A/N: Here it is folks, a story I've wanted to do ever since I got into writing fanfiction. And thanks to Cimar of Turalis-WildeHopps and his wonderful P.I.X.A.R. machine concept, this was the perfect way to do it. And of course credit as well to Frank Capra for creating It's a Wonderful Life, my favourite movie of all time. Zootopia, of course, belongs to Disney. And now, let us begin Nick's journey of self-discovery…

Zootopia, December Twenty-Third:

No place in Zootopia looked more beautiful than Tundratown around the Christmas season. Every tree was decorated, every lamppost was dressed, and carolers of all sizes and species sang throughout the streets. It was also the district's busiest time of the year for mammals from over the city would flock to it to do their Christmas shopping, as if on some level trying to relive the days when the climate was not controlled and Christmas time meant snow for everybody. And Nick and Judy WildeHopps and their two children were no exception.

The family was out on Flurry Street now, Nick struggling under a load of wrapped packages and Ridley and Ella running around his legs, with Judy doing her best to keep the two excited five year-olds in line.

"Is all this stuff really necessary, Carrots?" Nick asked his wife.

"Of course!" stated Judy as she pulled Ridley off the street and back on the curb. "We have so many friends, I wanted to make sure everybody gets something this year."

"You know we could have just ordered all this stuff online, right?" Nick asked as he stepped over a mouse couple, nearly making him drop his packages.

"Yes, but shopping in person is so much more fun!"

"Tell that to my back," Nick moaned under his breath. Judy stopped the group and consulted her list. "Okay…we've shopped for your mom, my folks, Fru-Fru, little Ju-Ju… Ah! Gotta get Finnick's present."

"You know Finnick really doesn't care if you give him a present or not, right?" Nick said with a small roll of his eyes as the rabbit steered him and the kits towards the bank.

"Aw, but he's like one of the family!" replied Judy, "And after the babysitting he's done for us, a present is the least we can do," she approached the ATM and stuck her card in.

"I take it you're giving him the usual?" Nick asked with no degree of uncertainty.

Judy shrugged. "Every year I ask him what he wants, and every year he says the same thing," a small wad of bills popped out of the machine, "Cash."

"Reeeal holiday spirit there," muttered Nick.

"Look Momma! Look! Toys!" Ridley called out while starting to wander towards a shop across the street.

"Ha ha, Ridley, come back!" teased Judy as she went and caught the fox kit, leaving Nick alone to pull the bills and card out of the ATM while still holding his packages.

"OY! YOU!"

Nick, Judy and Ridley and Ella all whipped around. Striding towards the family was a middle-aged badger wearing an old grey suit and a grizzled snarl on his face. "Knew I'd run into you sooner or later, Wilde," the badger spat as he stopped in front of Nick, his eyes locked onto Nick's own.

"Uhhh… wait, I know you. Brock Blackwood, right?" Nick asked. "What's it been – ten, eleven years?"

"Twelve," Brock the badger retorted, "And I still haven't forgotten what you did."

"Judy," Nick said suddenly, "Would you and the kids please go into the toy store? I'll join you in a minute."

Judy snapped to attention. If Nick was using her real name this had to be serious, and he clearly didn't want anything to happen in front of Ridley and Ella.

"Yes… of course. Come on kids," and Judy took the fox and bunny kits by the paw and started leading them across the street.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Ella called out to her father, sounding scared.

"Don't worry Sweetie, everything's fine!" Nick called back, "Mister Blackwood and I just have to talk for a minute."

As Judy led the kids across the street, her keen bunny ears overheard their conversation:

"What I did? I seem to recall I beat you fair and square," she heard Nick state.

"That's not how I remember it," growled the cantankerous mustelid.

"You were the one who was cheating!"

And that was all Judy heard before she steered the kids into the Red Balloon toy shop and shut the door behind them.

"What did he mean?" Ella asked. "What did Daddy do?"

"Oh, whatever that badger was talking about, I am sure it's just a simple misunderstanding," Judy answered, trying to sound as calm as possible. She gently steered the kids away from the window, "Come on, let's browse for a few minutes, huh? Ella, see if you can find that toy fire engine you want!"

While the kids started browsing through the small but quaint toy store Judy watched across the street through the window as Nick and the badger stood at the ATM exchanging words for a couple of minutes. And then to her shock Blackwood punched Nick in the jaw, sending the fox toppling against the machine and making drop his packages in the snow. Then the badger snatched the cash Nick was holding in his paw and left.

