When someone wakes up, they wake up to their strongest sense first. For elves, aka rabbits, it's their hearing, canines and most predators it's their sense of smell and others wake up somewhat dazed until they open their eyes and see the world around them.

For Judy, it was the crackle of wood in the fireplace that first caused her to stir this morning. Curiously, she opened her eyes and found she was still lying on Nick's couch, covered in one of his blankets. As she slowly became more aware of where she was, so to did she begin to remember why she was there. Her heart clenched at the memory of how pained he looked and doubt clouded her mind if she would be able to truly help him find someone-

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of soft sizzling. She looked over the back of the couch to catch the image of Nick flipping pancakes on a griddle. He looked so funny wearing clothes that were too small for his winter coat. Almost like a scarecrow with bits of fur sticking out between buttons and seams. The site drew a small giggle that carried around the room. It was cute how his ear twitched in her direction before he turned and smirked her way.

"What?" Nick asked.

"Just thinking." She said before hopping off the couch and walking into the kitchen area where he was cooking. "We should probably get you some clothes to fit you while your fur is like this." She proceeded to press one of her paws into his side, watching it sink till she felt something solid. Causing her to giggle again.

"Well, I'm glad you find my predicament so amusing." He said with a little snark, flipping another pancake over. "Care to join me for breakfast?"

"Sure!" She replied, excited that he seemed back to normal after yesterday's events.

The two sat and enjoyed some small talk as they ate. Neither bringing up any heavy topics to ruin the mood. Eventually, Judy knew she couldn't keep waiting to see if he'd bring up yesterday's events and decided now was as good a time as any. After swallowing her last bite, she set her fork on her plate and wished she'd managed to keep her ears up.

"Nick, about yesterday." Nick had his last bite nearly in his mouth when she spoke. She felt guilty when he sighed and placed it back on his plate to go uneaten. He was quiet for a moment and Judy thought she'd have to probe him with questions to get answers. So it came as a surprise when he suddenly opened up.

"In vulpine tradition, the vixen is the one who initiates courtship. She can do it anyway she wants. Whether that's through open flirting or subtle hints. It's all meant to entice the tod into giving her his attention. After that it's pretty straight forward dating. The two go out and spend time getting to know one another. When things start to get serious the two will start to form a bond. That bond is strengthened by acts performed by each. For the tod, it's to show he can be a good provider usually by cooking meals for the two of them. This shows that he can feed a family. For the vixen, it's to show she'll support him in his endeavors. That can be anything from just helping to take care of the home while he's away at work or even working to help bring in more income. Eventually the two become close enough that they want to move to the next step. They'll mark and scent each other till their two scents become one."

His voice cracked during the last sentence and he had to take a moment to compose himself before he could continue.

"After that, the two get married and seal their bond."

"You mean, sex?" Judy asked for clarification.

"Um, yeah sorta. There's a little more to it for canines."

"Oh, like some sort of ritual or something?" She asked curiously.

"You could say that."

Judy fell silent for a moment. She wanted to ask the next question but wasn't sure how to ask it gently. Fortunately, she didn't have to.

"We met in college. We had a couple of classes together. I was surprised when she started flirting with me." He huffed a laugh with a small smile. "I couldn't believe she was interested in me."

"Why's that?" Judy interrupted, not sure how anyone couldn't find Nick at least interesting.

"I come from a poor family that lived in Happytown. Probably the worst part of town. I was working at a fast food restaurant to try and pay my way through college. Skye's family owned a franchise of mechanic shops all over Zootopia and the commonwealth. I thought, why would someone like her who's at the upper crust of society be interested in me? Someone from the city gutters."

It broke Judy's heart to hear him talking so lowly of himself. How could someone so kind and selfless think so little of himself?

"Anyway, we dated for about a year. Things started to get serious and we marked and scented each other. We made plans, I showed up for the wedding, but she never came." Nick took a deep breath and released a heavy sigh. "That was 10 years ago."

Judy didn't know what she could do to help him. She wasn't exactly sure where he was emotionally at this point. He seemed to be better then last night. Especially after breaking down over Skye's sce-

Realization struck Judy harder than a Grizzmas bell at midnight. "Nick, are you still…" She left the question hanging open. Hoping he'd be able to fill in the gaps for her so she wouldn't have to say it aloud.

