Archive of Our Own

With a soft thud, Rosie Pines slipped into her aged taxi and shut the door behind her. She felt the seat beneath her, already worn and frayed, and made herself comfortable in the subtle impression produced by years of her sitting in that spot. A slight adjustment to the mirror gave a glimpse at herself, a view of wide, emerald eyes that once matched the dirty, green baseball cap atop her head. The brown-furred deer woman was nearly covered head to toe in old jackets, sweaters, scarves and half-gloves to resist the cold outside. Only enough fur remained exposed to show the creamy brown of her cheeks and her short, dark hair, brushed to one side and only barely meeting her shoulders even with her extra layers.

One quick motion later, the car puttered to life again. The old thing had accompanied Rosie faithfully through this line of work since she started. It never sported the bold, yellow color expected of a taxi, and now with age the only way anyone could tell what it was supposed to be was from the light affixed to its roof. Flicking that light on, Rosie didn’t immediately pull out from the canopy cover of the gas station she just refueled at, instead allowing things to warm up inside before moving. Bakersfield always wound up bitingly cold so late into December. Between the forecast of snow and how quickly the chill got to Rosie in her brief step out of the car, she knew the extra heating time was needed.

Her eyes wandered during that idle minute. Long after sundown despite it being early in the evening, colored lights now bathed the cluttered street by the gas station. Across that street sat a picturesque little plaza, nearly crowded out of its humble space by tall buildings surrounding it on three sides. A tall, decorated tree waited in the middle, but its colors drowned in the bright white of a spotlight covering the area. A ladder rested against it, and a small gang of workers fiddled with an electric star on top. Its bulbs dull, Rosie gathered from the intense waving of their arms that they weren’t having any luck getting it to work.

Soon, the welcoming smell of artificial heat filled the car, and Rosie decided to finally get going. Barely anyone walked the streets if they could avoid it, and those who couldn’t surely wanted a ride. She always reminded herself of this when she drove around on Christmas Eve, but the reminders never stopped her from envying her passengers when they finally reached their destinations. Everybody had a place to be that night, and most of them with people expecting them when they arrived. Meanwhile, Rosie settled for their brief company tonight.

She pulled onto a street lined with bright lamps. When she glanced right, she almost believed she saw out of the corner of her eye a pile of snow walking down the sidewalk with a lively, bouncing gait. Blinking, it revealed itself to be a particularly bundled, wooly sheep. Stepping under one of the street lights, her snow white hair suddenly became contrasted by a rosy coat and bright green dress beneath. The ewe turned around, noticed Rosie’s cab, and hailed her over. Pulling up to the curb, Rosie made out crows' feet around the sheep’s soft, blue eyes, only exacerbated by the wide grin she wore. That alone made her grin as the sheep sidled into the cab, so tall that she ducked to not hit her head on the door.

Rosie rested her right arm on the seat behind her as she turned around to greet the ewe. “Evenin’. Where’re you headed tonight?” Her east coast accent often stood out, isolated so deep in the midwest, but the sheep remained unphased

“Well,” she replied, resting a hoofed hand against her cheek. “I was actually hoping that you might be able to help me with that, dear.”

The doe raised a brow at her. “Alright, shoot.”

“You see, there’s someone I’m trying to meet up with tonight. She said there’s something she wished to show me around this part of town, but now that I’ve looked she seems to have already moved on to something else!”

“Well, I’m sorry you missed her, but I haven’t seen her or anything.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t think you have. It’s just that I haven’t visited here before, and I was wondering if you might know where a free, easily-excitable type like herself might have fluttered off to.”

“Is she a kid of yours?” Rosie couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the phrasing.

“No, just one of the girls.”

“Well, the mall should still be busy this time of night, maybe someone else saw her while doing their last-minute stops.”

“Why, I think that would be a lovely place to start, if you wouldn’t mind taking me!” The ewe finally buckled herself in.

“Of course. It’s not far, anyways.” With that, Rosie finally turned around and set about returning to the streets.

The ewe stayed quiet for a moment before realization flashed over her face. She sat up straighter. “Ah, I almost forgot! I am Abigail Fords, but you can call me Abby.”

Rosie vaguely recognized the name, but not enough to bring it up. Instead she grinned at the oddly formal introduction. “Rosie Pines.”

From there, she slid a cassette into the car’s player and let the rest of the ride play out uneventfully. As expected, the frantic energy filling the nearest mall came in full force even as Rosie parked by one of the main doors. Dozens of people rushed to and from their cars, creating a loose stream of shoppers. Despite how cold they looked, everyone strove to keep apart from each other on the walkway up to the entrance.

“Thank you again, Rosie,” Abby said as she dug around in a purse for exact change.

“Don’t mention it. You just have good luck finding your friend, alright?”

The ewe glanced out the window. “Of course, someplace like this ought to have just the kind of magic to it that would attract her!”

She lingered near the curb for a moment, watching the ewe trot off eagerly into the brightly lit mall. As soon as the door closed behind her, a nearby exit from an anchor store swung open. From it rushed another deer woman. Contrary to Abigail’s light step, this doe strode forward with a determined pace, glancing back in the direction of the main doors before saying something under her breath. Afterwards, she hurried over to the side of the taxi and tapped at the window with a hoof. 

This deer couldn’t have looked much more different from Rosie. Messy, bright red hair topped a head with a much richer shade of brown fur and a pair of round glasses. A striped scarf with tones of red looked hastily tossed over a pastel pink, puffy jacket. She waited outside the cab, trying to fix a few of her stray hairs to no avail, until it was clear she didn’t want to get in the cab. Instead, Rosie lowered the window slightly.

“Rosie Pines, how are ya?”

“Yeah, uh,” the other deer stumbled over her words for a moment, nearly out of breath. She sighed, collecting herself. “Holly, hi. Did you just drive for an older sheep woman, named Abby?”

“Sure did. Are you that friend she was looking for?”

“No, but I wish I was. We’re both trying to find the same ‘friend’ of ours, to not get too into it.”

It took Rosie biting her tongue to resist responding with ‘don’t we all.’ “Well, you just missed her.”

“Did she talk about what she was doing here?”

“Trying to find some girl of hers, I think.”

“That sounds right… I didn’t see her at work today, and I only just found out that she came all the way out here instead. I’ve been trying to get in contact with her.”

“Does she have a phone? You should get her a phone.”

“Maybe if I can find one that she’d be able to work. She’s a bit… old-fashioned. I’m just lucky I got here in time, you know?”

A chill rushed down her spine, and Rosie crossed her arms for a bit more warmth. “So, I take it you probably wanna stay here?”

At that moment Holly seemed to realize how much cold she had let slip in through the window. “Right! Sorry about that, have a good night, and thank you!”

“Any time,” Rosie said before rolling up her window and letting the doe jog back towards the mall.

The cab barely pulled away from the curb before getting hailed again from a door on the other end of that same anchor store. This time it came from a lop-eared rabbit woman, impossible to miss between her pastel yellow fur and hot pink outfit. From knit cap to hoodie to sweatpants she was unmissably bright. Rosie stopped for her, and she walked over while lugging a couple loaded bags from the shop. She opened the door and tossed in her bags to the far seat before getting in, herself.

She turned back to look over the rabbit. “Where to?”

In response she silently held a finger up, using her other hand to scroll through her phone for a moment before answering. “...5820 Christopher?”

Rosie nodded, even though the rabbit never so much as glanced up at her. They drove with nothing but the sound of the deer’s tapes for several minutes before getting caught at a red light. Tapping at the wheel in tune to the music, Rosie looked into the back seat through her rear mirror. The rabbit’s shopping bags looked heavy, to say the least.

