By the end of Skye's second day, she felt like she was finally getting the hang of her new job.
She was filled with a lot more confidence now that she had some experience. Her smiles towards the children were becoming less and less forced, and she was able to meet many of their parents' eyes without immediately lowering her gaze like she used to. Finnick continued to blow her away by playing his part perfectly, to the point where she genuinely wondered if he had a less cynical twin that sneaked into the Santa suit when she wasn't looking. With his infectious enthusiasm and the joy he brought to countless children, time flew past in the blink of an eye.
The only noteworthy incident happened at lunchtime. She had decided to risk one of the more obscure restaurants, and ordered the "veggie surprise". After a single bite, she decided to never order it again, though she did finish the meal so it would not go to waste. She went back to work early, much to the delight of the kits and cubs waiting in line, and spent the rest of her shift fighting off the urge to rub her tongue between her teeth.
Before she knew it, the day came to an end. She closed off the queue, helped the final few children meet with Santa Claws, and then escorted Finnick back into the hut. The millisecond the door closed, the fennec fox dropped his façade and let out a long, exhausted sigh. "Whew, sweet Baby Frosty the Snowmammal!" He plopped down on the stool beside the mini fridge and raised one of his legs high in the air. "Hey, Elf, help Santa get these things off before he has an aneurysm!"
Skye was already tugging away at the boot before he finished asking. It took more effort than she expected, but after a few seconds, she pulled it off of Finnick's foot, and the smaller fox let out a groan of relief. He lifted his other leg, and Skye dutifully took the other boot off as well. She set the two boots on either side of the stool and stepped back so he could enjoy his newfound liberation.
Finnick leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "Why does he need to wear boots, anyway?" he grumbled. "Give me one reason Santa needs to wear boots instead of walking around barefoot like a normal guy!"
By now, Skye knew him well enough to know that the question was rhetorical. Instead of offering an answer, she walked around behind him and helped him shed his red winter coat. He let out another huge sigh as the heavy coat left his body, and closed his eyes in satisfaction. She opened the door to the mini fridge and hung the coat there temporarily until he could get out of the rest of his outfit, then made her way over to the clothing trunk on the other side of the room so she could retrieve her normal clothes.
She needed more privacy to get changed than Finnick, who essentially wore his Santa suit over his street attire, so she could do little more than simply grab her clothes and patiently wait for him to leave. He, however, seemed to be in no hurry; he kicked the fridge door open all the wider and angled his stool to take the brunt of the cold air that emerged from within. "Oh, yeah," he moaned, "that's the good stuff right there…" He held his position for a few more seconds, then reached in his pocket and felt around for something. "Yo, Skye, how early did you come back from lunch?"
"I wasn't paying attention," she admitted. "Somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes, maybe?"
His voice suddenly dropped. "Oh snap." Finnick looked at Skye, his expression unreadable. "I'm afraid that means you put in some overtime today."
Skye's heart skipped a beat in her chest. "Overtime?" She had never heard the word before, but it sounded bad, especially the way Finnick uttered it.
Finnick kicked the fridge door shut and sat up straight on his stool. "Overtime. And you know what that means."
Skye felt her breathing turn shallow, and she threw her paws up defensively. "I don't know what that means!" Finnick raised an eyebrow, but she continued to speak before he could respond. "I'm sorry! I didn't know it was wrong! I just finished lunch early, that's all! I didn't mean to—"
"Whoa!" Finnick hopped off his stool and raised his free paw to silence her. "Calm down, Skye, it's all right! You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" He quickly pulled his other paw out of his pocket and held it up, revealing a fresh clump of dollar bills. "Overtime means you earned extra money!"
The vixen stared blankly at the money in the small fox's paw, struggling to process what he had just said. In all of her previous jobs, she had simply been paid whatever her bosses had felt was fair—which usually meant she slaved away at her job all day long just to receive some scraps of food and a few pennies for her work. Earning more money for working extra hours was a foreign concept to her, and even though Finnick was holding the proof out to her, she still hesitated to believe it.
Finnick waved his paw enticingly. "Skye. Money. Yours."
She slowly reached out and accepted the wad of cash. This was the second time in a row that Finnick had to persuade her to accept her own payment, and she felt even more embarrassed about it today, but at least this time she was able to take it from him of her own accord.
"Thank you," she said in a small voice.
"You earned it." Finnick picked his coat off the floor where it had landed after he shut the fridge door, and took it over to the chest to put it away.
