Capítulo 186: Grief's Reunion by giftheck
Words: 27k+
Links: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22437214/chapters/53608987
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13487143/1/Reconciliation-Grief-s-Reunion
( It has been fifteen years since Nick left Zootopia and he's never looked back, but he is forced to confront his past when news reaches him that his mother is dying. How will he react when he learns of the son he thought was never going to be born? And can he mend his relationship with Judy? Revised for 2020. )
RECONCILIATION: GRIEF'S REUNION
REVISED EDITION
TRUST AND TRAGEDY
'A lot happened since I last came to Zootopia.'
This was the thought that Nick had held ever since boarding the plane bound from Mexicat to Zootopia. He hadn't been to Zootopia for fifteen years. It wasn't exactly intentional. Sometimes, life just worked out a certain way. After what had happened, Nick had needed to get as far away as he could for a while. From Zootopia, from the ZPD… from her and anything that could remind him of her.
'I'm not sure if I really hate her.'
That was a thought that had always stuck with Nick. Despite everything that had happened between him and Judy Hopps, he just couldn't bring himself to truly hate her for what she had done.
Three weeks. That was all he had planned on taking away from Zootopia. Three weeks. And Mexicat was just about as far as Nick could afford to go. He had paid back all his dues. There was no felony tax evasion to follow him. And since he wasn't flush for cash, he had to go somewhere cheap.
He didn't expect to find solace out there, nor expect to find out that his heart still worked, even if he thought it had been stomped on, crushed, eviscerated by what had happened.
It took time, but there was somebody who was able to help Nick heal his broken heart.
That somebody wasn't with Nick any more.
'One year… that's how long it's been since Skye was taken…'
Nick's gaze moved from the window to the young fox sitting, fast asleep, next to him. His fur was a slightly lighter shade than Nick's was. Underneath those sleeping eyelids were curious blues – a symbol of the connection he had with his mother, Skye Anable.
Skye had been a mechanic who had moved to Mexicat after losing someone she cared about. She never liked to talk about it, and Nick knew not to ask. She was a red fox, but was born with leucism, which meant that her fur, which should have been red like Nick's, was instead a cream colour.
Their son, Robert 'Robin' Anable, was eleven years old and blissfully unaware of the hardships that either of his parents had when they were his age. The present day was kinder to foxes than the past was. Nick had even been able to make a decent life for himself in Mexicat, starting his own legitimate business that brought joy to children. He was the owner of an amusement park. It wasn't the most glamorous thing he could imagine, but the work had been his. Having a wife as a mechanic had helped greatly as well.
As was customary, when he and Skye had married, he took her last name, and that name passed down to Robin.
Skye had died rather quickly. She had been shopping when she crossed the road and an elderly ram had ran the stop sign, mowing her down. It had devastated Nick, and Robin had become more withdrawn, refusing to interact with the children at his school.
It was a situation that wouldn't have happened under any other circumstance.
'If only she had talked to me', Nick thought bitterly, 'instead of going behind my back. Why did I have to hear it off Clawhauser, of all mammals?'
Nick wasn't thinking of Skye with that thought, but of Judy. A child was something Nick hadn't thought too much about in his past. Even when he was with Judy, the thought hadn't crossed his mind. He had assumed that it wasn't possible to have children with Judy anyway, so it was a want he didn't feel particularly strongly about. Maybe adoption, someday.
'If you had come to me… if you had told me… I would have stood by you.'
And therein lay Nick's problems: he had assumed it wasn't possible, but apparently, it was. Judy and he had conceived.
Only, he didn't know anything about it until he was told by Benjamin Clawhauser, the portly ZPD desk cheetah, that Judy was looking to go through with a termination.
The fact that Judy was going to do it wasn't what angered him. It was the secrets, the frankly uncharacteristic way she had gone about keeping this from him. She should have known he would have stood by her decision.
And that apparent lack of trust had led to that moment, where Nick confronted Judy about it. Judy had tried to tell Nick that she didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't understand that she had. He had spent a long time after first meeting Judy trying to move away from the stereotype of foxes as shifty, secretive and untrustworthy. All he had seen was that Judy had taken on those traits instead.
