My debut in writing Zootopia fanfiction. This short story was inspired by a comic called "Walking Home". All criticism is welcome, and I encourage it.

It's an evening like any other at the ZPD.

The bustle in the PD hall is significantly less now, as the day is coming to a close. The officers of the day shift are looking forward to finish their shift and head home to their families. Most of them are in their own offices, finishing up the paperwork for today. Only a few of them were in the main hall, including a certain chubby cheetah receptionist.

He was finishing his own shift as well, and what better way to finish off the day with a piece of chocolate cake he had kept until now. He really likes to finish off the day with a sweet treat. That's also his way of coping with stress that comes with his job. He especially needed it today, after having to comfort a mother badger in her wails for her son. It was heart-wretching to listen. An unfortunate traffic accident, but the cheetah managed to keep the distressed mother calm enough. There was relief flowing through the room when they received good news, and the mother was transported to the hospital to see her son.

If anyone thinks that being a receptionist for the Zootopia PD is an easy job, Benjamin Clawhauser would disagree.

As he was finishing his delicious piece of cake, his ear pivoted in response to a sound coming from the other end of the room. The hall was a big enclosed room, so the echoes are quite prominent, especially when the room is devoid of ruckus and blabbering. Every single movement could be heard, he could almost hear a mouse blink.

As he turned his head to look, he could see two of the officers that were looking forward to go home. The taller one was a wolf named Sebastian Wolford, chatting with his shorter colleague, a fox named Nicholas Wilde. Both of them were wearing casual clothes, which told the cheetah that they were probably coming from the change room. The fox had a document of sorts in his paw, likely the case that he had just finished with his partner. Speaking of the partner, Ben wondered where she could be.

Nick and Sebastian soon noticed the cheetah. Seb gave an assuring smile to Ben with a thumbs-up, most likely for a job well-done earlier in the day. He then started heading for the main entrance, and turned to say goodbye.

"See you guys tomorrow! "

"Good night, Seb!" - shouted the cheetah from across the room

"See ya, Schnout." - waved the fox

"See ya, Blue."

"Schnout" (a play word on "Snout") was the nickname that Nick had given to Wolford, since he was the one who could always tell if someone didn't have a shower the previous night. He constantly kept teasing Nick for using a blueberry-scented shampoo, therefore earning Nick the nickname "Blue". Wolves' sense of smell was not to be underestimated. Nick was not ashamed of his love for blueberries, though.

As Schnout exited the building and headed home, Nick went up to Benjamin's desk and handed him the file he was carrying. "Benny, can you forward this to Chief Buffalo-butt? I'm all finished with my homework. Did you see Carrots come out?"

"Sure can! And no, I think she's still working on her report."

When he heard this, Nick scoffed. "That bunny is gonna work herself to death one day. I guess someone's gotta be her saviour. See ya tomorrow, Ben." Nick waved, as he headed for his and Judy's shared office. The fact that she didn't want to go home without getting everything done is completely her style. Although it is definitely not that good for her health, and Nick knew this. He tried multiple times to convince her to just continue tomorrow, but she wouldn't budge.

He never expected her to wrap up the case in one evening. It was a tough case of kidnapping, and there was a hostage situation as well. Spanning over the course of two weeks, it drained both of them physically and emotionally. And even though he would never admit it, Nick was worried for his partner. She's a very determined bunny. Her name is Judy Hopps.

That was the bunny that always fought for what she believed in. A dedicated workaholic she was. But most importantly, she was the bunny that brought Nick himself on the right track. She brought him out of the gutter and gave him a new life. After two decades of being a street hustler and a lost soul. He hated her at first, but ultimately, he was glad that she came into his life, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Ever since they started working together, they've been nigh inseparable. Chief Bogo had his concerns, of course. He was afraid that Nick would negatively impact her at first, but time proved him wrong. Nick and Judy quickly rose to be among the best cops of the department. They were also a very unusual pair, too. You don't see a lot of foxes and rabbits being best friends and working so closely together, but these two managed it.

A bunny and a fox... best friends.

...

Nick finally reached the shared office space and leaned on the door frame, a smug grin plastered over his face. He expected to see a hard-working bunny, but he was surprised to see a... sleeping bunny? His eyes widened in surprise.

