Judy found herself standing still on a vast expanse. She wasn't sure how to describe where she was or what she was experiencing. Airy, wispy colors seemed to fade into and out of the background, and she thought she could see the hint of the stars of the night sky all around her. There seemed to be no primary light source, but she could perceive everything just fine. Judy rubbed at her arms, taking one tentative step forward. The ground felt yielding and she wasn't quite sure what or where the ground actually was. Staring at the wispy streams of color floating about, she folded her arms. This wasn't like any dream she had experienced before.
Off in the distance, the shadows of two animals loomed, and then suddenly coalesced into their respective forms. Judy blinked as she saw them close in, and get larger and larger as they approached. It was a giraffe and a bear, but both were unlike any Judy had seen before. For one thing, both walked on all fours, and both were huge.
The giraffe was, unnervingly, colors that Judy could not put names to. She flinched in fear as the "light" caught the giraffe in a certain way and she could see straight through the body, down to the skeleton, with multicolored fires dancing about within and between the bones of the giraffe.
The bear was definitely black-furred, but it had a wreath of something like fire appearing and disappearing around its chest and back. Its eyes glowed cyan and seemed to crackle with occasional bolts of lightning. Meanwhile, its steps caused little ripples that moved through the "ground", as if shockwaves, but Judy couldn't feel them as they moved through her.
The two large animals both stopped and regarded Judy. The bunny craned her neck up to look up at the two and instinctively took a deep breath. A little bit of apprehension washed over her as she didn't know what was more intimidating, the two animals she beheld, or the fact that she didn't think she felt air enter her lungs when she gasped in.
"Uh," Judy started, somewhat surprised that her voice still worked. "What's going on?" The bear started to smile immediately.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" the bear's male voice yelled out abruptly. Judy flinched at this.
"Paradigm, please," the giraffe's serious, feminine voice came forth.
"Aw, but I've been waiting decades to bring that one back," Paradigm said, chuckling in his low, commanding voice.
"I'm dead?" Judy felt like she should be more worried about this, and less able to speak.
"Indeed, welcome to your demise," the giraffe said. Judy found the flat delivery almost humorous, especially at the absurdity of it all.
"We're your hosts, Paradigm and Destiny," Paradigm said with a hint of mirth. Destiny sighed and shook her head.
"So this isn't a dream, huh?" Judy folded her arms. "Because the last thing I remember is going to bed."
"Mm, eighty-six is a pretty good run for a bunny, isn't it?" Paradigm sat on his haunches and shrugged his shoulders.
"Especially one like you," Destiny almost smiled. "Going softly in your sleep is not what I anticipated."
"Am I in... heaven?" Judy looked around.
"Not exactly, you're in our realm, the realm of the Celestials," Destiny explained. "Where souls come from, and come back to after death. The closest mortal word would be limbo."
"My family will be devastated..." Judy frowned.
"They will, they will," Paradigm nodded. "To that end, I'm the Chaotic Celestial of catastrophic and rapid change. I'm here to help both you and those you've left behind in this transitional process."
"What's going to happen?" Judy felt a tingle of fear.
"Well, actually, I will have to help you out less," Paradigm grinned at Destiny. "Destiny owes you a little something." Judy's eyes widened at this. She still figured she must be having a dream, but it was certainly a more interesting one than her usual fare.
Destiny sighed. "Don't remind me. Where are the others?"
"They should be here soon," Paradigm said. "I told Growth to inform them that Judy didn't have much longer left on Earth."
Two more animals manifested before long, with something like a vague luminescent body following them. One of them was a proud-looking, stately canid with soft magenta fur and more intense magenta eyes. The other was a bunny, still quite a bit larger than Judy, who was floating around in the "air" around the canid; the colors of the bunny seemed to be constantly in flux.
Judy narrowed her eyes. "Is that... Karma and Serendipity?"
"Oh, she's heard of us!" Serendipity giggled, floating a couple of circles around Karma's head, to which she didn't react. "We're fans of yours!"
"You two are... real?" Judy shook her head as if to try to wake up. Nothing happened.
"How do you define 'real'?" Karma asked. "There will never be tangible proof of our existence to you mortals. All we can offer to our mortal friends are vague thoughts or suggestions that seem to spring from the aether. It's up to you to act on them. In a sense, then, we are not real."
Serendipity looked at Karma incredulously, hanging still in midair. "Karma, you've been talking to Phantasm again, haven't you?"
"Yes, and next time I think that's a good idea, I'd like you to talk me out of it," Karma grumbled.
Judy tilted her head slightly at the luminescent figure approaching her.
"You're very familiar..." a vague, indistinct voice from the figure said.
"Is that... you, Nick?" Judy blinked.
Serendipity gasped, holding her paws to her cheeks. She then pumped her fist and vibrated excitedly. "She got it in one!"
"Mm, I always thought she was exceptional," Karma closed her eyes proudly.
"This is Nick...?" Judy frowned. "What... happened to him?"
"Only what happens to every soul over time," Destiny explained. "Bits of their memory and Earthly thoughts will slough off one by one and become part of the universe. What's left is just the soul, what of a person can individually be linked to only you."
