The new tales from Zootopia

by Vindictive456

This story is a well thought out work of fan-fiction that will cover in moderate pace how Judy came back to the force and convinced Nick to be her partner, Nick's training to become an officer and his days at the academy, a weird new case involving corrupt mammals and a new dangerous drug, all of that sprinkled with the growing love between Zootopia's favorite pair of officers.

35. Episode 35: Return to Zootopia

Author's note: Salutations and Welcome dear readers, it is I, Valiant, and I have finally returned. WOW! It feels like an eternity since I published one of my chapters for the story, I don't want to take too long with the following chapters but there has been a lot of personal stuff going on along with even more trivial distractions on my day to day life. The important thing is: The next chpater of my Zootopia Fan-fic is here at last and it is a really nice one. I decided to trim things down and settle with a nice filler episode for you all to see, it's not very long but it gets the job done, i shall work on more story beats soon enough and I hope you all get to stick around, the occasonal reminder of reviwers and followers is what keeps me writting and this amazing story going strong, worry not, for the best is yet to come and just around the corner, until then... Enjoy!

Episode 35: The return to Zootopia.

Nick and Judy were seated inside the game room of the burrow, the small plastic table over a thin foam carpet and right next to the low shelf where most of the board games in the room were kept served as the battleground where the two mammals decided to play a few rounds of chess, the matching of wits had been going for a while and neither showed signs of backing down. For the near forty minutes that the game had been going on, counting up the extended pauses that each of them had given the other to think up a viable strategy for move after move, it looked like neither was coming out on top straight away. For every move that Judy managed to chain together and perform a sure fire trail for defeating Nick, the fox countered with a curious set of moves meant to box her in and rob her of the most important pieces on the board.

Judy had lost both of her rooks and a knight, her king had ducked down by the side and her queen was out in the field, a dangerous gambit to be sure, the last bishop was her best trump card although she did not feel much confidence on any of the moves she had planned ahead; Nick had an air of confidence through the entire game, the fox boiled the entire round down to a series of faints and bluffs, leading Judy on to believing he would perform a straight forward move when he was actually leading her into another, even if that had cost him some of his pieces including both his knights and most of his pawns. Nick's smiling face meant to mask the fact that he was stressing out on the inside concerning the outcome of the game, it would only take a few more moves for Judy to defeat him and he felt like the bunny was roaming around inside his mind to search for any advantage. Nick concluded after that long section of game that playing with Judy as his opponent was more exciting than any regular game of dice or cards, he was enjoying himself quite a lot, even if he had already lost both his bishops and he had his only remaining rook deep in Judy's side of the board.

Judy raised her left paw to reach for one of her pieces, she bounced back and forth between the bishop and the queen until she decided to move the queen forward, not far enough so that Nick could take advantage of it, the fox soon took notice of her strategy, no grander tactics and no sign of desperation out of her movements, she was calm and luring him into attacking. Nick took a chance and moved his rook back, tugging on the chain and letting Judy know that laying down traps would not work with him, she smiled and the game returned to a slow pace, just as before.

Nick liked to talk when he was playing with friends, pulling out conversation of any topic during a match was a convenient way to get to know our opponents and maybe even make friends out of simple acquaintances, or at the very least get them distracted and pull out a win right from under their noses. Nick already knew his opponent and he was in certain disadvantage since she already knew many facets of him as well, then again, one slip of the tongue is all that it could take for a game to go the other way. Nick took a quick breath through his mouth, he saw as Judy raised her right paw to take another move but she halted herself as soon as she heard his voice saying:

- At this time tomorrow, we'll be back in Zootopia.

Judy raised her paw away from the board and looked over in Nick's direction, meeting up with his most pensive expression yet. Judy saw as Nick had his ears lowered, his arms crossed, his tail resting perfectly still by the right side of his seat, his eyes focused on the game with his brows slightly frizzled but his mind clearly taking everything in the room, her included, into account. Judy tucked her arm back in, placing it closer to her torso and then settling it down, she decided to leave her next move for after she talked with Nick, it would give her time to think the rest of the game over, Judy breathed through her nose and then said:

- It would be nice to get back to work soon. I think I missed the precinct and everyone in it the most.

Nick showed a little smile that broke his solemn and pensive façade apart in a single second, the fox turned his eyes to his partner and said:

- I know, I even found myself missing the chief's angry face these last few days.

Judy giggled after hearing those words, the pause in the conversation got her to rethink the angle of her previously executed move, she raised her left arm and placed her paw over her last bishop and she slid it all the way over to the other side of the board, right on to the spot that was fist occupied by Nick's last rook, she had seeded a powerful piece in his side of the board and there were no moves on his part that would allow him to remove it from play without leaving himself vulnerable, an expertly crafted move, even Nick had to recognize that. Nick uncrossed his arms and leaned forth, he looked over the board as his eyes moved rapidly from side to side before he looked over to Judy and said:

- Nice one.

Judy shrugged that off by raising then lowering her shoulders while keeping a cheeky smile on her face, then again, the game was not over yet. Nick moved his bishop closer to Judy's king, he was trying to corner her, a valid strategy for a quick end of game round, Nick' sudden slide of movement made Judy realize that there were few options on how to counter that scenario. Judy moved her queen forward, another risky move but one that would leave Nick in as much of a disadvantage as her, any hasty motion on his part might have coerce him into sacrificing another piece and leave him open, he decided it would be best to retreat and seek another opening, Judy released a sigh of relief that she hoped went unnoticed, once more, it was anyone's game. Nick placed his left paw over his mouth, his pointing finger massaged the space between his lips, that game was enticing and definitely exciting, he wondered what it would be like to play it again with her, it would be lots of fun, but his mind quickly snapped back to the present and to the game in front of him, he had to focus.

Judy looked ahead, she saw Nick and the way his body was moving now over his seat, she was also having fun, but her focus was deviating to a far off place, the game room was vacant except for the two of them and there were no other sounds that she could take notice of anywhere else in that floor of the burrow, it did not even feel like her old home without any other noise. Judy leaned forth and spoke up to Nick, asking him a very important albeit vague question:

- You think we're prepared?

Nick looked in Judy's direction, her face said everything else that her question was not able to communicate right away, her worries about the job, about patrolling the city once more and returning to their given tasks as if nothing at all had happened was a tall order, they both had changed so much and it was not just because of the wounds that they both still carried along. Nick placed his right paw over his bent knee as he held his breath inside his chest, his grip tightened as his fingers pressed over the joint right beneath the thin fabric of his pants, he knew what Judy meant by that question, it did not make it any easier to post an answer. Nick eased the hold his paw had over his knee, he released the breath of air into a warm puff through his mouth before saying:

- I think we're as prepared as we can be. It'll be tough to resume work for sure, but that is just us, that is what we do. We're ZPD officers.

Judy lowered her eyes and faced down as her ears drooped behind her head, Nick was trying to put up a brave face, speak strong so that she would feel encouraged to join along in the optimism, that was normally her role, being the beacon that guided them ahead, it all felt so different now. Judy wanted to appear more prepared, more focused on the work that they would have ahead of themselves but it was difficult for her to put on a brave face at that time, a thought at the back of her mind flared suddenly, she imagined how trivial her feelings might have been in comparison to so many other subjects that were lingering just over Zootopia. The investigation, the riled mammals who had a lot of questions about the true state of the city itself, Judy began to feel smaller and smaller as one worry after another piled up in her mind, that was an unwelcome feeling.

Nick had played his turn already, after assuring Judy that they would be prepared for whatever was headed their way, the fox moved his rook once more, placing it much closer to the center of the board, he turned his eyes to Judy and waited for a few seconds as he saw her facing the pieces in front of her and imagined that she must have been focusing on her next move. As soon as Nick noticed just how trapped in her own mind Judy actually was, he decided to call out to her:

- Judy.

Hearing his voice, calling out to her name in such a gentle way, Judy raised her sight and turned to Nick, the game in front of her had little importance, whatever her partner had to say was far more important. Nick spoke again once he saw Judy's eyes looking straight at him:

- I've been thinking, about this whole deal and when it really started, about everything going around in the city. I think we're all part of some kind of game.

Judy squinted her eyes, her ears lowered until they were placed nearly weightless and motionless at the back of her head, she could not understand what Nick was getting at by saying those things. She asked for further clarification while also making certain to tell Nick that his point of view, even if arbitrary as it sounded to her, was not to her liking at all:

- What are you saying over there, slick? Are you implying that some criminal mastermind is trying to make fools of us all by making one move at a time with pawns and lackeys? Are you saying that this is all one big chess game to whomever is truly in charge of these crimes?

Nick shook his head, he had the initial impression that Judy may come to understand his initial thought as something like that, the fox looked over at her and leaned his upper body forth before letting her know:

- Not like that. Definitely not like this.

He answered as he gestured with both of his paws to the board in front of them, Nick decided to put the game on hold, he too found the outcome of the match to be inconsequential compared to the big picture of the happenings in Zootopia, he explained his line of thought to Judy as he recalled a mention of suspicious goings on that went back to his first week as an officer of the ZPD:

- Remembered a while back when the chief spoke out about a strange cargo that had not been reported by the customs at Tundra harbor? Then come those clowns with the freezing juice and the string of robberies at restaurants and bakeries of all places in town. Finally comes the wasps, bush leaguers of crime at best, making high profile crime with a nutcase that just so happened to have a lead shooting weapon on him.

Judy did find all of that very strange, their cases up until then, their investigations were outlandish, although seemingly resolved by arrests or the confiscating of evidence, the two officers seemed to be getting more and more involved in some strange web of crime. Suddenly, after hearing Nick's trail of thought lead on in an unexpected direction, Judy relinquished most of the stress she was feeling before and wondered if Nick was actually on to something, though she still held on to some of the frustration in her mind, it kept her rationalization going fast and steady.

Judy recalled in an instant how they did not find anything on the suspicious vehicle that smuggled cargo into the city originating all the way from the docks while they were on patrol, something dismissible at first but still considerable for an investigation. The fact that no one could surmise where the freezing compound that the thieves used actually came from and that the same could be said about the futuristic device that was confiscated from the wasps, it was so peculiar. Someone was taking all of the care possible to cover their tracks to a point where dead ends and barriers on the investigation looked like an inevitability, suddenly, for Judy's perspective, the blank spaces left between each of the investigations started to be filled up by connecting trails that veered off into more questions.

