It was night. Clan Hopps set with the sun, and outside labor ground to a halt as the light sank beneath the hills of the meadowlands. Judy and all her brothers and sisters had been working throughout the day, and found the wolves to be of great help. They could lift larger objects, pull heavier loads, and were altogether more hale and eager to work. To them, this territory was not unfamiliar. To them, it had been near home all along.

"I'd never have thought such deep and accommodating burrows could be dug in such little time. And the huts we have built across the openings – they are strong; fortified against the winds from the East."

Stu had been surveying work. What was once an encampment had grown into some semblance of a village, with paths cleared. The rabbits had tilled fields of soil and begun planting. The soil was rich, vibrant and of an encouraging texture. No one doubted their fortune, nor the bounty that was soon to be reaped once the crops grew to yield.

Judy spoke carefully. "There has been no sign of the Whiteflock. No sign of the other wolves. It may be so that in their animosity they destroyed each other." She remained tense all throughout her shoulders and legs since first returning to her family. She and her father were walking a path from the hut of the elders to the edge of a field. The first signs of emerald saplings could be seen peeking through the loam.

Stu placed his paw upon Judy's shoulder and let her see his smile. "My daughter. There is too much worry in the world. I hope you can release yours soon. We have been vigilant, we have been brave and considerate of our allies. For once, your old father can sleep with both eyes closed."

Judy nodded. She let her shoulders relax, sinking them below her neckline with a deep exhalation, consciously willing herself to remain calm. The dim sunset was soothing, as were the remnants of a westward breeze. She thought that one day it would be nice to see the ocean she had heard about. There was no question that Nick would like to see it too, despite the warnings of danger. After all, she had overcome much that the elders and her father had once told her was beyond dangerous.

"We have accomplished much in a week. With wolves, it is as if a month has passed. For all their teeth and their great size, they have many kindnesses to offer."

Stu rubbed his paw against the straps of his clothing, and looked to the first sprinkling of stars appearing in the sky overhead, like droplets of water in a sloshed vessel.

"I cannot deny that. Prudence, even, tells me she grows used to their presence. The one who killed your grandfather is not among them, this I trust to be true. I know the word of the old wolf. Managarm. He kept it for a dozen years twice. What we feared for all this time may have been nothing more than a moment's hardship. Judy, tell your old father he's been a fool, and tell him he has time yet to mend his ways."

Judy could hear the calls of her siblings, particularly the younger ones, echoing up from the burrows behind them.

She took care not to smile too large. "Father, you have been a smart mammal longer than you realize." With that, she turned and hugged Stu tightly, pressing her soft cheeks against his neck and, a moment later, feeling his arms around her. After a few tender seconds, she broke the embrace and half-skipped back toward the settlement, toward their home.

Stu watched her leave, bewildered by her meaning.

Judy moved past tiny young brothers and sisters, tracing shapes in the dirt with twigs and playing invented games of some kind or another. She took great care not to walk through the bared soil and soft ground where these symbols had been carved, instead hopping over them with a laughter that was echoed by her siblings.

"Nick!" She called, waving her arms.

Nick was near the largest of the huts. It covered a deep tunnel they had dug and supported with the trunks of old trees tied together with braided cord. The smell of predator fur clung to the structure, but she did not approach with the trepidation of her past self. She threw herself toward it, knowing who she would find inside.

Nick sat just within the remaining light at the mouth of the hut. Between his legs, he kept a nosy wolf cub from scampering off into the village. Nearby, the cub's mother sat suckling two others.

"Kida, aren't you hungry? You have to stay here. For you mother." Nick was talking to the cub. Kida had rolled onto his back and was gyrating his paws upward toward Nick's. Their pads met and the cub laughed just like and toddling bunny might.

Judy stopped there before Nick looked up. She realized it now, the way he had taken to this cub and the others. These were the cubs that, had she followed her fear that first fateful day, would have lost their mother. A withering guilt entered her as she thought how, without Skadi, the cubs would have survived. It was simple. They would not have survived at all.

But Judy had followed her heart, not her fear. The reward, at the time, seemed to be little more than another day in the meadowlands, scouting and alive. She knew now it was far greater. The small, fuzzy bodies of the wolf cubs were as precious as her siblings.

If what she felt about the cubs was relief, what she felt about Nick was pride.

Here he was, a fox raised by rabbits, as rabbit as any other, and he had overcome any fears from the first moment he saw Skadi. He was caring for the cubs, helping their mother keep watch of them, and showing them how he, at times, walked upright like the rabbits.

Nick was older than Judy. Could it be that he wanted to be a father?

