Zootopia is property of Disney

The mammals around Nick were engaged in the usual drunken midnight activities. A wildebeest and a gazelle were getting into heated argument about which grass flavor was the best at the bar, slurring every few words. A couple of wolves were sloppily making out in the back corner, paying no attention to the lemurs playing darts only a few feet away. A marble colored vixen was eyeing Nick from across the room, and it looked like her friends, a stoat and a deer, were trying to convince her to go talk to him. Every now and again two mammals would give each other a push or a shove or ask to take things outside, but luckily none of them had escalated things that far. Nick was off duty, but he would still have to do his job if he spotted anything go down.

The bar he and his parents agreed to meet at, a late night place called Sleepwalkers, wasn't the nicest place in the city, but they didn't discriminate, so they thought it would be as good a place as any to meet up. Nick hadn't seen either of them since his graduation ceremony, only giving each of them the occasional phone call, so he was a little excited to see them.

His mom would be overjoyed to see him. She was always disappointed in Nick for his job as a hustler. She never told him this, but he could always tell. At the graduation ceremony, she was on the verge of tears when he had his badge pinned to him, and ever since has been saying how proud of him she was.

His dad was like that as well, always telling his friends or customers, "That's my son" or something whenever Nick and Judy made the news. He was also a bit disappointed in what Nick used to do, but he'd always understood why he did it. Foxes weren't looked upon very favorably, so getting stable work was often a bit tricky. That was luckily something his dad was able to avoid, as he owned and operated a tailor downtown for around twenty years now. Even getting the space for the shop had been a hassle, but it all worked out in the end.

They had divorced when Nick was around five years old. Things just didn't work out between them, like it had with many couples, so they split apart. Luckily they had both still actively engaged in Nick's life, so he never loved one of them any more or less than the other. They also remained fairly friendly with each other, despite their past relationship.

Nick took another sip of his drink, taking out his phone to check the time. They should be here any minute now, as long as his mom actually found out where his dad went. He had this thing he like to do where he would just pick a district and just walk down the streets at night, taking in the view of anything and everything he saw. He also liked to leave his phone at home when he did this to "Get off the grid" as he put it, so it made getting into contact with him rather difficult. His mom had done it before though, and this time probably wouldn't be the last.

Sure enough after a couple of minutes, a pair of red foxes walked through the door. His father was in a brown business suit, like he always wore, and had a thick coat hanging around his arm. His mother was in a purple casual dress, and her face lit up when Nick stood from his table to greet them.

"Nicholas!" she said happily, moving forward to hug her son. Nick returned the hug, as it'd been far too long since they seen each other in person.

"Good to see you too, Mom." he said, releasing her from the embrace. He looked over at his father, who was giving him a smirk much like the one Nick liked to wear.

"How've you been, kid?" his dad said, extending his paw. Nick gave it a firm shake, just like he'd always taught him, and then closed the distance between them for a brief hug. As they parted, his father reached up for Nick's tie.

"What have I told you about keeping these things tight?" he said, fiddling with the tie until it was pressed closely against Nick's neck. Nick reached up and quickly loosened it back to it's original position, earning a huff from his father.

"Sorry. Just not my style. I'm fine by the way." he said, looking down at the thick coat in his father's arms. "Let me guess, you found him in Tundra Town tonight, didn't you?" he said, looking at his mom.

"Yep. I found him walking around the fish market, trying to find a place that was open." she said, raising an eyebrow at the older fox.

"You never know, Viv. New stores are opening up all the time. One that's open all day is bound to pop up eventually."

"And in what universe is there a high demand for halibut at this hour?" She responded with a chuckle.

"Just trust me, it'll happen someday."

They moved to sit down at the table, each of Nick's parents eager to see how their son had been all this time.

"So Dad," Nick began. "How's the shop been doing?"

"Never better. We just started making suits for elephants about a month ago. Those babies are expensive to make, let me tell ya. Luckily that goes both ways, so we make a mean profit." the older fox said.

