The countryside rolled by as Judy felt her ears being blown by the wind. As the vehicle finally broke free of the congestion of Zootopia, she squinted involuntarily. The car picked up speed and the whooshing wind became a small gale, her ears flailing in the wind comically. In the driver's seat, Nick swallowed an amused smile and put the top of the convertible back up.
"Whew, it took what, two hours to get out of Zootopia?" Judy brushed her paw through her head as her ears went back to normal. "We'll be lucky to get to Bunnyburrow by evening."
"Well, it is New Year's Eve," Nick smirked as his paws lazily lay on the steering wheel. "Probably the least intelligent day to travel."
"Sorry, Nick," Judy let out a slow, prolonged sigh, "it's just... this would be the very first New Year's I wouldn't be spending with my family. It'd be weird... against my tradition not to show up." She huffed. "To that end, thank you for agreeing to drive me there. The train systems are jam packed with herding animals and- just... y'know."
"Well, luckily my uncle owed me a favor," the fox let out a humming laugh. "I've been dying to get my paws behind the wheel of this beast."
"The good news is," the bunny held up a finger, "I doubt there'll be much traffic on the way to Bunnyburrow. Seems like ninety percent of the population in Zootopia uses public transit, and the other ten percent was all on the roads."
"You've yet to experience New Year's in Zootopia, Carrots," Nick shook his head, "there's so many types of parties and celebrations to be a part of. You thought it was called 'The Gleaming City' before, well heck. They go all out for New Year's."
"I know, I know," Judy's eyes wandered back to the countryside. "Maybe one year I'll want to stay in Zootopia for the festivities, but this year..." she wrestled back her whiny expression and it turned to one of challenge. She stared back at the driving fox. "Besides, you think bunnies don't know how to party? My family low-key follows Serendipity, after all. And to show your thanks for her, you're supposed to do a biiig fireworks celebration for New Year's."
"Serendipity?" Nick's brow fell.
"Y'know, the Fortuitous Finder?" Judy's brow went up. "Bunny Celestial of fortune and luck?"
"...The Fortuitous Finder?" Nick echoed. "I thought that Celestial was a squirrel."
"Well, in the past," the bunny nodded, "but in the last hundred years... you remember learning about the Great Prey War of nearly a century ago?"
"Uh huh," Nick frowned. "Thankfully Zootopia was able to stay out of it. Did Bunnyburrow get involved?"
"Well, yeah," Judy shrugged. "They say that one particular faction of bunnies was able to launch a surprise attack that turned the tide of the war and ended it with minimal casualties on both sides. Afterwards, both sides agreed to convert their excess gunpowder from weapons into fireworks, and they launched a huge celebration."
"So, you're saying Serendipity is a bunny now because of that?" Nick huffed. "Because some bunnies luckily turned the tide of war and changed weapons of war into instruments of celebration? Hm. Sounds like bunny appropriation of a deity to me."
"Oh Nick," Judy rolled her eyes, "you barely believe in anything anyway. Bunnies have done a lot to advance the celebration of Serendipity in recent times. You ever heard of Serendipiday?"
"Mm-mm," Nick huffed. "Like you said, I keep my muzzle free of that garbage. But I bet you Serendipity liked being a squirrel just fine. I mean, you guys already have Fertility."
Judy huffed. "Anyway, I hope you'll endure my family's eccentricities. It does mean a lot to me."
"Your family?" Nick blinked, "I thought they tried to argue against you becoming a police officer."
"They were just worried, Nick," Judy waved a paw, "just overly concerned parents trying to make sure their daughter isn't going to go bouncing of a cliff because of her silly dreams."
"That did technically happen," Nick interjected with a chuckle. "More than once."
"Yeah, yeah," Judy laughed dryly, scooting backward in her seat. "We're still here though, right? Worrying is just what parents do. I mean, your parents were concerned about you too, right?"
"The less said there, the better, Carrots," the fox managed to say this with an even, casual face, which concerned Judy. He couldn't even put a jokey spin into his voice. Judy's excitedly anxious need for conversation fell into a lull as the car sped to its destination.