Judy had her face frozen into a pensive expression for quite some time, Nick knew that face all too well and it seemed to be specially intense at that point, her eyes were moving slowly as if she was placing a carefully crafted diagram right in front of her over a place on the table that was previously occupied by the chest board and her left ear, just as soon as she had raised both of them to show her attentiveness, leaned lazily to the side, that was a sign that Nick picked up right away, his words were worth considering. Nick interrupted Judy, leaning ahead and asking of her:

- Really makes you think, right?

Judy's ears darted up as soon as she heard Nick's voice and placed in parallel to one another, her eyes opened ide for an instant before becoming relaxed again as she looked over to Nick and asked of him:

- So… what are you saying? That whoever is behind all of this, if there is really some criminal mastermind pulling all of the strings, is playing some kind of elaborate game of chess with all of us?

Nick shook his head slowly from side to side before he decided to answer to that:

- Not really. I think it's a little more ample than that.

The fox looked around the room until he could find a better comparison to what he was referring to previously, his eyes landed on a weathered cardboard at the corner containing a two hundred piece puzzle, no one had attempted to complete the puzzle in a long time by the looks of things but it would fit his analogy much better. The fox turned back to his partner and spoke to her:

- It feels like we are all trying to fit pieces of a great big puzzle, only the 'mastermind', as you put it, is the only one who has the big picture in mind. These arrests and pieces we've found along the way all blend like distractions to prevent us from seeing the big picture but they all fit together in a way.

Judy released a short hum as her lips pressed softly together, the bunny wondered if there truly was a bigger picture to consider, some devious plot that was just out of reach, if that was the case, it might have been too soon to consider a true solution just yet. If all of the pieces laid in front of them were to fit together in a way that would make sense then there were still some large blank spots in the investigation as a whole to consider, she would have to think about that as soon as they were to return to Zootopia, as unlikely as it may sound upon further analysis, it was still worth considering. The moment of silence between Nick and Judy stretched itself or quite some time, Judy thought of how minute other issues she had been thinking about appeared to be when comparing to what Nick had spoken, if her partner was correct, there could be much larger troubles brewing in the horizon, she released a long puff of air that she had trapped within her chest as she concluded that those thoughts would be more constructive if left for another time, her attention returned to the game as she moved her queen a few houses to the left and that encouraged Nick to make one final move:

- Check.

The fox spoke and Judy had her eyes moving quickly between the fox and the board, it was finished, any direction she moved or retreated to was a corner and she had no chance to win anymore, Nick had won, her final move after thorough consideration was to tip off her own king and declare the game finished. Judy smiled as she raised from her chair and walked next to Nick in order to tell him:

- Good game. Nick followed her path until she was placed to his right, he pointed a claw of his left paw at her while having a relaxed stance over his seat as he said:

- You nearly had me there. You kept baiting me almost every turn.

The doors of the game room were opened, Nick and Judy turned their sights to identify the new presence in there, two entered, one being carried by another, it was Sarah Hopps and her little daughter Eliza. The bunny mother had her homestead outfit on, a flannel T-shirt and Jeans while her little one was dressed in a flowery onesie as they entered the room, Nick and Judy were the only ones in there and she greeted them with a follow-up question as soon as she saw the board and the pieces placed in front of them:

- Hey there, guys. Who is winning?

Nick raised his arms as if he was stretching out after just getting up from a nap, there was no pain or discomfort on his right shoulder and that was a great relief for him, with every eye in the game room watching him, the fox spoke up as he answered:

- I just won the match actually. The battle was grueling and the victory was well-earned.

Judy gestured towards Nick, flapping her paws in his direction by moving her wrists up and down with moderate speed, giving him a sarcastic motion of veneration before saying:

- Yes, yes. We are all in awe of your unmatched chess might. Just get yourself ready for the next game.

Sarah giggled before placing her left paw over her lips, her fingers fiddled for a short second as she let the laugh escape her lips, Nick did not mind the light taunting that much, the fox showed a light smile before raising from the chair with a certain level of strain heard as he grunted to get up straight, although that did not last for long since the fox walked by to grab a seat on a nearby couch only seconds later, it felt like he had been constrained in the hold of that little plastic chairs for hours and the couch was far more comfortable. Judy and Sarah shared a look and Sarah walked in the same direction Nick did, she left little Eliza over the carpet and then opened the chest of toys near the right side corner of the game room to pick up a sack filled with colorful blocks with smoothed out edges and corners for safety and primed for her to play, the little bunny clapped her tiny paws in anticipation for her favorite past time to be unveiled in front of her. Sarah got close, crouched down with both legs and then scrambled all of the blocks around on the carpet for her little one to play with and Eliza got to work right away, crawling on to the nearest blocks and reorganizing them in an order that was appealing to her.

Judy walked towards the exit door, she placed her paw on the handle of the left side door and turned to Nick to ask of him:

- I'm going to get something nice and refreshing to drink, do you want me to grab you anything, slick?

Seated on the couch with his head leaning back against the repost to show just how relaxed he was, Nick raised his right arm and waved his paw in the air before saying in response:

- No thanks. I'm good.

Judy nodded her head and made her way out, set on getting up the stairs of the burrow, get to ground level, go to the kitchen and get herself a cool drink to satiate her thirst, at that point she could go for any refreshment, as long as it was cold and sweet. Nick stayed in the game room with Sarah and Eliza, the older bunny sitting by the seat to his right only one cushion away turned to face him and asked:

- You look tired.

Nick looked at her and said:

- You bet I am. It feels like I have been matching wits with Judy for an entire day. It feels like my head is smoking due to too much lateral thinking.

Sarah raised her shoulders as she leaned her upper body back and placed her backside over the couch repost, trying to mimic the way Nick was posted by his own seat, she asked another question to the fox:

- Probably because you two have been playing the same game of chess for almost an hour. You two are such close friends but you are so competitive. Why do you do this to each other?

Nick moved his head forward, his muzzle pointed down while his ears were directed straight up, his smile did not vanish as he opened his mouth to take a long breath and then release most of the air he had just taken in as he answered:

- Judy and I have this fun back and forth. Whenever we talk, whenever we work, it's almost like we stride to upstage one another in any way.

Nick pushed himself against the repost of the couch, his back was bent slightly forward as he put his arms over each of his knees and said:

- Ever since we've known each other, Judy and I have had this weird sort of chemistry going on. It started with her trying to prove to me, me of all mammals, that she was capable of great things, then it moved on to me trying to prove to her that I can take care of myself and keep up with all of the amazing things that she can do. It doesn't matter what we are doing, it can be an outing, a patrol, some time at the gym or just some silly game, we give it our all for one another. The thing is… I'm not even really sure why we keep doing it at this point.

Nick crossed his arms as he sat on straight and finished his thought:

- I already know just how amazing Judy is but she keeps showing off her mind and her skills time and time again. Judy knows that she can count on me for anything and I just keep trying to show her all of the things I can bring to the table, not because I'm trying to step on her toes or anything like that but… because I don't want her to leave me in the dust. Because… I don't want her to suddenly think that... She may not need me along anymore.

Nick's awkward pauses certainly did not undermine his heartfelt speech, he looked over towards Sarah and saw the bunny with her jaw hanging, her paws placed over her chest and her eyes on the verge of letting tears roll down her cheeks. Nick shook his head and said:

- I know it's dumb and sort of childish to think like that, but it's the truth. Judy and I know each other so well at this point that doing anything but our absolute best in front of each other at any moment would just feel… off somehow.

Sarah took in a long dose of air through her nose, she placed her paws in front of her mouth momentarily before lowering them to her sides and placing her paws over the cushion beneath her, she looked over at the ceiling of the room and said:

- That's absolutely amazing. Also, that is just about the most emotional thing I've ever heard.

Nick mimicked her that time, lowering his arms and looking over at the ceiling as well before saying:

- Yeah, Judy gets me to open up like this from time to time. She's awesome like that.

After a few more seconds in silence, Nick and Sarah were disturbed by a sound coming from the ground, they looked over and saw as little Eliza was tapping her paws against the floor, letting out a few baby noises from her mouth as she tapped the carpet she was sitting on and having already lined up the blocks next to her in a way that appeared visually appealing to her. Nick noticed the infant bunny crawling about next to his feet, the fox took another long look at the baby and then turned his head to Sarah to say:

- She's just so… tiny.

The bunny mother smiled lightly and was just about to launch a retort only Nick was not done talking yet. The fox leaned forth in a miniscule angle as he looked over in the direction of Sarah and asked subsequently:

- Is she supposed to be this tiny?

Sarah had both her arms raised as she heard that, she was certainly not expecting that question from the fox, she looked at her child and then answered Nick by saying:

- Well… of course. All bunnies start off by being 'tiny' like that. Even Judy was like that when she was a baby.

Nick looked over in the direction of Eliza again, it only took one additional glance at the baby's stature for him to turn his head to the left, shake it slightly as he was looking at Sarah and admit mostly as a well-mannered joke:

- For the life of me, I just cannot imagine that.

Sarah cracked up into laughter, she had her lips closed shut when the guffaw made it past them and the repressed laugh made her sound a little silly, but her laughter died down almost instantly as she heard the voice of little Eliza pining for attention. Sarah leaned down so that she could reach her daughter without issue, her arms were extended and one short analysis of the tiny tantrum told her just what the little bunny could be complaining about:

- Aw, I think she wants her binky.

Nick took a long look at the baby bunny and at the blocks around her, it only took him a few seconds to arrive to a whole new conclusion:

- I think she is looking for a blue block.

Sarah turned to him and asked:

- Wait, what?

Nick pointed a claw of his right paw to the blocks, not lined up perfectly but still showing great organization as he explained:

- Yes, look. She put them in a pattern. Red, green, blue, red, green, blue, red, green… she is looking for a blue one.

Nick began his search for a block of the corresponding color while Sarah was left awestruck, she did not even stop to notice how all of the little wooden blocks were organized, she retreated and her eyes kept moving quickly from side to side. Nick found a concealed block right next to one of his feet, he leaned down without leaving his seat on the couch an grabbed the block to study all of its sides, it did not take long for him to identify a blue side and then present it to the tiny bunny with a polite passing as he handed the block over to more capable paws that would undoubtedly give it much warranted purpose:

- Here you go.

Nick said so and Eliza grabbed the block as soon as it came close to her eyes, her tiny nose twitched and her face brimmed with a smile as soon as she could identify the blue colored side of the block, she crawled back to the line-up of other blocks and placed the one in her right paw on the perfect spot, delighting Nick and surprising her mother even more. Sarah got up from her seat on the couch in a rush, she watched stupefied as her daughter clapped her little paws with the growing sense of accomplishment, it was such a menial task during play time but she had done it good, Sarah, having her arms lowered and her eyes opened wide with incredulity, spoke up:

- Oh, my gosh! This is amazing!

