EPILOGUE

"I love our job. Did I ever tell you that, Carrots?"

Judy gave Nick a look of amusement. "Always focused on the job, huh?"

"Aww, that's not fair," said Nick as the room twirled around. "I can have fun whenever I want. Besides, I see you all the time."

"That's cause we're together now," Judy remarked, raising her paw up in unison with Nick's. She clasped it tenderly, and he returned the gesture.

"Yeah, we are, but I meant at work," Nick replied with an amused smile. "Now be quiet. It's not polite for the newlyweds to talk during the first dance."

Judy couldn't keep herself from giggling as they spun and began to tango. She looked at all the guests as they gazed intently at her careful ritual with Nick, who held her in his arms gently as a rose petal. She turned back to gaze deeply into his eyes, his kind green eyes, and fall in love with him even more. The band's singer began to sing. What he was saying, Judy didn't care. All that mattered was Nick. She stepped in time with him as he led her.

She was a bit surprised when he went to twirl her again, but she recovered quickly, pulling it off with what she hoped was grace. But as she came back around, ready to grab Nick's paw again, the wily fox let her fall into the classic finishing stance, wrapping his arm around her back and placing one paw on the back of her head in a romantic gesture. Somehow, his eyes demanded the attention of hers, and she gazed into them, almost in a trance. It felt nice in this position, in this place. They should just stay here forever.

The song ended, to which the audience applauded politely. A whistle of enthusiasm was heard here or there, but aside from the thousands of paws clapping, that was all that could be heard as Nick brought Judy back up to a standing position.

"Nice dance," he said; she could hear him panting ever so slightly.

"Thank you," she replied with what she hoped was a romantic smile.

Tssshhh! The drummer's sudden crash cymbal made Judy jump. The beat was grooving quite nicely in the encore, and the swinging beat of the toms entranced her. Her heart sped up as she got whisked away in the spirit of the music. Nick looked over at her.

"Dance?" he asked.

Judy smiled again and beckoned. "On with it, then."

She could hear her family members "Whoo!"ing, egging them on to dance again. Nick held his arm out and started fanning himself with his paw, encouraging the onlookers to get louder. They met his goading with enthusiasm, cheers elevating, claps growing, whistles piercing. Nick smiled, closing his eyes and nodding in approval. Then he opened his eyes, bent his knees, brought his paws out in front of his like he was begging, and pulled his best bucktoothed expression, pointing his ears as straight as he could. Judy smirked and rolled her eyes, debating whether to go along with it, then succumbed, mimicking Nick's bunny pose.

Nick made the first move, hopping quickly, legs so tight together they could have been glued with ease, as he moved in time with the drums. It was funny to see him impersonating a primal rabbit, and the humor increased due to his tuxedo. Judy suppressed a laugh and started hopping in reply, inching closer and closer to him, moving her arms back and forth in an alternating fashion with each move she made. They reached each other just as the trumpets and saxophones hit a squealing, high-energy note to start the beginning of the ensemble. Judy acted on instinct, taking hold of him and beginning to spin. He did the same to her, responding with surprising speed, and picking the pace up a little bit. She tried her best to match his vigor, and found it easier than she thought. Then she thought of a move she wanted to use, and she locked eyes with Nick once again. They were close enough that they could talk to each other without anyone hearing what they said. Judy went for it.

"When I say go, start twirling me around as fast as you can," she muttered.

Nick looked a bit hesitant, but kept up the dance to keep the guests on their feet. He nodded in agreement. "What do have in mind?"

"Let's just say it'll sweep you off your feet," she said.

They kept dancing with as much vigor as they had started with. At one point, Nick took the floor for two and a half seconds, giving Judy a much-needed rest as the fox did a quick breakdance number. But he startled her, and she assumed everyone else in the room as well, when he effortlessly pulled out of an elbow spin by backflipping in a way that landed him right next to her. He extended his paw.

"Dance?" he offered.

Judy took his paw in hers; it was time to show him up.

"Now," she replied.

"All right," he said hesitantly, "but don't hurt yourself."

She grabbed his other paw and fully extended her arms, forcing Nick to do the same. And they spun. Nick became the pivot, spinning round and round with Judy. Eventually, she felt gravity start to distort, and she let her legs fly into the air, victims of centrifugal force. Nick gave a small groan of effort, but kept his cool as he picked up more and more speed. The world became a blur. Judy watched Nick as she panted with the force that their movement exerted on her whole body. She could see sweat on the neck of his tuxedo, and his fur was slowly getting more and more damp. His brow furrowed with concentration. She could feel his pulse in her fingers, and her mind told her it was time.

