(A/N) I couldn't write the scene where Nick stands up for Judy without including one where she stands up for him as well, since I've been picturing both of these scenes in my head for, like, three years or something. However, because both Nick and Judy were already in Bunnyburrow for the first chapter, I thought it would be difficult to come up with a reason for both of them to be in Zootopia at the same time (and the exact same place) for the scene to work properly.

So, I recreated the scene with the Scouts in Bunnyburrow. It's still mostly the same, except that all of the other kids are bunnies.

I also want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, or favorited this story. I never expected to get as many views as I have already; I thought I would get, like, fifteen or twenty. I hope you all like this chapter, too!


Nick Wilde should have known this was coming.

His family had only moved to Bunnyburrow about a week ago, but Nick already felt out of place here. The name was accurate; more than three quarters of the population were bunnies, and many of them were not particularly fond of foxes.

Maybe, he thought, it would have been different if he had been able to join the Junior Ranger Scouts in Zootopia. But, then the move happened, and now he would never know. All he knew was that he should never have joined the Scouts here in Bunnyburrow.

Everything went downhill the moment Nick had finished reciting the oath he had memorized so well, to be brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy. It was at that last word—trustworthy—that the bunnies' false kindness disappeared.

"Even though you're a fox?" one bunny sneered.

It took a second for the words to register in Nick's mind. Until now, all of the rabbit Scouts had been more or less accepting of him…or so he thought.

"W-what…?" was all he could think to say.

Before he had a chance to make sense of what was happening, the lights went out and Nick was knocked to the floor. Being a fox, he could see fairly well in the dark, but that did nothing to calm his nerves. As the group of bunnies closed in around him, Nick's heart started pounding. He was already frozen with fear when the group of rabbits grabbed him and held him down, too fast for him to react.

"N-no!" he cried. "What did I ever do wrong, you guys? Please, tell me what I did wrong!"

Nick tried desperately to squirm free, but the rabbits only held him down tighter. They laughed, taunting him as they forced a muzzle onto his snout.

"If you thought we'd ever trust a fox without a muzzle," one of the rabbits said mockingly, "you're even dumber than you look!"

Panic filled the young fox as he realized what was happening. He started screaming, his voice muffled from the device holding his mouth closed. In a few split-seconds, panic gave way to sheer terror as Nick's heart rate increased again and he began breathing rapidly.

"Is this what it's always going to be like?" he thought, tears filling his eyes. "It doesn't matter what I do; they'll never trust me. They'll never accept me…"

"Hey!" called a voice from the door, interrupting Nick's thoughts.

"Could it be…?" Nick thought, trying to sit up and get a good look at the new arrival. "It sure sounds like her…"

The lights came on in an instant, revealing the evidence of what the rabbits had done. Standing at the door was Judy, dressed in her police uniform and looking angrier than ever. When her purple eyes fell on Nick, however, her gaze softened and he saw a single tear stream down her face.

"What did you do to him?!" she shrieked, her voice breaking.

Judy ran forward, the other rabbits shuffling away nervously as she approached Nick. As she neared him, he thought he saw a trace of hesitation in her eyes. Her nose twitched slightly.

"She's still scared of me," Nick realized. Somehow, that thought pained him even more than being muzzled by the other bunnies. "Will no one ever trust me? I just want them to understand me! I don't want to hurt anyone!"

In that moment, as Nick watched Judy approach him cautiously, he decided he couldn't take it. When she had introduced herself at the Carrot Days festival, he had been ecstatic. Finally, someone had actually tried to be his friend, even if she had been nervous at first. Nick had been hopeful that Judy would come to see him for who he was, and wouldn't fear him anymore.

Now, it seemed that would never happen. Judy was always going to be afraid of him because he was a fox, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

So, closing his eyes to avoid Judy's gaze, Nick got to his feet and ran for the door, unable to stop the tears from streaming down his face. It hurt when the Scouts wouldn't accept him, but the thought of Judy not accepting him was almost unbearable. Unlike the Scouts, Judy had been kind to him. She wanted to be his friend. And if she couldn't overcome her fear, then no one could.

"Wait!" Judy called from behind him. "Nick!"

Nick kept running, out of the building and off into the lush countryside of Bunnyburrow, not even bothering to look behind him. He couldn't face that bunny. He just couldn't. Seeing her fearful expression made him feel ashamed, not of something he'd done but of what he was.

He was a predator, and prey would always fear him.