Nick looked over at Sarah again as he placed himself at a much relaxed stance over his seat and asked:

- Has she ever done something like this before?

- Well… I didn't notice it before. This is just amazing! I need to take a picture! My little baby is a genius!

Sarah was riding high on the sight of little Eliza and her completed task via little wooden blocks, granted, to have an infant grasping pattern and organization as such a young age was very rare, something Sarah had only seen in documentaries or internet news. Sarah searched around in her pockets only for her to soon realize that she was not in possession of her phone, she had left it upstairs and that was highly inconvenient, she had the sudden impulse to capture that moment and publish it on all of the social platforms she could think of, she shook her paws, looked around and spoke up amidst shallow breaths:

- I left my phone in the living room! Watch her for a second, I'll be right back!

Sarah walked around the couch and Nick followed her path with his sight, the fox was no longer slouching over the couch as he propelled his back side away from the repost and extended his right paw in the direction of Sarah's meandering form before saying in clear protest:

- Wait a second! Hold up! Don't just leave me here with her, I don't know anything about watching out for children!

Nick was showing clear concerns with being left alone in the play room with the tiny bunny, he did not perform any child care tasks before in his entire life and he did not wish for anything to go wrong in his limited watch. Sarah turned around and showed the palms of both of her paws to Nick, her short steps back at the path she came showed just how predetermined she was to seek her camera and document her daughter's doing, she was not about to change her mind even if there might be a better solution just around the corner waiting for her. Sarah looked at Nick and gestured towards him and at Eliza with pointing gestures of her right and left arms respectively before speaking up a quick set of instructions for the fox to listen:

- Just keep an eye on her, don't let her disarm the blocks around and, if she gets fussy, sing a song, she loves music.

With that being said, Sarah darted out the door and went in the direction of the stairs leading up so she could look for her phone and return as fast as possible, she did not even stop to notice Judy on the way as the bunny officer was returning to the game room with a bottle of ice cold peach tea in her paws, sipping from it slightly as she calmly made her way back down the steps. Judy watched perplexed as she saw Sarah making her way up the stairs in a huff, she could not peg what emotion was guiding her sister and why she was in such a hurry, Judy decided to go to the game room and check on Nick with a rushed pep in her step as she got to the marked floor of the burrow and searched for her partner.

Judy was on her way while, back inside the game room, Nick was doing his best to watch over little Eliza and make sure that there would not be any mishaps while he was there. Nick realized after a few seconds of sitting immobile over the couch that maybe he was being worried for no good reason as he simply watched the tiny bunny crawl around from one spot to the next with no hint of danger, he relaxed for a bit but he was still focused tirelessly on watching the baby bunny, so much so that he did not even noticed Judy as she opened the door to the room halfway and stood there, just watching the fox on his sentry task.

Eliza moved about, keeping to the border of the foam carpet as if that was the extent of her dominium inside the game room, the colored blocks had lost their novelty now that her mother was not around to look at them, so she decided to interact with the next best thing in there. Eliza walked closer to the foot of the couch, she placed her hands next to the right side inferior corner of the couch and placed her paws over the stuffed outer layer so she could give it a squish, she was trying to call to Nick's attention but just was not too sure on how to do it, it did not take much at all. Nick, still having his eyes fixed on the tiny fuzzy creature, reached for her and asked:

- What is it? You want to head up here?

Eliza heard his voice, she captured his question in her hearing but she did not know how to answer, directing her curious little eyes up as she looked at the fox and merely speaking to him with an indecipherable noise. Nick pressed his lips together and imagined that the noise coming from the little bunny could be interpreted as a positive answer, he reached his paws around her little torso with as much care as he could and slowly hoisted her up until she was placed at the height of his knees and poised to sit over his lap. Nick placed Eliza over the couch cushion right next to him, the little bunny bopped her little paws over and over again on her new seat of prestige and Nick smiled as she saw her having fun, Judy caught every second of the interactions between the fox and her baby niece and she was just standing by in case there were to be some kind of problem and her partner may find himself way above his head.

Little Eliza was just sitting there, looking at the play room she had enjoyed so many times over at what felt like a brand new perspective, she crawled over her seat and Nick was right there with his arms extended close to her in case she wandered off in the wrong direction. After a few seconds, Nick placed his paws over Eliza once more, slowly putting them under her short and chubby arms, and realizing once more just how small she actually was, the fox could almost hang on to her entire upper body with only the holstering length of his paws, Eliza was cozily constrained by Nick's attentive hold but she was still having a good time as evident by her sweet smile and her ears standing straight up over her tiny head. Nick took a long breath and spoke up to the baby in his hold, almost as if he was trying to incite a conversation out of her:

- So… you like music? I'm a music lover myself. Any songs call to your attention:

Eliza released a little giggle and Nick took that chance to tell the little bunny something that he really wanted to say to her:

- Just look at you. You just a tiny ball. You are nothing more than a tiny ball of fluff.

Nick hoisted Eliza until she was precariously placed as if she was standing up straight over her spot on the seat next to him, he turned his entire body to face the direction of the tiny bunny and he was met with another adorable fit of laughter out of her. Nick leaned his head a little closer to her and said:

- Listen, just don't go making any 'accidents' on my watch and everything is gonna work out just great.

Eliza responded to Nick by placing her left paw over his muzzle, reaching as high as her little arms would allow it until she reached him and delivered something close to a pet over his muzzle, for some reason, she was not afraid of him in the least and was only interested in getting up on closer to him somehow. Nick smiled and gently placed Eliza away from him, sitting her back down by her reserved spot on the couch before telling her with a soft toe in his voice:

- You're just so small, but you're not going to be like that for much longer. I bet all you want to do now is to grow up as much and as fast as you can. If the rest of your family is any indication, you're gonna grow up just right.

Judy placed her right paw over her chest, she felt her heart soar and her breath become light as a feather for a short instant after hearing those words, she turned her body closer while taking care to not make a sound and continuing to hear as the clever fox continued to speak with the tiny bunny next to him:

- I don't blame you for wanting to get big. When I was a kid all I wanted to do was be a grown up, now I'm all grown up and I would give it all up to be a kid again. Maybe then I would be allowed to do some things over in the correct way.

Nick reached over and placed the thumb and pointing fingers of both his paws on Eliza' paws, gently holding and guiding her little arms up and down as he interacted with her in a sort of aimless way. The fox continued to talk and move the tiny bunny's arms around as if that was just a silly game to pass the time as he spoke again:

- Being an adult is hard. You have to worry about so many things at once. Being a kid is easy, but you are going to have something I didn't have, you're going to have a bunch of bunnies that really care about you in your corner, you're gonna get an amazing advantage all the way through. You're gonna do just fine.

Nick then let go of the little bunny but she just kept moving her arms up and down, she got in a groove all of her own and that delighted the fox, he extended the palms of his paws towards her and Eliza placed her paws over his, her bunny paws could barely cover one fourth of his paws in length and size. Nick felt as his smile diminished a bit, his mind wondered about things that could come to pass for the bunny as she went through life, the thoughts came to his head and he spoke them out loud, listing them for the tiny bunny to take them into account:

- You're going to sprout like a weed before too long. You're going to be all strong and confident, you're going to be all clever and confident just like every female you have as a role model around here. You're gonna be the talk of your own school and I'm betting you're going to turn the heads of all the boys.

Nick suddenly felt a sensation of unease that came over him and then vanished just as fast, the void left inside of him by the unpleasant sensation could still be felt. The fox noticed that the feeling only made itself known as soon as he told Eliza about the last part of his speech, and so, not wanting to take any chances even if the baby bunny could not fully grasp the meaning of his words, Nick leaned a little closer and whispered to her:

- You stay away from the boys, you hear me? Boys are nothing but trouble. I should know, I was one of them.

Judy could not contain her laughter after hearing that, she leaned forth and fully stepped into the game room without even caring that her presence had been compromised from that point on. Nick's left ear twitched and he turned his head to face the door, seeing his partner stepping into the room once more, having one of her paws holding a bottle of a drink that he could not identify at first glance while the other paw was placed over her stomach as she tried to contain her spasms of hilarity, caused him to wonder just how long she had been there. Then again, he also thought how it really did not matter at all at that point in time. Nick turned his eyes away from Eliza as he focused solely on Judy and as the bunny stepped forth and gestured towards him with the half empty plastic bottle in her right paw, the cold tea in it sloshed around without spilling as she asked of him with plenty of laughter still present in her tone:

- Really, Nick? You're giving her life advice, right now?

Nick looked back at the little bunny and at the cute gesture she was making towards him, moving her arms as she tried to reach for him once more and he got the gist that she wished to come close once again. Nick took a gentle hold of Eliza before turning his sight back at Judy and telling her:

- I'm over here dishing out some quality advice, fluff. You never know, a few words of wisdom can go a long way in life, no matter how early you get them.

Judy walked around the couch and grabbed a seat for herself, she sat while leaving one cushion of space between her and the spot Nick was occupying, as well as Eliza who, by the looks of things, had taken quite a shining to the fox. Nick continued to interact with the little baby bunny before turning a glance to the left and asking of Judy:

- You want to take a turn holding her?

Judy took a little gasp of air after hearing that, the bunny officer felt the grip she had on the plastic bottle tighten slightly and a crackling sound was heard as the plastic shell of the bottle compressed and then returned to its original shape, she looked over at Nick and answered him while making a slow dismissive gesture with her left paw aimed at him:

- Not at all. By all means, you look like you have everything under control with her.

Nick looked back at Eliza and placed the palm of his left paw over her head, giving the tiny bunny a few warm and soft pats, Nick only then got a good look at his own paws, at his claws, he was being so careful but he just not wished to cause any accidental harm to the little bunny. Nick felt for a moment as if the being in his reach was made of glass, he took care to not intimidate or let her stumble around in any way, he hoisted Eliza up once more and placed her back over the foam carpet below so she would move about while remaining by his line of sight. Judy directed her eyes at Nick, nearly forgetting to take the last swig of her drink and merely staring at Nick as the fox watched the baby bunny moving around with a smile on his face, possibly reminiscing about something nostalgic, Judy stayed seated, she leaned herself against the repost of the couch and sighed after prolonged exposure to that scene, her heart melted with the sweetness of Nick interacting with little Eliza and she felt that the time to confine in Nick about her true feelings could be drawing to a near faster than she imagined.