"Nice. How's life been treating you, Mom?" he asked, now looking at her.

"Oh, it's been fine. Working, relaxing at home, waiting for my son to give me some grandchildren, you know… the usual." she said, taking a glance at the vixen across the room.

"I think you have a fan, pal. Why not go say hello after we're done here?" his dad said, causing Nick to let out a sigh.

"Look, I appreciate the thought, but I'm not looking for anyone right now. It's… kind of the reason I asked you guys to come here, actually." he said, and his parents ears perked slightly, and small smiles appeared on their faces.

"Is that so? Just wanted to get a little advice then? I gotcha. Though, maybe you should've asked someone who wasn't divorced about this kind of stuff. That's fine though. Who's the lucky lady?" his dad said.

'Please don't be mad.'

"It's, uh… Judy. My partner on the force." Their looks of surprise turned into ones of general confusion.

"Wait, you mean the bunny?" his father said.

"Yeah. We've been dating for over a month. Well, we were dating before…"

"Wait, wait, hold on." His dad interrupted. "I just want to make sure I'm understanding this right. You're dating a rabbit?"

"Well, yeah but…" Nick replied.

"And you're attracted to her?"

"Yes I… Look, can we please get back to…"

"And you've… been with her?"

"John!" his mom said, looking over at the older fox with a shocked expression on her face

"What? This wasn't really what I thought he'd ask us here for, so I'm just a little surprised is all. I just never thought you were… like that."

"Hey, I didn't think I was either, but she's not an ordinary bunny." Nick said with a small, nervous chuckle. "You guys aren't mad, are you?"

"I won't act like I'm thrilled about it, but it isn't really my place to judge. Who you choose to be with is your business and yours alone." his dad said, causing Nick to let out a heavy internal sigh. That was one parent that was at least indifferent about it, and he could deal with indifferent. That just left his mother.

"I think I'm in the same boat as your father. I'm just a little confused… Why you would want to be with her?" Nick let out a scoff in response.

"Why would I not? She's smart, she's funny. She supported me when no one else did, and she saw me as something more than just some shifty fox. She's the one who helped me become a cop in the first place. And despite us being different species, I do find her beautiful, and I truly, honestly wouldn't trade her for anything in the world."

This seemed to have a positive effect on his mother, while his father still seemed to be processing everything.

"Oh, Nicky. That's so adorable!" she said, wiggling with excitement in her seat. That seemed to have won her over, so now each of his parents were at the very least accepting of his relationship with Judy.

"Why didn't you tell us, Nick? You know we would never disown you or anything. We're not fanatics." his mom said, turning quickly to face him. He wanted to back on track with his questions, but he should've guessed they would have a few questions.

"I mean, I did want to tell you guys about us eventually. Now just seemed like a good time. I did kinda think that Dad would be against it to be honest."

"What? No, I'm not against it. It's just… something I wouldn't do myself."

"Well, thank you both for keeping an open mind about it. But the thing is… telling you about us wasn't really the reason I asked you out here." he said, sighing for a moment and thinking about what he was going to say.

"She can't remember me."

Judy jolted awake, gasping as she laid up in bed. She looked quickly around the room, realizing where she was. She was in her apartment, which she shared with her fox partner, Nick. She let out a heavy sigh, then laid back down in bed.

Her dreams certainly didn't make things easy on her first night back in her own bed. She'd dreamed that instead of her, it was other mammals she knew that couldn't remember her. First it was her parents, then it was several of her brothers and sisters, finally it was Nick. Those were all just dreams though. They couldn't do her any harm.

She did feel bad for Nick, and the other officers at the precinct. They evidently knew quite a lot about her, but she didn't remember anything about them. She hoped to fix this issue as fast as possible, hopefully she'd be able to get a head start with Nick after breakfast.