"Bonded? Yeah, or, at least I was. I guess last night was all I needed to finally process she's gone. For me anyways." He clarified, his tone sounding defeated.

"Is that why you thought you wouldn't get to be Santa anymore? Because you hadn't moved on yet?"

"Yeah," he said with a bit of exasperation, "that was a big part of it. The other was the thought of how am I supposed to meet someone new and have time to get to know them before the end of the year? I still have duties here I need to perform."

At that, Judy's ears quickly shot up from where they'd been drooping down her back. "I can help!" She got out of her chair. "I can help narrow down the list of possible candidates while you make sure everything's ready for next Grizzmas."

"Fluff." Nick tried to say as she started walking towards the door.

"I just need to figure out some parameters to go by-"

"Carrots."

"-and I'll have a list made up for you in no time!"

The sound of the doors closing behind her seemed to echo through the room. Nick stared at the door for a moment longer before releasing a sigh. He stood from the table and started gathering the plates and walking to the sink to clean them, muttering to himself.

"Don't let me stop you."

On the other side of the door, Judy quickly rushed along the walkways back to her room. Despite being Santa's head elf, Judy never accepted or asked for more accommodations. So her room was a simple square room with her bed, a wardrobe and desk. Along with a bookcase full of instruction manuals and notepads. She grabbed the notepad off her desk and stepped back outside of her door only to realize she didn't know where exactly to start.

Stepping back into her room, Judy started pacing back and forth in her tiny room. "Okay, how to find the perfect Ms. Claus." She continued to pace for a few more minutes before coming to a stop. "I have no idea, but I know someone who might."

She left her room and briskly walked to another area of the burrow inside the mountain. Deep down, below the noisy toy factory, a special set of rooms was set aside. Judy rarely came here, usually just to find someone like she was today. She stood outside the door and gave a gentle tap before waiting. A moment later, the door opened and a young elf poked her head out to see who had come to visit.

"Hey!" Judy said in a soft voice. "I'm here to see your aunt Jeanine. Can I come in?"

"You're aunt Judy." She said.

"That's right. I need to talk to aunt Jeanine, it's very important."

"You work with Santa."

It took a moment, but Judy finally realized what was happening. This young doe, Myra, was feeling a little star struck. With the workshop being such a dangerous place, little ones such as her were kept from there. The previous Santa had spent as much time as he could with the little ones here but the demands of the workshop kept him away more than he would have liked. He'd explained that was one reason he wanted to make Judy his head elf. So he would have more time to socialize. So Judy offered Myra a soft smile.

"That's right and I'm here on official Santa business. So it's super important that I talk to your aunt Jeanine as soon as possible. Can you help me do that?"

Myra nodded and opened the door to allow Judy inside. After closing the door, Myra led Judy down the halls of the dimly lit area. Glancing out of the corner of her eye up at Judy several times along the way before speaking suddenly.

"Are you having Santa's kittens?"

Judy had to catch herself after tripping over her own feet. The question catching her so off guard she lost all sense of bearing for a second. She looked back at Myra in shock while Myra stared back with a child's curiosity.

"N-no!" She nearly shouted before covering her mouth and looking around then replying in a more subtle tone. "Why would you think that?"

Myra shrugged, looking almost disappointed. "The grownups always talk about everyone who spends a lot of time together. They say that's how you know when they like each other. Eventually they always come down here asking for a room and telling everyone they're having kits." She'd started walking again and Judy followed.

Judy let that sink in for a moment before commenting. "So the grownups think me and Santa like each other?"

"They said you spend more time with Santa than with elves and if you don't get married soon you'll die an old maid."

"Oh."

They walked the rest of the way in silence as they passed room after room. Each with a plaque that had someone's name on it. Till they finally came to one that had the name Jeanine Laurine on it. At this point Myra left Judy to return back to the door. Judy took a moment before entering to reflect on when she was that age. Not old enough to go out onto the workshop floor yet but old enough to help in the nursery. It was Myra's job to answer the door when someone knocked gently and then help them find their way to whoever they were looking for.

Done with her trip down memory lane, Judy stepped to the door and pressed the button next to it. Alerting the occupants inside that someone was there. A moment later the door opened and an exhausted Jeanine stood before her.

"Judy!" She reached out and pulled her sister into a hug. "Come in, come in. The litter just fell asleep."