Skye counted the money he had given her while he did so, and her eyes widened in shock as she realized that he had given her two hundred dollars—a full fifty dollars more than the day before. She counted again to double-check, and when she was sure she was correct, she turned to look at Finnick. "Um, excuse me, but you've given me—"
Finnick didn't even bother turning his attention away from the chest. "Standard practice in the Mall Santa industry." He shoved his coat inside with a grunt, then turned around and walked straight to the door. "See you tomorrow morning."
"But…" Skye raised her money and continued to call in protest. "This seems like an awful lot for just thirty minutes of extra work—"
"You. Earned. It." Finnick flung open the door and gave a half-hearted wave as he stepped outside, still refusing to meet her gaze. "And it's non-negotiable, so don't bother arguing about it!" The door slammed shut behind him, knocking a layer of dust free from the connected wall.
Skye now found herself all alone inside the shack, staring at the door in bewilderment, holding two hundred dollars in one paw and her change of clothes in the other. While Finnick had intentionally kept his tone of voice short and mean, Skye was positive that she had seen his big ears flinch when he left—a telltale sign among foxes that he was putting on a front in an attempt to hide his true intentions.
A smile spread across her face. Despite his tough outward appearance, Finnick had a kind heart, and she was sure that the extra money today was not just because she worked a few extra minutes.
In any case, it was now time for her to go. She stuck her newly earned cash in the same pocket of her coat as the money she had earned the day before, and took a second to beam with happiness at the fact that she now had more money to her name than any other time in her life. Then she quickly changed out of her work clothes, put on her casual outfit, and then carefully folded her elf costume and placed it in the clothing trunk beside Finnick's Santa suit.
She had just closed the trunk when a knock sounded at the door. The knock was unexpected, and a thought flashed through her mind that it might have been somebody who had come to kidnap her and take her back to Marble Jade. However, since the person on the other side had knocked instead of kicking down the flimsy door, she forced the thought out of her mind and cautiously called out, "Come in."
The door opened, and a sigh of relief escaped Skye's lips when Judy walked inside. The bunny was dressed in heavy winter clothes to protect her small body against the below-freezing weather outside, and a small layer of white flakes on the tips of her ears indicated that it was currently snowing.
Judy glanced around the room, and a disgusted look came over her face. "Wow," she mumbled, "you'd think Mrs. Claws would have gotten him to tidy this place up by now."
Skye chuckled. "It's not so bad." However, after taking another look around, she did not even believe it herself. "At least I don't have to be in here all the time."
"I would hope not," Judy grumbled. She shook her head and exhaled sharply, as if to shed herself of the invisible grime that floated in the air around them. Then she grasped the scarf around her neck and tightened it, and flashed a smile at Skye. "You ready to go?"
The fox simply nodded in response, then followed Judy out of the hut and back into the mall's main concourse. The mall was even emptier now than it had been the same time last night, and the lack of wandering eyes gave Skye a welcome sense of calm as the two of them walked side-by-side. She was able to hold her head a little higher now, and she did a better job of not hiding her face from the few strangers they walked past. She was not sure if it was because she was more comfortable after living a few days in Zootopia, or because she had a police officer by her side who could protect her at a moment's notice, but whatever the reason, it was relieving for Skye to not look over her shoulder every few seconds.
After walking in silence for a minute or two, Judy spoke up. "So, how did you enjoy your hotel room last night?"
Her eyes opened wide. "Oh!" She had meant to tell Judy all about it, but after working hard all day long, it had somehow managed to slip her mind. She turned to the bunny and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I did! It was the best night of my life! I really can't thank you enough!
Judy matched her gaze and smiled proudly. "I figured as much. Tell me all about it!"
For the rest of the walk through the mall, Skye eagerly shared all that she could remember. She described the suite itself in detail, highlighting the amazing view of Zootopia out the window and the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. She made sure to mention Emil and how great of a butler he was to her, including all the delicious food he had brought for her to eat. By the time they made it to the front entrance, Skye had even talked about the movie that she had watched—the very first movie she had ever watched in her life—and how she had enjoyed it so much she even had dreams about it all night long.
As they exited the mall, Skye started walking toward the parking lot, where she assumed Judy had parked her car. However, unexpectedly, Judy walked in the exact opposite direction, towards one of the alleyways nearby. She slowly came to a stop and stared at Judy in confusion, not quite sure where the bunny was headed.
