Author's note: Guys the ending of my last story was supposed to be open and bittersweet so it could lead to a sequel, the problem is that in stead of implying that I rushed the release of the chapter and it ended up looking like I threw a sucker punch at all of you. It was not my intention. As an apology I give you the first in a 3 part chapter of the sequel, I did this in a rush so expect the quality of the next chapters to be better than this.
As always I'm broke, I don't own anything, don't sue.
….
They have only three options and none of them are any good: Hide, run away or fight. All of them come with varying risks and downsides and are the product of an unjust world.
Option number 1: Hide.
Of all the options available this was actually the best, it was the only one that allowed them to carry on their careers, hang out with their friends and not breaking the law. They could be together all the time and nobody else would interfere, they could snuggle next to each other in their dark apartment for nights on end and nobody would take that away from them.
This wonderful option had only one tiny little downside, they could never have sex, if they did the pheromones under their fur would advertise any mammal with a keen sense of smell that they broke the law and it wouldn't take long until they were institutionalized in an Asylum for reprogramming. The idea behind this stupid law is that interspecies couplings are a mental disorder and as such they can be treated and cured, the asylum is not supposed to be a punishment only some form of rehabilitation. Now it the medical treatment was actually effective both of them might have considered to go there by their own will, wouldn't it be great to go back they way it was before? Life seemed just so much simpler that way.
But a quick Zoogle research showed that all the medical treatment accomplished was increasing the rate of suicide in their patients by a 200 percent, yes three quarters of the mammals taken to treatment killed themselves within their first five years, the surviving rest lived a miserable lonely life and never dated again.
-"If this treatment is so terrible then why do they keep using it? Can't they see they are causing much more damage this way?"- Judy asked from her usual place in Nick's bed, snuggled next to him with his every limb wrapped around her while she was browsing the web in her I-carrot.
It had become the de facto conversation to have every day off, when work, cases and everyday hassles weren't there to distract them.
-"I have a theory carrots, WE are not sick, therefore they can't cure us because there's no disease to treat. All this places do is make you ashamed of your choice in mate and hammer down the idea that you are sick and there is something wrong with you, something you cannot change, add to it the loneliness you have because your mate was taken away from you and you can see how it all ends up in this."- He said pointing at the horrible statistics shown her phone.
It took a lot of self restraint for her not to throw her phone across the room.
Noticing the tension in his partner he hugged her even tighter and begun to rub his cheek against hers, a low growl emerged from his throat, it almost sounded like a purr. She hugged him back with all her strength, and risked a kiss to his cheek. But he was then the one who tensed and in a flash he left the bed and their apartment not even bothering to say a word.
-"I'm sorry!"- Judy yelled at his fast retreating form, she should have known a simple kiss might have triggered in her partner the desire to mate, so now he had to say away for a few hours until he could cool off.
That's why they never dared to kiss each other on the mouth, there was always the possibility of a slippery slope and then they could never take that back.
She left the apartment as well and went for a run, needing to clear her head too. They should be happier with the way things were, they had a very promising career and a lot of wonderful friends. And they loved each other very much, even spent almost all of their time together. Not even long married couples shared the bond they had.
So what was the importance of sex? It was definitely not worth it to lose all they had. Both took hormone suppressants and neither had ever been the "passionate" type, she was a bunny yes but she had always been so career driven that dates and mating had always been in the last of her priorities, the only reason she went on dates with bucks was to appease her parents and the only bunny she ever came close to feel attracted to had been Julien and had tried to rape her.
Jogging into Savannah main square had always helped her, but today she couldn't ignore the thousands of happy couples that were idly enjoying the sunny afternoon. If anything bothered her about her current situation with Nick is that all of the sudden the romantic movies and books she had always enjoyed now made her gag, in the last three months since Julien's downfall she had gone from a hopeless romantic to a cynical shrew about many things she used to enjoy. Deep down she resented the mammals, real or fictional, that could enjoy something she was forbidden to.
A couple of hippos giggled sweetly as she passed them by, her sensitive ears picked up a snipped of their conversation.
-"You liked your desert babe?"-
-"Not as much as the one we are having as soon as we get to my place"-
The sloppy wet sound of their passionate kiss made her retch with disgust; trying to escape it she ran far from the square and doubled the speed.
Buildings passed around her in a flash and no matter how fast she ran the combination of jealousy and rage would not go away, at a moment she tripped and fell hard on the cold filthy empty street, only then the protest her muscles had been giving her for a while now registered in her brain and she mewled pathetically.
