Author's note: I added a second and final chapter to the story so I could give it more closure.

…

Contrary to the canide stereotype Nick can't afford to be the jealous type. Not when he's dating one of the most beautiful vixens in Foxtown, one that has bunny DNA on her and therefore everyone assumes would make her wonderful in the sack. There are way too many horny males hovering around her for him to even keep track on, sure it would be nice to let all the other guys know that she was his and fight them off should they come too close, but that would be impractical and soon drive him to insanity. So he has learned to accept that if Judy wished to dump him, a large line of eager tods and other canines would form at her doorstep.

In the end all he can do is trust her, because he knew that Judy wouldn't cheat on him. He also has to trust in himself, he has to remind his insecure brain that she chose him and not all the other tods that harass her daily, that the relationship they had was built over a long beautiful friendship and couldn't be swayed by shallow flirts and hormones. But it is hard to not snap into a feral rage whenever a tod steals glances at his girlfriend and starts flirting with her right in front of him, in spite of evolution males still compete with other males for the right to mate, civilization might be a much more shallow veneer than mammals would like to admit.

He still remembers the night she asked him out, they had been watching a dumb comedy when she went to the bathroom and didn't get out, not for a long time at least. He was worried she might have gotten sick or had another nervous breakdown so he stayed by the closed door asking if she was alright, just as he was about to break de door in a fit of panic she came out looking disheveled and reeking of fear, but there was a glint of pride on those big purple orbs.

Chin held high and posture straight she looked at him in the eye and with a serious tone asked him –"Nick, would you like to be my boyfriend?"-

He didn't dare to say yes until he was sure she was being serious. He had wanted for a long time to be more than friends but he had been so careful as to not pressure her that he hadn't stopped to consider she might feel the same. Back in the day, before she was kitnapped, he had gathered the courage to ask her out. She had given him a warm bubbly smile when she said yes, but he did notice some apprehension in her cute little face.

And then Shlaufuchs happened, and his Carrots was left so frail he was terrified of screwing up and make things worse, ever since then she was the one that had to push forward in their relationship.

It was the biggest irony of all, he spent so much time reconciling with the idea that he had fallen in love with a bunny, only to have that argument turned moot when she was turned into a vixen. None of that matters anymore, if Shlaufuchs had turned her into an octopus he would have loved her just the same.

Yet one of his many regrets is not being able to touch her soft big velvet ears anymore or see that cute perky cotton tail wag ever again. Sure now Judy has a silky, fluffy, luxurious one in its place but with all her genius the mad scientist couldn't match the effortless beauty of the original, she could never equal nature's work. Her buck teeth by example had been a little uneven, giving her an extra cute smile, now her flawless white fangs are a sight to behold but they lack the charm of her previous chompers.

Sometimes he wishes he could die and go to hell only so he could beat the crap out of that deranged bitch for all of eternity, but wallowing in the past will not fix anything. Life needs to move on.

They are a couple now, but not partners anymore.

Work partners in a romantic relationship being banned within the code of conduct aside, he is the chief of the newly formed data management task force, because of that he had quickly raised through the ranks.

Nick would have gladly taken Judy with him, he knew she would be very helpful in commanding this large workforce but she refused to ride in his coat tails and instead chose to raise ranks on her effort alone. So every morning he has to see her take off with her new partner, a rabbit named Theodore Flandes.

He is the weirdest rabbit he ever knew, for starters he's huge for a lagomorph, and seems to belong to a large breed named Flemish giants. While still a middle sized mammal he is almost as tall as Nick, also much slower and steadier in his movements than the usual energetic rabbit.

Judy liked him, which is no big deal since she actually likes everyone. The tod was warming up to that guy as well, he seemed easygoing and had that mellow personality usually associated with a larger species.

Until one day he hurt Judy.

