[A/N] I apologize for the long delay with this chapter. It required a lot of thought and refocusing. Several parts remain the same with only minor tweaks while the largest part is completely new.
For everyone who has read the previous version, I strongly urge you read through the entire thing. This has been rewritten from Judy's point of view and introduces some new information to the existing case as well as creating a better setup for the end.
I spent a lot of time researching scenes from other romantic movies that would fit where I was going with this one. The only one that felt right was from Return to Zootopia. I have already gained a lot of inspiration from that fan film and was highly reluctant to use it here. Unfortunately that is what I have. So if you are familiar with that work, you will see many similarities here.
I hope you enjoy the changes and I would love to hear what everyone thinks about them.
Loves Bond
Chapter 16 - Bonds Broken - Revised
Like a thundering stampede, Chief Bogo stomped back and forth across his huge office. Everything in the room was tremendous, including the angry chief of police. The huge, oak desk that dominated the center of the room, was covered in large reports that were stuffed into giant folders. Along the walls sat filing cabinets the size of small buildings with an enormous map of the city hanging above them. Mounted high on the wall, behind the tremendous desk was a gargantuan ZPD badge, nearly as large as the imposing buffalo that furiously paced in front of it.
The giant mammal's fury was barely contained inside the muscular form and his crisp uniform did little to help. His eyes burned crimson and steam could be seen rolling from those huge nostrils while he paced behind the titanic desk. Clenching his hooves into tight fists again and again, he stomped across the braided green carpet.
As a lifelong police officer, Bogo was a mammal of action and his endless administrative duties always frustrated him, especially when one of his officers was out of line. Today had been the worst possible day for these reports of misconduct to cross his desk. The new mayor had chewed out his tail over the sudden rise of crime in the Meadowlands, and the chief could only promise to get on top of the issue. Now he stomped his hooves loudly behind his desk to prevent his considerable anger from boiling over.
He stopped near the middle of his desk, where the chair normally sat and planted both hooves on top of the expansive desk mat. Turning, he leaned over the desk and glared down at his two brightest and smallest officers. They had both excelled at the academy and in the field, but now, they sat before him as the focus of his ire.
Judy appeared tiny as she sat in the giant, steel and plastic chair that stood before the huge desk. Sitting next to her, in the same chair, was a red fox, who wore his usual dark-blue police uniform. The rabbit had one paw resting in the fox's lap, while the other clutched at the fluffy, orange tail wrapped around her waist. Her eyes were downcast and her ears drooped as the buffalo huffed and stomped around the large room.
The rabbit officer and her partner had no idea why they were summoned to their boss's office before roll call this morning. He had not said a word to either of them once they took their seats, but instead, paced the floor angrily. Every time he passed his huge, stiff chair he would glance at the pair and open his muzzle to speak, but no words escaped before he returned to his pacing.
She had never seen the chief so upset before. His eyes shone with a fiery-red glare and clouds of steam seemed to roll from his broad ears. He was the personification of a giant, angry devil and she feared this monstrosity more than any savage tiger. She could always run or hide from a hungry predator, but she could neither run nor hide from her boss. Her only option was to withstand his tirade and hope that she survived the encounter.
Leaning over his desk, Bogo glared at the two, small cops before he finally spoke, "As I have told you before, I do not care what you do with your lives outside of work as long as it remains private."
Nick and Judy exchanged puzzled glances, unsure what the much larger mammal was talking about. They had been sitting here, only a week prior as the subject of a similar conversation from their boss, but since then, they had made sure to keep their personal emotions from the eyes of the public.
With a loud huff, the buffalo continued, "But when this affair of yours starts to impact your jobs and the performance of the other officers around you, then it becomes my business."
The fox raised a sharp claw to retort, "We are not having an affair, Sir."
Bogo slammed a single hoof on the table, causing several of the neatly stacked reports to jump and slide down into less organized piles. The fury in his muzzle rose tenfold but he forcefully held back the angry words before replying, "Then what exactly would you call what has been going on between you two lately?"
"We are mates, Sir," Judy replied calmly and she squeezed the fox's leg.
The Chief of Police leaned back and nearly fell into his chair, as if the small rabbit had slapped him hard across his broad nose. His jaw dropped for a second before the anger returned full force, "Officer Hopps, that term is not legally recognized by this department." He snorted again and leaned over the table with an evil grin, "And even if you had walked in here and told me that you two had gotten married in Sahara Square last night, the consequences would remain the same."
It was Judy's turn to lean back with a start. The hole in the back of the huge, steel chair was so large that she nearly slipped through the gap before Nick caught her with a single paw.
Reaching for his own large, stiff chair, Bogo pulled it towards the desk and carefully readjusted his hind quarters on the tough fabric. He wheeled the armless chair forward, until his huge, muscular legs rested comfortably under the desk. Folding his hooves together, he glared down at the oddly mixed couple. "I am well aware of at least two hooffuls of rumors about employees of this department who may or may not be involved in romantic relations with their fellow employees, but so far that is all they are."
When the fox and rabbit both tilted their heads in confusion, he elaborated, "The couples who are mentioned in these rumors, have been discreet enough to let them remain just that, rumors."
He leaned back into the huge chair with a snort that was directed at the fox. "Despite what you may think, I am far from stupid, I suspected that there was something more between you two the day Officer Hopps requested you as her partner."
"But, Sir," Judy sat up straight in response to the buffalo's accusation.
Bogo raised his giant hoof to silence the rabbit. "Now, I was willing to afford the two of you the same courtesy." He leaned forward again and set his hoof on a very large stack of reports. "When the rumor mill started churning out stories about a fox and a rabbit having a romantic affair, I was not surprised in the slightest. A little shocked that you could overcome the vast differences in your species, but hardly surprised."
"Why is that, Chief?" the fox asked, without a single snarky quip, but the larger mammal still gave him an angry snort.
The buffalo let out a sigh that sounded more like a snarl before he spoke, "It is common knowledge that mammals who share life-threatening experiences will often develop a special kind of bond." Both small officers nodded to each other and the chief continued. "As you are well aware, police officers risk their lives every day, and the bonds that form between partners can be very strong."
He leaned back in the chair again while folding his hooves together, but his outward appearance was still filled with menace. "This creates a great deal of comradery and trust, but believe me when I say that I have seen my fair share of romantic relationships develop in some of the strangest places."
Glaring down at the small mammals, he huffed loudly through his nostrils. "Species and gender seem to matter little. One day two officers are at each other's throats and the next they are flirting and sneaking off to motel rooms together." Another snarl escaped his thick lips, "This is something that they rarely cover at the academy, but I wish they would start including it in their curriculum and save me the time of having to explain it to every officer, who gets a little too friendly with their coworkers."
"Normally, this never becomes an issue. Things rarely go beyond a little in-office flirting and the occasional secret rendezvous, but the two of you ..." A large hoof slammed down on the desk, causing the two small mammals to nearly fall out of their shared seat. "The two of you have shown less tact than my teenage calves."
Judy gulped and tightened her grip on the fox's tail, while Nick placed his paw over the small grey one that still rested on his leg.
The Chief's eyes burned crimson as he watched the couple's actions, "I did not want to believe the reports that seemed to pour in lately about you, but looking at you now, sitting together like that, it is plain as day that something is going on." He wiped a large hoof down his muzzle before speaking again, "You obviously can't keep your paws off of each other and it is highly unprofessional and some in this department might even say, disgusting."
