Judy sat upright on her bed, watching a cheesy horror movie. On her lap was a small bowl of vanilla ice cream she had garnished with blueberries. She ate the ice cream, staring at her modest TV screen in her tiny apartment.
"Oh, of course his flashlight runs out of batteries now," Judy said wryly. "And I'll give it til about... hm... right now?" There was a horrifying shriek and a flash of metal and blood. "Yup, that's another dead security guard. I wonder when prospective employees are going to start getting suspicious of the high turnover rate here..."
Finishing her ice cream, Judy stared at the movie, pausing it. She sighed heavily which turned into an annoyed groan as she hung her head downward.
"Rgh... it's just not as fun without someone else to snark with you," Judy mumbled, staring at her otherwise-empty bed. Judy set the ice cream bowl on her desk, snatched her pillow from her bed and, still in her night clothes, wandered out of her apartment and to the next door. She knocked on it.
The door opened and the pronged head of Pronk Oryx-Antlerson poked out.
"Uh, hey bunny," Pronk said, looking her over. "Pillow fight club's been cancelled for tonight."
"Ah," Judy smirked, her eyes half-closing. "That might work on a less clever bunny, but I know that the first rule of pillow fight club is that you're not supposed to talk about it! So lemme in there!"
"Naw, I'm serious," Pronk shook his head. "Two people called to say they weren't coming, and Bucky's not really in the mood, so yeah." Judy stared at the ground, then back up to the oryx.
"Can I come in anyway?" Judy winced. Pronk raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and seemed to consider this.
"Is it okay if the bunny comes over, Buck?" Pronk turned his head to look at his husband, who was just sitting on their modest couch.
"Eh, sure," Buck nodded, shrugging his shoulders noncommittally.
Judy walked over to the couch and sat down in the middle, bringing the pillow over her lap and placing her hands on it.
"Something up, bunny?" Buck asked conversationally.
"I'm just starting to feel like..." Judy closed her eyes, sighing. "I'm starting to feel like my boyfriend and I aren't actually going to work out."
"What? No way," Pronk sat down on the other side of Judy. "I thought you and the fox were forever."
"Yeah," Bucky nodded. "Something big happen between you two?"
"What!? No, not Nick!" Judy shook her head. "This bunny buck, Ted..."
"What, are you kiddin'?" Bucky blinked. "Some random bunny guy?"
"Not the fox?" Pronk looked incredulous.
"Why would I be dating my... my partner?" Judy stared down at her paws.
"Oh, I dunno, cause you never shut up about him?" Pronk scoffed. "Seems like any time we hear you through the wall you're talkin' to that fox."
"True," Bucky nodded. "First I'm hearin' of this other random bunny."
"He's not random!" Judy frowned. "Ted's- he's... he's sweet!"
"Uh huh," Pronk's eyes half-lid as he slouched on the couch. "I'm sure you're totally obsessed with him, like you are with that fox."
"I'm not obsessed with Nick!" Judy was beginning to get frustrated.
"You're not?" Bucky sucked his teeth. "Then why're you getting so defensive?" He cracked into the top of a can of soda, starting to slurp it.
"Buck!" Pronk sneered. "You're drinking a soda this late? You're never gonna get to sleep tonight!"
Bucky smirked, pointing one of his fingers at Pronk. "See what I mean? You wouldn't get worked up if you didn't care."
Pronks upper lip curled, but he turned it into a small grin. "I'll get you back for that one, Buck."
"Well...!" Judy's mouth stayed open to continue to speak, but her eyes darted around as she chose her next words. "I mean, obviously I care about Nick... we've been through so much together. I do- I do care about him..." She felt slightly uncomfortable in her gut.
"Yeah, like, a lot," Pronk said in a dry voice.
"But we... we don't always agree about everything... we've had a couple of really bad fights over the years," Judy looked at her paws again and closed her eyes. "Plus... there's the whole different species angle..."
"Uh, hello?" Pronk blinked. "Bunny, look who you're talking to."