“Lots of last minute shopping, huh?”

The bunny snapped alert, as if not expecting to be spoken to at all. “Yeah, well, it’s easier than buying everything at home and fitting it on the plane, isn’t it?”

“Oh, not home for the holidays?”

“We’re having our party here because it looks so much more right for the occasion, right? And everything I got is just going to wow them when I get there!”

“Sure looks like you got something for everyone at the party.”

The rabbit giggled. “Oh, just one each? You’re adorable, you know that?”

Rosie let her continue to chuckle to herself as the ride carried on. Before long, they finally pulled up to their destination. A series of tall, extravagant homes lined the streets in this neighborhood, with the taxi parked directly in front of the one with the broadest and most decorated steps up to its front doors. The rabbit paid, grabbed her things, and bounded up the steps to the door. The doe watched while she straightened out her outfit as much as possible before ringing the doorbell.

She waited for a moment, sat her bags down, and rang it again. Impatiently, she tapped her foot against the stone porch before outright knocking on the door. It took Rosie a moment to realize how long she had sat there watching the scene play out. The sight of the door opening for her passenger and them disappearing into the warm light, so routine to her, had suddenly taken a different turn. Before she could think about the situation any more, the rabbit stormed back down the stairs and into the taxi. She tapped furiously on her phone.

Rosie turned about to address her. “Cold shoulder?”

“Bad address! Somehow, somebody forgot whose house they were going to for the party.” The rabbit huffed indignantly. “It’s like they don’t even know who I am!”

“Should I know who you are?”

She cast a glare at Rosie before responding. “You’ve heard the name ‘Faye Huffie,’ haven’t you?”

“Sure,” Rosie lied.

“You get it, then! Totally unreasonable of them.”

“Did you get the right address out of them?”

Faye paused before looking down at her phone and tapping away at the screen. A moment later, her answer arrived. “2223 Peony Court?”

“Done,” Rosie nodded, and the pair departed again.

The new trip proved short, barely more than a few blocks from their original destination. Somehow, the homes on this side of the neighborhood looked even more ostentatious than the last. They widened out, each easily the size of a set of three row houses from another part of town. Colorful lights hung all over them in criss-crossing patterns, and their dim, chaotic light did little to make it easier for Rosie to make out any addresses along the way. She considered it luck when she identified 2223 and pulled up to the curb to let Faye out again.

“Hey,” she said as she accepted the rabbit’s payment, “I think these places have more than one front door, you might have to try a few.” She glanced warily up at the urban mansions.

“Of course, thanks,” Faye said, but her tone screamed of someone who didn’t appreciate being given advice. She hopped up the closest stairs, and Rosie finally left her behind.

She couldn’t drive much further, however, before being hailed again. Outside of the rich neighborhood, a tall, broad-shouldered black bear woman waved her down. She sported thick glasses, a cap half covered in decorative pins, and a large, bright teal varsity jacket for a university Rosie couldn’t identify. The bear looked utterly unfazed by the cold, instead anxiously pacing the sidewalk while the taxi pulled closer.

“Where to?” Rosie looked the woman over in the mirror as she shuffled into the back of the cab.

“You know any good food markets that are still open tonight?”

“What’re you looking for?”

“Some actual seasoning, to start with. I’ve got a bit of a family dinner to save tonight, and that’s step one.”

“Oh, we’ve all been there,” Rosie nodded, shifting back into drive, “sure this’ll be the kick in the pants you need to prep this stuff earlier, huh?”

She groaned. “Look, if I could have? I would have. Just about all of us came in from way out of town, and it took us until now to realize gramma’s place is badly in need of a grocery run.”

“Nice of you to go out here like this for your folks, at least.”

“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be a Grazeland family dinner otherwise.”

“Of course it wouldn’t,” Rosie chuckled.

Shortly after, the cab rounded a corner into view of a supermarket. Its lights shone out onto a nearly empty parking lot, visibly brined in preparation for the upcoming snow. Rosie pulled up to the front doors before stopping to let the bear out.

“Thanks for that,” the bear gave a slight grin as she paid and got out.

“‘Course, and good luck to you on your little mission.”

They gave each other a pair of nods in acknowledgement, and the bear shut the door behind her. Pulling away, a longer stretch greeted Rosie. Some time passed with each street having either a couple of uninterested pedestrians or nobody at all. She made loops, drifting from neighborhood to neighborhood between normally busy areas. Each one came up empty, though, until Rosie’s cab was hailed suddenly by a very curious sight.

Rosie could tell this person was an arctic fox, but only by the white, fluffy tail waving gently behind her. They covered up the rest of their body completely. A dull-colored knit hat obscured most of her jet-black hair, shades covered her eyes, a scarf covered her mouth, and a long, white coat hid the shape of her figure from the shoulders down. If she didn’t know any better, Rosie would have believed that a character from some spy movie was about to enter her cab.

She turned about to look the mysterious woman over as she entered. In turn, the fox turned her head, avoiding eye contact and saying nothing. Rosie spoke up first. “So, what’s the assignment?”

The vixen shifted in the back seat, and Rosie’s head tilted curiously. As she looked over the fox, something about her became more familiar. Still, nothing leapt out to her, even as the low tone of the woman’s voice continued to circle temptingly around the feeling of recognition. “...You don’t talk to cops, right?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good… Can you get me to Blues Ballpark, then? It’s important.”

“Sure thing.”

“And when we get there, can you stick around a bit? I’ll be back pretty soon.”

“If you pay for both trips, sure.”

With a sigh, the fox finally relaxed in her seat. Rosie started up the car again and, glancing in her mirror one more time, noticed a faint, purple tint to the very tips of the woman’s bangs. With that, everything suddenly clicked into place. The next time the car came to a stop, she turned about again and tapped a finger against a Bakersfield Blues baseball pin on her hat.

“Y’know,” she said, “I’m glad to see you still on your feet. I was worried about you for a bit, there.”

Azure Burle, starting pitcher for the very team they were en route to the stadium of, tensed up as she realized she’d been found out. She noticed the team pin, however, and calmed back down again. “Yeah, uh. Thanks.”

The two finally arrived, pulling into a narrow road behind the riverfront stadium. As she got out, Azure continued to check over her shoulder constantly. After a lengthy moment of double checking, she nodded and turned back to Rosie. “Alright, it’ll be a bit more of a walk to the clubhouse from here, but nobody should see you if you just stay put, okay?”

“You know best,” Rosie shrugged, “but if you take too long I’m gonna think you got caught by someone and just leave.”

“Alright, fair,” Azure said, only half paying attention as she shut the car door. With a quick walking pace, she shuffled over to a small service door and slipped into the building.

Left to herself, Rosie gazed back towards the exit of the alley. Illuminated by a nearby streetlight, she saw a gentle snowfall begin to dust the sidewalk below. This alone motivated her to do everything in her power to preserve the heat left in her car. Not knowing how long the fox would be, the car stayed off for her wait, and each minute stretched with the subtle shivers that they introduced. Ten minutes later, the deer finally grew cold enough to consider Azure a lost cause before being pulled back into the moment by the sound of that back door clicking open again.

Azure dashed to the car door without bothering to check the alley first. She piled into the back seat, and Rosie barely caught a glimpse of the shape of a baseball clutched tightly in her paw. It barely looked like one anymore, though, as it was so covered in black scribbles that almost none of its white surface remained. The fox studied it, turning it over in her hands until Rosie finally got her attention.

“Where to, now?”