"But, Sir," Judy once again tried to expound, but the buffalo's glare cut her off.
"Let's look at some of the most recent reports, shall we?" He pulled a folder off the top of a very large stack and the smile on his muzzle was anything but friendly. "Conduct unbecoming of an officer, flirting and making out with a fellow officer on duty. These, by themselves, are not serious offenses and I can even forgive seeking comfort at a murder scene, but that is also highly unprofessional in public, for an officer of the law."
Pulling another folder from the top of the pile, he opened it and adjusted his glasses for a second, before slamming another large hoof on the desk, "Indiscreet behavior in a supply closet! What the hell, were you two thinking? That alone, is worth at least a week's suspension."
"But, what really chaps my hide, is when City Council Member Wintersecho sends me a recording that she took while discussing police policy with Officer Yonar! Would you like to listen?" He ignored the turned down muzzles and heads shaking in remorse, as he took his cell phone from his oversized pocket and placed it on the edge of the desk nearest the small pair.
When he pressed play, the loud voice of Officer Yonar filled the room, causing both fox and rabbit to cover their ears in pain, "Will the two of you just get a room already!"
Bogo quickly turned down the volume before Nick's voice could be heard chuckling, "And it is a very nice room at that, don't you think Carrots?" After that, a muffled snicker could be heard over the phone that clearly came from Judy.
There was a brief pause in the recording before Nick's voice again spoke up, "I am investigating, like a good cop. Unlike some little bunny who wants to play peek-a-boo instead."
The next voice that could be heard was the rabbit seductively suggesting, "Well, Slick. I do have my own pair of something that you can investigate all you want back in that room you mentioned earlier. Privately."
"Wait a minute," Judy yelled as she stood up in her chair. "We were on the other side of the room from Yonar. How did this council member even hear anything we said?"
Nick leaned over to the rabbit who was mere inches from him, "Wintersecho is a flying fox."
"Oh," the rabbit nodded, but the confusion only grew on her muzzle. "I didn't know that foxes could fly."
"They can't, Fluff," Nick responded calmly. "Flying Fox is a species of very large bat."
Putting the reports back on top of the stack, Bogo glared down at his two shameful officers, "So, now that you both understand what you have done wrong, I am going to have to suspend you for at least two weeks while I decide what to do about this issue."
He grunted and rubbed his temples in pain, "Due to recent changes made to the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, I cannot simply fire you over this, but you cannot remain as partners."
Judy raised both paws as if to ask, "Why," but the buffalo continued, "At the very least, I am going to have to separate you two. And at the worst, one of you will be transferred to the darkest, coldest basement in Tundratown for the rest of your career, while the other, gets the worst possible assignment in the Nocturnal District."
"Don't bother, Chief," the fox declared sadly as he stepped up to the giant desk. He pulled a large sheet of paper from what could only have been thin air and pawed it to the buffalo.
"What is this?" Asked the chief as he adjusted his glasses and read over the paper.
A whole minute passed before he looked down at the fox, "Everything looks in order here Wilde. Is Sergeant Razorback aware of this?"
The rabbit's eyes widened and her ears fell in shock at the sound of the name.
Solemnly, the fox nodded, "Yes, Sir. He has been trying to get me to join his team for months."
"No, Nick, don't do this!" Judy cried, as she reached for his paw. She dug her sharp claws into his wrist and palm, as if she was trying to pull him back from a steep cliff.
"I don't see that we have a choice, Honey," Nick said, with a shrug, as he pulled away from her touch and let his tail fall towards the floor.
Bogo lifted his glasses and looked down at the small, red fox, "Well, if you are sure about this Wilde, then let me call the Sergeant." He lifted the receiver on his huge desk phone and pressed a single button, after several seconds, he spoke into the handle.
"Sergeant Razorback. Yes, this is Chief Bogo. Officer Wilde has recently informed me that..." There was a long pause before he spoke again, "Yes he is, he has. It is in my hooves as we speak." Another, even longer pause, "Splendid. How about tomorrow morning? Great! He will be there with bells on."
The great buffalo hung up the receiver with an evil grin. "I will push this through immediately and you can report directly to Sergeant Razorback, first thing in the morning. You are now his problem. For now, consider yourself suspended for the rest of the day. You are dismissed, Officer Wilde."
Saluting, Nick stood up in the chair he shared with Judy, "Yes, Sir." He hopped off the chair and walked towards the chief's door. It was a difficult stretch, but he was barely able to reach the handle and open the giant door.
Stepping into the hall, he looked back at the rabbit who was still sitting in the enormous chair, while the huge buffalo glared down at her. "Hopps, as the senior member of your team, it was your responsibility to ..." The door slammed shut, cutting off the fox's view and the rest of the chief's words.
The cold, autumn drizzle that naturally fell on the downtown area, did not affect the fox as he strolled through the central plaza. It rolled off his fur, like a greased tuskball passed to a giraffe. His dark blue uniform collected some of the drops, making the material even darker, but the wetness did not bother the somber mammal.
He kicked at the rain-soaked grass, as he strolled through the nearly empty park. The only other mammals that could be seen outside in the wet, this early in the morning, were either rushing towards some important business, or carrying large and dreary umbrellas. The fox seemed to revel in the gloomy muck that surrounded him and didn't even bother to find shelter from the slow and steady rain.
There was a lot on the fox's mind, as he walked directly past the bus stop that would have taken him to the neighborhood he usually called home. Instead, he turned down a side street that headed in the direction of Savanna Central. It was more than an hour's walk back to the apartment that he shared with Judy, but the time would help him come to terms with his most recent mistake.
Yes, he had already admitted that it had been a mistake. He knew they should have been more discreet around the office, but his rabbit was far too cute and adorable and so very demanding. She was also unusually tactile and he found it difficult to deny her those affections. If he was honest, he even enjoyed the touch of her paws. But, now they would both pay for his mistakes.
It had been the right choice to give the chief a way out of their dilemma. If they had forced the big buffalo to decide their fate, he would have only grown angrier and Judy could have been stuck with the worst assignment in the city. She would have been miserable in Tundratown, with little sunlight and no greenery for miles. He was not going to allow that to happen to her. She deserved much better. Bogo was sure to treat the rabbit better since he had stepped up and accepted the transfer himself.
He didn't even want to think about what would happen to a single rabbit in the Nocturnal District. It brought a shiver that filled his whole body and caused his tail to splatter water in all directions.
The T.U.S.K. team office was only a few blocks away from Precinct 1, so he could still see Judy during the day. They could ride the same bus to work and even share their lunches together. The only difference would be that they would no longer be partners. They could not watch each other's backs or solve cases together, but how was that different from other couples, who had different jobs?
Nick was willing to let her go at work so that he could still come home to her at night. She was a very smart bunny and while his presence would be missed, he was certain that she would still be able to get by on her own. There were several good cops in Precinct 1, that she could partner up with and watch her back. The lone tear that rolled down his cheek, was lost in a fresh downpour that had begun over the last few minutes.
He planned to spend the rest of his life with the excitable little bunny and this was only one bump in that long road. The fox was not going to let this little hiccup derail everything they had worked for. When Judy got home, they would sit down together and talk about how to go forward from here.
The great door, with its enormous frosted window, closed with an ominous click. Everything that was important in Judy's life had just walked through that door without saying a single word or even looking back.
