Zig Zag is Copyright © Max Black Rabbit. Sabrina, Darke Katt and R.C. are Copyright © Eric W. Schwartz. James Sheppard, Marvin Badger, Rhonda Badger, Yohni, Alexi, Michael, Esteban, Mia, Wanda Vixen and Tamara Rabbit are Copyright © James Bruner. Alex O'Whitt is © Tigermark. The B-Team is © Silver Coyote. Jean LeBrun, Gabrielle Ryder, Timothy Bigglesworth-Farthington von Salzburg, Malcolm Grazer, Doctor Fox Jones, Peter Spermophilus, Miranda Spermophilus, Dina Spermophilus, Leo Leon, Miriam Redtail, Lizzy Doe, Emma Grey, Professor Moose Nicholson, Professor Erica Belge and Pethouse Magazine is © Joan Jacobsen, 2005. All other characters appearing in this story, except where otherwise specifically noted, are likewise © Joan Jacobsen.

Legal Notice: This story is Copyright © 2005 by Joan Jacobsen. This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion. This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on a mirror site or any other Internet site without the written permission of the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical or optical mediums.

Permission to use characters that are Copyright other individuals was obtained prior to the appearance of said characters.

The author, Joan Jacobsen, hereby asserts moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This is an independent work of fiction with no connection whatsoever to Max Black Rabbit, Eric W. Schwartz, E.S. Productions or James Bruner and is in no way meant to imply any connection with Max Black Rabbit, Eric W. Schwartz, E.S. Productions, or James Bruner. This story contains characters created by Max Black Rabbit, Eric W. Schwartz, James Bruner, Tigermark and Silver Coyote. Events and characters occurring in this story should not be considered part of the storylines for either 'Zig Zag', 'Sabrina Online' or 'Sabrina Online - The Story'.

In fact, as far as 'Zig Zag', 'Sabrina Online', 'Sabrina Online - The Story' and 'Zig Zag the Story' are concerned, this story does not exist. The artists disavow any knowledge of and do not officially sanction the events in this story.er nodded. "I'm sure."

The day before the day...

"I tell you, if we had been forced to postpone this one more time I would've gone mad," Fox said, sitting down on a chair.

He and Esteban had been commanded out of the femmes' presence for the rest of the day. Tomorrow was his wedding day. Miriam was a small red-and-white cyclone of activity...and budding stress...and in some ways, Fox felt grateful that he had been told to take a hike for the rest of the day. This way, he was less likely to get in the way and do something stupid.

Esteban grinned and picked up the menu. "You could've cured yourself, amigo," he said and tapped his temple with a finger, wagging his eyebrows.

Fox laughed and shook his head. "If I didn't know you better, lobo, I'd say you were the biggest headcase I ever met."

"Gracias. I take that as a compleement," the wolf replied and wagged his tail through the back of the chair.

"I give up."

"What do you want to eat? Eet's my treat today. You're getteeng married, so you'll need your money for the honeymoon."

The two males had spent most of the morning just walking around in a nearby park, talking about what married life might be like. Esteban had brought a football, but they hadn't found an opportunity to throw it around just yet. It was too chilly to play, anyway. Esteban had commented that married life was probably not going to be all that different from living together without the vows, but Fox disagreed. To him, it meant an even greater level of commitment.

The wolf had grinned crookedly. "I can't commeet deeper to Jean, amigo. She's got all there ees alreadee."

"True," Fox had replied. He had to agree there. Whereas he and Miriam had lived together since day one with the understanding that if they got tired of one another or it didn't work, they could just split up, Jean and Esteban were different.

Esteban put down the menu, snapping Fox's attention back to the present. "I'll settle for sometheeng to dreenk. I'm not all that hungree..."

"Me neither. Anyway, is your mother coming up for your wedding?" Fox asked as he tried to get the attention of a waiter.

"Si...she said she wouldn't meess eet for the world. She's grown veree fond of Jean."

