Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act I-A Beginning

Chapter I-Blind

(Author's Notes) So, after having watched the film Zootopia, I was immediately astounded by the sheer amount of effort put into it, more specifically the characters of Nick and Judy. I was utterly blown away by the duo and found myself sucking just about every fanfiction for Zootopia there is.

That being said, I soon realized that I wanted to write my own fanfiction on Nick and Judy. What follows is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction. Any and all feedback is thus greatly appreciated as anything that can improve my writing will serve only to improve anything I write in the future(although I intend to stick with this story for now until I finish).

This first chapter serves to pave the way for everything in the future, bridging the gap from the movie into this story. It takes place about a year after the Night Howler incident shown in the movie.

So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of what (I hope) will be a rather enjoyable story.

I don't own Zootopia or any of its related characters. I am not making any money from this, it is simply for entertainment purposes. Please don't sue me.


"I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you've never left."

-Unknown


Nick POV

6:55 a.m.

The early morning spring air brought a chill to my exposed limbs as I made my way through the streets of Zootopia. The sidewalks were filled with various mammals making there way to their jobs. Just above the horizon, the sun slowly made its way up towards the center of the sky, barely making its way through the many buildings and skyscrapers that Zootopia encompassed.

My mouth opened in a huge yawn as I was reminded just how early it actually was. Today I wasn't wearing my signature green hawaiian shirt, tie, and khakis that so many had come to know me by during my life of crime. Instead I had donned my police uniform, as today I was heading to my job as a police officer at Precinct 1. It felt good to know that despite being a conman since the age of twelve, I was finally able to do something right with my life—all thanks to my dumb bunny.

It had been almost an entire year since I met Judy on that fateful day when I tricked her into buying that jumbo pop, and since then my life had done a complete 180. It had taken me 3 months to get through the academy but it was completely worth every second and every struggle. I ended up graduating top of my class, my desire to become better than my old self giving me the conviction to do my best. And at the end, seeing the happiness on Judy's face as she handed me my new badge, accepting me into the force, I knew I had made the right decision. For the past 9 months, I had been a police officer at the ZPD and partner to Judy.

I felt a small flutter in my stomach as I thought about Judy. I froze for a second wondering where the butterflies had come. Puzzled, I decided that it was nothing and took a long sip from the cup of Snarlbucks coffee in my hand before resuming my walk to work.

Judy and I had become best friends and partners ever since the Night Howler case. We often spent our free time in each other's company, whether we were going out to eat or simply watching a movie at my apartment. I trusted her entirely and she was one of the few people in my life that trusted and respected me despite my past and despite the fact that I was a fox.

I worked my way through a group of protestors in front of City Hall. In a recent attempt to promote the ideals of equality and non-prejudice the city of Zootopia was based on, a law had been passed which legalized the marriage of interspecies couples. Mammals of all different shapes and sizes, both prey and predator, seemed to be there from dawn until dusk protesting. I never understood what all the fuss was about; a mammal's love shouldn't be dictated by species or anything else. Love has no barriers. Although I haven't personally found the one yet, I knew that I wouldn't let anything get in my way once I did. I shook myself from my daydream and continued walking.

I smiled as I turned the corner and the monolith that is Precinct 1 appeared before me. When I first joined the force, it felt strange to walk to the one place that I had spent so much of my life avoiding. I had gotten over my unease after a couple months though and began to enjoy my new job fully.

I made my way up the steps of the precinct and looked up. The building was three stories high but each floor was 20 feet high to accommodate even the tallest mammals. Just above the doors of the precinct emblazoned in humongous, white letters, was the proud sign stating "ZPD".

Walking through the door with my lazy smile plastered on my face, I cheerily waved to some of my fellow officers and made my way up to the receptionist desk. Clawhauser, who was very happily munching away on a large bowl of sugary cereal, swallowed as fast as he could when he saw me. "Helloooooooo, Nick. How are you today?" he questioned enthusiastically.

"I'm great," I replied. "Hey, do you know where Judy is?"

"Yeah, she's over at your guys' cubicle."

