EDITED BY: DrummerMax64

Chapter Thirteen - Old Times

Sharla made no attempt to suppress the giddy squeal that erupted from her throat as she wrapped her arms around Judy.

"It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Sharla," Judy mumbled, gently hugging the ewe back. Sharla didn't realize how long it had been since she'd last seen her friend until she remembered how cuddly rabbits were.

A few seconds afterward they broke away from their hug and sat themselves down at the table Sharla had reserved. Though, it seemed that the other mammals dining around them didn't care all that much about this happy reunion. A few wayward glances unfortunately caught the ewe's attention, one being an otter a couple tables down, and another an elderly bobcat sitting at the table next to them. The feline was blatant in making sure that his attention was firmly buried into the newspaper, shooting both of them a glare. He shook his paper with conviction and went back to his reading. Sharla almost wished she didn't have her species' impeccable vision.

Sharla rolled her eyes. If she weren't meeting with Judy, she would have marched right over there and given him a piece of her mind. But, she showed her resolve and let it go. Fighting with him wasn't worth it.

Sharla instead turned her focus away from the bigot and to the rabbit now sitting across from her.

"So how's it been?" she asked. "I know we kind of talked a little bit about over the phone, but it's been so long that I've got so much to ask."

"Likewise."

"Like, how was college?

"It was—"

"Did you meet any cute mammals there?

"Wai—"

"What's it like moving to the big city? Was the Zootopia Police Academy super difficult—"

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, Sharla," Judy snickered. "We won't get anywhere if I'm the only one who's talking. I've only got an hour for lunch. Plus, I've got questions too. I'm dying to find out about this husband I've heard so little about."

"Fair enough," Sharla let out a sigh. "How about a synopsis then?"

"Now that I can do."

Judy sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were honed on her grey paws that were now clasped together on the metal table. She seemed calmer than her usual perky self.

"After graduation," she began, "I started working towards my degree in criminal justice at U of Z. They almost didn't let me in because of who I am—a bunny with her heads in the clouds, in their words. They recommended that I become some small-time lawyer. I didn't budge. Being an officer meant the world to me, and I wasn't about to give that dream up. Because of me being the valedictorian of my class, the classes that I took in high school, and my involvement in a few shadowings with the BPD, they let me enroll with the expectation that I get a B- or higher in my courses. I knocked their expectations out of the park. I aced all of my courses, and I landed in the top percentile in my school. I managed to get my degree in a little under five years. Once I was done with that, I got into the ZPA.

"Training to become an officer was one of the toughest things I've ever went through. College, and even Gideon Grey, don't come close to what I went through at the ZPA. The major always reminded me how I was just another bunny. My classmates laughed at me and isolated me from their circle for a while… that was until I knocked a rhino out."

"You… you took down a rhino?!"

Judy flashed a confident grin. "I used the ropes around the ring. Turns out a tiny little bunny can be a force to be reckoned with once she's a mammalian projectile.

"As an officer, you have to force yourself to think outside of the box. The bad guy won't care about your safety. They won't hesitate to take advantage of your weaknesses and use them against you. I used the environment to my advantage. After that, the academy felt like a breeze to me. Next thing I know I'm taking my exam, attending my graduation ceremony, getting assigned to Precinct One, then saying goodbye to my parents, and finally, finally moving to Zootopia."

"I bet moving to the city was a major adjustment for you."

"It wasn't too hard," Judy shrugged. "The apartment complex isn't that far from Savannah Central, so I'll never be late for work. Plus there's a grocery store not too far down the road."

"What about your family? Do you miss them? Being away from all those brothers and sisters of yours must be hard. I bet they contact you constantly.

"Not as much as you might think. But, I'd be lying if I say I didn't miss them."

The rabbit took on a more somber, almost anxious look as her head dipped down, a paw rubbing against the side of her arm. Sharla couldn't help but show a touch of concern for the homesick rabbit. But before the ewe had a chance to console her friend, Judy quickly snapped back to clasping her paws together and flashing the brightest grin she could.

"So," the bunny cleared her throat, "what did you do after graduation? You must've had a pretty eventful… six years?"

