Skye did not get much sleep last night. Whenever she was on the brink of falling asleep, she had forced herself back awake in a panic, certain that if she let her guard down, she would be attacked again. Her mind was barraged with the same flashbacks she was used to seeing—Marble Jade, the life she had spent there, the years she had spent trying to leave, and the miraculous escape she had performed to finally get away. But now there was a fresh traumatic memory to keep her awake at night: the shooting in the alley. Even though she was not the target, it had reawakened all of her anxiety and paranoia, and it was becoming more and more obvious to her now that her emotional scars would never go away as long as she lived.

Thankfully, when she finally did get to sleep, there were no nightmares, and she felt a little better when she woke up. Without meaning to, she had woken up at the perfect time to meet Nick and Judy in the kitchen for breakfast. They had been surprised when she insisted that they take her to work, but she told them that she would prefer to be distracted at work than sit at home all day, and they agreed to take her to the mall after all.

As it turned out, she was right: working as an elf was just what Skye needed. Within just a few minutes of starting her shift, she found herself happily distracted, thanks to interacting with so many joyful children and watching them interact with Santa Claws. Dozens of smiling faces passed by her as kits and cubs and more came to Santa to tell him what they wanted for Kitsmas. Finnick's jolly interactions with all of them rubbed off on Skye, and she found herself smiling more and more as the day went on.

And it was not just the children that he interacted with. By now she was used to Finnick's antics, and her eyebrows did not raise nearly so high whenever he mildly flirted with some of the single mothers; how he managed to always pick out the females with no significant others, she could only guess, but never once did he accidentally seduce anyone who was already taken.

Three hours flew by before she knew it, and Skye managed to focus so much on her work that she managed to forget all about the shooting the night before. In fact, she was so absorbed in her work, she was caught off-guard when she looked at the front of the line and saw who was standing there, waiting for their turn to see Santa.

The look on her face caused Judy to throw a paw to her mouth to stifle a laugh, while Nick simply smiled at her with his signature sly grin. "Merry Kitsmas, Miss Elf." He patted Judy's shoulder as the bunny continued to fight off her laugh. "I hope we aren't too late to see Santa Claws this morning?"

Skye's face lit up. "No, not at all!" She raised her arm and stood aside. "I think we can squeeze you two in."

Judy finally lowered her paw and gave Skye a cheerful smile as she walked past. "My, what a helpful elf you are! Santa must be lucky to have you!"

"Really lucky," Nick added as he walked behind her. "I hear Mr. Claws can get pretty grouchy when he's lonely." Under his breath, he quietly added, "Or any time, really."

One of Finnick's big ears twitched when he heard Nick's voice, and his eyes widened when he saw the two mammals approaching him. Skye worried for a second that he might break character and say something very un-Santa-like in front of the several children who were still waiting in line, but luckily, the small fox quickly adopted his appropriate merry expression and waved at them instead.

"Ho, ho, ho! Hello there, Officer Wilde and Officer Hopps! How are you doing on this fine day?"

Judy walked up to Finnick and smiled kindly at him. "We're doing great, Santa, thank you. We just bought a brand-new PreyStation from GameHop this morning."

"With a few extra controllers in case anyone wanted to come over for some couch co-op," Nick added with a wink.

Finnick's eyes widened in excitement. "Is that so?" He let out a giant belly laugh. "Well, if Mrs. Claws lets me take a vacation this spring, maybe I'll stop by and play some Furizon with you guys."

"Ooh, Santa Claws coming over to play video games with me?" Nick let out a noise of giddiness. "The others at the ZPD are never going to believe this!"

Skye found herself entertained by the sight. Not only was Finnick still in character, but it seemed Judy and Nick were happy playing along. By now, she was used to seeing kits and cubs interact with the fennec fox like this, but the adults rarely did more than politely address him as Santa for the sake of their children. Most grown-ups simply seemed to think it was a waste of time to pretend that Finnick was anything other than an actor, but not these two, and seeing them speak to him as if he was the real Santa Claws brought an unexpected warmth to Skye's heart.

