Judy couldn't remember the last time she had slept in. Her entire life, she had been laser-focused on excelling in school and physical fitness to make sure she could become a police officer, which meant getting up early to exercise and study even on her days off. Once she had become a police officer, her body's internal clock kept waking her up at the usual time on days she didn't need to work, so it was rare for her to sleep in past 5:30.

This morning, when she finally opened her eyes, the clock beside the bed read 9:13. She yawned and stretched her arms. I must have really needed it. It had been a long time since she'd gotten a proper night's sleep, and clearly, her body wanted to remind her to take better care of herself.

She stood up and walked out of the room. Since Nick was staying in her room, she had taken up residence in her older brother Patrick's room, as he was currently away heading some offshore farming company. Her new room was very close to the main kitchen and dining room, so as soon as she walked into the hallway, she was instantly greeted with the smell of pancakes.

Blueberry pancakes.

A smile crossed her face as she walked into the kitchen. Nick was there, rapidly bouncing between various frying pans on the stove, flipping pancakes and delivering them to the numerous small bunnies that lined up patiently waiting their turn for breakfast. He was wearing his usual outfit, even his purple tie, but hanging in the front was an apron several sizes too small, looking more like a large bib that didn't even reach the fox's waist.

Judy was impressed with the swiftness Nick was able to juggle so many tasks at once—especially since he was also singing a merry tune as he did so. "Pancakes, pancakes, blueberry pancakes!" Nick expertly slid his spatula underneath a freshly-finished pancake and held it triumphantly in the air. "Come on up and take one now!" When the next bunny in line took a step forward and held up their empty plate, Nick tipped the pancake off the spatula and smack in the center of the plate. "Pancakes, pancakes, blueberry pancakes!" He then turned back around, grabbed one of the frying pans, and flicked the half-finished pancake inside into the air. Then, without missing a beat, he caught it back in the pan and set it back on the stove. "How to make them, I'll show you how!"

Judy was awestruck by the scene. Nick was not only making breakfast for so many of her family all by himself, but he was having a great time doing it. He was smiling, and singing, and dancing, and she was sure she had never seen him this giddy before as long as she had known him. She placed a paw on her chest, deeply touched by the endearing sight in front of her.

A sigh must have escaped her lips, because Nick suddenly stopped his singing, turned around, and looked straight at her. His cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of crimson than usual. "Oh. Carrots." He quickly tried to hide his embarrassment and waved his spatula in her direction. "Good morning. Are you hungry?"

Judy smiled and nodded. "If you don't mind." She sat in one of the chairs that lined the main table, just a few feet away from where the fox skillfully worked in the kitchen.

"Not at all!" Nick turned back around, grabbed one of the pans, and moved it rhythmically across the stove. "I'll make your pancakes plain; you can put on the blueberry syrup yourself!"

Judy blinked in surprise. How can he possibly know that's how I like my pancakes? But as soon as she finished her thought, she remembered that he had seen her handle her pancakes exactly like that during their date the week before. She was impressed by the fact that he'd remembered, and gladly waited for him to make some fresh pancakes just for her.

Wow. The date was really only a week ago?

So much had happened since then, it felt more like a lifetime ago. In fact, she had almost completely forgotten about the date altogether. But as the smell of blueberries filled the air, she closed her eyes and decided to reminisce for a few minutes. She pictured in her mind's eye the image of Nick, sitting nervously at the table, accidentally ordering the entire left side of the menu. She chuckled remembering how he had bickered with the waitress. She cringed in embarrassment about how she had tried to hide the soot in her fur. She couldn't even remember most of what they'd talked about, except that at the very end, they had agreed to a second date…

Her eyes snapped open. "Cheese and crackers! We forgot all about our second date!"

It was only when the hundred other rabbits in the room fell silent and stared at her that Judy realized she had spoken out loud. Nick, still standing next to the stove, turned and looked at her with both eyes wide open, as if she had just leaked his high school year book on the internet for everyone to see.

Judy could feel her cheeks heat up rapidly with so many eyes looking at her, but there was no way she'd be able to play it off after saying it so loudly and clearly. She was just glad that her parents were outside tending to the farm, and thus didn't hear her say it out loud—though, undoubtedly, word would reach them by the end of the day nonetheless.