Sharla laughed at her friend, counting the years on her paws, "It's been pretty crazy. It doesn't even feel like six years—"

Off towards the entrance of the dining establishment, she could see a familiar coyote walking through the open door with a menu in his paw. Sharla gave the friendly face a smile, even if his attention was being put into finagling the ticket book from his black apron. Once it was finally out and in his free paw, Will looked up at the two with a smile in kind.

"I see that you finally…" The corners of the coyote's face slowly drooped upon seeing Judy in the other chair, his expression transforming into what could only be called mild surprise. "...found your friend." Even the tone in his voice changed. His newfound smile clearly forced itself onto his muzzle when he plainly scoffed, "What can I get for you today?"

"I'll have…"

The ewe looked to the rabbit sitting across from her. It was at that point when she clearly noticed it, the same look she saw nearly every minute since the week before—the distant look, ears tempted to fall completely to the back of Judy's skull, and glossy eyes that threatened tears that wouldn't come.

Sharla took the order into her own hooves. "To start, I'll have a coffee with cream and a glass of water with lemon on the side, and she'll have a carrot smoothie."

Seeing and hearing no discontent from Judy, the waiter scribbled into his book and asked, "Would you like any appetizers, or would you like to go straight to entrees?"

"We'll go straight to entrees. She's got to go back to work soon." Judy made an attempt to grab her menu, but Sharla placed her paw on the other end. "I got this. Garden salad with diced carrots instead of shredded carrots, right?"

Judy nodded in affirmation, the coyote feverishly writing the order down.

"Cool. I'll have… the bug burger."

This gained her some perplexed looks from both Judy and Will, which wrought a joyful smile on Sharla's snout. She could never get tired of this.

"A-are you sur—"

Before the coyote could finish, Sharla cut him off in a lackadaisical tone, "A1 sauce on the side, no tomato, mustard, or ketchup. Oh, and extra pickles."

The ewe grabbed both menus and gave them back to the flabbergasted predator, who was now bewilderingly wrapping up their order on his ticket. Once complete, he took the menus and stuffed the book back into his apron.

"Your… food should be out soon. I'll go get your drinks."

"Thank you, Will." Sharla nodded.

"Thanks," Judy attempted to say to the waiter, only to find that he had already turned to leave. A light sigh blew through her nostrils, and her ears began to dip downward, prompting a touch of concern to weasel its way up and out of Sharla's snout.

"Judy," Sharla worriedly said. "Are you feeling okay?"

The rabbit's ears shot back up, and her face bore the smile she had on moments prior. "I-I'm fine, Sharla. Just… uh… feeling a bit tired right now."

Judy Hopps, your evasion skills still have much to be desired, the thought echoed in Sharla's head. She was obviously trying to hide some essence of sadness. It was painful to witness. But, instead of fighting it, she decided to humor her instead.

"Yeah, with everything that's happened this week, I bet the ZPD is pretty busy these days."

"Tell me about it," Judy groaned, rolling her eyes. "We've been getting so many calls, I'm just glad to be here right now. Speaking of which, I was just about to hear what you've been up to."

"All you want to know about... is this," Sharla grinned, pointing to the ring on her finger.

"What?" Judy asked innocently. "I care a lot about your life… Sharla…" The ewe raised her brow with her arms crossed until the rabbit officer finally conceded, laughing as she put her paws up. "Okay, fine, you got me. Guilty as charged."

"In that case, I might as well start somewhere that makes sense. To torment you a little while longer. Remember how we pretty much rocked our choir class back in middle school?"

"Yeah. We nearly turned our class into a super cringy cliche musical. Mrs. Mawson wanted to kill us."

"Well, I decided to continue being a musical menace and joined a rock band."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Like, guitars, drums, all of that?"

"Yep."

"When did you decide to join?"

"During the end of our first year of high school. My brother and I were already skilled in using the drums and the guitar respectively, so we just pushed ourselves to learn some new music. We even tried forming our own band. Needless to say, it never took off. About a month before summer vay-cay was about to start, I got word from one of my friends about a band called Wildfire that was looking for a drummer, guitarist, and a pianist. Apparently the band had a fallout pitting both the bassist and lead vocalist against the other members. From what they've let me in on, it was over something stupid. This led to the band breaking up, leaving both remaining members looking for new recruits. Garrett and I auditioned with a few others, and we both managed to make the cut.