“Uh,” Azure panted, apparently sprinting up to this point, “just drive around for a bit, I can cover it.”

“You’re the boss,” Rosie nodded, and finally kicked the car back into motion.

They circled a nearby block a couple times before Azure finally finished looking over the entire ball. She double-checked that no part had been missed, then tensed up again.

“That’s not all of them,” she muttered to herself.

“Not all of who?”

Azure jumped at being overheard, but sighed a second later. “Everyone in the club, they’ve all got to sign on here. It’s… important, for someone I need to make things up to.”

“Well, who are you missing? I could swing you by their places.”

The fox turned the ball over idly. “No one who’s overseas for the holidays, already got to them, at least.” She carefully considered the names on the ball for a moment. “...It’s missing Steinbrenner, for one. He’s at 1027 Mulbury.”

“Across town?”

“Yeah, across town.”

“Easy.”

With some direction finally given to her, Rosie finally stopped cruising and instead turned towards their new destination. Azure barely spoke up behind her, instead continuing to pour over the ball and ensure exactly who had and hadn’t already signed the gift. The more she checked, the more confident she appeared. She muttered a number of names to herself. At the end, however, she slumped back down in her seat.

“Rao…” She sighed.

The cab pulled up to the high-end apartment building on Mulbury street before Rosie found an opportunity to ask Azure what was so dreadful about that name in particular. “Well,” she said, turning back to face her, “better think about how you’re gonna deal with your first friend, before anything.”

Azure nodded, paid up, and tucked herself tighter into her large coat before daring to open the door. Snowfall on this side of town remained light for the moment, but the wind that snuck into the car in that brief moment shook the two all the same. The vixen extended a brief thanks to Rosie before shutting the door behind her and scurrying up the walkway to the complex. Rosie shook her head at the fox’s endeavor that night as she pulled back onto the street.

Somehow, Rosie quickly found herself back in one of the rich neighborhoods from earlier in the evening. The streets, though highly decorated, proved just as dead quiet as earlier. Just as the doe considered trying somewhere else, she caught a bizarre sight in her rear view mirror. Rushing anxiously down the street, dressed completely inappropriately for the frosty weather, came a stocky, frazzled, middle-aged wolf woman with brown fur and darker hair. Aside from a lavish purse slung over her shoulder, she wore nothing but some light-toned pajamas. Each panting breath as she ran after the cab created a small cloud from her mouth, and she visibly shivered when she finally caught up to the stopped taxi.

Rosie turned, letting the wolf catch her breath in the back seat before asking anything. Like Azure before her, Rosie swore she knew this woman from somewhere.

“Where you headed?”

The wolf gazed out the window, clearly thinking about that question for the first time just now. “The Gild House Hotel, downtown.” Her east coast accent was thick enough to rival Rosie’s own.

Rosie chuckled as the car pulled away from the curve. “Headed to the Ritz while wearing that? You’ve got a lot more confidence than me, miss.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on, laugh it up, why don’t you?” The wolf growled. “Wasn’t exactly my first choice to have to leave so quick, just had to get out of that madhouse.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah, that bad.” She looked over her shoulder again before leaning in closer to Rosie. Her voice lowered. “...Hey, uh. You don’t believe in ghosts or anything like that, do you?”

“Me? Just in the holiday spirit, ma’am.”

“Yeah, well there’s my problem,” the wolf grumbled.

“Not a fan of it?”

“They’re doing everything in their power to make it hard to be a fan, tonight.”

“Well you won’t catch me prying,” Rosie shrugged. A silent beat passed, and she couldn’t hold back her question any longer. “Say, you’re not famous or anything, are you?”

The wolf scoffed. “Don’t get any ideas, I don’t carry much in my purse.”

“Was just lookin’ for a yes or no, ma’am,” Rosie held up a hand defensively.

“Yeah? Well, you got your answer.”

Rosie figured nothing good, or amusing, would come of continuing to prod the rather blatantly sleep-deprived wolf. Instead, she drove downtown and into the well-lit canopy by the expensive hotel entrance. “Here’s hoping this place is a bit quieter, eh?”

The wolf nodded briefly, haphazardly handing a large bill over to Rosie. “Keep the change,” she remarked and stumbled back out of the cab before closing the door harshly behind her. Rosie watched her glance over her shoulder again before finally leaving.

A short while later, another figure appeared on the side of the road, turning to wave down the cab. The broad-shouldered figure immediately struck Rosie as familiar, and once she pulled closer the familiar look of the bear woman she picked up earlier that evening. Grazeland, if she remembered the name. She now carried with her a couple of heavy, plastic shopping bags. Worryingly, she couldn’t help but note that the bear now stood miles away from the store the doe dropped her off at to start.

“I sure hope you weren’t planning on walking the whole way home if I didn’t come along,” she chuckled when the door swung open.

Taken back by the comment, the bear paused for a moment before she looked to finally remember Rosie. “Oh, you again. Don’t worry, I didn’t walk all the way here, I took other cabs along the way.” She stopped for another beat before adding, “no offense or anything.”

“None taken,” Rosie grinned. “Looks like you had some good luck with the shop I found for you, huh?”

“Oh, I wish,” the bear groaned. “What you see here is the result of five different stores put together, and I’m still not finished with this shopping list.”

“Take it you need a sixth?”

“Do you know any? These must be the only stores still open on this side of town, and even then they’re practically picked clean of anything other than decorations…”

Rosie picked through her memories of the city. She tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the music from her current cassette. Finally, a breakthrough struck her. “I know one,” she concluded, “but you’re not gonna like it.”

“Great news, I’m already not liking it,” the bear sighed, “hit me.”

“It’s this one place that’s always pulled through for me before. Just when you think they’re out, someone comes along and restocks just what you need, a real lifesaver. It’s just that the folks who usually shop there can get… excited, around times like this.”

She only got a raised brow in response at first. “It’s that reliable? During the holidays, too?”

“Been there a hundred times, myself. Worked out every time.”

“Alright, I’ll try it, but only because I’m desperate.” The bear finally settled into her seat.

With a quick nod, the pair set off again. The journey took them closer to downtown, but not quite there. Taking the freeway the trip ended quickly, but Rosie could only imagine what a slog it would have been on foot. Even the light snow from before began to pick up in intensity the longer they drove. Now, the light powdering of the sidewalks accumulated into a thin, cohesive sheet. Its white tone, however, often found itself colored by bright lights above, creating a canvas for them to shine down on.

When they arrived at the convenience store Rosie suggested, the bear hesitated for a moment, shuddering at the sight of the large snowflakes now dotting the window. “Thanks for the tip, uh,” she trailed off. “Sorry, I don’t think I got your name the first time?”

“Rosie,” the deer said, turning back at her.

“Bridgette,” the bear noted in response before pulling her jacket tighter over herself and braving the cold.

Now, Rosie found herself nearly back where she started her night. She hadn’t been driving terribly long, but passing by the gas station she fueled up at earlier, she saw that its prices only dropped over the last couple of hours. With nothing to lose, the deer struck while the iron was hot and stopped in again to top off her tank before continuing. The cold, worsening with the coming snow, bit even harder than before, and she found herself taking refuge in her cab once again before leaving.

Like before, she gazed across the way at the plaza while she waited. The small mob of workers were nowhere to be seen, instead leaving behind just one of their number. They looked up at the extravagant tree, no longer bathed in a spotlight, with its blinking, colorful lights and its newly-lit star resting proudly atop. A warm grin spread across Rosie’s face, and the sight engrossed her enough that she failed to hear the gentle opening and closing of one of her rear doors before she started the car again.

