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I wasn't there by ZiegelZeig

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Another great pic commissioned from ZiegelZeig.  

Even though Rich Moore said (After I had written it, the bugger) that Nick's mom was alive and well and living in the same apartment I have to respectfully disagree with him as I had already set Nick's backstory with his mother being dead - how else can you explain her absence from his graduation?  Could be estranged, sure, but that's some serious estrangement if that's the case - the assumption the movie leads you to, IMO, is that Nick's mother had passed.  

Here Nick is finally coming to terms with some of his past and facing demons he's been ignoring for over ten years - this is the first time he even come to her grave, to ashamed of his behavior (A general snotty late teenager up to no good) that lead to them becoming pretty estranged from each other in the first place.  He says "I wasn't there..." because when his mother fell ill from an aggressive and very fast cancer nobody was able to locate him. By the time they did she had already passed, only missing her death by mere minutes.  He's never been able to face up to it... that is until a certain little bunny changed his life.

...
End of chapter six of The Fox and the Rabbit - Reconciliation: 
...
Nick continued through the cemetery until he reached an area that was devoid of tombstones. Instead, there were simple small plaques set into the ground. This was the area for those who didn't have a lot to spend on an expensive plot and equally expensive tombstone.

Nick stopped and looked back and forth, seeming to search. He keyed on something and turned off to the left, walking and looking down at the plaques as he passed, appearing to read each one.

Judy closed the distance between them, walking out of the forest of tombstones, instead stepping behind trees as she followed. Nick finally stopped at one marker, staring down at it for long seconds. She perked her ears and stepped out from behind a tree, slowly and quietly closing the distance, suddenly not caring if she was spotted now.

Nick kneeled on both knees and leaned over, brushing debris from the marker. He gently laid the flowers on the plaque and Judy just barely heard him as he spoke in a voice high and tense with emotion.

"Hi… mom..." he said quietly. He was still for several more long moments before he brought his paws up to his chest and folded over, letting out a heart wrenching cry of anguish.

Judy's heart broke for him and she hurried forward as Nick began to sob uncontrollably. She reached him and placed a paw on his heaving back. He didn't react or give any indication that he knew she was there. He rocked back and forward, still bent over with his paws clenched at his chest.

"I… wasn't…. there…" he choked out between sobs.

Judy tossed the still closed umbrella to the ground and stepped up next to him. She pulled him to her and he didn't resist, he just leaned his head against her chest, sobbing.

"I... wasn't... there," he said again, crying convulsively.

His arms dropped limply, and Judy wrapped hers around his head, hugging him to her and holding him while he continued to sob. She rested her cheek against the top of his head, between his flattened ears, doing the only thing she could do and just be there for him while letting the rain mask her own tears.


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devi-devi5's avatar
In regards to the mother thing, It honestly just seems like an oversight. I mean Rich told us she was alive after the fact. They probably didn't even think about his parents when they made the movie or at least didn't plan on them making an appearance because the story focused on Judy for the most part.  By leaving it open-ended, people could make their own interpretations. Besides, do you really want to be the guy who says someone's mother (fictional or otherwise) is dead? 

Now that I think about it, his mother must be either senile or is completely oblivious if she lives with him (probably suggested by Nick out of some self-guilt to make him feel better about what he's doing) and does nothing to try to fix him. If my mother lived with me and I was trying to con people, she would verbally thrash me and guilt me into doing the right thing regardless of my age. A mom always wants her child to succeed even if they are in the gutter.