"It's kind of like the difference between a compound an an element," Serendipity offered.
"That sounds... terrifying," Judy admitted. "Nick's... he's lost himself?"
"Mortals always find it scary to let go," Paradigm nodded. "That's why I'm here to help them. However, Nick's been able to hold onto himself much longer than other souls."
"He's been... waiting for me?" Judy looked at Nick's soul's form with a pained expression.
"I've been waiting long enough," the soul said with a sarcastic edge.
Judy made a choking laugh. "Okay you rascal, that's definitely Nick." Judy started forward happily, but then halted. "Can I... can I embrace him?"
"By all means," Destiny said dryly. Karma and Serendipity shot each other a smile. Judy held the soul close to her, and it felt warm. Swirling wisps of color suddenly started becoming attracted to the two, and they seeped into Nick's soul, which started to fill out in shape and in color until it was unmistakably the red fox Judy had known, loved, and married. She released him, her eyes sparkling.
"Nick!" Judy laughed.
"Hey, Carrots," Nick said, putting his arms in his pockets. "You've kept me waiting."
"You had to go and die first," Judy sneered, shaking her index finger at him. She huffed unsteadily as the memories were still very fresh to her. "You left me alone for nearly a decade!"
"Give this old fox a break," Nick shrugged. As they observed each other, they noticed that they were dressed and appeared as they were during the one day they changed Zootopia. They smiled at each other with a longing love.
"Wow, they really didn't skip a beat," Karma shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Nope, business as usual," Serendipity "laid down" in midair with her cheeks in her paws, sighing dreamily.
"Wow, to see you again like this..." Judy smiled. "It feels like magic..."
"Actually, it's fairly simple," Destiny said. "Nothing in the universe is every truly 'lost'. Because of your special bond and close contact, the memories and feelings that have fallen off Nick have rejoined him and-"
"Shaddap," Serendipity sucked at her teeth. "If she says it's magic, it's magic. Not like they're going to remember this anyway."
"I guess I don't understand why we can't just keep our memories as they are..." Judy frowned.
"Well, you won't need them where you're going," Destiny said. Judy shivered.
"And where is that?" Judy mumbled.
"Back to Earth, of course," Paradigm chuckled. "Can't have you two remembering you were a bunny and a fox."
"Sometimes, through the aether, a memory will fly right through you!" Serendipity said. "Millions of memories fly through mortals every second, but sometimes, you'll get one of yours. It's kinda like how you mortals have discovered neutrinos. If you're hit with your own memory, it's like a key hitting a lock. You might get a flash of deja vu!"
"Huh..." Judy said in wonder. "So we have to go back to Earth?"
"There's not much to do up here for mortals, Judy," Nick shrugged. "I played a few dozen rounds of poker with Serendipity, Karma, and a few others, and that was fun for awhile, but-"
"Wait, wait," Judy squinted her eyes shut and held up both hands. "You played poker with the Celestials?"
"Games of chance are pretty dull, but we happen to like Nick," Karma smiled.
"Nick's great fun, and I just love games of chance!" Serendipity giggled.
"Did you ever win?" Judy smirked. "This is sounding like trying to hustle Death out of another shot at life."
"Well, I was going to get that anyway," Nick chuckled, folding his arms. "But yeah, I've won a few hands. Serendipity cheats, though."
"Hey!" Serendipity protested.
"Your 'straight flush' had a blue five of clubs in it, Missy," Nick accused, pointing at the bunny celestial.
"Oops, I forgot what color it was supposed to be," Serendipity shrunk back, and Karma glared at her in subtle amusement.
Judy shook her head. "I can't believe you have the gall to reprimand a Celestial, Nick."
"Eh, they're just people," Nick shrugged. "Kinda."
"If you all have existed since forever," Judy held her arms out to indicate the quartet of Celestials. "How come you look like somewhat normal animals?"
"We've been shaped by the thoughts of mortals," Destiny explained. "As you all started to ascend to sapience, Order and Chaos created us to help guide you. At first we were formless, like the souls, but those whose lives we began to effect and who began to slightly sense the memories of the times they spent dead and with us... they started to shape who we are."
"That's why bunnies are associated with me!" Serendipity proudly thrust a thumb into her chest. "Cause I like ya!"
Judy smiled at Nick. "Destiny said we have a special bond, huh? I can believe that..."
"Oh, it gets better," Nick said, wiggling his eyebrows. "We're soulmates."
"That doesn't surprise me either," Judy smiled, sighing peacefully. "So, Destiny, I'm guessing it was you who helped push us together subtly?" Destiny looked off to the side and all present but Judy and Destiny broke down laughing, even Karma.
"I'm known as a 'lazy' Celestial," Destiny grumbled. "I don't get soulmates together much anymore. Mammals don't believe in them. I just feel like I'd need a push, a hope, to feel like working. But no one ever does. No one likes to say 'it's Destiny!' anymore. So I'm just here doing the death thing."
"Huh!" Judy tilted her head. "But we got together anyway- oh." Karma and Serendipity were trying to hide bashful, huge smiles. "Okay, should have guessed. How did they get us together? Circumstance and causality? Have we been puppets to the Celestials all our lives?" The two Celestials quickly shook their heads.