When the door latched shut, the sound was barely audible above the heavy breathing of the giant mammal sitting behind the desk, yet Judy's tall ears could make out the soft click. The small rabbit felt the weight of the entire door crash into her tiny chest as she watched it swing slowly shut.
Once again, that fox had walked out of her life. This time she was held in place by the sharp glare of an irate buffalo instead of a crowd of small reporters. She could only watch, stunned, as Nick's black and orange tail limply dragged across the braided, green floor and out into the hall. Her jaw hung open and her ears drooped in shock until the giant door swung shut with a harsh finality.
"No. What have you done?" She whispered to the huge door, and the mammal on the other side.
Like a cage door slamming shut, Bogo's office door now barred her from the mammal she loved, and whom she thought loved her in return. Now she was not so sure. The sudden appearance of those transfer papers left her wondering if that was still the case.
Where had they come from? Nick had managed to produce all the necessary forms, fully filled out and signed, in less time than it took for them to walk up the stairs to their boss's office. He had never even spoken to her once about them before. It normally took days to get a transfer request properly filled and approved.
Every time she had seen the sergeant in the precinct, she knew that he had taken an interest in her fox. Nick's rash actions during the school bombing incident showed that he was willing to risk his life for others. And that was a quality the tough boar was looking for on his team.
Yes, they were an elite squad within the ZPD that dealt with only the most dangerous situations, but rumor had it that the team had recently lost several officers since Sergeant Razorback had taken charge.
Whenever she saw the tough boar strolling their way, she would give her partner a quick punch and insist that he refuse any offer the sergeant made. She feared that if Nick ever accepted the offer, it would be the last she ever saw of him.
Today, all of her fears were coming true. She knew they were unreasonable, and tried to force them to the back of her mind, but something kept worming its way to the front. Where did her fox get those transfer papers? Had he been hiding them in his desk this whole time?
"Hopps," a large, deep voice boomed across the room and cut through her dark thoughts.
"Yes, Sir," she replied instinctively, not turning her muzzle away from the closed door.
"Hopps," the chief called her name again. When she turned back towards the desk, he spoke with a calm authority, "As the senior member of your team, it was your responsibility to maintain professionalism and teach that rookie fox the ropes."
She slowly hung her head and let her eyes fall to the floor as her giant boss began to dress her down. Her tiny paws were folded together in her lap while she sat in the oversized and uncomfortable chair in front of his huge desk.
"But your behavior lately has been far from professional," he huffed loudly as he opened a large manila folder and glanced at its contents before neatly stacking it in another pile with several others on his desk. The tower of personnel files was nearly half as tall as Judy when she was standing on her hind paws. Glaring back at the petite rabbit officer, he finished his statement, "I expected you could keep the fox in line, not go snogging with him in supply closets."
Judy's head quickly lifted in determination. "He is not 'the fox,' Sir."
A large hoofed fist slammed into the desk, once again causing the neatly stacked pile of folders to shift and slide. "Well, that fox had the good sense to save me the trouble of requesting a transfer, unlike you." He extended his arms and broadly waved his hooves over the desk. "I don't know what has gotten into you lately, but your performance has been seriously slacking."
Chief Bogo lifted a second file from the now messy pile and pointed at several notes near the bottom of the first page. "Last week, you had an argument with your partner in public." He then slammed the folder shut with a loud huff and continued, "Your recent reports have been exceedingly sloppy and your decisions in dangerous situations have been reckless at best. Not to mention that your patrol car had to be repaired after you rammed it into an ice cream truck."
The rabbit's fuzzy ears fell behind her head and her paws slowly balled into tiny grey fists. "Are you giving me a performance evaluation, Sir?"
Breathing out slowly, the huge buffalo leaned back in his chair. He looked down at his smallest officer and said, "I am giving you a warning, that if you don't improve your behavior soon, I will be forced to recommend against your enrollment in detective training."
"But, Sir," Judy cried as she stood up in the chair.
Placing both hooves on the edge of the desk, he leaned forward again, his eyes glowing with a hint of red. "You can take the rest of the week off, without pay, to get your head on straight. Then spend the next month on parking duty."
As the rabbit's ears lifted, and she opened her muzzle to speak, Bogo raised a sharp finger in the air to silence her protest.
He then titled his head slightly to the right and a softness slowly crossed his muzzle. "Or you can issue parking tickets for a full shift today, and think about your recent actions." Watching the small, grey officer's ears fall, he continued, "Then spend the rest of the week on patrol with Fangmeyer, where she will evaluate your performance. If her report impresses me, then I will allow you to work as a team for the foreseeable future."
Once again, Judy's eyes and muzzle fell towards the floor. She wanted to rush after the contemptuous fox, and give him a piece of her mind, but he would have to wait. Right now, she had to focus on what remained of her career as a police officer, especially since it was now tattered and torn into shambles. Unfortunately, her relationship with the fox would have to take the backseat.
Seeing the rabbit was once again lost in thought, Bogo turned up the gruffness in his voice a notch, "What is your choice, Hopps?" He raised one hoof in the air, with the palm turned towards the ceiling, then lifted the other. "Parking duty or do you need the day off?"
"Parking duty," she said barely above a whisper.
"I can't hear you, Hopps," was the chief's calm reply.
"Parking duty," she yelled back in determination.
"Splendid," the huge buffalo grinned. Pointing at the tremendous door that had remained closed since the uniformed fox had left the room, Bogo declared, "Now you're dismissed, Officer Hopps."
"But, Sir," she said, raising her paws to protest.
Glaring back down at the rabbit, he added, "I don't want to see your tail back in here until the end of your shift, is that clear, Officer?"
"Yes, Sir," she said with a firm salute before she leapt from the chair and fled the room.
Judy trudged down the cold steps to the ZPD's underground garage. After hurriedly leaving the chief's office, she had donned her meter maid uniform, complete with bowler cap and bright orange vest. In her paws was a rusty set of keys to what her slick partner snidely referred to as the, "Three-Wheeled Joke-Mobile".
It was gloomy and musty in the garage when she finally reached the last step and looked around the enormous basement where Precinct 1 stored all of its official vehicles. This late in the morning, most of the patrol cars had already left. Only the night shift's cars and one cruiser, that had been custom sized to fit smaller mammals, still sat in the nearly empty garage.
With a long sigh, she turned her head away from unit Z-240 and walked towards the far corner where the Parking Management Vehicles were stored. "This is all your fault," she said to no one in particular. "You just had to go and accept that boar's offer." Her fists clenched into tiny balls and a soft snarl escaped from somewhere deep in her throat. "And the worst part is that you never even discussed it with me!"
A fluorescent light hanging over the meter maid carts was broken and its partner flickered sporadically, causing the cart's shadows to jump and dance against the walls. A faint hissing and gurgling sound drifted across the grey stone floor and echoed against the cold cement walls. Dripping sounds also let the rabbit know that a large puddle had formed nearby during the day's rainstorm.
Fury lighting her way in the dark, dank basement, she marched up to one of the few remaining three wheeled carts. She could instantly see that it was a much older model than the one she was used to driving. It had more of a square and boxy shape than the modern ones. There were some faint rust spots in places where some of the paint had been chipped away, and a tail light had recently been replaced.
She systematically looked over the cart to make sure the appropriate number of orange cones and wheel boots were loaded and secure in the back compartment of the vehicle. Everything was accounted for and in its proper place.
