Judy was sitting in her small but no longer quite so bleak apartment, after a long day of patrolling the City, when the phone rang. Her first thought was that it was Nick, and then she remembered when she said goodbye to him at the train station a few weeks before. They'd joked about how he would only be allowed one phone call and then he said, "Of course I'll have to call the lady who changed my life, who made me what I am. My mother." And then Judy had lightly punched his arm.

She picked up her phone but didn't recognize the caller. Nonetheless, she answered, because she was a police officer again and she had a duty to Zootopia, even in her off hours. "Hello?"

"Officer Hopps?"

"Yes?"

"This is Sgt. Theda Beara."

"Oh, yes, of course." She now recognized the voice of the drill sergeant who had trained her at the Police Academy.

"I'd like to talk to you about one of our new recruits, your friend, Nicholas Wilde."

Oh, no, what had Nick done? She'd thought that she really had changed his life. He would still be snarky and sneaky, but on the side of good, as when he'd helped her solve the missing mammals case. "Nick?" she whispered.

"Yes, I've never seen anyone like him."

Oh, no, oh, no! If only he had called her, she could've talked him out of whatever he'd done to screw up his chance to be a police officer. "You haven't?"

"No. He's sly and sarcastic. And he drives me up the wall. I think he's going to be a wonderful addition to the force."

"I'm really sorry. If you just got to know Nick, you would— What did you say?"

"I can just imagine what he'll be like when he's unleashed on criminals."

"Well, yes."

"I also wanted to ask if you'd be willing to be the guest speaker at the class graduation this weekend."

"Oh, I'd be honored!" She was still relatively new herself, and although she had cracked a big case, she'd made a lot of mistakes along the way, and not just typical rookie mistakes, but errors that had almost ripped their society apart. She was tempted to refuse the honor, but maybe in her speech she could talk about some of the challenges, yet in an upbeat way. And she still thought of herself as more of a tryer than a quitter.

"Good." The polar bear gave her the rest of the details and said that she would arrange with Chief Bogo for her to have the time off.

After Judy hung up, she was unable to sleep, despite how tired she was. She wanted to call Nick, but of course she couldn't. He was still in training, and she probably couldn't contact him unless it was an emergency. Well, maybe it would be a nice surprise for him, unless the guest speaker was announced in advance.

She also thought about calling her parents but they were still trying to get used to her having returned to her risky profession. They knew she hadn't been happy when she went back to the family farm. Her ears and her spirit had drooped. But she knew they also hoped she could find a career that wasn't as dangerous as being a cop. They were proud of her, but worried.

"Hey, way to go, Hopps!"

"You don't even know what she's honored about!"

"Does it bother you when I'm happy for other people?"

She did her best to ignore her bickering neighbors, the Oryx-Antlersons, even when they were arguing about her. She lay in bed, trying to think about what she wanted to say in her speech, but she couldn't help also thinking about how she would get to see Nick a few days earlier than expected. Despite a very rocky start, he was now her best friend. She had missed him when she had thoughtlessly said something anti-predator and alienated him. This was a different kind of missing him, thinking of good times they'd had and good times to come. She really hoped that he would be her partner, but that would be up to Chief Bogo of course.

"...Life's a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you..."

The crowd applauded and Judy beamed, but not as much as she did when Nick stood before her and she pinned on his badge. She wanted to give him a big hug but that would be unprofessional. Besides, there were the other new recruits she had to recognize. So she and Nick saluted each other and she moved down the list of graduates.

Later, when the recruits and guests were milling around, they had a couple minutes to talk.

"So did you like my speech?"

"Well, it was far from the worst I've heard you give."

"Uh, thanks." She would never live down the "biological component" speech.

"Relax, Fluff, you were great."

Judy had never really liked nicknames. Even her father calling her "Jude the Dude" was somewhat annoying, although the fact that he had come up with nicknames for all 276 of his kids was impressive. But she loved her dad and she was used to it. When Nick first started calling her "Fluff," "Carrots," and the rest, it had been condescending, but now it was more like, well, sort of like a big brother teasing her. Sort of. She did have brothers who were close to the height of the fox, and Nick was older than her by eight years. But she couldn't exactly think of him as a brother. She hadn't quite sorted out what she thought of him, other than she was fonder of him than she ever could've imagined being of a predator.

"Thank you," she said after too long a pause.

"So, Carrots, what are you doing the rest of the weekend?"

"Oh, I have to go visit my parents."

"Have to?"

"Well, when they heard I was giving the speech at the academy, they said it's half way 'home.' " The Police Academy was roughly one hundred miles from both Bunnyburrow and the City, on the Yellow Line of the Zootopia Transit Authority (ZTA).

"Ah, right."

"So did your folks come?" Judy craned her head, trying to see past the taller mammals, to spot any middle-aged foxes in the crowd.

"Uh, no." Nick didn't talk much about his family. He'd told her of his mom scrimping and saving for his Scout uniform. He never mentioned his dad. "We can talk about that some other time."

"OK." She sensed it was a delicate subject. She thought of how her family had always been a very strong presence in her life, until she moved to the City. And then she had a sudden thought. Maybe she should invite Nick home to meet her family. After all, he was free to leave the campus now that he'd graduated, and it might do him good to have some home-cooking. She knew he loved the blueberries they grew. Or would the experience be overwhelming? So many rabbits all at once.

She also had to consider that although her parents weren't as prejudiced as they used to be, having even befriended reformed bully Gideon Gray, it might be strange for her to introduce Nick as her best friend. She knew that she shouldn't think that way but she couldn't help it.

Before she could think of how to ask, or even decide if she wanted to ask, some of the other recruits came over and complimented her speech. Nick melted into the crowd. He was good at that.