"I remember we started out with something small. I think it was a grad party. Xander—our lead vocalist—thought that it would be the best thing for the band's new start."

"How'd it go?"

"We killed it. The mammals loved it, we were happy with how we played, and we showed everyone that Garrett and I could roll with the big mammals, especially since we were the onl—"

Before Sharla could finish her sentence, a brown and black-colored paw stretched itself in front of her, holding a mug of piping hot coffee.

Once the mug was set in front of Sharla, the paw retreated back to its owner, the ewe's eyes following it until she could see Will's face clearly. He still seemed slightly irritated through his poor guise of a plain, blank expression, and it threatened to show. Will expertly placed the rest of the dishes sitting on the platter he was holding onto the table—a glass of water, a bowl of pre-packaged single-serve creamers, a very delectable-looking carrot smoothie inside of a vintage-looking milkshake glass, and finally, a bottle of mouthwatering A1 steak sauce.

"Thank you," Sharla smiled to the coyote.

"Thanks," Judy followed.

There was a moment where the canid simply stared at Judy in silence. He looked confident, his chest puffed out, his downward glare almost threatening to pierce her very soul. This caused something that Sharla didn't expect to see from her zealous, confident, and brave friend: fear. The twitching of her nose made sure to broadcast that emotion clearly.

Seeing this, no doubt, made the corner of Will's mouth raise slightly. Without another word, he finally gave them a nod then turned to leave. Judy's gaze slowly fell to the ground, and her ears fell back a touch.

It was strange seeing her friend acting so unlike herself. It was as if she was trying desperately to create this wall around herself and continue being this strong rabbit everyone had come to know her to be. But, doing so seemed a pointless effort. Her wall seemed to come crashing down at every turn. What made matters worse for her was that there was nothing Judy could do about it.

Sharla wanted nothing more than to ask Judy what was wrong. That way, she could finally speak her mind and let all of this baggage out. However, Sharla suspected it wasn't that simple.

The ewe made a mental note to herself. If Judy showed another sign of distress, she would make the effort to ask her what was wrong. After all these years, she deserved that much.

"Wanna see us in action?" Sharla finally asked, ripping Judy's attention from her aimless staring.

"Sure," Judy said with a nod, her ears and smile making a timely return.

Sharla dug her smartphone out of her pocket and quickly navigated to her photos and video files. Once there, she painstakingly scrolled through the contents, a plethora of videos and pictures passing her by. Most were of her and Edward, others were of the antics she pulled in high school, and some were based solely on messing with her coworkers—Riley mostly.

But, there was one video in particular Sharla wanted to find. It was during the second semester of their junior year. Their band had been asked to perform for a graduation party in light of their rising popularity, not to mention that two of their members were seniors.

Now that Sharla thought about it, how did Judy not know who they were? At one point their band spread, for lack of a better term, like wildfire. Everyone in the school knew who they were, and Sharla knew better than anyone how gossip spread in the Hopps burrow.

Regardless, the band rocked it out that night. The graduates were sufficiently hyped, and the band received much praise. And since Wildfire managed to score some major kudos from the seniors, it in turn landed them several other major gigs over the span of a few months. But, even with it being one of their biggest performances to date, it wasn't the reason she wanted to show this specific video.

It took only a few more seconds of frantic scrolling to spot the fabled video, Sharla flashing a smile and mumbling to herself, "There it is."

Sharla looked up from her phone and moved to the chair next to Judy, scooting closer to her so that she was able to clearly see the video.

"Ready?" Sharla asked.

Judy nodded eagerly. She inched closer to Sharla, turning her ears towards the phone's speakers. Once they were settled, the ewe tapped the play button and ran back the footage.

The video began as it normally did with the whir and feedback of guitars and microphones. The camera-mammal operating the phone was fumbling it, obviously struggling to maintain stability for the first few seconds until the video finally settled back onto the stage platform. Wildfire was on the stage setting up their instruments. A lot of the mammals present—most of which were rabbits, amongst them sheep, foxes, cougars, and wolves—were standing on the ground a couple of feet away from the front of the stage and around the tables in the back. Before then, their focus had been privy to conversation and the drinks in their paws. What they had now was pure entertainment.