It took a few seconds for Judy to realize that the vixen was no longer walking with her, and she turned around to find her standing still, halfway between the mall and the parking lot. Her eyes widened in realization, and she let out a chuckle at her own expense. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you. We're taking the subway home tonight." She waved. "Come on, the station's this way!"
Skye quickly paced over to Judy, blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry," she quietly said, "I thought you had a car."
"Well, I did," Judy said jokingly, "but my job with Steve Hoppkins is over now." She let out a sad sigh. "I'm going to miss that limo," she whispered. She started walking again, this time making sure Skye was close beside her, and her tone shifted to one more serious. "But no, I don't have a car of my own. Owning your own car is something of a luxury in this town."
"Oh." Skye looked down at the snow-covered pavement, suddenly ashamed of herself. "I guess Nick's car is…" She cut herself off, shook her head, and dropped the subject with another, "Sorry."
Judy's pace slowed to a stop. Skye looked back up to see what was wrong. The bunny was staring off in the distance, her lips pursed and her head tilted to the side, as if there was something she wanted to tell the fox but was struggling to say it out loud. Her ears fell flat against the back of her neck, and while Skye couldn't be sure, she thought for a split second she could see her nose twitch a single time.
She was silent for so long, Skye began to worry that she had said something wrong. She hurriedly threw her paws up and stammered out the first words she could think of. "I'm sorry, Judy! I shouldn't assume things like that! Whatever your relationship is with Nick is none of my business, and I—"
Her words took Judy out of her trance, and before she could say anything else, the bunny grasped her paws with her own and held onto the vixen tightly. "It's okay, Skye," she assured her in a calm voice. "It's okay. You haven't done anything wrong." Her bright purple eyes looked upon her with comfort and assurance. "It's okay," she quietly repeated one last time.
The words Judy spoke, and the warmth of her grasp, were enough to quickly calm Skye down. She took a deep breath, forced her toxic thoughts out of her mind as best she could, and gave a long exhale to sooth her nerves. "Okay." She gave Judy's paws a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry."
"No, Skye. I'm sorry." Judy continued holding Skye, but her gaze dropped down to the ground and her voice reduced to a whisper. "I'm just not used to talking about this."
Skye hesitated to press Judy for more information, but Judy's warm grip in her paws gave her enough courage to ask, "About what?"
Judy was quiet for another few seconds, but this time, Skye patiently waited for her to collect her thoughts. The snow that fell around them formed a tiny layer on Judy's fur, coating her in a thin sheet of white. Snowflakes stuck to the tips of her long eyelashes, but she did not bother to blink them away. She simply stood still, deep in thought, for what felt like an eternity. Skye held her paws the entire time, silently letting her know that she was here to support her however she could.
Finally, she looked back at Skye. She stood tall, stiffened her jaw, and spoke her next words as clearly and confidently as she could.
"About me and my husband."
Skye had thought she was ready for whatever Judy was going to say, but she was not prepared for this. She knew that Judy and Nick were "together", but that was the extent of her knowledge. The thought that they were married had not even entered her mind until this very moment, and the revelation left her so stunned, all she could do was stare at Judy with her mouth agape and struggle to find any words to say.
Judy winced suddenly. "Skye?" She tugged her paws. "That kind of hurts."
It took a second for Skye to understand what she said. Without realizing it, her grip on Judy's paws had tightened in reaction to her words. "Oh!" She quickly let go of Judy and hid her arms behind her back in shame. "Fiddlesticks! I'm sorry, I didn't even realize—"
"It's okay," Judy cut her off. She raised her paws and presented them to the fox, along with flashing an encouraging smile. "See? No harm done."
Skye awkwardly rubbed her paws together behind her back, still mentally kicking herself, but ultimately managed to accept Judy's assurances that she was all right. She looked back at the bunny. "So, you and Nick are…?"
Judy smiled and patted Skye's shoulder. "Come on. I'll tell you on the way." She started walking again, and gently pulled Skye along with her for a few steps until the vixen matched her stride on her own.
The snow continued to fall as they made their way through the alleyway. The buildings that surrounded them were tall and made of brick, silently hiding their residents from outside prying eyes. Far ahead, several blocks away, was a busy street that Skye assumed was their intended destination, with nothing in the way except a few empty trash bins. It reminded Skye of the night she first arrived in Zootopia, except now she was dressed much more warmly and she had a police bunny by her side to help keep her safe. Despite it still being relatively early in the evening, there were no other mammals in sight, leaving the two of them to walk down the snow-covered pathway alone.
