"A peace rally?" Ariel raised an eyebrow upon hearing the suggestion.

Georgie held out the sign once more. "It'll be fun," she assured her freind. "This could be your only chance to meet Gazelle - the awesomest pop star ever - and let people know what you think! What do you say?"

"I have one more question," Ariel said flatly, eyebrow still raised. "Can I bring Matt and Cheyenne?"

"Preds for peace! Preds for peace!" Ariel chanted, sign held high above her head. The sky above her in Water Hole Park was a serene sight, but the same could not be said for the crowd now surrounding the rally members, Gazelle standing in the center of them. Georgie had gone to get an autograph from the singer, Matt had been positioned opposite Ariel with a sign of his own, and Cheyenne had come down with flu, so Ariel stood on her own. She was glad Georgie had talked her into this; it felt good to have her voice heard. She'd even seen TV cameras around, so she knew her face was going all over TV screens.

"Go back to the jungle, predator!" Ariel whirled around to reveal a pig getting in the face of the cougar - Alexis - next to her.

"I come from the savanna!" Alexis snapped back. Ariel winced. Wasn't the peace rally supposed to bring animals together, not tear them apart? Some mammals just missed the point.

Below the fighting animals, Ariel noticed a flash of grey and navy. Still holding her sign high, she looked down for a clearer view. A rabbit in a police officer's uniform stood between Alexis and the pig, holding them apart with a worried look on her face.

Ariel knew that rabbit.

Clutching her sign tightly, Ariel waited until the fight was over and Alexis and the pig parted ways, both still glaring at each other. She approached the officer and softly cleared her throat. "Ah, Miss Hopps?"

The rabbit turned around and looked surprised, almost scared. Ariel unclasped her right paw from her sign and said calmly as she could, "Ariel Hobbes. Pleasure to meet you, officer."

"Thank you," said Officer Hopps as she shook the outstretched paw. "I feel like I've heard your name somewhere before..."

"My dad was the editor for the Times."

"Oh. I... I'm so sorry. Your brother and your father - it must be awful to have lost them both."

"I know. It was." Ariel blinked back a tear, then grabbed a pen and notebook from her purse. "Could I get your autograph?" she inquired innocently.

Officer Hopps looked taken aback. "Why?" she asked. "This whole mess is my fault. I have no claim to fame."

"Hey, I know a leading question when I hear one," Ariel assured the rabbit. "Those reporters at the press conference last week were asking them left and right. You had no choice but to say those things."

"If you say so," Officer Hopps replied with a melancholy chuckle. "I don't really feel that all predators are savage. It's just that... I have a small history with them. Foxes especially."

Ariel started scribbling in the notebook. "Could you tell me more, ma'am?"

"I can't believe it's been so long, I'm so sorry," Ariel gushed as she rushed into the hospital room. "How are you doing, Mrs. Lambstead?"

The elderly sheep smiled down at her history student. "Oh, thank you for dropping by, Ariel. I'm recovering quickly. Pneumonia can't keep an old girl like me down!"

"Glad to hear it," Ariel chuckled. "Oh, did you hear the news?"

"And how. I'm glad of it."

"Wait - what?!"

"Oh, predators have been in charge for thousands of years. I never trusted them. Those canines - ugh! Makes me shiver just thinking about them."

Ariel was already backing for the door.

The computer hummer and whirred as the screen flickered to life. Ariel typed in her password and swiftly made her way to the document function. Her notebook, with notes from her conversation with Judy Hopps, sat on one side of the keyboard. She flipped it open now.

The rift was widening too far, Ariel had decided. Citizen could not continue to oppose citizen. With her mother working late at the clinic, Ariel had time to herself to complete a secret mission - one that, she sincerely hoped, would change the way people saw that press conference, predators, and this whole mess.

Ariel typed out a potential headline: Officer Judy Hopps Sheds New Light on the Faults of an Anti-Pred Perspective. No, way too long.