Just the night before, Judy began to make mindful projections about what it would it be like to tell Nick the truth about how she felt, she imagined the many ways that it could go right and the many possibilities about what could go wrong but she was becoming increasingly optimistic about the outcome of the confession itself. At that point, Judy knew Nick too well ad she only wanted to be near him as much as possible, aid him and make sure that their dynamic would continue to evolve to the best possible outcome, she wanted to know if such a daring move could ever work and bring her to a state of happiness that she could not even fathom at that moment. Judy scooched a little closer to Nick, she decided to be a little bolder at precisely that moment and tell her partner:

- I think you're going to make one amazing dad someday, slick.

Nick had his ears standing right up as he heard that, the way Judy spoke to him, her tone of voice sounded so sweet and sincere but the way she called him by a nickname made it sound like she was joking, for a second, he did not know how to answer to that. Nick looked at Judy, she was sitting closer to him and he did not even noticed as she drew near him over the couch, he could see by the look in her eyes that what she said was no jest, he chose by that to be honest and tell her what he was thinking:

- I don't know, fluff. Just because I can care for one little thing for a few moments doesn't mean I have the drive to take care of one for an entire life. What if I mess up?

Judy retreated for a moment, but she came right back to her previous position to ask him:

- Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to… be a parent?

Nick leaned his head to the right, his eyes moved accordingly and his ears slanted down as he answered with a soft confession that felt a little unattached from himself in his tone of voice:

- Sure I have, a few times. But… I also came to think that… maybe… I wouldn't be that cut out for it. Just because I am good with interacting with kids doesn't mean I'm going to nail the parent thing. I might just turn into a nervous wreck.

Judy scooched a little closer as she confined in Nick:

- Possibly.

Her tone did not instill a lot of confidence in the fox but she continued to speak after a short pause:

- No one really knows how to 'nail' the whole parenting thing right away, there are going to be slips and missteps, but I think that we both know that parenting is something that exemplary mammals can accomplish in their own way.

Nick smiled as Judy's tone made him recall his mother and his father, he followed that line of examples back to Judy's parents who had been a delight for the fox ever since they've met, now that had the potential to get him to think a little more about parenthood somewhere down the line. Judy adjusted her body over the seat, no longer leaning next to Nick, now she was sitting straight and constraining herself over the seat as if to exert the least amount of presence closest to the fox. Judy turned her sight away from Nick before telling him:

- Sorry if I just sort of… sprung the whole 'parenting' thing on you like that. I just thought it was really sweet you taking care of Eliza and the compliment kind of flew off in that direction.

Nick released a single laugh before extending his left shoulder closer to Judy and giving her a gentle bump on her right arm, the fox called to her attention and incentivized her to not be so stiff before telling her:

- Don't apologize, I enjoy talking with you about whatever. Even the subjects I could never see coming. Makes me happy to think that we know one another so well and we can still spring a surprise every now and again.

Judy turned to face Nick and showed him a little smile as she raised both of her shoulders to shrug off the underhanded compliment coming from him. Judy drank the last swig from her bottle of tea, she placed the cap, which she was carrying it along with her inside her front right side pocket, back on the top of the bottle and tossed it inside of a small trash lid that was left by the far corner of the game room, she returned to sit alongside Nick just as Sarah returned with cellphone in paw and short on breath before asking:

- I'm back! Is Eliza's thing still there?

Nick and Judy turned to look at Sarah and Nick then responded while turning his head to check on the baby bunny and her clever organization skills:

- Sure. She is just right over… nope. Never mind, she just disassembled the blocks.

Sarah lamented having run all the way up and down the stairs and searching frantically for her phone for nothing, she clutched the device with both her paws but not enough to damage it as she turned her face skyward and said:

- Noooooooooooo! My mommy media feed!

Sarah came close and faced the brutal truth, little Eliza had already dismantled her masterpiece in a fit of playfulness but her mother could not stay mad at her at all, she simply kneeled next to her daughter and picked her up to carry her about as it became costmary, a side effect of being a first time mother, Sarah rarely wanted to have Eliza out of her hold if possible. Nick raised from his seat on the couch and moved towards the doors leading out of the game room, he turned his head to the bunnies who were still in the room and said:

- Well, I think I'm going to head on up and grab myself a little snack before dinner.

As Nick opened the door, he was faced with a terrifying sight, before him, right at eye level, he was shown the printed out picture of a large scorpion passing through a grassy patch, an image amplified many times as to capture the gross and menacing appearance of the creature. Nick felt his air get trapped in his lungs, it suddenly felt like his heart had jabbed a hole right out of his ribcage as it jumped with the sight of the image, the fox jumped back and tumbled down bottom first on the floor as the unidentified holder of the picture pushed it even closer to the fox's field of view and yelled out:

- BOO!

- GAAAAH!

Nick released a loud yell and Judy turned her head immediately in his direction to see what had happened, before she had any time to ask what was wrong or even discern what occurred, she saw the fox down on the ground and slinking away from the door as he used his right arm to prop himself up slightly and placed his left paw over his chest to hold the little nerve he still had with him in place. Judy raised from the couch to come to Nick's assistance, Sarah raised from the ground as well with her daughter in her arms and followed Judy to do just the same, what could be the reason behind such commotion at that time?

Judy kneeled down and reached for Nick, the in the fox's eyes filled with distress were certainly not a pleasant sight for her, Judy turned to the door and her ears twitched with the sound of a hysterical laughter coming from the game room entrance, she saw her brother Simon with his left paw over his eyes as his right arm rested next to him and the picture of the scorpion he just used to terrify Nick was being held in his left paw. Simon kept laughing out loud with his ears flopping to the back of his head and his mouth opened wide in a nearly demented smile as he spoke between gasps for air, opening his eyes just enough to look ahead and point at the fox down on the ground:

- Dude! You weren't actually kidding! You really are afraid of scorpions! I thought you were just messing with everyone!

The laughter continued but Simon was the only one cackling like a maniac after witnessing the results of his prank, Judy certainly was not happy with her brother. Judy had hoped that Sion's tendencies to jest and prank with the other members of the family had stayed behind, she was disappointed to see that was not the case. Simon looked over at the three mammals once more, he had already seen Nick's expression but what really surprised him was the way Judy and Sarah were looking at him, the male bunny saw as his sisters and even the little baby appeared to be having no semblance of fun due to his prank and his laugh died down near instantly as he saw that. Judy and Sarah were both shooting daggers towards Simon with their eyes and Sarah was the first one to break the heavy silence as she said:

- Simon, what is wrong with you? That wasn't nice.

The bunny waved his left paw in the air as he revitalized his smile and said:

- Oh, c'mon. It was just a little joke.

Judy raised from the ground, holding on to Nick's left arm as she helped him stand up once more, her ears were standing up over her head and leaning slightly forth in the direction of Simon as she told him:

- It wasn't funny, Simon. You could have caused Nick to hurt himself. You can't even fathom how mad I am at you right now.

Simon stepped back, raising his paws in defense, thinking he might able to do or say something that might exonerate him but Sam nullified that step by performing a long single stride ahead and saying:

- Don't you even think that you can get out of this one.

Nick pointed at himself by placing both of his paws over his chest, he turned his head to look at Sarha and Judy respectively as he said:

- You guys, it's fine. I'm not hurt and it was really just a prank.

Sarah did not even mind that, she kept focusing on Simon, Same with Judy, the two bunnies stared at their brother and they had all of the intention of teaching him a lesson in good manners. Judy heard Nick's words, but she knew that her partner was just being polite, if she was still just a kid, she would have toppled Simon over and give him a good roughing but that was not the case at the time, there were far worse punishments for that sort of thing. Sarah turned to Nick and presented the fox with the tiny bunny in her arms, already aware that Nick had no troubles keeping a close eye on Eliza for a short time, she said:

- Nick, could you hold her for a bit?

The fox did not understand what was about to happen but he thought it to be safest to not question it, he turned to Sarah and extended both of his arms to hold Eliza before answering:

- Ahm,,, sure. No problem.

Shortly after, Judy and Sarah walked until they were placed by Simon's left and Right sides respectively and they placed their arms around his so that their brother would not have a way to escape the upcoming retribution. Simon looked at his sisters and asked in a haze:

- Whoa! Hey, what the hell?! What are you guys going to do to me?!

To such, Sarah and Judy answered, one complementing the other's lines as they assured that they were on the same page concerning Simon's punishment. Judy started to speak up first as she said:

- *Us*? No, we are not going to do anything to you.

Sarah spoke shortly after as all eyes directed to her and she said:

- However, mom is going to be thrilled to come up with a suitable task for you to go through. Maybe she'll put you on husk hop duty for a month, that'll teach you to not spook our guest.

Simon began to be dragged away in the direction of the stairs leading up, the male bunny entered a state of panic as he began to plead for his sisters to reconsider, it was in vain. Simon began to yell out as he was taken through the hallway towards his inevitable sentencing:

- Wait! It was just a joke! It was just a joke! It was just a jooooooooooooooke!

Nick and little Eliza watched that scene unravel, the fox only had one thing to tell the little bunny:

- Heaven permits, you won't have any siblings.

A short time later, after everyone had dinner, Nick decided to turn in a little earlier and return to his room, he still had to store over all of his clothes and belongings for the trip the next day over, Judy and Nick were set to travel on the first train leaving the burrows and he did not wish to leave the storing of luggage for the very last minute. Just as he got to the floor where the bedroom was located, Nick heard a voice calling out to him, someone else was coming down the stairs with cellphone in hand and performing quick stomps in order to catch up with him as efficiently as possible:

- Hey, Nick! Wait up a sec!

Nick stopped at the last step leading up to the floor that he was set to occupy, he looked back to the stairs and saw Jill following his path and looking for him to ask a very important question. On the short days which would lead to his and Judy's departure back to Zootopia, Nick had promised Jill to read the first graft of the first chapter of her book, her so called masterpiece of action and fantasy fiction, she did not want to seem desperate for approval or too eager to hear an honest critique of her work, even if it was just an input about anything she may have added to the story in moderation or not at all. Having her cellphone displaying the exert she e-mailed to Nick, Jill popped the question she wanted to ask for some time and was only playing it cool about not wanting to know during Nick's stay in her family's burrow, she asked him:

- Have you read the piece I sent you?