"Oh I'm sorry Jeany, is this a bad time?" Judy felt bad for coming during a time when Jeany should be getting rest.

"No, no. I could use the company. Come on sit, tell me what brings Jude the Prude down into the nursery?"

Judy cringed at the nickname that seemed to stick with her since her teenage years. Thankfully, over time most of her siblings who used the nickname had forgotten about it and moved on. But every now and then a situation came up where they'd use the old tease once again. Deciding to ignore the jab at her nonexistent love life, Judy gave a sarcastic smile back and parted her lips to speak…

Only nothing came out. She had a sudden realization. If everyone knew there was a possibility there would be no more Grizzmas, it would be chaos. At least, she thought there would be. But what could she do? She needed help but couldn't risk causing panic amongst the elves. She had to approach this subject cautiously and in a way that wouldn't give anything away.

"Judy?" Jeany asked, sounding slightly concerned. "What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost or something?"

"Oh, uh, sorry." She said, regaining her composure. "I realized I forgot something. It's not important though I'll take care of it later." She said with a fake smile.

"Uh hu." Jeanine leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms. She and Judy were from the same litter and had been close siblings all their lives. As such, they'd learned to pick up on each other's little quirks.

"Anyway," Judy said, quickly trying to change the subject, "I wanted to ask your advice. What kind of girl do guys like?" Judy sat turned towards her sister, pad and pen ready to jot down any notes necessary. However, all she got in return was a blank stare from her sister.

"Who is it?" Jeany suddenly asked.

"Who is what?" Judy asked, suddenly confused.

"The buck you want to impress, who is it?"

Judy's jaw dropped open for a second before she closed it, realizing she could use this to her advantage. It has long been established that Judy wasn't interested in settling down. "Oh, uh, it's no one in particular."

"Right, so why are you trying to get someone's attention then?" Jeanine leaned forward with a mischievous smile.

"Well… Let's just say I might be thinking about considering the idea of settling down. So I'm being proactive in trying to find out what guys like in girls in general."

"Uh hu, okay then." Jeanine didn't sound convinced but at least she was going along with the idea. "Well the best advice I can give you is to just be you. Every guy is different and if you try to be someone you aren't you'll just end up getting hurt."

Judy's ears lowered at that. While it was excellent advice in her opinion it didn't really help her any. Noticing this, Jeanine continued.

"However, if there's a buck in particular that you want to try and catch the attention of, you could try and find out about some of the things that he's interested in. Maybe do some of those things just to get his attention."

Jeanine struggled to get the last words out before yawning. However, it seemed to be enough as Judy made a note and stood from her seat and made to leave.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Jeany, I'll leave you to get some rest now. I know you need it." She said with a smile.

"No problem. Oh, and Judy," she waited till her sister stopped and looked at her, "when you decide to let me know who he is, don't hesitate." With that she closed her eyes and laid down to try and nap.

Judy just turned and left the room. Feeling a heavy burden for having told her sister a lie. She knew it was necessary, but the guilt was already eating at her. She quietly made her way to the exit and managed to give a small smile and wave to Myra as she left. She then looked at the single note she'd made.

Find things that he's interested in.

She forced her guilt down for now and thought about how she'd gain that information. The obvious thing to do would be to ask Nick but she didn't think he'd want to talk about it right now. Not after having a run in with Skye.

Skye.

She could answer that question. They did date after all. So Judy rushed down to the area where the others would be and started asking where she could find Skye. It took a while with such a large crowd but eventually she was directed to a corner area where she found the vixen and the same hare with the strange black stripes from before.

"Excuse me, Skye?" She asked.

"Yes?" The vixen replied.

"My name is Judy Hopps." She said as she stepped closer, offering to shake her paw. "I'm Head Elf in the toy factory."

Skye took Judy's smaller paw in her own. "Yes, I saw you last year. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could help me with something. Um, privately if possible." Judy explained, glancing at the hare that was sitting with the vixen. She remembered he introduced himself as Jack. She watched as Skye gave him a small smile and nodded that it was okay. He then left silently, giving Judy a distrustful side glance as he left.

"Don't take it personally, he's a little upset after yesterday." Skye explained.

"It's fine, I know you must be fairly upset as well." Judy took a seat as she spoke, readying her pen and pad. "But I'm afraid I may cause you more distress. I'm actually here to ask you some questions about Nick."