"There, guest parking is right there," Judy pointed at one end of a large parking lot.
"Ho-lee cow," Nick's eyes bulged, looking at rows and rows of similarly marked vehicles of all sizes, "are all these vehicles your family's!?"
"Mmhm," the bunny bobbed her head, "can't really operate a family of this size without a big fleet."
"Now..." Nick carefully parked the car into one of the guest spaces, "the Hopps wouldn't happen to be one of the larger farming families in Bunnyburrow, would they?"
"Oh, sure," Judy nodded.
"You never told me that," Nick turned the key and gave her a scolding look. She gave a shrug with her eyes wide open.
"Never really came up!" She chirped. "Plus, I'm much more proud of being the first bunny police officer than coming from a famous farming family."
Nick started to exit the car, but felt his blood go icy as he saw at least a dozen small bunnies rushing out to meet them in the parking lot.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Nick got in front of the car and held out his paws defensively. The screeching bunnies started fanning out, looking up at Nick with wonder.
"Kits," Judy said sternly, but surprisingly casually for the cacophony surrounding them, "you know better than to mob a newcomer."
"But he's a fox!" One of the young ones countered. "Foxes are so cool!"
Nick's panic turned to bewilderment. "Come again?"
"Ol' Gideon Grey came along last week n' gave us a buncha holiday pies for Shepherd's Day!" A small bunny girl boasted. "It was the tastiest pie I ever ate!"
As the curious bunny faces with twitching noses drew ever closer to Nick, he wondered if he wouldn't have been more comfortable if they were actually afraid of him. One of the larger bunnies, a young teen, walked around him, gawking at the red convertible with his jaw hanging open.
"Whoaaa...!" He marveled. "Is this your car, Nick!?"
"It's very expensive, so be careful!" Nick said weakly. The little brown and cream bunny got a little too close to the car for Nick's comfort, making him swallow through a tight throat.
"Yeah, back off, Bradley," Judy said, folding her arms. "If you scuff the car, you'll see what it looks like when a fox goes savage." The little bunnies gasped in horror at the prospect, and Nick shot Judy a dirty look. "What!? Kidding!"
"Judy!" Bradley protested. "No one calls me Bradley anymore. It's 'Rad'!"
"Right, whatever," the taller bunny rolled her eyes. She flicked both paws. "Now shoo, Nick needs to get into the compound and settle in for the party tonight." The bunnies obediently backed up, and followed Nick at a safe distance as the two walked forward, like an irresistibly cute entourage.
"I feel like they're ready to pounce at any moment," Nick muttered, staying close to Judy.
"Oh, they are," she affirmed. "But there are rules about mobbing visitors, even really cool ones." She planted her elbow in his side. "They'll be in for a stern talking to from Dad if I catch them."
"Well, I know one Hopps that doesn't exactly like to go by the rules," the fox muttered grimly.
"That's why I'll be running interference," the gray bunny tossed him back a devilish smirk.
"Yeagh!" Nick flinched as he saw one of the windows to the main building absolutely stuffed with curious, wide-eyed bunny faces as he walked by. "Jeez, how can such... such tiny fluffy things be so terrifying?"
"Well, you've met me, haven't you?" Judy replied smugly as she trotted forward, leading the way to the front door. "We Hopps bunnies mean business. Even if that business is hugging."
As his bunny partner opened the front door, Nick wasn't too surprised to see a semicircle of bunnies curiously looking up. Questions immediately started, curious chirps of "is that the fox?" turned into "is that Nick?" and "it's Nick, isn't it?" in an ever increasing bevy of sound that resembled a flock of birds all belting out alternating cries. Judy marched forward and started setting bunnies aside methodically, like her body was moving automatically.
"Hello, Dan, you're looking nice and happy today! Aw, Sophie, aren't you just the cutest? Now now, remember the rules, Glenn. No jumping at newcomers. Don't start, Jenny."
