It was cold.
That made sense, though. Winter was descending with alarming rapidity upon Zootopia. In fact, Tina Robertson, the ZNN meteorologist, was predicting a ten degree drop in temperature that night, and the succeeding nights would keep the temperature dropping. Despite the chill in the air, the impending storms (there were ominous clouds on the horizon that threatened to bring snow), and the continual thin mist that persisted through the day, there was an atmosphere of vibrancy and excitement that completely ignored the elements.
It was almost Christmas.
Nick clutched his jacket a little tighter around himself, scrunching into the scarf he wore wrapped around his neck. The sidewalk was cold on his footpaws, but that didn't bother him anymore. He'd run around Tundratown multiple times in the past few months and, thankfully, had become mostly immune to the cold.
He was walking down the main thoroughfare in Saharah. Busy mammals passed him on either side, hurriedly going about their Christmas shopping. With five days left until Christmas, the stores were running out of stock of the most desired items, but that wasn't Nick's main problem.
What do you get for someone who doesn't want anything? Nick mused, trying to avoid all of the mammals. He had already been bumped into multiple times, and once an elephant had accidentally knocked him over. The elephant had helped him up, then hurried on his way, anxious to get to Mark's Big and Tall Emporium.
Nick paused in front of a shop window. In big block letters, the store proclaimed itself to be Hancock Jewelers. A small sign explained that the store was willing to buy gold and jewels- unwanted ones, of course- and would pay top dollar for the finest work.
A pearl necklace sat on a velvet display stand, drawing Nick's eye. He was tempted. He truly was. But just as he was about to make his decision, an employee carefully picked the pearl necklace up, wrapped it in fine tissue paper, put it in a box, and handed it to a ferret. That was probably better, actually. Judy would most likely never wear the necklace, and she might have taken it the wrong way. Nick didn't want that.
The store next to Hancock Jewelers, a music shop, was advertising a two for one deal. Nick was intrigued and stepped closer so he could read the details. The offer was valid for… "Anything in the store," Nick murmured. "I wonder if they have something…" He pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapped a quick text, and shoved it back into his pocket.
Instead of a pleasant ding or something similar to announce a potential customer, Nick heard a guitar riff when he opened the door to the store. He recognized it as the opening notes from the Fur Fighters' song "Learn to Try." As the riff faded away, Nick started humming the song to himself and walked toward the vinyl records section.
"Run, go tell all of the mammals, this would take all day," Nick sang quietly as he looked at the records. "Raised On Radio by Journey, Fox in the Box by Corey Mark, Kilroy Was Near by Tyx… I need that one, actually." Nick picked up the Tyx album and continued picking through the shelves.
After looking through all of the vinyl records, Nick moved on to the vintage CDs. At that moment, a buzz announced that he had received a new text message. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and found the text was from Judy. "'Been looking for Nightlifeby Lochness,'" Nick read out loud. "What… what are all these punctuation marks after… oh, smiley faces." He rolled his eyes and stuck his phone back in his pocket. "I only got a phone because J wanted me to… let's see, that would be where?"
Nick combed through the vintage CDs, then the vinyl records again, finding everything except Nightlife. "Are you kidding me? Dark Side of the Moon, Siddy Stardust, and even King of Dark, but nothing by Lochness…" Shaking his head, Nick strode to the checkout counter. There was a lanky tiger behind the counter, sitting on a stool. The tiger was reading a comic book, and his name tag said 'Hobbes.' Nick tapped on the counter, and the tiger glanced up.
"How can I help you?" the tiger asked, putting his comic book aside.
"I'm looking for a specific album," Nick explained. "Can you help me?" The tiger nodded and walked out from behind the counter.
"What's the album?"
"Nightlife by Lochness," Nick replied. The tiger frowned and tapped the counter rapidly. He rubbed his cheek, then beckoned for Nick to follow him.
Nick followed the tiger down an aisle right next to the vinyl records section. "If we have it," the tiger muttered to himself, scanning the shelves on either side of him, "it would be here." He stopped in front of a mostly-empty spot on the shelf. A single album sat there, pushed back so far that the shadows almost obscured it completely. The tiger reached back and grabbed the album. "Here you go, mate. That's the last copy, too. Was that it?"