Jill was half expecting to hear some excuse about him not having time to read the chapter, she did not know how it was going to be interpreted or received so she was also cautious about a harsh criticism coming from the fox, Nick's face did not communicate that as he had an almost blank expression as he turned to face Jill and quench her curiosity. Nick showed a little smile before saying:

- It was hard for me to put down, even harder still to be left in utter suspense by the end of the chapter. You described Anthony like such a bold and charismatic figure during it all and it was almost hard to imagine that he might lose all of it to one of his comrades betraying him.

Jill placed her paws together, both of them positioned in front of her mouth with the cellphone smooshed between the two, her eyes wide open and barely blinking as she listened to every word Nick was spouting. Jill nodded her head and continued to hear as Nick kept the praise going:

- The part about the battle and what other members of the squad brought to the whole deal also felt phenomenal, you also emphasized how Anthony sought to draw the least amount of causalities possible. That really calls to the attention. You painted the actions scenes so well and the perspective was great.

Nick placed his right paw over his chest before speaking about a particularly emotional piece from the chapter as he said:

- That part too, near the end, when Anthony finds one of his soldiers on a stretcher at the end of the fight, he was hurt, he rose up and spoke despite his injuries and said: 'Give me a rifle, sarge. I can still fight!'; That one hit me really deep.

Jill had her ears twitching after she heard those words from Nick, she actually wanted to drive some generic tear jerking moment out of a reader by introducing that scene, as a writer she had knowledge of the raw bones of the story but the injured soldier boy described by Nick was a passing fancy, something to be put on the paper and then brushed off just as fast, she did not even put a name to the character. Jill placed her paws behind her back, she slid her right foot back and forth on the floor before making a small gesture with her right paw, as her left paw remained at her back and hanging on to her phone, she moved her right paw with its fingers placed together to the side of her head and then opened them to symbolize a sudden spark of brilliance that occurred to her when she was writing that particular part of the story, trying to disguise to the fox that it was just a lucky lash on the narrative. Jill said as she performed the gesture, faking some modesty:

- Well, no big deal. That was just a part that… you know… popped into my head as I was typing the words in.

- Awesome.

Nick nodded his head and he could figure by the awkward pause and the prompt gesture that the piece of his praise came up as a sort of happy accident, no matter, he still enjoyed reading it. Nick still had something to say to Jill, it was time to lay out some constructive criticism to her and the fox started by pointing a finger of his right paw upward and saying:

- I do have *one* little note, though.

Jill trapped a breath of air inside her chest, she looked at Nick and unmade her previous stance as she could feel her shoulders tensing up. Nick searched for the right words to say what he wanted to say, the one downfall that he had about the story itself, he proceeded after taking a short breath:

- I think that Anthony is a little too… perfect.

Jill showed a confused frown, her eyes squinted and her ears twitched to the sides as she heard those words, the bunny raised her arms slightly as she lowered her shoulders before asking:

- What do you mean? I thought you said Anthony was a great character.

Nick moved his head from side to side for a short second, admitting that Jill was not wrong but there was still a back point to the argument that he was about to make:

- He *is* a great character, that's just it. After reading your description of him it felt like he would come across like any other kind of action hero guy. He needs a crutch to follow him along, an imperfection.

Jill felt as if her entire line of thought had stopped cold, Nick continued his explanation as he bombarded Jill with question after question relating to the main character of the story while listing them as possible way points for her writing:

- No one is a true blue perfect hero like that. What is his shortcoming in life? Does he drink? Does he smoke? Does he yell when he gets angry, if he gets angry too often? Does he carry around an old token of the past as a lucky emblem making him overly attached or superstitious? Does he punch a wall when he is mad? Finally, if he has any of this defects or any other, does he gets better or finds himself not needing a crutch anymore as the story goes along?

Nick took a breath after he was done speaking, it felt like he had been rambling on for a while, he looked at Jill and found her to be completely speechless after hearing what he had to say, his words had opened a path to her story that she had failed to considered and it sounded so obvious after she heard it what made it even harder for her to swallow the truth. Jill felt the gears in her mind turning again, grinding at unimaginable speed, that was something that she needed to hear, a point of contentment for her story that would help out a lot with her writing process and she needed to hear it from a fox of all mammals. Nick leaned a little closer, trying to read Jill's expression and afraid that he might have said something too harsh for her, the bunny looked up with a spark in her eyes, a light of determination that Nick only caught at a glance but that also felt a little familiar to him, he wondered for a fraction of a second if all Hopps sisters had that light hidden somewhere in their eyes and if it was actually a family trait.

After gathering her thoughts and looking straight at the fox for a couple of seconds in rattling silence, Jill lowered her arms and looked down to the ground before releasing a long puff of air out of her mouth, she began to breath heavily as if only then her body had finally come around to warn her just how tired she was from rushing down the stairs in pursuit of Nick and having her mind rocked by the fox's analytic tone. Nick leaned closer and extended his right paw to her, asking shortly after:

- Hey, are you alright?

Jill looked at Nick, found his face of concern for her and only had one thing to say:

- I have to go.

Jill retreated, turning her back on Nick and running to her room so she could be left in peace and alone to work on rewriting many things on her story, now having in mind that a crucial piece had been missing for quite a while and she only realized that thanks to Nick, not that he had any idea of it right away. Jill left Nick behind, the fox watched as she moved away with long strides in her steps, she was in a real hurry to be somewhere and Nick had no idea if something was wrong or if he said something that had upset her, he tried reaching out and calling on her to make sure that she was okay but Jill had already turned the corner and left Nick confused and worried. Nick remained next to the stairs, his paws placed by his hips as he began to wonder what happened, seconds later, he could hear the steps of Jill coming back his way, he looked at her as she advanced towards him and tossed herself at his lower torso with open arms to give him a hug.

- Oof!

Nick let out a puff of air with a comical sound from his mouth as he felt the sudden impact of the bunny's face smooshed against his belly and the hold of her arms around him, the fox had his arms raised as now he was really not sure of what was happening or if he should bother to do something about it. Jill moved her head as she continued to embrace Nick, her eyes moved up and her ears flopped down to the back of her head as she looked at Nick and told him with quick words and a loud whisper:

- Thank you so much!

That being done, Jill retreated once more back the way she came and left Nick again, only this time, he was a little more relieved to know that she was not exactly saddened by his words, only more determined to get to her task and remake her story as best as she could. Nick began to walk in the direction Jill went, the hallway turning to the other way would lead him to the path to his room next to Judy's, he began to walk slowly as he thought about a near certainty, all Hopps sisters share the same drive to strive for the best in whatever they do and be the best they could be. Back to Jill, as the bunny entered her room and opened her personal computer device to work on her story, reading the chapters she had already transcribed and paying close attention to the details brought on thanks to Nick's input, she only then realized that she had arrived there with nothing on her mind except the story she was working on. Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind, as the application to work on text and documents popped up on the screen with an array of options for layouts and retrieval of recently organized files, Jill thought to herself:

"Wow! I just hugged a fox. I just hugged my sister's fox"

She looked up and away from the screen in front of her as she recalled what happened less than a minute or so before she barged into her own room and tossed herself on the bed to work, she felt a strange warmth climb over her figure and she became flustered in a way she never experienced before. Jill had never hugged a predator before, but to hug Nick, as he had been a guest in the Hopps household for some time, it just felt right to her, maybe a rash and slightly careless way of expressing gratitude but she was still happy about it. Jill removed her paws from the keyboard, the page of the first chapter she ever worked on remained unaltered for quite a while as she thought to herself and figuratively shrunk with shyness for what she had done:

"It felt so nice and warm. Is that why Judy keeps close to him so much?"

Suddenly for Jill, the work she had in mind for her story, one of the few things she truly put all of her effort into, felt insignificant next to what she was feeling then since it was not an artificial sensation grafted for readers, it was something truly indescribable. After a short time of analyzing how she was feeling, Jill arrived at one conclusion:

"Well, shoot. I think I'm jealous of Judy."

---

Come the next day, all of the Hopps came out of the burrow and on to the train station to offer their farewells for Nick and Judy, as the two officers were all set to take their return trip to the big city. It was almost hard for Nick to believe just how many bunnies were present there and how he came to know so much and interact with each and every one of them, he did not expect it to be such a long farewell but it felt like it dragged on for a while as soon as they arrived at the platform and the train was already coming along and pulling off by the station, the time of departure was drawing near.

Nick looked over to his right and saw the express train turning a corner in the distance, he turned his head back and saw Judy standing in front of her parents as they were the first bunnies in line to wish her a good trip and a promising return to her work post. Bonnie was the first to snag a hug out of Judy and tell her:

- Now you make sure to keep in contact with us if you are in need of anything at all. Be safe and make sure to pay ample mind to everything around you, dear.

Judy had both of her paws hanging on to the carrying strap of her luggage, she nodded her head and answered:

- I will, mom. Thanks again for everything.

Bonnie placed her right paw on Judy's left cheek, her thumb performed a small motion as it brushed some of Judy's facial fur aside, Judy smiled and giggled as she felt a ticklish sensation coming from her whiskers and opened her eyes just as her mother said in a confidential whisper:

- Remember what we talked about: Make sure to be prepared but do not take too long. Seize what you know will make you happy.

Judy nodded again and spoke with a similar tone to her voice:

- I will, mom.

Stu could hear the whisper being exchanged between Judy and Bonnie, he came a single step closer with a brow raised and a bothersome twitch in his right ear as he asked:

- What's this all about?

Bonnie brushed that off by looking up and saying:

- Oh, nothing much. Just… girl talk.

Following a short and meaningful embrace with her father, Judy walked closer to Nik and saw that most of her sisters were there to offer her farewells, before she had the time to react or say anything about it, the two officers were pulled into a collective hug. Sarah, Samantha, Jill, Martha, Alison, Helen, May, all of them really, ganged up around Judy with their arms placed over one another's shoulders as they came closer and hugged their sister with the fox right next to her, Nick could not escape the group hug but it did not bother him, he was actually very glad to be included. The voice of Samantha came up first, the tallest bunny in the current group spoke up amidst the hums of the rest:

- Good luck for you, Judy. Make sure to call us whenever you can.

Helen spoke next, Judy could only recognize the top of her head as her voice came from the middle of the group:

- We're sure gonna miss you.

Right next to Judy's left ear, came the voice of Martha, but she could not move her head too much in the middle of all that hugging as she could only hear the encouraging message:

- We'll be rooting for you, Jude.

Judy closed her eyes and let herself be enveloped by that nice sensation, the silence and warmth were very enjoyable until another voice came from very near her, Nick spoke up as he broke the silence and said with some humor in his voice:

- This is actually quite nice. I should get in the middle of group hugs like this more often.