Nick was baffled as he followed in the bunny's wake, trailing the path through the bunnies left by his partner. Judy kept picking up her smaller siblings and scooting them to the side, or gently pushing some out of the way of Nick's path. To handle a large throng of animals with such skill; the fox was admittedly impressed, though he didn't know if he was more or less impressed than the small sea of eyes all trained on him.
Shortly, a bunny that looked very much like Judy, but taller, with glasses, a sweater, and a darker gray underbelly proceeded upon the two.
"Hello, Judy, you're late," she greeted unceremoniously, to Judy's nervous chuckle. The taller bunny's eyes flickered over to the fox. She nodded and adjusted her glasses. "Nicholas Wilde." The fox couldn't help but grin. The tone very much reminded him of that time he'd been hustled by Judy so long ago.
"That's me," Nick nodded. "And you are...?"
"This is Violet, Nick," Judy introduced him, gesturing to her. "She's our family organizer! If not for her, this place would be a chaotic mess!"
Nick allowed himself a skeptical look around.
"More so than could be expected, anyway," Violet smirked. Her expression became very businesslike again, and she adjusted the tablet in her hands. "Judy, I'm going to be implementing a segment to the fireworks based on your induction to the ZPD and I could use your input. Hurry, we need to finalize the program; the fireworks are in six hours."
"Ooh, okay!" Judy exclaimed, skipping along after Violet. "See you in a bit, Nick!"
"Eheheh, Carrots...?" Nick held up a perfunctory curved finger, noting his protection from the bunny horde was now gone.
"Carrots? Those are yummy."
"Judy's gone... can we hug Nick yet?"
"No one'll tell, right?"
"I wont'!"
"Did you hear he has a car!?"
Nick yipped as all at once the fluffy inevitability befell him.
Bonnie Hopps did a double take a she saw a tallish wandering mound of her children enter the main dining area.
"Kits!" Bonnie yelled, her fists planting themselves on her hips. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Sorry, Momma!"
"Yikes!"
"Aaaa...!"
The bunnies glommed onto Nick all disengaged at once and scattered in separate directions so as not to receive further scolding. Nick was left tottering around dizzily, placing a hand to his forehead.
"Oof... so... so fuzzy..." the fox panted.
Bonnie's irritation turned to mirth and she placed a paw to her mouth to giggle into. "Ah ha, so I finally get to meet Nick Wilde in the fur."
"Not the most dignified of entrances," Nick replied, patting wrinkles out of his red shirt and adjusting his clashing golden yellow tie. "You must be Judy's mother."
"That's right," Bonnie said slyly, smirking, "risky guess, though. What if I was just one of her older sisters?"
"Well, I mean," Nick shrugged, "she has pictures of you and Mr. Hopps all over her apartment. She obviously cares for you two very-"
"Been to her apartment then, huh?" Bonnie continued, her tone of voice still teasing. Nick found himself unexpectedly blindsided, his eyes opening widely.
"Ah, yes... for work-related reasons," his tone was calm but carried an uncharacteristic waver.
"I see... mmm..." Bonnie rested one arm on another and tapped her bunny cheek with one paw. "Interesting."
"Heh," the fox rubbed behind his head, "and here I thought Judy's sly looks were just from her copying me."
"Oh no," Bonnie shook her head and closed her eyes, "there's plenty of country sass in this family." She continued setting out dishes for the party that evening, causing Nick's muzzle to tilt toward the delicious smells of the prepared food. "So, you're giving up your big city parties and following a bunny home, hm?"
"Well, she asked me to do her a favor, so now she owes me," Nick shrugged, slowly regaining his confident aura again.
"That's very fascinating to me," Bonnie wrinkled her bunny nose, "with a little planning, Judy would have been able to come home by herself no problem."
"Well, you know her," the fox gestured casually, his tail whipping a couple of times, "she does a lot of stuff spur of the moment."
"Nick," Bonnie head slumped a bit and she gave him an almost pitying look.
"What? What did I say?" Nick blinked. "I mean, does she not do that?"
