Nick found himself in Bunnyburrow, at the Hopps' compound. Again.

It wasn't that he disliked the place, but the atmosphere, the social differences, the lack of personal space in particular... all in all it wasn't his favorite place to be. Particularly because the next day happened to be his birthday. He already was a popular face around the compound; the thought of hundreds of Judy's closest and most distant relatives swarming him was almost overwhelming.

But, she was his girlfriend, and this was her idea of treating him to something special, so he tried to grin and bear it.

The two had gotten themselves separated somehow, and Nick was trying to find his way back to the guest room he and she were staying in. The place had so much traffic, so many bunnies on every spot of the politeness and personal-space encroaching spectrum waving to him, greeting him, or hugging him. Directions to the guest room were surely anywhere from feet to inches away at any given moment. Still, as Nick fielded the greetings of Judy's family, both verbally and physically, he found he liked the wander.

Nick found one thing rather curious; and that was that the burrow was not done up in any special way for his approaching party. Granted, he assumed that with that many paws working on a common goal, it could be set up in minutes, if not seconds, but he did find it a little odd. Fortuitously enough, as he was having these thoughts he saw Violet Hopps standing at an intersection in the hallways, looking over her iPawpad. Her eyes flicked up to the unfamiliar form coming up to her, but upon realizing it was Nick, she gave a small raised paw in a perfunctory greeting, barely taking attention off of her work.

Violet was the Hopps Family Organizer, a full-time job if there ever was one. She was taller than Judy but shared most of her colors; she also liked to wear sweaters and a pair of chic glasses.

"Vi...!" Nick greeted with enthusiastic charm, holding his hands out wide. "How's it going?"

"I'm working," she almost snipped.

"Right, bet you're a little extra busy lately, what with me around," Nick said, folding his paws behind his back.

"I hope this isn't an attempt to loosen information about your birthday from me," Violet gave him a brief glare.

"Not so much," Nick chuckled.

"Good," Violet nearly smiled. "It's pleasant to see you."

"That is quite high praise, coming from you," Nick poked at the air in front of him. "...Just... I was wondering. Is it going to be like... a big party?" His voice pinched into almost a squeak.

Violet looked at him sternly and huffed. "Nicholas." Her features softened after a few seconds and her ears came back up. "Do you want me to answer you truthfully, or with something you'd want to hear?"

"Ah, so you have some idea of what I'd like, then," Nick seemed relieved. He'd wondered if anyone was picking up on his discomfort. "Pleasantly oblivious" was a term he would use to describe most of the Hopps.

"Not precisely," Violet glimpsed down at her pad, "but don't you trust Judy to?"

The question pierced him uncomfortably. Violet didn't really ever pull her words. He looked genuinely confused for a moment as he wondered what the actual answer of that question was.

"Well, yeah, of course, I..." Nick found himself babbling, quite unlike him.

"Why don't you just go to her?" Violet suggested, seemingly very slightly bothered by Nick's hemming and hawing. "She's awful at keeping secrets or lying. You'll be able to coax whatever you want out of her."

Nick almost scowled, but managed to smile pleasantly. "Right." He looked down the hallways, then smacked his jowls twice. "That is... hm. Guest room."

Violet tried to quash a smirk before speaking. "First right, second left, first door on the right."

"Yes- er, thank you," Nick muttered, pointing in that direction and beginning to make his move.

Approaching the door, Nick hesitated before opening it, and instead thought to knock. If Violet was playing a prank and he walked in on a couple of bunnies being bunnies, the situation at the party the next day would be even more awkward.

"Nick?" Judy called from behind the door. "Don't come in!"

"Uh, why?" Nick blinked. "You know I've seen you nnnuh..." he almost bit his tongue as he saw least four pairs of curious young eyes looking at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Never mind."

"I'll be out soon!" Judy continued hastily. "Just go talk to my relatives! They love you!"

