Summary: Zootopia part 3
Bunnies, always so emotional

They followed Officer Hopps inside the club. An antelope near the door sold glow-sticks and Pred Pride merch from a booth. Animals in black shirts labeled "Pred Pride: Crew" were finishing up straightening and cleaning the aftermath of the heartless attack. Others replaced finger foods at tables along one wall. A couple of officers lined the perimeter, standing as still and out of the way as they could manage. Towards the back of the club was a bar, with three different mammals serving drinks to the partiers sitting on bar stools and standing nearby. A snow leopard was DJing in a corner by the massive dance floor, and a few clusters of animals were dancing in the center. It was a little barren, but more animals were trickling in now that the fight was over and things appeared safe.

Officer Hopps waved at the kids as she went to go stand along the wall. "See you around - have fun!" They smiled and waved back, then descended on the glow sticks. Sora got red bracelets for each wrist and a blue pendant, Kairi wanted a flower crown with a purple glow stick for the band and a purple pendant to match, while Riku looped blue, purple, and red circles around his neck. Thus equipped, Sora and Kairi immediately headed for the dance floor with Riku trailing behind. The music was loud, with a steady bass beat that rattled up through their feet. All three teens stood at the edge of the floor, hesitant to join in. Finally, Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and pulled him out with her. Though initially surprised, once they'd settled into the song he wore a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Settling himself against a wall out of the way, Riku watched the two of them dance, a small smile on his face. The expression didn't reach his eyes.

After a couple of songs with fast, excited tempos and upbeat melody lines, the DJ selected a slower paced song. Kairi swayed back and forth, smiling down at Sora. Sure, she'd have preferred if she wasn't double his height the first time the really and truly got to dance together, but this was still nice. It was impossible to not smile when their eyes met - a rush of happy nerves filled her, and she wouldn't have been surprised at all if someone told her she was literally glowing. Enraptured as she was, she couldn't miss the occasional glances Sora threw in Riku's direction. Honestly, she kept peering at him too as he leaned against the wall and talked with Officer Hopps. He looked sad, his ears and tail low, his eyes guarded.

"I think Riku's mad at me," Sora cut through her thoughts. She turned back to him in surprise, not expecting to see him watching her watch Riku. Sora's ears drooped, his eyebrows crinkled with worry. She even noticed his nose was twitching slightly.

"He might be," she said quietly, glancing at the ground. "You were pretty crazy out there today." Looking back up, she gave him a weak smile.

Sora groaned, hunching over and dragging his hands over his face in exasperation. "Pretty stupid, you mean," he groused.

"That's not what I said." Sora looked at her again, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "You weren't stupid," Kairi continued, "You were brave. Just, sometimes, you didn't need to be. We were there to help you, but you didn't let us." She lowered her voice, bending close to Sora so he could hear her over the music. "And in this world, this form… we were really worried for you. If that heartless had stepped on you- you could have died. Again."

Anger flashed over Sora's face, and he instinctively clacked his teeth at her, causing her to start back upright. "That's not fair and you know it!" he argued, voice cracking and louder then he meant it to be. The animals near them stopped dancing, looking at the two teenagers. Riku looked up from where he and Judy were talking, and quickly made his way to his friends.

An imposingly horned oryx strode up beside Sora. "Is this predator bothering you?" she asked, glaring Kairi down. Sora started to protest, but a polar bear spoke over him, getting in the ungulate's face.

"What makes you assume it was the predator who started the fight?" they argued.

"I didn't have to assume anything-"

"Hey! There's no fight!" Sora yelled, trying to shove his way in-between the two animals. They simply pushed around him, ignoring his voice. Other animals started taking sides and shouting over each other. Tired and irritated, Kairi shoved her way through the oryx and polar bear with a roar.

"Enough!" she thundered, silencing the animals around them, even the DJ. "Listen to him!" she pointed aggressively at Sora, determined that he was going to be heard no matter his size. Riku stood protectively beside the two of them.

"There was no fight!" Sora insisted. "Nothing happened - we were just talking. These two," he took both Riku and Kairi's hands, "are my best friends. Aren't we here because we know better than this? Aren't you here because you know there's nothing different between us- that in our hearts, we're all the same?"