The doe couldn’t stay out of the know for long, however. Before she could even pull around the first corner, a high, cheery voice rang out from the back seat in a sing-song tone. “Do you know a lot about these stores? I’m looking for one with a little bit more!”

Rosie jumped, immediately pulling the cab over to look at the surprise presence. She blinked, barely believing what sat before her. A small, rabbit-like woman with snow-white fur, deer antlers, and feathery wings sat squarely in the center of the back seats. She wore a sharp, double breasted jacket, sleek pants, and puttees around her little paws, all of which bore bright red and green tones.

It gazed up at her with equally bright eyes. Though it looked to be taken straight from a fairy tale, Rosie couldn’t deny that something very real and very unusual now sat behind her. As well, its warm and genuine grin made her feel increasingly comfortable with its presence. Finally, Rosie decided to risk acknowledging it.

“What was that, little fella?”

“Well,” it said, still sounding like it could break out into song at any moment, “I know it might sound a bit tragic, but I’m looking for a place with some real Christmas magic! If you’d happen to know, I’d happily go.”

“Magic, huh?” Rosie nodded thoughtfully. It didn’t take her long to come up with an answer. “You know, I think I might actually know a store that gets restocked by magic. Wanna give that a try?”

“More than a try, I’m looking to ‘buy’!”

“You’ve got it,” the doe turned back and set off again. Another short trip ensued, retracing her steps back to the ever-convenient convenience store she recommended to Bridgette just before. Its small parking lot, packed full of cars, gave her no room to drop off the little fairy critter close to the door.

“Hope this is close enough, buddy. Just, while you’re in there, be careful, alright? There are probably a lot of folks that won’t stop to look down at their feet enough to see you.”

The fairy waved off her concern with a quick flap of her wings. “I work best in an angry mob! But first,” she dug around in her jacket’s pocket, “something for you, and for doing a nice job!”

She soon found her payment, dropping into Rosie’s hand a dozen chocolate coins, each embossed with a little drawing of a rabbit face akin to the one on the fairy herself. Before Rosie could comment on the unusual payment, the little fey had already slipped out cab and fluttered off through the main doors of the shop. Looking down at her ‘profit,’ Rosie giggled to herself. Surely nobody would believe the story of the passenger she just dropped off, but she at least now held enough proof for herself that what happened was more than a dream.

Rosie continued cruising downtown in search of another passenger. She tucked the chocolate coins into the car’s glove box for safekeeping as she set off on the prowl again. Turning off of a main street, she passed a row of expensive hotels clustered around an event center. Still wearing a grin from her encounter with the fairy, she struggled to not break out into laughter at the familiar sight of the rich wolf woman from before again hailing her down once more.

Still wearing her pajamas, the wolf’s hair and fur now looked completely frazzled. Rosie had seen her earlier that night, but now the wolf looked to have gone the better part of a week without sleep. She continued to glare over her shoulder at the doors to the hotel while she approached the parked cab, giving Rosie enough time to calm herself down before the door swung open. With one last look, the wolf finally slammed the door behind her.

She started to take a moment to make her hair more presentable before looking squarely at Rosie. “You,” she growled.

“Me,” Rosie shrugged. “This place a bit too ‘active’ at night for ya, too?”

“Funny, huh? Well, if you’d been through the night I’ve had, you wouldn’t be laughing about it either,” she grumbled. She paused for a second, tensing up while her eyes still locked onto the deer. A moment later, she shook her head, sighing. “Look, just get me to the… Hampstead Suites, alright? Those are probably far enough away.”

Rosie nodded, left to wonder about the wolf’s hesitation as she took her on their second trip together. Thankfully, the uneventful trip ended before it could start to drag. Despite the wolf’s assurances muttered to herself, this next, historic hotel did not stand far from downtown. Sure that the knowledge of this being one of her shorter trips of the night would not help the woman’s fragile state, however, the doe kept that knowledge to herself. Instead, she pulled up to the old, ornate facade of the hotel, situated next to an equally gothic church and old city graveyard.

“Are you sure you don’t want to find a newer place than this? Newer build, less years that someone could’ve been offed somewhere along the line, less… y’know.” Rosie motioned a hand at the nearby graveyard.

The wolf gazed warily at the macabre sight for a long, silent moment. Finally, she broke off her gaze and turned back to Rosie. “I know what I’m doing,” she insisted.

“Alright, you’re the boss,” Rosie held up her hands.

“Yeah, sure,” the wolf finally paid up for the trip and slammed the door shut behind her again. Even as she walked up to the hotel doors, Rosie could tell how intensely the wolf tried to look in any direction other than the graveyard next door.

When she lost sight of the wolf through the glass doors, Rosie departed again. Now in an older neighborhood of the city, she snaked through narrow streets, slowed by growing snowfall. The salted roads themselves proved no issue, but the storm of snowflakes whipping by her windshield made visibility an increasing struggle. Because of it, she almost didn’t notice a white-coated figure appearing on the nearby sidewalk. The heavy clothes it sported looked familiar, and by the time Rosie realized who they belonged to, her cab was already being boarded again by Azure Burle.

Azure took a moment to brush snow off of her sleeves. Instead, Rosie took the initiative. “Did you get your mission situated, miss?”

“Almost,” she said softly, seemingly not realizing the voice came from someone else. “That was Steinbrenner, Kalachev, and…” she trailed off, tensing as she noticed herself being in the company of others. Once she saw Rosie’s face, however, she relaxed. “Oh, good, it’s just you.” She glanced out of the window, “you still don’t talk to cops, right?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“I try my best to be,” Rosie chuckled. “So, where to?”

“That depends a lot,” Azure sighed.

“On what, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Just,” Azure stopped for a second to pull a phone from her coat pocket, “you ever had to talk to someone who really doesn’t want much to do to you, after a year like this?’

Rosie whistled in response. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad…”

“Well, first thing is, if you need something from them tonight, try not to lead with why they’re mad at you, it’ll dredge things up too soon. Try and hit ‘em with something nice first, if you can,” the deer explained.

The fox nodded as she listened. “Alright, here goes,” she said, tapping a number into her phone and waiting for a response. A voice responded, too soft for Rosie to make out from her distance, and Azure tensed.

“Hey, Rao…” Azure glanced up at Rosie for a second. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from tonight. I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t something important.”

After a pause, she continued. “It’s just. Did Rudolphe ever tell you about the Christmas gift we put together for his kid between the ‘18 and ‘19 seasons? I know you weren't traded over here until after, but,” she listened to a response, “...yeah, that’s the gist of it. Well, now I want to put something together on my own for the little guy, and I’m gonna need you to sign something for it.”

Azure’s gaze shifted downwards while she listened. “I know, I know. I’m not planning on this fixing anything, yet. I know I’ve been an ass to Rudolphe this year, and I know I’ve been an ass to the rest of you, too. It’s just… it’s the holidays now, you know? I want to do something to start off on the right foot with you all before the next season starts up, something that isn’t about me. I won’t be there long, just enough for you to squeeze your name onto a ball for the kid. Alright?”

A pregnant pause filled the taxi before the squeak of a voice finally came through the phone speaker. For the first time in minutes, Azure relaxed some. “Thanks, Rao. You don’t know how much this means, really.” She paused again. “Yeah, I’m already in the cab, I’ll be there in a few. See ya.”

With that, she hung up and gazed wordlessly out the window at the lights beyond. A moment passed before Rosie spoke up. “So, wanna tell me where you’re meeting up with Rao, or is she supposed to come to us?”