A growling sounded from Finnick's stomach, loud enough to turn the heads of a few of the mammals still waiting in line several feet away. Finnick quickly cleared his throat, trying to pass his hunger off as a cough, and quickly asked, "So tell me, officers, have you both been good this year?"

"Absolutely," Judy immediately answered. "I always try to be a good cop!"

In contrast, Nick seemed content with thinking about how to best answer the question, very slowly. "Hmm…" He brought a paw to his chin and started to stroke it thoughtfully. "Was I good this year?" He lifted his head and stared at the ceiling. "Well, I guess that means what you mean by good. There was this one time I snatched some candy corn from Clawhauser's stash when he wasn't looking. And I gave a deer a speeding ticket even though they were only going one mile an hour over the limit. And, though it pains me to admit, I lied when I told Pennington that I thought her brownies were delicious…or was that last year? And I was very curt with Chief Mojo-Jojo when he—"

Finnick turned his attention back to Judy and spoke much faster than before. "So, Officer Hopps, what would you like for Kitsmas?"

Judy seemed equally glad to cut off Nick's ramble, and hurriedly pulled out her phone before the red fox had a chance to continue. "Actually, Santa, there's only one thing Nick and I want from you, and that's a picture!" She opened the phone's photo app and held it up. "If that's okay with you, of course."

The fennec seemed genuinely surprised by that. "Oh!" He quickly recovered and motioned for Skye to come closer. "Of course! My helpful elf will be more than happy to take the picture for you!"

Skye had done this too many times to count over the past several days, but something about this particular time was different. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time she knew everyone in the picture. Maybe it was because all three of them were adults, whereas before there was always at least one child involved. Regardless, there was a giddy spring in her step as she grabbed Judy's phone and took a few steps back to take the picture, and the sight of Nick and Judy huddling up on either side of Finnick brought a smile to her face.

She waited for the three of them to stop shuffling and face her before she called out, "Okay, everybody, smile! One, two, three!" She pressed the button, and the screen flashed once to indicate the picture had been taken. She quickly rotated the phone and took another picture in the other orientation, then back to the first one for one final picture for safety. She lowered the phone and flashed a smile at Judy when she was done. "There you are, all done!"

"Not quite." Judy turned to Finnick, her grin turning slightly mischievous. "Now, Santa, Officer Wilde and I would love a picture with your elf. Would you mind taking it for us?"

Skye blinked, wondering if she had heard her correctly. "What?"

Finnick's fake beard sagged on his face as his smile disappeared. "What?"

"Yeah, in fact, we were looking forward to getting a picture with her more than a picture with you." Nick leaned down slightly and gave Finnick a toothy grin. "You wouldn't want to disappoint us, would you, Santa?"

Finnick stared at him for several seconds, his expression unreadable beneath his fake beard and oversized Santa hat. However, he slid off his chair, stood up straight, and grasped his belt with both paws. "Why of course! Santa would be happy to give the nice bunny her Kitsmas present!"

"And what about the nice fox?" Nick inquired.

"Naughty fox," Finnick shot back as he walked over to Skye.

Skye was still completely dumbfounded. Since the moment she started this job, nobody had given her much more attention than a simple courteous welcome, or a word or two of gratitude if she helped to take pictures. She had never imagined that somebody might want to take a picture with her, not even Nick and Judy, and the fact that they wanted to now surprised her. She was so shocked by the idea that she barely managed to give Finnick Judy's phone and walk back over to the two of them to get ready for the picture.

"Why do you want a picture with me?" she asked as she got closer.

Nick's eyes drooped lower and his sly smile widened. "What's the matter? Don't like getting your picture taken?"

Skye sat down in Santa's chair and faced Finnick. "I don't know," she replied. "I've never had my picture taken before."

The bunny and fox both turned to face her at the same time, causing Finnick to let out a quiet moan of annoyance. "Never?" Judy repeated.

"Never," she confirmed.

