"License and registration please." The officer spoke in a firm and serious voice not wanting her past interactions with the sloth to change how she carried herself professionally. Officer Judy Hopps and Officer Nicholas Wilde were tasked with finding a speedster ripping through Savanna Central in street races. Unfortunately for the racer he had sped straight past the two officer leading this situation. The sloth blinked in response to Hopps request and hurried for his license and registration as fast as sloths were physically capable of moving.
"We are going to be here awhile." Nick said with a smirk on his face watching his friend Flash moving comically slow towards his glove compartment. He knew Flash was moving as fast as his body could take him but Nick couldn't help by smirk uncontrollably at his friend's misfortune at the present time.
"Oh...They really are slow." Judy mumbled under her breathe to Nick while watching him reach over to the handle. It has been over two minutes and he was barely halfway towards the handle of his glove compartment. Even his eyes blink slowly and the trembles in his body from the nervousness of the situation were happening in slow motion giving him the appearance of a computer glitch in the physical world.
"We can save ourselves plenty of time if we just drop this you know." Nick suggested to Judy with a smile knowing right after Judy would get after him for suggestion they cut out on work.
"No we can not just "drop it" that is against protocol and you know it." Judy said in response, just as Nick had expected. Of course she wouldn't drop it. That was not how Judy worked Nick thought to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the side of Flash's car and stared off in the distance. A soft thud played out to his right meaning Flash had finally reached the handle and was now just starting to look for his papers.
"Amazing first day." A sarcastic remark to a rather uneventful day. When Nick heard they were going after a drag racer he expected a long day out in Savanna Central, a criminal that didn't want to get caught today and a blood pumping, adrenaline inducing chase throughout the heart of Zootopia. Instead the culprit had found them and gave up instantly at the sound of their siren. To make it even worst, or rather ironic, it was good old Flash, Hundred Yard Dash behind the wheel of this car meaning even if he decided to run away it would be the worlds most slowest, mind numbing on foot pursuit the citizens of Zootopia would have ever seen.
"Here...you...go...Officer." Nick heard Flash tell Judy. He propped himself off Flash's car just in time for Judy to snatch his papers from his hand and hurriedly rushed off back to their patrol car. "Alright, now you don't you go running off now Flash. Wouldn't want to have to chase you down now." Nick said jokingly to his good friend as he walked towards his cruiser with Judy. He walked around towards the driver seat and saw Judy was already hard at work running his license and registration through their work laptop. "So, what's the verdict on our harden criminal over there officer?"
Judy turned away from her screen and looked up at Nick a satirical smile still on his face. Judy rolled her eyes and let out a tired and playful sigh at Nick's question. "Well, our "harden criminal" over there has no previous strikes on his record. Seems like this was the first offensive" Judy said while scrolling through Flash's record. "More like it was his first time getting caught." Nick replied back. He knew of Flash's hobby of drag racing. It was the reason behind the nickname he had given him, Flash Hundred Yard Dash. An ironic sounding nickname to those that weren't in the know. A name given to poke fun at the fact that he was sloth. Only him and Flash knew what the true meaning of the name meant. Of course now Judy knew as well.
"Well regardless of that this is the first time he has been caught and we can't do anything based on assumptions." Judy said as he made to open the car door, Nick sliding off to the side to allow the door to open. As she made her way back to the driver' side of Flash's car. "Alright sir. Seeing as this is your first offensive the punishment is going to be little this time." Judy begin talking to Flash how he would be given a fine of one hundred dollars and given one month probation for his actions. Judy held out the slips of paper and watched has Flash reached out to grasp the papers. Slowly, painfully he reached out the window to take his punishment but at this point Judy didn't know who was receiving the worst punishment as her arms started to feel heavy being held out this long. In the corner outside of her vision she could hear Nick give muffled snickers into his hand.
"Oh. My. Goodness..." Judy exasperated slumping down deeply into her seat. This simple stop had taken them close to an hour to get done and even though nothing significant had happened the whole thing had exhausted her mentally. Nick got in the passenger seat and sat there in momentarily silence. Judy knew any moment now Nick was going to say something that was just going to get on her nerves. Any second now... "Well. That was exciting!" There it was. Judy groaned. She hated whenever Nick did that and let at the same time she loved every moment of it. She smiled softly and sat up straight and turned on the engine to their patrol car and drove off slowly back into the real world.