"What?" Nick hadn't really heard what the tiger had said. He was too busy looking over the album. "Oh, that's it. Thanks!"
The tiger clapped his paws together. "Great! Are you ready to check out?"
"Yeah," Nick answered. He followed the tiger back to the counter, placed the two albums on the counter, and pulled out his wallet. The tiger picked up the two albums and scanned them with the price scanner, accepted Nick's credit card, swiped it, then handed it back to him. Nick put his wallet back in his pocket.
"Ooh, nice choices. Kilroy Was Near is a great one! Did you see the concert Tyx held for this album?" The tiger shook out a plastic bag and slid the two albums into the bag.
Nick shook his head. "I wanted to, but I had something else to do."
"Gotcha. Well, I heard Tyx is considering a throwback concert," the tiger said, handing the bag to Nick. "I'd highly suggest it if they do."
"I will," Nick replied. "Thanks…" He glanced at the name tag again. "Thanks, Hobbes."
"No problem!" the tiger said. He waved as Nick left the store. "Come again!"
A cold breeze that hadn't been around before slapped Nick's muzzle. He shivered and huddled inside his jacket. Luckily, he didn't have to dodge as many mammals as he had before, since the throng had lessened to a little crowd. That didn't stop him from drifting into thought, and then running into a bear at the next crosswalk.
Nick rebounded a bit, then was shaken out of his thoughts. "Did you run into me?" the bear growled, glowering at Nick.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Nick said, backing up a bit. "I was thinking and didn't see you there."
The bear's face softened slightly. "What about?"
"A… friend," Nick replied evasively, but the bear laughed.
"I know what you mean, fox. Pay attention to her, and maybe she'll be yours someday," the bear grumbled, a full smile having replaced his earlier glower. "Go on, don't worry about me. I've been hit by bigger than you." The bear shooed Nick across the crosswalk.
Nick laughed quietly, throwing a wave in the bear's direction. He began humming under his breath, looking around with a small smile on his face. Tinsel and ornaments decorated shop fronts, colored lights showed themselves in the approaching dusk, and mammals with buckets solicited donations for charity. The fox fumbled in his pocket and pulled out some quarters.
"Thank you very much, sir!" a ferret exclaimed as Nick put the quarters in a donation bucket. "Merry Christmas!"
Nick nodded in reply and continued down the sidewalk, all the while pulling himself deeper into his jacket. The sky grew darker as the sun plunged to the horizon, and the temperature dropped even further. A soft scattering of white flakes began floating down from the spread clouds, occasionally landing on Nick's nose. Nick shivered, and the snow started falling faster. The flakes grew bigger, and soon they started building up on the sidewalk. The road was clear, but it was cold enough and the snow was falling thickly enough that the asphalt would definitely be covered before the next day.
The sun finally disappeared beneath the horizon, leaving bright stars pricking in the sky. Off to the north, the Moon was peeking over the buildings of the city, shedding silver illumination over Zootopia. Nick paused to appreciate the sight. The lights of the city fought valiantly against the moon's glow, but there were portions where the lights didn't reach. Those parts were lit by the Moon, creating a stark contrast between the bright lights of the city and the shimmery light from the Moon.
A giraffe passed Nick. The fox glanced around to find himself all alone. The various mammals had all headed inside, either to home or to the nearest shop. An intrepid otter scurried out of a side road and across the street, gathering a covering of white from the snow. The otter managed to get into a shop just before the attendant could close the door, and Nick could see the attendant sigh in exasperation.
Nick started down the sidewalk again, pushing away memories of doing the exact same thing as the otter had done. He didn't care to remember most of his life, but his mind was soon taken off of the past because his footpaws were growing cold and wet, sinking into a half-inch of snow. He glanced around and smiled as he took in the patchwork scene, multicolored lights competing with the Moon and city lights to splash the city in light. As he continued, he clutched his jacket closer to him. The bag hung from his paw as his teeth chattered.
"There's my turn," Nick murmured, turning down the street that would lead straight to his place.
The police station was, if anything, decked with more lights than the shopping district in Saharah had been. Nick whistled a Christmas carol as he tried to finish his paperwork. At an adjacent desk, Francine got up. "Want something from the vending machine, Nick?"
