Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia
Before I start, I would like to thank Sayra because she is helping me to convert this story to English ^^
Prologue
Zootopia, Central Savanna
Thursday - 16:45
It had been a year since the howling case. Nick graduated from the police academy. At the same time, he and Judy became more friends than ever, as they were now a duo. They both spent a lot of time together, but not just at work. They enjoyed each other's company. Whenever they could, they'd go out together or just have a movie night at each other's house. Today was the same day they met. They both wanted to go out and celebrate, but now they were sitting on the car seat doing the usual patrol through the streets of the Central Savanna.
"So, carrots, have you thought of anything we can do tonight?" Nick asked if his partner had anything in mind.
"I thought maybe we could watch a movie at the movies, and then we could go to the Jumbeaux for ice cream." She answered, keeping her eyes on the road.
"That's fine by me. When and where can we meet?"
"Since our shift ends at 6:00 p.m., we could meet at 7:30 p.m. at the central mall... what do you think?"
"Sure. But don't be late." He said it in a playful tone, and she just laughed.
"Funny you should say that since you're the one who's always late!" Judy laughed.
"It takes time to brush my fur and make it clean, beautiful, and spotless." Smiling, Nick bowed an eyebrow.
"I know, I know! I doubt brushing the fur takes more than an hour, especially when you who is a procrastinator." Turning her eyes, the rabbit smiled lightly.
"So, you offend me." Nick replied, taking a paw to his chest in a way that such a phrase had 'hurt' him. "But you know you love me." He said with his signature smile.
"Yes, I know," Judy answered. Her smile lit up even more.
A few monotonous conversations followed the rest of the patrol, and a few fines were imposed on some cars. After a while, they went back to the ZPD to make their reports before they could go home. As soon as they finished, they said goodbye and went to their respective apartments.
Judy's Apartment
Thursday - 6:30 p.m.
It took exactly twenty-three minutes for Judy to get to her apartment, but it was no longer that shoebox she used to call "home." It had been seven months since she had bought a new apartment. It wasn't huge, but it had a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and finally, her bedroom. As soon as she arrived, she went straight to the shower and took a nice bath, brushing and drying her fur right after. Back in her room, she started thinking about which clothes she would wear.
"And now...? What would be the right outfit? A casual outfit or something a little more social?" She asked herself, looking into her closet.
After looking at some clothing options, she finally chose a dark red dress that would go just below her knees. The dress had short sleeves, and the skirt was round. For the final touch, she chose to wear a silver necklace. It contained a pendant, a little emerald green stone. After looking in the mirror and feeling satisfied with what she was seeing, she decided she was ready. She took a small bag and went to the bus stop to go to the mall.
Nick's apartment
Thursday - 18:40 p.m.
Nick's apartment was a little further away than Judy's, so now he had less time to get ready. After showering and brushing his fur, he decided to put on a slightly more formal outfit. It consisted of a pair of black jeans, a grey collar shirt, and finally a dark purple tie. Before going to the bus stop, he thought it best to buy some coffee.
Zootopia, Shopping Central
Thursday- 19:25 p.m.
Judy, as always, was the first to arrive and had been waiting for Nick at the entrance of the Cinema. So, she decided to text him.
"I'm already at the cinema dumb fox, and you're late as usual, 0w0!"
As soon as she was going to turn the phone off and put it in the puked again, she received a notification.
"A thousand pardons for keeping waiting for the most beautiful maiden. I'm already at the mall. I'm just sorting something out. Give me five minutes! :p"
She laughed at the "beautiful maiden," even though he kept treating her that way. She decided to answer the message.
'Certain, noble gentlemammal, may this not be repeated XD' After she sent the message, she kept her mobile phone in her purse.
Ten minutes went by, and no sight of Nick.
"Did he get lost?" She said laughing, but she already knew the answer, it was impossible, they had gone so many times in this place that they knew him like the back of their paw. "I think I should look for him..."
"Who should you look for?" Nick practically asked in Judy's ear, scaring her in the process.
"How did you...?" She asked, confused since she hadn't seen him coming. "Forget it... you said you were already at the mall. What took you so long?"
"You called me 'noble gentleman' yourself, so I wanted to bring you a souvenir." He said from ad behind his back a bouquet of red roses. "And look at that... I hit their color; it matched your look perfectly." He said with a smile.
"Thanks, Nick! I didn't have to..." Judy answered him a little embarrassed. Such a gesture, it left her with her ears warm. "They're beautiful..."