"Let's finish it," she said, hoping no one could hear them.

Nick heeded her, slowing her down quickly but safely. Soon, he had gotten rid of enough force that she could do what she wanted. She forced her right leg to bend, and as Nick turned, she planted one foot into the ground and used the other one to throw Nick into the air. Nick flailed for a second as he found his legs off the floor, but relaxed as Judy grabbed him just as he had done to her minutes ago. Nick looked surprised and scared at the same time, panting heavily as he looked at her.

The band screamed the final note as Judy locked lips with her husband.

Nick's arm slithered around her back and stroked her tenderly. Judy held the kiss for a second, then took her lips away and pulled him out of the danger zone to raucous applause. They held paws and waved at their friends and relatives. Judy talked to Nick through her teeth.

"Take a break?" she asked.

"Yeah," he chortled back.

They stepped off the stage, getting thumbs up and pats on the back as they returned to their seats, where their immediate families were. Judy saw her mom staring at her, beaming and misty-eyed. Nick's best man, a fox whom she didn't recognize, sat next to Mrs. Wilde, and Judy's maid of honor, Officer Fangmeyer, was right next to her father. And her father...

Her father couldn't even speak, he was crying so hard.

"That was wonderful, Judy," her mother gushed.

Judy smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Nick gave her a peck on the head as she sat down. "That was an interesting move you did back there," he complimented.

"Thanks," Judy repeated, giving him a smile.

"No problem. One question, though." He looked down at his right leg. "Is it normal if my kneecap's being impaled by my tibia?"

Judy laughed. "You're so bad!" she teased.

Nick just chuckled as he turned to his parents. "Thanks for being here, guys."

"You kidding?" his father said, looking much better than when Judy had last seen him; he was actually rather buff now. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"You doing all right, Dad?"

His father scoffed. "I'm fine! It's all a thing of the past now. Everything's gone. I don't have anything to worry about. Except grandchildren," he said, suddenly serious as he raised an eyebrow.

Nick's mom gave a small gasp. "Oscar!" she said reproachfully.

Nick chuckled nervously. "Dad, that's what the honeymoon's for."

"You haven't gotten busy yet?!" came the hushed reply.

"Dad, she's not a tool!" Nick hissed. "Didn't you ever get the 'love is patient' talk?"

Judy was surprised to see his father break into laughter.

"That's my boy!" he exclaimed, slapping Nick's back. "I knew you'd figure this all out on your own! Always making me proud!"

Nick's best man stood up and clinked his glass in the traditional fashion. The room's attention was grasped firmly by the ensnaring noise, and all eyes were on him.

"Wow," he said, looking at his glass. "I didn't think that would work."

Appreciative chuckles scattered around the tables.

"When Nick asked me to be his best man…" he paused as if he was thinking of what to say next. "...I thought to myself, 'He must really love whoever he proposed to.' And when he told me it was Judy Hopps, my next thought was, 'Yeah. He really loves the woman he proposed to.' You know, I always hear that office relationships never work out." He cast a glance at Nick, then to Judy, then back to Nick again. "But seeing these two working together, even on something as simple as a dance…" He paused and sighed. "If you can fall in love with someone and overthrow two criminal conspiracies with that someone, you're pretty much made for each other." He raised his glass even higher and looked directly at Nick.

"If I ever meet a girl, and we get along half as well as you do, I'll consider myself lucky. Many happy years, you guys."

The guests "Aww"ed their appreciation as the best man sat back down.

"Nice job, Mike," Nick said as they traded an informal handshake.

"So, Nick," Judy asked him as he turned to look at her. "Do you think we're made for each other?"

Nick brushed her cheek with his paw. "If not, then what the hell are we doing here?" he purred, sounding as if he had been entranced by the very sight of her.

Judy giggled. "Good point."

"Well, folks," Mike sighed, "I hope you enjoyed watching me scare the living daylights out of myself."

"It was a good toast, Mike," Nick responded. "It meant a lot to me."

"Like I said, many happy years," Mike replied with a smile.

Judy agreed. Many happy years…

With Nick.

THE END