"Hey!"
A man's voice suddenly caused Judy's dream dress to transform back into rags, and for the bunny to snap back into reality. She turned her head to see Nick and Finnick on the balcony of the palace.
Nick pointed at her. "What are you doing in here?" He shouted.
She had been caught! Instead of answering the fox, a startled Judy sprung to her feet, scooped up Fru Fru, and made a run for it back to the stairs to the landing of the ballroom.
"Hey!" Nick chased down after her.
Finnick followed him, carrying a baseball bat.
Judy raced up the stairs onto the landing, right towards the frieze of the Hopps family.
"Hey!" Nick shouted, again. "Stop! Stop, stop, stop, stop! Hold on a minute! Hold on!"
Judy eventually stopped in front of the painting, as the fox finally caught up to her. She slowly turned around to face him.
"Now, how did you get in he-" Nick started to say. But then, he froze in astonishment once he took a good look at Judy. "Here?" He finished.
Judy didn't know how to respond, and just sighed with a shrug.
Nick's eyes repeatedly darted back and forth from Judistasia in the painting behind to the very rabbit standing right in front of him. Seeing the striking resemblance between them, a slow sly smile spread across his face.
Finnick caught up, as well, waving his bat. "Who is it?!" He demanded to know.
Judy nearly jumped at the sound of Finnick's deep voice.
"Fin," Nick whispered to his partner, and pointed at Judy. "Do you see what I see?"
Finnick narrowed his eyes, and shook his head. "No."
Rolling his eyes, Nick knelt down and whispered something in his ear.
Looking up at Judy again, Finnick gasped once he realized what Nick was talking about and nodded. "Oh, yes!" He looked at the bat he was carrying, and hid it behind his back. Although it was quite impossible for him to hide, due to his small size. "Yes!"
Upon seeing the two, Judy had always been suspicious towards foxes. Still, she asked, "Are you Nick Wilde?"
Nick raised his eyebrows, as he slowly walked up the stairs towards Judy. "Perhaps," he responded. "That all depends on who's looking for him."
"My name is Judy, I need travel papers," Judy began to explain to Nick why she had come. She leaned in and said in a whisper, "They say you're the one to see, even though I can't tell you said that. And..."
Then, she noticed that Nick wasn't really paying attention to her. He circled around her, checking out her body and physique to see that she was very much identical to the "real" Judistasia. "Hmm..."
"Wha... hey! Why are you circling me?" Judy asked, now annoyed. "Wha... what were you? A vulture in another life?"
Nick forced himself to snap out of his thoughts. "I-I'm sorry, Carrots," he simply said, and beckoned Finnick to come up.
"It's Judy," she corrected him. "Judy."
"It's just... it's just that you look an awful lot like..." he pointed to the Hopps Family Portrait.
Judy turned to see it for herself, while Nick examined her again. He quickly stopped once she looked back at him. "Uh... never mind. Now, you said something about travel papers?" He went back to what she was saying.
"Uh, yes," said Judy. "I'd like to go to Zootopia."
Nick's eyes widened. "You'd like to go to Zootopia?!" He gave Finnick a knowing look.
"Mm hmm," nodded Judy.
Fru Fru hopped up onto Judy's shoulder, and cleared her throat with a raised brow.
Judy noticed Fru Fru. "Oh, right!" She chuckled. "And, so does my companion, here."
Finnick looked at her and gasped. "Awww, aren't you a cute little mouse?"
"Excuse me, sir, but I am not a mouse!" Fru Fru corrected him with annoyance. "I am an Arctic shrew! I'm Judy's traveling companion, Fru Fru."
"Oh, excuse me!" Finnick quickly apologized. Then, he said with a shrug. "It's just that, well, I've never seen... a shrew traveling with a bunny before. I always thought shrews go along with mice, and hamsters and other tiny rodents."
"Well, sirs," said Fru Fru. "What I might ask, do you want with me and Judy? We are trying to find someone to help us get to Zootopia."
Nick turned back to Judy. "Now, let me ask you something, Miss... was it... there's a last name that goes with that?"