"Yay, talking to relatives," Nick grumbled quietly to himself. He walked to the far side of the hallway and sat down. He made amicable eyes at the little ones that were watching. One of the older females, perhaps eight years of age or so, walked over to him.

"Hiya, Nick," she waved. Her cream-and-brown colors looked pretty dissimilar to Judy's, but there was something about the structure that made her quite similar to Judy's baby pictures, which of course now Nick had been introduced to more than once. Judy had no shame; she was the one to show herself covered in ketchup. Nick smirked at the memory, then waved back to the youth.

"Hi," Nick greeted, and the youngster took another step forward.

"'Member me?" She asked. He didn't want to admit that he didn't. He could count his living relatives on two paws, and the ones he spoke to on one. Somehow, his penchant for remembering names and faces didn't extend to the Hopps family, where they all tended to blend together.

"Susie?" It was a guess, if Nick was honest.

"Ahuh!" She seemed to brighten considerably as he "remembered", and took another two steps forward. She hugged the seated fox, and he gently hugged back.

She let go and beamed up at the fox, who was still slightly taller than her even while he was seated. "I wanna help mammals like you n' Judy when I grow up."

Nick had to smile genuinely at this. "Is that so? Well, I've seen that determination runs strong in this family, so if you put yourself to it, there's nothing you can't do. You want to be a policerabbit?"

"Um, maybe," Susie suddenly looked timid. "M...mmmaybe a schoolteacher?"

"Oh, that's very good," Nick nodded. "The world needs plenty of those. I'm sure you'll make a very nice teacher."

Susie exploded into a grin like she'd been granted a hundred bucks and rushed away, presumably to tell her siblings.

Okay, maybe talking to the family wasn't so bad. Nick rubbed at the warmth he felt in his chest.

A little while later, Judy took long, striding steps with her paws behind her back, looking around for Nick. He had a small collection of young boys around him, gazing at him with rapt attention.

"Then I tore the display deer apart, RAWRGH!" Nick snapped his jaws, holding his claws up. The boys gasped and a few of their noses twitched, but then they leaned in.

"Cool!" One said. "And she was fooled!?"

"Completely fooled," Nick grinned proudly. "And Judy put on a good show of being scared, too. She was like, 'oh, pwease don't hurt me Mr. Fox'." He clasped his paws together and looked skyward. The kits laughed.

"Har har," Judy said dryly, walking forward with her arms crossed. "It didn't quite go that way. All right, scram, you guys. You'll get plenty of time to talk to Nick later."

"Aw, but he was going to tell me if he had a car or not after the story!" A kit whined. Judy met his protest with a stern paw pointing down the hall, and the kits scattered off like a fluffy firework.

"I was expecting them to bolt when they saw the fangs," Nick chuckled, standing up. "You bunnies are made of tougher stuff than I gave you credit for. You Hoppses, anyway."

"Uh huh, thought you would have learned that by now," Judy beamed. "Anyway, c'mon!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the room. "It's time for your surprise!"

"Can't wait until tomorrow, huh?" Nick smirked, following the excitable bunny.

"No!" Judy called back, then looked back more cautiously. "And uh, don't get too mad. This isn't anything extravagant like a cruise, okay? You're probably not going to have the most indulgent and amazing three days you've ever had, okay? I can't really- I couldn't make something like that happen..."

"Not many mammals can," Nick said with faux haughtiness.

"Pff," Judy rolled her eyes and took him into their room. Nick's brow immediately went up in surprise and confusion. There were two fully-stocked camping backpacks sitting there on the bed.

"Uh?" Nick blinked. "What's this about?"

"I thought you and I could go camping for your birthday!" Judy said enthusiastically, driving her fists into her hips. "We live near a nice forest trail that leads up to a small mountain, or tall hill, whichever you wanna call it."

Nick was dumbfounded, and his head tilted.

