Thanks again for the continued support and words of encouragement! I really, really am having fun writing this and I'm even more glad seeing you guys enjoy it! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated!
Judy woke up in a way she hadn't in some time, from the sun blinding her. Ever since her time time in the academy, Judy Hopps had not once slept in past eight in the morning, but once she checked her small alarm clock, she soon learned it was one in the afternoon. She let out a quiet, resigned groan as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. However, it seemed as if gravity had it out for the young officer, as she instantly collapsed back into her bed with a sigh. She wasn't tired, but she was definitely unable to pull herself out of bed today, so she grabbed her covers and wrapped herself in them.
She didn't feel sick, heck, she hardly ever got sick at all, and if she was, there was plenty of prior notice. In the end, it probably was something dumb like she was still wiped out from the trip, even if her other trips to and from never left her feeling so exhausted. Judy missed work already. Sure, she loved her family and her home, but the thrill and the fun of a day of walking a beat called her like a siren.
After about an hour or so of lying in bed, Judy regained her sense of balance, along with loosing her immense and overbearing grogginess. Feeling practically her normal peppy self, she hopped out of bed and bee-lined straight to the bathroom. In short, Judy looked like a total mess. Her fur was matted and sticking out in places, her eyes bloodshot with slight bags under them, she was a wreck outwardly. "Jeez... one bad night's sleep and I look like a corpse..." she groaned to herself, splashing some water onto her face. That however, did not help much, and the rabbit begrudgingly went to shower.
She tried to rush the shower as much as possible, she'd already slept through the morning, and a good amount of the day at that, and she wanted to go say hi to everyone. Once done, she quickly dried herself, and slipped on a comfortable outfit of shorts and a t-shirt, looking far more presentable than she did moments ago. Judy raced into the living room, hopping onto the couch with a satisfying plop. "Morning guys!" she cheered, looking over at her parents who she had just startled with her sudden appearance.
"M-more like afternoon Jude" her Dad said, chuckling once his heart rate stabilized. Judy rolled her eyes, both at the nickname and the subtle hint of sarcasm in her father's voice.
"It was a long trip, I needed to get some rest, I can't keep running forever without crashing sometimes!"
"Good thing it was while on vacation and not on the job, crashing would be very bad if you were chasing some criminal! I mean, you're strong and all but yo-"
"I know Dad, I usually am fine!" Judy interjected, cutting off the worried tirade about to begin. "I get plenty of rest while off duty, and I don't exert myself near as much as you think, not every case is as serious as that one." That one. Code for Judy's first case, also known as the single most stressful thing her parents ever heard. That was by far the most cringe worthy phone call she ever made after they finally cracked it. They were already stressed at the mere mention of her riding a rickety old subway car, let alone the Bellwether's attempt to have Nick kill her. They seemed okay at first, if not a little quiet, but by the end of the week, they had express shipped a massive amount of predator repellents and deterrents. She loved her parents, and how much they cared, but she threw it all out, stuff like that only complicated things in the end, she knew that all to well. That day still remained one she deeply regretted, so many things had gone wrong, it spiraled out of control to degrees she couldn't even dare to predict at the time.
"Uh... Judy? Everything all right?" her Mom interjected, snapping Judy out of her thoughts. She looked around a little, very confused.
"O-oh, I was daydreaming wasn't I?" she asked blushing, only just now realizing that she had been reflecting on the past, leaving her parents to just stare at their wistful and somewhat mournful looking daughter. "I was just... thinking on the past, y'know?" she said, to assure both parents and herself. She wasn't quite sure why she was so absent minded today, especially over a topic that she was always rather confident in talking about, considering she lived it and all. But now, she kept reflecting, it was disorienting, but also felt a little good.
Their conversation soon got back on track, her little incident of zoning out swept under the rug in favor of light chatting. By the time Judy actually felt obligated to check the time, it was already seven in the evening, her mom was just starting to prepare dinner. Her time keeping was absolutely abysmal today, it was sort of embarrassing to think about really. One day away from Zootopia and she was already letting the whole day fly away, except that wasn't exactly new. A lot of days flew by for her, days spent in her squad car, next to a certain fox...
Judy blushed, and that made her even more embarrassed. Never had she blushed just merely picturing Nick before, yeah he'd made her blush by making jokes or embarrassing her sure, but just at thinking about him? Never before. It was a little weird, and kind of scary. Judy excused herself from the living room, assuring her mom that she'd come out for dinner shortly. Heading back to her room, she softly closed the door with a sigh. Her phone was lying on her nightstand, and picking it up, she went to her photos.
She came to a photo she took the day Nick graduated from the academy, shortly after giving that speech. The photo had the two of them, grinning ear to ear, both in uniform, practically hugging each other in pride and joy. Judy had never seen Nick that happy before, he was practically walking on air that day, his cool guy persona melting away for a while, he was almost as giddy as a child would be. And looking back on this picture again, she was feeling about the same. Seeing the both of them that happy together was really nice, and a new thought came into her somewhat distracted mind. She wanted to feel that all over again, feel it with him. Realizing the thoughts she was having, Judy set her phone down awkwardly and went to go have dinner, but not before setting that photo as her background.