A/N: I would like to thank Aninat131, PizzaSteve3902, Cimar of Turalis-WildeHopps, Guest and DrummerMax64 for their reviews of the last chapter. And to Aninat, congratulations on finishing your exams! And I'd like to send a very belated congrats to DrummerMax as well for his own recent graduation.

Mrs. Wilde's apartment:

"You're kidding!" Judy stated.

Brian Bedfurd shook his head. "No, I swear it's true, that really was me you see jumping off the burning tower near the end of the movie and not a stuntmammal."

It was now the evening of Nick's birthday, and the group consisting of Judy, Nick, Mrs. Wilde, Roger Thrash and Brian were now having birthday cake in Mrs. Wilde's apartment after having had dinner at Remy's Restaurant. At the restaurant, Brian and Roger had regaled the party with several stories about the making of the Robin Hood movie. Max and Finnick had also been there, but Max had had to leave for an audition after the meal and Finnick had declined because he claimed not to be a fan of movies.

"But how?" Judy asked, "That turret had to be fifty feet high!"

"Oh, just the magic of movie editing," said Brian, "There are two separate shots done: one of me jumping off the tower, and another of me falling into the moat. For the first one I got on the burning rooftop set, wallowed in the flames for a few seconds (wearing fireproof layers under my costume of course), and jumped off onto an airbag just off-camera. Then for the second one, on a different set, I jumped off a boom lift and fell thirty feet into the water."

"Wow… at least you only had to do that once, right?" said Judy.

Brian shook his head. "Twice," said the fox, holding up two fingers, "On the first take I mistimed the jump, and I fell out of the camera's line of sight and was in the water before the operator could fix it. One more inch and I would have landed on the bank and become a fox pancake."

Then Brian grinned, and turned to Roger. "And speaking of pancakes…" the fox nudged the Torch Key raccoon, "Why don't you tell them about the pancake incident?"

"What inci – oh no, not that one!" protested Roger.

"If you don't tell them about it, I will." Said Brian mischievously.

"Oh come on! Wha' wath it?" Nick asked through a mouthful of Tasmanian Devil's Food cake.

"Only the biggest laugh we had during the whole making of the movie, and that is saying something," said Brian.

"It was humiliating," grumbled Roger.

"Forty-five years later and you still can't laugh about it?" Brian teased.

"No." stated the raccoon.

"Oh, pretty please tell us?" Mrs. Wilde asked, "For the birthday boy?"

Roger sighed. "Alright, fine," he put down his cake fork and wiped some crumbs off his chin before answering, "It happened one night when we were on location filming the "Phony King of England" number. On the third night of shooting, around 4 AM, the caterers arrived with an early breakfast for us: some nice pancakes."

Roger looked over at Brian, as if silently asking permission to stop right there. Brian gestured him to continue.

"It was a welcome treat," Roger continued, "But I was really hungry, so I snuck an extra plate back onto the set with me and stowed it behind the rock I was sitting on in the scene. You know, where I'm part of the band. Anyway, during the next take, I got so caught up in the music and the foot-stomping that I lost my balance and fell backwards onto the plate of pancakes."

"Oh no!" said Judy.

"Oh yes!" interjected Brian, "He stood up, and the plate was stuck right to his bottom! And we didn't have another pair of trousers for him, so he had to finish the number like that. And by the end of it, he was stuck to the rock and we actually had to pull him off!"

The elderly fox chuckled merrily, "Got a lot of ribbing for that, he did."

Then Brian swallowed his last bite of cake, and put his fork down with satisfaction. "Mmm-Mm! I must say, Mrs. Wilde, that cake was positively scrumptious!"

"Why thank you, it's an old family recipe," said Mrs. Wilde.

"Then my compliments to your old family," replied Brian. He reached over, "May I take your plate?"

"Oh, such a gentlefox!" said Mrs. Wilde, handing him her empty cake plate.

Brian then gathered Roger's Judy's plates (Nick was still eating his second helping of cake), and then moved back his chair and started to stand up–

"Ooh! Ow!" the fox groaned as he straightened up and made his way to the kitchen, limping slightly.