"Well, actually," Judy said, "this is gonna sound crazy... I don't know my last name. I was found wandering around when I was nine-years-old."
Nick nodded. "And, uh, before that? Before you were nine?"
"Look, I know it's strange, but I don't remember. I have very few memories of my past." Judy began to fidget with her necklace.
"Hmm, that's..." Nick looked over at Finnick, saying quietly, "that's perfect." He knew now from the looks of Judy and her loss of memories, that this was the girl they needed to take to Zootopia.
"Well, I do have one clue, however," Judy continued, "and that is Zootopia."
Nick rolled his eyes. "Zootopia..."
"Right," Judy said, relieved. "So, can you two help me, or not?"
"Hmm," Nick turned back to his partner, whispering, "Finnick, tickets," before saying to Judy, "We sure would like to... in fact, we're going to Zootopia ourselves."
Finnick pulled four tickets out of his pocket; Moosecow tickets, and handed them over to Nick.
Taking the tickets, Nick showed them to Judy. "And I've got, thr..." he noticed the fourth ticket, and tossed it aside. "Well this one is... but I've got three tickets, here."
Excited, Judy jumped and tried to grab the tickets.
"Unfortunately," Nick said, pulling the tickets back, "the third one is for her," he gestured to Judistasia's portrait in the frieze. "Judistasia."
Judy looked at the portrait to see for herself. "Oh."
The foxes took the rabbit by each arm, and led her up the stairs.
"We are going to reunite the Grand Duchess Judistasia with her grandfather," Finnick explained.
Nick decided to take the opportunity to set Judy up. "You do kinda resemble her," he told her.
Finnick joined in. "The same purple eyes." He took a closer look at Judy.
"The Hopps' eyes," said Nick.
"Stu's smile."
Nick touched Judy's chin to make her look at him. "Bonnie's chin."
"Oh, look," Finnick looked down and took Judy by the paws. "She even has the grandfather's paws."
Judy found herself uncomfortable by these foxes' close look on her. She pulled her paw away from Finnick.
Nick and Finnick led Judy up to show her another large frieze; this one was of Judistasia with Otto.
"She's the same age, the same physical type..." Nick stated.
"Are you trying to tell me that you think that I am Judistasia?" Judy asked, skeptically.
"All I'm trying to tell you is that I've seen thousands of girls and rabbits all over the country, and not one of them looks as much like the Grand Duchess as you," Nick told her. He pointed to the portrait. "I mean, look at the portrait."
Judy stared at Nick, wide-eyed. Having had enough of this, she poked the fox in the chest. "I knew you were crazy from the beginning, but now I think you are both mad," she declared.
Judy crossed her arms, and started to walk away.
"Why?" Nick rushed over to stop her. "You don't remember what happened to you."
"No one knows what happened to her," added Finnick.
"You're looking for family in Zootopia."
"And her only family is in Zootopia."
Nick gently brought Judy back to look at the portrait. "You ever thought about the possibility?"
"That I could be royalty?" asked Judy.
Nick and Finnick both nodded. "Mmm-hmm."
Judy looked at the frieze, again. "Well," she shrugged, "I don't know. It's kinda hard to think of yourself as a duchess when you're sleeping on a damp floor."
Nick started to move his paw up to Judy's shoulder, right where Fru Fru was. The shrew noticed this, and slapped it away with a glare.
The fox hastily pulled his paw back.
"But sure," Judy eventually agreed, now caught up in the fantasy right next to the foxes. "Yeah. I guess every lonely girl would hope she's a princess."
"And somewhere..." Finnick said, with a smile, "...one little bunny girl is. After all, the name Judistasia means "she will rise again"."
Nick turned away for a brief moment. Exasperated that Finnick was still talking to Judy, he went back over to retrieve him. "Really wish we could help," he claimed. "But, the third ticket is for the Grand Duchess Judistasia."
Judy sighed, disappointedly.
"Good luck!" Nick called back to her, as he and walked away.
Judy was left alone with the frieze of Judistasia with her grandfather and began to think about it.
