Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Disney, least of all Zootopia (yet)

A wise mammal once said that a lifetime is too short to be significant. In the grand scheme of things it really is insignificant. And yet for each and everyone of us a lifetime is all we have.

So to each and every mammal a lifetime is the most significant commitment to be made.

Farewell my only friend

The spaceport was filled with mammals of all kinds of species as they went their merry way.

All sorts of mammals were boarding ships and transporting goods. That was the norm here in the biggest spaceport that earth had to offer.

And yet there was something special going on.

Something that filled many with happiness and sadness.

Something that inspired awe in some and fear in others.

The new Genesis project was starting its first fleet of deep space transports.

Mammals of all species and walks of life were chosen to board these ships and create a new civilization deep in the still unexplored system of CB-142.

Science had found out that this particular system had two habitable planets in it.

Judy had always dreamed of exploring a whole new world.

She had always dreamed of being a new settler on a strange planet far away from home. It was the greatest adventure that she could imagine.

And after trying to get a spot for so long, she was finally chosen.

She would be part of this great quest to spread civilization through the Milky Way.

So here she was, standing in front of the great star ship STS Prometheus like she had always dreamed.

Soon its gates would open and she would be called inside, to be put into cryosleep.

Why did she feel so anxious?

Why did was she feeling so sad?

This was the greatest thing to ever happen to her!

She had been feeling butterflies in her stomach back when she read the message the congratulated her for being picked as a farmer for the project.

She turned around and it dawned on her.

The entire area was crowded and not many mammals were allowed here, and yet they had all come.

Her siblings, her parents and most importantly her best and only friend, Nick.

The red fox was just casually standing next to her while she was staring at the ship that would be her home for the next 500 years. His expression was just as casual as it always was, with his signature smirk that she sometimes hated so much.

Yeah this damn stupid grin that hid his emotions so well, even from her.

Sadness overcame her when she realized that this was the last time that she would be able to see it.

She turned around and ran into his arms, embracing him in a bone crushing hug.

Normally Nick would have said something sassy or made a sarcastic remark. But it showed her just how hard it was on him as well when he didn't.

She had no Idea how long she just stood there and hugged him like he was the most precious thing she had ever held in her arms.

Her best friend, the only one who had always been there for her. Through all the good and all the bad.

She had never truly understood why he had refused to join the program with such passion instead of going on this great adventurer together with her.

He had always said that he liked earth and that he wanted to stay with his mom, so that he could care for her once she had grown old.

But that meant that the two of them would never see each other again and even Nick's mother had agreed with Judy that her son was being stupid in that regard.

And yet Judy could not help but wonder if she had been too selfish by asking Nick to just leave everything behind and come with her.

Maybe she had been too selfish by just deciding to leave him!

Maybe she should be staying here?

With him, with her family?

She could always be a normal farmer back here on earth.

NO! She needed to go, this was her dream!

And she would never get another chance like this. And more importantly she would never forgive herself if she gave up now.

Her name and identification number were called and she knew that it was time to go.

She let go off Nick and hugged her parents and said her goodbyes.

And once more she stopped in front of Nick.

"So I guess this is goodbye." She said awkwardly and the situation finally caught up to her as she was choking up.

Nick's poker face finally broke as well and he looked just as sad as she was.

"Yeah, I guess so."

He hugged her and gave her a kiss right between the ears.

She blushed and in a daze she replied with a kiss on his cheek. He deserved as much after being with her for all these years.

They were not looking at each other. It was one of these moment were if one of them were to actually look at the other, well, they would probably not be capable doing what needed to be done.

Judy broke their embrace and turned around after her name was called once more.

Somehow she was waiting for Nick to call her back.

She fully expected him to stop her and if he did...then what?

Would she stop?

Would she go back?

No there was no way!

She was Judith Laverne Hopps and she was going to be on this adventure even if it meant leaving behind everything that she knew.

The short pang of guilt that she felt when she passed the security checkpoint and entered the ship was immediately swallowed by the sense of wonder that overcame her once she saw the glistening interior.

Mammals from all kinds of species were herded towards their respective sleeping areas while colorful displays gave information on the boarding process.

The anticipation was killing Judy as she stood in the smaller mammal line together with a young buck who had introduced himself as Jack Savage.

And while it was nice to meet a like minded rabbit, it was not like she was interested in talking to him at the moment.

Her focus was on the doorway that came closer and closer with every mammal that passed through.

It took a while but the queue was constantly shrinking which allowed to enter the room.

The room was not like she had imagined. She had thought that the area for cryosleep would be a huge room with pods all over the place.

But the room was rather small, in stark contrast to her imagination. It was like a small office with a a desk on the left that was home to a cheetah in a lab coat and then there was a machine in the middle of the room that resembled what she would have thought a cryopod should look like.

The cheetah smiled as she greeted her,"Miss Hopps, if you would come over here please."

Judy just nodded and took her place in front of the big desk.

"So, Miss Hopps as required by protocol I shall now ask you a few questions and you are supposed to answer with a simple yes or no."

The cheetah looked at her and Judy immediately replied with "yes!"

The cheetah smiled and a holographic interface appeared before her,"great you already got the hang of this. So let's get started then. You are Judith Laverne Hopps, born on earth, correct?"

Judy nodded,"yes."

"Good", the cheetah tapped the holographic interface and smiled,"Judith Laverne Hopps you have received a health checkup by the federation in the duration of the last week and have thus been vetted ready for duty. Is this correct?"

Another nod,"yes."

"Great, and you have read all the handbooks about the initiative which means that you are informed of all the risks that accompany this endeavor?"

"Yes."

The cheetah smiled once more,"alright last question. Knowing these risks are you sure that you want to participate in this mission?"

Judy hesitated for a whole second before she answered,"yes ma'am!"

"Alright" the cheetah said as she entered one last info into the holo interface.

She then got up and gestured towards the machine that was currently behind Judy.

"If you would."

Judy smiled and got up.

Her heart was currently trying to escape her chest as the machine whirred to life.

Its cocoon shaped exterior was broken when the tinted glass front raised up and fell back behind the machine.

Judy knew exactly what to do and jumped into the machine before her. And strapped herself in, just like the handbook had described.

The inside was comfortably warm and soft which surprised Judy since the machine was supposed to freeze her.

And while Judy was still wondering if she would look like one of these deep frosted carrots, the ones that one could buy in every decent supermarket.

She did not even notice the cheetah on the outside as she activated the machine. Which resulted in a very startled Judy when the glass front closed up before her.

Butterflies were going wild in her stomach when she realized that this was it.

A speaker on the inside of the cryopod played the message that she had waited to hear so long.

"Welcome brave adventurer. Congratulations for being chosen as one of us. My name is Skye Schnee and I wish you a safe journey. As the head of this operation I hope to see you in the best of spirits when we all safely arrive in CB-142. Until then, sleep tight."

There was a hissing sound but Judy felt nothing. The journey had begun.

Authors Note:

Here it is! My new project.
I am going to finish this before I write anything else(which is probably going to kill me).
So stay tuned for the next chapter.