The fox jumped, remembering where she was. “Oh, right, uh. 4811 Silver Creek.”

“Let’s not keep ‘em waiting, then,” Rosie nodded and finally started up the car again.

The pair weaved between several smaller neighborhoods, each packed together like a dense puzzle. When the cab finally plunged into the narrow, winding streets of one, their destination was only a minute away. Rosie stopped in front of the cute home Azure directed her to, taking a moment to appreciate the twinkling strings of colorful lights adorned across it. Every other house on the street shone with similar decorations, but this particular teammate’s home uniquely included a collection of short, illuminated holiday puns as a part of its set. They varied wildly in theme, but to her delight Rosie found each as cheesy as the last.

By the time she finished reading them, however, she looked back to see Azure still waiting in the back seat. “You know, you already took care of the hard part.”

Azure sighed deeply. “It sure doesn’t feel like it.”

“Look, you’ve got your foot in the door. If she’s alright with seeing you now, you might as well not treat her like she’s wrong for doing it.”

A pause followed, but Azure eventually nodded in agreement. She still said nothing as she opened the door. Rosie spoke up instead. “Want me to stick around, if you’re gonna be in and out again?”

She got a head shake in response. “Knowing Rao? I’ll probably end up being in there for a while. Don’t wait up for me.”

“You’re the boss,” Rosie said. The door shut, and the cab left Azure to her business.

Exiting from the quaint neighborhood, Rosie somehow found herself almost immediately on another bustling main street. She recalled the busy mall from before. Just down the road from the light she now sat at, it took only a brief trip to find herself there again. The broad parking lot surrounding the mall had steadily emptied out over the course of the evening, but she figured a quick sweep around it could produce someone in need of a ride.

None of the scattered folks braving the weather paid her any mind, however. She drove slowly, but Rosie’s loop came up empty. Just before she could leave, though, she glanced into one of her mirrors and caught sight of a raised arm waving for her to stop. Trotting lightly through the growing snowstorm came none other than Abby, the towering older sheep woman from the start of the night. To Rosie’s relief, the figure of Holly, the other deer, trudged through the snow behind her.

Rosie matched the ewe’s smile as the pair piled into the back of the cab. A second later, both of their brows raised in realization. Abby commented first. “Ah, it’s you again, Rosie!”

“What are the odds huh? Looks like you found your friend, too,” Rosie nodded.

“Luckily for us,” Holly nodded, glancing up at the sheep. “Where did you say we needed to go again, Abby?”

“Wherever Delilah’s ended up,” Abby stated simply. “If that mall doesn’t have the right amount of Christmas magic, we’ll just have to find exactly what kind of spot does!”

“Well, yeah,” Holly continued, “but neither of us know the city that well, do we?”

Abby blinked with a blank expression. “I suppose not! Rosie,” she finally turned to face the other deer, “would you happen to know anywhere else of the sort around here?”

As they talked, the gears turned in Rosie’s head. By the time Abby addressed her, she had already reached for the candy coins in her glovebox. Grabbing one, she held up the heads side for the pair to see.

“This Delilah of yours wouldn’t happen to look like this, would she?”

Holly’s face lit up. “Oh! She’s been here?”

“If by ‘here’ you mean ‘the backseat,’ then yeah,” Rosie grinned, tucking the coin back into the compartment.

Abby nodded, undeterred. “Fantastic! Where did you drop her off, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Rosie couldn’t help but chuckle at having to ferry even more people to that same store. “Here, let me just show you, it’s not far anyways.”

“Then, please,” Holly said, sitting more upright as she watched the passing streets in anticipation of their destination.

The store, still packed as the trio arrived, shone brightly through the pelting snow. Through its broad windows, Rosie caught a glimpse of a chaotic crowd within. Despite being many times smaller than the mall, this shop bustled just as energetically. She looked back at the sheep and doe, wondering if it was irresponsible for her to be sending them into the wild sea of shoppers.

“Good luck in there,” she remarked, “a little thing like her is probably gonna be hard to find.”

Abby waved off the concern. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, Rosie! If any of the girls want to be found, they’ll make themselves quite hard to ignore.”

“Thank you for the concern, though,” Holly added as she paid the fare.

“Of course, just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Rosie shrugged before the pair left the cab and stormed through the snow towards the shop. She waited until she was certain that they made it through the sliding doors before leaving.

Just as she began, though, she stopped again. Spilling out of a nearby bus stop shelter, flaked with snow and visibly shivering, came Faye Huffie once again. She waved the cab down desperately, and before Rosie finished coming up a complete stop the door swung open. The rabbit clambered into the cab and slammed the door behind her, still clinging to her coat tightly.

Rosie gave a sharp, sympathetic breath. “No luck, huh?”

Faye took a moment to warm up before responding in a low voice. “I checked… the whole block. Nothing.”

“Have you considered not showing, if they can’t even be asked to give you the right address?”

“As if I have anywhere else to go tonight! I’m,” she huffed frustratedly before suddenly trailing off and looking out the window, “...not from around here?”

Coming from the direction of the store, Rosie caught sight of the familiar bear once again. Unlike before, though, she walked with none of the conviction she had before, instead struggling to stay on her feet. As she approached, waving down the stationary cab, Faye opened the back door for her. The bear quickened her pace in response, but froze when she saw the rabbit already sitting inside.

Faye spoke up first. “...Bridgette?”

All she got in response was an equally confused “Huffie?”

Looking over the bear, her weakened demeanor made sense. Bridgette’s hair, now frazzled, covered an obvious bruise or two on her cheek. The rest of her outfit was now similarly uneven, with dirty marks or slight tears scattered across her jacket. She breathed deeply, clearly still recovering from something.

A beat later, Faye commented on the appearance. “You look like you just escaped an angry mob.”

“Yeah,” Bridgette sighed, “I did.”

Faye glanced at Rosie, and then at Bridgette again. “Do you, like.. wanna ride with us?”

“Please,” the bear sighed, tossing her bags of groceries into the cab before joining Faye.

“You know, I thought you lived out on the west coast, don’t you?” Faye remarked as the bear made herself more comfortable.

“Don’t you?”

“Yeah, fair,” Faye shrugged. “I’m here for a party with some friends, if it even exists.”

Bridgette let out an amused huff. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means the jerks have been giving me the wrong directions the whole night!”

“Some ‘friends’ they are, then.”

Faye sighed. “I know half of them, maybe. But you’re a content creator, you get it! We need to have something like this to put out around this time, you know? Something special, something people want to see.”

Bridgette nodded thoughtfully. “Well, can you make sure you’re going to the right place this time?”

“I would if I could, but I’ve never even been in Bakersfield before.”

“Have you got a new address from them yet? I’ve been around a few times, I might know it.”

Faye pulled out her phone. “How about 2501 Crosser?”

“That,” Bridgette stopped, raised a brow, and leaned in to confirm she heard the address right, “is the same street as my gramma’s place. Why would your influencer friends be there?”

“The ‘afterparty,’ apparently,” Faye grumbled, “which they apparently already left for before I found the right door on this block…”

“Well, I don’t think any of the houses there are particularly big,” Bridgette shrugged, “but if it’s a lowkey party? Maybe I could see it.”

“I don’t really have any other choice,” Faye shook her head.

“Let’s get you going, then,” Rosie said, and the pair barely even reacted to the car moving again.

While they drove, the bear and rabbit continued to exchange awkward glances. The back of the cab, already compact, became terribly cramped with the both of them and their heavy bags crowding the limited space. It took some time for Faye to finally break the silence.

“So,” the rabbit said, shifting in her seat, “you’re here to see your grandma, huh?”