The day had started as any other, with a moody fox glancing through the window ever so often waiting for her girlfriend to come back from her patrols. Nick used to stare at Judy from his office window whenever she was on the precinct, his task force being located on the second floor gave him a good vantage point, he could daydream lost in his romantic thoughts from his perch for hours. It was just so frustrating that they spent up to ten hours on the same building yet had so little time for themselves, long shifts, hard patrols and obligations were keeping them too occupied for them to have a proper personal life.

So he knew something was wrong by the frown both agents had when they came into the building with a juvenile bunny in cuffs, then he saw the police rabbit tell her something that made her really upset, her triangular ears shook and then flattened against her head. Judy had managed not to cause a big scene in her cubicle but from the balcony of the second floor he saw her run towards the chief's office and smelled her distress. He wanted to rush to her side, but she was much faster than him and once she closed the door there was nothing he could do to help her, Bogo was still his boss and Nick had no power or leverage on him. At least he could always rely on good old precinct gossip to figure out what was going on, though that didn't take much probing, pretty soon Fangmeyer came in and informed him it was probably Flandes' fault since they had an argument a few minutes ago, but the tigress didn't know what it was about.

Earlier that morning:

Judy and her new partner were chasing a crook on foot that stole several cellphones from an appliance store. She loved chasing down criminals on the street, the adrenaline rush always filled her with giddy excitement, but ever since she became a vixen there was a sense of need behind those chases, a primal urge within her instincts that made it imperative to catch her new prey. It was one of the reasons why she chose to stay on the streets instead of working with Nick, sure she had ambitions and did want to help him make the world a better place, but she wasn't ready to give up the field work just yet.

She is almost there, the rabbit she's chasing parkours into the city's landscapes using the ceilings of the buildings like his own playground, with incredible agility he climbs over the tiniest ledge on the city's architecture and jumps over fences with ease only to slide on the rails over the stairwells. But she is stronger than him and even faster since there are still traces of her original species within her DNA makeup. Closer and closer, every step leads the vixen to her prey until she can feel the heat of his fur and the intoxicating smell of his fear. He dodges her at first, zigzagging into the concrete and pivoting at angles no other species could pull off with that much effortless grace, he slinks between the legs of the largest mammals without any difficulty. But she is relentless and what she lacks in balance because of her very heavy tail she compensates with her new improved sense of smell, he could trace him through the large city even with her eyes closed. It just takes a little more effort, a little more adrenaline and determination and soon enough, her prey takes too sharp of a turn and she gets her chance to strike.

One swipe of her paw and the crook stumbles and falls as he was jumping towards a ledge on a high ceiling, landing clumsily into a deserted alley; she wastes no time in pouncing over the scared kit.

She sees him trembling and her whole body vibrates with excitement as her fallen prize squirms helpless below her, an inner urge bubbles in her stomach as her lips curl into a gleeful snarl exposing her long pointy fangs.

-"Leave me alone you fucking pred!"- The terrified bunny below her says shivering; he is barely over fifteen years old.

-"Say that again?"- She cocks her head daring her prisoner to repeat his mistake and face the awful consequences

-"Hopps what the hell are you doing?!"- Flandes' voice booms from behind her and she turns to see her partner wearing an expression of shock and outrage. He had been left behind on the foot chase because of his slower gait, but when he caught up with them he saw his partner snarling and pouncing over the suspect like a feral fox over her lunch.

-"I just apprehended the prisoner"- She says still growling, the fur on her back standing up making her look twice her size

-"To me it looks like you were harassing him, I saw you caught him a while ago but you never gave him a proper restraining and you never read him his rights"- He takes the frightened bunny from her, cuffs him and recites the Miranda rights

Her jaw dropped as she came into her senses, the smell of fear was so strong it made her dizzy. She had terrified someone weaker than her only for her own enjoyment, he might have been a perp but he was unarmed and not a violent threat. That bunny she had harassed was no older than many of her siblings and she had taken pleasure in causing him fear, she had acted in the same awful way Gideon had when she was little. Judy had become what she hated the most, what she always fought against, she was a bully.

She let the buck handle all the proceedings from there, the ride on the patrol car had been as quiet as it was tense. Only when it was time to do the paperwork did Flandes talk to her.