Climbing into the cart, she glanced across the controls. The knobs and dials on the dashboard reminded her of older cars that were popular before she was born. She wondered if this parking mobile had been in service that long.
Brushing that thought aside, she returned to contemplating what she was going to do about her now ex-partner. She would have to wait until the end of her shift, and a full eight hours was going to be a lot of dreadful parking duty. The sooner she got started, the soon it would be over. In the meantime, she could spend the time contemplating what to do about a certain fox.
As her anger rose, she jammed the key into the ignition and roughly pounded her paw on the gas pedal. Turning the key, she heard the engine in the rear of the vehicle groan loudly, before it sputtered and died.
"Argh," she groaned in response. "Please, not now!"
Turning the key again, she pumped the gas several times. This time, the engine only whirred and sputtered, but never turned over. She tried the key three more times without success. Growling in frustration, she pushed on the gas pedal several more times before turning the key again.
Throwing her paws in the air, she screamed at the steering wheel, "Why are you doing this to me? Why does it have to be today?" Grabbing the wheel with both paws, she yelled several unintelligible sounds until her lungs emptied.
Her anger spent, her forehead fell on the wheel with a loud thump. Long ears flopped forward until they softly smacked the thin, plastic windshield.
A minute passed in silence before the soft sounds of sobbing echoed around the mostly empty garage. It had started with a simple sniffle, but quickly the tears began to flow full force, soaking the console of the antique parking service vehicle.
"Why today?" Judy cried loudly into the steering wheel. "I haven't even eaten breakfast yet, and my entire life has already come crashing down around my ears." Her words were muffled and slurred thickly with the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
Sitting up in the seat, she took a deep breath and flipped her ears back behind her head. Clasping her paws together, she held them over her head and begged, "Please. Will you just start for me?"
Before she could turn the key one more time, a friendly voice from behind the cart asked, "What's that, dearie?"
"What, where, why?" The tearful rabbit nearly leapt out of her seat at the sudden voice. "Who is there?" She called back once the surprise had worn off.
"It's just me, dear," the voice replied.
Turning around, Judy looked through the large open window in the back of the parking service cart. Slowly approaching the rear of the vehicle was a light grey, and very old alpine goat. The ancient nanny was dressed in the same meter maid uniform that Judy wore, including the reflective orange vest and bowler cap. A large hoof-held ticket printing device was clipped to her belt and a shiny black cane was clasped firmly by a shaking hoof.
"Oh, hello, Officer Mabel," Judy greeted warmly. All hints of her earlier sorrows had completely vanished as she leapt from the cart and greeted the old goat.
"Yes, yes. Thank you, my dear. Ahem," she declared firmly as she brushed aside the young rabbit's frantic attempts to assist an elderly mammal. "I thought I heard the sounds of a mammal in distress down here."
Blushing, Judy stood up straighter with her ears lifted to appear roughly the same height as the elderly goat. "Yes. I guess that would be me."
"Well, what seems to be the trouble, dearie. And speak up, these old ears don't work so well these days."
Judy waved her small paw back at the parking service vehicle that she had been assigned to for the day. "The cart won't start, and I am already late for my shift."
"Ah," Mabel grinned. "Well, like my ears, Ol'e Betsy ain't what she used to be, and takes a lot of care." She waved her cane towards the cart in question. "Now go on, give it another try, but be real gentle this time."
"Ok, ma'am," Judy replied as she skipped back inside the vehicle.
Back in the seat, the uniformed rabbit slowly and gently turned the key to the starter. The engine began to groan and coughed until Judy slowly pushed on the gas pedal. Giving it more gas only caused the engine to quickly sputter and die.
"Aww, poor thing," Mabel cooed as she patted the side of the vehicle. "You flooded the poor dear. Young kids, always in such a hurry, no wonder she is refusing to start."
"I'm sorry," the younger meter maid sniffled.
"Don't apologize to me," the goat said with both shaky hooves in the air.
Patting the steering wheel, Judy told the cart, "I'm sorry. Um?" She looked back at the old goat, who quickly replied.
"Betsy."
"I'm sorry, Betsy. Will you start for me? Pretty please."
"Now pull out the choke."
"The choke?" Judy asked with her ears flopping to one side.
"Yes. It's the red plunger next to the lever for the wipers."
Having grown up on a farm, Judy was familiar with what a choke was on a tractor, but this looked nothing like that. Her family's tractors had their choke on the floor instead of the dash so she hadn't realized to look there.
Once she found the aforementioned plunger, she pulled it out gently as instructed.
"Good. Now push it back in." Mabel waved her cane around in the air while she instructed the young rabbit. "Do that three times before trying the starter again."
"Yes, ma'am," Judy nodded as she slowly pushed and pulled on the red plunger. After counting to three, she took her paw off the knob and placed it back on the keys. "Is that good?"
"Yes, dearie. Try to start her up again."
Turning the keys once more, the rabbit smiled as the engine began to groan and sputter. Moments before it started to run on its own, Judy gave it a little gas and the engine promptly died.
A large tear welled up under her eyes and she hurried to sniffle back the oncoming sob. She didn't want to let her emotions run wild in front of her senior co-worker. Quickly, she wiped away the growing wetness from her cheeks.
"Scoot over dearie. Let me give it a try," the old goat declared confidently.
"Sure, ok," Judy said and wiped a paw across her pink nose as she shifted over in the short bench style seat.
Once her tail was firmly planted behind the wheel, Mabel quickly jerked on the choke. She then patted the side of the vehicle and spoke softly to the cart. Despite the old goat's hushed whispers, Judy could clearly understand the words. "Ok, Betsy. Stop messing around. I know she is a young little thing, but this rabbit has a job to do, and you're keeping her from her duties."
With the word, "duties," Mabel gave the key one swift turn and the engine started up like there had never been any problem at all.
"See," the old nanny cried in glee. "I knew the old girl still had it in her."
She slowly climbed out of the cart, waved her hoof at the steering wheel and declared, "She is all yours dearie."
"Thank you very much, Mabel," Judy cheered, clapping her paws together before she slid behind the wheel once again.
With a shaky salute, Officer Mabel waved farewell to the young rabbit. "Good luck out there today. It's pouring pretty bad and these old bones creak something awful in the wet."
Waving goodbye to the helpful old goat, Judy backed her parking service vehicle out of the garage and into the rainy autumn morning. Her mood was only slightly lifted by Mabel's kindness.
As the old nanny had stated, it was fairly wet outside. The cart was instantly drenched as soon as Judy pulled out of the garage and the single, large wiper did little to keep the windshield dry. Luckily, the rain subsided to a slow drizzle once she reached her post downtown.
Starting out her day, Judy pulled out the long chalking stick and began marking tires. Since many of the tires were tightly snuggled under wheel wells, the rain did not immediately wash away the chalk marks and would keep for several days.
Next, she began checking the parking meters along her assigned route. It was still early in the business day, so most of the meters had only been running for a few minutes. A lot of shops in this part of the city had not even opened for business, so few parking spots were filled.
Her first ticket of the day was an old-fashioned foreign car that was commonly referred to as a bug because of its cutely rounded shape. The driver had either forgotten to set the meter, or they had been parked there overnight. With the dry pavement under the car, she suspected the latter.
Despite the grey and dreary weather, Judy's mood bounced back and forth between glum and angry. Her ire would rise every time she thought about how Nick had so callously thrown their partnership out the window. She had worked hard to get him accepted into the academy and assigned as her partner. Now he was going to give up all that to work for the TUSK team.