"Nah. Thanks, though," Nick replied. Francine gave a small, acknowledging gesture before stepping heavily down to the vending area. Nick turned back to his paperwork and started whistling again.
He could hear a couple of officers laughing down at their desks. Clawhauser could be heard chatting with the officer from Records. Nick could even hear Judy snoring at the desk right next to him. She was most likely not working on paperwork.
Francine reappeared and sat down, chewing on a large granola bar. Nick watched out of the corner of his eye as she shuffled through a stack of reports, picked one up, and started typing on her computer. A snore from Judy's desk reminded Nick that he was supposed to be working, not mammal-watching. He shook his head in amusement, completely at himself, and signed the report he was working on. Reviewing it, Nick found an error and, after fixing it, put the report on the 'finished' stack.
"I wish these reports could fill themselves out," he grumbled, starting on another report. Francine heard him and chuckled.
"If you could figure out some way for that to happen, you'd be the most popular mammal ever." Francine spun in her chair to face Nick. "Did you know that Judy's asleep?"
Nick nodded, searching through a nearby stack of papers. "I could hear her snoring. I bet she's not working on paperwork."
Francine rolled her eyes. "She's probably done already. I know I'd be sleeping if I were done."
"Sounds about right," Nick agreed, extracting a page from the pile he was searching through. He scanned the paper. "It's the right one." Putting the page next to the report he had been working on, Nick picked up his pen and filled in some more blanks.
"What did you get her for Christmas?" Francine asked, turning back to her typing.
Nick stopped in mid-penstroke. He looked quizzically in Francine's direction. "What brings this up?"
Francine gave a one-sided shrug. "Curiosity, mostly. The common scuttlebutt around the station is that you two have something going on, so I wondered if it were anything special."
"You can never trust the local gossip," Nick replied, leaning back in his chair. "It may get something right once in a while, but only once in a while. Who did you hear that from?"
"No one." Francine shot Nick a mischievous smirk. "I started it."
Nick made sure Francine saw him rolling his eyes. "Well, thanks. Now we'll never be able to be just friends." Francine laughed and returned her full attention to her work. Nick followed her example and turned back to his report.
A few moments later, as he was reviewing the report, Judy popped her head over the wall separating them. "You never answered Francine's question," she said accusingly. "I was hoping you would! I've always been terrible with letting presents be secret."
"I thought you were sleeping," Nick replied, not turning to look at Judy. "I thought about telling her, but now I'm glad I didn't."
"Did you get me something?" Judy asked, now sounding concerned. "I told you that I didn't want anything."
Nick decided that a tactful silence would be the best thing, and he was right. Judy sighed and dropped back into her chair. She was quiet for a couple of minutes, then she appeared next to his desk.
"I'm going on break now. Want to get something to eat?"
"I really need to finish these reports," Nick answered regretfully. "If I didn't, I would definitely go with you. Go have fun, maybe razz Clawhauser."
Judy gave Nick's arm a light, playful punch before heading toward the break room. Nick rubbed his arm where she had hit him, even though it didn't hurt. He watched until Judy disappeared into the break room, and only then did he force himself to keep working.
She still doesn't want anything, Nick thought. He signed another report. What does that even mean? The thought ran through his head, but he hadn't figured anything out by the time he had finished all of his reports. Nick shook his head, picked up the stack of reports, and headed toward Chief Bogo's office.
Balancing the reports in one arm, Nick rapped on the door of the chief's office with the other paw. He waited for a moment, and when no one responded he rapped again.
"Come in!" Chief Bogo called out. Nick turned the doorknob and entered the office. Chief Bogo looked over the edge of his desk. "Ah, you finished your reports. Thank you, Wilde." Nick reached up so that Chief Bogo could take the stack of reports. "Have a merry Christmas, Wilde."
"Thanks, Chief." Nick began to walk out of the office, but paused when a thought struck him. "Chief? Do you have a minute?"
Chief Bogo glanced down at Nick. "Close the door." Nick complied and clambered into the seat in front of the desk. "What's up, Wilde?"
"What does it mean when a female says she doesn't want anything for Christmas?" Nick asked quickly. He feared that, had he hesitated, he wouldn't have had the nerve to ask. The chief could be very intimidating and usually went out of his way to keep private life things out of the workplace.