Judy Hopps sat in the chair, her back arched forward, and her head resting on the desk, with her arms on either side of her head. Her eyes were closed, and only movement from her was her chest expanding and contracting as she took breaths. She was exhausted. And so adorable too. Nick definitely thought so. It was the first time he had seen her pass out from exhaustion.

He went to wake her up so that she could go home, but then looked at her again, and didn't have a heart to do that. "Should I carry her?" he contemplated. Something about that thought made him excited. Judy sleeping in his arms while he carried her. He had held her up multiple times before, but that was all due to her jumping at him and squeezing the living life out of him, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. And he did like the feeling, as much as he didn't want to admit that, even to himself. Even though he was completely reserved, and rejected physical contact as much as he could in an attempt to keep his emotional walls up, he did like it.

The way it felt, the way her smaller frame pressed against him, the warmth... He really forgot how it felt to receive a hug. And he really missed that feeling. He really missed the times when he would hug his mom all the time, and when his mom would hug and kiss him. To receive physical affection. The thought made him feel happy. He was happy to hold someone who is close to him.

And so, he decided to carry her home.

He went to pick her up as gently as he could, placing his paws under her arms, getting a grip, and lifting her up, like you would do to a small kit. He watched to keep her head supported as well, until it was on his shoulder. Judy had slightly stirred, and made a few muffled sounds, which Nick thought was absolutely adorable.

So there they were. Nick was holding Judy in his arms, supporting her weight with one arm, and the other was wrapped around her to keep her from moving around as much as possible. The feeling of holding Judy in his arms like that was incredible. He could feel her pressed against him, he could feel her warmth. Even if he wasn't the type to show emotions, he did have his ways of displaying affection. Just the ruffling of head fur, for someone like Nick, meant that he really cared about someone he did it to. He was now miles ahead of that. He was holding a mammal that he deeply cared about, in his arms. The rhythm of her chest expanding and contracting as she breathed, her exhales tingling his neck fur, her peaceful heartbeats... it almost felt magical.

Nick felt protective. He felt as if what he was holding was worth more than anything else in the world, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect it from any kind of harm. To protect Judy...

As for Judy, she was still firmly asleep on his shoulder, and from the looks of it, she was comfortable. It was weird, because she is a hyperactive type, so Nick expected her to start stirring and wake up. That didn't happen, and he was glad that it didn't, because he was having a huge emotional moment. He felt a stronger connection to Judy than ever before.

As he finally shook off his euphoria, he remembered that he should probably get her home, and have her rest. That was his priority right now. Get Judy home.

The first few steps were sloppy. He almost couldn't feel his legs when he first started moving them. After a few steps, he managed to regain his balance and get a grip. He strolled out of their shared office space, and they were immediately spotted by the chubby cheetah who was now slowly starting to collect his stuff and preparing to go home. The cheetah gasped.

"Oh..em..goodness..."

This was followed by the loudest squeal that Nick had ever heard the cheetah produce. Ben had both his big paws covering his mouth, and you could even feel how much he was enjoying this. Nick's inner con-artist was already at work, and made sure that his signature grin was ready. He had already recovered from the outburst of emotion just a few moments earlier. He still tried to be as quiet as possible, but loud enough so the cheetah could hear him.

"I expect the entire precinct to know about this tomorrow, Ben. Even if I told you no, I know you would do it anyway, so I won't bother." He said in the most collected tone possible. However, there was slight trepidation in his voice anyway, and from the looks of it, this did not go unnoticed by the cheetah either.

Everyone from the day shift had went home, and the first night shifter will arrive any minute now, so Nick wanted to try to get away from there, or he wouldn't hear the end of it. Plus, he didn't want the moment to be completely ruined by a badly timed joke. He then shifted Judy's weight to one arm, so that he could grab the office key from his pocket with the other, and lock their office. By doing so, he leaned back, so that the lost arm support would be accounted for by his own torso. He could feel her weight shift to his chest, and the feelings

As he finished locking the door, he put his key back into his pocket, then brought back his arm to support Judy's weight, and stood straight again. One foot in front of the other, he started walking towards the entrance door, all while being gawked at by the chubby cheetah. His doom was innevitable. "Tomorrow will be an interesting day, for sure." he thought. "Night, Ben."