"Oh come on. You know that was exciting. I mean did you see how fast Flash was moving to get those papers? Wish he would move that fast at the DMV" Nick said grinning widely. The rest of the day went by dully. Nothing eventful happen which Nick guessed was a good thing to happen but it wasn't at all like he expected. When he thought of police work he expected tough crack downs on criminal activity, fast car chase down the highways and the sounds of gunfire in the air. Instead so far all he got were long, slow drives though the same streets he walked faster in and a painfully long and slow traffic stop that at least was somewhat enjoyable at the expense of Flash's criminal record and Judy's mental sanity. Speaking of Judy...
"Hey, Carrots"
"Hmm?"
"Why don't we take a little break somewhere, hmm? Something to break this mind numbing, pointless driving?" Nick asked hopefully.
"Nick no. We're on duty. We can't just stop and take a break." Judy replied bluntly. "It is not professional."
"Oh come on Carrots! Everyone else does it!"
"How would you know that? This is your first day!"
"Oh you are very much right." Nick answered. He then turned to Judy and gave her the slyish grin "But you do"
The car came to a stop at a conveniently well timed red light and Judy turned towards Nick still wearing the same grin on his face. She knew he was right both about the rest of the officer taking breaks while on duty and that Judy knew that everyone else does it. Oh how she wishes she could just lie and tell him no she doesn't know but how could she? Nick could read her like a book just as much as she could read him. Nick's eyebrow raised slightly he could tell he was right and was now just waiting on Judy to finally say it and Judy finally gave in with a sigh of defeat. "Alright. We'll stop" at these words Nick gave a small victory gesture like he managed to pass a written test. "Just a quick stop! No longer then ten minutes Nick!" Judy quickly explained.
Nick wove off her statement with a quick, "Yeah, yeah" much to her annoyance. "Oh come now Carrots. You know you love me." Nick told her with the same grin he wore earlier this morning to which Judy replied back with a smile of her own. The two decided to stop by a nearby ice cream parlor for a quick treat and a short break to step away from the monotonous of the days tedious work day. Of course their shift was almost over ending in a few hours Nick however felt if he said in that piece of metal any longer he'd be the one that Judy would have to arrest.
"Good evening, er, officers." The antelope worker greeted them rather awkwardly. Nick and Judy knew the exact reason why her greeting to them was more than lackluster. When animals envision how the Zootopia Police Department officers looks and feels they imagine the hulking frame of a powerful rhinoceros, the fierce persona of a towering lion or the brute strength of polar bear. Instead what stood before the antelope was the complete opposite of what anyone would have expected. To her left stood an officer who she couldn't even see at first until she glazed down to serve the other. A bunny officer? She couldn't imagine this bunny being able to do the same work that any other officer she saw around Zootopia would be able to perform. To her right was an even odder choice. A fox? How could a fox ever be a police officer, no one trusts a fox. There is already a small disconnect between the police and the general public but to throw a fox into the mix as well? It was like they were begging for controversy.
Nick tried to not let this bother him too much, more for Judy's sake then his own. "Good evening ma'am."
"What would you two like for today?" the antelope asked in as normal a voice she could.
"Ah yes." Nick started. "For me I want a medium size blue berry ice cream with extra blue berries on top.. For my lady friend here." Nick gestured towards Judy to his right which the antelope had to lean over the counter to see. "She would like a medium size strawberry ice cream, extra chunks of strawberry inside. Whip cream on top with crushed almonds and a strawberry on top. If you don't mind." Nick finished with the same smile he always wore. Judy was glancing up at him a soft smile on her face, Nick knew exactly what her favorite type of ice cream was and always made sure he got it down perfectly for her. The workers in the back prepared their ice cream, they paid for their treat and retreated to a corner table near the window and began enjoying their sweet dessert.
The pair sat together in a comfortable silence. Their supposed "quick break" had pasted its 10 minute deadline but Nick wasn't about to say anything about that. He just sat eating his ice cream and just taking in the beautiful sight that laid before him. Judy. A few years ago if someone had asked him what he would be doing now he'd tell them he'd still out there pushing pawsicles with his old partner Finnick. A police officer? Nick would have taken that as a personal insult at one point. Let here he was. Wearing the blue symbol of the justice system proudly and working alongside the person that changed his whole life. Judy Hopps. Zootopia's first bunny officer and the best thing that ever happened to him.
He smiled to himself. Another thing that had changed was his personal life. Behind him in his past he had enjoyed the life of a bachelor. There were options everywhere for him. The constant nights out flirting with all the beautiful females and always bailing out at the last minute to avoid any sort of long term commitment. That was the life alright and let, even that was changed by this one country bunny.