Cheers and praise roared through the crowd inside the tent, which the camera-mammal expertly captured. Once the setting had been adequately filmed, the camera fell back to the stage. The band of five took their respective positions.

Stationed at the three microphones were the bassist on the left, a tod by the name of Martin Baker and his left-handed candy apple red bass, the cougar lead singer in the middle, Alexander 'Xander' Scott and his stunning Silverburst Les Paul, and to the right was none other than Sharla, her special black and white Firebird held in her hooves. Behind the trio were Sharla's brother Garrett on drums and the very punky Polly playing the piano.

"Who's ready to rock!" the lead singer howled to the crowd, who returned a loud cheer back to the band. They were more than ready.

Xander grabbed the microphone stand with his paws and drew it close to his muzzle. The ewe counted the band down. When she ceased, the lead singer and lead guitarist had begun their first piece, picking away at the strings of their guitars.

Keep you in the dark,

You know they all pretend.

Keep you in the dark,

And so it all began…

The guitars went quiet. Then like thunder, the drums beat a quicker pulse into the crowd, another roar beckoning for more as both guitars and bass stepped back in. The mammals inside the tent were happily dancing their hearts away. It didn't take long for the camera to join the fray, the video starting to bob with the beat of the music. Even now, Sharla couldn't help tapping her foot to the recording.

In all honesty, she had truly forgotten how good the band really was, even after playing with them weeks ago before the wedding. Wildfire's popularity put them at the top of nearly everybody's list in the Tri-Burrows, gaining them many a performance in their time, including small parts of Zootopia and Deerbrooke county. If Sharla were a betting mammal, she'd wager that if they had continued down the musical path and she had ditched her dreams of becoming an engineer, they could have been wildly successful. Xander and Polly were excellent songwriters, and made a few original songs for the band back in their late high school and early college days. Repeating that success through writing an entire album would be a breeze for them. Although that decision had come and gone, Sharla often wondered how her life would've panned out if she had made the decision to continue.

It didn't take long for the song playing on Sharla's phone to reach its end. The band built up as much hype as they could at the final stretch, and punched the final notes strong.

"Well?" Sharla smirked.

"That was amazing!"

"Looks like we have ourselves another fan."

"I can't believe you guys didn't go on to become rockstars. You guys sounded so amazing, so why didn't you?"

"We had other plans," Sharla admitted. "I had my dream of working for MASA, Garrett wanted to be a music teacher, and Xander was working to become a doctor. Polly went on to Hollywood to try and score a music deal, but found herself landing in some other profession. I think she's some sort of Internet personality now? I can't remember correctly."

"Was she the pianist?"

"Correct-a-mundo."

"Well, what about the bassist?"

"He…" Sharla paused, her mind struggling to connect some dots. Martin did mention something about an opportunity in New Pork, but she also heard from Xander that he was playing for another band. Eventually, she said, "I'm actually not too sure. I'm sure that he's doing well for himself."

"Well that's good to hear. I'm glad you and your bandmates are doing well."

Judy looked down at her carrot smoothie and took a sip from her straw. Sharla promptly followed suit in preparing her coffee, and got to picking up the mug when Judy formed a particularly shit-eating grin on her face.

"So, what's the story about that ring on your finger?"

"Oh, this?" Sharla jabbed. "I mugged a guy for it." To that, Judy raised a brow. Sharla smiled and continued mockingly with her poor acting skills. "You caught me! Finally foiled after years of running free. Who would have thought I would be caught by my best friend of all mammals? Oh, the shame!"

"I meant your husband, Sharla," Judy clarified with a laugh.

"Okay fine, I give." The ewe once again worked through the maze that was the contents of her photo and video gallery. "We met in the latter half of our junior year. My friend Charles had the bright idea that after… well, let's just say a bad breakup, that he was going to introduce a friend of his to me. Charles told me that his friend needed to get out of the house and broaden his horizons from the small circle of friends he had. I told Charlie about the grad party I was performing for and invited them as my plus ones. That video I just showed you? It was filmed by Charles's friend, my future husband."