She cleared her throat and tried waving at the other bunnies—though her arm barely raised above her hip. "Uh… We were going to visit the Canal District," she sheepishly explained. "Nick promised to bring the sunscreen."

To her relief, Nick recognized how hard she was struggling, and decided to rescue her. He adopted his usual suave smile and waved his spatula around in the air. "Oh, that's right," he said, as if suddenly remembering what she was talking about. "It turns out, bunnies can get sunburned. So I was going to go and get some SPF 86."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "86?"

"Yeah." Nick rested his spatula on his shoulder. "You can catch on fire and it wouldn't penetrate through that stuff." He side-eyed some of the closest bunnies to him. "Do you want me to demonstrate on some of these little ones?"

Without waiting for Judy to respond, the bunnies chuckled at Nick's threat and feigned running away from him, arms flailing through the air. With the tension in the air broken, the rest of the bunnies went back to eating their breakfasts, though some continued to glance at Nick and Judy between bites.

Judy chuckled at Nick's antics, but then her mind wandered back to the second date. They had originally scheduled it to take place the Friday after the first date, which was yesterday. But even if they had remembered, there were obvious reasons that they wouldn't have been able to visit the Canal District—namely, the fact that they were in hiding, far away from Zootopia.

Nick turned his attention back to her and considered her expression. "I guess we can rule out that second date, then." He let out a disappointed sigh. "It's a shame. There's a really nice secluded beach that I was hoping to show you."

"Probably not secluded enough." Judy added a sigh of her own. "I'm sorry, Nick. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"Eh, it's not like we could do anything about it anyway." Nick turned back to the stove, turned off all but one of the burners, and continued working on Judy's pancake. "I can't go into town without risking being seen."

That was, of course, the biggest problem. Technically, Nick could leave the house itself; since they were on a farm, a ways outside of town, it would be easy enough for him to hide in the unlikely event someone were to drive past. But outside of the farm, there really wasn't anywhere safe for him to go. That really only left the inside of the house, the many fields filled with short vegetation, and a small patch of woods on the far side of the property…

Judy paused. The woods…

She hadn't been back there since she was a little kid, but she distinctly remembered that her father had diverted a portion of the irrigation system into the woods and created a pond for the kids to play in. It wasn't much more elaborate than a watering hole, but the water was clean, and most importantly, it was secluded. Nobody but her family knew it existed, and most of them were out today, either busy with school or farm work.

It's not the Canal District, but it will do! "Hey, Nick." Judy propped her head with one arm, resting her elbow on the table. She slyly grinned in the fox's direction. "How would you like to make that second date happen after all?" Nick looked back at her. His expression told her that he was confused by her proposition, but he patiently waited for her to continue. "There's some woods on the edge of the farm with a pond. You interested?"

Nick stroked his chin at the proposition. "I don't know," he mumbled. "I've already gotten all wet once this week."

"There's a rope swing," Judy added enticingly.

"I'm in." Nick looked down at the pancake in the frying pan. "Oh, looks like it's all done!" In a single motion, he lifted the pancake off the pan with his spatula and placed it onto a fresh plate to the side. Then he set down his spatula, grabbed the plate, and brought it over to Judy. "Breakfast is served, Miss Hopps," he proudly proclaimed.

Judy chuckled at his sudden professionalism. "Why, thank you, sir," she replied in an equally pompous voice. She quickly grabbed the blueberry syrup bottle that was already on the table, and got to work drowning her pancake.

Nick stood proudly behind her, admiring his handiwork as the bunny eagerly soaked it in the purple liquid. Still, he was evidently distracted by the date Judy had proposed. "A rope swing." His voice dropped to a whisper, but his excitement was still crystal clear to Judy's sensitive rabbit ears. "I've always wanted to try one of those."

"There's lots more besides that," she added. She finally set down the syrup bottle and grabbed the fork and knife beside her plate. "You're going to love it."