One of Chief Bogo's quirks was the ability to raise his eyebrow with lightning speed. Nick was pretty sure the chief had done that, but he wasn't sure since it was so fast. "It can mean one of two things," Chief Bogo said. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back slightly in his chair. "Are you sure you want to know? Sometimes we get past difficulties by not understanding what females say."
"I want to know," Nick said. "I really need to know what Judy means."
Chief Bogo nodded slowly. "I understand. Well, the first thing it can mean is that they really don't want anything. The other thing is that they don't care what they get."
Nick's face fell. "Oh. So I could get a candle and Judy wouldn't care?"
"There is a third option, I suppose," Chief Bogo continued, seemingly oblivious to Nick's comment. "They might mean that they want to spend time with you or do something with you. They want an experience for Christmas, not a thing." Chief Bogo tilted his head back and forth, sighing with relief when some popping noises sounded. "But you might be able to get away with a candle."
"I don't really want to give her a candle," Nick admitted. "I just…"
Chief Bogo grinned. "You want to get her what she wants. I know what that's like."
"You do?"
"Yes." Chief Bogo uncrossed his arms and put his hooves behind his head. "About ten years ago, I was trying to get a Christmas present for someone special. She had said she didn't want anything. That wasn't good enough for me, though. So I took some time to think about it, and decided that I'd figure out something she had always wanted to do. Some searching showed she had wanted to learn how to ice skate, so I purchased lessons for two so that I could go with her." The chief's grin softened into a smile. "I never learned to skate well, but it was the best gift I could have given her."
Nick's mind was whirling with ideas. Ice skating competed for the pole position in his brain with mountain climbing, acting lessons, and writing a song.
Chief Bogo nodded. "Follow your instincts in this, Wilde. The right idea will pop up and beat all the others."
"How did you know I was thinking about a lot of different things?" Nick asked.
"I can read minds!" Chief Bogo exclaimed. He grinned. "I remember that look on your face when it was the look I had. She commented on it when I was trying to figure out what experience to give her."
Nick slid off of the chair. "That's almost as good as reading minds, Chief. Thank you."
Chief Bogo stood and opened the door for Nick. "Thank you, Wilde. You and Hopps are the best officers at this station. I'm lucky to have you two here." Chief Bogo leaned down. "Don't tell any of the officers I said that, though," he whispered. "They all think that they're the best."
"Don't worry, Chief," Nick replied, chuckling. "I think the others are better than I am, so it all evens out." He headed out of Chief Bogo's office, toward his own desk, and the chief closed the door behind him.
"Hey, Nick! Got a minute?" Clawhauser shouted from the dispatch desk. Nick turned on his heel and walked over to where Clawhauser was scribbling on a clipboard. A donut sat unattended next to Clawhauser's elbow. "Hey, I've got a quick question for you. How many cases did you and Judy finish this week? Chief wants me to fill out the report for this month."
Nick thought for a moment. "Fourteen, I think…" He thought a little longer, then grinned. "That's right, fourteen was last week. This week was eleven."
Clawhauser jotted the number down. "Awesome, thanks!"
"No problem. Good luck on the report," Nick said. "Oh, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Shoot," Clawhauser said, glancing up at the fox. "What can I do for you?"
"If you get a chance, can you ask Judy if there's something she's always wanted to do but never was able to, please?"
Clawhauser nodded. "I assume you don't want her to know you asked, huh?" Nick gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll see what I can do. Check in on your way home, maybe."
Nick thanked Clawhauser and headed back to his desk. He really hoped the dispatch officer could get something from Judy.
When Nick got home that night, he pulled the Kilroy Was Near vinyl record from its sleeve and put it on his record player. He placed the needle at the beginning of the record and let the music play.
As the chords and lyrics sounded out, Nick pulled some leftover beans and rice out of the refrigerator and stuck them in the microwave. The leftovers spun slowly in the microwave and he watched moodily, stewing over the problem that he still couldn't find a solution for.
Clawhauser had managed to talk to Judy, but she hadn't said anything specific. In fact, the dispatch officer had quoted Judy's response to Nick: "I haven't done a lot of things, and I want to do almost all of them." When Clawhauser had tried to get specifics, Judy had shrugged and replied, "Nick knows what I've done. You can ask him." Nick did indeed know what she had done, but that hadn't helped him in the slightest. He had thanked Clawhauser for trying and then walked-trudged, actually- back to his apartment. While he had trudged, he stewed. Now he was home, he stewed. Then, while he took his food out of the microwave and ate it, he stewed.
