Paws and Prejudice

Ten

Six Months Later
Mr. Wilde and his friends have returned to Judy's county, and have been living there for several months, rebuilding old friendships and becoming more and more a part of the stories that weave themselves out there. Mr. Wilde has become more acquainted with the lively young doe, and now realizes that he carries a certain degree of sentiment for her....but finds himself repulsed by her coarse relatives and lower class. Ms. Hopps on the other paw, quickly detects his elitism, and her pride makes her withdraw, even if ever so slightly. She's prideful, he's prejudice...it just works, okay? Opposites attract, but attraction does not mean love, and love never has promised a happy ending for anyone.

One day, when Judy had stopped over at Mr. Savage's estate, where Nicholas was currently residing, to procure a book that had been promised to her by Jack, the fox was lost. Her expressive purple eyes, full of depth and hidden emotion, her ready smile and clever, playful wit...he was enthralled. Even more so, he liked the fact that she showed no interest for him or his fortune and estate, but offered him friendship readily, gravely. He had lost his heart to a daughter of wisdom, a child of wild things, born of laughter and raised in a sheltered world. He wasn't sure if he wanted it back.

Mr. Wilde straightened in his easy chair, setting his book off to the side as he stood, failing to notice that in his distraction he had forgotten to set the tome on the table, letting it crash down to the floor unceremoniously. Judy looked up from where she knelt on the floor, skirts pooling around her in an uneven circle, one of her large but elegant feet poking out to reveal a shapely ankle. She hadn't noticed, so engrossed in her book and the companionable silence she and Nicholas kept, only disturbed by the sudden sound and motion from the gentlefox's corner.

"Are you alright, Nick?" She asked, voice musical to him as she used the nickname adopted after enough walks among the gardens the area sported. She didn't use it around others, of course, but it fell naturally onto her lips when they were alone, which the frequently were these days. Their friends and sisters found much better things to do than reading dusty, obscure books. Didn't Judy and Wilde know there was a ball they should be attending, they whispered to one another, shaking their heads in disbelief. Hadn't they been told? Hadn't they been invited? Did they care?

Nick joined Judy, kneeling in front if her on the floor, trembling with suppressed emotion. "Marry me." He whispered softly, taking her paws with heartbreaking gentleness. "Marry me, I don't care about your family, or your standing. Just marry me."

471 words, The_Noble_six.