Nick had lost his temper, which was rare for him. He had said things he did not really mean. In hindsight, Judy was in a highly-emotional state, and Nick knew he shouldn't have said them. If anything, Nick had always been ashamed that he had.
Judy shouldn't have thrown the punch she did either. That sealed things for Nick. He had left to cool his head. As far as he was concerned, if Judy couldn't be honest with him over something as big as that, and if his 'reward' for that was to take a punch from her, then he didn't see why he should stay with her. It had hurt like hell to walk away. He hadn't planned to let it affect his career, or his friendships with the other Officers of the ZPD.
He hadn't planned on staying out in Mexicat either, but sometimes things just happened the way they did.
'Doesn't mean that doesn't suck,' Nick thought to himself, 'and that's got to be the understatement of the decade.'
His mind drifted back to the phone call he had gotten two nights ago.
******
Fishing his mobile out from his pocket, Nick glanced at the screen. The caller ID was 'Old Shortie', which Nick knew was for Finnick, his oldest friend.
"Nick Anable, theme park CEO extraordinaire!" Nick cheerfully answered.
"Nick… you gonna have to come home," Finnick answered, his voice hushed in tone. Nick frowned. Normally one of his 'famous' answering lines was met with faux derision from the diminutive fennec, but this time, Finnick had ignored Nick's usual flair.
"What's wrong?" Nick frowned.
"Nick, it's your Mom," Finnick answered.
"I swear, Fin, if you've called me to make a 'your mom' joke, I might have to head back to Zootopia and cart you round in a stroller like the old days just to get you back," Nick said.
"She's dying," Finnick said bluntly. Nick's eyes grew wide as the gravity of what Finnick had said sunk in.
His mother… Viola Wilde, the vixen who had always had his back when it counted – even when he didn't appreciate it – was dying. But Nick's rational thought was that this couldn't be true.
"We talked last week," Nick said mechanically. "She was fine."
Usually, Nick would video-call her so they could talk as face-to-face as was possible, but the past couple of weeks, she had gone to phone calls only. It had struck Nick as a little odd, but it didn't click with him that it meant she was trying to hide something from him.
"She been hidin' it from ya for a while," Finnick said, "but she got a brain tumour. They been tryin' to fix it, but… she got the news there's nothin' more they can do, an… Nick? Ya there?"
As Finnick had continued on, Nick sat down in the swivel chair in his study. His eyes had shifted to a photo on his desk. It was of Nick at his ZPD graduation ceremony – the only photo of it he had kept. He stood proudly side-by-side with his mother in the photo. His gaze moved to another picture on the desk, that of him and Skye on their wedding day. Nick had to hold back a tear. How much was he supposed to lose before it all broke him?
"Wilde!" Finnick's voice came through the fog.
"Yeah, I'm still here," Nick placed a paw on his head. After a brief pause, he grabbed his diary from his desk and flicked through it, before flinging it across the room.
"I'll be on the first flight out," Nick said.
******
And so, Nick had booked the first flight he could out of Mexicat to Zootopia. His thoughts turned to the reason he had left Zootopia in the first place.
'Guess there's a chance we could come face-to-face… not that she'd care.'
That old bitterness threatened to rear its ugly head again. Nick forced the feelings down as he looked to his son again. A brief, loving smile graced Nick's lips. He was contented to allow the poor boy to sleep. After all, that day was going to bring a lot of upheaval. Robin would be in a new city, one that he had only ever heard his father talk about briefly. He would also be meeting his grandmother face-to-face for the first time.
"Ladies and gentlemammals, this is the Captain speaking," came a voice over the in-flight speakers. "We are starting our descent into Zootopia now. We will draw to a stop within the next fifteen minutes."
A beam of light came in through the window and Nick's attention returned to it. He could see the tall spires of Zootopia extending from the landscape in the distance. The rising sun cast glare off the polished glass of the skyscrapers.