She looked over at the clock. A little past two AM. She didn't have to be awake for a few more hours, so she decided to lie back down and rest. If only her mind had agreed with her. A few hours ago, she was actually tired, so it made falling asleep rather easy. Now that she'd already caught a few Z's, she was struggling to let sleep take her. The bed was comfy enough, but that weird part in the back of her mind was telling her that something was missing.

Or someone was.

That was pretty unlikely though. If she ever did have someone special come over, it wouldn't exactly be fair to just kick Nick out of his own home. Plus, he'd never mentioned anything about her having a boyfriend or anything, so she assumed that she was just focused on her work.

That had been how she was since her teens. Sure, she'd had a couple boyfriends back in the Burrows, but none of them had gotten very far. They had sometimes pushed things a bit farther than she was comfortable with, and she would have to remind them that she didn't want to do stuff like that. This resulted in some of the other bunnies in town labeling her as some kind of prude, but she didn't mind. She was just focusing on her future, and nothing brings your hopes and dreams screeching to a halt faster than an unexpected child.

After around fifteen minutes of just laying in bed, she decided she might as well grab a snack from the fridge, maybe see if they had any sleeping pills in the cupboard somewhere.

She got up out of bed, opening the door to the rest of their apartment. It was still dark out, and she didn't want to turn on the lights and disturb Nick. She thought that the fox's night vision would come in real handy right now, as she used her hand to guide her into the kitchen, touching the walls and counters. Soon, she managed to find her way to the fridge, and inspected the contents inside.

'Let's see… eggs, eww, no... Carrots, too cliche... Some lettuce, eh not really feeling it right now… Ah! There we go.'

She pulled out a bottle of fruit juice, hoping that it would satisfy her for the time being. She just needed to grab a glass. A task that was rather challenging due to her height. Normally she would just hop up on the counter to reach the cupboard, but she was too groggy right now, that weird feeling of not being able to fall asleep, but not having the energy to do anything else.

"Nick?" she whispered and looked towards the couch. The light from the fridge left a strange surprise for her.

He wasn't there.

"Nick?" she said again, only this time more loudly. No answer came from anywhere in the apartment. She quickly moved to turn on the lights, and although they blinded her for a brief second, they did confirm her suspicions.

'Where'd he go off too?' she wondered. He hadn't told her he was going anywhere. Maybe he just made some plans with a few buddies? That's what she thought was the likely answer. Just having a guys night out that she didn't need to be a part of.

Unfortunately, that annoying part in the back of her mind, which she was actively beginning to hate, was telling her that he was possibly up to no good. She quickly dismissed this. Nick was a cop, and a good one too from what she'd heard. There's no way he would get himself involved in anything that would be considered unethical.

Still, she at least wanted to know where he'd gone off to. She didn't see a note or anything like that anywhere, so she would just need to call him and find out. She moved back to her room, finding her phone on the nightstand and unlocking it. She found Nick's name in her contacts and hit the call button.

After two of the dial tones came and went, she heard Nick's voice come through the speaker.

"Hey, Carrots. What're you doing up?" he said, as she heard the faint sounds of music in the background.

"Woke up a few minutes ago, couldn't fall back asleep. I noticed a pull-out couch that lacked a certain fox on it. Got a little worried. Just had to indulge your nocturnal predispositions for a little bit?" she said with a short laugh, which Nick returned.

"Actually, I went out with my parents. We haven't seen each other in a while, so we just met up at a bar downtown. They just left a few-" he stopped talking when a loud crash was heard over the speaker.

"Uh, is everything okay down there?" she asked, hoping that Nick wasn't anywhere dangerous.

"Nah, it's all good. A tiger just forgot what thumbs were for a second, dropped their drink all over the floor. I might have to help get him a cab home. I'll talk to you later, Fluff. Get some sleep."

"See you. Don't forget that you need sleep too, Slick." she said with a smile on her face.

"I'll keep that in mind. Night." he finished.

"Goodnight." she said, then ended the call.