Standing in front of a small, blue van whose meter had barely expired, she punched the vehicle's plate numbers into her paw-held computer while tears fell like rain down her grey and mated cheeks. The size and shape of the van reminded her of Nick's old partner and friend. It had only been a few hours since she had seen her fox's orange tail vanish behind the chief's tremendous office door, but she was already missing him greatly.
The morning proceeded like this for several hours with her constantly shifting mood while she slowly, and automatically filled out parking tickets in the rain. At one point, when the sun poked through the thick clouds for a moment, a small hint of a smile crept up her muzzle.
Her smile was quickly erased when her phone beeped. Seeing that it was a text from Nick, her ears fell and a scowl crossed her muzzle. She quickly shoved the phone back into her belt pouch without reading the contents of the message.
Strolling down the sidewalk, listening for the next ding of an expired meter, Judy returned to contemplating what she would say to the fox. She wanted to scream and scold him for being so thoughtless. She planned to sit him down on his big couch and explain how she felt. How much he had hurt her feelings with the sudden appearance of those transfer papers.
For now, she closed the phone back inside its pouch and tried to focus on her job. Even she would admit that her emotions were a little off today and she would deal with the fox later, once she had calmed down a little more. At the moment, she was too angry to speak with him. Maybe after lunch, she would be calm enough to give the issue some more thought.
A few minutes later, the phone beeped again, twice. Then a third time, this one from her email app. In frustration, she pulled the phone from its pouch and glared at it. "Doesn't he know I'm working?" She growled, then held the power button for several seconds before watching the screen blip into darkness. With the irritating device shut off, she shoved it back into the large pouch on her hip and forgot about it for the rest of her shift.
Holding back a snarl, she walked up to the next expired parking meter. This one was a large, black sports car convertible with a tough looking body design that some mammals referred to as a "Muscle Car". Its hood shone like it had recently rolled off the showroom floor, and not a single drop of rain seemed to touch its brightly polished surface.
The sports car's top was up and kept most of the drizzle from staining the plush seats, but the windows were down, like the driver had only stepped out for a second. Checking the parking meter, Judy could not tell how long it had been expired, but the feelings in her gut said that it had been far more than a minute or two. She even suspected that the driver had never even set the meter in the first place.
Looking around, she recognized the large white marble building where the offending black convertible was parked. A few blocks further down Peak Street was where Nick and herself had arrested a half naked panda for eating a florist's display cases. It wasn't the largest tower in the downtown area, but it shined like a beacon on sunny days.
Somehow Judy knew there was a large parking garage in the back of the tall office building. She puzzled over why the driver didn't bother to set the meter. They must have been in a hurry, or didn't care if they got a ticket or not.
This flippant disregard for the city's laws set the rabbit's teeth to grinding as she quickly punched in the car's license plate numbers. It always aggravated her that some mammals felt they were so entitled that they were above the law. As she pressed the print button, the device whirred, clicked and whined, but would not spit out the ticket. Groaning, she shook the ticket printer and pressed the button again.
Again, the device only whined and clicked, but no ticket came out of the device. Flipping it over in her paws, Judy opened the back where the ticket paper was loaded and found only a crumbled ball stuck in the gears. She had seen this happen before in the past and immediately knew how to resolve the issue.
Pulling the stuck paper from the gears, she tore off a strip and gently inserted the clean edge into the tiny rollers. Luckily, her tiny paws were the perfect size for the delicate work. She was quickly able to get the paper to feed through the gears again.
Closing the back of the device, she punched in the driver's information and proceeded to print another ticket. Once again, the printer jammed with a groan and a click. The rabbit's nerves had already been frazzled and frayed by the day's events and she nearly screamed and threw the device across the busy street.
After taking a few deep breaths and wiping the rain from her big purple eyes, she opened the back of the device again. She was prepared to once again unjam the paper and start all over again, but this time, she noticed that the roll was now a wet ball of mush. It must have gotten soaked from the rain when she opened it moments ago. Luckily, there were more rolls of paper back in the parking service cart.
Tossing out the now soaked roll of ticket paper, Judy returned to the cart. Sitting inside the cab where it was dry, she was able to successfully replace the paper and print a new ticket. Stuffing the fresh ticket inside its envelope, she climbed out of the cart and returned to the offending sports car.
With the ticket finally in paw, she climbed up onto the freshly polished hood and shoved the envelope under the windshield wipers. Before she could slide off the front of the car, a husky yet snobbish voice called out, "Get your filthy paws off my car!"
Scrambling to remove herself from the hood, Judy looked up and saw a lanky ibex strutting from the entrance of the marble tower. She was dressed in expensive business attire that hugged each of the tall goat's curves while still projecting a sense of power and control. Her halting strut was anything but fluid and seemed almost mechanical, jerking slightly with each step.
Having become accustomed to most drivers' reactions when they find a parking ticket on their car windows, Judy prepared herself for the tirade that was swiftly approaching. In fact, this irate business mammal didn't take a second look at the uniformed rabbit before she marched to the side of her polished black car. She tossed her head dismissively to the side as she snatched the ticket from under the wipers.
Judy noticed that one of the goat's long and elegantly curved horns had broken near the base, causing her to be slightly off balance as she stuck her long nose in the air. The rabbit knew that most horned mammals took great pride in their horns, and ibex had some of the longest horns of any species. They also had egos to match. It could probably take many years for a horn like that to grow back, and this goat's ego only seemed to have grown even larger with the loss of her horn.
"How dare you think you can give me a ticket," the ibex spat through the sharp, pointed fangs under her long snout. "I own this building, and can park wherever I wish." She then proceeded to tear the ticket, and its waterproof envelope, into tiny pieces with her clawed paws and threw the lot into the rabbit's muzzle.
Spitting scraps of torn ticket from her muzzle, Judy pointed at the wet sidewalk and declared, "That is littering, ma'am."
Looking down her nose at the much shorter meter maid, the fancy ibex climbed into her all black sports car. When she lifted her long legs into the car, the furious rabbit noticed that her hooves were covered in very expensive straps. The material was either treated with a metallic dye or very thin, metal strands, woven into a shimmering fabric. Even in the dreary grey light that covered the city, the hoof straps sparkled and shone like they were made from polished brass or even gold.
Tucking her tight skirt into the shiny black seat, the posh goat glared down at the rabbit officer. As the door slammed shut and sprayed the rabbit with fresh rain water, the ibex muttered, "I am surprised this city lets filthy inters like you work on the force."
Even with the steady drizzle and the roar of passing cars, Judy was able to clearly hear every word. "What did you call me?" She asked, stepping up to the driver's window. Judy bit her lip and held back her anger, barely. This goat was seriously pushing the lines of contempt, but had not yet committed an arrestable offense.
"You heard what I said," the goat threw the words coldly back into her muzzle.
Normally, Judy would not have thought twice about name-calling, but today, the word 'inter' hit like a hard slap across the jaw. She was immediately reminded that she was in a relationship with a fox, a mammal from a very different species from her own. Today, that name stung, it rang true and described her recent life choices.
Leaning over the open window, she asked, "What? Why?" How had this random, yet arrogant, business mammal known what she did in her private life? She and Nick had not exactly been very secretive with their activities, but they had also not been broadcasting their relationship on the nightly news.