"Grown? I thought she liked Jean from the start?"

Esteban shrugged. "She deed, but mostlee, she respected my right to make my own choices. Madre ees catholeec, so Jean deed require some soul searcheeng. Don't get me wrong. She would've treated Jean nicelee no matter what. Eet was more a matter of whether she was goeeng to try for a closer relateeonsheep."

Fox nodded. That made sense and as long as Esteban's mother had ended up at the right conclusion, he couldn't see a problem with her needing some time to think.

"So...are you nervous yet, amigo?" Esteban asked.

A waiter approached the table at last and the two males placed their orders. When the waiter left, Fox looked back at his friend to answer. "Not really. I know I should be but I suppose my job works against me. I am pretty good at calming myself down. And why should I be nervous, anyway? I proposed, she said yes...so we can both rightly assume the other one wants this too."

Esteban pondered that a moment before chuckling. "True. I'm alreadee nervous though."

"You haven't even set a date yet, lobo!! Relax before you get yourself an ulcer," Fox laughed and leaned back to wait for his drink to arrive.

He wondered what the femmes were doing. Probably running around getting everything in order for tomorrow.

###

Jean didn't feel particularly stressed out. From the looks of it, neither did Miriam. The only semblance of nervousness came from Lizzy, who openly wondered if she'd look like a clown in the bridesmaid's dress. Miriam still hadn't shown her friends what they would wear. Emma had managed to smile a few times during the morning, which her friends took as a very good sign. The mink had also been very quiet, though.

They were in the bridal store, and Miriam was trying on dresses for the next day.

"Are you sure it's wise to postpone buying your dress until the day before the wedding itself?" Lizzy had asked at one point.

"I use pretty standard sizes. It'll be fine. I don't want it laying around somewhere for weeks, either, before using it," had been the answer.

She'd tried on several chique little numbers. Most of them made her look awful.

"They don't make these things for vixens," Jean commented and looked at Emma with a crooked smile. "I'm learning some valuable lessons here."

Emma managed another fleeting smile. "You'd think designers would make dresses for you, though...there are a lot of vixens out there, let's face it."

Lizzy nodded, folding her arms over her chest and tapping her chin with one finger, looking at Miriam. "That one isn't half bad, though..." she commented.

Groaning, Miriam headed back into the dressing room. "'Not half bad' is 'Not half good' either."

"Well, did you ever consider going for something ELSE than a white dress?" Lizzy asked. "Let's face it; you're hardly pure and unspoiled, anyway..."

There was a momentary cessation of activity in the dressing room and Miriam peeked out. "Huh? You mean go for something colorful? Not red. With my fur I'll look like an overripe tomato."

Emma giggled and shook her head. "I think Lizzy has a point though. But if...I may say something about this..."

Miriam nodded and smiled. "You don't need to ask permission first, Emma. I value your advice, you know that."

The mink blushed and looked down. "I'm sorry..." she began, then stopped herself. "No...wait. I have to stop apologizing for everything. I have to."

Jean put an arm around her friend's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. She didn't say anything. None of them did. Emma had caught that one herself, before they had told her to stop. That was certainly a good sign. A small one, but it was there nonetheless.

"What did you have in mind, Emma?" Lizzy asked, gently.

"Well...it's just that I keep thinking that...well...with Miriam's fur and white..erhm...you know...well her...ahem..."

"My bosom you mean?"

"Yes...thank you," Emma said and looked grateful and a little embarrassed. "You should go for a white dress. It'd look great. Just...cover your shoulders? You keep going for the off-the-shoulder-variety and...well...none of us are eighteen years old anymore. Not to mention we're used to seeing you in loads of colorful layers of clothes...hippie that you are. It looks strange to suddenly have you go for that whole glamour-thing. You don't need to, either..."

Miriam giggled. "Sorry, can't help it. You think I don't need to?"

Emma smiled apologetically and shook her head. "No you don't. You're beautiful...you don't need to make yourself look like you're an 18-year-old supermodel wannabe. You're Miriam Redtail and that's easily good enough."

