?!" Sophie held Julie back by pulling her arm.
"Don't worry. You've already seen him naked before right?"
"J-Julie!" Sophie blushed really hard when she heard that.
"That's right, Jules," Max continued. "We've even did more than just seeing each other naked."
"MAX!" this time Sophie spouted at Max.
"Think of this as revenge for what you did this afternoon at the clothes store. Do you know how embarassing it was for me to buy a suit for the first time. Now I will never be one of those mammals you see in the streets."
Sophie's face began to pout as well but from anger instead. Her body was shaking and she grabbed the doorknob, shoving the door opened afterwards. "Come out of…! There… Now…" Her sentence trailed off when she saw him.
Max was sitting at the corner of his bed and looked at her in his suit. He was hugging his knees making sure the two can't see him in his suit. The only thing they could see were his pants.
"What are you doing?" she asked, feeling a little disappointed.
"What else? Making sure you two won't see me in the suit."
"For crying out loud, get off of bed!" She pulled his arm as hard as she can but Max was definitely too strong for her to even budge him.
Julie just watched and was rather impressed. It was as if she was witnessing a real life anime moments between couples. A couple fight.
"You promised you'd wear it at the dance!" Sophie reminded, tugging his arm.
"Correction: I said I would wear it but I never said anything about wearing it in public." Max began debating.
Sophie didn't want to admit it but he was right. Max was always very good at choosing his words. Therefore, it wasn't a lie.
"Julie!" Sophie called, snapping her sister's thoughts. "Help me get this emotionless creature up!"
"Uh, hai!" Julie then grabbed his other arm and tried pulling him off.
This time he budged a bit and Max shook his head. "Don't!" he yelled. He gritted his teeth and began pulling back before they could see it.
In the end, they two of them gave up. He was too strong. Much stronger than regular foxes.
Sophie sighed. Looks like it was time for her to use plan B. "Fine then," she said. "I guess I'll just keep all those chocolates for myself for tonight."
Hearing the word 'chocolate' made Max's ears move. He looked up. "Catbury…?" he asked.
Got him. The hare smirked and look away. "Only one way to find out now, huh?"
Chocolates… He wouldn't mind if it was some other brands… But Catbury was his favorite. And he knows Sophie is no liar too. He swallowed and looked away. "Fine…" he finally admitted defeat. "But…!" He went back to hugging his knees. "Get out of my room first… I'll get up myself…"
"No tricks?"
The fox shook his head. "I'll come out of the room WITH my suit and go downstairs… Just… Leave first… I need to make sure I have the dignity to do it…"
Julie looked at the two of them in awe. And the first thing she thought was… 'Seriously…?' Just chocolates were enough to make him give up to her…? Of course, not in a life threatening situation. But she can't help but laughed softly.
"What is it?" Sophie asked, turning to her.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said sweetly. "We should leave him like he said."
The elder hare nodded and both of them left the room as he requested. It took almost a minute for him to gain his confidence. As they waited, they could her the latch bolt being pulled back along with the door slowly creaking opened.
The fox slowly appeared starting from his nose and then his face. And finally, his whole body revealed after the door was finally completely opened.
And what the two jills saw widened their eyes in both amazement and fanaticsm.
Max was wearing a white shirt with black suit to go along with his red tie with gold stripes on it. His pants were still neat and tidied as if he wasn't hugging his knees from earlier even. How is that even possible? However, the brown leather belt with the silver buckle was not visible because his jacket was covering it. And to top it off, he was still wearing his leather glove which made him looked as if he was ready to kill someone. Of course, looks can be deceiving.
Max rubbed the back of his head and placed a paw on the side of his waist while looking away from the two. "Happy…?" he asked.
Julie placed her paws on her cheek with a huge smile while fangirling with her pupils expanding. This scene managed to fulfill one of her fantasies. ONE of them, that is.
As for Sophie, she just stood there frozen, blushing. This was the first time she has seen Max dressed so formal. And… He looked so handsome in it too. The only problem is that he never likes wearing anything expensive. None at all. So it was a rare thing to witness upon.
The fox looked back with his head still lowered. "Well? Say something."
"Uh… Ah…" Sophie was at lost for words. Somehow, when she made eye contact with him, her face became redder. "Y-you look… Great! As expected!" she claimed proudly, trying to cover that embarrassement.
"I think you look handsome, oniichan!" Julie said without hesitation.
Hearing this, Sophie felt as if she lost in a confidence match.
Max looked away again and clicked his tongue. "Whatever…" he said. "I don't have time to change anyway…" He didn't move a muscle except for his feet. "Anyway… Shouldn't we get going?"