The sisters all laughed and simultaneously let go of the hug, they all looked at Nick as the fox stood tall and smiling over all of them, Nick moved a little to his right, giving space for Judy's brothers to come along and speak to her as well, Judy watched as her partner moved aside politely and she could her only then as one of her sister's voice came close to give her one last message of vital importance. Samantha spoke to Judy again, a whisper that she hoped could not be heard by anyone except for Judy, she leaned closer to Judy's left ear and said:

- Go get him, sis.

Judy did not even release an outburst or swiped the message away, she received it and answered with a smile and a side glance, her efforts and a confession would have to come shortly after her return to work. Nick heard as some of Judy's brothers called to his attention, Simon and the others came to thank Nick for his visit and tell him that he could return anytime, Arthur could be seen coming over to speak with Nick as well, the arms of the oldest bunny in the bunch were crossed and his face was seen as indifferent as it added to his intimidating aura. As Nick and Arthur stood facing each other, no one knew what the the burly bunny might say or do, his stance only communicated that he was either disappointed or dissatisfied with something the lured just over his head in terms of presentation or perception. Arthur extended his right arm ahead, he did not extend it completely making as so his forearm would make as if he was challenging Nick to an arm-wrestling contest right then and there but Nick was able to catch up on the feeling right away.

Nick rotated his right shoulder back before extending his right arm in the same motion that Arthur did, he placed the palm of his right paw over Arthur's and the two of them clasped their fingers as if they were two legendary tough fighters exchanging a sign of mutual respect. Both Nick and Arthur tightened their grips as if it were some sort of competition and every one in there by the platform just watched completely awestruck as the bunny spoke with a loud grunting at the back of his throat, showing just how strenuous to him the paw shake was as well as demonstrating how serious the words that came out of his mouth were meant to be:

- You take good care of my sister, you hear?

Nick nodded his head, his smile diminished for a short second as he answered in return:

- I promise.

After letting go of Arthur's paw and having those few meaningful words said between them, Nick turned and saw that the train was already there and the conductor came out through one of the side doors to give warning that the train would be departing soon, it was time to go. Nick and Judy turned in the direction of the opened door of the train but Nick had one last thing to do before setting out, he approached Bonnie and Stu and told them:

- Thank you for lending me a place to stay in your home. I don't recall the last time I had for myself to relax like this. Maybe Judy and I might get to come back on our next time off from the ZPD.

Judy turned around in a rush, she did not imagine that Nick should come out and say something like that, it might feel like imposing even if unintentional, but the fox was only being polite and he encountered no protests after saying that. Bonnie walked a single step forth and took Nick's left paw in hold, placing it between both of her paws as she pressed gently over it and told him:

- Nick, you are welcome in our home at any time. Your visit was exciting for everyone here and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we look forward to your next visit.

Nick looked around and he was very touched to see all of those smiling faces looking at him and Judy placed right next to him, he felt so welcomed in Bunnyburrow and he truly wished to stay there for a little longer, however, a sudden tug on his side by Judy was telling him that it was time to board the train. Nick and Judy gave one last wave of goodbye and got inside to get on their seats, it did not take very long for the two mammals to find two seats near the back cart of the train that were proper for their sizes, they stored their luggage on a place that was easy to access under their seats and the train departed. It felt like quite a while since they had come to visit in Bunnyburrow but they were finally returning to Zootopia.

Judy was seated by Nick's left as the fox chose to occupy the seat closest to the window, Judy was leaned closer to him, trying to look out the window the same as he was doing as the train moved forward on the tracks and the little town of Bunnyburrow was soon left behind, merely a large verdant line by the horizon after not so long. After the train went along ona comfortable speed, the passengers were left to relax and mingle inside the cart, there were not that many other passengers inside that part of the train and while Nick was wide awake looking out the window by his right, Judy suddenly felt very sleepy, it was almost as if her body had become unfamiliar with waking up early on that particular day. Judy face forward as she adjusted herself over her seat, she turned her head to the right to look at Nick as soon as she got as comfortable as she could get over the soft cushion of her seat and asked of him:

- Do you really want to come back to Bunnyburrow on some other time? I am aware that is not that interesting of a town.

Nick did not look at Judy, keeping his eyes focused on the rapid passing view outside the window as he answered:

- I don't care about any of that, carrots. Your family is the tops and I enjoyed our time off together. Plus, I promised your little cousin Samson that I would come back so we could enjoy another round of his awesome card game, I think I got hooked on it.

Nick turned to Judy to finish that thought, he looked into her wide opened purple eyes as he said:

- There's open spaces, piece, games and a drive-in theater. I think I got my new favorite vacation spot on lock now.

Judy smiled after hearing that, Nick's honest and moderately excited tone of voice filled her with warmth and, now that they were left together in piece until their arrival at Zootopia central station she felt like she could take a chance to relax and simply be with him without anyone to bother them. Judy leaned her head over the arm rest of her seat which connected flawlessly to the left of Nick's seating space, she placed her head over Nick's arm which was placed down by her side and used it as a cozy resting spot for her head as her back leaned over the seat repost, Nick could feel the soft and warm spot of pressure close to his biceps and he turned his head left and looked down so he could get a look for himself. Having his ears standing up straight while his tail calmly readjusted itself over the seat, Nick looked at Judy and his shoulders rose up as he felt her touch, Judy noticed that soon after and took her head away from its restful spot over the fox's arm, the two of them shared a look and a moment of silence, neither sure of what to say next.

Nick did not mind Judy's presence or her touch, it was something he welcomed like the occasional hug, but her touch started to feel… unusual to him, not in a cumbersome or undesirable way, merely unusual in a sense. Judy took a short moment to distance herself from Nick over the train seat, looking at him as being unsure if she had done something wrong, she placed the palm of her right paw over Nick's arm as she continued to look straight at him before asking:

- You… don't mind it, do you?

Nick showed Judy a quick dismissive gesture of his right paw unintentionally close to a waving motion, pointing its palm towards Judy as it moved from side to side along the joint of his wrist, his head repeated the same rhythm and motion of his paw as he assured her:

- No, I don't mind. You can rest on me as long as you want, fluff.

Judy released a silent and soft sigh out of her nose, she returned to the position she was previously, resting by Nick's arm now knowing that her touch was now permitted and encouraged. The train ride back to Zootopia was a short one but Judy had enjoyed every peaceful minute of it, Nick poked her gently to tell that their destination was close as soon as he could see the glittering sands of Sahara square reflecting the bright rays of the sun in the distance. After exiting the train and walking down the front steps of the station, Judy convinced Nick for them to split a cab together, that would take them closer to the heart of the Savana and they could move their separate ways from there, Nick agreed after figuring that it would be the most practical course of action.

Arriving near the central street on their path, close to the precinct one building, Nick and Judy said their farewells and walked off, each with luggage in hand back to their respective apartments. Nick tossed his bag aside and then tossed his entire body over the comfy couch, moments later, he realized that Finnick had passed him a message and he was only then alerted by a notification on his phone, it was an invite that cordially called the fox to share a drink of beer in their usual place later that night, Nick agreed to meet up with Finnick in the Matriarch bar later and the fox soon after laid over the couch and closed his eyes to take a quick nap. Judy arrived in her apartment and moved towards her bedroom, she placed her suitcase down and then moved to the bathroom so that she could get a quick shower and a once over before doing anything else that day, she exited the bathroom while being wrapped in a towel and feeling much more refreshed.

After putting on a new set of clothes and sitting over the bed with her legs hanging over the edge of the mattress, Judy grabbed her cellphone from a concealed pouch inside her suitcase, leaving the device along with its charger wire over the nightstand of her bedroom, she proceeded to take out the sets of clothing that were stored in the case, each of them folded and organized for easy access, her personal system for travel, dressing and selection. Among the items that Judy took out of her case, she found one that she was thinking about and looking for during the entire trip back, the small plushie gryphon that Nick gifted her during their outing, she took the little plush in her arms and gave it a soft hug before setting it aside over her pillows, placing it very near to a few other plushie that she liked to embrace before going to sleep. Sometimes Judy would think that having plush toys like those was a little childish, but she did not mind, they offered much warranted comfort before she drifted to sleep each night.

Raising from the bed and storing the suitcase away was Judy next task and she did it quickly before moving over to the kitchen and grabbing herself something to eat, a bowl of cereal would suffice as she had one other task in mind that she had to get to as expediently as possible on that day. The talk Judy had with Nick the day before, as the fox rationalized even as a mere hypothesis relating to the fact that the criminal investigations that they overtook ever since he joined as a ZPD officers could be connected in some way, nagged at Judy for most of the night before, she truly wondered if Nick could be on to something and she decided to draw their own parallels of investigation before arriving at a satisfactory conclusion relating to that. Judy placed the used bowl of cereal now empty inside the kitchen sink, she moved to her bedroom and picked up all of the supplies she would need for an extended study and assessment of what she knew so far, there was a lot that she had to go through and she wished to have it all done before that day was over.

Judy made several trips back and forth from her bedroom and back, she opened the drawers from the file cabinet at the corner of her room and grabbed every file that she judged relevant for her analysis, the stack of files that she carried over did not take a lot of time to locate and sort through, most of them were of recent times. Judy also picked up a set of colorful pens and a notebook with blank pages that she could use as a basis for cross references, she was ready to go through every shred of potentially useful information, she just had to be sure about all of that. Jody opened the files holding the documents and reports, personal compiles that she brought home for future reference, slightly outside of her role as an officer but she believed that keeping a database of her own concerning her opened cases would end up paying off, she praised her own mind for thinking ahead so effectively, Judy sat down on the floor and having her posterior over the carpet as the files laid opened and scattered about in a sort of comprehensive pattern for her, the bunny clicked a pen to begin writing and said:

- Alright, Judy, let's get to work.

With that, Judy gave herself the cue to go right ahead and begin, she had barely arrived back in her apartment and she was already deep in the mindset of a police officer, there would be no daydreams or distractions allowed as she did her best to connect every factoid and go over every line of every investigative thoroughfare entrusted to her. Judy began by filling the initial pages of her notebook with a personal account of what happened during the past month, thinking diligently before deciding to put thought on to paper, trying to recall every minor detail of her work days, patrols and record keeping as even the slightest deviation could proof catastrophic to the conclusive reasoning behind all of that. The afternoon had already passed by, Judy had skipped lunch and gone through almost half of the pages in the notebook she had selected to fill with information, some of the pages had been ripped out, crushed in her paws with frustration or disdain when she made a mistake, let a detail slip by or was simply dissatisfied with the crop of data in front of her eyes, her belly released a soft grumble and she realized just how long she had been at it since her arrival, she decided to take a short break and return to it later.