"Something wrong?" Mrs. Wilde asked.

"Oh, nothing, just a little stiff from class is all," said Brian from the kitchen.

After the group had disbanded at the precinct that morning Mrs. Wilde had gone off to teach her morning aerobics class, and Brian had requested to join her, partially to his regret. But afterwards the two foxes had ended up spending the whole day together, and looked distinctly chummy when they met up with Nick and Judy and Roger at Remy's.

"I'm sorry, I guess I did work you a little hard," said Mrs. Wilde, "But I guarantee it will be a lot less painful if you come and try it again."

"I fail to see how that would work…" said Brian as he returned to the table, "But if it would grant me the pleasure of your company, I would gladly come to your class again."

To that, Mrs. Wilde gave a bashful little giggle, and quickly turned her head away. Judy could see a distinct blush form on the inside of Mrs. Wilde's ears.

Judy cleared her throat. "So, Brian," she said, "What have you acted in besides Robin Hood? I'm sorry, I don't go to the movies much."

"Oh, a little of everything, really," said Brian with a shrug, "I played supporting roles in a few more movies, I've worked in television, theater, even did an animated movie once. And I've also played roles that involved playing a whole different species, as you saw me do with Errol today."

"And what a performance that was!" said Nick. He gulped down another mouthful of cake, "But I gotta ask – why did you come at all? Do you usually accept invites from strangers who want to meet Robin Hood?"

"I would – if anyone else had ever asked," said Brian with a slight chuckle. And then his expression turned serious. "But actually, there is a reason I would like to tell you about."

The fox folded his paws on the table, and launched into speech: "A year and a half ago, when the Nighthowler conspiracy began and predators started mysteriously disappearing, one of the victims was a good friend of mine."

Brian pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen, and showed the group a picture: it showed Brian in a hospital room, standing next to a male grizzly bear lying upright in the bed wearing a hospital gown. On the other side of the bed holding the bear's paw was a she-bear wearing a polka-dot dress and pearls, who could only be the patient's mate. Both bears and fox looked tired but full of joy.

"His name is Vincent Bruin, and that's his wife, Greta. We've lived near each other in the Rainforest District for nearly twenty years; they run a diner that I frequent. But one evening, when I went over for a visit, I found Greta crying in the living room: Vincent was missing. All the police had found was his cell phone, amidst a bouquet of flowers and a small pile of groceries in an alley; he had just gone shopping…"

The elderly fox sighed, and his paws gripped tightly on his phone, his eyes focused on the picture. "For weeks we waited, praying for any news. I even helped Greta out at the diner as best I could. And then one day we finally heard: Vincent had been found, but had somehow gone savage. We didn't understand what the doctor was saying until we finally saw him in the hospital. Vincent didn't recognize us, not even Greta; he even tried to attack me behind the glass…"

Brian shivered at the memory, and put down his phone. But when he looked up, his expression seemed to brighten a little. "For a long time after we thought we would never have our old Vincent back again, until the story came out: he had been targeted as part of a despicable plot against predators, the cause of his condition was some type of plant, and an antidote was being developed. And there, on the front page, was you two. You saved him. You saved Vincent, and I want to thank you for that."

Nick noticed Brian was looking more in his direction than Judy's. "Aww, as much as I'd like to take credit, that was really all Carrots' doing. I was just along for the ride." He said.

"Judy did tell me you might say that," Brian replied, pointing at said rabbit, "I told her about Vincent yesterday, and she was very emphatic in saying that she could never have done it without you."

He shifted in his seat, focusing on Nick completely. "Nicholas, I've spent a fair amount of time with your mother over the last couple of days, and she has told me some very interesting things about you."

"Um-" Nick gulped, thinking of all kinds of shameful stories his mother could tell, "What kinds of things?"

Brian's expression and tone were both neutral. "She told me when you were young, you looked up to Robin Hood, and wanted to do good for others just like him. But then you had a bad experience that caused you to lose your way, and remained so for quite some time…"

Then Brian placed his paw on Nick's shoulder, smiling in a reassuring, almost fatherly way, "But then you found it again, as I saw you demonstrate when you helped Max this morning. For that, and for your part in saving Vincent and those poor other victims, I have something that I want you to have. A birthday present, if you will."