Nick knelt down so that he was around the same height as Skye, who was sitting in the chair, and Judy, who was still standing on the other side of her. He lay his arm on top of Skye's shoulders and pulled her close to himself. "Then let's make this first one special."

Judy leaned closer to Skye and lay her arm on top of Nick's. "The first of many!" she added.

Finnick spoke up, clearly struggling to maintain his jolly tone of voice. "All right, ready or not, I'm going to count to three!"

Skye suddenly drew a blank on how she was supposed to react. She had taken pictures for hundreds of mammals over the past few days, but she had never paid attention to how any of them had looked when smiling for the camera. She tried to crack a smile of her own, but somehow it felt forced, and she was sure the phone's camera would capture every detail of her inauthentic expression. She tried straightening her posture, but that did not feel right, either.

"One!"

Skye glanced at Judy to see what expression she was making. Judy's mouth was closed, and only the corners of her lips were curled upwards. Her face seemed relaxed, as if she was not overly worried about looking perfect for the picture. Instead, she seemed to be happy merely being in the presence of her friends, and capturing this moment in time as authentically as possible was more important than trying to put on a good show.

"Two!"

She turned to Nick. He was flashing his typical half-lidded grin at the camera. He had made this look so many times, she was sure it was second-nature to him, but there was a hint of genuine happiness in his face this time. He noticed that Skye glanced at him, and though he did not take his attention away from Finnick, he did give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Three!"

Skye felt her nerves disappear as she turned back to the camera. She settled her paws in her lap, sat up as straight as she could, and focused her thoughts on the two mammals on either side of her. The longer she stayed in Zootopia, the more lucky she felt to have both of them as her friends. Thinking about them caused another smile to spread across her face—a genuine, joyful smile, probably the first she had ever experienced in her whole life.

Finnick lowered the phone. "There you go! One picture for the two officers and my very special elf!" He paced back over to the trio and handed Judy her phone. "Do you want to take a look and make sure it turned out just the way you wanted?"

Judy and Nick removed their arms from Skye's shoulders so she could stand back up. Judy opened up her phone's image gallery and scrolled over to the picture that Finnick took, and her face lit up as she looked at it. "Oh, wow!" She flipped the phone around and showed it to the two foxes. "What do you guys think?"

Skye's eyes widened with delight as she looked at the picture. Nick and Judy were both perfect, as she expected, but to her surprise, she looked almost just as good as they did. Her face in the photo was so full of joy and contentment, she was sure she could never replicate it even if she practiced in a mirror for the rest of her life. Her posture was relaxed, which conveyed a sense of confidence despite her skintight clothes—though the outfit did flatter her vulpine form much more than she anticipated. With the red fox tod hugging her from one side, and the bunny doe hugging her from the other, the picture told a whole story that nearly brought her to tears upon seeing it.

This was not simply a holiday picture among friends. This was a portrait of a family. And Skye was a part of it.

"I love it!" she exclaimed. The words left her mouth much louder than she had meant, and she was suddenly aware of many curious eyes staring at her immediately afterwards. She flattened her ears against her skull in embarrassment and repeated in a much quieter voice, "I love it a lot."

Nick continued to stare Judy's screen for several extra seconds, then finally nodded his head in satisfaction. "It's okay." He turned to Skye and rubbed his paws together. "Are you hungry? Let's go get some lunch."

Skye blinked in confusion. "But lunch isn't for another hour."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Santa won't mind if we kidnapped you a few minutes early." Nick turned to Finnick and smirked. "Would you, Santa?"

Finnick's scowl was clearly visible, even beneath his fake beard, and it was obvious to Skye to that, yes, he did mind, and would have gladly let Nick know just how much he minded if only there weren't so many children within earshot. In fact, based on the satisfied grin that came to Nick's face, she wondered if he had done this on purpose just to get a rise out of the small fox, knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

After several uncomfortable seconds of seething, however, Finnick slipped back into his Santa persona and gave a hearty chuckle. "Why, of course not!" He looked to Skye and smiled. "Please go and enjoy your meal, my helpful elf! And bring me some hot chocolate and licorice when you get back!"