Judy winced. "What... don't like it?" She nibbled at her lip. "Aw... I just thought that you..." she poked her fingers together, "y'know, you wanted to be a ranger scout and all, and I-"

"No, Judy, this is amazing!" Nick scooped her up and lifted her off the ground in a hug. She gave a surprised squawk. "I've never really got to go hiking or anything. That's not something you can really do in Zootopia, even in the Rainforest District. Wow! So... we're going to leave tomorrow?"

"Right now, if you want," Judy smiled apologetically, "everyone else really doesn't have too much planned here for you, sorry to say."

"That... um, suits me fine," Nick coughed, setting her down on the bed, "so just you and me, huh?" Judy nodded. "Yeah... I'd like that."

Nick and Judy were soon in a pleasantly-shaded forest, walking along, each equipped with a big camping backpack full of supplies.

"Mm, just smell that foresty air," Nick tilted his muzzle upward and inhaled a great big drag of the natural scent. The dirt, leaves, and even wind seemed to smell fresh and refined to him. "This is so great. I can't believe I've never thought of this!"

"Mmhmhm," Judy giggled at him with a large smile plastered on her face. "You know, it's nice to see you this happy."

"What do you mean, Judy?" Nick adjusted the weight on his shoulders, mirroring her smile. "I'm always happy around you."

"This happy," Judy held her fingers in arches over the top of her wide eyes. "Not this happy." She made her forefingers point to each other and move them down halfway along her eyeballs.

"Well," Nick huffed, rubbing the back of his paw on his shirt. "Unrestrained gushing happiness isn't exactly a becoming feature of a classy fox."

"Maybe you're not one of those, then," Judy teased with a click of her teeth. "Maybe you're just a big, fun-loving goofball in a classy fox's body."

"I'm sure you'd like to think that," Nick said with a false snootiness, but his tail kept swishing, so Judy was convinced he was having a lot of fun. She gave a satisfied, loud hum and spun around.

"Y'know," Judy bobbed her head back to look up at the treetops. "I haven't ever been out this far. I have no idea where we're going. And I said I wouldn't use my phone unless there was an emergency, but..."

"Oh, come on," Nick rolled his eyes, pointing. "It's about 5 P.M. or so. Sun's heading west." He gestured northward. "So that's north." He moved his arm slightly to the right. "And that's northeast, the direction of that hill-slash-mountain we're supposed to climb. We're still pretty much even on the trail."

"How can you tell?" Judy took large steps around some impediments and foliage. "Doesn't look like much of one."

Nick gestured to a nearby tree. "Look, someone snapped a twig here pretty low to the ground. Probably a bunny marking their way."

"Not a bird?" Judy cocked her head.

The fox shook his. "Nah. A bird would have taken it to build their nest. Bet we'll see more on the way back to the trail."

And they did. Soon the trail was looking more solid, and Judy breathed a little sigh of relief.

"You do know your stuff, huh?" Judy looked proudly up at her fox. "Enough to make me think you'd done this before."

"Well, I've wanted to," Nick had a small, candid grin. "If I got into the ranger scouts, I wanted to be a pack leader. Teach the kids what's what. The ways of the world."

"You have always been a big sweetheart, huh?" The bunny pointed accusingly at him.

"You wound me," Nick pointed at himself graciously. He gestured along the dirt path, letting the bunny overtake him. "Just needed someone to show me the way."

Judy tossed him an affectionate smile at that, and continued onward.

The bunny began to tire as the sun began to set.

"Whew! I'd like to claim I have unlimited stamina, but I'm beat!" Judy grumbled.

Nick put a paw to his ear and listened. "Well, sounds like we're in luck. Hear that?"

Judy's ear perked up. "Sounds like running water. A stream?"

The fox nodded. "Uh huh. There's a clearing here too, pretty much a perfect place to set up camp."

Judy nodded, and the two started to unload their backpacks, taking out the tent from Nick's and beginning to assemble it.

"Urgh, they make this look so easy in the shows," Judy grumbled, struggling with the rods.

"Yeah, it's a pain... I've never done this either," Nick fiddled with it, but somehow they got the tent set up. Night was beginning to fall and the wind picked up an invigorating nip.