"Thanks, Benji," I said before making my way to the cubicle that Judy and I shared. She always was an early bird, maybe it had something to do with growing up on a farm. I couldn't help but grin when I saw the tips of her ears peeking out from inside of our cubicle.

I went in and sat down at my chair next to Judy's. The bunny was busy typing something up on her computer. "Hey Carrots. Watchu doing," I asked her.

She looked up from what she was working on before replying. "I'm finishing up that report for Bogo." She looked utterly exhausted. Dark bags were beneath her eyes and her ears seemed to be drooping slightly involuntarily. I couldn't help but notice that she looked kind of cute when she was so tired. Her eyes seemed slightly glossy and gave her eyes a little shine while her nose twitched very slightly. She looked to be in desperate need of some sleep and care

I was broken out of my revery by the sound of her voice. "Nick. Nick!"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You just completely zoned out there for a second. Are you ok, Nick?" she questioned with a slightly worried look on her face.

I was slightly confused, I had no idea why I had zoned out like that. It had been happening rather often lately whenever I was around Judy but I put it off to the stress of work. Hopefully the upcoming weekend would solve that. "I'm fine," I said, "I think the real question is, are you ok. You look exhausted, Carrots. How much sleep did you get?"

She looked at me dubiously when I told her I was fine but then sighed before answering, "I went to bed at 2. I was up trying to finish this report before I passed out."

I gawked at her. Normally I would be the one to put off an assignment, I couldn't believe Judy had been up until 2 trying to complete her report and was still working on it even now. "How on Earth did that happen?" I asked her wondrously.

"I completely lost track of time. My parents decided to call me and talked for almost two hours. By then I realized I hadn't had dinner yet and so I quickly threw something together. By the time I finished with all of that it was midnight and I was having trouble focusing on the report." She gave a large yawn as she concluded her story and turned back to her report.

She had it finished in another minute and pressed print. As she waited for the printer to print her report, she turned back to me and asked, "So, are you going to come out to the bar with us?" Several of the officers had plans to go down to a bar for a drink that night as it was a Friday and most of them would have off.

I would normally have gone but I decided that it would probably be best if I went home and got a good night's rest. Hopefully I would be able to cure the strange feeling and daydreaming episodes I had been having. I could've told Judy this but I didn't want her to worry for no good reason so opted to tell I was busy instead. "Sorry Judes, but I have other plans tonight."

"Oh yeah, like what?" she asked doubtingly.

"Just your average fox stuff with some of my fox pals, nothing important," I teased her. I didn't have time to make up a legit excuse right now and decided my best course of action would be to simply refuse to tell her what exactly I would be doing.

Judy, however, did not appear to be into letting up anytime soon. Looking for an escape, I saw that it was 7:13. "Looks like we have to go to muster now," I said pointing at the clock. Judy simply sighed grabbed her report before making her way to the bullpen.

I fell in next to her and after she submitted her report at the front desk we entered the bullpen, sitting on our shared seat at the front of the room. After a minute Bogo entered the room and shouted for quiet. "Alright, everyone shut up, we've all got things that need to be doing."

I leaned in towards Judy slightly and whispered, "Man, you know the chief's speeches always have a way a touching on a profound level." She stifled a small giggle which brought Bogo's attention to them.

"Wilde, Hopps, shut it or I'll give you both parking duty for a week. Now…" Judy looked rather angry as she looked straight forward listening to Bogo, refusing to look at me. I suddenly felt bad about making Judy so angry which gave me pause. I never felt sorry about the smart remarks, it was highly unlike me. So why was I doing it now. I decided that it was because I had hurt Judy, she was my best friend after all.

"Hopps, Wilde, you two have patrol of Sahara Square today," I heard Bogo's voice as I came back to reality.

"Yes, sir," Judy said behind me before standing up and starting to leave not looking at me.

I quickly stood up and began following her out. I caught up to her just outside the bullpen in the hallway. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry. "Carrots, wait—."

She rounded on me before speaking. "Nick, why is it that you can never just keep your mouth shut?" She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot on the floor, like a mother who was grounding her child.