"No licorice!" Nick snapped. "Your doctor said no."

Finnick glared at the red fox. "I'm going to drop an extra helping of coal in your stocking, Wilde," he said in a low voice.

Nick ignored him. Instead, he took Skye by the paw and started to drag her to the exit, which would lead them around to the back of the shack. "Come on, Miss Santa's Elf, we've got lunch to eat!"

Judy did not go with them right away, and Skye glanced behind her shoulder to see why she was lagging behind. The bunny stood close to Finnick, grabbed his paw, and gave him a wink. Finnick looked down at their paws, and his eyes widened with glee. Without a word, Judy let go and sprinted to quickly catch up with the two foxes. Behind her, Finnick cheerfully looked to the queue of waiting mammals and eagerly greeted the next cub in line.

Nick had not so much as glanced in her direction the whole time, but the second Judy reached them, he shot her an amused look. "How do you think he's going to react when he realizes that licorice you gave him is really just a bamboo stick?"

Judy chuckled. "I don't know. I'm just glad I won't be here to find out." She took the lead, walking a step or two in front of them and guiding them to the rear of the building. "Come on, Skye, let's get you changed so we can go to lunch!"

Their treatment of Finnick seemed a bit mean to Skye, but she trusted that it was all in good fun. From what she had seen, the small fox actually had a great sense of humor buried underneath that grumpy demeanor of his, and since Nick and Judy had known him for longer than she had, she was sure that they pushed his buttons only because they knew he didn't mind.

Or at least, she hoped so.

Judy and Nick came to a stop beside the rickety green door in the back of the building. Without needing to say anything, Skye entered by herself to quickly change out of her work outfit and into her casual clothes for lunch. The process only took a couple of minutes, and when she came back out, the two others were still standing exactly where she had last seen them, having not moved an inch.

Once again, Judy took the lead and started walking away from Santa's House, but to Skye's surprise, she walked in the opposite direction of the food court. "Where are we going?" she inquired.

"Lunch," Judy responded simply.

"But…" Skye looked in the direction of the food court. "Isn't the food that way?"

"Sure, if you want something cheap and quick," Nick said, "but Carrots and I want to treat you to a real lunch." He gave her a sly smile. "With real food."

Skye blinked in confusion. "Real food?"

Nick chuckled at her reaction. He waved his arm, beckoning her to follow them. "Come on, Skye. Trust me, you'll love it!"

"You really will," Judy assured her. She gave Skye a reassuring smile. "Just trust us, okay?"

Skye was still a bit hesitant, but Judy's words gave her the encouragement she needed, and she felt a tiny smile of her own form on her face. "Okay. I trust you."

Judy led them towards the front entrance of the mall, but before reaching there, they turned down a side hallway that Skye had never noticed before. The unfamiliar route took them past several clothing and jewelry stores, as well as a phone repair shop and an outlet that sold records and old movies on VHS, until finally they came to the end of the hallway, and the destination for today's lunch.

The bunny stood next to the front door and beamed at her two friends. "Welcome to Appleboar's!" She pulled open the door, gave a small bow, and motioned inside. "After you!"

Nick returned the bow, practically throwing his arms to either side as he lowered his head. "Why, thank you, kind madam!" He stood back up straight and waltzed inside.

Skye was too self-conscious to do much more than give Judy a simple smile and nod as she walked past and followed Nick inside the restaurant. It only occurred to her once she stepped inside that she had never been inside a restaurant before—or at least, not a restaurant where you had to sit down in a comfy seat, order food from a waiter, and take your time eating your food. Now that she was standing inside of one, she suddenly felt like a fish out of water, and she found herself petrified at the fact that she did not know what to do or say.

Thankfully, Judy saw her anxious expression as she came up to her, and gently rubbed her arm to sooth her nerves. "Don't worry. We've got this."

A deer hostess approached them with a pleasant grin. "Hello, welcome to Appleboar's! How many will it be today?"

"Three," Nick proudly announced. He leaned forward and added in a quieter voice, "And it's her first time visiting." He pointed at Skye, who averted her eyes shyly.