The only thing he heard as he exited the building were echoes of the squealing cheetah.

...

As Nick, with Judy in tow, finally got away from the PD, he refocused his attention on his predicament.

Now he started to think about what he was feeling. His trained mind, now that it was back to 'normal', started to analyze the situation he got himself into. The way he reacted, the way he felt... he really missed having to hold someone close to him like that.

Then Judy herself... she was undoubtedly very important to him. But just how important? She was his best friend, his partner. The first mammal that he actually cared about since his mother. There was Finnick too, but the fennec was more of a business partner than friend.

Or was he? Maybe it was Nick's inner con-artist trying to instinctively bring up the emotional walls again. It's not allowing him to accept facts that he was afraid of. Back then, accepting those facts could hurt him. He put his trust in so many mammals as a young kit, and all those who he thought were his friends... either abandoned him, or betrayed him. Even as a young kit, he knew that these feelings are dangerous. Put your trust in someone, and that trust will be broken sooner or later. "Not with Judy." - his subconsciousness butted in. Judy did betray him once, but she proved to him that she never meant for that to happen. She had turned his life around for the better, in the end. She was his closest companion for the past year-and-a-half, since he first went to the police academy.

He completely trusted Judy. He would trust her with his own life, if it had to come to that. "But what if she doesn't trust me? What if she never wanted to see me again if she woke up and realized that I'm holding her?" He did his best to convince himself that it wouldn't happen, but it still stuck with him, and caused him to feel unsettled.

As he carried Judy through the streets, he felt himself shiver. It was quite a chilly night. There were mammals walking around, mostly the mammals coming back from work. That's when he started to notice that they were being stared at. From all sides, by about a dozen mammals. Some of them were looking at him with disapproval, most of them were looking at him with a dumbfounded look. Like they were scared. And he did take notice of how the scenario looked like. He looked like he was carrying a drunk, passed out rabbit girl to his 'den', to use her. He was absolutely disgusted by the thought. Instinctively, he squeezed Judy just a little bit tighter. Nevertheless, none of the mammals said anything, and went on their own way, all while turning their head back to look at the fox and the rabbit again, until they disappeared from view.

As he kept shivering from the cold October evening, he realized that Judy was probably cold too. He wrapped his arms around her the best he could, in order to preserve warmth, now feeling her heartbeat on him even more than before.

They were now nearing the Pangolin street, where Judy's apartment at Grand Pangolin Arms was located. Then suddenly, he felt a change in her breathing patern. It quickly came to a stop, and then he felt her tense up.

Judy was awake.

She jerked herself backwards violently, and looked like she would fight back. Nick instantly reacted by gaining a firmer hold on her, and voiced himself to reassure her.

"Carrots! Carrots, It's me, Nick!"

She quickly came to a stop, in front of his face with her eyes wide open, like a deer in headlights, her breathing very rapid. As soon as she saw his facial features, she visibly calmed down. He reacted by pulling her closer again, and placing her head back on his shoulder. He could feel her heartbeat was marginally faster than it was while she was asleep. He then realized that he should probably put her down and apologize.

She then did something unexpected. She slowly brought her arms up, and around his neck, and relaxed again. She relaxed her head, so that her chin was resting on his shoulder again. Nick absolutely did not expect this reaction. She realized that she was safe in his arms, and relaxed. A rabbit feeling safe in a fox's arms - in his claws, basically, at his mercy. That, along with her arms wrapped around his neck made him feel protective again, and he responded by wrapping his arms tight around her again, and holding her as close as he could. She trusts him. She proved it to him right then and there. The emotions started welding up again, and tears started forming in his eyes. It felt amazing.

Finally, he felt the same thing he had felt over twenty years ago, when his mother tied that handkerchief around his neck. He felt pride. He felt joy. The world was now finally back in color for him. "My Carrots...trusts me..."

He felt her eyes close again, as she took a deep breath, and seemed to fall back asleep. Right in his arms. Right where she felt safe... Right where she wanted to be...

He had finally shed his first tear after twenty years. It fell onto the sleepy rabbit's head. She whispered next to his ear, in her sleepy voice:

"It's starting to rain, Nick. Maybe we should go inside."