"But you're both in the bovidae family, aren't you?" Judy's brow fell. "You're not that different. Nick and I... we're pred and prey."
Bucky slurped his soda. "Listen bunny, you gotta at least smooth things out with that fox. Seems like you're a lot more concerned about what you think about him than what you think about random bunny guy."
"Ted's..." Judy sighed deeply. Then, she groaned in frustration. She appeared suddenly drained and tired. "I dunno. Thanks guys, I think." She stood up on the couch and picked up her pillow, gently bopping each of them on the side in turn with the pillow.
"You made the bunny sad, Bucky," Pronk looked at his partner accusingly.
"Hey, she was already sad, I just gave her some advice," Bucky insisted, taking another swig.
Pronk pointed at Bucky, but deflated. "Eh, I don't think we should start tonight." He saw Judy make for the door. "Hey, have a good night, bunny."
"Uh huh, good night..." Judy smiled faintly at the two before retreating back to her own apartment, and to her own bed.
It was a place Judy had never found a reason to return to. The bridge. That bridge that she walked under, as if transformed by the passage. The bridge where she confessed the depth of her regret and sorrow to Nick, begging for his help. And how he had uplifted her; changed her tears of anguish to tears of elation...
Nick is such a special fox, Judy thought.
"To put it mildly," Judy said aloud. Some part of her wished that Nick instinctively knew how the bunny was feeling at the moment and that he'd rush over to be with her and save her from the mental turmoil bubbling up within her. She looked left and right; just a bunch of closed down buildings. She wondered what stories the closed-down buildings once held; if they meant anything to Nick.
"He's always in my thoughts..." Judy looked down at her feet, putting her hands in her pockets. "Nearly always..."
Judy kicked her foot, sending a pebble away from her. She looked down at the dirt and various rocks on the ground. Picking up another small rock, she crouched, using it to draw a circle on the ground in the dirt. Carefully, she drew two more circles touching it.
"I've returned," Judy said solemnly, standing up and dropping her stone where the circles intersected. "I've come back to a place where I have an account. Karma, may I pay my debt? What can I do to pay it...?"
Judy scoffed, looking away. She wasn't really a religious bunny at all, and she was sure that even if she was, and even if Karma was real, she probably wouldn't want to help guide a bunny of all things.
Judy held her arms open wide, walking into the open, her fur bristling at the chilly air. She looked to the sky.
"I love him, okay!?" Judy suddenly yelled out. "I... I love him. Nick Wilde... I love Nick Wilde..." her breath started to shudder as her emotions grabbed hold of her chest and throat.
"Why am I such an idiot?" Judy spat out as she gnashed her teeth. "Nick's- he's been so aloof ever since the whole 'dating other people' thing happened. I mean obviously us drifting apart bothers him! That's what I was supposed to figure out myself, right!?" She shouted at the sky again. "I've only had three years!"
Judy started to snivel. "No, Judy... nh-no. What's wrong with you? You're not crying about this... come- ngh... come on..."
The bunny knew what she had to do. She had to break up with Ted, confess to Nick, and then- then what?
Judy wiped her eyes. "I know what I want... I do. I want Nick. I... I need him. But... why am I scared?" Judy shuddered, her teeth grit. "I'm not scared of anything..."
Except that it might be too late, the thought buffeted Judy. Her face scrunched up tightly and a few more tears ran free.
"What do I do...?" Judy asked helplessly. She took her phone out and stared at it, hovering over Nick's contact information. She was almost surprised she had a signal where she was. Cringing, she moved away from Nick's information and called her parents.
"Jude! How are you, duder?" Stu answered jovially, as was common. "C'mon Judy, let your ol' pop look at you."
"Okay," Judy sighed heavily, and changed the call to a MuzzleTime version.
"Oh good grief!" Stu blinked as he caught sight of his daughter's face and the damp fur near her eyes. "What's the matter, honey?"
"I'm... ugh... I'm in love with Nick, dad..." Judy groaned out, trying to keep her voice steady.