The deer's eyes widened slightly, and her voice became even more excited. "Is that so? Well, then, we'll do our best to make your first visit a memorable one!" She tilted her head, indicating the dining area behind her. "Right this way, please!"

The trio followed her further into the restaurant, and after a few seconds, she led them to an empty booth perfectly sized to fit animals of their size. Skye slid into one of the couches and Nick and Judy took the other. The hostess waited for them to get comfortable before setting three giant menus in front of each of them on the table. "Jessica will be your server today. Enjoy your meal!" With that, she left the three of them alone.

Judy waited until she was out of earshot, then turned to Nick with an amused smile on her face. "Is that what I looked like when we went to Le Bull l'Elise?"

"Pretty much," Nick confirmed.

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Judy faced her, her smile shifting from amused to kind. "Like you right now." She grabbed her menu with both paws and began to look it over. "Order whatever looks good. We'll cover the bill."

Skye picked up her menu and gave it a look. It was probably the same size as menus in other similar restaurants, but it was a lot bigger than she was used to seeing. There were multiple pages, each with different categories of food depending on the time of day and what the customer's diet was; there was even a whole page dedicated solely to drinks. She found it so overwhelming, she didn't know where to begin, and she was afraid that she might look stupid if she so much as held it wrong.

Nick eyed her the whole time, and when she remained still for several seconds, he held up his own menu and flipped it around so she could see it. "Here, let me help you." He showed her the page with the drinks. "Drinks are ordered first. The waitress will usually leave after taking our order so we can take our time deciding what food we want. It will be a few minutes before she comes back with our drinks, and if you still need more time to decide, let her know."

"And there's another menu for dessert," Judy added while she continued to scan her own menu, "but I'll be honest, I've only ordered dessert once or twice in my whole life." She chuckled. "The rest of the meal usually fills me up." She glanced up from her menu, noticed Skye's furrowed eyebrows, and quickly added, "But you can worry about that later! Just focus on picking a drink for now."

Skye tentatively turned to the page listing all the drinks. Most of them had names she did not understand, and she did not feel too adventurous today, so she settled on a simple lemonade. Not wishing to keep anyone else waiting on her behalf, she then turned to the main courses and began skimming her choices for food.

Judy seemed to make her decision much faster. She set down her menu, folded her paws on the table, and leaned forward so she could catch Skye's attention once again. "So, how are you feeling so far today?"

"Better." Skye set her own menu down and gave Judy a small smile. "Work has been a great distraction. I've almost completely forgotten about last night."

Nick continued to stare at his menu, his eyes squinting at the selections. "If you order the pea soup from this place, you'll forget a lot more than just last night," he murmured.

Judy rolled her eyes. "I told you, it tastes just fine when you order extra cheese."

"Extra cheese my foot," Nick grumbled, still not looking up from his menu. "You'd need a block of cheese the size of my stereo to make that soup taste good."

"A little bit goes a long way," Judy insisted. "Look, I'll order pea soup with extra cheese right now, just so you can have a taste. I promise you'll like it!"

"I promise I won't." Nick side-eyed her and gave her a half-smile. "But I will humor you anyway. Do you know why?"

Judy narrowed her eyes playfully and rested her chin in her paws. "Because you know you love me?"

"Do I know that?" Nick nodded. "Yes. Yes I do."

A feeling of warmth washed over Skye as she watched the two of them banter. In all her life, she had never seen two mammals talk to each other the way Nick and Judy did. Beyond the wisecracks and the witty remarks, there was a deeper connection that was palpable to her. There was a certain twinkle in their eyes when they talked with each other, and even though they did a good job of hiding their relationship status when they were out in public, there was still a certain air of intimacy between them that Skye rarely felt from other couples.

A skunk appeared beside their booth, interrupting her thoughts. She balanced a large metal tray in one paw, and used her other to take three glasses of water off of it and place them on the table in front of each animal. "What's up, fam? I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jessie, and I'm-a take care of y'all today!" She tucked her empty tray under one arm and grinned at them. "Y'all know whatcha wanna order yet, or shall I give y'uns another few?"