Nick's face appeared to the side as he leaned down closer to her. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like, you're going to have to wait and find out on your own." Judy cleanly sliced off a piece of the pancake, stirred it into some extra blueberry syrup that had gathered in a puddle on a corner of her plate, and stuffed it in her mouth. Immediately, she had to shut her eyes and stifle a moan of ecstasy as the flavor overwhelmed her taste buds. She took her time chewing, and even after she swallowed, the taste lingered in her mouth.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Nick now standing to her side, staring at her in anticipation. "Was it good?" he hesitantly asked.

Judy struggled to find the words, but eventually she grinned at him in satisfaction and said, "Nick, this is the best blueberry pancake I've ever had in my life."

Nick's face lit up with elation. "Really? You're not just saying that?" In response, Judy doubled down on the pancake on her plate, furiously chopping off another piece so that her craving could be satisfied. He snickered. "I guess not." He stood straight once again, and folded his paws behind his back. "So, a swimming date. Sounds like fun." He made a face as he thought of something. "I didn't exactly bring a swimsuit with me," he pointed out.

"Neither did I." Judy took another big bite out of her pancake, taking a moment to savor the delicious flavors that flooded her mouth. After once again taking her time to finish chewing and swallowing, she added, "I've got to go buy a new one anyway, I'll just pick one up for you while I'm out."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "You can buy swimsuits for foxes in Bunnyburrow?"

Judy shrugged. "Gideon Grey had to get his from somewhere." A thought crossed her mind, which caused her to pause her fork in mid-air as it was bringing another bite of pancake to her mouth. "Actually, did he ever actually wear one…" After another second or two of thinking, she shrugged it off and finished delivering the bite to her mouth. "Just tell me your size, I'll make sure you get one."

Nick stared at her skeptically, but soon relented. "58 medium," he replied.

Judy stopped mid-chew, shocked. "Say again?"

"58 medium," Nick repeated. His eyebrow raised again. "Why?"

Judy blinked. She had never heard of clothing sizes like that before; the biggest she'd ever seen was a size 12. "I guess it works differently for foxes," she figured.

It was Nick's turn to shrug. "I guess so. I don't make the rules, I just wear what fits."

That was fair enough. "58 medium," Judy confirmed. "Got it." She started cutting off another piece of pancake. "As soon as I'm done eating, I'll go into town and get them."

"Sounds good." Nick began walking down the length of the table, picking up some dirty dishes that the younger bunnies had left behind when they had left. "I'll get started on cleaning these, then. Maybe I'll be done by the time you get back."

Judy glimpsed around the table. She hadn't even noticed it, but almost all of the other bunnies had left by now. It was a stark contrast to mere minutes before, when a hundred of them were gleefully eating Nick's breakfast. The few left were quietly talking to each other about schoolwork, or browsing social media on their phones. She was surprised at how fast the time had flown. Somehow, watching Nick make breakfast and having a conversation with him had made the world fly past, and she had not even noticed.

Her chewing slowed to a halt as she realized that it was always that way. When she was with Nick, nothing else mattered. Even during their darkest days—when a mission with the ZPD was going south, or when some renegade mammal was trying to kill them, or even just the other week when she had collapsed in his arms crying—as long as Nick was there, she knew she would be okay. Nick cared about her, more deeply than she could ever know, and whenever she was with him, it always felt like his affection and care for her drowned out everything else, so that was all she ever felt.

She set her fork down on her plate, deep in thought. She had never noticed it before—or maybe she had, but she had just chosen to ignore it until now. Nick was always there for her. He was always protecting her, and going out of his way to make her happy, and doing everything he possibly could for her.

And it wasn't just because he was her friend, even her best friend. No, there was only one reason someone would do all that for someone else.

Nick… loves me…

"Are you okay?"

Nick's voice startled Judy, but she managed to compose herself enough to keep it from showing. The fox was walking back to the kitchen, a small pile of plates in his arms. He didn't seem particularly worried about her; he more seemed curious as to why she had stopped eating.

Judy forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Just…" She rubbed her belly and licked her lips. "Letting it settle before eating some more."

Nick raised his chin. "Ah. Gotcha." He finished walking to the kitchen and set the plates beside the sink. "Been there. Any time I have some of Honeypot's honey crisps." A small drip of saliva formed at the side of his mouth. "Oh man, those honey crisps…" He dreamily started humming the main tune from Honeypot's television ad as he turned on the sink.