The effect of Sora's words rippled out in the silent space. The other animals involved relaxed their shoulders, dropping their glares for embarrassed smiles and shrugs of acceptance. Some exchanged apologies. The DJ started up the music again, and people went back to dancing. Sora looked up at both his friends, a warm smile on his face. He gave both their hands a squeeze, then let go. He and Kairi both started dancing, but Riku turned as if to leave. Sora reached out and caught his hand again.

"C'mon, come dance with us, Riku," he urged, tugging on his best friend's hand. Riku glanced at him over his shoulder, smiling helplessly. He shook his head.

"Fine, if that's what you want," he said with a chuckle. Sora just beamed. The three of them danced the rest of the night together, only leaving in time to catch the late tram back to Bunny Burrow and their gummi ship.

Officer Judy Hopps hadn't been able to leave well enough alone. She'd been keeping an eye on the party as more and more animals arrived, but kept coming back to her three new consultants. They were younger than she'd originally realized, and she felt a little worried at having roped three children into hunting monsters for the police. Then again, it sounded like that was something they were going to do whether she involved them or not. Their story was a little fishy all around, but she couldn't fault their work. They also seemed genuine enough that she believed they had a good reason to keep things to themselves. Still, she kept a watchful eye on them, just in case.

After scanning the room for the umpteenth time, she flicked her attention back to the teenagers once more. The sight of a bunny not much taller than her dancing with a lioness made her smile. Both of them looked ecstatic to be spending time together; it was adorable. But she felt for their friend. The silver wolf leaning against the wall reminded her of another canine who wore a somber expression when he thought no one was looking. It didn't seem fair that he should be alone with friends, so she walked on over.

"They're sweet," she observed, leaning on the wall next to Riku, hands in her pockets.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then turned his attention back to his friends. "They are," he agreed with a subtle smile.

Judy watched him, and then realized who, exactly, he was looking at. "He doesn't know, does he?" she asked quietly.

Riku's ears flicked back as the smile vanished off his face. "No," he replied, letting out a breath like it was a weight, "he doesn't know."

"And you're ok with that?" she asked, looking up at him.

Riku met her gaze evenly for a beat, then turned back to watching Sora and Kairi. "Look at them," he gestured towards them with his muzzle. "Of course I'm ok with that."

"You're a good friend, Riku," Judy said sincerely. He looked at her again; she was staring at the dancers but not really seeing them, a sad smile on her face.

"You've got someone too," he observed, watching his friends again.

Judy shook her head. "No, I don't. Not anymore."

"What happened?"

She sighed. "I may have said some terrible, misguided things. I ruined our friendship… and the entire city. All at once."

Riku made a small sound, not quite a chuckle but not not one either. "I did the same thing, more or less, two years ago. It's hard to come back from that." He paused. "Sora and Kairi don't really hold grudges, but sometimes I still feel like I have to make it up to them." He looked at Judy's face. "Have you tried talking to your person? You might be surprised."

"Nope," she shook her head, giving Riku a falsely cheerful smile. "I'm pretty sure that bridge is burnt." Fake smile fading, she looked back out over the crowd. "I can't imagine him ever wanting to speak to me again."

"Who was he?" Riku asked.

Judy shook her head again. "Just some fox. You remind me a little of him, actually." That earned her an actual chuckle.

"Must be the ears," he deadpanned. Judy laughed. Both of them fell quiet for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

"You know," Riku said quietly, "I don't think you ruined this city, no matter what you did. And I think you'd be surprised, if you talked to him again."

Judy opened her mouth to respond, but Sora's sudden outburst cut her off. In two rabbit-paced heartbeats, Riku was already at his friend's side. By the time Judy had gotten there, the whole thing was over. She watched all three of them in awe as Sora turned the crowd in five sentences. And then she watched some more, back against the wall again, while one tall grey wolf danced with his two best friends - and they never even noticed he was matching every step to both of theirs.

It was nearly 4 in the morning when they made it back to the gummi ship.

"We should find somewhere in the city to park this thing," Sora said through a yawn, ears drooping.

Kairi stretched her arms above her head, echoing his yawn. "I call using the bathroom first. You guys can set up the beds."