"Huh? Oh, right…" Sophie said, after realizing how long she has stood there.
"Then, shall we get it started, oniichan?" Julie quickly hooked her arm on Max's and stood closely to him.
"Sure, I guess…" And with that said, the younger hare pulled him along with her even though he was relunctant.
"Hey, wait!" called Sophie catching up.
"I can't wait to finally get my first dance!" Julie said excitedly. "It's okay if you can't dance well too, oniichan. At least I won't be the only one."
Max groaned softly with a frown. He really didn't want to do it especially with this suit of his. And as the moment came, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath after stopping at the entrance to the hall. This was it… No going back now.
He took his first step in and just like that, the hall fell into a deep silence. It was then Max realized… All of the guests were preys… Making him the ONLY predator here. Well, it won't be for long though.
Everyone stared at him and some were even whispering about something.
Max didn't actually mind about what they think about him. But the problem is that he was more afraid to show himself in public formally. And the fact that everyone went quiet there for a few seconds is what made him a little worried. Just a little.
"Max?" Sophie called.
The fox looked back at Sophie and gulped. "I'm okay… Nick will be here any second…"
"The dance will take some time, oniichan," Julie said. "Let's go enjoy the food first."
Max nodded.
"Then, I'll be at the gate with my parents," Sophie said. "I'll make sure Nick and Judy arrives."
"Okay… I just hope they get here quick…" The young tod loosened his tie a little.
"It'll be fine," Sophie smiled. "Hang in there okay?" With that said, she left the two of them, making her way to greet the guests.
Few minutes later…
Max slowly picked up a small chilli pepper and stared at it. It was tinier than his fingers even. "How does this even make you full…?" he said to himself, frowning. He placed it on his plate and stared more at the food.
Vegetables… Vegetables… Vegetables… Fruits… And more vegetables… Unlike some foxes, Max rarely eats anything with vitamins. After all, he values the inside more than the out. But it's not like he's very picky. It's just that he rather be at satisfaction when it comes to food.
Afterwards, he took a stick of celery with his paws again. And at this point, he turned to his right to find a buck antelope picking up some radishes with a tong.
Max's ears lowered and looked at the mammal who was also looking back. He then passed it to the predator with a smile.
"First time?" he said after the fox took it, after embarrassing himself.
Max nodded. "Sorry…" he said.
While Max was getting some food, Julie was talking to the guests, trying to make sure Max was not what they expected. Until…
"Julie Glace," an unfamiliar voice called out behind the young hare.
She turned around to find three female hares, two white and one brown, in much more beautiful dresses than her walking up to her. "Oh… Hello, Margaret…" Julie greeted combing her fur slightly.
"I never thought you would show up this year," said the hare, Margaret. "Honestly, it's been… Like what? 5 years has it? Finally becoming decided to show your face, huh?"
Julie frowned and crossed her arms. "Cut it out, Margaret. I don't mind the insults in school but don't do it in public."
"Right. Says the former shut-in for Christmas every year. Your parents even told us about it."
Julie groaned in frustration softly. Just soft enough for her to not hear her. Successfully too.
The guest, Margaret then looked over the hostess' shoulder and spotted Max who was still picking his food. Her ears dropped along with her face. "Wh-who's that?" she stuttered. "Why is a predator here?"
Julie looked back to see the fox and smirked before facing the three again. "The real question is: Why shouldn't he be here?"
But just staring at him for a few more seconds, Margaret's face eventually calmed down. And Julie could have sworn she saw a slight red on her face. Julie blinked her eyes a couple of times again and confirmed this. Margaret was indeed blushing. But… Why? Can it be…? Julie smiled again.
"For your information," Julie began, placing a paw on her chest. "He's my boyfriend."
The three jills stared at her for a brief moment and then said in unison, "EH?!"
"Y-you can't be serious! No way!" Margaret blush became more visible now. "How did the lonely you even managed to get a boyfriend?!"
"Julie?" Max called walking behind her. "Do they have baked potatoes or maybe even mashed? Or maybe some apples or oranges?"
Julie looked up at Max and smirked before wrapping an arm around him. "Of course, Max," she said happily with a smile. "I'll bring you there."
"EHHHHH?!"
Later…
Julie brought him to the basement where all the fruits were stored freshly. Though, it wasn't orange nor apples. But bananas. Max didn't complain though. It's no longer a surprise for him to keep getting foods that he despise. The only thing he did was sighed.
"I'm so sorry, oniichan!" Julie said, clapping her hands with a bow as an apology.
"No, it's fine. At least bananas aren't that bad like broccoli."
"Uh… That's not what I was talking about…"
A question mark popped into Max's mind the moment he raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Julie turned around and bit her fingers. "I… MAY have told those three that…" She stopped halfway.