"Really?" Judy gasped, starry-eyed. Sharla nodded, which made the rabbit gleefully smile. "Aww, that's so cute! What happened when you saw him for the first time? Did you have one of those 'love at first sight' moments like mammals do in those cheesy love stories?"

Sharla blushed awkwardly. "I wouldn't say that. When I saw him with Charles for the first time… I thought that he was absolutely adorable… and when we looked at each other… I couldn't describe it—"

"Oh my gosh."

"What?"

"You're such a liar."

"Oh, stop."

"Look at you, you're beaming! If that wasn't love at first sight, than you're dreaming."

"Stop, Jude," the ewe stammered, punching Judy's arm. "I'm gonna die of embarrassment if I blush anymore!"

They shared a laugh.

"You two must be made for each other."

Sharla took a sip of her now moderately warm coffee. She was done being giddy and decided to revert to her normal smiling self as she stared off into space, swirling around memories and good times. She tried her best to focus on the topic at hand at the same time.

"He inspires me," she began. "Even at that party when I barely knew him, he pushed me to play my very best. I nailed all my solos and I didn't miss a beat, all because he looked at me. He was all confused and blushy at first, but once he started settling in, he had this gorgeous smile that warmed my heart. It felt like he believed in me. He still does. That fluffball."

"Do you have a picture?" Judy asked.

"What?" Sharla perplexedly wondered, only remembering when she came back to reality. She picked her phone back up into her hoof, continuing her search for the right picture. "Oh right! I meant to show it to you, kinda spaced out for a minute there."

"Did you just make a space pun?"

"No… it… You know what? Yeah, it was," she giggled. Sharla looked back down at the screen on her phone. The photo she had left off on was one from her university days. Both her and Edward lying on a bright blue blanket, enjoying the nice spring day, reading and writing respectively as they snuggled up next to one another. She was smiling while she rested her head against the wolf's arm, Edward with a similar grin as he stared into the screen of his laptop. The picture was taken by one of their friends at Central Zootopia University, Spirit, who had a knack for snapping the perfect picture. It was one of the only times the mare's photography skills paid off—well, for Sharla at least. It wasn't that he didn't have the skills in the art, it was the fact that he would constantly bug the couple and the rest of their friends.

Confirming that she had the right photograph selected, she tapped the tip of her hoof on the image to bring it up full screen before handing Judy her phone.

"Here."

Like a flick of a switch, life felt as if it was moving in super slow motion. In the time it took Judy to take the device into her paw and bring it into view, Sharla could feel her nerves beginning to flare in the back of her mind. She felt so excited and happy throughout the entirety of the lunch. She had been waiting for a chance to talk with Judy since their high school graduation. It felt just as long to finally shed light on her relationship with Edward. This was the culmination of their meetup. The very grounds of their friendship hinged on how Judy would take the news of Sharla's relationship. It didn't help that the probability of the worst case scenario happening was staggeringly high.

Edward's words echoed in the back of her mind. "Are you sure we can trust her?"

I'm positive we can trust her, Sharla quickly deduced. Whether or not she'll still consider me a friend in the end… that's what I'm worried about.

Mammals could be cruel. They shut and discriminate against others for the littlest of things—species, gender, even preferences. Sharla knew Judy wasn't one to judge other mammals based on who they were, but when it came to being in an interspecies relationship, Sharla learned over the years to expect the unexpected.

Sharla saw Judy's eyes lock onto the screen, then came the moment she had been dreading: Judy's gleeful smile slowly fell into shock. Her ears slowly fell to the back of her head.

"This is him?" she mumbled.

"Yes," Sharla said coldly, making no attempt to disguise her disappointment. She crossed her arms and looked away. Sharla didn't want to believe it.

"You married a wolf?"

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry if you expected something else. I guess I'm different."

"What do you… Oh, no! No, no, no," Judy stammered, bug-eyed, "that's not what I meant—"

"Then what do you mean, Judy?"

"I—I…" her voice fell into nothing, and eventually her glossy gaze averted into space. "I'm sorry," she uttered shakily, "I didn't mean to—"

Sharla's hoof gently fell onto Judy's arm. The moment she made contact, Judy tensed up, the look on her face transforming into that of a deer in headlights. It was obvious that she was hurting. She was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Sharla still cared about Judy. Maybe Sharla jumped the gun. Maybe Judy wasn't a bigot after all. She didn't know for sure. What she did know was that Judy clearly needed to talk, and she wasn't going to abandon her. Regardless, Sharla needed to be the better mammal here. She needed to help her friend.