Nick stuck the final bite of beans and rice in his mouth and chewed, then pushed the container and fork to the side. He rested his head on his paws and hummed with the music, still stewing. "What do you give someone who doesn't want anything?" he asked quietly. There was no response from the room at large, unfortunately. Frowning, Nick stood up from the stool he'd been sitting on, took his dishes to the sink, then stretched out on the couch in his living room. "Maybe I should just sleep for the night and decide tomorrow…" Nick muttered, closing his eyes. The third to last track on the album finished and he was about to fall asleep when his phone started ringing.
Nick almost dropped his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket and fumbled with the screen, trying to answer the call. "Hey, J. What's the matter?"
"Not too much!" Judy's voice came from the speaker. "I wondered if you wanted to go with a group from the station to sing carols at the Christmas Tree Lighting tomorrow night."
"What would we be singing?" Nick asked, hopping off of the couch to turn the record player off. "I'm getting tired of things like 'Jingle Bell Rock.'"
He heard Judy laugh. "No, we wanted to sing a couple of obscure songs. Are you in?"
Nick glanced at a calendar. The next day was completely free. "That works, sure. Should I meet you somewhere?"
"Clawhauser will pick us up. Thanks, Nick! See you tomorrow!" Judy hung up, and Nick was left listening to the after-call tone. He chuckled and shook his head.
"Most enthusiastic mammal I know," he said as he wrote a reminder on the calendar. He set the pen down and, turning off the lights, made his way back to the couch. Taking a deep breath, Nick let himself relax. As the conversation replayed in his head, he idly considered what he should give Judy.
A line of the conversation seemed to jump out at Nick. He smiled as he fell asleep, stretched out on the couch.
The next night, Nick was hurriedly eating a slice of cheese pizza when he heard a knock on his door. "It's open!" he called with a full mouth. The door opened and Clawhauser came in, sporting a red sweater patterned with two reindeer kissing. Judy poked her head in but didn't enter. "I'm almost ready," Nick said, swallowing another bite of pizza.
Clawhauser waved away Nick's comment. "No worries, Nick. We came earlier than we needed to, so take some time."
Nick flung a closet open and rummaged through it. "Where's the Lighting happening?"
"In front of the station," Judy replied, tapping out a quick message on her phone. She looked up from her phone and glanced around Nick's apartment. "Francine wants to know where we are, guys."
"Francine can wait a moment," Nick remarked, tugging a green sweater out of the closet. He threw the sweater on and wrapped a scarf around his neck. "I'm ready."
Clawhauser headed out and Nick turned the lights off. He locked the door and then followed Clawhauser and Judy out of the apartment complex. A rather beat-up truck sat near the curb. The truck had a dent in one door and was missing the cover for one headlight.
"Hop in," Clawhauser said, clicking a key fob to unlock the doors. "Terrence may not look like much, but he'll get us there."
Nick exchanged incredulous glances with Judy. "You named your truck?" Nick asked, opening the passenger door and climbing into the back.
Clawhauser shrugged and closed the driver's door. "The first thing I heard when I started him up the first time was 'Terrence,' so that's what I called him. Make sure to buckle up."
Judy pulled the seatbelt down and snapped it in. "Ready! Hey, Nick, did I tell you what we're going to sing?"
The fox was struggling to click his seatbelt in. After a particularly vicious push, the seatbelt finally gave in. "Not specifically, no," Nick replied as Clawhauser turned the key and, checking his blind spots, eased into the flow of traffic. "You said that we were singing obscure stuff."
"Here's the sheet music," Judy said, handing some papers back to Nick. "Clawhauser and I have our own, so you can keep those."
Nick examined the papers. "These look interesting. Hey, I know this one!"
A couple of minutes later, Clawhauser pulled into a parking spot in front of the station. Nick waited for Judy to get out, then climbed over the seat and out of the truck. He could see Francine standing in front of the station, impatiently tapping her foot. Clawhauser locked the truck and the three headed over to where Francine stood.