Stu gasped. "Oh no... no no no..."
"Right?" Judy grumbled bitterly. "After all this... couldn't... just couldn't help myself, I guess."
"Okay, um," Stu nodded. "Don't panic, but whatever you do, don't tell your mother."
"You don't think she'd take it well?" Judy winced.
"Don't tell me what!?" Bonnie rushed over to the phone, causing Stu to show his teeth in wide-eyed panic. Bonnie gasped. "Bunbun! What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Mmh..." Judy hesitated, but groaned and figured she may as well come clean. Lying to herself was annoying enough, and lying to her parents was another bad habit she'd rather break. "I... I've fallen in love with Nick, mom."
Bonnie's mouth went wide, but then it closed and she began to look smug. "I knew it, Stu. I knew it. Now don't you feel like a dumb bunny sending that buck after Judy?"
"Bon..." Stu winced. "I... I didn't think Judy was ever gonna..."
"Going to what, dad?" Judy's eyes were growing wildly.
"I dunno, Judy..." Stu shrugged helplessly. "I didn't think you knew how Nick felt about you. And I didn't want to interfere."
"What!?" Judy exploded. "What do you mean 'how Nick feels about me'!? And then why would you- Ted... I just...!?"
"I mean, Ted's a nice guy, right?" Stu smiled sheepishly. "I figured if you didn't like him, maybe... maybe you'd see how much that ol' fox meant to you?"
"You're not that clever, father!" Judy blazed.
"Calm down, dear," Bonnie winced. "But you're right; I did let Stu go through with his plan hoping you'd catch on to how Nick feels about you."
"How are... how do you two know anything about how Nick feels about me!?" Judy sneered. "And... and why am I the last to know? For Flock's sake!"
"Okay, first of all, don't take that tone with me, Missy," Bonnie frowned. "Secondly, how did it go the last time we tried to tell you how you should feel?"
"Not well..." Stu answered automatically. "We were worried that if we tried to convince you that Nick liked you, you'd push back..."
"That's just..." Judy's mind raced out of control, but she finally mastered her breathing, releasing her anger. "I mean... maybe."
"Calm down, dear heart," Bonnie smiled. "Okay Stu, what should we tell her?"
"Well I kinda like how he sniffs Judy out," Stu smiled. "I saw him pick up Judy's scent from all the way across the compound once! I followed him right to her!"
"That's hardly any proof," Judy sucked her teeth. "Nick's sniffed out criminals too; is he in love with them?"
"Okay, I've got one," Bonnie smirked. "How about how his tail wags when he sees you?"
"Oh gosh, that is some kind of cute," Stu grinned, then looked alarmed. "Wait, can I say that about a fox?"
"His tail doesn't wag when he sees me!" Judy scoffed, trying very hard to fight a smile at the thought.
"Well, he makes it stop whenever he knows someone is looking," Bonnie held a finger up. "But I caught him once. Didn't say anything to him so he wouldn't get suspicious. But that tail! So fluffy!" Bonnie giggled.
"Sure is!" Stu laughed. "Anyway, if you want to go after that fox, you've got our blessing. Just let Teddie down easy, huh?" Bonnie nodded with her eyes closed, smiling.
"It's... it's too late..." Judy frowned. "I've already sent him off to date a vixen."
"Oh now," Bonnie's brow narrowed. "I can guarentee he doesn't feel for her like he does for you. It's just impossible!"
"The way he tells that story about how you 'saved' him," Stu nodded. "You think some vixen can make him feel like that?"
Judy felt a small glimmer of hope in her chest. "...Thanks guys. I love you."
"Be careful when you talk to Nick," Bonnie warned. "Is the vixen mean?"
"No, she's really nice, which'll just make this harder," Judy smiled sadly. "But I'll figure it out."
"Okay, let us know how it goes..." Bonnie nodded.
"Bye, Judy!" Stu waved, and they ended the call.
"I'll figure it out," Judy said with determination, rushing away from the bridge. Her steps slowed as her conviction wavered. "I... I hope..."