"Raagh..." Nick grumbled, rubbing a thinner stick against a thicker one against dried grass. "Well, I think I've failed 'building a fire 101'." He set the sticks down. "You wanna turn in?"

"Oh ho, such a quitter!" Judy moved to her own backpack, pulling out a lighter. "Since we're both complete novices at this, I brought the cool gadgets." She flicked it to get a fire going, then set it down in the pit they'd constructed.

"Ah, nice," Nick huffed into a smile as he saw a small fire pick up.

"We had to have a fire," Judy explained, digging around in the backpack, "else we couldn't have your cake!"

"You... how are you intending to make a cake out here?" The fox blinked, baffled.

"Well, not a 'cake' exactly," Judy giggled, taking out some graham crackers. "But s'mores!"

"What, no way!" Enthusiasm spread onto Nick's face as he thought of gooey marshmallow doing the same over those crackers. "I've always wanted them, but y'know, chocolate's so bad for you and all..."

"Just one each?" Judy tempted, shaking a bar of chocolate. "You gotta have s'mores!"

"I do, absolutely, absolutely have to have them," Nick nodded, his tail swishing on the ground. "Even if it is a little early for my 'cake'."

"I'm hoping to be asleep by midnight," Judy looked up at the dimming sky. "My eyesight isn't so good in the dark, and if we're actually going to be 'roughing it', there won't be too much to do."

"Oh, I can think of a few things," Nick wiggled his eyebrows.

"Mhm," Judy returned a leer. "But I doubt you could last that long."

"Ouch," he nearly pouted, "that one kind of stung a little."

A short while later, the two were enjoying their treat to the soft crackle of the fire.

"Mmm-mm, so goofh," the fox said with a full mouth.

"Mhm!" The bunny agreed, giggling as she noticed how full of mirth Nick seemed. She took a large swallow of s'more. "There's my happy fox again."

"Aw, c'mon Judy," Nick grumbled, "you're making me feel self-conscious about it. How am I supposed to feel that the bunny likes me the most when I'm acting like a kit?"

"You call it childish," Judy sniffed, "and I call it just being genuine. It doesn't hurt! Clawhauser gets away with that just fine."

"Right, but can you imagine Bogo...?" Nick led.

"Pfff!" Judy caught a laugh in her cheeks. "Uhh... no, I guess not. But anyway, you're not either of them. I want you to be happy."

"I am, Fluffball, I am," Nick nudged her, then chomped down the rest of his s'more.

Judy woke in what she presumed was the middle of the night. She was unexpectedly alone in her sleeping bag, and her ears quickly perked up as she looked around. The bunny could barely see and her ears picked up little but gentle cricket chirps. Getting out of the sleeping bag, she put some rudimentary clothes on and headed out of the tent, into the night.

"Nick..?"

"This way, Judy."

Judy wandered in almost a dream-like state, slightly nervous, but with slight anticipation. Nick was standing in the middle of the clearing, not a stitch of clothing on him. His head was tilted into the air. The bunny's fatigue-addled mind thought she must be dreaming; she laughed anyway.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Judy slowly wandered toward him, following his gaze to the air.

"Oh, just enjoying nature as my forebears did," Nick said, sighing happily. "It's a nice night out."

"Well, I'm pretty sure your forebears didn't stand on their hind legs," Judy mumbled, folding her arms. "And your ancestors would probably be trying to kill mine right about now."

"Boy, you sure know how to kill a mood, don't you bunny?" Nick chided, though his voice was still serene.

"Lookin' at the stars?" Judy joined him, placing her paw in one of his.

"Yeah, they're so gorgeous..." Nick smiled, "I've never gotten to see them like this. Not when the Gleaming City gleams so much."

"Hm, Zootopia's a little star of its own, hm?" Judy considered.

"Well, stars are actually pretty uncomplicated," Nick huffed, "and I'd call Zootopia anything but. Stars are made of the simplest things in the universe, but they shine for so long, displaying their beauty for all to see. You know, as long as other light doesn't crowd it out."