I felt my ears droop and my tail tuck between my legs as I saw just how upset with me she really was. I didn't know why this upset me so much but it did. "You're right. I'm sorry," I said quietly, a resigned look replacing my usual easy smile.

Judy's expression softened as she looked at my pained reaction. She suddenly seemed to regret what she had just said. Her foot stopped tapping and her arms dropped to her sides. "No, it's ok. I just overreacted," she said quickly. She looked to be troubled and deep in thought before she said, "How about tomorrow we just do anything you want?"

My heart lept at Judy's words and I felt butterflies return to my stomach. What was going on with me? "That sounds wonderful." I felt my ears perk up and my tail resume swishing along back and forth behind me.

Judy looked happy again and said, "Come on, we've got a job to do." Feeling like I was walking on water, I followed her to the ZPD parking garage.


6:47 p.m.

Our patrol was nearing its end, scheduled at end a 7:30. So far nothing had happened, not even a single speeder or jaywalker, I thought. With the lack of activity, I had found myself lost deep in my thoughts. Every time Judy had tried to start a conversation I had zoned out again thinking about the upcoming day with Judy. I found myself staring at her often for reasons I didn't understand. Judy was worried about me and made attempts to figure out what was wrong with me. But seeing as I had no idea what was wrong with me myself I wasn't much didn't seem to believe that I didn't know what was wrong with me but didn't press too far.

Suddenly the radio on the console began to crackle. "Armed robbery on corner of Burrow and North streets in Sahara Square. All available units please report to the scene of the crime, " came Clawhauser's voice from the speaker.

Judy grabbed the radio transmitter and spoke into it, "Officers Hopps and Wilde, we are one block from the scene of the robbery, we're on our way."

"Roger that, Officers," came the reply. I put the cruiser in drive and started driving while Judy flipped on the flashing lights and siren.

We arrived at the scene not even a minute later and saw a raccoon holding a knife making his way out of what looked like a small pharmacy. We jumped out of the car and Judy quickly said into her radio, "Officers Hopps and Wilde, we are in pursuit of suspect."

"Roger that, Judy. You go get him."

We took off after the raccoon who was barreling through mammals, and brandishing his knife to scare others away. We gave chase to the raccoon slowly gaining ground on him. There was a time when running for any distance would have killed me, but after struggling at the academy I decided that I should start jogging. In the shape I was in now, I was able to keep up with Judy despite her naturally strong legs.

The raccoon suddenly looked behind him and saw Judy and I quickly gaining ground. His eyebrows lifted in surprise before he turned back around looking for somewhere to go. Suddenly he ducked into an alleyway between two buildings.

Judy and I approached the alley and saw that it went in about 10 feet before it turned off to the left. We entered the alley and took out our guns before rounding the corner. Judy hugged the wall as she turned and as soon as her gun had turned the corner, the raccoon smacked it out of her paw with a flat-palmed smack. I watched the gun fly through the air, hit the wall of the alley and fall to the ground. I quickly looked back at the raccoon to see him punch Judy square in the face.

My gun, which was raised pointed at the raccoon, went limp suddenly when I saw Judy get punched. Completely forgetting the armed robber standing in front of Judy, all of my attention became focused on Judy. I could see blood running from her nose matting her fur and she looked slightly dazed. My stomach clenched, as if someone had gathered all of my internal organs and was trying to squeeze them all into my abdomen. If she was hurt I would never be able to forgive myself for letting it happen. I would—

My thought was cut off by a sudden, searing pain in my arm holding my gun. "Fuck," I yelped, quickly dropping my gun and grabbing my arm with my other hand. My arm felt warm and sticky and I noticed it was dripping red. I looked up and saw the raccoon holding a now red knife. The bastard slashed me, was all I could think before he suddenly went barrelling past me out of the alley.

With my arm, I was in no condition to give chase, and besides, Judy was still hurt. I knelt down at her side, "Judy. Judy! Are you ok?" I frantically asked.

Slowly she focused on Nick and managed to grunt out, "Fine." The blood was beginning to stop and she sat up. "Where's the raccoon?"