Judy shoved her paws in her coat pockets to keep them cozy, looked straight ahead to see where she was going, and raised her ears to listen to her surroundings. But a small smile was on her face, and as she spoke to Skye, her voice had a certain warmth to it that the fox had never heard from anyone else in her whole life.
"I first met Nick three years ago. It was actually my very first day as a police officer, if you can believe it. At the time, he was just a hustler, and didn't care to do any better. But…" She chuckled. "Well, stuff happened, and he decided to become a cop like me. He and I have been partners on the force ever since."
Skye remembered an earlier conversation she had had with Nick, where he had hinted at his own past in a similar way. She was curious about the details Judy left out, but the bunny seemed content to move past them, and she politely waited for her to continue.
"We've always been good friends, but I think even from the beginning, we both felt there was something…more. Of course, it took us way too long to admit it out loud to each other. I mean, a fox and a bunny? How would that ever work out, right? And besides that, we each had our doubts about how the other felt. In hindsight, I wish we had just talked about it; it would have saved us a lot of heartache. We went through a lot before we got to that point. A lot of pain, a lot of misery…" Her ears drooped slightly, and she continued in a quiet voice, "And I made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes that I can never take back."
Her change in demeanor worried Skye, and she quickly tried to cheer her up. "But you both got past it, right?"
Judy's ears perked back up, and her tone returned to normal. "Oh, yes, absolutely. And we're all the stronger because of it." She looked up at Skye. Her amethyst eyes seemed to sparkle against the snowy backdrop, and her smile reappeared on her face. "I don't mind telling you, Skye: the first time I heard him say 'I love you', I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the whole world. And now I get to hear it every single day." She turned back to the path in front of them, but her smile did not fade in the slightest. "And I still feel that way every time he says it now. I hope that feeling never goes away."
Skye pondered her words for a moment. Mere days ago, she had thought she was falling in love with Nick, and a fresh wave of embarrassment filled her as she remembered the events that had happened that night. She had been filled with such shame finding out the fox was taken, that she had second-guessed everything she thought she knew about love in the first place.
Ever since then, she had known this conversation would eventually happen, and she had worried that she might feel jealous hearing Judy talk about Nick's love for her. But to her amazement, she did not feel even a hint of envy or resentment. Instead, she felt her heart flutter in her chest, as if she was experiencing a small hint of what Judy felt secondhand. Unlike her temporary infatuation with the red fox, Judy's love for Nick—and Nick's love for her—was much stronger than a simple crush. And even though Skye had not seen much of it, she could tell that it was real. The way Judy spoke of Nick, the way her eyes glistened when she thought of the fox, the way her smile would spread across her face every time she mentioned his name…
She was the first to admit she did not know much about love, but for the very first time in her life, Skye felt that she was seeing at a small hint of what love looked like.
A thousand questions filled her mind, but she decided to choose one that she felt was relatively noninvasive. "When did you get married?"
"Earlier this year." Judy pulled her left paw out of her coat and held it up for Skye to see the lack of a ring on her finger. "But as you have seen, we don't exactly make it known to the public." She shoved her paw back in her pocket, and her smile faded slightly as she reminisced. "It was a small wedding. Just us, my parents, Nick's mother, and the minister. Most of my siblings don't even know. The only one at the ZPD who knows is Chief Bogo, and that's it." Her nose scrunched as a thought entered her mind. "I wonder if Finnick knows…?" she muttered under her breath.
Skye knew that they kept their relationship a low profile, but she was surprised to learn just how far they had gone to keep it a secret from the world. "Why the secrecy?" she asked.
Judy's ears drooped again, this time lying flat against her back. "Because there are those who aren't ready to accept a fox and a rabbit falling in love." Her pace slowed, though she continued to walk. She looked back to Skye, her eyes now filled with sadness. "Before we even started dating, they did things, terrible things, to try and keep us apart. So we decided it would be for the best to keep it a secret. To most of the world, we are just a bunny and a fox who happen to be police partners, and nothing more." Her expression turned serious. "And for our safety, it needs to stay that way."
Skye knew from personal experience the kind of prejudices foxes faced. In her life, she had been looked down on, assaulted, and even abused just because of what she looked liked. She could only imagine what Nick must have gone through in a big, diverse city like Zootopia—and what Judy must have gone through simply because she was so close to a fox.
The vixen quickly nodded her head. "I understand." She placed a finger on her chest and crossed it. "I won't tell anyone about this, I promise."