"Nick! NICK!" Grabbing the kids again Judy ran out of the store and back up to her mate, who was sitting in the snow and rubbing his hurt jaw. Her head jerked towards the end of the street where she saw Blackwood disappear around the corner. Judy grabbed at Nick's free paw, "Come on, we can catch him-"

"No," was Nick's response. Judy looked at Nick, still slumped in the snow, holding her paw in place. "No, it's okay. Let him go."

"Who was that, Daddy?" Ella asked, the little rabbit's voice filled with concern.

"Oh, just someone I used to know," Nick replied with a collected calmness Judy could see through.

"Are you hurt?"

"Aw, nothing can hurt Dad!" Ridley interjected, "Bet you gave the one-two and scared him off, right Dad?" the fox kit punched at the air with little fists.

"That's right, son," answered Nick with a chuckle. He started to gather up his packages from the snow. "C'mon, who's up for going to the mall? Maybe you can go see Santa Claws!"

But as Nick collected his parcels, Judy noticed he was doing his best to ensure the kits were only seeing the right side of his face, for there was swelling already forming on the left side of his jaw.

Nick and Judy didn't speak about the incident again until the family got home and Judy had put on a Charlie Bun Christmas for the kits to watch. Once she was sure the two five year olds were safely engrossed in the movie she took Nick by the paw and led him to the kitchen table where they sat down, Nick now holding an ice pack over his aching jaw.

"Nick…" Judy said, staring hard into her husband's eyes, "Who was that badger? Should we be worried about him?"

"I don't think so, Carrots," Nick replied. "His name is Brock Blackwood, and about a dozen years ago, during a less savory period in my life, I hustled some money out of him."

Judy leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "And what did you do?" she asked sternly.

"Actually, I beat him in a poker game," Nick replied with a slight smirk.

There a momentary pause. "That's it?" Judy asked skeptically, "He punched you because you beat him at cards?"

"Well, obviously it's more complicated than that," Nick replied, "You see, one day after a particularly good day on the *cough* job, I decided to try doubling my take at this casino in Tundratown. I mean, you know my poker skills, Fluff- I know the math, the tells, all the tricks. Anyway, I looked around, picked this table, and asked to join in. Blackwood was sitting there with what I assume were friends of his."

Nick paused a second to readjust his ice pack, and continued: "Much to my surprise, he let me in right away. Being a fox and all I figured I'd have to turn on the charm to get in a game. But as we played I noticed – the cards kept coming his way, and he kept winning games that by my calculations he shouldn't have won. Then after one really good round he high-fived someone and I saw it – he had a card holder up his sleeve."

Judy instinctively balled up her feet on the floor, sensing this was where things got interesting. "Now naturally I considered calling him out on the spot," Nick continued, "But instead I decided to use that little tidbit to my advantage. So the next time I got good cards I went all in and – pretending to be desperate to win my money back, threw the key to my car on the table. Actually it really was just a key, but you get the idea. Anyway, he agreed to the bet, and we made a gentlemammal's agreement and shook paws, and with a little sleight of paw I oh-so-gently liberated the cards from his sleeve."

"Like in Lone Wolf: a Fur Wars Story?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, just like that. And boy do I wish I could have photographed the look on his face when he realized the cards were gone. Needless to say, he lost."

"And then what?"

"I think you can guess he didn't take it gracefully – he called me a cheater and tried to snatch up the pot, I respectfully protested, and it turned into a one-way shouting match where he was heaving colorful words describing foxes at me until the polar bear bouncer came over and broke it up, and I got him to make Blackwood pay out in exchange for a cut. Then I left the casino and I haven't seen that belligerent badger since."

Judy was almost dumbfounded. "That's it?" she asked, "The way he acted I was expecting some elaborate con where you cost him his life's savings, and all you did was out-cheat him?"

Nick looked a little ashamed. "Well, I may or may not have also made a few jabs of my own right in front of his friends. I daresay he was plenty humiliated."

"And he's really been holding a grudge for that long?"

"Yeah… some mammals are like that," Nick said with a sigh. "So I let have him the hundred bucks I was holding, and with any luck he'll consider us even now."

"Well, I don't think you're even!" Judy snarled, "We ought to track him down, file charges, he can't assault an officer, let alone my MATE!"

"No!" Nick countered, "No, I don't want to file charges, I want this thing done with. I'm just sorry you and the kids had to see it."