It happened slowly, they started out not even as friends but two enemies forced to work together for something he didn't even believe in. But through the events that brought them together he changed. For the first time that he could remember he shared his inner pain he received as a kit to a random bunny that at the time he had no idea would become so important to him. Together they had managed to recover 14 missing mammals that had been missing for two weeks and brought down two mayors in the span of a month. Not bad for a rookie cop and a con artist he chuckled to himself. Judy's face looked up momentarily at the sound of Nick's laugh and she gave him a quick smile that Nick returned in full.
After that they started hanging out after Judy would get off work. Just simple things, going out to the malls around town. Taking scrolls in the parks and gardens and just doing things that friends would do and it just felt right for Nick. He missed out on plenty of work and money but all of that took a backseat to the time he spent with her. Then time came for police academy and it was Judy that gave him the push to attend and was he ever so grateful for the training preparation that Judy gave him. She worked him almost to dead both at the gym and in the books but as she told him many times, "It will all be worth it when you graduate top of your class Nick" and was she ever right. Nicholas Piberius Wilde, Zootopia's first fox officer, graduated valedictorian of his class, a beacon of hope for another species of oppressed animals. However, it was inside the academy that everything changed for Nick.
For the few weeks time until he would leave for the academy he spent almost every waking moment with Judy and now he was at the academy and separated from her. For the first few weeks everything was pretty normal and soon he was able to go off grounds for a weekend. He spent those three days glued to her every step and when he had to head back to the academy he suddenly felt something he had never felt before. He suddenly felt alone and empty even though he was surrounded by many of his peers. He couldn't pin-point what was causing him to feel this way since he never had this feeling before. It was a while before he was able to head off grounds and when he was able to he spent the weekend with Judy and everything just felt right again and it was then that he finally understand what was going on.
"I am really falling for her." he thought to himself one night as the two of them were sitting together at the firework event taking place that night in downtown Zootopia. He guessed he had always knew this but now everything just became more clearer to him. Her gray fur, smooth and gentle to the touch. Her lavender eyes sparkling in the explosive light of the work of art in the sky and he voice, so calming and so soft; music to his ears. Later on that night he had to leave back to the academy and that was the hardest thing he ever had to do in life. He would have given anything to just stay behind and be with her but he had to go, Judy trusted in him to do well and he wasn't going to let her down. Next time he came back into town however, he would make sure he would make the best of it.
The opportunity came three weeks before graduation and he wasn't going to let this slip away from him. He had managed to get a reservation to a pretty fancy restaurant in the rainforest district and this was where he was going to tell her, to let her know what he was feeling, what she truly meant to him. The restaurant was pretty elegant in the inside. It kept to the feel and looks of the rainforest district. Jungle vines ran throughout the premise of the vicinity. Each strand of vine carried with it many different colorful flowers. The sound of lite rain splashing against the leaves of the jungle trees around him mixed in gracefully with the ambient music that played in the restaurant.
He sat there waiting for Judy to show up in silent fear. Nicholas Wilde, scared? Impossible. And let he was scared. He was afraid of what would happen if Judy didn't share the same feelings he held for her. She was his best friend, the best thing to ever happen to him and he was terrified that after tonight he would lose his carrots. He had to try. He couldn't let this opportunity get away from him, to live on not knowing whether or not him not telling her meant the difference between living the rest of his life with her or her finding someone else to live her life with.
Someone stood before him and it was the most marvelous sight he had ever seen. It was Judy but in a way he had never saw her before. She was wearing a stunningly brilliant pink dress, her gray fur seems even more smoother then usual and, was that make-up she was wearing? Nick's breathe was taken from him forceful and he wondered if he would ever be able to breath again.
"Judy...You look amazing." Was he could say as he continued to glaze at her beauty.
"Why thank you Nick." She answered with a slight blush but then back replied with a giggle. "You don't look so bad yourself. Nick quickly gave himself a look over. Not so bad. Huh? He wasn't wearing anything special, just a standard formal dress wear. Good job on the first impression Nick. The pair seated themselves at the table and began just talking together like they normally do but Nick wasn't fully engaged in the discussions at hand. His mind kept flowing back to Judy and how simply breathe taking she was right now. A huge smile formed on his face and this was what finally caught Judy's attention.
"Nick, are you even paying attention?" she asked.
"Hmm? Oh, of course I am carrots."
