When it came to where they were spending the holiday season, it was goodbye to the cold front and hello to the warmth and ever-present sunshine. Judy had always dreamed of taking a Pawaiian vacation someday; just the thought of the location conjured up visions of paradisiacally turquoise waves crashing against the sand of the beach. So when Nick surprised her a few days before the holiday with the tickets for a cruise around the Pawaiian islands, it was the greatest Christmas present she ever received.

The fox and rabbit felt the spirit of aloha as soon as they got aboard the humongous cruise ship, and were greeted with bright lei garlands and a welcoming presentation that told them of Pawaii's rich history. From the moment they set sail, Judy was all smiles, taking photos of the water every moment she could. She just couldn't get over it's beautiful color compared to the other bodies of water she'd been to in the past.

The Canal District's got nothing on this, she thought.

Today was the second day of their cruise. The moment they woke up, they heard the announcement that they would soon be approaching the third-largest Pawaiian island. This would be the first destination they would be arriving to during their trip.

It was going to be awhile before it was time to explore the island on foot, though. Until then, Judy, dressed in her aqua-colored swimwear, would be passing some of the afternoon in the lounge chair she currently occupied, soaking up the sun's rays. Reaching over to her left, she grabbed the mango cocktail that was resting on her side and sipped some of it.

"How's it taste, Fluff?" Nick asked, sitting in the lounge chair not too far away from hers and putting on his sunglasses. The fox was bare-chested and wore emerald green trunks, which he had switched into before they came from their room so he could swim in the ship's pool. "What do you think of the bartender's special?"

"Just like you said," she said with a smile, setting the glass back down. "Sweet, but not too sweet."

"Yep," Nick replied, putting his hands behind his head relaxedly. "That Ted guy really knows how to make something refreshing."

Judy grabbed her travel tote bag on the other side of the chair, digging into it and retrieving a small paperback book with a bookmark in it. "Now it's time to read," she said to herself.

"Doing some reading, Carrots?" the fox to her left asked. He knew that Judy was quite the bookworm, so it wasn't a surprise that she had brought a book with her on board.

"Yeah," the doe replied. "Almost a quarter of the way through this one, and it's just getting good. Just passing some time until we get to the island and do some sightseeing." After finishing the last paragraph of the chapter she started reading from, she looked over at Nick and said, "Thank you so much for booking this trip. I've wanted to come to Pawaii for so long, and this is probably the best Christmas I've had in a long time."

Nick grinned delightedly. She had already thanked him many times since they boarded the cruise, but hearing how happy he was couldn't help but make him smile alongside her.

"This sure beats that cold weather we were havin' just the other week by a long shot," he remarked.

"Amen to that," Judy replied.

"And instead of snow angels this year," Nick said, "we'll be making sand angels once we stop at the beach."

The lagomorph laughed, getting back to the romance novel that she had packed with her for the trip. They both enjoyed the sun for a few moments. Some time went by, and Nick got up from his chair.

"Where you going?" Judy said, lifting her head from her chair and taking the sunglasses of her eyes.

"Not too far," he replied. "Going to have a quick swim now."

Nick walked away from the lounge chairs and over to the cruise ship's pool, which wasn't too far away from where his bunny was sitting. He went over to the shallow end of it and slowly got inside. The water was perfect as he started to swim from one side of the pool to the other. He waved to get Judy's attention as he continued to swim.

"Come on in, Carrots," he said to her. "The water's fine."

The rabbit gladly accepted the fox's invitation, making her way over. She did a quick lap around the pool before stopping at where Nick back at the shallow end. As she looked over at the vulpine swimming beside her, she noticed getting out of the pool where he had first got in.

"Wait," Judy said, confused. "Where are you going now? You just got in."

"I'm getting back in," Nick replied, slowly walking over to their chairs again. "I just gotta do something real quick."

The doe watched as he casually strolled over to where he had first been lounging, and saw a smirk on his face when he turned his head to the side. Knowing Nick too well, she could tell the sly fox he was up to something.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

The tod remained completely still, turning around and darting forward a few seconds later. "Cannonball!" he exclaimed as he proceeded to jump into the pool.

The moment the vulpine did so, Judy's face was hit directly with a big wave of water. When Nick resurfaced from the bottom of the pool, he looked at the bunny and started to laugh.

The leporine, however, was not amused. "And just what was that, Slick?" she said.

"It's called a cannonball, sweetheart," the fox answered, still grinning widely.

"And that's funny?" Judy muttered before splashing Nick back. The amount of water he was splashed with wasn't much, though, in comparison to the amount that she was hit with when he cannonballed into the pool.

Nick remained silent and stared at his bunny blankly. He then smirked and lowered his paw into the water before bringing it back up, splashing her back.

"Oh, this means war," Judy said, a challenging grin now on her muzzle.

With that, the friendly battle between the fox and rabbit commenced, the two of them laughing as they tried to out-splash one another.