Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney.
Reliving the Past
Nick looked at his bunny. She was in her official ZPD uniform and she was still cute. He'd let 'C' word slip out a few times when they'd been alone and the last time she hadn't even growled at him. Maybe she was starting to loosen up just a bit. They'd being on the job together for about a month now and she was driving as usual. He remembered kidding her about her driving his first day and then doing a header into the dash. His bunny had a low tolerance for his wise cracks especially the ones about her.
"Nick."
"Judith."
For that she growled and gave him the finger. He laughed and then quickly checked his seatbelt. She giggled.
"Nick, why do always make things so hard?"
He bit his tongue till he tasted blood and made sure nothing showed on his face.
"What do you mean?"
The traffic light changed and she stopped. Then she stared at him and then huffed.
"Nick, are you doing anything tomorrow?"
"No," he said drawing out the word.
"Would you like to do something together?"
"Like a date?"
Her ears turned a deeper shade of pink. Then she shook herself and smiled.
"Yes, a date."
His eye widened and eyebrows when up. His mind flashed back to his first day again.
"You know you love me."
"Do I know that?" Judy said cocking her head and then looking up for a moment. Then she looked him in the eye and with just a hint of a smile on her face. "Yes. Yes, I do."
For a moment time seemed to slow down and he could swear he could feel each of his heartbeats. Then the light changed and they started forward. He'd just opened his mouth to let her how much he loved her when Flash nearly took the front off their cruiser.
"Great! Anything you want to do!"
His bunny smiled and only then did he think about what he'd just said. Some of that must have shown on his face and since her smile only widened. Then he winced and his bunny giggled.
"Please pick me up at 11am."
At exactly 10:59 Nick pushed the doorbell and thirty seconds later his bunny opened the door. She smiled, stepped out, and then turned to lock the door. He smiled at his bunny and she blushed. She'd worn a pair of blue jeans and a yellow shirt and he wondered what she had in mind.
"Come on Nick."
She drove and they ate at nice inexpensive restaurant. Only when they went to the cashier did he recognize the neighborhood. He reached for his wallet and she put a hand on his arm.
"Remember I asked you out."
She paid and he felt the cashier's eyes on him.
"Thanks Judy."
"You know I feel like a little ice cream."
They walked around the corner and into 'that' ice cream shop. This time there was only one animal at the counter and the same Elephant behind it. Judy took out her smartphone and filmed him make a Sundae without a gloved trunk. His bunny smiled.
The Elephant gave the customer his Sundae and looked down at the Rabbit. She now held up her badge and smartphone playing a video.
"Officer Judy Hopps," she said and smiled. "Remember me? I'm the one who warned you about Class 3 Health Code Violation a few months ago. But this time you're not getting a warning."
Nick facepalmed.
The next stop was a certain street he remembered well. His felt like his feet got heaver with each step. They passed a fruit vendor and out habit Nick took a blueberry and popped into his mouth. He took a few more steps and heard his bunny's foot tapping. He went back and bought the basket of fruit. Five minutes later his bunny faced him standing on cement that looked less worn and newer than rest around it. She only smiled and then padded his shoulder.
"I was wrong and you were right."
"No. We were both wrong and both right."
They didn't get out of the car this time as she pulled to curb. She smiled at him and pulled a carrot pen out of her pocket. She hit play.
"I made 200 bucks a day, fluff. 365 days a year, since I was twelve, and time is money, hop along."
"But…"
"I had two."
They pulled up in front of the Mystic Oasis Club and she blushed.
"Never mind," he said.
Of course, the DMV was the next stop.
"I wonder if Flash got his license back," he said.
"He lucky he didn't lose his job."
"The way those jobs are setup they could probably commit murder, go to prison, and when they got out the job would still be waiting."
"You want to go in for a visit?"
"That would be cruel."
They both smiled and got out of the car.
Nick read the sign: Legitimate Enterprise Car Service. He looked at his bunny and smiled.
"At least this time I won't have to crawl over the fence"
"And I won't need probable cause."
They went in and the manager showed them to the limo.
"29THD03 – this is it."
The manager unlocked the door and handed Judy the keys.
She hopped in the driver's side and he went in the other. Nick opened the glove compartment and the CDs were still there. He held them up and his bunny laughed. They grinned at each other and crawled through partition.
"Well they fixed it up really nice," she said and felt the leather seats.