At least now she had a clear conscience. Hopefully that would help her get some more sleep. She still had a lot more to read in those textbooks, and she wanted to get an early start on them in the morning.

She climbed back into bed, thinking about what kind of good she could do in the world. About how many lives she could change.

In a few minutes, she was once again asleep.

When Nick was finally able to get that more-than-tipsy tiger into a taxi, the time was almost three AM. As much as he didn't really feel tired, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he'd be craving sleep. Working for the ZPD had adjusted his sleep schedule so that he was able to fall asleep near the same time Judy was, but it was still nice to just let his instincts take over every now and again. Heck, that was the entire reason Mystic Springs existed in the first place.

His conversation with his parents about Judy's dilemma hadn't been the greatest of help. They never really gave him any out of this world advice, not that he'd been expecting them to. This was a situation that very few had likely ever been in, let alone his own parents. His dad had told several different iterations of "Just keep trying," whatever that meant. His mom was a bit more helpful, suggesting ways that he could potentially jog her memory. He'd already tried doing that with things like her carrot pen, her badge, and a few other items of note. None of them had helped in any way, but he didn't want to give up. If items couldn't do the job, then maybe some specific locations could? He was already formulating a plan to take her out to some of the various spots they'd visited in the city, while either working together on the missing mammal case, or working as partners on the ZPD.

He went back inside Sleepwalkers, finishing off the rest of his drink, before heading out to find a cab of his own. He soon flagged one down, got inside, and gave the pig who was driving his address.

Before the cab could leave, the door to the back seat opened, and that same marble colored vixen from inside entered the car.

"Uh, this one's occupied." Nick said, suspiciously eyeing the white vixen.

"Oh. Well, might as well take me back to your place then, eh?" She said in a very sultry, but also slightly slurred voice. She obviously had too much to drink.

"I'm fine ma'am, thank you for the offer. There are plenty of other cabs available."

"Ah, come on, handsome. I saw you take a look at me every now and again back in that place. I'm sure being a police officer is hard work. You sure you don't want to relieve a little stress?" she said, scooting closer to him in the back seat.

Nick had to show that tiger from before his badge at one point, making it very clear that he wanted the feline to get out of there, and get home safely. She apparently saw this, and decided that she would very much like to get to know Zootopia's first fox cop a little better. Nick wasn't too fond of the idea, though.

"Once again, I'm fine. My roommate would not appreciate it if I came home with someone at this hour." he said, hoping to get this vixen out of his fur.

"Hey, we could just go to my place then. Nobody around to interrupt. Or maybe we should go back to your place? I bet your roommate would like to join in…"

"Okay, that's enough." he said, opening the door on his side and getting out. She had absolutely no control over her own actions, unless she was like this all the time. He needed to get her out of here before she did something stupid. He walked around to the right side of the car, opening the door, and getting the vixen out of the cab. She was surprisingly willing to follow him, probably thinking he was leading her to some spot where they could be alone.

"Wait just a sec, alright?" he said to the cab driver, who nodded in response. Nick then moved back into the bar with the vixen in tow, eyeing the stoat and deer from earlier. He moved up to them, their vulpine friend still giggling in Nick's ear.

"You ladies might want to control your friend here before she does something she'll regret later. Make sure she gets home, alright?" he said, and briefly flashed his badge to them.

"Sure thing officer." the stoat responded, eyeing both of her friends nervously.

"Okay then. Have a lovely rest of your evening." He lightly pushed the cooing vixen off him. "Please get home safely, miss." he said, before heading out the door, leaving the three ladies there a little stunned.

A part of his mind thought that maybe it would be a good idea if he'd taken her up on her offer. Perhaps it'd be a good thing if he could just forget about his relationship with Judy. That thought exited his mind as quickly as it came in. He couldn't just try and ignore the feelings he has for her… if there was even the smallest chance that Judy could remember what the two of them were, the he would have to take it.

And he had a plan to do just that.