"Finally! Let's hurry up and practice," Francine said, trying to sound composed and failing terribly. Nick rolled his eyes but let her herd him into place.
Clawhauser took some crumpled papers out of his pocket and smoothed them out. "What are we singing first, Francine?"
Nick, while Francine was explaining, went over his plans in his head. Once he was sure he could remember everything, he let himself pay attention to Francine, who was starting the practice.
Christmas Day passed in a blur as Nick wrote in his journal. He hadn't ever really kept a journal, but when Judy suggested it he started. Busily recalling the last few days, Nick wasn't aware of the time passing. He recorded how Francine had kept them practicing until twenty seconds before the Lighting began, but the practice made them sound fantastic. The mayor had thanked them for the music.
He recorded the day after the Lighting, which was mostly taken up with a visit to the hospital to spend time with the children there. A little antelope named Art had clung to Nick's arm for most of the visit, only letting go to play checkers with Judy.
Nick recorded the day after the hospital, when he spent most of the day cooking. Some of the food he had taken to the local soup kitchen. Another part of it he had taken to Miss Fieldwater, the old goat that lived next door, since she didn't have any family to spend time with. The rest of it he had kept for himself.
When Judy knocked on his door, Nick was finishing writing about visiting Miss Fieldwater. "Door's open!" he called as he wrote the final word. Judy opened the door and came in, carrying a couple of presents. "Tree's over there," Nick said, slipping his journal into a drawer.
"Not many presents to yourself, huh?" Judy said, looking at the tree. "I thought you would want to spoil yourself."
Nick laughed and sank into his couch. "What I bought for myself was enough to spoil me."
"Who goes first?" Judy asked, sitting in a chair. "I think I went first last year."
"If so, then I should go first." Nick reached out with his footpaw and snagged a present addressed to him. "This is what I gave myself, I think." He picked the gift up and unwrapped it. It was a blue silk Armadillo button-up shirt.
Judy's eyes were wide. "Wow, you did spoil yourself! Those cost a fortune!" She grinned. "My turn! What did I give myself?" The bunny unwrapped her present. "Oh, that's right! I didn't remember I gave myself this." The gift was a hand blender from a top-quality brand. "Maybe my smoothies will turn out better," Judy commented, reading the instructions on the box.
Nick pulled the gift that Judy gave him over so he could unwrap it. "How did you know I wanted this, J?" Nick asked, holding up a copy of Davenport's Annotated Poetry.
"I didn't see it in your bookshelves on the night we sang at the Lighting," Judy answered. "I figured you would have it out if you had it, so I took the chance."
The fox flipped open to a random page. "'Like night I walked beneath the scene, And ne'er I saw the promised queen…' I can't thank you enough, Judy."
Judy shrugged and reached for the last present addressed to her. "I found it at the thrift store down the street from the station, but it was in really good condition. So I grabbed it." She glanced at the gift in her paws. "Is this from you to me?" Nick nodded, and Judy opened the gift. Her mouth fell open. "How… did you find this?"
"It was in the music shop in Saharah," Nick said. "There was a two for one sale going on, so I asked for some help and that turned out to be the last copy of Nightlife. I also got Kilroy Was Near for myself."
"This is incredible," Judy said quietly. "I didn't expect you could find one. It's a very rare album. Every copy I've seen is more than a hundred dollars, since Lochness didn't have many copies made."
"Well, there you go," Nick replied, scanning a poem. "By the way, I need to go to the train station. Want to walk with me?"
Judy hopped to her footpaws. "Let's go."
After Nick locked up, the two walked to the train station. It was very close to where Nick lived, so it didn't take too long to get there. The sun was about halfway between the zenith and the horizon and falling fast. Anxiously, Nick checked the time on his phone. "I'll be on time," he murmured. Judy shot a glance at him, but he didn't respond and so she gave up.
Nick hurried into the train station and up to the ticket counter. "I have two tickets for the 4:15 trip on the Jackalope." He reached in his pocket and handed the two tickets he pulled out to the wildebeest ticketer. The ticketer punched the tickets and passed them back to Nick.
"The Jackalope is due in three minutes," he told Nick. "Head on over there for boarding."
"Come on, Judy," Nick said, walking toward the boarding line. Judy stopped in her tracks and put her paws on her hips.