-"In case you're wondering I'm not gonna mention what happened in my report, for all I know you caught the criminal and I did the rest, technically speaking we didn't actually break protocol."- taking a deep breath he steadied himself to not sound too angry at her, he had some semblance of what Hopps had been subjected to and he understood it couldn't be easy to adjust into a whole new species –"Look I know this whole trans-species thing is hard to handle but please tell me you know what you did there was wrong"-

She wanted to respond but talking was pretty difficult while hyperventilating, with every breath her words came faster and her voice got sharper, until he had trouble figuring out what she was saying -"I don't know what happened to me… I was chasing that guy and then I snapped and I didn't even bothered to think if what I was doing was wrong I just acted on instinct and now… I'm a monster! That bitch turned me into a monster!"-

-"Wow take it easy Hopps, nobody is calling you a monster, I just want to make sure this kinda thing doesn't happen again"- he laid a comforting paw over hers and upon looking at it she felt extremely jealous, not too long ago she had soft padless paws as his. So she snapped herself away from his gentle grip and stormed off.

"I don't know how to stop it! How can you control something like this?" she thought doing her best not to panic.

As she rushed towards the chief's office a group of cops crowded around Fandes' cubicle, their accusing stares fell on the large rabbit, to them he was the dumb rookie cop that made one of their traumatized colleagues upset.

-"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you say to make her so angry?"- Trunkaby practically barked at him.

-"It's not his fault he didn't do anything! I am the one that messed up"- she shouted back as she walked away, until now it was a miracle that she had managed to keep some sense of composure, but her experienced colleagues weren't fooled, in a meek attempt to keep a shred of dignity she bottled up her tears and took a stern professional look as she addressed her chief.

Flandes wanted to follow her but a literal blue wall of angry cops stopped him –"You know what fluff butt? I would love to give you a little lesson in respecting you superiors but I rather unleash Wilde on you, by the time he's done, you'll be nothing but a cute cotton rug"- Wolford snarled

And sure enough, soon a very angry fox was rushing through the crowd with an expression that read "I'm gonna eat you for breakfast"

-"Would you mind telling me what was all that about?"- He ground each word between imperceptible growls

-"It's not my place to tell you sir"- Flandes said eyeing the group of angry cops, he didn't feel like venting Hopps' mistake in front of all her coworkers. If she wanted to confess then that was her choice but he wouldn't be a snitch.

-"Oh I see, then come along to my office for a private chat"- he smiled with the sweetest venom tinge in his voice, the kind so foreboding that it should be used on horror films. Bravely the buck looked him straight in the eye and nodded, following Nick to the second floor.

In the meantime Bogo heard Hopps' statement with stern professionalism, he had dealt with similar issues from many other officers but he never thought she would be one to have such problem. Then again he never expected one of his officers to change species because of mad science. In hindsight he should have seen it coming, if predators that were taught about civilization and impulse control since childhood had the occasional outburst, there was little chance for her to exercise complete control after having predatory urges for less than a year. In the end he guessed her bunny nature would prevail but he was proven wrong.

-"Tell me officer Hopps, did you actually cause harm on the suspect?"- His voice neutral, a hint of sympathy leaked through it

-"No sir, my partner stopped me before I had the chance to do anything"- Her spine was straight, in spite of her shame she managed to keep her voice steady

-"Was his arrest done with any violation of the rules?"-

-"No sir, Flandes made sure to arrest him following the protocol"-

Flaring his nose the buffalo grumbled -"Good, in that case there is no need for me to take disciplinary action on you. But next time you might not be so lucky, there is a high risk that you might take a step too far and injure a suspect or even worse, take the law under your own paws and kill one without due justification. You hold a position of power over the populace, even worse, you have the right to carry a gun around the populace. Therefore a loose trigger cop could cause a lot of harm and it will not be accepted in my precinct."-

-"I understand sir"- It was still cute, though weird, to see a vixen twitching her nose.