Nick sighed, his ears starting to droop. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, Fluff. You know that. He may not have been a good guy, but he deserved to be angry."

"Maybe, but NOT in front of our kids!" Judy growled, "I respect his feelings, but if he's going to try and hurt my family, he's in for his own world of hurt!"

"I have no doubt at all," Nick replied with a slight smile. Then he looked over at the couch, where the kids were glued to the TV watching their Christmas special. "Carrots…" he muttered, "What am I going to tell them? I mean, you know what I was, you understand, somehow in spite of it you even fell in love with me. But someday, the kids are going to have to find out I used to be a hustler, a no-good confox, and then what? How do I explain it to them? How can I look them in the eye and tell them that's not who I am anymore?"

Judy put her paw on his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she said, "Together. And in the meantime, you just keep on doing what you're doing, because frankly, I don't think you need to worry about being a good role model. I think you already are one."

Nick smiled appreciatively at her, and she gave him a warm smile back, followed by a kiss.

And the couple didn't think about Blackwood again until they were returning to the precinct at the end of their shift the next day:

"Uh, Nick?" Clawhauser called from his desk as the couple went by. "Hey Nick, have you seen this?"

"What is it, Benji?" Nick asked as he and Judy walked up. "If this is about Gazelle's latest album, you know you've got the wrong WildeHopps."

"No, it's…" then Clawhauser stopped and chewed on his lip, looking both scared and lost for words, which was a rarity for the chubby cheetah.

"Uh, Benji? You're starting to scare me," said Nick.

Finally Clawhauser passed his phone to Nick, "This came out this morning, I only just saw it."

Nick looked at the phone, and what was on the screen made his eyes widen and his jaw almost drop with shock.

It was on Critter, and the tweet that filled the screen had a picture of a very familiar badger attached to it, along with a message that made Nick's stomach give an unpleasant lurch:

Saw Officer Wilde downtown yesterday – years ago that shifty lowlife fox robbed me and now they've made him a cop. WHAT HAS THIS CITY COME TO!? #ZPD #DirtyFoxCop

"Blackwood…" Nick growled.

Judy scanned the screen, and gasped. "That-that-SACK OF ROTTEN CARROTS!" she cried. If the whole situation wasn't so dire Nick would have burst out laughing.

"Wait, you do know this creep?" Clawhauser asked nervously.

"Yeah, Nick beat him at poker over a decade ago, and now he's trying to get revenge," Judy stated. She frowned at the cheetah, "Wait, you don't actually believe Nick robbed him, do you?"

"No! No, of course not!" Clawhauser exclaimed.

But Nick wasn't listening – he was too busy reading the comments attached to the tweet, which had already gained over six hundred likes and retweets:

Always knew he was no good – if the ZPD had any integrity they'd fire him RIGHT NOW. #DirtyFoxCop

What did you expect? All foxes are shifty lowlifes! #DirtyFoxCop

FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS OUT. #DirtyFoxCop

If "Officer" Wilde had any decency he'd-

Nick couldn't read anymore. He half-passed, half-threw the phone back at the cheetah and stormed off. "Nick, wait!" Clawhauser and Judy both called. When Nick didn't stop Judy ran up and stopped him. "Nick, this isn't so bad-"

"Not so bad?" Nick huffed, "Six hundred-plus likes and retweets isn't so bad?"

"He trolling you, Nick! Every officer gets tweets like that!"

"You think that's just trolling? He's accusing me of a crime, Carrots! I'm surprised chief Buffalo-Butt isn't chewing my head off already!"

Just then, a ping rang from Nick's pocket, signalling a text message. Nick pulled out his phone and smirked at the screen. "Well, speak of the devil. Complete with horns."

And a minute later the couple were sitting on oversized chairs in front of Chief Bogo's desk, and the Cape buffalo was regarding them with a glare that was nothing short of an upgrade from the one they normally received. Bogo placed his iPad on the desk and slid it forward; Nick and Judy could clearly see Blackwood's tweet on the screen. "Explain," said the chief.

Judy started. "Nick's innocent, sir, he didn't do it-"

"I wasn't talking to you, Hopps, I was talking to him," Bogo pointed towards Nick, and directed his glare at him: "Wilde, as a formality I must ask- did you rob Brock Blackwood, as he claims you did?"

"Formality?" Judy's ears gave a little perk. "Chief, you mean you don't believe Nick did it?"