“Yep,” Bridgette sighed, rustling her bags, “and all of this? Is going to end up an emergency holiday dinner I’m putting together for everyone.”

“You got everything, right?”

“Barely. It was a total madhouse in there, felt like I barely got out with my life,” the bear groaned. “I had to fight someone over pie filling, Huffie. Have you ever had to do something like that before?”

“Well, there was this one time I was invited onto a gameshow kinda video for a-” Faye began for being cut off.

“Rhetorical question, Huffie.”

“Well, excuse me for trying to relate,” Faye huffed indignantly.

Bridgette let out a frustrated little hum before leaning in. She spoke in a lower tone, though not low enough to hide her words from Rosie. “You want something you can relate to,” she said, “I swear, while I was in that mob, I saw one of Fords’ little things flapping around in there.”

“What? No way,” Faye squeaked back in surprise. “How could they have even gotten here from all the way out there in the middle of nowhere?”

“Beats me. Maybe they have another magic door that goes out here or something. Wouldn’t surprise me at this point, honestly.”

“Do you know why she would’ve sent one of her little guys here?”

“I don’t know why half of the normal people in that crowd were there. It felt like most of them were just in it for the fight,” Bridgette groaned. “And you know what the worst part is?”

“What?”

“After all that, I grab my bag, and who else do I see strolling through the crowd like it’s nothing? Gramma Grazeland herself. I don’t even think she noticed me.”

“You’re sure it was her?”

“I recognize my own gramma, Huffie,” the bear raised a brow at her.

“So what, you’re gonna go home and find her not even there?”

“Well, if she really did find her way there, then she’ll find her way back while I’m working on dinner.”

Before their covert discussion could continue any further, Rosie pulled up to an older home with another long, ornate stairway leading to its front door. “Alright, which of you is getting out here?”

“Just me,” Faye began, before Bridgette opened her door as well.

“Nah, it’s just down the street from where I’m headed, I’ll be fine,” the bear said, leaning back into the door to grab at her own bags.

Faye looked her over in disbelief. “Really? In this crazy storm?”

“Come on, it’s just a couple blocks,” Bridgette shrugged.

“Blocks!? That’s worse, not better, Bridgette!” Faye shivered at the thought, and Rosie chuckled at the theatrics.

“Please, the cold doesn’t even get to me,” the bear rolled her eyes. “I’m more worried about you getting stuck out here if your ‘friends’ no-show again.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Faye said, staring up at the well-lit house with a determined glare. “I’m making sure they let me in this time.”

Bridgette blinked a couple times in confused silence before responding. “Well, uh- good luck with that, whatever that means. I’ve got some walking to do, so I’m gonna go get to it.”

“I won’t stick around, either,” Rosie said, waving the pair off as they finally split onto their separate paths once again.

Rosie made another uneventful loop back around the block. Both Bridgette and Faye made themselves scarce, and no others came to take their place. The snow intensified as Rosie drove, coming down hard enough to force the doe to put on her windshield wipers to stop the melted flakes from obscuring her view completely. Wherever street lights illuminated the way, their beams swarmed with swirling flakes.

The weather only made it harder for Rosie to spot that snowy-wooled sheep woman trotting down the sidewalk. Luckily, Abby still had Holly walking by her, and the doe took the initiative to hail down the cab. Once she saw Rosie’s taxi approaching, she took a moment to tuck herself more securely into her striped scarf, eyes half shut against the biting wind of the snowstorm. That wind lashed into the cab while the pair climbed into the back seat, sending a chill down Rosie’s spine. She delivered a silent thanks when the door finally shut behind them.

“Welcome back,” Rosie remarked, turning back at the pair while they settled into the relative warmth of the car.

“Ah! It’s you again,” Abby said, her eyes lighting up in realization. “What are the odds?”

“Probably pretty good,” Holly noted. “It doesn’t really seem like there are many other cabbies driving around tonight, are there?”

“Feels like I’m the only one that doesn’t have somewhere better to be,” Rosie shrugged. “Speaking of, where are you headed?”

“2840 Crosser Lane,” Abby declared resolutely.

“Is that the next place your little buddy’s run off to?”

“Thankfully not,” Holly sighed, “it looks like she’s already gone home, so we’re free for the rest of the night.”

“Instead,” Abby continued, “we’re headed to a lovely holiday dinner with a new friend of mine!”

Rosie started the car again. “Yeah? Did you meet someone nice at the store I sent you to?”

“Yeah, despite how ‘excited’ everyone there got,” Holly nodded.

“They all seemed to be having fun, at least!” Abby shrugged as well. “As for us, we found a rather charming Miss Huguette who’d stopped by to pick up a thing or two for her upcoming dinner.”

“Sounds familiar,” Rosie noted. “This Huguette wouldn’t happen to be a black bear lady, would she?”

Abby nodded. “Exactly right, Rosie.”

Holly, however, blinked in surprise. “Oh, have you seen her already? Did she take-” she trailed off suddenly. Squinting to see through the storm, the doe gazed out the window and mouthed something silently to herself before speaking again. “Is that…?”

Suddenly, she rolled down her window. More freezing air immediately took the opportunity to fill the car. “Sorry about this,” Holly called over the sound of rushing wind, “I’ll close it once I check, just…” She turned to lean out of the window slightly. “Bridgette!?”

Sure enough, the black bear woman still trudged down the snowy sidewalk. She hefted her heavy grocery bags with ease, and leaned forward to resist the force of the strong winds. The cab nearly reached the curb before she turned back to acknowledge it. Her face showed as much surprise as the doe’s before her as the two gazed at each other through the sheets of falling snow.

Bridgette spoke loudly to be audible over the wind. “Holly!? Why are you in Bakersfield for the holidays, too?”

“Mind giving her the short version of the story,” Rosie noted, “or closing the window first?”

Holly nodded at the other deer, then leaned out the window. “I can explain if you don’t mind riding with us to wherever you’re going!”

Bridgette gazed down the snowy street for a moment before quickly joining the other two in the back seat. She paused, though, when she leaned down and beheld Abby sitting on the other side of the car. Only a second passed before she continued rushing into the relative warmth of the cab. “At this point, I really shouldn’t be surprised,” she said to herself as the door shut behind her.

“Good eye, Holly,” Abby nodded, “I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to pick Miss Grazeland out of the storm like that!”

“I was mostly surprised that I recognized you out there,” Holly shrugged. “Don’t you normally live out west?”

Bridgette raised an eye at her. “And don’t you normally live out east?”

Holly chuckled. “Alright, fair.”

“I hope you’ve been having a good evening out in this region, either way,” Abby added.

The bear relaxed her weight into the seat, her bags of groceries rustling loudly. “I think I will be, once it gets back on track.” She turned to face Rosie directly. “Is 2840 Crosser closer or farther than where these two are going?”

“That’s already where they’re headed,” Rosie remarked.

Bridgette stared at her in disbelief. “The same address?”

“The exact same,” the deer shrugged. Turning to look at the other two, they nodded in agreement.

Sighing, Bridgette removed her glasses to give them a quick clean. “Do I want to ask why the two of you are going to Gramma Grazeland’s house?”

“Why, it’s the most wonderful coincidence,” Abby explained. “We’d spent the better part of the night looking for one of the girls who’d come to town. Delilah, if you remember her from your visit earlier this year.”

“Sorry, but I’m just now remembering they all had names in the first place,” Bridgette shifted in her seat.

“You’d be surprised that it’s only some of them who do,” Holly noted. “But, let’s not get distracted by how all that works. You were saying, Abby?”