So, without hesitation, Sharla mustered up a caring look. "Judy," she said. "Please, talk to me. What's wrong?"

It took her a few seconds, but Judy managed to compose herself enough to speak her mind.

"I wanted to make the world a better place. I thought that if I solved the 'Missing Mammals' case, I would finally gain the respect of everyone at the precinct and become a real officer like I'd dreamed of being, not some meter maid like everyone wants me to be. All I managed to do was divide the city. So many innocent mammals were affected by what I said, including someone I cared about, and still do. Now that mammal hates my guts. And, if I'm being honest, I don't blame him. I would probably hate me too if I were in his place.

"I don't know what to do, Sharla. I don't think I can continue calling myself an officer knowing that the city is in turmoil because of me. How do I fix this?"

"Can't you call up another press conference?"

Judy shook her head. "With the city the way it is, the chief recommended that I say nothing about it and ride it out."

Sharla sighed. What a terrible situation Judy was in. The fact that Judy was even considering stepping away from her dream was a scary thought. The tenacious, fearless, courageous rabbit, the hero she had come to know had finally hit bedrock. She needed something, anything. But, there wasn't much that she could recommend to Judy.

"I would follow the chief's advice on this one, Judy. There isn't much you can do on your end to remedy this, and the last thing the city needs right now is adding more wood to the fire. But, if worse comes to worse, then do what you think is right. The only one who knows you better than anyone is you. You are a good mammal, Judy. Your morals are why you're a cop in the first place. If you feel that you need to step away from it all for your sake, than take that time. If you feel that you can ride this out, then keep on fighting. Either way, I'll be right here if you need to talk."

The forlorn look on Judy's face stayed for a moment, looking doubtfully at Sharla until the corners of her mouth raised into a weak grin.

"Thank—"

Judy abruptly went silent when Will's paws reached in front of the duo with their food, placing both the plate of greens and juicy bug burger in front of them.

"Enjoy your food," he said plainly, giving a nod before leaving.

Sharla looked back at Judy as she continued with that same smile as before. "Thank you."

"It's no problem at all, Judy."

"You and…"

"Edward."

"You and Edward make a really cute couple."

Sharla smiled. "Thank you."

o o o

Charles let out a sigh and shut his eyes when he finally plopped lazily onto his sofa, the piece of furniture creaking in kind at the sudden weight being put on it. He bathed in the silence of his apartment for a moment, letting his thoughts dissipate into nothing. It was finally time for him to relax.

Bzz-Bzz-Bzzzzz…

That was, until his phone received yet another call. Charles let out a groan. He almost didn't want to answer it. But, knowing that it'd be rude not to answer, he dug into the inner pocket of his overcoat and fetched the buzzing phone. Without checking the contact, he instinctively answered the call and brought the device to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Charles."

"Edward! How's the trip to the Burrows treating you?"

"Great, actually. It turns out that Dad is trying to be a lot nicer now, so that's a plus."

"That's fantastic to hear," Charles grinned.

"Yeah, it's definitely a big change."

"I bet it is. So, what's up? Find any new information about our lead?"

"Y-yes," Edward sputtered, his delivery suddenly turning shaken and rapid. "I was hoping that I could talk to you and Anders about it later tonight. Could you bring him over to your place after he gets off of work? I'm taking the next train out at six. We need to talk this over right away."

"Is it that urgent?

"Yes," Edward quickly affirmed. "I'm scared, Charlie. Something isn't right about this."

"Just calm down, Ed. It's okay. I'll get Anders over here right away and we can talk about this when you get back, okay?"

An audible sigh breathed heavily through the speaker. "Okay."

"I'll get Anders over here. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," Edward repeated low.

The call ended. Charles sat up and slouched, resting his arms on his knees as he stared blankly into his phone.

What did Edward find? Charles wondered. Considering their conversation the day before Edward left, he had an idea of what his friend had uncovered. What were these 'Nighthowlers' anyway?