She was glad no one was around to hear her cry; as it struck her like a ram the realization of why mating was such an issue. Sex on itself didn't matter, but it wasn't sex that she wanted, she wanted to make love.
-"Oh look what we have here, a poor little bunny crying on the floor"- A large wolf said pouting and feigning sympathy.
Judy lifted her head and saw the wolf smirking at her, then a weasel and a fox appeared by his side, she had been a cop long enough to know they were criminals and she could guess their intentions.
On Shaky hind legs she stood, and for a moment she considered warning the miscreants that she was a cop, but they had made the bad decision to mess with her right when she was in a very foul mood, so she chose to play a little with these punks.
Looking around she said truthfully –"I think I got lost"-
-"Don't worry cutie, give us all you have and we'll take you home"- The weasel extended his paw towards her demanding her wallet and phone.
Oh that's it, those guys are gonna pay.
-"DON'T CALL ME CUTE!"- She yelled at them with a powerful roar, then took the weasel by the wrist and threw him at his partners, all canides fell to the floor and before they had time to stand up and fight back she was on top of the wolf delivering two hooks at his head, as soon as the wolf laid limp on the floor she delivered a hard kick to the fox's stomach that was right next to them knocking the air out of him.
The weasel tried to run away but after a few steps she managed to catch him and twisted his arms below his back, he tried to kick her away but she lifted him from the ground and stamped him on a nearby wall using only her little arms.
….
Trunkaby and Rhinowicks were on patrol nearby and were more than happy to take the criminals to the precinct, but when they told Judy that precinct 10 in the nocturnal district had issued a warrant against the trio she asked them if she could take those three to the tenth immediately.
In the last few months the nocturnal district had been like a second home for her and Nick, it was a place where mammals could do whatever they wanted and no one would judge you for it. They had managed to be affectionate in several places in "Las Cuevas" and no one had given them even a side glance, she knew that if they ever managed to live like a full couple the only place they could pull this off was in the nocturnal district, interspecies relationships were technically illegal there as well but it would fall in the thousand laws that the district chose to ignore. The place was also home of one of the largest interspecies underground communities in Zootopia, with the resulting hybrids living even below in a peaceful community called Udertopia, where Golitah and his friends lived on both sides of the law. Nick and Judy had spent several nights in there, pretending they were just a regular couple hanging out and having fun.
The idea had formed in her head almost a month ago; Nick wasn't too sure about it when he heard it at first but didn't discard it either. They could ask to be translated to district 10, it was one of the most underfunded and corrupted district in the whole city where the worse cadets ended up. For hero cops working on the first district, the crown jewel of the police force, district 10 would be a very demeaning experience but for Judy it might be worth it.
She called Nick and explained him what had happened, he had been angry at her for ending up on such a dangerous position while alone, she had told him she could take good care of herself and that he should be giving her more credit. Trunkaby and Rhinowicks rolled their eyes at the lover's fight as they drove to the Nocturnal district, the wolf, fox and weasel in the back of the squad car looked equally annoyed.
Judy knew it was probably not the right time to ask for it but she didn't want to miss the opportunity
-"Nick, I'm going to the tenth precinct to deliver the suspects, would you like to meet me there?"- She asked with trepidation, knowing that what she really wanted was to use the excuse of delivering these criminals to talk to the Chief Garra of the tenth and see if relocation was possible or even worth it.
Nick responded tiredly –"Yeah carrots I'm going, are you sure they didn't hurt you?"-
-"For the last time, I'm fine. I'll see you in the tenth!"- She said cheerfully and hung up.
Nick groaned as he took a cab to meet his carrots "My mom was right that bunny will be the death of me". Relocating to the tenth was actually something he had considered several times, both civilians and officers in that district had a strict "don't ask don't tell" policy not only on who you chose to mate, but on anything you did behind closed doors.
But that policy stemmed on something that would not fit Judy in the slightest if she chose to work there, lack of funds plus inexperienced and underestimated officers usually added up to a crap ton of corruption. Someone as straight as her would probably send all her coworkers to prison or get killed trying. The only reason they guessed they could get away with being openly interspecies is that everyone else would be breaking the law one way or another and the least they could want in that situation is the attention of the authorities.
But at the same time the idea was tantalizing, deep underground in that non judgmental society they might be able to be themselves, even if that meant they had to live in the filth of the most crooked precinct. They could hide from the uptight detractors of their love in the dark caves of the nocturnal district, below the life they used to have but also from the "concerned citizens" that had nothing better to do than get into other mammal's business.
It wasn't a decision they should rush into, even when keeping it platonic somehow wasn't an option anymore, but hiding in the dark could be.