"I know." Judy's smile returned. "I trust you, Skye."
It was a simple statement, but it still caught Skye so off-guard that she froze in her tracks. The weight of the bunny's words came crashing down on her all at once. This was a secret Judy had kept from most of her own family, and yet she had just shared it with her—an arctic vixen whom she had only known for a few days. And Skye had not given Judy any particular reason to trust her, at least not with something this important; in fact, despite knowing that she had been forgiven, Skye could only think of reasons that she shouldn't be trusted. She had broken into Nick's car, she had tried to seduce him, and she had essentially been free-loading both of them ever since she had come to Zootopia.
Her sudden stop caught Judy's attention, and the bunny paused to turn around and raise an eyebrow.
"Why?" Skye stared at Judy in mystification, desperately struggling to understand. "Why do you trust me? How can you possibly trust me, after all I have done?"
Judy opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, her ears shot back up. One of them rotated to the right, and she turned her attention to the adjoining alleyway.
Her eyes widened. Faster than Skye could think, the bunny threw herself into the vixen, tackling her in an instant.
"Get down!"
They did not even hit the ground before an ear-piercing shot rang out from the other alley. A split second later, the brick wall where Skye's head had been a second before exploded.
Judy wasted no time. She grabbed a nearby metal trash can and positioned it in front of the two of them, providing them with some cover. At the same time, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to calmly but quickly dial a phone number. Another shot rang out from the alley, and this time the trash can shifted as the bullet ricocheted off the opposite side. Judy shifted herself closer to Skye and shielded the fox's body with hers as much as she could.
It all happened so fast, Skye barely even registered what was going on. She instinctively covered her ears with her paws to deafen the sound of the gunshots, but that was all she could manage. Her strength completely left her, and all she could do was lay there helplessly as Judy scrambled to call her friends at the ZPD.
Her heart raced in her chest, and her breathing turned shallow. Her mind raced with a thousand panicked thoughts. This was her worst nightmare. They had found her, and they had come to kill her—or worse. All of her running had been in vain. There was nothing she could do now. She could not run. She could not escape. She could not do anything.
Another shot penetrated the trash can and burst through the metal mere inches away from her face. She flinched and closed her eyes, desperately hoping this was all just a bad dream. She opened her mouth and, unable to find the strength to do anything else, let out a scream at the top of her lungs.
Silence followed. Skye anticipated the next round of bullets, but they never came. Aside from Judy pressing her phone up to her ear next to her, all was still.
Then, off in the distance, she heard a faint, gruff voice. "That's the wrong fox."
Another voice responded. "Let's get out of here!"
Judy's ears twitched as she listened to the voices. She peeked above the trash bin and looked down the alley. Her eyes widened as she saw something. She dropped her phone to the ground, jumped to her feet, lunged over the trash can, and started to run in the direction the gunshots had fired from. "ZPD, stop right there!" she screamed.
Skye tried to beg the bunny to stay with her, but no sound came out of her mouth when she tried to speak. In fact, she struggled to do anything. Her paws continued to cover her ears, and she eventually managed to curl herself up into a ball and press against the trash can in case the shots started firing again, but that was all she could do. She felt so alone and vulnerable without Judy here to protect her, and the more time passed, the more she worried that Judy might never return.
Her shallow breathing eventually gave way to pained whimpers, and her vision clouded over with tears that stung her eyes. She started to weep, quietly at first but louder and louder with each passing second. She lay on her side, curled her tail up to her chest, tucked her knees beneath her chin, hugged herself tightly, and cried into her arms. She was sure she would never stop. Her life was over. They had found her. Judy had abandoned her. It was only a matter of time before they came back and finished the job.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
The faint, muffled voice caught her attention. She managed to raise her head enough to look in the direction the voice had come from.
Judy's phone was still lying in the snow, exactly where she had left it. The screen was flashing red, indicating that it had successfully connected with the line on the other end. A familiar voice sounded through the speaker, just barely audible enough for Skye to hear. "Hopps? Is something wrong?"
Skye found enough strength to grab the phone and press it up to her ear. She sniffled back the next volley of tears and forced her words out of her mouth. "Officer Clawhauser?"
"Wait a minute, is that Skye? What are you doing with Judy's phone?"
The cheetah's friendly voice provided Skye with a small semblance of safety, and she relaxed a tiny bit, though still remained curled in a ball. "We were shot at…" She cleared her throat and tried again. "She ran after them."