Skye struggled to understand the skunk, and when she looked at her expectantly, she froze up, not knowing how to react or what to say. To her relief, Judy spoke up, snatching Jessie's attention away from her. "I'd like a lemonade, please."

Nick raised a finger. "One for me, too."

Jessie turned back to Skye, and this time the vixen knew what to say. "Me too, please."

"Right, three lemonades, coming right up!" Jessie turned on her heel and started walking away. "I'll have 'em out in a jiffy!" she called over her shoulder.

Nick scrunched his nose. "Hmm, a jiffy…" He turned back to his menu and started perusing the selections again. "That's longer than an instant but shorter than a flash, so I'd better figure out what I want quick."

"If you want, I can give her my order really slowly in case you need more time," Judy volunteered. She turned to Skye and asked, "What about you, do you know what you want yet?"

Skye had almost forgotten all about it. She quickly picked up her menu again and examined one of the choices that stuck out to her. "The fettuccine alfredo looks good." Her voice grew quiet. "But it's kind of expensive…"

"Don't worry about that. My treat."

Skye lowered her menu and stared at Judy. "I couldn't possibly ask you to—"

The bunny raised a paw, cutting her off. "It's no big deal, really. Trust me, money is not an issue right now. In fact, I'm struggling to find ways to spend it."

"But you've already done so much for me, and I…" Skye patted her jacket pocket where she stored her cash, making sure it was still there. "I actually have quite a bit of money saved up now, and I really want to start paying for my own things. I can't rely on you to take care of me forever." Her gaze lowered as her thoughts drifted in a new direction. "In fact…"

Nick lifted his face away from his menu and raised an eyebrow. "In fact?"

Judy studied Skye's expression, trying to read it. "In fact what?"

Skye had been thinking about this for a long time, but now that the time had finally come to say it out loud, she found herself hesitating. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice warned her that if she said this out loud, she might alienate her only two friends in the world. She tried to suppress it; she trusted that Nick and Judy would be kind to her, like they always were. They weren't like the others in her past, who had used her for their own benefit before discarding her like a worthless sack of garbage. They cared about her. And she cared about them.

And that was why she had to do this.

She took a deep breath. "I…" She raised her head so she could look them in the eye. "I want to move out and get a place of my own."

She closed her eyes tight, mentally preparing for whatever verbal retaliation would come next. However, after a few seconds of silence, she opened them again, and found that they were both simply looking at her and patiently waiting for her to continue. She took a moment to organize her thoughts, and then continued.
"You've both been so kind to me, but I don't want to impose any longer. I wouldn't feel right continuing to stay with you and eat your food and have you buy clothes for me without paying you in return. I'm earning enough money now to pay for all of that myself, and if I move to a hostel, that will be cheap enough for me to save up enough for an apartment after the new year. I've been nothing but a burden to you, and if I…"

She almost said too much. She cut herself off with a quick cough, and grabbed her water in an attempt to make it look like she was trying to wash down something that was caught in her throat. She mentally scolded herself for nearly slipping and telling them that she was putting them in danger simply because they knew her. It was her burden to bear, and the less they knew about it, the safer they would be.

Judy did not even wait for her to put down her water before responding. "You're not a burden, Skye. You've never been a burden." She reached out her paw, placed it on top of Skye's, and gave her a small smile. "And we've never thought twice about what we've done for you."

Nick placed his own paw on top of Skye's other paw, forming a triangle of paw-holding between the three of them. He also flashed a smile at Skye—a genuine one, not like his usual sly grins. "And as far as we're concerned, you are still our guest. You might do just fine at a hostel, but I promise our guest bed feels is a lot more comfortable to sleep in."

"And our shower has warmer water," Judy added.

"And we have a TV!"

"But…" Skye tried to think of an excuse, but she struggled to find one. She needed to put distance between herself and the two of them for their own safety, but she couldn't mention White Jaws, and she dared not bring up Marble Jade again for fear of being pressed for more information. In the end, she sat still, unable to say anything else.