Then the fox reached down and picked up a large paper bag, placing it on the table before him.

"Now, Robin Hood isn't exactly an all-time classic, but working on it was a very fond time for everyone involved. All of us in the cast became friends, and many of us remained in touch after filming had wrapped. And after filming was done, we were each allowed to keep a souvenir from the experience. Roger kept the lute he played," he gestured at the raccoon next to him, "Phil Bearis kept a bow and arrow set he used in one scene, and Peter Ustignaw kept the crown he wore as Prince John. I kept this."

And then from the depths of the bag, he pulled out an old, faded dark yellow bycocket hat with a fraying red feather attached to the brim. He shifted it gingerly, so he was holding it in both paws, and held it out to Nick.

"It is now my wish to pass it on to you."

Nick's eyes widened and his ears shot up in shock. Mrs. Wilde gasped, cupping her paw to her mouth. And via his peripheral vision, Nick could see that both Roger and Judy were just as surprised.

"What – I can't keep this – this is a piece of movie history! It belongs in a museum!" Nick said.

Brian chuckled, "I am afraid this is not Citizen Kang's sled, I doubt any museums are going to be bidding for it after I'm gone."

Nick was dumbstruck. "Are you actually serious? You want me to have the Robin Hood hat?"

"I have no children of my own, Nicholas. Believe me, I can think of nobody better to pass this on to."

"But-" Nick sputtered, "You don't even know me, we just met today!"

"True, but I've learned enough from your mother and Officer Hopps to be sure my decision is a good one."

The reynard gestured his paws at Nick, holding the hat closer, "Here. Take it."

Nick hesitated once more, and then slowly, fingers trembling (both from nerves and the sugar in the cake), he reached out and took the hat. He gently turned it over in his paws, analyzing it: he could make out faded numbers inside, production numbers certifying it as a movie prop. And he could also see a few stray fox hairs stuck inside the brim. This was no replica; it was the real deal. And then, instinctively, he put the hat on his head. It fit like it had been made for him.

Everybody at the table started cheering and clapping. "Now you truly are my little Robin Hood again!" said Mrs. Wilde, dabbing her eyes with her napkin at the sight of her son wearing the actual Robin Hood hat, with the green sweater from Mrs. Otterton that he was wearing completing the ensemble. Nick pulled out his phone and used the camera to check his reflection, smiling toothily at the image before him; rather dashing if he did say so himself.

"I wanna try it on!" said Judy, bouncing up and down in her seat.

Nick complied, took off the hat and plopped it on top of Judy's head: for a couple of seconds it remained in place, perched between Judy's ears, the rabbit beaming. And then her ears were flattened, and the hat fell over her eyes, her smile drooping with it.

Nick smirked, and lifted up the tip of the hat to show the rabbit's face, "Don't worry, you'll grow into it, young lady."

Brian gave a little snort, and then a chuckle, and then he burst out laughing. Then Mrs. Wilde, then Roger, then Judy, and within seconds Nick himself joined in on the merriment around him.

The laughter carried for a few minutes, and when it began to die down, Nick gazed fondly at the mammals sitting at the table with him, connections forming in his mind. His mother and father had seen Robin Hood on their first date many years ago, she had told him that before. If they hadn't seen it together, maybe they never would have gotten together and he, Nick, would never have been born. And after he had seen the movie as a kit, it had inadvertently set him on the path to life as a hustler. But that had led to meeting Judy, which led to helping to save the city and becoming the first fox police officer. And because of that, he had reunited with his mother. And finally, because he had watched the movie with Judy he had had his first ever birthday party, and had even gotten to meet both Brian Bedfurd and Roger Thrash in the bargain. And for a cherry on top, even his mother seemed to have found a new tod in her life because of it.

It was amazing the impact one movie could have.

A/N: Annnd scene! I hope you all enjoyed this finale, and this story as a whole. I had a great time giving Nick a birthday he will never forget. Until next time, my friends!