"Seeing her family on New Year's is a big deal for her," Bonnie shook her head. "It was when she went away for college, it was the first year she was at Zootopia, and it is now, on her second year. You know why that is?"
"I dunno," Nick kicked at the floor, "something about Serendipity or whatever? Fun fireworks and surprises?"
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Oh now, bunnies haven't completely taken over everything yet. Serendipity has her own holiday. New Year's is a time to reflect on all that's happened and all that has yet to happen."
"Huh," Nick scratched at his chin, "sounds almost like Karma, really. The canid Celestial of cycles and-"
"I know who she is," Bonnie closed her eyes and nodded, "and you're right, it is more like that than a bunny thing. You're correct that Judy cares very much about her family, though we don't always agree on everything." She giggled nervously, then trained an appraising look at Nick. "I think her bringing you home today was no accident."
Nick casually gestured with one paw. "Pff, what are you talking about?"
Bonnie stared at him for several seconds, then rolled her eyes, wiggled her head, and walked back to the kitchen. "Hm... Judy had said you were clever..."
The fox's brow fell as his mind whirled to consider what Bonnie was talking about, now that the stress of being cloaked in bunnies and meeting the mother of his partner was passed. He thought he came upon the reason, but wasn't sure. At the introduction of several more curious small bunnies into the room, Nick felt it would be best if he found another adult bunny to associate with, and quickly made a retreat.
"C'mon, Nick, c'mon!" Judy beckoned, dashing off into the evening air. "C'mon, follow me!"
"Wh- hold on!" Nick felt pain in his gut as he tried to match her speed. "I ate too much of your family's food, I can barely run!"
"That's your own fault!" Judy called over her shoulder.
"Where're we going, anyway?" He panted as the two ran for a few minutes to a small, grass mound.
"This should be good," the bunny crossed her arms and nodded. "Fourth largest hill on the compound."
"Really? Fourth?" Nick replied dryly. "What happened to the first through third?"
"C'mon, Nick, I know my own family," Judy rolled her eyes, "there are gonna be bunnies crowding every available space there. They'll all fit on and around those hills. I've only come to this place one New Year's and I've never seen anyone around here."
"Ah, so it's nice and private," Nick observed casually. His heart fluttered as Judy responded with a strangely meek nod, and her eyes didn't meet his.
BOOM!
The first flashy red firework exploded behind Nick, and he shrieked and flinched, causing Judy to cackle.
"Yeah, they're that way, dummy," she spun him around as the stars of the firework crackled in the air.
Fireworks burst in midair, in every color and pattern Nick had ever seen before, and even showed off a few effects he hadn't seen before. He was definitely in awe as the glow of the fireworks painted over the both of them in the dim light.
"Wow..." the fox marveled. "This must cost a fortune. Better than some shows I've seen in Zootopia."
"The Hopps are pretty well off; we can afford it," Judy boasted. Nick gave her an even look.
"Y'know, since we're on the fourth largest hill and all, I think you might be a bit too far down to see the fireworks," he claimed, quickly scooping her up and placing her on his shoulders.
"Whoa- Nick!" Judy felt a fleet of apprehension, then laughed. "Ah that's- that's better!" Judy peeked at her phone briefly before shuffling to put it away. "Okay, the ZPD part is coming up!"
A handsome array of blue and gold firework explosions cascaded across the air, causing Nick to release a genuine smile as the glittering stars settled. He wondered if any of the other bunnies realized that part was essentially for them.
"Keep those eyes open, Nick!" Judy demanded.
After the blue and gold fireworks settled, two more whistled into the air and lingered for a second before exploding. It was one large green one and a purple one right beside it.
"Mm," Nick grinned. "Nice contrast."
"It's the color of our eyes!" Judy exclaimed, ecstatic. "I had Violet add that in at the last second."
Nick kept his grip on Judy's ankles firm, but not too firm, and sighed happily as he took in the rest of the spectacular. Eventually, a dense rainbow spray of firework stars signalled the end of the show, and a small delay before the cacophony of the sound hit them caused the both of them to flinch.