The chief gave her an annoyed snort. "No, I don't. If this were a true accusation he would have come to the police or consulted a lawyer, and I have had no such calls before or since this tweet came out," he turned back to Nick. "But Wilde, I must ask you: did you rob Brock Blackwood?"

Nick's tone was firm and to the point. "No."

Bogo gave a sigh of relief, but his expression remained serious. "Then why might he post something like this? Does he bear some grudge against you?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, "I won a few hundred bucks from him in a game of poker, a couple years before I became a cop, and apparently he's been mad about it ever since."

"I see," said Bogo without a change in expression. "Unfortunately it is his word against yours, and as of now neither side has any proof."

"Of course there isn't – that was twelve years ago," Nick said exasperatedly. "I barely even remembered it until Blackwood forcibly reminded me. Never knew a guy could hold a grudge that long."

"And why would he?" asked Bogo, "Was it a significant amount you 'won' from him?"

Nick rankled at the way Bogo used the word 'won'. "I… did cheat," he admitted, "But only because he was cheating first. And I guess I did embarrass him in front of his "friends"," Nick made a quotation mark gesture, "But I swear, Chief, I did nothing criminal. And I certainly didn't rob him."

"Why don't we bring him and question him?" Judy interjected, "Then if there are any holes in his story we can charge him with slander."

"That won't work," Nick contradicted. "He'll have a full story all made out, and there'll be enough truth in it he could drag this out for ages. And it won't erase that tweet from anyone's memories – I'll bet anything by tomorrow there will be others coming forward too."

"Others…?" Bogo asked with trepidation, "Now why would there be 'others'?"

Nick gave a sigh, and slumped in his seat. "Chief, you know I wasn't a criminal before I became a cop, but I still knew some bad mammals and I made my share of enemies. Besides, I'm still a fox – folks can accuse me of anything and everyone will believe it."

Bogo nodded, and sat back in his chair for almost a full minute, looking deep in thought. Finally, with what sounded like trepidation in his voice he spoke: "I believe in your innocence, Wilde, but I am afraid that, under the circumstances, I still must suspend you."

Nick and Judy both gasped.

"Suspended…?" Judy repeated in horror.

"With pay," Bogo amended.

"Chief, no! You said you believed Nick!"

"Yes, and I do. But this is out of my hooves now. Internal affairs will be making an inquiry, the ZPD must make a statement, and we must show we do not condone those actions you are accused of, true or not. And of course, the media is going to have a field day with this, and on the day before Christmas…"

The Cape buffalo gave a shudder, and opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out an orange prescription bottle. "My blood pressure…" he moaned as he shakily uncapped the bottle and popped two large white pills in his mouth. "Hopps, take him home. And if you can think of any evidence to be found, then by all means pursue it."

"But sir-"

"GO!" roared Bogo.

And Nick and Judy left immediately. They had been ordered out of Chief Bogo's office many times before, but never once had they heard him sound so upset instead of angry.

"Come on Nick, think!" Judy urged Nick while they were in the car driving home. "There's gotta be something that can clear your name on this! Do you remember anyone else who was playing? Do you remember what casino that was? Maybe there'll be old security camera footage, or-"

"It won't work, Carrots," Nick interrupted.

"I know, I know you think he has a story made up, but if we can find just a bit of evidence-"

"Don't you GET it!?" Nick snapped, "I'm a fox! Do you think anyone besides you, my mother and our friends are going to believe in me? Look at this!" He shoved his phone into Judy's face, showing her the comments on Blackwood's Critter feed. "Already half the city's made up its mind about me, and the rest won't be far behind! And just you wait, this is only the beginning. There'll be an investigation. And not that little background check they did when I joined the ZPD, a real one with real investigators. Every con, every hustle I ever pulled years ago, it's all going to come out. And even if we find some way to discredit Blackwood, others like him will be coming out of the woodwork, I guarantee it."

Judy said nothing for a second, and then she pulled over to the curb and shut off the car motor, glaring at her mate. "So what? You're just going to give up? That's it?"

Nick lifted up his paws and let them drop into his lap. "What else is there to do? If you and your never-know-when-to-quit attitude want to waste your time chasing rainbows, go ahead. But my eyes are wide open. There's no escaping the past."

"Of course you can, Nick!" Judy countered, "You're better than your past! Look at all you've done since you became a cop! And before, when we solved the missing mammals case together!"

"Yeah, and I'll bet if I wasn't there, you would have still solved that on your own," Nick responded glumly. "And everything I've done as a cop, I'm sure you or some other officer would have done just as well."