"He got away," I replied solemnly. I didn't know what had happened, normally my reactions were spot on, my years as a con artist having honed them to perfection. Why had they failed me so horribly this time?

"What!?" Judy exclaimed loudly as sat up farther, bringing me back to my senses, "How?"

I looked down at my arm, which was still bleeding, in response. It hurt but the cut wasn't very deep and the blood was a trickle, not a pulse so I was fairly certain that I hadn't cut any arteries.

"Oh my God, Nick. What happened?" she asked worriedly. She seemed to have completely forgotten her pain from moments before focusing all of her attention to me.

"He got me with his knife. It's fine though, it's not serious," I quickly added seeing her concern at learning I had been injured. "Come on," I said, "let's head back to Precinct 1."

I helped her up, retrieved our guns and we headed back to our cruiser.


Judy POV

8:15 p.m.

I was worried about Nick. He kept zoning out and getting himself distracted and now he had suffered an injury because of it. Normally Nick never failed under pressure, even with his life on the line, he kept his cool and got the job done. Something was going on with him but every time I tried to ask him about it, he said that he didn't know what was wrong. Ever since the Night Howlers case we had been best friends, he told me everything, and the rare times that he didn't he tell me up front, he simply told me that he would when he was ready. But he never lied to me about something that was troubling him. As much as this made me want to believe that he was telling the truth, I simply couldn't fathom how Nick could have no idea what was troubling him.

I cared about Nick, he was the first one to believe in me after I became a police officer and I couldn't simply forget that. Moreover, we were partners and we needed to be able to trust one another, it was conducive to a successful partnership—and a successful friendship.

I had tried bringing up my concerns with Clawhauser when we got back to the precinct after Nick had gone to the infirmary to get his arm checked out. The only advice he could give was to let Nick tell her when he was ready. I knew he was right but it didn't stop me from worrying about him.

I was back at our cubicle finishing up our report when I saw Nick approaching me with a bandage around his right forearm. "Chief wants to see us," he said to me.

"What does he want?" I asked Nick. Surely we weren't in trouble, I didn't think Nick or I had done anything. Nick only shrugged in reply so together we walked to the far side of the precinct where the Chief's office lay.

Knock knock knock

"Come in," came the slightly muffled voice of Chief Bogo from inside. He didn't sound mad necessarily but I knew better than to think that meant they weren't in trouble.

Nick opened the and held it open for me while I walked in. I heard him shut door behind me before he came to join me where I was standing in front of the Chief's massive desk.

"Sit," said the chief shortly, motioning to a chair that was obviously not made with smaller mammals in mind. Despite the fact that we both sat in the same chair, there was still extra room. "So," started the Chief, "Would either of you care to explain to me what happened out there today." His voice betrayed no hint of anger, or any emotion at all—but it was not a question.

I opened my mouth to begin speaking but Nick had already started. "Well sir, during our patrol we received news of an armed robbery in our immediate vicinity. We radioed in to gain permission to pursue, which we got, and then proceeded to chase the suspect until he made his way into an alleyway. We followed him into the alley where we were ambushed. Judy lost her gun when he attacked her, sir, and I just froze up," he said looking downwards slightly dejectedly. His ears were pressed flat against his head. It pained me to see Nick feel so useless, we were partners and best friends. Nick continued speaking, interrupting my thought. "I failed to react and he attacked me with his knife, that's this happened," Nick said gesturing towards his bandaged arm. "Then the perp got away," he finished rather lamely.

Bogo let out a long, "Hmmmm," as he thought for several seconds. "I see," the Chief's voice now had a barely detectable hint of anger in it that continued to slowly grow. "Well Officer Wilde, I suggest that you use the weekend wisely and get your shit together," his last words came out in a hiss that let on to the full extent of Bogo's lividity. "And officer Hopps," he said turning suddenly startling me slightly, "I expect you to be more careful in the future. We cannot afford to let robbers best our officers like this." While the Chief was still rather irritated, his words let on a little to his more caring side. Despite his rather intimidating appearance, the cape buffalo behind the façade truly did care for the well-being of his officers.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

Bogo nodded, " I also want you to help figure out what's wrong with Officer Wilde, we need him in full form come Monday." His mood lightened slightly more as he said this. I nodded in response. "Dismissed," Bogo finished.