"Nick." Judy spoke softly so as not to frighten the cubs. She stood with her head down, her back arched and knees bent. "Hello. These three certainly seem to keep you busy, don't they? You always were good at taking care of our youngest brothers and sisters… Moreso than me, even."

Nick did not take his eyes off the cub, but he responded, "There is harder work to be done, but little as important as raising the young. And, they're too cute." He said softly, petting the Kida's while his mother watched.

"Where are the other wolves?"

Skadi spoke this time, and inclined her head forward so that her muzzle stuck out from the shadows.

"You will laugh." Her voice was soft, kind, but halted as she searched her mind for words she had only just recently learned from the rabbits. "My pack left with your rabbits. Wolves live these lands. We show rabbits where to find the berries and the earthfruits." Skadi looked as if she could barely contain her laughter. "Perhaps you call it hunt. A gentle hunt." She couldn't help it, and laughed, and as she did her teeth bared and her cubs jostled at her chest. She noticed the latter and turned her head down to them. "Sorry." She cooed.

"We are grateful for your wisdom." Judy bowed her head. "Nick, have you seen mom?"

Nick nodded. "Still working on her new grove. Preparing the soil for the flowers. I think Managarm helps her work."

A twinge of nervousness ran up Judy's spine. Her mother, alone with the leader of the wolves. She caught herself before she thought anything worse of it, but she had to go and see for herself. She waved her goodbye to Nick and the others before trotting off toward the place Bonnie had chosen.

The wolves had done so much for her without asking anything in return. How could she still feel a cloud of nervous fear?

Judy pushed the feelings from her mind and from her body. She resolved that she would never again shake or fret due to the wolves. If she was honest with herself, could she not call them more than comrades? Why not friends?

Judy lost herself in the pines on the way to her mother's grove. Bonnie liked to construct quiet little gardens in clearings amidst trees, regardless of how safe it was. There were so many kin in the Hopps Clan that Judy was danger had never drawn near their settlements without an alarm being raised.

The night sky peeked through the treetops, and Judy supposed that even without the thread of danger, so late in the night, it would be best for Bonnie to leave the garden. Just what was she doing with Managarm, so late?

"Mother?" Judy called. She followed the path, deeper into the dark woods. A light caught her eye, and she pushed deeper. The smell of wildflowers soared across her nose, and she knew she was in the grove.

There sat Bonnie, with the great wolf Managarm. His head rested in her lap, and she stroked his ears. He seemed asleep, as peacefully as a newborn. Beside them, a torch stuck out of the ground, flames gently licking away into the night.

"You've made your peace, is that right?" Judy asked with a hint of a smile. She approached slowly, and as she did Managarm slowly opened one eye.

"Your father is not the only one who makes decisions." Bonnie asserted, both paws on the wolf's head.

He was old. The fur around his muzzle gray, his face tired and his demeanor sapped of youthful energy. Judy hadn't realized until seeming him here in this firelight, seeming vulnerable and weak. How long had he been struggling out there in the wilds, directing his diminishing pack of wolves and scavenging where he could without the benefit of a farm? She knew now the rabbits had it, with their stewardship of the land and their expertise raising plants from mere seedlings.

Compared to predators, they lived like gods, creating food from nothing.

"Spoke we of the future. She am kind, mother rabbit. The new pact am food for protection."

Judy kneeled down in front of the wolf. He could snap her up in one bit, couldn't he? The largest of the wolves, the most fearsome.

And yet, she could see the fur around his eyes wet. He cried pitifully, overcome with relief.

"Long have I sought safety for my cubs, and my cubs of cubs. That rabbits should save my kind… Bring'th forth a well of feeling. I had not guessed, ever, we would receive such kindnesses. When comes my turn to die, I will not worry for my pack."

Bonnie made a soothing sound, blowing air past her lips, and patting the wolf's head.

Her voice was soft as new grass. "You've many years yet, you old fool. Quiet, now. Judy, do you see? All mammals have such feelings. This we must remember for the future, no matter what we face."

Judy nodded. She thought of the Whiteflock. Should they return, or should Frija, they would try to broker some peace.

All had come around. Judy and Nick were safe. Their new home rose up from the earth as they built and burrowed and tamed the land. Allies now kept them company, helped them grow and change, to think more deeply of the relationships between the species. Wolf, fox, and rabbit now lived in concert, and over the next few weeks, they could hardly imagine any other way of life.

It was a time of prosperous beginnings. And, between Judy and Nick, of love.

Perhaps, one day, they would face hardship. The return of old enemies.

But Judy held a different hope.

Perhaps one day they would be bound in a ceremony of love and dedication to one another.