"Oh really? Remember, I am a police officer and for the last while you have been siting here simply staring. So what's the matter"
"Nothing's a matter."
"Nick, come on. What's bothering you? You are never this quite unless something is wrong. So what is it? You can tell me anything, you know that." Not everything he thought to himself. Now was his chance though, this was the perfect opportunity to let everything out into the open and let the Judy be his judge.
"Oh come now, there is nothing wrong Cottontail. Well...there is something that has been on my mind lately."
"What is it?" Judy asked with slight concern in her voice. Nick could hear it in her voice and this only made it harder to let out everything. To let her know how much she truly means to him. For the first time since the Cub Scouts did he just want to run. To hide away and hope that everything just passes on by and the fear would subside but he couldn't. He couldn't run away from this as he didn't know if this would be the last chance he will have. He took a deep breathe and swallowed hard. Now or never.
"Judy..." he started, he saw Judy's face turned from a face of worry to a face of pure surprise. Nick almost never called her by her first name unless it was something very serious. "I just want to start by saying, you have been the best thing I have ever had happen in my life. And I mean this. Before you came into my life I didn't know where I was going with my life." Nick was going to let everything out onto the table that stood in front of them. Nothing was going to be left unsaid. He watched Judy's face and for the first time he couldn't make out what it was that she was thinking. Or rather, he was afraid to try and read what she was thinking, he was afraid of the possibilities of the thoughts that she was forming in her head. He pushed it aside for now. He had to keep going.
"I didn't know what I wanted out of life. All I grew up knowing was how to hustle, how to con people, how to be a fox basically. And for ta time, I would have been perfectly happy with that. I didn't feel the need for anything more in life. That was until...until..." He felt himself taking faster and faster breathes as if he just ran ten miles in thirty minutes. All he was doing was talking but it felt like he was starting to drown. Keep going he told himself, you got to keep going. He looked up, staring into Judy's amethyst eyes. Gods, did they look so beautiful.
"Until I met you, Judy." He paused for a moment to watch Judy. He face was blank. Her mouth hanging slightly open and a hand laid over her chest. Nick swallowed again. His mouth was become dry. "At first I didn't like you. Man did I dislike you." he chuckled to himself. "Yes, I did try to waste your day on purpose. But then things changed. I started opening up to you and soon I even started calling you my friend. My best friend even. You really did make an impact on my life Judy."
"Nick, I-" Judy began to talk but Nick started back up, he couldn't stop now, if he did he may not be able to start again.
"And for awhile I was perfectly happy, for I think the first time in about twenty years. I was glad you came into my life and you gave me a path to follow. A great path. To become a police officer. Even a year ago me would have laughed at the thought that some day I would be a police officer. No way." He smiled greatly and continued on.
"Then it was time to leave to the academy and everything was going great. All that preparation work you made me do really paid off and helped immensely. I thought I wouldn't see you again until I graduated but I we were allowed off grounds for a weekend so I was able to see you again which was great." He saw Judy smile at that and returned the smile.
"But then things changed. When I went back to the academy that weekend I suddenly felt alone. Like I was missing something important but I couldn't figure out what." Judy's face changed back again to that blank expression. Nick saw this and turned his glaze down to the table cloth in front of Judy. "I spent a good while trying to figure out what was wrong, you know? It wasn't a normal feeling for me to have. Then the time came again where I was able to come off grounds and I came straight back here to you and once I got here and met you waiting for me at the train station, everything...Everything just felt right again."
Judy stared at Nick, it was now her turn for her mind to start spinning. Everything that was being told to her was something she wasn't expecting. When Nick had told her over the phone that he had reservations at a restaurant for them tonight she had only thought it was for a night out together, a great little get together before his graduation day. She had never expected for Nick to suddenly open himself up to her like this. She knew for a while now that Nick was opening up to her more and more but not like this. Thoughts were flying around in her head like cars on the highway and she didn't to know what everything meant, she had to know where Nick was going with all of this.
"Nick, I-I really like that-I..." She couldn't find the right words to say, her mind still reeling from everything that Nick was saying. Did he..."Nick, what are you trying to saying...?"
Now, tell her. Tell her how you feel Nick, its now or never. Nick looked up at Judy for like the hundred time that night he felt. "What I am trying t say...What I mean to say..." He took a deep breathe, the deepest breathe he had ever taken in his whole life. "Judy...I love you."