Scoffing, the ibex looked down her long snout at the bright orange and blue uniformed rabbit leaning on her window. "Do they not even teach you how to read?"
The snooty goat reached into a large pouch behind her seat and withdrew a newspaper large enough for small to medium-sized mammals to carry easily. She flipped open the paper to the second page inside the front flap and then tossed the entire bundle at the rabbit cop, causing Judy to step back and dodge out of the way. Sticking her nose in the air again, she huffed, but didn't say another word.
"That's two counts of littering!" Judy yelled back, but the goat had already started the car's engine.
The tough car roared to life angrily and the goat slammed her hoof on the gas pedal, tearing into the midday, downtown traffic. Several slower drivers were forced to swerve out of the way and many leaned on their car horns, hurting the rabbit's sensitive ears.
Ignoring the rude goat and the other angry drivers, Judy lifted the newspaper from the pavement before it could get soaked by the slow but constant rain. Looking at the top of the page, she noticed that it was dated for last weekend and was from one of the less popular weeklies named, The Antelope.
At the top of page three, a bold headline read, Inters In The ZPD: City Heroes Or Gross Indecency. The article did not disclose any specific names, but the author painted a very clear picture of whom they are talking about. They went on to state how mixed species relations were unhealthy for a city like Zootopia. Having such relations in the government and other positions of power, undermined the balance between the numerous species that had been built up over many centuries.
The article seemed to be a continuation from a long series of posts and articles from the same author, describing how interspecies relations are a burden or even a curse to society. While they go out of their way to warn all decent mammals of the dangers of these types of relations, they never directly mention what to specifically do about them. They did urge that laws need to be put into place to discourage what they referred to as, "Disgusting Personal Choices."
It was not clear if the author considered all mixed species interactions to be disgusting or not. Nor was it clear what species the writer was, or if they were pred or prey. Judy wondered if they were even against having friends outside of their own species. What was clear was the author's opinion that the city's smallest crime fighting couple should be stripped of their badges and extricated from the city along with any other city officials like them.
After covering more than half the page, the article ended by urging like-minded readers to speak up about these social atrocities. The city needed to know that this kind of behavior can only bring about ruin and would no longer be tolerated. They recommended that each reader write their local representatives and make their opinions heard.
Her eyes had only glanced over half the article before her paws began to shake violently. She could not believe that anyone could possibly say such horrid things about inters. Why would anyone ever object to two mammals who clearly cared for and loved each other, even if they were different species.
Once again, her rage grew to near its boiling point. Her only thought was to find this author and give him a piece of her mind. Then she would arrest him for slander and discrimination.
She marched to the nearest trash bin and nearly threw away the offending paper. Before the newspaper fell from her paws to join the rest of the rain soaked trash, she stopped and held it precariously over the abyss.
Taking another deep breath to calm her nerves, she decided to keep the horrible article as evidence of this speciest author's transgressions. Instead, she threw it into the back of the parking service cart, where it could remain mostly dry.
Returning to her job, Judy's mind began to puzzle over what had happened. How did that snobbish goat make the connection between that article and herself? She wasn't the only small meter maid on the force.
If the goat could connect the dots, then maybe other mammals would as well. With that realization, Judy's world suddenly shifted. Did everyone in the city know about her and Nick? Did they feel the same way as this cruel author? Was Bogo actually disgusted by her feelings for a fox?
A middle-aged antelope, in a flowery, autumn dress, slowly strolled by while carrying a shopping bag in one hoof and her plain purse in the other. As she passed the rabbit in the bright orange vest, she glanced down with a casual frown. She never said a word, but the meter maid's response was quick and sharp.
"What are you looking at?" Judy snapped.
Without taking two steps, Judy turned around and apologized. "Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't mean, uh. I'm sorry." She hung her head in dismay, as the antelope stuck up her nose and continued walking through the midday drizzle.
Turning away, the rabbit tried to hide behind her ears in embarrassment. "What is wrong with me today?" She spoke the question out loud to no one in particular.
After a few more steps, her stomach grumbled loudly, and she realized that she had not eaten anything all day, nor had she drank any coffee. She was starving and extremely low on energy. Looking at the time, she decided that it was close enough to noon that she could take her lunch break.
Without thinking, she headed towards the nearest prey diner and ordered a healthy salad. However, when the food arrived, she immediately lost her appetite. The leafy greens and roasted vegetables only caused her stomach to turn.
This was the strangest feeling she had ever felt. She had never turned down such a bright green salad in her life. When she tasted a bit, the healthy leaves seemed overly bitter and the fresh cucumber felt slimy in her mouth. Simply looking at the glistening tomato made her gag.
Dropping the fork, she pushed the salad away without another bite, but her stomach continued to grumble angrily. She still could not make herself eat any more of the salad.
Looking out the window, she spotted a small sushi bar directly across the rain filled street. It only took one glance for her to realize what she was craving. The only downside was that it was a pred only bar.
Quickly thinking of a plan, she pulled out her phone, turned it back on, and ignored the dozen unread messages from Nick and her family. She then dialed the number printed in neon outside the bar and placed a delivery order for a Mr. Wilde.
After waiting ten minutes, she paid for the uneaten salad and crossed the street. As she approached the sushi bar, she turned her bowler hat around, tucked in her ears, then flipped around her orange vest. Standing on the tips of her toes, she sauntered up to the window and addressed the cashier.
"Yes?" Asked the puma behind the counter. She never looked twice at the poorly disguised rabbit officer.
Judy also tried lowering her voice to sound more masculine, "Pick up for a Mr. Wilde."
"Here you go," the puma said flatly as she pawed over a plain, brown paper bag without looking down. Before the bag of food exchanged paws, the desk phone rang with another order. The puma turned slowly to take the call, while the rabbit snatched the bag and slipped out of the bar without another word.
With her lunch in paw, Judy quickly skipped back to her cart like a weasel with a purse that didn't belong to him. No one bothered to take a second look at the strangely acting meter maid in her backwards uniform.
Back in the cart, she quietly ate her fish and rice rolled up inside dried seaweed leaves. Beside the rolls, the bag held a small plastic pouch of wasabi sauce, and she slathered the hot, green radish over them to enhance their flavor. She had never had sushi before, but the light meal hit the spot and calmed her grumbling tummy.
Today had been extremely strange for the rabbit cop. It felt like she had been riding a roller coaster or one of those multi-armed machines at the fair. Unfortunately, her shift was only half over.
It was pitch black outside as Judy dragged her paws up the steep steps to the apartment she shared with Nick. The sun had long since gone down, and the light in the stairwell had broken weeks ago without being repaired. Judy knew the way, and would have heard if anyone was coming down the steps.
After she finished her shift of parking duty and returned the cart to its narrow space in the basement garage, she was still required to finish her paperwork. Several reports from the previous week had not been completed. Judy spent another hour filling them out and turning them over to Bogo.
In the middle of autumn, the sun set early so that by the time Judy was finished with everything her job required, it was completely dark outside. The rain had stopped, but the clouds still hung over the city like an ominous, puffy umbrella.
She barely remembered the quiet bus ride back to the apartment as her keys rattled in the old wooden door. When the lock finally clicked, the door creaked open slowly and Judy could see a single light hanging over the dinning table. The rest of the apartment was dark. Even the small window on the far side of the living room did not provide enough illumination to make out anything more than dark shapes in the distance.