-"You are far from the first officer to have gotten carried away by your instinct; it is that aggressive streak that gives predators an edge when working as first responders. But it's too easy to lose control of that, especially for someone in your situation. So I'll do what is standard in these cases, as of now you're required to assist in anger management classes and you're not allowed on the field until you get an authorization from the department psychologists. Until then I suggest you get transferred to the data management task force with Wilde, he's been grumpy and distracted ever since you partnered with Flandes. Canides don't work well without their mates around-"

Technically she wasn't Nicks mate, at least not yet, but didn't feel like correcting her boss about semantics on vulpine customs. Mates are basically married foxes while they are still on the dating stage -"That sounds great sir, but isn't it forbidden for mammals in a romantic relationship to partner up or even work on the same department?"-

Bogo scoffed rolling his eyes –"The code of conduct was made by idiots who don't understand how different species interact, sure put two felines together and they will rut all the time and have no work done, but keep two canides apart for a long period of time and they start sulking in the corners while their productivity plummets. Now go tell Wilde of the good news before he makes a scene, he's been a jittery mess lately, you're dismissed."-

Everyone in the precinct was shocked when Flandes came out from Wilde's office in one piece, when Clawhouser asked him what had happened the rabbit only said: -"I explained the situation to him and the reasons I argued with Hopps, he said he would talk to her later and if she agreed with me then he would let the subject go"- After the fox heard what Judy had done, and how the buck stopped her from doing something she would regret her whole life, he stopped planning the rabbit's demise in his head. They both agreed he would keep his muzzle shut about the whole thing and do their best to keep the vixen from damaging her career too much.

-"Just like that? I mean… it's great that he took things so calmly! He can be really temperamental when it comes to his girlfriend"- The large buck liked that cheetah but he was sure his friendliness was just a way to get some juicy rumors about the whole scene he starred in, he can see on the large feline's eyes the silent plea for more information, but rookie or not he knows better than to vent this particular issue further.

-"Well he did say that if my story doesn't check with Hopps he would skin me alive and maul me in my sleep, but he is a pretty reasonable mammal once you get to know him"- He knew his partner would corroborate what happened so he was at ease, and sure her boyfriend could get overly protective sometimes but he was still a reasonable mammal.

Six weeks later:

Anger management classes turned out to be just the therapy Judy needed, she could interact with many predators of all species and have a better understanding not only on her urges but on her new identity. It had been a stressful and painful process but in the end it was all worth it, for the first time since she was kidnapped she felt normal, different from whom she was but normal nonetheless. She was finally a healthy vixen instead of a broken bunny.

Even after getting the all clear from the psych department she wouldn't go back to patrols unless an emergency called for all units on the street, the vixen missed hanging out with Theo and they still stayed as very good friends but her place was next to Nick. Her organized and meticulous personality was exactly what the task force needed, her boyfriend was good following hunches but it was her direction and ability to focus what allowed the best results.

Thinking about her partner, her constant partner, her life partner, she resolved to do what any sane vixen would have done by now.

So one day she sneaked out from the pink palace at 6 am, he boyfriend wouldn't pick her up until 9 so she had time. A few steps outside her new home a fennec fox in an old van came to pick her up, she was shocked to find Theodore along with her brother James greeting her on the back of the vehicle.

-"What are you guys doing here?"- Judy was suspicious, Finnik had promised her he wouldn't tell a soul about this

-"Well it's pretty interesting to see a female doing this kinda stuff; we know foxes are different from bunnies but this one thing is just bizarre!"- James said not even bothering to hide his giddy excitement

-"We thought you might need the extra support since your sisters or girl friends might not know what to do"- The larger rabbit felt cramped in the back of the van surrounded by the smaller mammals

-"Thanks guys I appreciate it"- She did, it was kinda unnerving to follow up this particular ritual, so having back up was welcome.

Finnic drove them to the Feline district in the rainforest, they went to a small store specialized in exotic herbs and other weird animal based ingredients. An old grumpy spotted cat greeted them with a sober expression.