Judy returned her attention to her pancake; simply setting her gaze upon what was left of it made her hungry all over again. "Aren't you going to have some?" she called, before stuffing another bite into her mouth.

"I ate already," Nick replied. "Had to prove to those bunnies that I wasn't poisoning their food."

Judy had to fight the urge to chuckle at his quip. Bunnies were naturally cautious animals, and she was sure Nick was not offended in the least by their hesitation. In any case, he had clearly made a lot of rabbits happy this morning, and judging by the quality of the food, she was sure it would not be the last time.

"Besides, you know what they say about chefs who refuse to eat their own cooking," Nick continued. "And I don't want to be associated with them. I've got a reputation."

Judy smiled as she side-eyed him. "Oh yes. We wouldn't want that reputation to be ruined," she teased.

Nick rubbed a soapy sponge across one of the plates. "You shouldn't toy with me, Carrots," he replied in an equally teasing tone. "I don't want to see you come back with purple swim trunks with pink polka dots all over them."

"Well, if that's all I can find, that's what you'll be stuck with," Judy pointed out, half-joking but also realizing that, ironically, it was a real possibility.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Nick moved on to another plate. "Better finish that pancake, Miss Hopps." He turned and winked at her. "You've got a date to prepare for."

For the second time, Judy found herself slowly setting down her fork as she contemplated Nick's words. Their first date, the previous week, had been casual—irrelevant, even. Nick had asked her out on a whim, and they hadn't even properly called it a "date" until it was halfway over; even now, they both looked back on it more like a typical friends-night-out.

But this…

This is going to be different. Judy finally popped the last piece of pancake in her mouth. Because this time, I know how Nick really feels about me. Her chewing slowed to a stop once again. I wonder how I feel about him…?

She had wondered that very thought many times. Ever since Nick had become her partner on the force, she had felt close to him—but that was just because he was her best friend. Whenever the temptation had crept into her mind to consider him as more than just a friend, she had pushed it away every time. Aside from the fact that she was a rabbit and he was a fox, there were other variables to consider. They had both been full-time cops with no time for anything else. Nick was eight full years older than her. And, more importantly, she had been convinced that Nick had no interest in her outside of just being friends.

But now…

She swallowed her food, wiped her mouth with a napkin, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes in thought. Maybe now that there are no more distractions, it's time for me to figure out how I feel about him, too.

"Cannon ball!"

Judy instinctively shielded her face with her paws as Nick splashed into the water beside her. She let out a giggle; he had intentionally landed in the water close enough to get her all wet, and now she was soaked.

She was already soaked before he splashed her, of course; she had actually jumped in the pond first, volunteering to test the water's depth and cleanliness. To her delight, it was actually a fair bit deeper than she remembered from her youth, and was so clear they could see almost all the way to the bottom.

Nick had wasted no time in grabbing the rope dangling from a nearby tree, and flinging himself out over the water. As he came up for breath, he raised his snout to the sky and spurted out a small fountain from his lips. He turned to Judy and flashed a smile. "The water is perfect!" he exclaimed.

"I told you it was," Judy pointed out. She turned to the shore and propelled herself through the water with her powerful hind legs. "What, did you not believe me?"

"Of course I did," Nick insisted, "but now that I can actually feel it for myself…" His voice drifted off as he eased onto his back, floating lazily on the surface of the pond.

Earlier, after Judy had finished her breakfast, she had gone into town and bought the swimsuits the pair now wore. For herself, she had found a navy-blue one-piece with white accents, which she was pleased to discover fit her various bunny curves perfectly while still giving her a full range of motion in the water. To Nick's delight, she had found him something other than purple with pink polka dots; his swim trunks were, instead, a shade of green surprisingly close to his Pawaiian shirt. The green complimented his eyes and contrasted nicely against his orange fur, and as Judy climbed out of the pond and turned to look at him, her gaze lingered on the floating fox.