"I guess I've been spoiled by having a similar view for so long," Judy scanned the sky for something particularly interesting to look at, but couldn't settle. "Maybe it just looks more spectacular to you because of your special eyes."

"Could be," Nick sighed, squeezing her paw, "but if that was the case, I'd love for you to see the view I'm having right now."

"Hey, mine's not so bad either," Judy beamed, "it's got a handsome fox in it."

"All right, you charmer," Nick giggled, fuzzling her head fur. "Your mind's still there, huh?"

"Hey, if you're going to take in some simple pleasures, can't I?" Judy shrugged her shoulder.

Nick scoffed, placing a hand delicately to his bare chest. "Huh! I am a very complicated pleasure, I'll have you know."

"Right..." Judy's sleazy smile showed she wasn't convinced. "Anyway, if you're gonna stargaze, it's better if you lie down."

Nick let go of her paw to do so, and Judy soon flung off the rest of her clothes and nestled against him, her back to his front. Nick chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah," Judy hummed. "This is pretty nice."

"C'mon, Nick, the summit's can't be much farther!" Judy pointed, the lighter-equipped mammals moving up the simple trail that led to the small mountain's top.

"I will never understand morning mammals," Nick yawned.

"Well, maybe if someone didn't spend their whole night stargazing..." Judy scolded.

"Did you really fall asleep that quickly?" The fox shook his head, marveling.

"What? You're comfy," Judy tossed back at him. "I'm just kind of worried that we left camp up. What if a bear goes through it?"

"'What if a bear-' tuh, good grief, Judy," Nick shook his head in disappointment, "there's only been like two or three reports of some strange bears that like to go through campers' stuff and suddenly its a big thing?"

"Sorry Nick, um... what if a snake gets into the tent?" Judy winced.

"Well, you got me there," Nick chuckled nervously.

The two eventually came upon the peak, where Judy planted her fists on her hips.

"Here it is! Oh, and look!" Judy placed her paw to her forehead. "I can see the compound from here! Ha! I've always wanted to say that."

"Sheesh!" Nick looked down at the wide expanse of the Hopps farm and the buildings that made it up. "What down there isn't owned by you bunnies?"

"Very little, I guess," Judy grinned. "I don't think I've wanted this until just now. Being able to see everywhere I grew up in one vista. When I first got to Zootopia, everywhere was a new, wondrous place."

"Yeah, but here, you get such a wide shot," Nick considered. "In ways, Zootopia is kind of like a 'theme park' of different bits of the world. Growing up with it, I guess you can kind of get numb to it."

"So, I take the sky for granted, and you the earth, is that what we're getting at here?" Judy poked the fox in the side.

"Now which one of us is getting poetic?" Nick laughed.

Judy took in a large, clean breath. "Mmm, but this is such a great view. Out here with only the wind to hear us... ahh..."

Nick's brow furrowed a little as he noticed the bunny's breathing becoming a little labored.

"The air's not that thin up here..." Nick blinked, leaning over to look at her. "Oh, I see, we're going emotional bunny, are we?"

"Nick," Judy's slightly watering eyes went over to him, and her head soon followed, "I just... I don't want this to end."

"What, our little outing?" The fox scratched his head.

"No, this..." Judy held her arms out wide. "What we're doing... it just seems like every time we do something, it's brand new. New things, new experiences... I get to share all of them with you, and I love that."

Nick grew a genuine smile, patting her shoulder. "Well, I'm not going anywhere, so you don't have to worry about this ending anytime soon."

Judy seemed to think, then looked up at Nick with a determined face. "Nick, I have a proposal for you."

"Go ahead...?" His head tilted sideways.

Judy hopped up onto a nearby rock to be more on Nick level, then crouched, producing a small box from her pocket. "Marry me?"

Nick's eyes flew all the way open.

"O-oh, like a literal proposal," Nick deadpanned. "...Wow." He swallowed.