Miriam blinked and looked at the other two. "Whoa...did you hear the same I just heard?"

"You mean Emma, our once-so-subdued-and-self-eradicating friend, giving you a compliment?" Lizzy asked, chuckling.

Jean just smiled and shook her head. "That's nice enough, Lizzy, but I think I know what Miriam meant," she said and winked at Emma. "Now we just need to get you to say you are good enough again."

"Small steps, Jean...small steps," Emma said and smiled a bit. "It will take some time..."

Miriam nodded. "We know, but we're there for you all the way. Hmm...I think you're right about the off-the-shoulders thing. Let's go look for something with shoulders instead..."

###

Yohni was enjoying Rome. The food was excellent, the weather was wonderful, the Italians were friendly and the sights were incredible. It was one of those places she knew she would eventually want to go back to. Of course, the company made it all the better. Ever since Gabrielle had proposed, the mongoose felt like she had walked on rose petals. The equine seemed to be relaxing a bit more now that she had dropped the proverbial bomb, too.

Gabrielle had picked up on a particular Italian custom, too. One Yohni didn't quite understand, too. The mongoose crossed her arms over her chest and observed as Gabrielle negotiated prices with a street vendor for the fifth time that day. By the end of it, she came away with a smile on her face.

"What did you buy?" Yohni asked, not quite certain since the vendor had sold a lot of different things.

"Something for Jean, actually," Gabrielle grinned. "A reproduction of a 15th century indulgence letter. Cost a pretty penny, but it's worth it to see Jean's face when we get home."

Yohni giggled and nodded. "Everyone's favorite history nerd..." she smiled and slipped an arm under Gabrielle's.

"Well, certainly MY favorite nerd," Gabrielle replied and winked. "Anyway...we should go and catch that bus or we'll miss it again."

Yohni nodded. They had agreed to go see the ruins at Ostia, but they had missed the bus the day before on account of a criminally tasty antipasta. If they were going, they didn't have that many chances before going home.

"You know...this hasn't been the holiday we had planned," she said and looked up at Gabrielle.

The bronco shook her head. "I know. It's been great though, but let's face it, the attacks back stateside really felt like a bucket of cold water..."

"I know. But...I think we got the best out of it anyway. I know I'll remember this holiday for the rest of my life..."

"You'd better!"

Yohni grinned and leaned her head against Gabrielle's arm. "Awww...I'm not allowed to forget that you proposed at the Circus Maximus?" she asked, teasingly.

Gabrielle laughed and leaned down, kissing Yohni's hair. "Nope. I'll get terribly insulted if you do."

They sat down at the bus stop. Gabrielle arranged her arm around Yohni's shoulder, letting the shorter femme lean against her.

"You know...I liked Paris...but Copenhagen and Rome..." she said and smiled.

"I know what you mean," Yohni answered and nodded, closing her eyes. "They'll be the places that stay with us, won't they?"

Gabrielle didn't answer. She just smiled and squeezed the mongoose a little as the bus arrived.

###

"That dress was just waiting for you, I swear!"

Jean smiled and stretched. Miriam had found a remarkable little number hiding behind three much larger and fancier dresses. It looked like it had been tailor made for her, too. There had been no doubt. Both Emma and Lizzy had agreed, too. That was the better part of an hour ago, though, and by now the four friends had enjoyed a light lunch at a nice little café.

Miriam nodded and tapped the tip of her nose with a single finger, pondering something. "Too true. Thing is...what are we going to do tonight?"

"Well, we don't have any of the usual stag-night nonsense planned, at least," Lizzy said and chuckled. "No chance. I like to think we're a little too intelligent to go for that kind of foolishness."

Jean raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend. "And that input was brought to us by the femme who decided to wear a Marxist T-shirt to her first date with a multi-millionaire..."

Lizzy grinned but didn't answer. Some statements were better if left standing unopposed and she was quite proud of her political beliefs.