As they walked down the stairs, Finnick turned to Nick, confused at why he didn't mention their plan to her. "Why didn't you tell her about our brilliant plan?"
But Nick didn't seem at all concerned by this. "All she wants to do is go to Zootopia," he said, casually. "Why give away a third of the reward money?"
"I'm telling you; we're walking away too soon!" complained Finnick.
"Not to worry, I've got it all... under control," Nick assured him. He gently grabbed his partner to slow him down. "Alright, walk a little slower."
The foxes started to slow down their walking.
While they were doing this, Judy took another good long look at the portrait of the young bunny with her grandfather. "What do you think, Fru Fru?" She asked Fru Fru.
"Hmm..." the Arctic shrew thought aloud. "Well, sure, this fox may sound unconvincing. But, who knows? Maybe you really could be that princess." Fru Fru looked out to where Nick and Finnick had left. "There's only one way to find out."
Judy fiddled with her necklace, again, as she thought to herself for a moment. "Hmm..." She got the feeling that Nick could be somewhat right about this. Maybe this really could answer her questions about her past life.
Still walking down the stairs, Nick silently whispered to Finnick while putting each finger down, "Three... two... one..."
"Nick!" Judy suddenly called from the other room.
Smiling, Nick gestured back to show Finnick what he was planning to do with Judy.
"Ha!" smiled Finnick. "Right in the palm of our paws!"
Judy came running back to the landing. "Nick, wait!"
"Di... did you call?" Nick turned around, pretending to look innocent.
"If I don't remember who I am, then who's to say I'm not a princess or a duchess or whatever she is," Judy said, as she walked down the stairs. "Right?"
"Mm-hmm," Nick nodded. "Go on."
"And if I'm not Judistasia," Judy continued, "the Emperor will certainly know right away... and it's all just an honest mistake."
"Sounds plausible," agreed Nick.
Finnick went up to Judy. "But if you are the princess, then you'll finally know who you are and have your family back."
"You know..." Nick chuckled a little. "You know, he's right! Either way, it gets you to Zootopia."
"Right!" smiled Judy. She extended her paw out to Nick and gave him a solid handshake.
"Ow!" He felt his bones crack from the tight squeeze the rabbit gave him, and grabbed his paw back in pain. "Careful with the grip there, Carrots. You could've fractured my paw!"
"Uh, you're gonna wanna refrain from calling me "Carrots"," Judy told him, threateningly.
"My bad, I just naturally assumed you came from some little carrot-choked Podunk, Judistasia," Nick playfully stated. "Is that what I should call you? Unless there are other names that go with that."
Judy blinked. At the mention of that, she suddenly remembered she used to be called "Jude the Dude" or something like that. But, she shook out of her thoughts, and said, "I'd rather we'd wait until we find out it is fully true that I really am Judistasia, first."
"Alright, "Carrots" it is, then," Nick declared with a smirk.
Judy glared at him. This fox seemed so cynical, wise-cracking, and rather cunning. Still, she shook her head, and decided to just go along with it as Nick announced aloud, "May I present... Her Royal Highness, the Grand Duchess Judistasia."
The rabbit beamed with enthusiasm. "Fru Fru! We are going to Zootopia!" She happily told her companion.
"Yay!" cheered Fru Fru.
Nick, however, seemed against the idea of Fru Fru going with them. "Uh, the rodent stays," he added.
"What?" Fru Fru blinked, sounding hurt.
Seeing the look in her friend's eyes, Judy frowned at Nick. "What are you talking about? Fru Fru goes," she proclaimed.
"No," Nick shook his head. "The shrew's not going."
"I say she's going."
"I don't do good with those creatures," said Nick. "Did not have a good experience with Mr. Big, who just so happens to be the most feared crime boss in Tundratown. But, he's long gone now, or so I've heard." He smirked, and crossed his arms.
"Mr. Big?" asked Fru Fru. Then, she glared at him. "Mr. Big happens to be my father!"
Nick's sly grin vanished. He did not know how to respond to that.