Judy grabbed her cellphone, the battery was nearly depleted but there was still more than enough of a charge for her to open a delivery application and order some food for herself, the items of the vegetarian menu looked all so delicious but she settled on a simple meal selection for one. Twenty minutes after posting the request, Judy received a notification that her order had arrived, she descended the stairs of her building with the sum of money in paw and thanked the meerkat who delivered the food before paying him, tip included, and returning to her apartment. Judy placed the packing containing the meal over the dinner table and opened it, the smell of cooked food sprouted from the bag and filled her senses, she felt like she could calm down for a bit and take the matters she was studying into better perspective now that she was slowing down and filling her belly.

Judy was standing up by the kitchen area, her line of sight free from obstructions as she looked down to the ground where her carefully crafted 'web of crime' was spread over, small strands of concrete facts but there was little that connected any of them together, a farfetched concept upon further analysis but it was all starting to look like much more than coincidence. Judy finished her meal, she tossed the empty bags in the trash bin but she did not return to work right away, she stayed in the kitchen and sat down next to the window as she saw the image of the street outside, she could see the movement and she wondered what Nick was doing at that moment, she thought about texting him but that thought moved away from her mind, there was still a lot to do before she headed to work the next day, she would talk with Nick then.

---

It was night time in Zootopia, Nick and Finnick were seated on their regular spots, the elevated revolving bar stools inside the Matriarch, that night the two vulpine just felt like a celebration, it felt like such a long time since they joined for drinks. Nick was dressed in his regular attire only with a minor change in color pattern, his buttoned up dark blue T-shirt complemented nicely by a wine colored tie around his neck, while Finnick was dressed way more casually with a simple shirt, thick fabric pants and a dark colored jacket as outer wear. The place was packed but the seats that were placed by the bar were free and it was favorable for the two foxes since that was their favorite spot to sit, talk and drink, Finnick raised his mug of beer with his left paw and called for a toast, Nick agreed to that as he grabbed his mug with his right paw and responded to Finnick's gesture by gently tapping their glass mugs together. The two vulpine shared a long swig of their cups and, by the end of it, Finnick had drunk more of his share than Nick, the little fox leaned closer to his friend as he adjusted his own posterior over the stool and asked:

- So… how was your little vacation out in the sticks? I bet it was boring as all hell.

Nick did not give a lot of gulf about Finnick's assumption, the fox placed his paws together over the bar counter and then answered to his friend's question:

- It was actually kind of cool. There was tons of space, plenty of time to relax and enjoy myself, I even convinced Judy to come watch a movie at a drive-in.

Finnick had his ears standing straight up as his eyes squinted, he repeated his leaning posture over the stool as he asked:

- You went to a drive-in theater?

Nick nodded his head and answered with a satisfied smile as she turned his head to face Finnick:

- I did. There really was no better way to experience the movie.

Finnick released a clicking sound out of his mouth, he did not wish to admit it but he was actually a little jealous of Nick, the little fox had not seen a movie via drive-in theater in the longest time and that was a nostalgic feeling he wanted to capture once again. Nick took out his cellphone and began tapping away on the screen, the fox checked for any messages from Judy but there were no notifications alerting him on that, he thought about texting her first but he figured that it would probably be for the best to leave her be and bother her with any trivial talk he wanted to throw away on the work day that followed. Nick had the phone positioned on an angle that would make it impossible for his friend to distinguish the real contents of the screen from a distance and he was hit with Finnick's inquisitive tone as the fennec placed his mug down on the counter, pointed a finger of his left paw in his direction asked:

- You in a hurry to be somewhere else, Wilde?

Believing that the fox was simply checking the time on the cell screen, Finnick asked that while pointing a claw of his left paw in his direction as he placed his right paw over the counter next to his mug intending to take another sip of his drink. Nick, not wanting to put a hamper on the night or appear too overeager in front of his friend, simply answered:

- No, I just… one of carrot's nephews showed me this amazing little card game. It doesn't have nipes and flushes but it is really cool. I think I got hooked on it. I've been researching ranges and strategies for a little while now.

Finnick turned to Nick once more, the little fox as just about to get another sip from his beer when he heard a bit of information out of Nick's answer that called to his attention, the little fox leaned to the side over his stool while supporting some of his weight off to the side with the support of his left palm over the cushioned edge of his seat as he said:

- Hang on there a sec. The fuzz is an aunt?

Nick shook his head slowly from side to side as he answered:

- Finn, Judy's family is large enough to occupy a whole mound of a burrow, that impressed even me. She has brothers and sisters galore and most of them are either married or engaged, of course she is an aunt.

Finnick could not argue with such logic, the little fox did not unmake his stance over the seat as he asked subsequently:

- Is she a cool aunt?

Nick lowered his head with a smile on his lips, recalling how he made the same jesting question towards Judy not that long ago. The was a short moment of silence as the two mammals returned to their drinking but Nick was not sure why he was disguising his own route of thought in the conversation with Finnick like that or why exactly he deflected his question like that. Finnick was his best friend in the whole wide world, they had been through so much together and he was sure that he could tell him anything at all, but he felt shy and uneasy for some reason that escaped him in the spur of the conversation. Nick tapped the thumb of his left pa over the screen of his cellphone a few times as he pulled a research window that he left open a while back, showing to Finnick some pictures and examples of the game he had mentioned, the fennec fox leaned ahead and squinted his eyes to look at the picture, there was a small glean in the screen so it was difficult for Finnick to capture every detail with a glance but he got a preliminary notion about a board and a selection of colorful cards depicting different troops and effects. Nick took the cellphone closer to him and placed it in his pocket once more as Finnick could not help but draw the comparison in his mind that the new game looked like one of those online fads he had heard so much about or one of those 'cash-grab' apps that would play in advertisement incessantly, he spoke soon after as he called to Nick's attention:

- Looks kinda lame.

Nick looked back at his friend and then confirmed just the opposite by listing the facts about the game itself:

- It isn't. It takes a whole lot of planning to get a leg up on a battle with a certain deck and there are even tournaments that are held with huge prizes for the champions. By the account of Judy's nephew, he won about three local tournaments in a row.

Finnick thought about it for a moment and admitted to be a little intrigued, if the game was all that Nick spoke of then it might be enough considering as a viable past time. The two vulpine each took the last few swigs of beer from their mugs and placed the emptied receptacles over the counter, the two of them letting refreshed sighs out of their mouths as soon as they were done, there would most likely be another round soon after but they opted to wait on it. Nick rotated his stool and looked around for a moment, his eyes scanned the crowd of mammals but he did not look at any faces that did not fit the clear description of the one he was looking out for, sticking to a strict height as he looked around, Finnick caught sight of that and asked of him:

- Don't tell me you're worried about seeing that vixen here tonight. I keep telling you, the odds of that are long and not likely.

Nick turned to his friend, his worries diminished for a second but his mind would occasionally turn to the last encounter he had with a lovely vixen, which turned to be sour, he was not looking for her with the intent to apologize or anything of the sort, he was merely worried that, if she were to show up again in that place, he would have to duck down and hide away with the fear that bumping into her again may cause a scene. Nick took a long dose of breath through his nose and said:

- You never know. You and I both know that this place has the reputation of bringing the most unlikely of presences together.

In a way, Nick was absolutely right, an unlikely presence would come to that exact spot to meet and greet him, but, luckily, it was a very welcome presence indeed. A loud voice came from right behind the fox just as soon as he turned to lean over the counter and wonder if he might just ask the leopard on the other side for another round, the voice was of an elderly canine, walking about while aided by a fancy walking stick, he raised his left arm in the air with reverence and said:

- Master Wilde, as I live and breathe!

The two foxes turned around and Nick was surprised to see the image of agent Donovan coming through a thin stretch of the crowd, the wolf was dressed in his usual ZBI attire, a suit that looked uncannily similar to the one when he met him for the first time inside precinct one, he approached the bar while clanking his cane against the ground and it was possible to see as his fluffy tail swooshed around with each step he took. Donovan waved his left paw as he got close in a gesture of good fated salute and said:

- I heard you had returned to Zootopia after your short respite, I certainly did not expect to meet you here.

Nick smiled and extended his left paw to shake the wolf's paw, Finnick looked at the new presence with a squint in his eyes as he searched his memory and soon pointed at the wolf and said:

- Hey, I remember you. You're that super informed suit that came to see Wilde in the hospital.

Donovan realized that he had not formerly introduced himself to the company next to Nick so he remedied that right away, adjusting the grip that his right paw had on the handle of his cane and speaking up:

- Donovan Howlbert, supervisor and agent of the Zootopia bureau of investigations.

Finnick closed his mouth and shook his head, storing that bit of information in the forefront of his mind before saying:

- Sounds made up.

Donovan showed a toothy smile to the fennec before asking of Nick if he could take a seat alongside them as well, Nick and Finnick shared a short look and the two of them decided unanimously without the need for any words at all that the old wolf could join them, Donovan grabbed a stool immediately by Nick's left and waited patiently for the bartender to come take his order. Donovan leaned down for a moment, looking to the reposting barrier of the counter below and he decided to place his cane down, placing it leaning forth against the counter and close to his right knee, safely placed and prompt for easy access. The female leopard on the other side of the counter walked closer and realized that there was someone new and expecting some service, she flung the rag she would normally use to clean the counter surface or the shot glasses and asked:

- What can I get you, sir?

The polite feline waited a few seconds for an answer, Donovan reached into his right side lapel pocket and pulled a golden inlaid card with the symbol of a butterfly stamped on it, he slid the card discreetly over the counter so it would be in clear view of the attendant and she immediately knew what that was about. Nick and Finnick would both left perplexed with that sight, the wolf seemed to be as calm as it could be as the bartender looked in his direction with the sight of slight dread, almost as if she just saw a dark shade pass suddenly in front of her line of sight, she grabbed the golden card and check the miniscule markings to make sure it was genuine, Donovan's order came soon after:

- I would very much like to order a golden item of the menu, if you'd be so kind. Make sure that my friends here each get a glass of it as well.