"Well...we could go see a movie and get a few drinks later? I don't think we should keep Miriam up until the wee hours of the morning..." Emma chimed in, looking at the other three in turn.

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan, actually," Miriam said and nodded. "I'd prefer to look my best tomorrow. My sister yawned when she was about to say 'I do'. She'll never hear the last of it, y'know."

"Yawned?" Jean asked. All kinds of dreadful images of her yawning when she was about to answer the same question sprang up in her mind.

"I swear. Tongue curling and with a flick of her tail and everything. It was probably the worst embarrassment of her life," the red vixen answered. "So...what movie shall we go for?"

"If you pick some sappy romantic comedy, I swear I'll hit someone," Lizzy chuckled. "I'm NOT the Meg Ryan type, okay?"

Emma shuddered. "I think I'd prefer something without too much action and shooting if it's all the same to the rest of you..."

Jean leaned back in her seat. "And if anyone even thinks of seeing a so-called 'Historical Movie', I'll talk to Mrs. Belge and have her revoke that femme's degree. So...no romance...no action and no 'history'...that cuts out ninety five percent of all movies right then and there," she said, ponderously. "A challenge. Great!"

Miriam laughed and got to her feet. She got the attention of one of the waiters, and asked for the bill. There was still plenty of time to find a movie, but there was no point in rushing anything on a day like this. Somehow, it'd spoil everything. She wanted to enjoy this day. Every last second of it.

###

Leo looked at the map and scratched his cheek. There was probably a point to the idea of the platoon doing a fifteen mile march, despite not being General Infantry, but someone had neglected to explain it to him. Clearly, someone had neglected to explain it to his troops too. Fortunately, Leo was in outstanding physical condition before going back on active service or he would've probably been ready to keel over after the first seven or eight miles. As it was, the only parts of him complaining were his feet.

Like it or not, he had not had a chance to get his boots adjusted to his feet yet, and he had no doubt that he'd spend a lot of time at the infirmary after getting back to base. He'd be subjected to someone pulling pieces of fur and skin off those ruined feet, all the while he got to watch every second of it. With his luck, it'd probably be some particularly sadistic Medic with a pincer-fetish.

His feet were killing him, but he couldn't let his troops see his discomfort.

"S'cuse me Lieutenant..."

Leo turned his head and looked at a gruff, weatherbeaten Lynx walking next to him.

"Sergeant Pardinus?"

He didn't need to ask anything more. It was enough to acknowledge the sergeant's presence.

"Beggin' your pardon, sir...but you walk like you've crapped yourself. Somethin' wrong?" the lynx asked. At least he had the decency to keep his voice down.

Leo couldn't help chuckling. "Yeah. New boots," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Soap water, sir. Two hours in soap water, then put the bloody things on and walk around in them until they're dry. Then soak'em again. Keep doing that for two days and you'll have the smelliest feet in Pennsylvania...and perfectly fitting boots...if you take my advice, sir."

"Will do, sergeant."

The lynx saluted and let himself fall back into line. Leo shook his head to himself and grinned. He might as well not bother pretending if it was that obvious.

"Platoon...HALT!" he called out and stopped. "Take seven..."

One of the furs in the platoon behind him didn't seem to understand the point of taking a seven minute break. He mumbled something about it to the fur next to him, before Sergeant Pardinus shoved a pack of cigarettes under his nose.

"Smoke'em if you got'em, kid," he chuckled and lit up one for himself. "The lieutenant's got new boots..."

There was a general chuckle from the furs in the platoon until Leo sat down and pulled off one of his boots. Bits of fur and skin came off and he was bleeding pretty badly. In some places, his feet had been scraped more or less raw.

"Good grief, Lieutenant...did they even give you the right size boots in the first place?" the corporal of the unit asked. The same skunk who had thought small arms fire presented no problem.

"Yeah, Lieutenant...what size are you?" one of the privates asked. "Jesus...we should get a medic out here..."