– "Um hello sir… I'm looking for a very special item and my friend here"- Judy nodded her head in the fennec fox's direction –"Said you are the only mammal in the city who could sell it, at least legally"- She looked embarrassed around hoping nobody would see her, it was a little too mortifying to buy something like this, so much that she refused to say it's name out loud.

The feline nodded –"Yes I am, it is rare to see prey around these parts, especially one interested in my merchandise"- the feline's yellow eyes pierced at the nervous rabbits with a devious smile, he relished in their discomfort but didn't waste time to shove a wooden box in front of them.

Opening up the box she understood the beauty of the object inside, but couldn't help to cringe at the way it was obtained.

-"Are you sure it's legal?"- James asked to the cat with his nose twitching, because of their similar size primitive cats rarely hunted adult rabbits but there was primal hunger in the malicious glint of those yellow eyes.

-"As you may know we felines are strict carnivores and as such, we're the only ones allowed to feed from the ocean. This is just a byproduct of our food supply and it was obtained within the regulation from the safe species conservation act"- The cat bowed and responded automatically, obviously used to repeating that same phrase several times during the day. He showed them the documentation that proved the materials were harvested legally

-"So this is what Nick said he wanted?"- Judy asked Finnik with apprehension.

-"Yeah is this the kinda thing foxes talk about?"- James had problems picturing two manly tods drinking beer and discussing these kinds of details

-"It's a really important thing all right?"- Finnik said defensively –"and no, we don't usually talk about it we just keep it a secret. But I know Nick and he's pretty old fashioned when it comes to mating rituals, you won't get anything more classical than this."-

-"The puppy is right young lady, for many generations predators have purchased these to give their loved ones, as a sign of affection and a way to honor their ancestry"- The cat easily dismissed the angry growl he got from the fennec fox.

-"Allright, I'll take it"- she said placing several dollar bills at the counter

Later that day:

They had a nice day off, they took a walk through the park, went to see a nice movie and had a good casual dinner at his place, but as the day progressed Judy got more nervous.

Well she was nervous before, now she's terrified. Nick pretends to relax watching the TV and ignore how her tail swings wildly from one side to another while her fur stands on end. Ugh why does she have to be such a klutz? Her mind is already rambling uncontrollably "Okay don't panic, try to play it casual even when you can see he's already on to you. Well of course he's on to you you've been washing the dishes for half an hour now. Oh crap what if he knows already? Nah he's not that good of a hustler and the guys swore they'll keep the secret. Fine just do it already, like ripping out a band aid!"

-Nick there's something I've wanted to ask you, we've been dating for a while but between our work and my issues we hadn't gone out that often. So I was thinking… why don't we go on a date?"-

Nick sighed relived, Judy had been acting so nervous around him lately that he suspected she might have gotten herself in some kind of trouble, her being a magnet for mayhem and all -"sure carrots where do you want to go?"-

-"Somewhere fancy, the kinda place you have to dress up and has a separate wine menu with French names on the bottles"-

-"Fancy place it is then! Besides you're right if we're not gonna date pretty often we might as well go all the way. I know a guy that works in Giza, I heard their fish sticks are wonderful"-

Judy grabbed the bag of popcorn she heated on the microwave and snuggled next to her fox, now all she had to do was get through the whole week while doing the preparations.

….

Giza was a very fancy place, in the snobby metropolitan way that characterized all the high class restaurants in Zootopia, the food was great, the wine was wonderful and Judy couldn't care less about any of that because her nerves were about to make her throw up her lunch.

Her boyfriend leads the conversation with his usual wit and while he plays it cool he's stares at her with that look he gets when he knows she's on to something, but he won't bring up the subject before she does. She stares at the clock on the far wall, the handles move with the speed of a drowsy sloth. Customs say that' she's supposed to wait until after dessert but she can't take it anymore, her heart thumps on her chest with the speed of a hummingbird's wings, so she clears her throat and brings up the subject before she gets a stroke from all that pent up exitement.