"Very impressive," Nick said, setting Judy down. "Glad I got to see it."
"Amazing, right?" Judy grinned. "Dad and Violet put on the best show. See why I wanted to bring you here?"
"Mhm," the fox's tongue rolled around over his teeth inside his mouth, then he looked down at the exuberant bunny. "So, anything you wanna tell me about that?"
Judy's eyes darted to the side before replying. She narrowed one eye, a confused look on her face. "Um, not really?"
A tiny moment of silence passed between the two as they stared at each other, then Nick shrugged and nodded.
"Alright," he said. "So, we going back to the compound? Guess it'd make the most sense for us to stay there tonight, unless you wanna get back out on the road again."
"Mm, I dunno, might be nice to sample the rest of the firework shows on the way back," Judy considered. "But then, it'd be nice to stay and have a good breakfast tomorrow as well. Hmm..."
Nick started to wander in the direction of the compound, his hands in his pockets. "Well, you know me. I love a good night's sleep, and given it's already the new year, I'm a bit tired."
"O-okay, that's fine!" Judy rushed over to keep step, even though he was walking slowly. "I'll make sure we get you a guest room with a lock on it. Heard what those stinkers did as soon as I walked away..."
"Eh, I've had much worse happen to me," the fox laughed.
"Yeah, it'd be good for us to stay," Judy agreed. "I mean, you didn't even get to see my Dad, right? He was busy with the fireworks... ooh and I'm sure Jayce would love to meet and talk to you, and-"
"Judy, did you want me to come here for any particular reason?" Nick indicated the land around them.
"Wh-what?" The bunny's heart accelerated. "You mean, this hill? Or in general... coming home for the New Year?"
Nick's eyes widened and he glared down at her.
"I mean..." Judy swallowed, playing with her fingers. "Yhh-you're..."
The fox tilted his head. "What's got you so nervous?"
"I..." Judy breathed out, taking in a huge gulp of air, "I... think of you as kind of part of my family, all right?"
Nick smiled easily. "Oh, is that right? That's nice of you."
"Wow, way to take that," Judy said in dry sarcasm.
"Wasn't too big of a deal to say, right?" Nick shrugged. "The Judy I know isn't afraid of anything." He started to walk away.
"Well..." Judy murmured, her fists closing tightly, vibrating, and releasing. "Maybe there's a Judy you don't know, then."
Nick's ear flicked and he looked at her sidelong. "Come again?"
Gathering her nerve, she walked forward and pointed at Nick. "I said 'maybe there's a Judy you don't know'. A Judy that's not always the superbunny she likes to pretend she is. A Judy that... y'know... wants to be reassured that she'll face the new year with a partner and a smile. A Judy that... erh?"
Nick gently lifted Judy off the ground and hugged her, giving her a little squeeze. She responded in kind, then much harder. The fox coughed at the tightness, then Judy released her grip and plopped to the ground.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"You don't have a thing to be worried about," Nick shook his head. "You've got me for as long as you'll have me."
"But..." Judy swallowed and looked up at him. "What if I want you for... for as long as we're both around?"
"Hey," Nick crouched, petting her cheek. "I said what I said."
Judy threw herself into a hug again and tentatively tried kissing the long fox muzzle, just briefly. Nick replied with a soft smooch, then his tail started to wag as he unleashed a broad lick over her face.
"Pheh!" Judy sputtered, wiping her face and shaking her head in surprise. "Bleh."
"Sorry, got carried away," Nick chuckled. "There, now was that so hard?"
Judy punched him in the arm, then tenderly rubbed the spot where she'd done so. "Yes."
To her surprise, Nick nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"Phew..." Judy wrung her hands. "Well, that was something. Eek!"
Nick grabbed her up again and slung her over his shoulders. "C'mon, let's go face that new year together, huh?"
"Yeah," Judy grinned, reaching down to rub his cheeks. "And every year after that, too."
"Ideally, we'll take 'em one at a time," Nick chuckled. "But yeah, that's the plan."