Set One

Judy got ready far too early, so she spent the rest of the time rereading her training manual. Nick meanwhile kept sleeping peacefully.

Set Two

Judy got into the bathroom as soon as it was free. She still had time to spare before she needed to leave. She glanced at the tax form again. She noticed that Nick was single and childless. Not that that had any bearing on the case, but at least he hadn't pretended that the little fennec fox was his son on an official federal document. Still, he had committed "felony tax evasion," as Jaguar had told her.

Nick meanwhile kept sleeping peacefully.

Set Three

Judy and Nick kept sleeping peacefully.

Set Four

"I thought I'd find you here."

Despite Nick's night vision, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dusk, since he'd fallen asleep in his sunglasses. He of course recognized the voice. "Hey, Finnick." He'd known that his buddy wouldn't hold the "shut your muzzle" against him. Not any more than Nick would hold Finnick's unwanted advice against him.

"You want to get some dinner?"

"I could eat."

So Finnick drove them to a diner in Sahara Square, a place they'd gone to for years. Nick knew everyone in Zootopia, but this was a restaurant where they could be greeted and left alone except when they ordered, got the food, and paid.

Finnick waited till they were eating before he said, "So what are you gonna do about her?"

Nick sighed. It wasn't like Finnick was a nosy gossip, like Flash. If he kept bringing this up, it was for Nick's own good, or at least what Finnick thought was Nick's own good. "I don't know."

"Have you called her? Or texted her? Or something?"

He shrugged. "What would I say? And it's not like she's contacted me."

"She's probably scared to. You should let her know you're willing to forgive."

"That's assuming she's willing to apologize. Which we don't know."

"Well, you'll never find out if you don't ask."

"Why is it on me? She's the one who said all that crap."

"So you're gonna lose the best friend you ever had, over this?"

"I thought you were the best friend I ever had."

"No, I'm just a good enough friend to tell you that you need her."

"Well, thanks. But it's been, what, three months? She can obviously survive without me. And I can survive without her."

"Yeah, you're survivin' real good."

"Can I tell you to shut up again?"

"Yeah, but I still won't."

Nick knew he'd say that. He and Finnick knew each other so well. He'd thought he knew Judy even better, but she kept surprising him, and not always pleasantly. Really, they'd known each other less than a week when they had their blow-up. What was it? They met on a Monday, reunited on a Wednesday, and she turned out to be a bigot on a Friday. Not even ninety-six hours of acquaintance, and it wasn't like they were friends the whole time. So why was he still letting her get to him almost ninety-six days later?

Meanwhile, Judy was having a livelier dinner. She'd forgotten what a Hopps meal was like, all the talking and reaching and crunching. In a way, it felt good to be surrounded by the noisy crowd, and if she'd been in a better mood, she'd have joined in. But as it was, she felt overwhelmed.

She caught her parents giving her worried glances. She really did need to pull herself together. She was so far blaming her subdued behavior on being tired from the train trip, but she couldn't get away with that indefinitely.

The food was good of course. These carrots definitely weren't microwaved. Again, she wished she were in a better mood to appreciate everything. Well, maybe she'd feel better the next day.

Set Five

Judy was very surprised when she saw Finnick's van in the parking lot. She was even more surprised to see Yax on the front seat.

"Hey, Dudes, good to see you again!"

"You, too," Judy said as Nick helped her into the van. She was relieved that she wasn't seeing quite as much of Yax as before, since he was wearing a kilt and a vest. The plaids clashed horribly, but at least the yak wasn't naked.

"So Banyan Street, right?" Finnick asked.

"What? Oh, are we going to get my truck?" she asked in surprise as she buckled up and Nick climbed in.

"Didn't Nick tell you?"

"Uh, no, he didn't."

Nick didn't say anything as he looked down at the seatbelt he was fastening.

"So it's like this," Yax said. "You can't drive because of your leg. Oh, kudos on taking down the evil mayor by the way."

"Um, thank you."

"Thank you. And Wilde can't drive 'cause it's not his thing."

"What?" She looked at Nick, who was now checking his phone. He was 32 years old and he didn't drive? No wonder he knew the ZTA so well.

"Which I totally respect. It's good for the environment to have fewer drivers. But I drive when I have to, like today. So the Finnmeister will drop us off at Banyan, and then I'll take you guys to your homes, in the truck. And then I'll take the train back to Mystic Spring."

"That's very nice of you and the Finnmeister."

Finnick scowled.

Judy assumed Nick had quickly made these arrangements during her examination. She was glad he hadn't called in a favor from Flash. She could imagine the sloth driving the truck so slowly that her leg would heal before she got home.

She and Nick thanked Finnick when he got them to Banyan Street.

He said, "Stay out of trouble. If you can."

Judy and Nick both laughed. Nick thought but didn't stay that he'd have to avoid the bunny for that, and he didn't think he could.

After the goodbyes, including Yax's "Stay cool, Finnmeister," which was answered with a grunt, Judy examined the truck. It didn't seem to have been vandalized, as she feared it might've been, being abandoned for a few hours.

"Sweet truck," Yax said.

"Thank you."

"So where to?"

"Judy's," Nick said before she could answer. She wondered if he didn't want her to see where he lived. Maybe he did live under the bridge, or someplace even worse. Then he added, "You'll need my help getting up the stairs."

"Right, thank you."

But when they got to Judy's neighborhood, she could see reporters and even a news van out front.

"Cool, they must've heard the news," Yax said. "Well, they are the news."

"I can't face them," Judy said. "Not yet." Maybe tomorrow. She'd gone through too much that day and she wasn't ready to risk her words being twisted against her.

"Buddy, can you take us to Cypress Grove Lane?"

"You got it, Dude."