"Look." Judy patted her paw reassuringly. "We obviously can't force you to stay with us, but it would mean a lot to us if you did." She looked deep into Skye's blue eyes and spoke softly to the fox. "We don't know what you're running from, Skye, but we want to be here for you. As cops. As protectors." She smiled warmly. "As your friends."

"And if you really feel like paying something back…" Nick turned to Judy and smirked. "Then I think you're going to like this idea."

Skye raised an eyebrow. "What idea?"

Judy let go of Skye's paw to retrieve her phone out of her pocket. "Well, I got my paycheck from Steve Hoppkins last night, and it was a lot more than I was expecting…" She spent a few seconds navigating to a particular app, then showed her phone to Skye. "And after talking it over with Nick, I've decided I'd like to do this."

Skye was not entirely sure what she was looking at. The phone showed several notes and numbers written in various lines and columns, and a few drawings near the bottom of the screen vaguely resembled the layout of a building. She spent several seconds trying to make sense of it before giving up and looking back up at Judy. "What is this?"

The bunny beamed with excitement. "This is the first draft of a proposal to build a new auto servicing center in downtown Zootopia." She pressed her finger onto the screen and dragged it down. "And this is what I'm going to call it."

Skye's eyes widened in disbelief. "Skye's Garage?" she gasped.

Nick decided to speak this time. "You remember the day you came to Zootopia? You told me all about your dream. You want to run a garage, so you can fix vehicles for all kinds of animals." He motioned to Judy's phone. "Well, thanks to Carrots putting up with some Hollywool hot-shot for the past few days, we can make your dream a reality."

"We were up all night working out the details." Judy scrolled through the various columns as she talked. "And you can change any of this if you want something different. This is just the preliminary draft. We'll still have to submit our proposal to the city, and get building permits, and business licenses, and you'll have to get certified, of course. But none of that will be a problem." She moved to the bottom of the spreadsheet and circled a six-digit number. "If my math is right, this is what the total cost of everything should be. I'll be more than happy to make you co-owner, split evenly two ways, until you can buy my share off of me. At that point, the shop will be all yours." She looked back at Skye expectantly. "So, what do you think?"

Skye could barely think at all. She was completely flabbergasted. She had just poured her heart out telling Judy and Nick they had done too much for her already, and yet here they were giving her the greatest gift she could ever imagine. She wondered if she was dreaming. As nice as they had been to her, nobody could be this nice. It was impossible.

But the longer she stared, the more convinced she became that this was no dream. This was real. Her lifelong dream was going to be fulfilled.

Her mind went completely blank. She could not think of any excuses, nor could she formulate words of gratitude. All she could do was stare at Judy's phone with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. She could barely believe what she was seeing with her own two eyes. It was all so much—so very, very much.

She was so astonished, she did not notice Jessie come back with their three lemonades. It was only when the skunk's black paw placed the glass directly underneath her muzzle that she was finally taken out of her trance.

"Here you go, three samplings of heaven's nectar!" Jessie placed the other two lemonades in front of Nick and Judy, then stood back up straight and flashed an overly eager grin at the three of them. "Y'all know what you want to order?"

Nick and Judy told her what they wanted, but Skye was still too distracted to hear what they said. Her thoughts suddenly returned to her all at once, and she found herself so overwhelmed by them that she could not think straight. She vaguely heard Jessie ask her what she wanted when it was her turn, and she automatically answered, "Fettuccine alfredo."

Jessie said a few more words and then left. The momentary distraction ordering her food helped set Skye's mind back on track and, finally, she figured out what she wanted to say. "I could never accept this." Her voice was quiet and strained, and as she spoke, tears started to form in her eyes. "I would never forgive myself. There is no amount of money I could ever give you to repay for this. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve you, and I… I…" Unable to hold it back anymore, she threw her paws over her eyes and started to sob quietly.