"No no, it was just a tiny little idea," Nick said. "Three words." He held up three digits.
Judy grinned devilishly. "Felony tax evasion?"
Nick winced and shook his hands. "No no no! Mammal inclusion initiative!"
"Huh?" Judy wondered. "They gave... what, Lionheart the idea?"
"Just the possibility," Serendipity haughtily looked at her claws. "Didn't force him, just suggested subtly and nicely."
"And that one idea got us together; that was their intention?" Judy seemed baffled.
"I'm a high roller, baby!" Serendipity shook a fist and mimicked throwing dice. Judy flinched as she actually did toss dice that burst into little fireworks in midair.
"Plus, soulmates have a naturally powerful attraction to each other, like binary stars or magnets," Karma said. "Once you met each other most of the work was done for us."
"So does everyone have a soul mate?" Judy mused.
"No," Destiny said, and Judy looked dismayed at this. "All souls can have meaningful and loving interactions with others. However, soulmates of two or more, they are sort of bound to each other in a way; their most meaningful reactions come from each other."
"Gives you the warm fuzzies, huh?" Nick nudged Judy.
"I'm just wondering what the point of this little Celestial party is," Judy shrugged.
"Well!" Paradigm laughed and lightning crackled out of his eyes. "In a miraculous turn of events, Destiny is actually going to do her job!"
Destiny groaned. "This time, for your next lives, we can just skip through the stage where you have to slough off your memories and do it all at once. I will send you both at once and make sure you meet earlier and have a fulfilling life together. Or, do the best I can to that effect. As always it's up to you."
"Oh..." Judy said, a hand to her chest. "That sounds lovely..."
"Wonder what we'll be this time," Nick shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Not a bunny and a fox...?" Judy wondered.
"Souls are souls," Paradigm said. "They're malleable and fit into many different things. You might even be the same species this time."
"That sounds interesting..." Judy smirked. "So we're going right away?"
"Unless you want to play some poker or something!" Serendipity waved her arm in invitation.
"I'll pass... next life?" Judy winked.
"I'm gonna hold you to that!" Serendipity pointed seriously at Judy. Serendipity turned to Karma. "Karma, let it be shown on the record that Judy's soul, whomever she is next go-round, owes me a game of poker!"
"So noted," Karma rolled her eyes, but then looked warmly at Judy. "You did just make a promise to a Celestial. Your next self is probably going to be pretty confused."
"That's her problem," Judy laughed. "His problem? Their problem?"
"Guess we'll just have to see who's what," Nick laughed, but then looked somewhat pensive. Judy looked warmly over him, and Nick nodded diagonally.
"I'm a little scared..." Judy admitted. "But... let's go back, Nick. Together."
Nick nodded again, remaining close to his bunny. Judy nestled against her fox a little.
"Anything you particularly want to be?" Judy asked. "Not that I know if we get a choice."
Nick shrugged. "Try everything, right?"
"Oh come on," Judy laughed. Then she smiled, holding his hands briefly. "Yeah. Try everything."
"Okay kits, time to get your butts back to Earth," Paradigm said, his eyes crackling more fiercely, then he stomped on the ground and send a large shockwave rippling through the two. In a colorful display of wispy threads, their beings, thoughts and memories burst out in all directions, leaving the two's bright, shining souls.
"Last one to Earth has to buy lunch!" Judy's soul said, fluttering around excitedly.
"Is that even how it works?" Nick's soul seemed to hang incredulously. Karma and Serendipity both waved at them; Karma holding a paw off the ground to accomplish this.
"You're going together," Destiny said with something like a bold zest, drawing them to herself with her own powers. The two souls swirled up her long, long neck, meeting near her horns, and then shot off at incredible speed back to Earth.
"And there they go," Paradigm said, watching them vanish into the distance. "Well, that was fun!"
"Hope they'll be less trouble this time," Destiny muttered, smiling just a little. She and Paradigm walked off, leaving Serendipity and Karma staring at Earth from off in the incalculable distance of their realm.
"And so Nick and Judy's circle is finally complete," Karma said. "Now they'll have to forge another one together."
"Mmm...!" Serendipity whined. "I liked Nick and Judy, though!"
Karma wandered through the memories Nick and Judy had left behind. Their meetings, their reconciliation, their wedding, tender moments, sad moments, all of it hung heavy in the atmosphere around them. The two Celestials could clearly discern the memories, and watched them for some time.
"Their memories will always be with the cosmos. They had a nice life, and are about to have another," Karma said with bold declaration. "It's the proper order of things."
"I'm always going to remember when they were Nick and Judy," Serendipity gave a half smile, floating onto Karma's back and holding close to her back, snuggling in.
"As will I, Serendipity," Karma laid down and brought her own tail into her mouth, muffling her voice. "Aff will I."
Serendipity giggled lightly as the two Celestials relaxed together.
Author's Note: Different Tails will now go on hiatus! In all likelihood it will still continue, though, so stay tuned for more chapters and/or bonus content in the future!