Sergeant Pardinus swatted the private's neck sharply. "Did your brains go A.W.O.L., Private? Do you think he could do that under combat conditions?"

"Have a heart, sarge? He's green and his feet are falling to bits and pieces," the corporal interjected.

That remark made Leo look up. He nearly snapped at the corporal, until he realized that was the wrong approach. He didn't need to be mollycuddled. He needed their respect and this was one way of getting it.

"Sergeant Pardinus, who's the medic in this bunch of misfits?"

"That'd be Private Why-Seven-Minutes over there, sir."

Leo nodded and beckoned over the private in question. "You got any medical training, Private?" he asked.

The private, a chipmunk with entirely too big teeth, shook his head. "Nosir! I'm waiting to go on my first aid course, sir!"

"I see. You're not the medic of this outfit anymore, Private Why. Corporal Green over there..." Leo said and pointed to the skunk, "...is the new platoon medic. Corporal, you have approximately five minutes to get my feet wrapped up enough that I can walk the last six miles back to base."

Private Why nodded and stepped back. The corporal gawked and looked around. "Can he do that?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer, Corporal. Four minutes thirty, and if I can't walk all the way back you'll be on mess-detail for two weeks. Capiche?"

The skunk didn't even answer, he immediately dropped to his knees, trying to find his bandages in his first aid kit.

Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw Sergeant Pardinus nod approvingly. Getting back to base would be torturous, but that nod was all Leo needed to find the strength to do it.

###

Zig Zag shut down her computer and got up. She was tired. It was nearly nine in the evening and she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch. Her stomach was telling her it demanded feeding. In fact, it had told her so for the last two hours or so, and she had pointedly ignored it.

Sometimes, work came before pleasure.

Sad to say...it was usually work before pleasure, these days. It was starting to irk her. The idea of going on a really long vacation had been going around in the back of her mind for some time. There was just one problem. While she trusted Marvin to run the studio for short stint, if she had to attend some meeting or other halfway across the country, she knew the badger well enough to know he couldn't run the company for a month without her there. It would be unfair of her to ask him to do that. The problem there was that she knew Marvin wouldn't refuse if she asked, and that was precisely why she couldn't ask.

With Gabrielle and Yohni running off to Europe, the idea of a vacation had resurfaced in earnest. It bothered the skunk. It did her no good to dwell on the issue, since she couldn't go anyway.

"You used to dream more, Zig..." she told herself and turned her chair around. She hadn't heard the door open, halfway to the Bahamas as she had been in her own thoughts.

"Erhm...did I time this badly?" Sabrina asked, looking slightly confused and rather uncertain. She hadn't known Zig Zag was still in her office, and she had just entered to drop off some drafts for some cover-art.

It took a moment before Zig Zag answered. Then she shook her head. "No...no it's okay. I'm just having one of those stints where I realize it's been five years since I had anything resembling vacation. Even when we go somewhere fancy, like some sunny beach in the Caribbean...it means work for me."

Sabrina sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to collect her thoughts. This wasn't going to be easy. "Then...you're really not going to like this..." she said, quietly.

"What? Your cover-art? It's great, Sabrina...as always."

"No...I'm going to have to give you my two week notice, Zig..."

Zig Zag felt like someone had slapped her across the face. She shook her head, slowly and looked at the skunk in the doorway. "Did I do something wrong...?" she finally asked.

"Actually...it's not you at all, Zig. R.C. got a new job...and it means moving. I've been giving it a lot of thought and I am going with him. He asked me to and I want to."

"Then I should congratulate you. That, at least, is a good reason. I can respect that. Two weeks you say?"

Sabrina nodded. "Yeah...I'll have everything packed up and ready to leave as quickly as you want me to though...I mean...if you want to look for a replacement?" she said. For some reason, she didn't really know how to go about all this. When Zig Zag had originally hired her, Sabrina had sworn to herself that this job would only be temporary. She'd worked for ZZ Studios for years now and while she had her reservations about many of the things that went on there, she would still miss many of the furs there.