Judy slammed her paws on the steering wheel in frustration. "If you want to give up, fine! But I know you, and I know you didn't do this. And if you're going to be too thick-headed to try and save yourself because some wannabe internet troll called you a shifty lowlife-"

Nick couldn't take anymore. In a flash he unbuckled his seatbelt, threw open the door and jumped out of the car.

"Nick! Nick, wait!" Judy cried.

Nick poked his head back into the car, glaring into his wife's face. "You know… you once called me a shifty lowlife too."

And then he slammed the door with more force than he'd intended and trudged away.

"Nick! Come back!" Judy yelled as she got out of the car. But her mate was gone – vanished into the crowded street. Like Batmammal, Nick was good at disappearing when he wanted to. After a minute of scanning around and swearing under her breath Judy got back in the car, slamming the door behind her. She sighed in exasperation and thumped her head against the steering wheel, and then gave a jolt as the horn went off in her face. She took deep breaths for a few seconds, and then her jaw stiffened in determination. Nick may have hustled Blackwood years ago, but what that badger had said on Critter was a complete and total lie, and she was going to prove her mate's innocence. But first, she had to make a call. She dug out her phone and dialled Nick's mother.

"Hello, Ellaine, it's Judy."

"Judy! Oh my gosh, I was just reading about that thing on Critter! Is Nicky there?"

"No he isn't, and you can bet anything he's turned off his phone by now," Judy replied. "He's in a bad place right now but listen: that thing on Critter is a lie and I'm going to prove it, but I need your help. Can you watch Ridley and Ella tonight?"

"Of course, as late as you need!"

"Thanks! Try to keep it casual, with any luck they'll never have to find out about this. Read them The Grizz that Stole Christmas, they love that!"

"Will do Judy, and thank you!"

"Bye Ellaine." And Judy hung up. And then her violet eyes narrowed, and the rabbit officer started the car with a loud roar and zoomed down the street.

Nick wandered around Downtown and Savannah Central for hours, stewing in frustration and bitterness. For the since time he became a cop, he truly felt like all his efforts to turn his life around had been for naught. No matter what he did, he would never be able to escape the fact that he was a fox, a species still reviled and mistrusted by most of the city, who had done things that only further vindicated that prejudice. Despite the coldness of the evening, all he wanted to do was keep walking and never stop. The trouble was this quarter of the city was only so big, and before long Nick found himself gravitating towards some familiar landmarks: his mother's street, the Ottertons' florist shop, Finnick's van, and even the 10-7 first responder's bar. He considered dropping in at the bar to drown his sorrows, but quickly changed his mind. If Trisha Rose's bubbly personality wasn't already the last thing he was in the mood for, chances were good the bunny barmaid would alert Judy the minute he walked in. So he pressed on, and eventually found himself in front of a building with a multi-striped awning and a neon sign that read FITWICK'S ARCADE. Perfect, Nick thought. Just the place to get away from it all. It was after hours so the arcade was closed and the blinds in the windows were drawn, but through a crack in the blinds Nick could see Mr. Fitwick inside, dressed in old clothes and polishing the machines. He knew from past experience the panther wouldn't mind him dropping in, and rapped his knuckles on the glass door.

A few seconds later, a gap accompanied by Fitwick's eye appeared in the blinds in the door. Spotting Nick, the panther unlocked the door and opened it. "Officer Wilde?" the feline inquired.

"Evening, Fitwick," Nick greeted colorlessly as he let himself in without asking permission.

"Uh… evening. Where's - where's Officer Hopps?" Fitwick asked, unsettled by Nick's demeanor.

"We're having problems," Nick flatly stated. "No, I… I'm having problems, and I need to get away for a while. This seemed the best place for that," Without elaborating further Nick strode over to the Prototype Inhibitor of Experimental Alternate Reality (P.I.X.A.R) machine and slumped into one of its conjoined armchairs. "You mind if I use this while you work? I could use a vacation from reality right about now."

"No… no, not at all," Fitwick walked up to Nick, turned a key to unlock the machine, and booted up its computer. "So Officer Hopps doesn't know you're here?"

"No, and if it's alright with you, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her I was here," Nick replied, "She'd just try to comfort me, tell me it's alright, or maybe just yell at me for walking out, and I'm not in the mood for any of that."

"Sure, client confidentiality is part of the job," said Fitwick, his finger flicking across the screen, scrolling through a list of possible scenarios for Nick. "Er, what simulation would you like?"