Judy quickly placed her paws on top of Skye's, trying to console her, but the arctic fox jerked back. She did not want for them to talk her into it. She did not want for them to continue to treat her with such kindness. She didn't know what she wanted, but she knew how the world worked, and there was never a chance that if she accepted this, it would all work out. It never did. Even if she was comfortable accepting such an unbelievably generous gift, things always went bad for her, ever since the day she was born, and no matter how good their intentions, this would end up no different. The business would fail, or their friendship might end, or White Jaws would find her, or any other number of things might happen to cause this to be nothing more than a giant waste of Judy's money.

She refused to let that happen. She would rather let her dream literally slip right between her fingers than risk letting them down.

Nick and Judy were quiet for some time, either to carefully consider their next words or to let her cry uninterrupted. Not wanting to make a scene, Skye recovered enough to compose herself. She wiped her eyes dry, sat back up straight, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. I can't accept. I don't deserve it." She shamefully looked down at her lap, unable to maintain eye contact with the two animals she was sure she just let down. "I don't deserve anything."

A soft chuckle escaped from Nick's mouth. Skye's curiosity got the better of her, and she looked back up to see him smiling in amusement. "You know, it's funny…" He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. His gaze looked past Skye, somewhere far away, as he began to reminisce. "I believed that about myself once. That I didn't deserve anything. Success, happiness, love…" His eyes settled on Skye. "And I believed that for most of my life. It's all I knew. Just like it's all you know right now." He gaze shifted to Judy, and his features softened as he gazed into her violet eyes. "But then I met Carrots, and she made me realize something."

He looked back to Skye, his expression now serious. "That's a lie. You deserve to be successful. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. And anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool."

His words were short and to the point, but to Skye, it felt like he had just preached the most powerful sermon she had ever heard. Nobody had ever spoken to her like this before, and it rang more true than any other words that had fallen on her ears. In an instant, the voice of hatred and self-doubt in her mind faded away, and in its absence, she found herself believing Nick.

"And Skye?" The vixen turned to look at Judy, who gave her the kindest smile she had ever seen. "You. Are. Loved."

I… Am… Loved…

For the first time in her life, Skye believed it. A smile overcame her, and she felt tears begin to form in her eyes again—this time, tears of joy. She controlled her emotions enough this time to fight them off before she could start crying once again, but the forms of the bunny and red fox in front of her were still a little blurry when she finally managed to speak.

"Thank you." She sniffled, and a happy laugh sounded from her throat. "Thank you both."

Nick shrugged dismissively. "Hey, just trying to make the world a better place."

Judy was a bit more diplomatic. She placed her paw on top of Skye's again and gave it a hearty squeeze. "That's what friends are for."

Skye squeezed Judy's paw in return, but before she could say anything else, Jessie appeared beside their table. This time she had two trays of food, which she placed on a tray stand beside the table so she could more easily distribute the plates to the three mammals. "Pardon my interruption, young'ins, but this ain't getting any hotter."

Skye let go of Judy's paw so Jessie could spread out the food unimpeded. As soon as her eyes landed on her fettuccine alfredo, she felt her mouth begin to salivate. It looked even better in person than on the menu, and the portion was so big she wondered if she would even be able to eat it all in one sitting.

A brief memory of an earlier conversation flashed in her head, and she quickly caught Judy's attention. "I still insist on paying for this."

Judy's eyes narrowed and a mischievous grin appeared on her face. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. I'll let you pay for your meal today, if you accept my gift."

Nick took his eyes off his own food and looked at her with an expression Skye had never seen from the fox: surprise. "My, my, Carrots, I'm impressed." He looked at Skye and wiggled his eyebrows. "She hustled you, Skye."

"I sure did." Judy lifted her spoon, ready to dig into her pea soup, but pointed it at Skye first. "So, what do you say? Shall we make Skye's Garage a reality?"

Skye still hesitated to accept such a generous gift, but their words to her over the past few minutes had left an impact. She finally understood why they treated her with such kindness. They cared about her. They wanted for her to be happy.

They loved her.

And for the very first time, Skye truly felt like she was not alone anymore.

"Judy…" She felt her joyous grin return. "Nothing would make me happier."