Skye tilted her head to the side as her ears splayed outward, her brow scrunching in uncertainty. "I haven't seen Nick in ten years before yesterday. I'm not sure what help I could be."

"Before I say more, I need your word that you won't share what we're about to talk about with anyone. Grizzmas itself depends on it." She said in her most serious tone.

"What's wrong?" Skye brought her paws to her muzzle to cover a gasp. "Is it Nick? Is something wrong with him?"

"No, nothing like that." Judy soothed. "But I need your word, you won't share what I'm about to tell you with anyone."

Skye eagerly nodded her agreement and leaned in to listen closely. Judy let out a hesitant sigh before explaining everything to Skye. She filled her in on the Mrs. clause and how Nick could lose his position as Santa if he couldn't find someone by the next Grizzmas.

"I-I'm sorry but what is it you need of me?" Skye asked fearfully. Afraid Judy wanted her to become Mrs. Claws.

"You know Nick better than anyone. I was hoping you could tell me some of the things that Nick might like in a mate. Things I could look for to help him find someone."

"Oh…" Skye looked visibly relieved after hearing that. She then looked contemplative as she went silent for several moments.

Judy did her best to stay patient. She had to make a conscious effort not to let her foot start thumping. Perking up once Skye started speaking again.

"Okay, here's what you need to know."

The two spent nearly an hour together as Skye went over all the little details she could remember. Sharing everything she could think of that seemed to catch Nick's eye back in the day. When she finished Judy offered her a hug in gratitude for all her help. She only had one more stop to make before she could finally sit down and start building a list of candidates to present to Nick. And so she rushed once again through the burrow till she rounded the corner to her parents' room.

Only to stop when she saw Nick stepping out. Watching as he looked her way and looked surprised to see her, only to switch to his usual smug, calm demeanor. He'd changed out of his Santa suit and into one of his casual pawaiin shirts and slacks. When she'd asked him about why he wore the tacky clothes he said he never really cared for the cold and the shirts made him think of warmer weather with sandy beaches.

"Hey Carrots, how goes the search?" He asked.

"Well," she looked at her notes, "I only just started so I don't have any names yet. But I've been doing research and-" She stopped when he placed his paw on her shoulder. When did he move to get so close?

"Hey, don't take it too seriously. Okay? Save some time for yourself."

Judy felt mesmerized for a moment as she stared into his deep green eyes. The kindness she saw in them had always been there, she recognized it from working together so much the last month. But now she could see something else, something she couldn't name. Swallowing the lump it caused, she managed to squeak out a reply.

"O-okay."

"Good, how about we have dinner tomorrow and you can tell me about the progress you've made so far?" Nick suggested.

"S-sure, that sounds great." She answered back.

"Great, see ya then Carrots!" With that he patted her shoulder and walked off. Judy watched as he left, his tail seeming to wag a bit more than it used to. Shaking herself, she focused back on the task at paw and went to her parents suite.

"Oh hey Jude! Saint Nick was just here. He was looking for ya." Stu greeted when she entered. She'd developed the habit of not knocking when she came to visit them. Their suite was set up much the same as Nick's as well as all of the married couples. Each having a small home inside the burrow.

"Yeah, I saw him as he was leaving. And I actually need to ask you guys something. Have you told anyone about the Mrs. clause?" She asked in a low voice. Both Bonnie and Stu looked at each other before shaking their heads no.

"No dear, we didn't want anyone to panic. You haven't told anyone have you?" Bonnie replied.

"I only told one person but I made them swear it to secrecy. I only told them about it because I needed information. I'm trying to help Nick find someone by creating a list of possible candidates. I have a few ideas of what type of person to look for but no idea how to find someone that would fit those descriptions." She lamented.

"Why not use the Immergut?" Stu suggested.

"The what?" Judy replied, her head tilting to the side as one ear went askew.

"The Immergut, the always good list." He clarified. "It's something we built a long time ago for the first Santa but I don't think it was ever really used."

"I've never heard of it."

"Well that's no surprise. The Immergut is used to find who would be on the good list even after they stop believing in Grizzmas. You can even narrow down your list by species, gender, age almost anything you can think of really." Bonnie explained.

Judy immediately jumped with excitement.

"Yes! That's perfect! Where is it!"