"I don't care!" Nick snapped. He grabbed the nearest VR helmet and slammed it on his head with great force. "Just - just put me somewhere that I don't exist!"

"Somewhere you don't exist! What…" Then Fitwick stopped, and suddenly appeared very thoughtful. "You know… I think I have just the scenario. It's actually quite popular this time of year."

"Well, good! Fire away then!" Nick ordered.

Almost smiling now, Fitwick entered the final code and settings and hit the START button. The screen in Nick's visor lit up, and he felt his world begin to dissolve away as the familiar swirl of colors overtook him and hypnotized him into a deep sleep…

Nick stood there on that familiar old stone bridge, gazing out at the small glimpse of the city his location afforded him. He had spent much time here over the years, sunbathing and mulling over the facts of life; he had even lived under the bridge for a brief period of time. And on that fateful day, when Judy had finally come back to him and they had gone on to solve the nighthowler conspiracy together, it had been here.

An old abandoned factory and adjoining warehouse stood behind him, vacant since sometime just after the last world war, and the remains of a dried-up riverbed still showed in the ground, a river that had once been prosperous but since been diverted in the name of 'progress'. This was a place of ancient history, just like his days as a police officer would soon become.

The cold of the winter night air made Nick shiver; he was truly at the end of his rope now, he could see no way out. His career was over, his new life in ashes. He couldn't even claim innocence of the crime he was accused of; who would ever believe the word of a fox over any other mammal? An accusation was as good as a conviction, and there was enough truth in Blackwood's story to muddy the waters in Nick's case for years. He had so tried to be an upstanding fox, be a good father and the good mammal his mother and Judy both wanted, and to improve quality of life for all other members of his species across Zootopia. But now in the end, his past had won out. It had reached up and was dragging him back down, and if he wasn't careful Judy's career and the honor of the ZPD could go down with him.

As he stared out at the city that would soon hate him, Nick weighed his options. He could fight back, try to clear himself, but the whole thing happened so long ago he doubted there was any evidence that would do that. He could take the heat, deny the charges when they came and only receive dismissal from the force, but then he would never work again, most of his friends and members of Judy's family would likely ostracize him, and his children would grow up thinking their daddy was a dirty cop. His thoughts then took a darker turn. Maybe he could just end it, right here, and then his life insurance would take care of his family and he'd be in sweet oblivion away from it all. But that would only hurt them further, and vindicate Blackwood to boot. Besides, how could he do it here? There was no river beneath for him to jump into.

Depressed thoughts kept turning in Nick's head, going around in circles. He had been through many rough patches in his life before, but never had he come so close to actually wishing he had never been born at all. He actually smirked a little as he chewed on that hypothetical scenario. If he had never been born, probably nobody would be worse off. Finnick would be fine for sure, he was a good enough hustler to get by without Nick's ideas in the old days. His mother wouldn't have had to raise him, and so maybe she wouldn't have been so poor all those years ago. Bogo's blood pressure would certainly be better off. And Judy… Nick was confident she would still have solved the missing mammals case without him. Then she would still have a successful career, and maybe have found a suitable buck husband without a criminal past who could give her more kits than Nick ever could. Nick wanted Judy to be happy, but the idea of her with someone else was still the most depressing thought of all.

He looked up to the sky, gazing at the stars. One in particular twinkled brighter and clearer than all the others; it reminded him of the wishing star from Pawnocchio that he had watched with Ridley and Ella recently. A childish idea suddenly came to him. After glancing around to make there was no one around he put his paws together and began to whisper: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…"

He looked around once more, feeling as foolish as depressed, and then finished:

"I wish I could see what the world would be like if I had never been born."

There, he had done it, he had said it out loud. And as he expected, nothing happened. Ten empty seconds went by. But then-

A loud burst of thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, and a huge whoosh of frigid wind came out of nowhere and barreled into Nick, making the fox double over. Nick screwed his eyes shut against the wind, his fangs chattering with cold and his scarf flapping everywhere, and then the gale stopped, ending as quickly as it had begun. Nick kneeled there shivering for a few seconds, trying to warm himself before opening his eyes. And that was when he saw a pair of spotted feline feet standing right in front of him, and a familiar yellow paw reaching out to help him up. Nick looked up, and his jaw dropped. "Benji?"

"Hey Nick," Benjamin Clawhauser greeted him.

A/N: Trisha Rose and the 10-7 bar belong to Bluelighthouse.