-"Nick we have been together for a while now, through the good and the bad and… the horrible"- A vision of sterile labs filled with surgical tools flash before her eyes but she quickly puts that thought aside, she won't let them ruin this moment. –"I've been thinking about it for a while now and there's something really important I have to say"-

-"Okay fluff, then say it. You know I'll always support you right?"- he says solemn, taking her paw over the table.

-"I do. But it's a lot harder than I thought, sweet carrot sticks I've been rehearsing what I was going to tell you in my head over and over! but now that I have you in front of me I'm scared"-

-"Why are you afraid of? What happened?"-

-"I'm afraid of your reaction, afraid that you might"- She sighed and shrugged, her lips froze and her mind continued the sentence "Say no"

Nick flattened his ears against his scalp, he looked terrified –"You're not dumping me aren't you? Please tell me you're not eloping with that silverback fox that's always waiting outside you place!"- Was that why she asked him out? Did she drive him to a very public place so he wouldn't make a scene? Because if she was he had a surprise for her, he would make a huge scene even if that meant he had to be escorted away by security.

-"What! Are you crazy?"- She said almost shrieking but then reminded herself not to yell at her boyfriend in a moment as special as this. –"No I just…"- Sighing in exasperation the vixen gave up on the poetic and romantic speech she had taken days to prepare, every word was forgotten anyway. So she took the wooden box from her purse and basically slammed it on the table, the waiter saw the cue and signaled the manager, a few minutes later from the speakers the song "Kiss from a rose" resonated into the whole building, was it clichéd? Sure it was! But it had been one of Nick's favorite songs from his favorite movie when he was a kit.

The light dimmed just slightly as the electric candles flared with pink light, giving the whole restaurant a private magical atmosphere, the other clients held their breath as the vixen took the box and kneeled in front of him. Her big purple eyes saw him with such love and joy he had been rendered speechless.

-"Nick would you marry me?"-

When she opened it he couldn't believe his eyes, inside there was a ring made of tortoiseshell and abalone mother pearl, it was a gorgeous ring but he was surprised Judy would buy him an item made out of the corpses of tortoises and seashells. He always loved its delicate organic design, it was valuable but not too flashy, and it was also a precious material that had a very deep meaning of predator pride. It was an offer that evolved from the stone ages when courting a mate involved giving dead prey to their loved one, with the advent of civilization and the truce with the other species the only acceptable replacement became fish. In the last century the preds merged that custom with the prey's engagement ring and tortoiseshell became the standard offer for a marriage proposal.

He would have screamed yes so loud the entire restaurant would have heard but his throat wouldn't work so all he could do was nod vigorously, then he lifted her up on his arms and squished her little form so tight she had to wiggle herself out just so she could breathe.

The next morning was the first time he was awake before sunrise, if only because he didn't sleep through the whole night, he couldn't believe Judy had acted like a true vixen and proposed to him. They had spent the entire night making love and marking each other and thus completing the mating ritual, they were now bonded for life.

He lifted his paw and saw his engagement ring flicker in the sunlight, it was a beautiful piece, too bad it was made of plastic. Turtles were labeled an endangered species back in the 70s, driven close to extinction because of its high demand as a luxury item, so it's impossible to find real tortoiseshell on the city. When she told him she bought it according to regulations from the safe species conservation act he knew she had been hustled, of course it abide the regulations, no turtles were used making the ring! So he is torn between telling her she paid a lot of money for a piece of plastic or letting her live with the guilt of being responsible for the death of an innocent turtle. For now he'll pay a visit to that little kitty hustler that scammed his vixen and demand a refund, with the money he will buy her a nice gold engagement ring, he guessed that since she had made the effort to follow the vulpine traditions it was only fair he respected the lapine rituals as well.

He won't let her go back to the pink palace, that obnoxious she bear won't stand between them anymore. It was time to move on in life, to get a loan, mortgage and pay the taxes, to embrace the bourgeois life he had looked down upon since his teenage years.

It was time to grow up, and he couldn't be happier about it.