"Son," Nick turned to Robin and gently shook him. The young fox woke up.
"We there yet, Dad?" the fox yawned.
"Nearly," Nick gestured to the window. Robin leaned across to look out.
"I grew up here," Nick said, a small smile gracing his face. Despite the hurt that had happened here, he still had happy memories.
"We're starting our final approach," The Captain said. The plane started to descend towards the Zootopia City Airport, situated to the north of the Rainforest District. As the plane flew over the Rainforest District, the canopy of trees that made up the District came into view. Excess water sprayed up from the District's artificial rain simulators and doused the windows in a thin mist.
"Ladies and gentlemammals, please ensure you are in your seats and your safety belts are secured," the Captain said as the plane left the Rainforest District. The whine of the plane's engines started to lower in tone. It took minutes, but the plane touched down on the tarmac of the runway and taxied in to the airport.
"We have arrived at Zootopia City Airport," the Captain announced, "Thank you for travelling Zootopia Airlines. Please remember to take your luggage with you when you leave the plane."
"Come on, Son," Nick said. Robin nodded as he got out of his seat. Within moments, the door to the terminal tunnel opened and Nick and Robin stepped out into it – their first steps into Zootopia together – and made their way down the tunnel and into the terminal check-in.
"Passports, please," The clerk at the check-in asked. Nick pulled two passports out from his pocket and handed them to the clerk, who opened them up.
The first he read belonged to Robin. It read:
Robert Colton Anable
D.O.B.: 06/26/2023
Species: Vulpes Vulpes
Eye Colour: Blue
Fur Colour: Red
Distinguishing marks: none
Nationality: Mexicatian
The clerk checked the picture, then scanned it through. Then he got to Nick's passport and checked it:
Nicholas Piberius Anable
D.O.B.: 01/14/1984
Species: Vulpes Vulpes
Eye Colour: Green
Fur Colour: Red
Distinguishing Marks: none
Nationality: Zootopian, Mexicatian (dual)
The clerk scanned the passports and handed them back to Nick.
"What's the reason for your visit to Zootopia?" the clerk asked.
"We're visiting family," Nick replied, a little more tersely than he intended.
"Family business." The clerk repeated as he entered the information, before handing back the passports and waving Nick and Robin along. The pair headed for the baggage handling and picked up their bags – they were travelling light – and they headed for the airport exit. As Nick stepped outside, he took a moment to take in the fact that he had returned to a place he didn't actually think he would be again. He was standing on Zootopian soil, breathing in Zootopian air, seeing Zootopian sights. Sure, those sights might have changed somewhat in the fifteen years since Nick had been here last, but it was still enough to make Nick want a moment.
"Dad?" Robin said, looking at Nick with concern. Broken out of his thoughts, Nick looked down at him and forced a smile.
"I'm fine, Robin," Nick replied.
A taxi pulled up and Nick opened the door, letting Robin in first. The driver popped the boot and Nick put their small amount of luggage into it. Closing the boot, Nick took one last glance around the terminal before getting into the taxi.
"Where to?" the horse driver asked.
"1955 Cypress Grove Lane, Rainforest District," Nick replied.
He was going home.
Notes:
I hope I managed to work this angle better than I did the first time.
As for the changes I made, here's the obvious ones:
I've done away with the POV style of the original story. It was experimental, and I think I 'perfected' it when I did Futures Past, but that also meant acknowledging that, unless I was telling a story from a single character's perspective, things tended to be messy. You'll see that when we get to the later chapters.
In the original story, Nick dyed his fur black. It had started to come out by the end of the story, but this time I got rid of that entirely.
Anabel Skye was renamed to Skye Anable. Nick changed his name to hers, instead of to Hood. Robin was given the new surname, and the first name 'Robert', making 'Robin' his nickname.
Anabel in the original story was an arctic fox, while I've made Skye a leucistic red fox, in line with how I think of her now.
There will not be story changes. So if you read the original Grief's Reunion, though the road has changed, the destination will be the same. For that reason, if you didn't like the story the first time, I'm afraid you probably won't like it this time either.
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