"Told them what? That I was your boyfriend?"
Julie's eyes widened and she shyly looked up at Max. "You're… Not mad?"
Max blinked once and patted her head. "Too cliché, kiddo," he said. "But I'll play along."
Julie blushed after hearing his respond. Of course, it was only pretend. But she considered this as a treat herself.
"I'll tell Sophie about it though."
And from that moment, she could hear thunders booming into her mind. "T-t-t-tell oneechan?!" she stuttered, feeling afraid.
"Of course. She's my girlfriend after all. And your sister. So I have to."
"B-b-b-but! She'll kill me!" Julie's arms began flailing in fear.
Max walked out of the basement with a celery stick in his mouth. "Then I'll just explain to her," he said rubbing his little sister on the head. "Not that big of a deal."
The jill calmed down and looked away. "Promise?"
"I never walk away from one so, yea."
After the awkward conversation was solved, well, awkward for only Julie though, Max began to rummage through the refrigerator in the kitcen for some sweets and eventually found a Crickets bar. "Score…" he whispered to himself, keeping a couple in his pockets.
"Max!" Sophie called.
The fox immediately closed the door and leaned on the wall, acting as if nothing happened.
"Max!" The hare appeared from the entrance of the kitchen. "Nick and Judy are here!" Sophie said, hopping up and down excitedly.
It took a while for him to respond and then he smiled. "Now I won't be left out anymore…"
It wasn't long till the two unexpected yet honored guests appeared before the crowd along with the younger couple, which eventually went quiet. Whispers could be heard exchanging to each other and somehow, the fox and rabbit were a little embarrassed to be invited out of the blue at the last minute. But luckily, they were escorted by Sophie around to place for a tour of the ball.
"I didn't know you two knew Officer Hopps and Wilde," Silvia said softly to Max who was crunching on his celery hesitantly.
"Actually, I only knew Nick. He was like a brother to me when his mom was babysitting me."
"Ah. Related before he was well known, huh?"
"That doesn't matter." Max stared at Nick and smiled a little. "Nick is still Nick. That's all I see in him." At this point, Max turned to Silvia. "Hey, Sil. If it's okay, you think you can find a secluded place?"
"What for?"
"The two aren't good at dancing from what Nick said. So… I figured at least THEY won't be the ones to embarrassed themselves. After all… It's their first Christmas together."
Silvia did nothing but smiled and winked at him with a thumb up. "Just leave it to your older sister," she said proudly before leaving.
Max afterwards moved to Nick and tapped him on the shoulder.
The older fox turned around and smile. "'Sup, Max?" he said.
"Mind accompanying a fellow predator-slash-fox?" he asked, smiling back.
Nick turned to his lover. "I'm gonna go talk with Max," he said. "That okay?"
"You do realize that you're not a kit anymore right?" Judy giggled.
"Yea, but I just don't want you to miss."
She raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "You better think up of an escape plan when we get back to the hotel later."
The fox laughed. "A kiss?" he asked, getting a little close.
"No! Not in public at least."
Max shook his head and walked away before Nick followed suit.
"So, what's up, junior?" The elder began.
"First, I'd like to thank you guys for coming. So thank you."
"Well, you're very welcome." Nick bowed like a gentlemammal, which annoyed Max a little but in a playful way.
"Second, that last time you helped me at the ZPD. Thanks for clearing my name and my records. I forgot to do that during our double date."
"Max, it's okay. Really. It's the least I can do. After what's been going lately, I'm pretty damn proud of myself that I just can't resist to do good things." Nick crossed his arms with his long nose high and mighty with a confident smile.
"Still full of yourself, huh?" Max chuckled. "You told Mrs. Wilde already?"
"About what?"
"About you and Hopps. I take it she handled it well?"
Nick chuckled nervously and placed his paws on his hips. "VERY well actually. Wasn't surprised though. Cuz, you know mom."
The two sat on the porch outside the entrance of the ball and decided to converse there instead.
"Now that I think about it, how're things with Sophie's family."
Max shrugged. "Pretty good, I guess. Her brother's a total douche is all I can say."
"Overprotective brother kind?"
"Nah. Something else. More like… Untrusting brother type. You know… Because I'm a predator and all."
"Ah, I see. Yea… There are STILL some preys and predators who don't trust each other. Some, that is."
"Not like I'm complaining anyway. You should go overseas next time. Then we'll see who gets it worse."
Nick laughed. "That bad huh?"
His junior smiled after reminiscing his days as a criminal. "I wonder how all of them are doing now… I hope they're happy after all that I've done for them."