We left the office and returned to our cubicle. I helped Nick write his report for the day as I had nowhere else to be. I kept trying to question Nick about his condition but every time I got close he just made a stupid joke and changed the conversation. Eventually I just decided to give it a break and let him bring it up when he was ready. By the time the report was written and submitted, it was 9:03. Nick and I clocked-out for the day before leaving.

The way to my apartment followed the same route as Nick's being only 3 blocks closer to the precinct. Because of this, Nick and I always walked home with each other after work.

After a minute of walking we passed a group of mammals protesting against the new law legalizing interspecies marriage outside of Town Hall. Back in the highly conservative Bunny Burrows almost everyone was against interspecies couples. Despite this, I personally had no problems with two members of different species who loved each other. After all, in Zootopia, anyone can be, or do, anything. I snapped out of my line of thought as we made our way out of the crowd.

After another minute or so I asked Nick, "Are you sure you're not coming out tonight? Surely your 'fox stuff' can wait a night," I joked.

Nick chuckled silently before answering, "I'm sure, after all, if my pals learned I was ditching them for a bunny, they might just be tempted to eat you," he gave me a sly grin at his own wit before continuing, "Besides, I have to rest up for our day-of-fun tomorrow. Hey, what do you say we head over to the naturalists club tomorrow, huh," Nick teased nudging me with his shoulder and tickling me with his tail chuckling again. Despite his jovial attitude, I still sensed something slightly off with Nick. He still wore his sly smile but his eyes weren't quite right.

"Niiiiiick," I groaned only causing Nick to laugh harder causing me to punch him in the gut playfully.

"Oof. Watch it Fluff, that hurt," Nick was rubbing his stomach, wincing in pain. Now it was my turn to laugh at Nick. We suddenly arrived at my apartment and I began to walk to the door "See you tomorrow Carrots," Nick said.

"See ya," I replied before he continued walking to his apartment. McHorn had scheduled the meet-up at the bar for 9:30 giving me just enough time to change before heading over there. But, at the forefront of my mind was still Nick. What was troubling him so much?


Nick POV

9:15 p.m.

Why? I kept asking myself. Why was I unable to act during the fight? Ha, fight, if you could call it that. I might as well have been a sloth for all the good I did. It was just that, after Judy got hurt, I was so scared for her that I completely forgot everything else. But why?

Ideas whirled through my head in a dizzying blur. The only one that made sense though, was simply how close we had become as friends. That must be it, I just couldn't stand to see my best friend in so much pain and danger. That's the only reason I froze.

I felt slightly better but something was still nagging me. Like there was a string tied to my back providing just enough force for it to hinder me and provide annoyance. I shook off the feeling as I approached my apartment building before entering.


Judy and I entered the alleyway in search of the raccoon who had robbed the bank. As we turned the corner, the raccoon lept out and suddenly there was a knife buried up to its hilt in Judy's chest. Her eyes opened wide at me in surprise, her mouth shaped like an "O", while her ears stood fully erect. Her face simply pleaded for me to do something, to help her, but it was already too late.

My soul was wrenched from my body as I saw the life slowly drain from her. I was falling...falling. Darkness pressed in from all sides, squeezing out all of the air out of my lungs slowly suffocating me. I had nothing...nothing left that I cared about. I might as well be dead.

Suddenly I bolted upright in my bed with my heart was pounding against my chest like the quick thumping of a rabbit's foot. My fur was sticking to my bed sheets and I realized that I was drenched in a cold sweat. I didn't wear any clothes to bed so my fur was sticking up at odd angles and my bed had a large wet mark.

I could hear the heavy pitter-patter of rain on the roof like a stampeding herd of deer. The rain helped calm me and slowly my mind turned to the dream I had just had. Judy had been stabbed in the alleyway, and it had hurt. I had felt like I would never be whole again, like I would never be happy again, with her gone. She was, and always would be, the most important thing in my life.