"Fine by me," Riku agreed, pulling the glow sticks off his neck. All three of them headed to the storage lockers along the back wall. Kairi dug through hers for pajamas and everything else she'd need to get ready for bed, while Sora started pulling out their mattresses. They were all double his height, but made of a lightweight material. He managed to clumsily wrangle them out of their places one at a time and throw them on the floor. Riku glanced over, saw the determined look on Sora's face, and decided he could handle it. He stowed his glow sticks in his locker while Kairi headed down the hatch.

"We should give Kairi her own space," he suggested walking over to fold down the two passenger seats into the floor to make more room.

Sora finished pulling the third mattress out, then turned, surveying the cabin. "How are we going to do that?"

"We could hang a curtain," Riku suggested. Sora smiled and nodded. He started digging through one of the lockers where Chip and Dale had stored extra gummi ship parts and other useful items for the journey. While he searched, Riku laid out the mattresses - two on one side, with a decent space between them, and then one across the room. Each mattress was already covered in a fitted sheet and there were more blankets in another locker.

"These'll work!" Sora crowed, holding out a bunch of gummi pieces fitted with hooks. Those engineering chipmunks thought of everything. Without any hesitation, he bounded over to Riku. "Help me up!" he insisted. Riku laughed, though his eyes and ears drooped with exhaustion. He kneeled down, helping Sora climb on to his shoulders while Sora's hands were full. Holding on to both of Sora's ankles, he carefully stood. Stacked together, they were the perfect height to reach the domed ceiling of the cabin, and soon all the hooked gummi blocks were stuck to it in a line. The boys grabbed a spare shower curtain and hung it by the hooks, splitting the cabin into two rooms. Then Sora hopped off Riku's shoulders and pulled out the rest of the bedding.

As they finished putting all of the pillows and blankets out, Kairi came back upstairs, dressed in purple pajama shorts and a pink tank top. The fur on her face was still a little damp, and she was carrying her clothes and her bag of bathroom things. She tucked those in her locker, then noticed the curtain and both of the boys watching her. Riku seemed normal, but his head was tipped ever so slightly to the side. Sora, on the other hand, was frozen, eyes a little wide and ears straight up. She glanced between the two of them, one eyebrow raised.

"We wanted to give you your own space," Riku offered. Kairi looked at the curtain, then back at them.

"Oh, thanks," she replied, turning to tuck her things in her locker. When she turned back around, arms now full of stuffed animals, Sora was still watching her out of the corners of his eyes as he fidgeted with his blankets. Riku had sat down on his bed and was messing with his phone. Kairi glanced back at the other boy. "You ok, Sora?" she asked. He practically jumped, looking down quickly and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Um, yeah, totally fine," he said, giving her a grin that was half grimace before turning tail and hopping onto his bed. Completely confused, Kairi walked around the curtain to her side of the space. She smiled when she saw the boys had made her bed already - she'd expected to just find pillows and blankets in a heap waiting for her to set them up. She settled her plushies around her while listening to the boy's conversation.

"You're hopeless," Riku ribbed Sora under his breath. Sora groaned, not bothering to be quiet at all, and flopped onto his back.

"You're telling me," he grumbled.

Riku laughed, shaking his head. "Go get ready for bed; I'll go last."

"Fine." Sora rose, grabbed his stuff, and headed downstairs. When he came back up, Riku was already in pajamas - long navy blue shorts and nothing else - and texting on his gummi phone. Sora's eyes widened again, but he quickly jerked his attention to the floor and skittered back to his bed.

Riku finished his text and glanced over at his friend. Sora was laying on his back, hands behind his head, staring up at the stars in a grey t-shirt and red pajama shorts. Riku couldn't make sense of his expression, so he rose without saying anything and took his turn in the bathroom. He came back up not much later.

"You two ok if I turn off the lights?"

"Yep!" Kairi called. Sora met Riku's eyes and nodded. His eyes flicked up and down once and then he quickly looked back at the stars. Riku shut off the lights, swallowing around the beating of his pulse in his throat. He took a deep, quiet breath to steady himself and then made his way to his bed and crawled under the covers.

"Good night Sora, Kairi."

"Night Riku! Night Kairi!" Sora returned, wriggling under the covers himself.

"Good night you two," Kairi added. None of them fell asleep before the sun was starting to rise.