“While Delilah herself was already satisfied by the energy of the last store we checked before we ourselves arrived, I think she may have set things in just the right place for us to run into a rather remarkable lady by the name of Huguette!” Rosie watched as realization set in on Bridgette’s face. “Luckily for us, she was in quite the generous mood to fit the season, and invited us to visit her tonight and share in a holiday meal she said her granddaughter was working so hard to prepare for everyone.”

Holly nodded, turning the other way. “And now I’m guessing that ‘granddaughter’ was you all along?”

Bridgette simply nodded silently for a moment as she internalized everything she heard. After a while of soft music filling the cab, she spoke up again. “Look, I can take you all popping up in weird parts of the country, but you have to understand how much of a shock it is for you to be strolling up to the Grazeland family dinner.”

“I hope it’s not too much trouble,” Holly said, shifting uncomfortably. “The last thing I want to do is step over any boundaries or-”

“No,” Bridgette shook her head, “if Gramma Grazeland talked to you and said you were fine to come, then I can’t stop her. Besides, it’ll be an opportunity for me to finally make things up to you two in particular,” she said, glancing between both Holly and Abby.

“Bridgette, come on,” Holly waved away the sentiment. “I already said I’m not upset about that anymore.”

“You might not be, but I am,” Bridgette said resolutely. “After tonight, how I was back then will all be behind us, okay?”

“That sounds like an alright way to end it,” the doe nodded.

“Lovely,” Abby said energetically before waving towards the front of the cab. “Then, Rosie, if you’d please! The same destination as before.”

“You’ve got it,” Rosie said, setting the taxi in motion again. “Now,” she continued as she drove, “I’m not gonna pretend that I know what history you all have together, but knowing that it’s ending with a family dinner like this does put a smile on my face, y’know? It just makes sense for the holiday season.”

“That’s what I figured, too,” Bridgette agreed. “Plus, when’s the next chance I’m going to have to return the favor without thousands of miles getting in the way?”

“We could be around more often,” Abby noted, “if you’d have us.”

The bear let out an amused huff in response. “Let’s just keep it to tonight for now, okay? I don’t always have this much free time.”

“I think that tonight’s already had enough coincidences to last us into next year,” Holly said, grinning warmly.

“Well that’s good,” Bridgette remarked, “it means anything else nice happening tonight is because of us.”

With the four bodies packed into the car, the ride back to the familiar neighborhood proved exceptionally warm. Even after the doors stayed open long enough for the trio to spill back out onto the sidewalk, a pleasant feeling lingered in the cab. It couldn’t linger forever, though, and as Rosie gradually approached downtown she kept thinking back to what the others were up to now. She lacked a party to be at that evening, and by this time of night even something like the rich folks party Faye described started to sound appealing.

Just to her right, a church bell rang out, and Rosie snapped back into the moment. Once again, she drove past the city’s old cathedral. The doe almost paid it no mind, until the broad figure of a wolf woman nearly leapt into her headlights. She swerved to the curb, and the wealthy wolf from earlier clambered desperately into the cab. Curiously, her footprints left in the snow trailed back to the cemetery, not the hotel doors.

Rosie turned back to look over the frantic, disheveled state of the woman. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

She took a moment to catch her breath, glancing out the window at the darkened graveyard. “Yeah, I just,” she paused, tapping at herself with her paws a few times before looking up at Rosie. “I’m here, right? Alive and everything?”

“You look like you’re in one piece to me,” Rosie nodded, though she didn’t comment on her thoughts about if the wolf’s mind made it through the night so soundly.

“Thank god, just…” she sighed in relief. “Just take me back to the first hotel I met you at, alright? Wherever that one was, it’s been a long night.”

“Sounds like it,” the doe said, smirking as she started the car again. “Figure you don’t wanna talk about it, eh? We can talk about my crazy night instead, to take your mind off things.”

The wolf wrapped her arms tightly around herself, still chilly from her time outside. “Sure, I could stand to hear something normal.”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves with that ‘normal’ language, alright? First off, you’re far from the first person I’ve driven multiple times tonight. You’re probably not even the only rich one, either. Did you know I had Azure Burle in this cab a couple times in a row? A real life celebrity! Here!”

“Not surprising, doesn’t she play here?”

“She does, but that doesn’t mean she’s ever taken a taxi here! And, say, do you keep up with that social media stuff that often?”

The wolf shrugged. “Only as much as I have to.”

“Well, maybe you’ll know the name ‘Faye Huffie,’ ‘cause she sure made it sound like a big deal when she was in here too.”

This gave the wolf pause. “Huffie and Burle, the both of them? Huh,” she took on an amused grin, “next you’ll be telling me that you picked up Grazeland along with them.”

“Well, I can’t say that I got Gramma Grazeland herself, but I did drive for Bridgette and her friends, if that’s close enough for you.”

Rosie received a blank stare. “You’re kidding.”

“I’m dead serious.”

“Yeah? Who were Grazeland’s little friends? A sheep lady and her deer pal?”

“Abby and Holly,” Rosie nodded.

“You’re kidding me,” the wolf declared again.

“Swear on my heart,” one hand left the wheel as Rosie made her vow.

“You’re telling me all five of them just happen to be in Bakersfield in time for Christmas? What time is it, anyways?”

Rosie glanced down at the car’s dashboard. “Still Christmas Eve.”

The wolf’s face contorted slightly in thought before turning to a resolute look forwards. “I’ve got enough time, then.”

“Got plans?”

“Big plans, you don’t even know how big,” the wolf nodded. “If they’re all still here tomorrow, then it’s all perfect. I’m about to make some changes, y’know, and I think I’ll start by putting together something nice for that lot on Christmas. They’re gonna know a different Delouise Leclerc than the one they met in May, I can tell you that for sure.”

“Very big plans, it sounds like,” Rosie nodded, pretending to follow Delouise’s reasoning.

By then, the pair had already arrived back at the opulent hotel Rosie first picked up Delouise from. With nothing else to grab, the wolf delivered another wad of cash in payment and stormed back out of the cab. A toothy grin adorned her face as she worked out the details in her head. More than anything, the encounter left Rosie wondering what had happened to her other two frequent guests from that night. The lack of Faye appearing on the sidewalk again gave some hope that she finally caught up to her evening plans, but Azure last disappeared into the night trying to convince a teammate of hers to give her another chance.

Without thinking about it, Rosie’s aimless path through the nearby neighborhoods drifted back towards the spot she last saw the fox. When she looked back up after swapping out cassettes, she found herself just down the street from the recognizable home of ‘Rao.’ Pulling closer, a familiar white-furred figure appeared in the blinking lights of the neighborhood’s decorations. By this point, Rosie felt no surprise as she pulled over to pick up Azure once again. The fox dropped her disguise slightly, her coat slightly unzipped and allowing her face to be the most visible it had been all night. She brimmed with satisfaction as she shuffled into the cab.

Azure’s eyes lit up in recognition before Rosie got a word in. “You, again! You’ve been a saint this whole night, you know that?”

Rosie chuckled in response. “Well, I figured you’d wanna tell me how things went, so how couldn’t I come and swing by again?”

The fox nodded, fishing the baseball out of her coat pocket and tossing it idly in her hand. “Well, great news for you, she signed it. It’s the complete set, now.”

“Atta girl!” Rosie beamed before turning to face the road again. “What’s your last stop, then?”

“That’s Rudolphe’s… 7024 East Rakestraw,” Azure said, not taking her eyes off of the ball.

“Done,” the deer nodded and set off again. Only a short while later, however, she spoke up again. “So, considering everything else that happened in between, you all were talking in there for a while, huh?”

