Judy waved to her brother Jayce after she took the last basket of fresh Hopps farm produce out of the back of his truck.
"Say hey to mom and dad for me," Judy nodded at Jayce.
"Gotcha, sis," Jayce said, driving off. She was his last stop, in Zootopia, and now he'd make the long journey back home to Bunnyburrow, just to repeat the process for the next farmer's market. She didn't know how he did it day in and day out; it seemed incredibly dull to her.
Though almost as dull was selling the produce herself. Judy did like being away from her parents and in the interesting, bustling city of Zootopia, but she never saw herself as a merchant. She set down the last basket of produce at her stand in the farmer's market, a basket of blueberries. Next, she fitted on her straw hat, patting her hands through her pink checkered shirt. Looking down the street, her mouth widened into a grimace.
It never failed. Once a week, every week, that same irritating fox would show up. The red fox was clothed in a neatly kept blue ZPD uniform, and he strolled over to her stand with his hands behind his back. He stopped, and deigned to use one of his paws to adjust his sunglasses to look briefly at her.
"Good morning, Berries," he said with mirth in his voice. "It's your favorite cop, Officer Nick Wilde!"
"Morning, Officer Wilde," Judy said, lacking anything resembling enthusiasm. "Would you like your usual?"
"My, how the fire has gone from our relationship," Nick developed a smirk. "But yes, that would be nice."
"I wouldn't call me selling you blueberries a 'relationship'," Judy sucked at her teeth, bagging up his usual, rather prodigious order of blueberries. "Here you are, Officer."
"Thank you, Miss," Nick nodded gratefully, paying for them. He immediately popped a few into his mouth, making a savoring sound. "Mm. These continue to be the most delicious blueberries I've ever tasted."
"Well, you can thank my family for that," Judy folded her arms and looked away a bit. "It's not like I grow them."
Nick swallowed his mouthful of berries and regarded Judy curiously. "If I had to guess, I'd say you weren't fond of me, Berries."
"Ah, so you're actually a detective," Judy looked up and down Nick and gave an even face.
"It's because I'm a fox, huh," Nick gave a charming smirk. "Ah, those bunnies from the burrows. So charmingly backwards."
Judy grit her teeth. "I never said I had anything against foxes. My parents... they're the ones that hate them." Judy pulled out a pink tube from her pocket. "Made me bring a tube of this fox pepper spray with me to Zootopia."
"I see you still keep it on you," the mirth was draining from Nick's voice.
"It'll still work on other animals too, you know," Judy said condescendingly. "I don't fancy being robbed."
"Fair enough, I guess," Nick ate another couple of berries. "So what is it then? Obnoxious personality? You don't like my nickname for you?"
"Nothing so petty," Judy twisted her mouth and balled one of her paws into a fist, but then released it and sighed.
Nick folded up his sunglasses and put them away. "I'm listening."
Judy gave a heavy sigh. "Could you just... go away?" Her voice had a slight bit of trembling to it.
Nick sensed something like pain in her voice. He tried a gentle smile. "I bet you say that to all of your customers."
Despite herself, Judy responded with a terse laugh. "You're ridiculous."
"Hey, the ZPD is here to protect and serve, Miss," Nick smiled a bit wider. "So tell me if I can do something to help. Even if it's stepping out of your life entirely and depriving myself of these wonderful blue fruits of the heavens."
"They come from the ground," Judy gave a gentle chuckle. Nick returned this, seeing Judy's expression soften. "I'm jealous of you, Officer Wilde."
"Ah, should have guessed," Nick shook his head and sighed. "I'm afraid that's only natural, Berries. Handsome, charming, in uniform..." Nick struck a proud pose with his hands on his hips.
"In fact, I want to bother my parents, so hold that pose," Judy gave a half smile, and targeted him with her phone. Nick flashed a grin and stood his ground. "There, they'll flip out over this."
"Why's that?" Nick sniffed.
"I can already see their text reply," Judy grinned widely. "What? A sneaky lowlife like a fox is a police officer of the ZPD? That's the type of law enforcement you have? You need to move back home right away!"
"Ah..." Nick nodded with his arms folded.
"It kind of hurts me in my heart when you come to visit, Officer," Judy frowned. Nick's eyes widened. "I... wanted to be a police officer, too."
Nick held his arms out wide. "Well? What's stopping you?"
"There's no bunny cops, it's not done, to quote my parents," Judy rolled her eyes. "What could would a bunny cop do? She'd be small, weak, and fast, and that's about it. She'd be too big for Little Rodentia, too small to handle anything out in Zootopia proper."
"Berries, I'm only a foot taller than you," Nick drove both of his thumbs into his chest. "So if a 'sneaky lowlife' of a mammal like me can be a cop, so can you."
Judy shrugged. "It's a nice thought, but..."
"What made you give up on your dream?" Nick gestured out widely. "What made you settle for this?"
"I dunno," Judy shrugged. "I felt the calling, but nothing ever really happened to make me want to defy the notion that a bunny couldn't be a cop. I started to kind of... agree with them? I mean heck, my best friend growing up, Sharla, wanted to be an astronaut. Obviously, that didn't happen. I just thought it was a young kit's foolish idea."
"When you're young, your intentions are the most pure," Nick balled up a fist and held it close to his chest. "When I was a kit, I joined an all-prey troop of the Junior Ranger Scouts. They showed me what it was to feel like I belonged to a part of something greater. And that's why I wear this uniform today. The ideals I made an oath to as a ranger of bravery, loyalty, helpfulness, and trustworthiness, they still hold true today." He performed two salutes, the Junior Ranger Scout's, then the ZPDs. "So here I am."
"That's pretty cheesy," Judy said, but she wore a fond grin.
"Don't give up, Berries," Nick said. "Someday, Zootopia might need something that only you can give it."
"What?" Judy gave a scoff and had an incredulous, open-mouthed smile. "How could you possibly think that? What could that even be?"
"I don't know, and neither do you," Nick said, reaching into his pocket. "But the question is, if Zootopia calls for your help, will you be willing to answer?" He took out a ZPD Junior Detective sticker and placed it carefully on Judy's left cheek.
Judy sighed, but couldn't wipe the grin off of her face. "Please tell me you didn't just do that."
"This will be the last you see of me, Berries," Nick claimed airily, put his sunglasses back on. "That is, if that's what you want."
"No..." Judy grumbled with warmth in her voice, rolling her eyes. "You can keep coming over, you silly fox."
"I'm touched, Miss," Nick dramatically clutched at his chest.
Judy smirked and her eyebrow furrowed. Nick felt a bit of a jump in his heart as he saw something like a gleam of determination in her purple eyes.
"For as long as I'm still running this stand, anyway."
Author's Note: Cimar of Turalis Wildehopps is responsible for the content of this advertisement. Uh, I mean, fic idea. I actually didn't know if I wanted to try this AU, but I had an "okay, I guess" moment.