Nick had worked hard to make sure his body was in peak condition ever since he had applied to join the ZPD. Judy had seen his progress first-hand, but she had never stopped to properly take note of the improvement he had made. His arms had more muscle on them now than when the two of them had first met; he had claimed once that he could lift two-hundred-pound dumbbells, though she had her doubts. She could glimpse a hint of his abdominal muscles underneath his stomach fur. And his emerald eyes…

Were staring right at her.

Judy felt her cheeks flush red in embarrassment. She quickly turned her head away, grabbed her ears with both paws, and tried to hide herself.

Nick didn't help matters. "Ah. You noticed," he called. She heard water splash as he started gliding back to shore to meet her. "Yeah, I've been working on the old bod. You know, every once in a while." He climbed onto solid ground and walked up to her, though to her relief, he patiently stood behind her. "I bet I could get you to hang from my arm."

Judy continued to hide her face. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I didn't mean to stare."

"Pfft." Nick patted her head. "You can stare all you want. I did it all for you."

Nick's paw flew off her head, and a slapping sound immediately after informed Judy that he had covered his mouth with it. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she finally turned around. Sure enough, Nick stood straight up, both paws on his mouth, his eyes wide open. Clearly, he had not meant to say it out loud.

She had wondered if she had heard him right, but his reaction to his own words proved that, yes, she had. "You…" She let go of her ears and stared at him. "You did this…" She gestured to his body. "For me?"

Looking like he was caught with his paw in the cookie jar, Nick let out a defeated sigh and dropped his arms to his side. "Yeah, I did." He raised his paw and waved it in-between them. "I wanted to be as strong as you," he continued. "I mean, just look at you. You're the most fit bunny on the planet, so if I was going to be your partner on the force, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't drag you down."

While it was true that Judy was in excellent physical shape, it wasn't something she had ever focused on. She just needed to be in order to become a cop; regular rabbit bodies just weren't cut out for that kind of work, and she needed to excel. She rarely ever thought about it, but it seemed Nick had not only seen her vigor and strength, he had admired it. And if she was honest with herself, she was flattered that he thought so highly of her physique.

"And…" Nick's quiet voice caught her attention once again. He lowered his gaze and kicked his foot in the dirt bashfully. "And I wanted to be strong for you, too."

She raised an eyebrow. "Strong for me?" she repeated.

"It's silly," he mumbled, once again kicking the dirt. "You don't need help. You don't need some Robin Hood to sweep in on a rope and rescue you." He paused and looked to the side. "Although, there is a rope right there, I guess." He turned back to Judy, once again struggling to meet her gaze. "But even if you don't need anyone, I still wanted to be ready in case you ever did. I wanted to be there for you…" He bashfully fiddled with his fingers. "I always want to be there for you," he quietly finished.

Judy smiled, and a small "aw" escaped from her lips. She had always known that Nick was overly protective of her, but she had never truly understood why. During the night of the Gazelle concert, for example, he was particularly feisty against Duke Weaselton, despite the weasel posing absolutely no threat to her whatsoever. At the time, she had dismissed it as Nick being overly cautious on Gazelle's behalf.

It was obvious to her now that he was protective of her because he loved her. And there were many other examples that popped into her mind as she thought about it. Time after time, in the many months they had known each other, Nick had gone out of his way to show Judy just how much he cared about her. Whether it was walking her home late at night, or giving her a shoulder to cry on, Nick was always thinking about her—always trying to make sure she was loved.

And she was deeply touched.

While he continued staring at the ground in embarrassment, Judy gently grabbed the fox by his head, stepped up on her tip-toes, and quickly planted her mouth against his forehead. He looked at her in surprise, and she gave a shy smile. "You've always been there for me, Slick," she assured him. "And I know, no matter what happens in the future, you always will be." She gently patted his chest. "And you can be my hero any time."

The surprise in Nick's face melted away, replaced by a look of subtle joy as he heard her speak. "Thanks, Carrots."

A mischievous thought entered Judy's mind. She gave Nick a sly smile. "You can be my hero right now, as a matter of fact!" Before Nick could respond, she turned away from him and sprinted to the rope swing. Running at full speed, the grabbed the rope, launched herself in the air, and jumped into the pond.

