A/N

Ok, so I got attacked by another swarm of plot bunnies. If people say they like this I'll continue it, but it'll have a slower update rate than my other story. Also I don't have any snazzy cover image for this so if anyone's got any ideas feel free to pm me.

NEW: Check out the full cover picture, not just the thumbnail portion of it (That's only half the picture) over on the Ao3 site version of the story (just google Zanrok and Ao3 and you can find it on my Ao3 page) or at Ziegelzeig's deviantart page: ziegelzeig (.dot.) deviantart (.dot.) com/art/Old-Arrangements-679663825

Thanks again Zeig for this awesome picture!

Disclaimer: NOOOoooo I Don't Want To! *soob* (sounds on person being dragged away weeping by WildeHopps Navy press gang)

Prelude: Forgotten Memories

"You and I know that both of our families need this deal!" the red fox said waving his arm in exasperation at the country farmer bunny sitting across from him.

The bunny was grinding his teeth so hard that the sound was audible, "Now see here, fox. You're in my burrow right now. I won't have any of your kind telling me what my family needs!"

The fox rubbed his paws against his temples trying to sooth away the headache that their long argument had caused. "Mr. Hopps, I don't like this anymore than you do, frankly I wish I'd never had to talk to a stuck up country bumpkin bunny like yourself." The rabbit across from him seemed ready to shout but the fox continued right over him, "But, this isn't about what you or I want. My grocery store needs to find some sort of advantage over that damn supermart chain in Zootopia, or it's going to put us out of business. Your farm is nearly bankrupt because you refused to sell out to that damned monopoly and now they won't buy your produce. You need to find someone to sell your supplies to and I need to find a supplier. That road side stand isn't going to support your family. It simply can't sell enough of your produce. My store in Zootopia can."

Mr. Hopps jumped off the couch and started pacing back and forth. He wanted to yell and shout at the damned fox sitting across from him, but Mr. Wilde was right. They were both over a barrel and they both knew it.

"How the hell can I trust some shifty fox to not stab me in the back?" Mr. Hopps didn't realize that he'd spoken that aloud until he heard Mr. Wilde's response.

"How the hell can I trust some stuck up rabbit to not rip me off?"

They glared at each other for another minute, neither willing to give any ground.

Mr. Hopps finally broke the stare; he gestured around him at the house they were in. "You see this fox, this house, this land, they've been in my family for 14 generations, it's where I grew up, It's where I started my own family. If I make this deal with you and you don't hold up to your end of the bargain, I'll lose everything! Not just the house and the land itself, but the house that my family lives in! The land that provides for my family! If I lose this then my family are the ones that will suffer! So, how can you sit there and tell me that I can place the safety, the future of my family in your claws!"

Mr. Wilde was now on his feet, anger just as apparent on his face as the rabbit's across from him.

"You don't think I have a family to protect?! A family to provide for? Do you think I like putting my family's future in the hands of some rabbit that would probably like nothing more than to see us out homeless on the street?!"

The two stood not a foot apart now glaring at each other, the rabbit with paws fisted and foot thumping angrily and the fox letting out a low growl.

There was a set of happy and terrified squeals from the kitchen down the hall before two small shapes came running out. The small gray and red blurs raced down the hall and into the room, squealing delightedly the whole way as a matronly rabbit wearing an apron with a carrot stitched on the front of it and a vixen waving a wooden stirring spoon came out into the hall berating them.

The two very young kits ran right between the fox and the bunny that were moments away from coming to blows and scrambled behind a sofa in the corner of the room to hide, giggling and whispering back and forth, though doing a horrible job of preventing anyone else from hearing.

"I told you they'd see us!"

"So?"

"We're going to get in trouble!"

"only if they find us."

"What? Are we going to hide from them forever?"

"Why not? We've got each other!"

*giggle*

"Fine, but what are we going to do for food?"

*giggle and snicker*

"We'll go steal more cookie dough!"

*giggles*

"I can't steal! I'm going to be a cop when I grow up!"

"We weren't really stealing, they were making it for us anyway. And why do you want to be a cop?"

"Because then I can help people, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Um, I don't know. Um, I want to be a ranger scout, that way I can help people too!"

*giggle*

"Silly, that's not a job!"

"Well, I'll just be a cop too then!"

*squeal*

"Really!? We could be partners and catch criminals!"

*laughs and giggles*

"That sounds like fun! So, you promise? You'll be my best friend and partner on the police force?"

"YES!" *smooching sound*

"Hey! You can't do that! Girls have cuddies!"

"So? You're my best friend!" *smooching sound*

"Hey, that's embarrassing! Stop or I'll tickle you!"

"Try and I'll tickle you too! And cuddies are a myth!"

*smooching sound followed by squeals of laughter*

A ball of red and gray fur came tumbling out from behind the sofa. It was hard to pick out one kit from the other as they tumbled back and forth laughing the entire time.

The doe and the vixen from the kitchen entered the room.

"Judith!" "Nicholas!" came the simultaneous scolding voices.

The tangled bundle of fur rolling on the floor stopped, and two small faces looked at the pair of wives in the doorway before squealing in fright and running out of the room paw in paw.

The two wives turned their angry attention to the fox and the rabbit that, while still looking ready to fight, also looked a bit startled and confused by the whirlwind of excited kits.

"You two have been in here for 3 hours and gotten nothing done!" The angry doe stated, while the equally angry vixen thumped the wooden stirring spoon while crossing her arms.

The bucks ears drooped and the tods ears flattened. They both looked a little guilty, if still angry, as their wives berated them.

"If you two are so worried about only your own individual families," the doe started after they had sufficiently chastised their husbands, "Then we'll just have to make sure that there's only one family to worry about." The vixen next to the doe nodded her head in agreement.

The buck spoke with a bit of anger, "You expect me to try and consider them family?!" at the same time the tod replied with a defiant, "And how do you expect to do that!"

Both the females grinned in not very pleasant ways. This time it was the vixen that spoke up. "Since you two have been getting nowhere, we've already taken care of it. Bonnie's brother, a lawyer in town here just called us and told us the paperwork has been officially sealed by the town judge." she gestured to where the two small kits had made their escape. And the doe next to her nodded in smug agreement, before they both said, "You two had better start considering what's best for our family."

A/N

Okay, Why was gonekrazy3000 leading the press gang? And why does his baton have 'Typo Thumper' painted on it?