And suddenly everything just clicked. The butterflies, my strange behavior, my daydreams—everything made sense now. I loved Judy Hopps, my wonderful, beautiful rabbit partner, with all my heart and I knew that I couldn't live without her in my life. How could I have been so blind? I had let my blindness keep Judy from me for a year, and I would be damned if I was going to wait any longer now that I could see the truth. Looking at my alarm clock, I saw that it was 11:28 p.m. Judy was probably still at the bar and so, quickly making up my mind, I decided that I was going to find Judy and tell her right now that I loved her.

I flew out of my bed and began to throw on my clothes from earlier that day which were thrown unceremoniously onto my floor. I payed no attention to my appearance, knowing I probably looked haggard and maybe slightly crazed but I didn't care. Only one thing was on my mind, Judy.


Judy POV

11:24 p.m.

I sat at the far left end of the bar on a rather tall bar stool for a rabbit, absorbed in my own thoughts. To my right, the other cops were talking(or more like shouting) and laughing loudly amongst themselves, rowdily calling for more beers. The bar had a very rustic vibe with old, faded oak counters and matching barstools. On the walls hung numerous hillbilly-esque signs sporting phrases like "Gone Fishin'" or "I 3 beer".

But I wasn't paying any of my surrounding much attention, I was too busy thinking about Nick. No matter what he said, there was something going on with him, whether he knew it or not.

The same things kept replaying themselves over and over again in my head, the way Nick kept zoning out whenever we were together, how he had frozen when I had gotten attacked in that alley, the look of dejection on his face when I had scolded him for embarrassing me this morning, and how happy he had become when I tried to make it up to him.

Then I realized what all of these things had in common—me. And then everything began to fall into place. Nick was so hurt when I scolded him because he liked me and he felt like I hated him, and then when I tried to make it up to him he was happy because I wasn't mad with him. The reason Nick froze when I got hit was because Nick thought I was seriously thought and didn't know what he would do without me. And chances were that every time he zoned out he was thinking of me. He loved me.

The realization hit me suddenly as the implications hit me, my fox partner was in love with me. But did I love him? I had never really thought about it, he was a fox and I was a rabbit. I thought back to what my parents had told me. They had said that interspecies relationships were unnatural were predator-prey couples. They went against every good sense of moral values mammals had ever upheld.

Looking past this though, Nick was one of the first people I had met in Zootopia and despite his initial attitude, he was actually the first one to believe in me. When no one, not even my parents, thought that a rabbit could be a police officer, Nick had stood by my side and helped me do the impossible. Nick and I had been partners and friends ever since, we relied on each other and helped each other up when one of us fell down. I trusted him with my life and told him everything, he was a pillar in my life that held me up when I needed it most. Maybe I did love Nick.

My thoughts turned once more to what my parents had told me. But then I realized that this wasn't the Bunny Burrows 20 years ago, this was Zootopia and this was now and in Zootopia, anyone can be anything. Besides, hadn't a law been recently passed which legalized interspecies marriage, the world wasn't what it once was and if she wanted to love a fox then she could.

How could I have been so blind all this time? How long had I known this but not really noticed it?

My revelation was interrupted by McHorn who was seated next to me. "What's the matter, Hopps? You're being awfully quiet over there. Is something wrong?" he inquired a slightly worried look on his face.

I had made up my mind about what I should do before I even answered, "Uhhhhh yeah, I'm fine, but I just realized I really have to go now." I stood up and fumbled with my wallet before I pulled out a ten dollar bill and placed it on the counter even though I only owed five. I rushed out of the bar slamming open the saloon style front doors in search of my partner, only one thing on my mind, Nick.

(Author's Notes) Welp, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of what I hope will be a long and successful story. I will try (I can't guarantee anything) to upload a new chapter every week, I don't have a fixed date as of now but I'm thinking something like Saturdays or Sundays. Honestly, I've never really tried writing a full-fledged story of any kind before (except for a few very laughable attempts in 4th grade English class) but I decided to try again now.

Anyways, that's all I have time for now, good night (or morning) everyone. This is Jay, signing off.