Finally, Nick couldn't keep running and had to give his legs a rest. Collapsing on the ground, he cried as he frantically tried to pull the muzzle off his snout. He began to panic as he struggled with the device, terrified he wouldn't be able to get it off.

Then, he felt another paw on his shoulder.

"Here, let me try," Judy said softly.

Nick still didn't want to face her, but he reluctantly stopped pulling at the muzzle and sat still. Judy knelt in front of him and gently reached for the muzzle's straps. As she carefully removed the device from his snout, Nick looked into her eyes. Purple eyes were definitely rare, and Nick himself had never seen another mammal with that particular eye color until meeting Judy. What truly struck him about her eyes, though, was how they looked so soft and kind, and yet fierce and determined as well. She was truly a unique bunny; that was for sure.

Once Judy had removed the muzzle, she stood up, turned around, and flung it as far away as she could. There was a spark of anger in her eyes as she did so, one that reminded Nick of how he had felt when he'd seen Gideon bullying her.

Turning back to face Nick, Judy sat down in the grass beside him. Just now, he noticed that she was crying too. Nick was about to ask her what had upset her so much when she suddenly threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I can't believe they did that to you…" she said, sounding choked up. "You didn't deserve that. I'm so sorry, Nick…"

"It's not your fault, Judy…" Nick replied, surprised by how much the events had upset her.

"How can she care that much about me?" he wondered. "She's still afraid…"

Wiping his tears away, Nick asked, "Would you trust a fox without a muzzle?"

Judy looked up at him, the determination in her purple eyes stronger than ever.

"Yes," she said without any hesitation. "You…you were so kind to me, Nick. You stood up to Gideon for me, even though you didn't know me, and you…you helped me. I was…I was so scared because I was all alone and then you came out of nowhere and…"

Judy couldn't continue. She looked back down and burst into tears again. Nick could barely believe his ears.

"Do you really…mean all of that?" he asked. "But…I'm a fox, and—"

"I don't care!" Judy blurted out. "You're the nicest mammal I've ever met, and you deserve to be treated better than that! After what you did for me…I couldn't just leave you there, Nick. Why would you ever think I wouldn't help you?"

"I thought…" Nick started uncertainly, "I thought you were…scared of me."

Judy was silent for a few seconds, and Nick suddenly felt bad for what he'd said. Yes, Judy might have been scared of him, but it was clear that she didn't want to be, and she had been nothing but kind to him since they had met.

"I'm sorry, Nick," Judy said, her voice weak and barely audible. "I don't know why I'm nervous, but I can't help it. I don't want to be scared of you, Nick. You deserve so much more than that. Just…promise me something. Promise…you'll never believe what they say about you. None of it's true, and it's not fair that they treat you like that. You made me believe in you, Nick, so please…don't ever stop believing in yourself. Promise?"

"I promise," Nick answered. "You can trust me to keep that promise, too."

Judy looked up at him again, and smiled slightly.

"I know I can," she said. "Hey, Nick? There's…something else I wanted to ask you…"

"What is it?" Nick inquired.

"Well…" Judy began hesitantly, "I wanted to ask if you…do you think I could be a police officer someday?"

"Are you serious?" Nick replied. "After the way you stood up to Gideon Grey, and…what you did with the Scouts… I've never met anyone who would make a better police officer than you, Judy."

At this, Judy smiled even wider, and her eyes filled with tears again. This time, they were happy tears, and Nick couldn't help but smile too. He had made her happy, and that made him feel much better about himself.

"Bunnies…you're so emotional," Nick said jokingly.

Judy giggled, wiping away her tears.

"Yeah," she said, "well, if you think I'm emotional, you should meet my dad. When I got that part in the play, he was so happy and he cried so much that my mom said he was going to flood the burrow."

At this, Nick and Judy shared a laugh for the first time. A few seconds passed in silence, before Nick spoke up again.

"Judy…are we friends?" he asked.

"Of course we're friends!" Judy confirmed. "We…we have to look out for each other, right? We protect each other."

"You're right," Nick agreed. "I…I know I said this before, but I'm so glad we met, Judy."

Judy smiled, and hugged him again.

"That makes two of us."


(A/N) What did you think? Was this a good follow-up to the first chapter? Let me know what you think!

Also, for those wondering, I did come up with a reason for why Judy shows up at the meeting of the Scouts, but I didn't include it in this chapter because I felt like it would interrupt the flow. Don't worry; I'll explain it in the next chapter!