The world came to a sudden halt. Not even the music could be heard over the ringing silence that fell over the pair. Judy's mind that a second ago was running hundred miles an hour came to a abrupt, screeching halt dead in its tracks. Nick's words kept playing over and over in her head like a record player stuck on loop. Judy...I love you. Over and over she couldn't stop hearing those words. Nick watched Judy out of the corner of his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to look directly at her out of fear of seeing the one thing he never wanted to see come from her. The face of rejection, of feelings not shared in fold. His heart was beating away in his chest as if it was fighting to save his life, he couldn't take this. He had to leave, he had to get up and just go, he wasn't sure where but before he could think further he was already on his feet and walking away. He could have swore he heard his name being called out from behind but his mind was too clouded to make out anything other then the white noise buzzing around inside.
The cool, controlled air of the restaurant was replaced by warm air rushing against his fur and the dampness of the surrounding rainfall crashing all around him. What are you doing? He thought. Why are you running away? He couldn't answer that question. He had no control of his body, he was simply subservient to a primal instinct to flee from any harm, to run away and live another day. He walked out into the open, the rain came down around him, a torrent playing out in the physical world like it was playing out inside his mind.
"Nick!" a shout came from behind him, he felt something grab his arm and give a mighty pull. It pulled him not only in body but in mind, snatching him out of the hole that his mind had dug into, the white noise had evaporation, the sounds of the world came back to replace the nothingness that had just left. It was Judy. Of course it was her, there was no way she would just let him walk off like that so suddenly after giving those three words that changed everything. "Nick please! Why are you running away?!"
He wished he could answer her however any answer he could give her wouldn't be the truth as he didn't even understand why he ran. All he knew was that his primal mind took over and wanted to get him away from harm. "I-I don't know." he answered stupidly. It really was a stupid answer to give.
"You don't know?! How could you not know what you just did, Nick?! I was lost in thought of what you just said and then you just get up and walk away without saying anything?!" Judy was practically yelling at this point. Her voice shook with each word, not with anger but with worry. "You just left and didn't tell me anything! I didn't know what to think, I was afraid, Nick. I was a afraid you were going to leave and never come back!" Judy was fighting back tears, her mind ran with thoughts she couldn't bear to dwell on. Nick saw his carrots stand before him, scared for the first time he had ever seen her and he wanted to swoop in and hold her. To comfort her, ensure her that everything was going to be alright. How could he do this to her, his world. How could he be such an idiot. The rain continued to fall, drenching them both completely to the core but neither moved out of the freezing curtains that fell.
"Judy...I-" Nick started but was cut off by Judy almost instantly.
"Before you left me alone in the restaurant you told me that...You told me that you loved me." Judy was looking him straight in his emerald eyes and Nick stared back into her violet ones, a few lost tears managed to find their way out of her eyes and enveloped around them. "Did you mean what you told me, Nick?"
Nick couldn't stand seeing tears in those beautiful eyes of hers. He reached forward and rubbed his finger under them, wiping the tears away. "Yes. Oh Gods yes do I love you Judy. You mean everything to me now." He stayed staring into her violet eyes for if he looked away he may never get to glaze into their beauty no more. "What about you?" The question of the century, he needed to know whether or not Judy reciprocated his feelings towards her. Seconds passed by as Judy stood before Nick. Seconds felt like hours in this moment in time; Nick didn't know which silence was the most painful. The silence when he revealed his feelings towards her or now this time, on the opposite end of the question.
"Nick...Of course not. You're my best friend." It was over. His breathe was caught into his lungs, his whole world felt as if it was all coming crashing down around him. Those same words that just moments ago would have filled him with immense happiness and warmth now left him hollow and cold. He opened his mouth to speak. "Is what I would have told you had to asked me this a few months ago" she added.
It wasn't over. His breathe gained new life as it escaped his lungs, his whole world came to a impromptu standstill. Those were not words he was expecting to hear after what he just heard. His mind was still reeling so it took a moment to fully register what just transpired. She. She said it. She just told him that she loved him. It wasn't in the conventional way he had expected but it didn't matter now! Judy loved him just as he loved her! His mouth that had been hanging agape from her first sentence now formed into the most pronounced smile in his life. Never before had he gone from two extremes of emotions from complete and utter desperation and emptiness to wholly complete exhilaration and bliss. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He dashed forward and took Judy's whole body into a long and emotional embrace, never waiting to let go and Judy did the same in return. The rain continued to fall around them but that didn't matter now. Nothing else mattered anymore.