Chapter One:

~Bunnyburrow Bound~

Nick Wilde stood in front of the mirror in Judy Hopps' small apartment, nervously fidgeting with the collar on his shirt. The early morning rays of the sun pierced through the slightly overcast sky and filtered in through the window. Judy laid behind him on the bed, cleaning her soft grey fur gently. "Would you stop acting so jittery? I promise you, it won't be that bad," Judy said warmly. She stood up and stroked the coarse red fur on his face.

"Easy for you to say. My family had a few members, yours has hundreds," Nick responded, his voice lacking its usual cool charm.

"And they're all hyper and bouncy. Don't step on any of the little ones, mind those manners I taught you, and you'll be fine," Judy responded.

"Hyper and bouncy? Great. Hundreds of you," Nick said, laughing nervously.

"Har-har, Mr. Slick. Would you stop fidgeting? We gotta' go, or we'll miss our train." Nick sighed and grabbed their bags off the floor. As they departed from the tiny homestead, Nick glanced back, scanning across the apartment. Bunnyburrow bound, I guess…. he thought. He let the locked door close softly behind him.

Nick and Judy had talked the stoic water buffalo known as Chief Bogo into letting them take a weekend off to visit home. Judy was obviously ecstatic about the idea of seeing her family for the first time in over two years. Nick, however, was not as exuberant about the idea. She had finally eased his mind enough to get him to go, but he was still highly reluctant at best. Him and crowds didn't play well together, nor did him and first impressions.

Down on the street, they were met with the usual buzz of Zootopia. Various animals lumbered and scurried to and fro, going about their daily business. Species from all different kinds of biomes populated City Centre, the elaborate structure of the Zootopia Police Department building looming overheard nearby. Nick and Judy began to weave through the crowd, narrowly avoiding an elephant's stomping feet. Judy stayed close on Nick's heels as they dashed towards the train station. After getting caught behind a group of sloths, they finally arrived at their platform just as the train began to board. They both flashed their tickets at the booth and clamored in towards the back of the train. As usual, any train leaving the city was sparsely filled. They had the entire traincar to themselves. Nick hauled their luggage onto the rack above them and took their seats. Judy laid her head over on Nick's chest, and for the first time all morning, Nick started to feel somewhat calm. He looked down at the soulful eyes of the rabbit he had fallen quite in love with. There was some hidden emotion behind those eyes he could never quite identify, and it had become a quiet pastime of his to gaze aimlessly into them in failed attempts at discovery.

The train suddenly chugged to a slow start and began its lethargic movement down the tracks. Judy snuggled her head slightly deeper into Nick's chest, and Nick began to scan the horizon as the train climbed the tracks above the city. The Zootopia City Tower set the center point for the entire metropolis, City Centre a mere suburb in size compared to the massive biome-centric districts sprawling out from it. It wasn't long at all before the rails had taken them out of the city and into the mountainous horizon. The rolling hills were covered in numerous evergreen pines, the strong minty smell of which wafted through the closed windows. After a few minutes, Judy, who had been snoring ever-so-softly in a light sleep, popped her eyes open and smiled at Nick. Nick grinned warmly back. Judy eased up off his chest and began looking out the window. "Hey, Nick…." she spoke slowly. "There's something you should probably know…."

Nick's breath caught in his chest. Panic immediately began to take hold. "Oh… yeah…? What's that…?" he asked nervously.

"My, um… family doesn't know that you're… a fox…." Judy responded almost as nervously.

"What?!" Nick exclaimed. "How could you not tell them, Judy?!"

"Hey, hey. Calm down, please…. It's not as bad as you think. There's a family friend named Gideon Grey that my parents went into business with. He's a fox as well. So, they're not prejudiced or judgmental. They just… might be a little surprised to see me dating one, is all," Judy explained.

"You should've told them regardless…." Nick muttered. "This'll put us both in an awkward situation."

"It's going to be awkward anyway," Judy said.

"Thanks… for the encouragement," Nick answered haughtily.

"Nick, I'm sorry…. Just trust me. Okay?" Judy asked, putting on a slightly pouty face.

Nick looked over into her indecipherable eyes and realized that it was simply impossible to say no to her. "…Okay," Nick said reluctantly.

"You know you love me!" Judy quipped.

"Do I know that?" Nick questioned, looking over at her smiling face. "Yes, I do." Judy laid her head back on Nick's chest comfortably, and the rest of the long train ride was spent in relative silence until Bunnyburrow loomed upon the distant horizon.