Guardian Blue - Season 1

Episode 5 - Family

Total serenity. The sounds of birds high in the trees, sparse but cheerful, the gentle rustle of leaves, and the dull hum of a tractor tilling soil in the pasture beyond the next windbreak. The smell of honeysuckle and clover clung to the gentle breeze like lovers greeting at the end of a war, inseparable and irrevocably beautiful. Then there was the gentle rhythm of slow rising and falling, and the almost unknowable sway of the tight mesh hammock. It was that rising and falling that reminded Judy where she was, but it was the firm tapping on her shoulder that told her why she was awake. She didn't have time to reflect about how she fell asleep, tucked tight against her dozing partner's side. It wasn't exactly the first time that the odd sense of peace near him had caused it. Her reaction was gauged more by what she saw as she turned over, away from the sleeping fox.

Bonnie stood by the hammock, appearing rather more concerned than she had before in the car. Judy most certainly visibly winced, which only made her feel guiltier for the suspected thing of which she was absolutely innocent, but how much more damning could it have been? Okay, so the teasing she got about her clinginess aside, she might be just a wee bit too comfortable around the fox. But bunnies were known for their close ties to their best friends; how was this supposed to be any different? Why should she feel guilty about it at all? She sat up and slid carefully out of the hammock. She whispered, trying not to rouse her peacefully slumbering partner.

"Hey mom! Gosh, I don't know what happened, I was clearing images out of my phone to make more space for pictures of my visit, and the early morning train ride and house fire thing all came crashing down on me, I guess. Nick was already out on account of the cider Dad gave him, poor guy-..." Bonnie ended the conversation by nodding her head in the direction of the flower garden that she and Judy used to tend together to have talks about school, friends, troubles... everything. The younger doe dropped her black-tipped ears back and obediently followed her mother, gazing at her feet as they walked. Any denial, truthful though it may be, was going to make Judy seem more scandalous, and she didn't want that kind of conflict with her mom. Bonnie went to her knees in front of a row of daffodils and began pruning off the wilted flowers.

"Pretty comfortable in Nick's company, yes?" asked the older doe. The younger doe sighed. It was literally right where their conversation left off earlier in the day. Judy got her persistence from her mom, she was sure of it.

"We've faced danger to save one another. Goes with the territory. Yes, I trust him," Judy said. The more she could avoid bringing up the concept of dating, the less guilty it would sound. How does one even prove they're innocent of something like that? Her sisters got this talk plenty, but they were actually guilty. Every single time. It was not a track record that Judy was going to have an easy time getting around. Her mother spoke again, plucking a little bit of unwanted vegetation from alongside a flower.

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it before, but I think you talk about your partner more than any other aspect of living in the city." Judy leaned back a little. Really? Did she? Thinking about it she guessed that she probably did. "But... you haven't told us that much about who he is - we barely know him outside of what he's done, what you both have done since you met him. What kind of family does he have? Does he move around a lot? Where does he live? Does he live close to you?" Her mother rapid-fired some questions, apparently no longer interested in being interrupted before she could dig for information. The worst thing Judy could do was intentionally start evading her queries. That would really put a kink in her mom's ears. Judy inhaled deeply and calmly answered all of her questions as best she could.

"I do talk a lot about my partner because, as I said before, I don't know a lot of other mammals in the city. Work keeps me pretty busy and I'm not exactly a social butterfly outside of my job. His dad's passed on. His only other family is his mother, who lives in New Reynard. I told you a couple months ago about him getting back in contact with her... it was really emotional, remember?" Her mother nodded at that, and cupped her muzzle, as if having forgotten, then adding weight to why Nick might be inclined to let the bunny get close. Judy tried to hide her cringe at that mistake. That was not the direction Judy was trying to go.