"Not as beautiful as the female who's holding them." Winking that her, his smile remained in a soft firm line.
"Stop it!" She said by punching him in the arm with a joke. "Let's just pick a movie."
"Are you going to tell me you don't like it?" He teased her again but got another punch in the arm in response. "Okay, I get it!" He laughed.
There was an action movie where two animals of different species had to work together to stop the destruction of the land. The movie proposal had pleased both. So, they both chose to watch this one.
Zootopia, Shopping Central
Thursday- 21:30 P.M
After the movie was over, they left the mall and headed to Jumbeaux.
"Do you remember when I convinced you I was a great father?" Nick said when they were already near the ice cream parlor.
"Of course, I remember. And I think if your career as a cop failed, you could act in some movie maybe." She laughed, remembering that day. "You could even win an Oscar for best actor."
"Yeah, I know," Nick said with a cocky smile on his face, which made Judy give a little smile
After entering the ice cream parlor, and staying a few minutes in line, they finally made their orders. They chose to order a glass of junior ice cream since those ice creams were respectively large. After the order, they decided to get a table, which was not easy since the place was particularly crowded.
"Who knew we'd be back in that ice-cream parlor after a year," Judy said looking around.
"I don't, and I don't care either since Jerry doesn't go much with my face." He said, pointing his head at the elephant that owned the place.
"I can't imagine why that is," Judy said, directing a debauched look at the fox in front of her.
"Neither do I! How could they not like someone as handsome, kind, and intelligent as me." He bowed an eyebrow while smiling.
"It's just a shame he's not humble." She said with false disappointment.
At the time they were talking, the glass of ice cream they had ordered, was delivered to their table. The ice cream itself had five balls. One blueberry, one raspberry. Another one of cream, of cherry, and finally one of strawberry. They took a spoon and began to eat.
"But you're still a really good actor... And when did we act so Bellwether would think you'd gone wild? That was incredible! At that moment I was even forgetting that it was all our plan." She said with a smile, but suddenly her ears dropped as a sign of sadness, and tears began to flow from her eyes.
"What happened, Judy?" Nick asked worried since she was normal until a second ago.
"It's just... until today, I haven't apologized to you for what I did..."
"Apologies? For what?" He asked confused.
"For everything I said at that press conference... I shouldn't have said all those things... I shouldn't have been afraid of you..." She said avoiding looking directly into Nick's eyes.
"Judy, I forgave you that day, on the bridge, remember? And about being afraid of me... that wasn't your fault." He said it as gently as possible.
"Yes, but... You helped me so much in that case, and when it happened, it was like I threw away everything you did for me..."
"But I should also have been more understanding, you said yourself you were nervous, and having to answer all those questions without being able to think straight must have been very stressful... and that day I should not have shown my claws to you..."
"I think we both made mistakes." She said with a weak smile.
"Let's just put our mistakes aside, because in the end, everything worked out," Nick said with a smile, too.
"You're right! But there's one more thing I need to apologize for." Judy said as she played with the ice cream in front of her.
"What would that be?" Said Nick looking curiously at the rabbit.
"When we were watching the movie, I ended up getting scared and grabbing your arm. I'm sorry about that..." Said Judy feeling her cheeks warming up.
"No need to apologize, I know how scared you rabbits are." Said Nick picking up the rabbit's paw, who now faced the fox in front of her with a silly smile on her face.
They looked at each other like they were the only ones there as if the world had stopped at that moment.
"Well, I guess I'd better eat the ice cream before it melts." Judy broke contact and looked back at the ice cream in front of her.
"Yeah, you're right," Nick said with a different look on his face.
Nick wanted to go on. He wanted to feel his friend's soft, delicate paw for a while longer, only she didn't know that yet. At least not yet.
For a while, the silence reigned between the two of them. They only exchanged a few glances from time to time. Nick wanted to talk about it. He wanted to talk about his feelings. But for the first time, he was afraid.
"Judy I..." Said Nick trying to take the rest of the courage that was left. But unfortunately, he was interrupted by Judy.
"My God, look at the time! It's too late, and we have work tomorrow." Said Judy as she stared at the phone in her paw.
"I know, but..." Nick tried it one more time by being interrupted by Judy again.
"We'll see you tomorrow, right?" Judy got up and grabbed the bouquet.
"Right," Nick said, "I'll see you tomorrow," but Judy didn't notice.
To be continued…