“Yeah, well, there was a lot to talk about,” Azure shrugged.

“More than you can cover in one night, I’m sure,” Rosie noted.

“It was a start. I think it being for Rudolphe’s sake made her a lot more open to it, that guy’s on everybody’s good side.”

“He’s popular, huh?”

“I don’t know if I’d say ‘popular,’ he’s just reliable, gives folks chances. Gave me more chances than I probably deserved,” Azure explained, finally looking up from the ball.

“And it sounds like this time it all paid off,” Rosie nodded in turn.

“Sure did! Now all that’s left to do is, uh,” she began, before the familiar cycle began again. She trailed off, gazed out the window, and spoke up to say “stop the car, real quick?”

When Rosie did, the pair found themselves a few blocks away from where she had just dropped off Abby and the rest. Sitting up on the top of a well-illuminated set of stairs was the same rabbit from before. Warm light shone through the windows of the house behind her, but she sat alone, almost curled up into herself. Short walls on each side shielded her from the worst of the wind blowing down the street, but she hardly looked any warmer for it.

To Rosie’s dismay, Azure also chose to roll down a window. “Huffie? Is that you?”

Faye nearly lept in surprise. She stood up, eyes wide in shock as she rushed down the steps for a better look at the fox in the window. “Azure?”

“What are you doing just sitting out here? They’re gonna have to scrape you off the steps in the morning if you just sit like that,” Azure remarked, a brow raised.

“I don’t want to be, it’s just,” Faye waved a hand frustratedly at the home behind her, “I couldn’t stand being around them anymore.”

“Yeesh,” the fox gazed up at the ornate home, “bad family dinner or something?”

“If that was all I wouldn’t feel half as bad about leaving! But this?” Faye huffed, “I can’t stand being around all those jerks, pretending like they didn’t send me on a wild goose chase the whole night. I can’t just stay gone, though! I have to make something for tonight to be worth it, I don’t have anywhere else I could go if I wanted to!”

“Yeah, that sounds, hm,” Azure shrugged, “well, you already said it better than I could, I guess.” She stopped for a moment, glanced at Rosie, then turned back to keep talking to Faye. “Weird question real quick?”

“Ask away, I guess,” Faye sighed.

“Did you all have any pro athletes at your party there?”

Faye stifled a laugh. “After how they all treated me tonight? They’re not letting you in, Azure.”

“Nah, nah, Huffie. The other way around. How’d you feel about getting into a party full of Championship Series winners?”

The rabbit studied the fox, trying to understand. “What are you trying to say?”

Azure shrugged. “I mean, I was already just on the way to a Christmas party a teammate of mine’s having. Everyone else at your place is just getting videos of the same stuff as each other, right?”

Suddenly, it clicked for Faye. “And if I was with your team instead, it’d be all-exclusive?”

“Bingo,” was all Azure said as she delivered a quick finger gun at the rabbit.

Faye turned back to look up at the home she sat before. She tapped her foot against the ground in thought. Another quick gust of wind sent a shiver down her spine, though, and quickly made up her mind for her. “Alright, move over,” she said, and climbed into the cab.

With their conversation dying down, Rosie spoke up for them. “All to the same place, then?”

“Yep,” Azure nodded, while Faye silently passed through the stages of realization that the other frequent riders had been experiencing that night.

“Consider it done,” Rosie finally got the car warming up again as the trio continued on their way.

They barely began moving before Faye tried to keep the conversation going. She looked over at Azure, eyes tracing up and down her briefly before starting. “So,” she said, “it looks like your fur is all back to-”

“Let’s,” Azure cut her off sharply, a hand held out in warning, “not talk about that right now, okay? Let’s let tonight be about things moving forward.”

“I can do that,” Faye nodded, “...but, before I do?” Azure tensed up, but Faye waved off the concern. “Not about that! Now, you didn’t hear it from me, but Bridgette? She says she saw one of Fords’ little… wolpy-guys somewhere else in town tonight. Can you believe that?”

Azure’s shoulders, still tense, shivered slightly at the thought. “You know where? I don’t want those… fairies or whatever the hell they were anywhere near me tonight.”

“I don’t know! She only said she maybe saw one, so if anything they’re here for her, not us.”

“No clue what she did to deserve that," Azure sighed," but, that’s a relief…”

 “Now, to talk about what’s ‘forward,’” Faye continued, and the vixen finally allowed herself to relax again,” can you tell me anything about the ‘famous major-leaguers’ I’m about to be spending the rest of the night with? I don’t really watch sports, anyways.”

With that, the rest of the ride became a crash course on recent Bakersfield Blues history. Rosie knew plenty on the subject already, and so let the slapdash explanation fade into the background of her music while driving the two towards one of the city's outer neighborhoods. As she did, though, the subtle decrease in dense development remained the only sign that they strayed farther from the city center. Ultimately, the constant streak of buildings remained unbroken, and to the untrained eye the neighborhood she stopped the cab in looked nearly identical to any of the others she had toured that night.

Street lights, more sparse on this particular road, gave way to that same bath of rainbow lights that coated Azure and Faye as they exited the taxi. Faye, having left her heavy bags of gifts behind at the ‘afterparty,’ shuffled out quickly. Before Azure got her second foot out the door, though, Faye leaned back in and looked over at Rosie.

“Saaay,” she said, dragging out the word in a sing-song tone, “do you have anywhere to be, tonight?”

“Nope,” Rosie shrugged, “right now I’m just banking on some other unfortunate souls like you to show up and give me some work.”

Azure glanced at Faye and put the pieces together. “Well! Alone’s no way to be during the holidays, yeah? Why don’t I do something to pay you back for all the good advice?”

Rosie smirked. “You already paid me.”

“You know what I mean,” Azure grinned back. “Think about it, the gift I’m gonna give in there couldn’t have happened without you, so you should be there to help give it.”

Rosie waved her off dismissively. “Couldn’t have happened? Please, all I did was-”

“Stop me from putting my foot in my mouth the second I called Rao,” Azure cut her off. Faye tried furiously to stifle a laugh, for the fox’s sake. “You said it yourself, you don’t have anywhere else to be, and it’s the holidays. You did something for me, so let me do something for you, okay?”

The doe gazed out the passenger side window to the house she had just stopped at. Like every other house that night, warm light streamed from its windows, allowing glimpses into the busy scenes within. The cab door hung open, allowing snowflakes to flutter in and melt on the surface of the back seat. A chill ran down her spine, and she felt herself nod before she had even decided to.

“Alright, fine, I’ll spend some time with you all,” she shrugged, “since it’s Christmas.”

“Great! Then let's all get out of the cold already, can we,” Faye said, slapping the roof of the car.

The group, now a trio, left the car behind and shuffled up the vague depression in the snow hinting at the walkway to the home’s front door. Halfway up, Azure stopped and turned to face the doe. “Right, so,” she said, “just to be clear, what do you want me saying when I introduce you to everyone?”

“Me? I’m just Rosie. Rosie Pines,” she shrugged.

“Got it. Pines, the deer that just saved Christmas for all of us tonight,” Azure nodded.

For just a moment, Rosie considered if she should dispute the title. She decided against it, though, as the door swung open and the sounds of people spilled out onto the front doorstep. A soft warmth met her, not carrying the scent of a heater, but instead of a dinner already prepared. The reindeer figure in the doorway, backlit by the golden light within, welcomed Azure into the home enthusiastically. Satisfyingly, Rosie noted that she was right. It did feel better to be on the other side of being dropped off.