Closing and locking the door, Judy tossed her key ring in a small wooden bowl by the door, where all of their keys were stored. This part of the kitchen counter wrapped around the corner and past the fridge until it met the front door. A small island counter separated the main cooking area from the dining table.
A pair of large, purple eyes gazed across the simple meal that was set on the table. Her disgust rose once again when she noticed the lettuce in the chef salad had wilted hours ago. Who would waste a perfectly good salad like this? She reached out to swipe aside the offending meal, but the sight of a quaint bundle of violets held her small paw.
Propped up against an elegant vase was a small, corduroy rabbit with pretty, purple buttons for eyes. The now droopy violets and the stuffed animal brought a sigh to her heart and banished the anger that had been building all day.
Despite the dried and wilted look of the salad, her stomach groaned at not having been fed for several hours. She quickly popped a pawful of the diced carrots and a few of the cubed eggs into her mouth, but they did little to curb her hunger.
Walking past the dining table, Judy grabbed the stuffed bunny doll. She then tossed her hat to the floor lazily and stepped across the invisible line that marked the edge of the living room.
Her shadow loomed large in the darkness. She could see a few large, gloomy objects before her. The largest she recognized as the couch, while another was the television set. Stepping carefully, she hoped to reach her destination without stumbling into the low sitting coffee table. It was too dark for her rabbit eyes to make out clearly, but would surely pain her toes if she kicked it.
Even though she could not see where she was going in the dark room, she could clearly hear the sound of a snoring fox. By the state of the apartment, and the lack of dishes in the sink, Nick must have cleaned up then fell asleep waiting for her to come home. Hearing his light snores, she wondered how she could ever be mad at him.
At the near end of the couch, a loud click could be heard and the room was suddenly filled with light as Judy turned on the tall lamp. She pulled her paw away from the pastel, fish print lamp shade and watched the fox stir from the sudden light and sound.
Once the fox was fully upright, the rabbit, still in her work uniform, sat beside him. She didn't say a word as she stared at the wall on the other side of the room. In her lap sat the grey and tufted rabbit doll with the purple button eyes.
"Hello, Carrots," the fox said sleepily.
A brief moment of silence fell across the living room that was broken only by the sound of the rabbit's deep breathing. Her ears lay limply against the back of her head, while her eye slowly fell to the floor in thought.
The fox rubbed his eyes, opened his jaws in a very wide yawn and stretched both arms high over his head. When one arm fell on the rabbit's shoulders, she scooted forward and out of the way.
Without warning, she finally spoke, but her voice was neither warm, nor comforting, "We need to talk."
"Ok," the fox replied, quickly recovering the arm that had fallen to the couch. "What do you want to talk about?"
"This," she declared coldly, pulling forth the slightly damp newspaper.
Nick tilted his head curiously when she revealed the paper, but was caught completely off guard when she slapped it against his chest. The long afternoon nap had slowed his reflexes and he was unable to catch the rain soaked paper before it fell to his lap.
Lifting the newspaper, he leaned towards the lamp to better see what his paws held. "The Antelope? When did you join the sociopolitical scene, Carrots?"
"Just read the article, Nick," Judy muttered gruffly.
Holding up the large paper in both paws, he flipped to the front, then back to page three before exclaiming, "This is the op-ed page. Nobody ever pays attention to these kinds of articles."
Turning to point her muzzle at the fox, she glared darkly into his smug green eyes. "Are you going to read it or not?"
Looking back at the article, he read the headline. His head tilted to the other side and he had to read it again before blurting out, "What in the city sewers is Gross Indecency? It sounds like a legal term but they never taught us anything like that in the academy."
With a slight snarl, Judy replied, "I had to look it up. It is what speciest mammals call mixed species affections, hugging, kissing, etcetera."
"When did such a thing become law?"
"It's not," the rabbit groaned. "Not yet. Keep reading." She pointed a sharp claw at the page urgently.
As Nick read through the smudged and rain soaked article, he whispered several words that caught his attention. His expression never changed from his regular foxy smugness. At one point, he even seemed to chuckle at the author's call to action.
When he finished the article, he noticed Judy's intense glare and clenched teeth. "Do you actually believe this drivel?"
Taken aback by Nick's casual response, Judy shook her head. "No, um. I think they are complete idiots, but the rest of the city does."
At that moment, Nick noticed that Judy was still wearing the reflective orange, meter made vest. "Who told you that?" He waved the still slightly damp newspaper towards the bunny. "Where did you find this?"
Pushing the paper away, she stated, "Does it matter?" Looking over his paws, she turned her intense purple eyes on him, "Tell me Nick. Are we doing the right thing?"
It was Nick's turn to jerk back into the couch at the rabbit's comment. "What do you mean?"
"Us, Nick!" Judy declared, holding her balled paws near her chest. "You and me. Is us being together the right thing?"
Nick slapped his paw against the paper with a loud crack, "Don't let this one article discourage you, Judy."
"It's not just this article, Nick," she growled. "I finally see what I have been missing this whole time."
"What?" The fox demanded.
"The world is against us." She squeezed the stuffed rabbit tightly to her chest as she spoke with conviction. "This city is against mammals like us. Don't you see it?"
He scooted closer to the rabbit on the couch, and put his arm around her shoulder. "Judy, dear. I love you more than anything in the world. More than this job, or my life. I don't care what the city thinks about us, I only care about you."
Again, Judy scooted out of the fox's reach. "I saw how my family treated you when you were in Bunny Burrow. They barely tolerated you."
Nick raised a single finger to explain, "Some of your family was quite encouraging, dear."
Judy never stopped to listen and continued her disparaging words, "And I am sure that your mother is still mad at me. Even nature is against us, Nick. We will never be able to have kits of our own."
"We could adopt," he added with a warm squeeze.
She shook her head and charged forward. "Our families, our friends, the ZPD, even Bogo is against us being together. Why can't you see that?"
Tears began to flow freely down her grey cheeks. Her ears fell flat down her back as her clenched fists crushed the stuffed rabbit to her chest. Once again, her emotions ran rampant across her muzzle as her sobs began to sound more like snarls and her tearful eyes burned red.
"It's ok Judy," Nick pulled her close into a tight side hug. "We have each other and that's all that matters."
Judy turned and placed her muzzle against his chest and rubbed her wet nose across his shirt. Her fists, however, remained clenched during the close embrace.
"About Bogo this morning," Nick said between rabbit sobs. "I am sorry about that."
The tears suddenly dried, and the sobbing ended with a crack in the rabbit's voice. She immediately sat up, eyes red from all the crying she had done that day. The glare she turned on the fox was anything but kind.
"Why did you do it?" She demanded as her ears rose to attention and her nose began to twitch. Once again, she slid away from the fox, who remained the focus of her attention.
"I felt like we had no choice."
Her nose twitched faster at his words. "You had those transfer papers filled out before we even went up to Bogo's office."
"I th-thought something was off wh-when Buffalo Butt ca-called us in early." The intensity in her glare caused him to stutter several times as he explained. "So I stopped by my desk to grab the p-papers in case something like this happened."
Her glare only darkened and her clenched fists tightened. "So you were hiding them from me!"
"Yes," he nodded. "They were my back-up plan in case Bogo got fed up with my antics."
"You still haven't explained why?"
Sighing, Nick reached for the rabbit, but she easily dodged his paw. "I did it for you, Carrots."
Nick's soft words caused a small lump to form in her throat, and her anger nearly vanished.