Clawhauser gasped on the other line. "Shots fired?" There was a commotion in the background for a second, which sounded like a giant paw crashing into a metallic box of some kind. "Where are you?!"
Skye could only move her eyes around to examine her surroundings, not daring to lift her head for fear of being seen. Her tears clouded her vision, and she had a hard time identifying anything around her. "I… I don't know." She tried looking further down the alley to see if she could spot the street they had been walking toward, but she had become disoriented and did not know which direction that was. "Somewhere between the mall and the subway station."
The sound of approaching footsteps in the snow made her breath catch in her throat, but a second later, Judy's voice echoed off the brick walls around her, and she finally felt her heart begin to slow down as the bunny came back to her. Clawhauser said something in her ear, but she did not hear him; exhaustion came upon her all at once and she dropped the phone back to the ground, no longer having the strength to hold it.
Judy appeared beside her, walking at a normal pace and no longer appearing to be alert. She knelt down in front of Skye and caught the vixen's gaze. Her expression was serious, but there was no alarm on her face, and she gave Skye a reassuring pat on the shoulder to silently inform her that there was no longer any danger. Then she picked up the phone to talk to Clawhauser.
"Hey, it's me." She sat down on the ground next to Skye and leaned her back against the trash can. She exhaled a long, worn out sigh. "Yeah, Thirteenth and Howl." She glimpsed over the trash can and into the alley she had just come from. "No, they got away. I lost them." She looked back at the vixen curled up in a ball next to her. "No, that's a negative. No injuries." She placed a paw on Skye's head and began to brush her fur tenderly. "I don't see a need for that. I'll just file a report next time I come to work." She nodded. "I will. Roger that."
She put her phone away and focused her attention entirely on Skye. The fox's eyes were starting to fill with tears again, but at least now her heart rate was beginning to return to normal. The feeling of Judy's paw on her fur was a small comfort, and before she could stop herself, she lifted her head and placed it in the bunny's lap, and a fresh wave of sobs emerged from her lips.
Judy wrapped her arms around Skye, embracing her in as big of a hug as she could. To Skye, it also gave the impression that she was shielding her from the rest of the world, ready to protect her against any new threats that might come their way. She let the tears flow freely as Judy gently stroked her fur, and she found herself pressing more and more against the bunny, desperately hoping that she would never let go.
"It's okay," Judy whispered into her ear. "They're gone now. They can't hurt you." She wiped away the trail of tears that coated the fur on Skye's cheek. "Did you hear them? They were looking for somebody else. You're safe." With her final word, she grabbed Skye again with both arms held her tightly. "You're safe," she repeated softly.
Skye finally started to calm down. Judy was right: the shooters had fled when she had screamed, which meant she was not their target. That realization, combined with Judy's gentle touch and reassuring words, helped her to slowly stop crying. She still hiccuped a few times, and sniffled more than once, but finally, she was able to raise her head away from Judy's lap and sit back up straight for the first time since before this all started.
Judy kept a paw on her shoulder the whole time, and took Skye's paw in her own with the other, grasping her firmly as she looked into the fox's icy-blue eyes. "It's okay," she assured her. "You're okay."
She sniffled one last time and nodded. "I'm okay," she managed to repeat softly.
Judy gave her paw a gentle squeeze, then rose to her feet. She helped Skye stand up on her own, then brushed the loose snow off her pants and gestured to the street nearby. "Come on, we're almost home."
Skye followed the bunny closely as they finished walking through the alleyway. They emerged onto the street a moment later, which seemed just as deserted as the small path they had just walked down. She kept looking around, frightened that they would be ambushed again at any moment, but Judy led her quickly to the entrance to the underground train station less than a block away, and as soon as they were inside, she was sure they were finally safe.
The two of them sat on one of the many benches while they waited for their train to arrive, both silently contemplating what had just happened. Skye's thoughts raced through her mind, trying to make sense of it all. Even though it was clear now that she was not the intended target, her old paranoia had returned to her once again. Even with the best cop in Zootopia by her side, she had almost been killed, and she felt a renewed sense of fear for her own life. She found herself darting her eyes back and forth at the various passersby, on the lookout for anyone who might recognize her and take her back to Marble Jade. After only a moment, she lowered her gaze, unable to face the world around her any longer. All she could do was sit there, helpless as ever, and curse herself for being such a burden to the bunny sitting next to her.
All the while, Judy kept a firm grip on Skye's paw, helping to silently reassure the fox that as long as she was there, nothing would happen to her.