Nick looked around the limo and then reached for the door handle. He hesitated and then opened it.
"Did you expect Polar Bears?"
He grinned sheepishly and held the door for his bunny.
They drove pass Mr. Big's house without slowing down. No sense tempting fate, he thought.
"Sweet cheese and crackers," he heard his bunny mutter.
The street signs read Vine and Tujunga. They walked across the bridge and to the house. Nick rang the bell and Mr. Manchas opened the door. His eyes went wide.
"Judy! Nick!" he cried and dropped to his knees. "Thank you for saving me!"
He swept the Rabbit up in his arms and hugged her. After a moment she returned it and padded the Jaguar's back. After a minute he held her away and smiled.
"I'm sorry I tried to kill you both," he said and tears came to his eyes. "Please forgive me."
"It wasn't your fault," Nick said.
This time he hugged them both.
They walked through the jungle and came to the landing. Walking back and forth she noticed that it still hadn't been fixed. Nick was stooped down examining the scratches in the planks and she went to stand beside him. Then they sat for a while and just watched the Skytrams go by.
"It's different in the daylight," he said.
"Thanks for helping me with Bogo."
"My pleasure," he said smiled. "Chief Buffalo butt."
They both laughed and then they looked at each other. Then the next one that stopped Nick helped his bunny aboard. They both sat as it started to move and watched the scenery go by.
"Are you having a good time?" she asked.
"Of course, I'm with my bunny."
Nick felt his bunny's hand on his and this time he didn't pull away. They looked at each other and his bunny blushed.
They walked into Zootopia City Hall and soon stood before Bellwether's office. They knew it had been cleaned out, but they just had to see it.
"Nick, if it wasn't for you I would've failed."
"Somehow you would've figured it out even without the help of some scruffy old fox."
She smiled and hugged her Fox.
"You're not old."
He laughed and hugged his bunny tight.
They pulled up and parked next to the other cars. Cliffside Asylum apparently had become a tourist attraction. They got out of the car and walked toward the gate. They stood back and listened. The guide stood talking to twenty animals about the history of the asylum and then started on the missing mammal case. They both smiled as he told the story making them sound like superheroes from one the kid's cartoon shows, but other than that he was surprisingly accurate. Then she spotted them and her eyes went wide.
"Judy! Nick!" she gushed.
All the animals turned and soon there were handshakes, hugs, and pats on the back for both of them. Several of the animals asked tell the story on their own words. Judy felt a tug on her jeans and saw a wolf cub looking up. She dropped to her knees to be at eye level and found she had to look up at the cub. Her Fox snorted and she giggled.
"Judy, please tell me your story," she said. "I have your book." She took off her backpack and pulled it out. "See. I've read some of it, but I don't understand some of the big words."
"Would you like me to sign it?"
"Yes."
She got out the carrot pen.
"Honey, what's your name?"
"Judy."
She looked at the cub's mother and the Wolfess nodded. She clicked the pen and accidentally hit the play button.
"I made 200 bucks a day, fluff. 365 days a year, since I was twelve, and time is money, hop along."
Everyone looked at Nick and he actually blushed. Judy giggled and signed the book. She handed it back to the cub and smiled at her Fox. So for the next hour they led the tourists though the old asylum acting out their story.
The sun was getting low in the sky when Judy parked her car atop the old stone bridge. They got out and he led his bunny down the slope.
"I always like this place," he said and pointed to a building across the way. "You see that building. One time I had dream about that opening a place where predators could just be predators. That was just a pipedream I guess." He turned at his bunny and she was just looking at him. "Judy to be honest with you I sorta knew you'd come back. I never thought it was in you to just give up and run away." He turned walking under the bridge and heard her follow. "Maybe I should've come to BunnyBurrow and found you myself." He reached the other side of the bridge and looked at the building. "I wonder what would have been like for a fox in BunnyBurrow. I guess I'd have been a stranger in a strange land."
He laughed and noticed that his bunny hadn't said a word since they got here. He turned and for the first time in his 33 years he was struck speechless. She was looking up at him on one knee holding a box with an engagement ring. The tableau held for a few seconds.
"Nick, will you marry me?"
Eventually a smile slowly came to his face. Then he lifted his bunny to her feet, took the ring, and went to one knee.
"Yes," he said and put the ring on her finger.
Judy took her Fox into her arms, tilted his head back, and gently kissed him.