"I... I know you're my fox, and I'm your bunny," Judy smiled tentatively, "and I kind of want the whole world to know that, too. But... I wanted this moment with you, in this place... with only the wind to hear us, to ask you... if you'd be my husband."

Nick gazed at the handsome silver engagement ring, laced with gold, and the eager-though-nervous bunny offering it, and his face softened.

"You think I'd say no?" Nick's smile was tiny, but present. "I've been waiting my whole life for someone like you. I just didn't know that someone would be bunny-shaped."

"S-so..." Judy's paws were almost trembling.

"Of course I'll marry you, you silly bunny," Nick hugged her to him.

"Oh thank gosh," Judy breathed out. "That was probably the scariest thing I've ever done."

"She says, with a huge drop a few steps behind her," Nick squeezed her close, "she says, having leaped out of a train doomed to explode."

"I meant it," Judy snuggled into the hug.

"Well," Nick said flippantly, setting his backpack down near the entrance to the main hall of the compound. "If your aim was to outdo my surprise cruise vacation, I'd say you succeeded."

"Nick, not everything is a contest," Judy rolled her eyes, her adrenaline still trickling from her proposal.

"I cannot believe I'm hearing you claim that," Nick said lightly, turning the knob to the door and preemptively ducking for it. "Little miss-"

"SURPRISE!"

Judy was surprised as Nick was as dozens of voices screamed out to them. A congregation of bunnies was there with birthday hats and streamers, and a sign hung near the ceiling that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".

Near the forefront of the throng of bunnies was Violet, who was looking rather smug.

"Vi!" Judy looked around at everyone with wide eyes, then rushed over to her. "You said you weren't planning a big to-do!"

"And you bought that?" Violet looked confused, then her eyes wandered over to Nick. "Wow, I thought you'd be less of an easy mark with this after hanging out with a fox for so long."

"Vi...!" Judy hissed, thrusting her paws downward. "You know Nick doesn't like huge parties!"

"So...?" Violet leaned her head in to her shorter sister. "Did you find the nerve?"

Judy smiled, letting out a huge breath. "Take a look at his paw."

As Violet did, she quickly motioned to a bunny buck near the sign. Part of it unfurled, adding "AND ENGAGEMENT!" to the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".

The din in the hall was deafening, and Nick's ears involuntarily went back.

"What!? No way! Nick's getting married?"
"To Judy?"
"To Judy! Isn't it romantic?"
"But Judy's so weird and Nick's so cool!"
"I love Nick! He's gonna be my big brother!"

A wobbly smile pulled at Nick's lip.

"You okay there, Nick?" Judy came up to him, petting his arm.

"Yup," Nick sighed, drawing her in for a sideways hug. "I've just never had this much family causing such a fuss over me so far." He wiped a little moisture from his glassy eyes, blinking repeatedly.

"Or, the dumb bunny emotional sensitivity could be rubbing off on you..." Judy smiled teasingly, petting his ringed hand.

Nick gave a weak, rather cute laugh. "We could go with that."

"C'mon, Nick!" An adventurous-looking young buck named Bradley rushed over to the two, gesturing wildly. "Wait until you see the size of your cake! It's amazing!"

"Ah, so I get a cake after all," Nick smirked, walking forward with Judy's paw firmly in his hand. She smiled lovingly up at him.

"And presents, too!" Bradley confirmed with a rapid nod, tugging at his shirt. "C'mon! No time to lose!"

"Give him space, Bradley," Violet snipped. Bradley saluted and rushed off. "In fact, you all give him some space. Foxes can be very emotional, too."

"Really? A fox can?"
"Aww, so sweet!"
"Look, is he crying?"

Nick laughed again, wiping another set of tears. "Judy, I love you, but I'm never gonna live this down."

"Nick, what do you mean?" Judy beamed. "You fit right in."

"I know..." Nick said weakly, "that's just it."

"I love you too, honey," Judy hopped up to kiss his cheek.