"I did it to protect you," he admitted. "I was afraid he was going to send you to the Nocturnal District and I would never allow that to happen."
Judy suddenly felt small and helpless next to the larger fox and her ire returned full force. "You needed to protect me? Do I look like I need your protection?"
Grasping at air, Nick's quick wits could not save him from the pit he was digging with his beloved bunny. "Not there. No bunny should ever be caught alone down there."
Leaping from the couch, Judy tossed the stuffed rabbit at the fox as she turned her anger towards him. "I am a grown rabbit, Nick. I can take care of myself!"
"No! You don't know that place like I do." His argument seemed sound, but the rabbit's emotions drove forward like a subway car that had gone off its rails and crashed into a museum.
"You never told me about those transfer papers. You never thought to even discuss them with me." With her eyes once again filled with tears, she looked away from her fox. "I don't know if I can trust you."
She turned to step away from the couch, but the room suddenly began to spin. The roller coaster of emotions had finally caught up to Judy's small body. Her growling stomach and exhaustion caused her knees to buckle and she began to fall.
Seeing the rabbit lose her step, Nick was instantly at her side to arrest her fall.
Before the fox could place a red paw on her grey fur, Judy held out her arm and called, "Don't." She grasped the coffee table and lifted herself to a standing position. With the back of one paw on her forehead, she took a cautious step away from the fox.
Holding both paws at chest height, Nick carefully followed his rabbit. "Why don't we take a nice hot shower."
She didn't even turn to look back at him, but her claws flexed in one tight fist she held at her hips.
"I'll shampoo your back and your ears," he said with as much foxy charm as possible while gently reaching for her long ears. "Just the way you like it."
"Please stop," she declared softly, almost swayed by the thick layers of charm in his voice. She took another step away from him.
"How about a movie?" He then grabbed one of the remotes and pointed it towards the TV. "The Defenders of the Stars have a new movie out on cable."
"No, Nick." She shook her head while taking a third step. "I need some time to think."
"Ok," he encouraged. "You're obviously very tired from a long day." He placed the TV remote back on the coffee stand. "Why don't we go to bed, and think about this in the morning."
Turning around, she stared at the fox for several moments. Why was he acting like this, like he clearly did not care how she felt? Why is he not listening to me?
"Nick." She paused as he stepped forward and nodded. Shaking her head, she continued, "I don't know if we can go on like this."
Waving her paw towards the front door of the apartment, she addressed the fox with a tear slowly rolling down her cheek. "I am going to go for a walk to think about things. Please don't follow me."
"But." Nick's arms reached for the retreating rabbit, but his hind paws never moved.
When Judy reached the door, she lifted her keys from the bowl and unlocked the door. She pulled it open and stepped through the portal. Before closing it behind her, she turned and looked back at the fox. Tears were streaming down her cheek to splatter like rain on the floor.
"Please don't leave, Judy." The fox tried to stretch across the empty space and pull the rabbit back. He was left holding the plush toy as the real rabbit disappeared from his sight.
"I'm sorry," she said before closing the door quietly.
A sturdy, wooden door creaked slowly open into the pitch black room. From the light streaming in from the hallway, a long-eared shadow filled a tiny portion of the doorway. A single paw moved across the threshold like it was made of bricks.
Sighing, the shadow took another slow and careful step through the open doorway with all the excitement and energy of walking down death row. A third, laborious step and the rabbit nearly fell in her tracks but she caught herself on the small, white table that sat near the door.
When she turned the old brass switch that hung above the table, she squinted her bloodshot eyes in the bright light that filled the tiny apartment and wiped at her wet and matted cheeks. A thin layer of dust covered the top of the table, but she paid little attention to it, as she tossed her keys onto the flat surface, creating a small cloud that quickly settled back down.
Slow and steadily, Judy shuffled into the center of the closet-sized room. Standing in the middle of the cracked and splintery floor, she spoke with a shaky, uneven voice, "How could he keep all those things from me?" Without even a single glance around the nearly bare room, she drifted towards the bed.
The rickety, old bed was still made up with its light-blue sheets. Two rows of rabbits sat looking towards the head of the bed like they had been attending some kind of formal ceremony. They tried to hold their ground as the life-sized bunny plowed into them, when she flopped onto the mattress with a soft sob. "Doesn't he even care how I feel?"
Judy crawled across her kithood plushy dolls, as she worked her way towards the pillows. On the topmost pillow, sat a very old and well-worn, rabbit doll with its nose pressed tenderly to the nose of a newer, fox plushy. One ear of the fox doll had been bitten in two and its muzzle was matted and in need of a good brushing.
She took one look at the smug fox and grabbed him in her paw. Sitting up, she hurled the fox across the room with a screech. The fox slammed loudly into the wall, next to the door, before it unceremoniously fell to the floor and fell flat onto its long nose.
Her anger spent, Judy flopped down and planted her muzzle into the pillow, next to the remaining bunny doll. A new set of tears were unleashed like the breaking of a dam and soaked her pillow, "That stupid, dumb fox!"
"What is wrong, bunny girl?" A sleepy voice called from the far side of the paw-printed wall.
Despite her super sensitive ears, the tears and loud sobs drowned out the sound of the voice as Judy continued to bellow into her pillow.
"Shut up," a second voice called from beyond the wall. "Can't you hear that she is in pain?"
"Don't tell me to shut up," the first voice jeered. "You shut up."
"No, you shut up."
"Shut up!"
"Shut, shut, shut, up!"
Tears streaming down her cheeks, the rabbit sat up in the bed. She didn't bother to wipe the river of tears from her cheeks but turned to the wall and yelled with all the breath she had left, "Will the two of you shut up and leave me alone!"
"Oh, she told you," the second voice mocked.
"No, she told you."
Ignoring her obnoxious neighbors, Judy grabbed her rabbit doll off of the pillow and clutched it to her chest. She flopped her head back onto the pillow and turned the faucet back on, letting the tears continue to soak the pillowy, white headrest. Occasionally, between loud sobs, could be heard the words, "Stupid, stupid fox."
Hours later, her weeping and wailing finally subsided, to be replaced by harsh and raspy snores.
[A/N] Breaking up is hard to do, and its hard to write about to. I know I wanted to have both book ends of this chapter. I had hoped that I have foreshadowed them well enough to not be such a shock. But I had not executed the meat of the chapter very well. I did not want the break up to be meaning less or random. I truly wanted it to make sense and fit with the plot. Why? Because there are mysteries within mysteries here. One mystery will be closed while another will be opened by their separation. It may not make sense now, but it should in the future. Please be patient and wait for the resolution. All will be answered in due time. With the recent setback and rewrite the story will now end at the end of summer 2023.
My original intent for this chapter was to mirror the press conference scene from the movie. In mirror opposite fashion I wanted Nick saying all the wrong things and Judy would be the one to walk out the door. My first attempt failed because I wanted to write it from Nick's point of view. That only ended badly for everyone involved. This time me and my beta readers agree that Judy's point of view is softer and more true to her character in the given situations. If you disagree, you are welcome to leave criticism. I always appreciate and consider everyone's feedback, even the very toxic Guest accounts. I hope I have been able to address everyone's concerns and produce a far superior chapter this time around.
[ Don't Let Me Down (The Chainsmokers ft. Daya) ยท Zootropolis AMV ] This song really first what Judy is feeling today. I put it on repeat for most of the time I was proofreading this chapter.