"Didn't you go around the world to date them the other day?"
"Yea… Because of that, I was so jetlagged… Ugh… But that's because it was a date. I never bothered asking about their life. If they feel like telling me, then be my guest. You know what I'm like." He looked at Nick. "I'm not the kind that would ask people about how they're doing."
The off-duty fox cop smiled. "But that was the old you, right?" he said, patting Max on the back. "After Sophie came back, I'm starting to see that little kit that always gets involve into trouble with little by little lately. Even underneath that suit. You can't fool your senior, you know."
Max frowned. "More like… I was forced to wear it. I was actually planning to just wear a shirt for the dance."
The senior laughed again. "Well, I gotta admit. You DO look good in it."
"I feel like a phony, honestly…"
The conversation went silent for a moment until Nick spoke up.
"Max," he began. "About you parents…"
The young fox's ears twitched and he faced his senior.
"Well… That time, when you were in the infirmary at the ZPD… I know that you're adopted… And of course, I know you love your wolf parents." Nick began looking at the ground trying to find the right words. "You see… As thanks for helping us solve a case, I thought about finding your real parents…"
Max looked at Nick seriously.
"And I mean, REAL blood-related parents. Wolfard ran a blood test when we were taking care of your wounds and we found out about something. There were no other details except for this one. Someone by the name Marilyn Fanger, a vixen, visited Zootopia more than 19 years ago. Of course, at first, we were just guessing. But Wolfard said that your blood was somehow… Different. And the only match he found was this vixen." Nick took out a piece of paper with and handed it to him. "This, is the address of where she was from. That's all I was able to do."
Max unfolded the paper and read the words. 'Vulper'. Max knew this place, but he never actually been there before. Much like Canide Town, where he lived, he heard that it was quite a wild place. And it was a rather prosperous place like Bunnyburrow where there were plenty of vegetables, fruits, insects, fishes and birds for both preys and predators.
He looked up at Nick and nodded. "Thanks…" he said, keeping the paper in his pocket.
(If you've read my previous story, 'First Christmas Date', you know what happens next. So I'm skipping to after Nick and Judy returned to their hotel.)
After the well known couple were leaving, the young fox leaned on the railing of the balcony on the top floor, looking down at his senior with his girlfriend walking back to their hotel. He smiled and looked at the paper that Nick gave him earlier. The paper with a hint about his real family.
"Oniichan!" called Julie, hugging him from behind, catching him by surprise.
However, he showed no sign of it though, his heart was definitely racing from the shock. "D-Don't do that…" he said. "Scared the fur out of me…"
"Eh? You don't look surprised though." Julie said, placing her index finger on her chin innocently and looking at him intently while blinking. "Anyway," she shrugged, grabbing his paw with both of hers. "It's our time to shine!"
Max tilted his head and kept the piece of paper into his pocket before heading out.
"You know…" Julie said, as they walked down the stairs. "I'm so glad that Oneechan and you met… Otherwise… You know…"
"Yea, I know," Max replied looking at her. "If you feel like confessing, then I'll be waiting. Just be sure you think of something when I reject you."
Julie giggled and then sighed. "Well… This isn't an anime after all. I don't expect it to go the same way as them. Not to mention…" She looked at her probable future brother-in-law. "You're not as dense as the main characters."
Max blinked and smiled, chuckling a bit which caught Julie's ears.
"W-what was…?" she said, not finishing.
"That was funny…" the fox admitted, patting her on the head. "Now then, let's get going."
The younger hare blushed and looked down. She was for sure she didn't misheard that. Not to mention, he even said that it was funny. So there was no way she misheard that.
"Oh, also," Max continued. "Sophie said that I can be your boyfriend for today. So, don't hold back about bragging it to those girls back there."
She blinked with an expressionless face and her body trembled in surprise. "N-no way!" she thought. "N-n-n-neechan is allowing me to date… O-o-o-o-oniichan?!" She tightened her fists and placed them on her chest then looked up. "Thank you so much, Oneechan!"
"Hey… What's keeping you?" Max called.
Julie blinked and shook her head. "Ah, it's nothing." She waved her paw in denial with a drop of sweat trailing from her head. "Right! It's just for today! But still… Thank you!"
A/N: Alright… This is where this chapter ends… I really wrote a lot of this and I don't think I got all the errors down… Next chapter will be the last as it will be Christmas.
My idea was to finally introduce Max's real parents. I actually never want to write about them because there was a reason why. But someone really persuaded me into writing it. Sorry for such a slow update. I don't think I've ever written one chapter this long before so I think I'm quite satisfied with this… Anyway, I'm off to bed… I'm really tired. Next chapter will be the final one.