"What's going on, Nick?"
Nick rolled his eyes and walked back to Judy, then started gently pulling her to the line. "You'll see, J. Oh, there it is!"
A blue and orange train slowed to a stop on the tracks in front of Nick and Judy. The middle door slid open and a raccoon stepped down. "All aboard for the 4:15 Jackalope! Tickets punched and presented, please!" Nick handed the two tickets to the raccoon, who punched them a second time and waved Nick and Judy onto the train.
Nick reached back and grabbed Judy's paw so he could guide her. He led her to the observation dome on the front of the Jackalope, completely unaware that she was blushing. Once they arrived at the observation dome, Nick let go of her paw and hurried to the front of the dome. Judy followed slowly, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Nick, what's going on?" Judy asked again. Nick glanced over his shoulder and smiled.
"You'll see, J. I told you already," Nick replied, looking out of the dome at the horizon. The sun was falling quickly, bathing the land in a soft, golden, pre-dusk glow. Judy shrugged and joined Nick at the dome.
The loudspeaker buzzed, then a voice came out of it. It sounded like the voice of the raccoon. "Attention! The 4:15 Jackalope is now departing. Again, the Jackalope is departing. Next stop is Crickhollow! Crickhollow in ten minutes! Thank you!" The raccoon stopped talking, and as he stopped the Jackalope jerked forward, then jerked forward a little more strongly, and then jerked into a smooth glide along the tracks. The train quickly picked up speed until, in only a few moments, it left the city behind and rushed past the blurry landscape. Nick shot a glance out of the back of the dome and saw the city getting a little smaller every minute.
Seven minutes later, a smudge appeared in front of the Jackalope. Nick glanced back at the city and was surprised that it was still rather large. He nudged Judy in the side and gestured to the city. "Did you ever realize Zootopia was so big, J? We've been out of the city for seven or eight minutes and I can still make out the Lionheart Skyscraper in all the buildings."
Judy had looked over to where Nick had gestured. He heard a small intake of breath. She swallowed and turned forward again. "Even coming into Zootopia for the first time, I thought it was large." Judy let out a small laugh. "I didn't know it was this large, though. I… I can't fathom it."
Nick crossed his arms on the lip where the dome met the wall and rested his muzzle on his arms. "I've ridden trains before, but I rarely look back. It's…" He shrugged. "It isn't something I usually do. But I looked back this time." The Jackalope slowed and stopped, presumably at the Crickhollow station.
"Why don't you ever look back?" Judy asked, letting her elbows rest on the same lip that Nick rested on. "I would think that looking back would help sometimes."
The fox chuckled hollowly. "I don't like looking back, mostly because I'm not proud of a lot of what I did. I mean, sure, I got an education, I like reading and acting, but I hustled a lot of mammals. That's what I'm not proud of." He fell silent and stared out of the dome. He knew Judy was waiting for him to continue, but Nick didn't want to keep talking. Now that he had put it out there… what else was there to say?
"I thought you kept a journal, though," Judy said.
"I do. But only because you suggested it, and I've never written about times before working with you. Even then, I never wrote about yelling at you at the press conference." Nick sighed. This was not how he had imagined this Christmas going. "I much prefer looking ahead, since I can assume that the future will be better and brighter."
Out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw Judy looking at him. He couldn't tell what expression she was wearing, though. She noticed him watching and smiled. "I can understand that. But I also think looking back is good, too. If you only look at the future, how will you know if life is getting better? How do you know if you're growing?" Judy looked out of the dome again as the Jackalope slid away from the Crickhollow station. "I don't like looking at the past either, but I do it so I can make sure I'm doing better than I did before."
Nick stopped looking at Judy and focused on the surrounding terrain. It was growing more and more gold, with some scarlet and orange adding extra character as the sun touched the horizon. The next stop was Judy's home town. As the scarlet grew brighter, Nick considered what Judy had said. It made sense, but he wasn't sure if it applied to him.
The two were silent for a while, and Nick continued to think. He wasn't sure what Judy was doing. Maybe she was thinking. Maybe she was singing to herself. Maybe… she was thinking he was weird, or wrong, in not looking back. He would look back… for her. Well, maybe he would. But did it apply to him?