All right...

She'd miss all of them.

Even Darke.

The thought made her chuckle and she looked down at her feet.

"I'm not going to start looking for a replacement until you're officially gone, Sabrina," Zig Zag said. Her voice was very tired...there were lines under her eyes.

"You know, maybe a vacation wouldn't be a bad idea, Zig. You look like you need one," Sabrina said and edged out of the office again. It was one of those moments that threatened to become awkward if she didn't get going.

It was over an hour before Zig Zag finally left her office and went home. She waited that long to make sure Sabrina had left, first.

At least she wasn't hungry anymore.

###

Emma was laughing as she went up the stairs to her apartment. It had been a long time since she had enjoyed life as much as she had that night. Lizzy and Miriam had gone off in a different direction, but Jean was there. She was staying with the vixen and Esteban overnight.

"Imagine that...you'll get to be a bridesmaid," the mink teased and prodded her friend's ribs.

"Don't remind me..." Jean groaned and rolled her eyes. She had a smile on her lips though. "I'll probably end up yawning at some embarrassing moment."

Emma giggled and nearly stumbled on the stairs. They had finally found a movie they could all agree on. It hadn't been easy, admittedly, and what had made them all laugh afterwards was that none of them had really paid much attention to the movie. They'd been sitting way up at the back, with no one in the three rows of seats in front of them, and they'd been whispering and giggling in the darkness, rather than watching the film.

It had been great fun.

By the time they got back to Jean's place, Esteban was already home. There was a nice scent spreading from the kitchen, and Emma sniffed the air, smiling wider still.

"What's that?" she asked.

Jean looked like she could kiss Esteban when he appeared in the doorway. "That, Emma, is Esteban anticipating what I'd really need when I got back..."

The wolf leaned on the doorframe and grinned, sipping from a mug in his paw. "Eet's called chai. Some Eendeean varietee, I theenk."

"I thought Chai meant tea?" the mink asked and sat down. "Can I have a mug too?"

Jean nodded. "It does mean tea, I think. And of course you can have a mug. You gotta try this. It's like a cinnamon explosion on your tastebuds," she said and headed into the kitchen to get the hot drink.

Moments later, they were all seated around the table in the living room. Esteban sipped his drink again and lay down, his head in Jean's lap. She started running her fingers through his mane and he made a wholly content sound, closing his eyes.

"You two make such a good couple..." Emma said, smiling a wan little smile.

"Eet's because I look like an oversized zorro, amiga...we match!" Esteban grinned...without opening his eyes.

Jean winked at her friend and smiled. "You should see him when he grabs his cape and mask to run off to fight injustice..."

Emma couldn't help giggling. "Be nice, Jean. I like Esteban's accent...and his broken English."

"Eet's a trademark theeng. My fans expect eet," the wolf said, managing to strike a pose while laying down.

Jean groaned and rolled her eyes. "I walked into that one. Ow ow, pinned to the wall and so on. Now Mr. Huge-Fan-Base...did you have a good day with the groom?"

Emma sipped her chai. She had to admit it was different than what she expected tea to be. But it was good. In fact, it was great.

"I must be partaking in the eighth mortal sin, Jean," she muttered. "This is incredible."

Jean just nodded, smiling.

"We had a great time. He eesn't even nervous..." the wolf answered, shrugging a little. "He's got notheeng to be nervous about either, though."

"That's true at least," Emma grinned. "Seems...everyone else has the whole relationship thing down to science by now."

"You'll find someone who will treat you the way you deserve, Emma. I have no doubt there. Remember how you were, before that bastard started taking you apart? Esteban...I need a male opinion here..."

Esteban just wolfwhistled and smiled, without opening his eyes. He was enjoying Jean's fingers in his mane too much.

Emma blushed furiously and looked down. She wanted to contradict that...but at the same time, she knew she shouldn't. Instead, she looked up.

"That's how I want to be again..." she said.