She quickly surfaced, and glanced back in Nick's direction. The fox was staring at her with an eyebrow raised, curious and confused by her sudden actions. "Carrots, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Save me, Robin Hood!" Judy called. She dramatically raised a paw to her forehead and flung her head back against the surface of the water. "Your Maid Marian is in desperate need of saving!"

She was perfectly safe, of course, and Nick knew it, but he immediately ran to the rope himself and grabbed it, ready to come to her rescue. "Not to worry, Maid Marian!" he declared, as he launched himself high into the sky. "Robin Hood is on his way!"

Nick splashed down close to Judy—even closer than he had the first time—and swiftly took hold of her. He cradled her in his arms, over-the-threshold style, which somehow struck Judy with a sense of déjà vu. With a firm grip on her, he then proceeded to use his legs to kick the two of them through the water and to the shore nearby.

Judy was genuinely impressed by the effortlessness that Nick carried her to "safety". Even though the pond wasn't very deep and both of them were excellent swimmers, Nick was laser-focused on getting her back to shore as quickly and efficiently as possible. The whole time, he did not pant for breath or even pause to rest his muscles; he just kept going, as fast as he could, all the while keeping almost the entirety of Judy's small body clear of the water.

In no time at all, they made it. Nick transitioned from swimming to wading, but never let go of Judy. He walked onto the soft ground beside the pond, and kept walking until they were on the fresh grass a few yards away. And even then, after he came to a stop, he did not put Judy down. He simply stood still, looked into her eyes, and smiled with pride.

"Welcome to the Sherwood Forest, my lady," he said.

Judy chuckled and raised her arms in triumph. "I have been saved!" she proclaimed. Then she flung her arms around the fox's neck in an exaggerated display of admiration. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Hood!"

Nick smiled. "Please. Call me Robin."

"Hmm…" Judy let go of his neck and swatted harmlessly at the air. "Nah." She lay her head against his check and closed her eyes. "I like Nick better."

Nick's fur felt soft and cozy against her head. She was surprised at just how quickly she was able to get comfortable; if she stayed here long enough, she might even be able to fall asleep. Somehow, being so close to the fox gave her a sense of protection. The worries and negative thoughts in the back of her mind completely went away, replaced only by a tranquil peace.

Is this what heaven is like?

She let out a contented sigh, which Nick noticed immediately. He chuckled and, against her will, finally set her down on the ground. "You know what? I like Nick better, too," he admitted. He lightly brushed the fur on his chest, which had formed into a wet clump thanks to Judy's cheek. "Is there a place where we can dry off? I think I'm done with the water for now."

"I'm glad you asked." Judy grabbed Nick's paw and led him away. "This way!"

Next to the patch of trees, but still far from the lines of crops at the farm, there was a flat field of grass. It wasn't very big, just a few square yards, but it was plenty enough for the two of them. It only took a minute for Judy to bring Nick to the meadow. The two mammals, all worn out from their swimming date, settled down onto the grass, spread out their limbs, and let out two big contented sighs.

Judy turned her head to look at Nick. His eyes were closed, and a giant grin was spread across his face. He basked in the afternoon sunshine, gladly exposing himself to its warmth. The wind lightly fluttered against his fur, slowly drying it and giving him a fresh, slightly fluffy look. His tail stretched out to one side, wagging ever so slowly in peace. His chest rose and fell in a slow, rhythmic pattern, as he breathed in the countryside air.

As the minutes started to fly past, Judy continued looking at Nick's contented face. After all he had gone through, he had earned this day—this moment in time, where all his worries were gone, and he could be happy, truly happy, for the first time in a very long time. Nick was free from the shock collar, he was free from Zootopia, and most importantly, he was free from her. Her nightmare no longer controlled her, and she was no longer afraid of him, and so there was nothing left to keep them apart from each other. Their emotional separation was gone, forever, and now that he could be with his bunny again, Judy was sure that she had never seen him happier.

She realized that he wasn't the only one who was happy. She was happy as well. All her joy of getting into the ZPD, and for all the cases she'd won, and all the people she'd proven wrong by becoming a bunny cop… Right now, all of that fell by the wayside.

Because right now, she was with her fox. And that was all that mattered.

My fox.

For the very first time, the thought made her smile.