Suddenly, Nick remembered one night. It was before he had met Judy. He had gone to a dance and met a pretty vixen, and they had danced. Though he had parted ways with the vixen after dancing, he had enjoyed the dancing more than anything else he had done in a while. But since it had been during the days he preferred to forget, he had pushed the memory away, and he had even pushed away the idea of dancing, something he had found he loved.
With that, the floodgates broke. Other things Nick had enjoyed presented themselves: eating ice cream, fencing, and going to see plays jostled around for position with going to the museum, playing arcade games, and trying to learn how to ice skate. Those weren't the only things he remembered, though. He remembered so many things that he couldn't list them all. Nick expected the memories to hurt. The truth, though, was that those memories made him happy. That was something he hadn't expected.
Nick shook his head. The Jackalope had, by this time, arrived at and left Judy's home town, and was running through the canyon that led into Zootopia. The sky was getting darker, but it wasn't completely dark yet. Straightening up, Nick glanced over at Judy. She was looking at the sky, and he could see the gold and red reflecting in her eyes. He smiled slightly and nudged her.
Judy started. "What?" she asked, looking at Nick.
Nick's smile grew as he gestured out of the window. "We're coming to the reason we're on this train, J."
Judy turned her gaze to the land in front of the train, and at that moment the Jackalope's path started to curve. The canyon ended abruptly.
Zootopia stood in front of the train. The sky was nearly black. Judy gasped.
The city lights were turning on. From the vantage point of the observation dome, all of the city was visible. First one light turned on in Saharah. Then another turned on, this time in Tundratown. Three lights switched on in Savanna. Soon, the lights were flicking into being all across the city, creating a mosaic of illumination. In one section of the city, the mosaic was a stark white. In another, it was a soft gold. In yet another, it was a pale yellow-white. The effect was staggering.
Then the Moon peeked above the skyline. The mosaic of lights was bathed in a silvery shine that simultaneously softened and highlighted the contrast between the differing sections of the city. Multicolored lights were barely visible as they clung to buildings, but they added a little extra flavor to the scene. The city grew larger and more impressive as the Jackalope barreled toward the Center station.
Nick glanced over at Judy. She was gazing out of the window, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. "Nick…" Judy whispered, still looking at the lights. "This is amazing…"
Nick leaned against the lip of the observation dome. "Merry Christmas, Judy. I… I didn't just want to give you that album. It needed to be something incredible," Nick explained. Then he looked out of the window and murmured, "Something incredible for someone incredible." Judy didn't hear his murmuring.
"Is that why Clawhauser was asking me questions?" Judy asked. She couldn't seem to tear herself away from the lights.
"The chief suggested an experience rather than a physical gift," Nick replied. "So I needed to know what I could do for you. You weren't any help, though."
Judy finally looked at Nick. She grinned and lightly punched his arm. "I can't make things easy for you. That would ruin the whole thing."
Nick shook his head in amusement. Judy looked out of the dome again, and the fox returned to his train of thought. Did looking back apply to him? The happiness from the memories seemed to indicate that. …Yes, Nick decided as a wave of emotion ran over him. He would look back, but only to see where he came from. Well… and maybe to gather the happy things.
Hesitantly, hardly believing he was daring, Nick slid a little closer to Judy and put an arm around her shoulders. She glanced up and him, and he was relieved to see her smiling. "Would you like to take ballroom dance lessons with me?" Nick asked. "I like dancing, but I don't know how to do it really well."
He was surprised when she laughed. "Hmm…" Judy said, and then she grinned. "Are you sure it's not that you just want an excuse to wear a tuxedo?"
Nick chuckled. Judy leaned her head against him. "I would love to. Tomorrow?" Judy asked.
Nick nodded in answer to Judy's question. As the Jackalope came to a stop, the two left the observation dome, one thinking about how much she loved the lights of the city and the other considering whether he wanted to start recording his life tonight or the next day.
The fox and the bunny ended up walking for more than an hour under those lights, quietly enjoying each other's company.
A/N: I finally wrote my 2016 Christmas fic! Woo-hoo! I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father's help during this! Honestly, everything can be traced to school and depression and… laziness, really, as to why I didn't finish this. Oh, and writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story! I'm a shameless Nick/Judy shipper, so it snuck itself in…