The feline placed the golden card back over the counter so that the wolf could pick it up once more and store it away safely, she turned around and went on to attend for the wolf's polite request straight away, to her, it was vital that she got the order just right. The leopard kneeled down and reached for a hidden compartment beneath the counter, she searched her pocket for a set of keys that would open a very old and intricate lock, the lock was opened but there was still another security measure behind it, a combination lock requiring four turns of a dial in the correct order to unlock. Nick and Finnick were left even more confused than before, they never knew that such a thing existed under the Matriarch and they had been going there together for drinks for many years now, the two foxes tried leaning over the counter to catch the meaning behind all of the security and secrecy but they could not catch a glimpse of whatever that was all about. The leopard returned, standing up once more and now having three mid-sized shot glasses with honey coating their very bottoms, she was holding a bottle with no clear identification in her right paw as she painstakingly placed just the precise amount of liquid in each glass, just as she had been trained to do. After all of that, the drinks were ready.

Nick and Finnick exchanged another look but neither of the had the time to ask the bartender what was that as she quickly kneeled down once more to lock away the bottle instants after resealing it, locking it away under the secret compartment and hoping that she would not have to do all of that again for the rest of the night, turning over to the three patrons in front of her and telling them while short on breath:

- There you go. Enjoy.

- Much obliged.

Donovan said so as he reached ahead to grab the three glasses and place the two he had not selected as his own next to Finnick and Nick respectively, the leopard moved away, looking around as if she had just committed a flawless caper and getting to the least stressful part of her job once again, collecting and serving less complicated drink orders. Nick and his friend kept staring at the wolf in awe and silence, Nick was the first to sum up some courage and ask Donovan:

- What was that all about?

Finnick complemented that trail of thought by speaking up while leaning over the counter to look directly at the wolf:

- I didn't know the bar had all of this just to serve a drink.

Donovan put his glass down and nodded his head once before saying:

- Right. I didn't think either of you would know about this.

Donovan took a quick look around as an added precaution before showing the two foxes the card he was carrying, he took a short breath and whispered to them:

- I have been coming to the Matriarch for many years now, I even met the owner when he was just starting out and this entire place was nothing more than the basement of an old moonshiner with a dream. I am one of the few mammals in this entire city who received this honorific and I get to order from the… let's call it… 'Secret Menu'.

Nick and Finnick both had their eyes open wide with incredulity, the wolf had stored his card away once again before Finnick asked of him:

- What the hell?! That's awesome! How do I get me one of those cards?

Donovan turned his head forward and did not even look in the direction of the little fox as he answered with poise in his voice:

- Be as old as me. Then you might get a shot at it.

Nick took a look at his glass, he took a single whiff of the drink and the scent that invaded his nostrils was strong enough to make him retreat, it was not unpleasant but it surely was strong, his brain released an unexpected alert of instant inebriation as soon as the information about the new smell arrived in his mind. Nick turned to the right and looked at Donovan, the wolf still leaned by the counter and waiting patiently as he wished to savor every instance of that special drink, even the way it looked, Nick poked the wolf with one paw as his other paw pointed to the filled shot glass closest to him and he asked:

- What exactly is this?

Donovan took his glass and hoisted it in the air whilst being extra careful to not spill even a single drop as he moved it about, soon after, the wolf was demonstrating and explaining the attributes of the exotic drink to the two foxes as if he was a teacher and a class of vital importance was in session:

- The name escapes me, it escapes one and all, I only know that this delightful little number derides from apple cider that has been harvested, filtered and aged to perfection. The process of distilling and brewing the drink leaves almost the entire dosage of natural sugars in the cider as little crystals congregated at the bottom of a barrel so it is very sour, that is what the honey is for. The honey at the bottom of the glass counters the nearly overwhelming sour taste of the drink, it comes together in a divine golden package.

There were undoubtedly other important points to the drinks recipe as a whole but Donovan made sure to not disclose them out in the open like that, the secret of the drink that he could not pronounce would remain a closely guarded knowledge of the Matriach's owner along with all of his most trusted employees. Nick and Finnick looked into their glasses, the little fox was the most daring of the two, holding his breath and trying the first sip of the drink, just enough so that he could get a taste and a feel without feeling his entire mouth in a single sip, he certainly did not expect what would come next. Nick looked at his friend and nearly lost his composure as he witnessed Finnick's reaction, the little fox lowered his ears and opened his mouth to let out a warm puff of air that fought to escape his lungs, the exposed fur on his entire body stood on end and his tail wagged rapidly from side to side, to close it off, Finnick bashed his fist against the hard surface of the counter and yelled out:

- OH, DAMN! THAT"S THE GOOD STUFF!

Finnick's reaction gartered the eyes of other patrons of the bar who became interested on whatever it was he was drinking, Donovan was having a ball by watching the reaction of Nick's friend and his first taste of the exotic drink, he could hardly wait to see how Nick himself would react. Nick grabbed his cup and brought it closer to his mouth, he was cautious as he slowly took a sip of the drink, as slow as possible, he expected to have a sensation and taste similar to the familiar Applejack that he partook near Judy some time past but Nick was soon hit by every single fact spouted by Donovan as it all turned out to be truth.

Nick could taste the faintest hint of apple cider but the taste that coated his tongue nearly made his entire mouth lock shut, he fought the impulse and lowered the glass before closing his mouth and swallowing the drag in one go, the sweet kick came shortly after as a pleasant trail left behind after pushing the swig down his throat. Nick felt at ease after a few seconds, releasing air out of his nose in a calm pace as he breathed easy and felt the sensation of the drink oozing down his gullet and arriving at his stomach, mixing itself with the beer he had not that long before in a rather aggressive way. Nick suddenly felt a sparking sensation that caused his fur to stand on end, it was not a numbing wave of warmth as it was the case with many of the drinks he experienced before, he felt as if a shot of electricity was firing his nerves and sending his senses into overdrive, the claws of his right paw reached for the cushion of the stool beneath him as he tried to get a hold of his bearings and let the sensation run its course and it did. For a moment, a brief couple of seconds, Nick felt as if everything around him was moving slower, his body was making sure to take every millisecond for him to savor the drink and its sensation, he released a puff of air out from his mouth and then said in a whisper:

- Holy crap!

Giving Donovan just what he was looking for and giving him the cue to enjoy his own share of the drink. The wolf grabbed his glass and brought it to his lips, he took a much longer swig than either of the two vulpine, he put the glass down as it reached the half full mark, he turned his head upward as he closed his eyes before saying:

- Oh, that's the taste I remember so well.

The wolf did not display any sort of exaggerated reaction like Nick or Finnick did, if the strong and bodied drink hit him in any way then he was doing one hell of a job disguising it. Donovan turned to Nick, it was evident to see that the two foxes were choosing to space out the remaining sips of the drink, wise choice on his experience, he called to Nick's attention and said:

- Frankly, master Wilde, I was not expecting to see you return so soon from your trip out of town. I figured you'd take more time to heal.

Nick shook his head slowly from side to side before facing the wolf and telling him:

- No way. I feel ready to get back to work. There is still some piece of investigation to get to and lots to be done.

Donovan nodded once and said:

- On that you just might be more correct than you think.

Nick blinked once, as he leaned slightly back when faced with Donovan's words and somewhat somber tone of voice, the fox asked shortly after:

- What is that supposed to mean?

Donovan pushed his body away from the counter, he placed himself with his back straight over the revolving stool and answered to Nick's question as he reported:

- I thought you had heard by now. News on television and reports from different precincts tell that petty crime is up by a worrying margin. Purse snatchers, muggers, assaults and car jackers have been getting braver and bolder in the last few days on every district. There have been no serious injuries reported, but there are mammals worried that it is only a matter of time before things escalate.

Nick released a sigh that sounded frustrated, Finnick caught sound of that as he was just about to grab his glass and take another swig of the drink, he turned his eyes to the left and his ears followed the same directing turn as Nick said:

- No, I haven't been keeping up with the news ever since I came back. I had no idea about all of this. Feels like I should be doing more right now.

Donovan raised his right arm and placed his paw over Nick's shoulders, he tried to ease the fox's nerves by giving him a few well-natured pats and telling him:

- No one could ask of you to do any more, master Wilde. You and miss Hopps have been doing your best at your jobs as officers to make this city a better place.

Nick lowered his head and clutched both of his paws into fists as he admitted:

- Sometimes it feels like it's not enough.

Finnick intervened in the conversation, gesturing towards Nick and speaking up to his friend as he was not going to let Nick simply spiral down and become saddened by the prospect of losing time or not doing enough at work:

- C'mon, Wilde, don't give me any of that. From what I've heard, you and the fuzz have been making lots of waves and helping folks out, you are not allowed to be down because of any of that petty stuff.

Donovan picked up on the tone of voice that Finnick was using right away and joined along by saying:

- Your friend raises a good point, master Wilde. Reports from the ZPD speak volumes about the interactions and investigative panache that you bring along with miss Hopps. You aided the city a great deal and you did so with gusto. Liking it or not, you made quite the difference, and you helped a lot of mammals. You changed the game.

Nick raised his head, his tail and his ears twitched upwards as he thought about the words that Finnick and Donovan said to him, maybe he was not the most worthy of praise but he recognized that he had done a good job alongside Judy. Nick took a short dose of air through his nose and said:

- 'Be the change'.

Judy's words rung out from his mouth all of a sudden and Donovan asked shortly after as he could not quite catch what the fox meant by that:

- What was that?

Nick turned his head to the left and spoke up while showing the palm of his left paw, telling simply that those words were not his, in a certain way at least:

- No, it's… something Judy said a while back. We were reviewing some cold cases she brought along and I could just feel her empathy as we studied stuff that happened so long ago. That's when I told her that we had to make our mark known if things were ever going to change for the better and she just said that… we must all be the change. Almost forgot about that one.

Agent Donovan released a single soft laugh after hearing that, the wolf placed the fingers of his right paw around the outer circumference of his glass, he was intending to take another shot of his drink shortly after, but first, he spoke up:

- You have a great deal of admiration for miss Hopps, don't you?

Nick made a simple gesture with both of his paws, moving his wrists over the counter as both of his paws pointed up and he said:

- Of course I do. Judy is just amazing in so many ways. She's the one I have to thank for everything I set out to do. I still can't believe how much she did for me and I would be just another face in the crowd with no intent in my life if it weren't for her.

Finnick looked away from Nick and rolled his eyes, having the sudden feeling deep in his mind that Nick would resort to the same song and dance number as he praised Judy for all that she had done and helped him accomplish, Donovan caught sight of that from the corner of his eyes, his keen attention to detail alerted him that this was far from the first time Nick had sung his partner's praises and one assessment was bordering its conclusion. Donovan held on to his glass with the prominent support of two fingers, his thumb and his middle finger did most of the work of hoisting the glass closer to his muzzle, he did not look to the right as he spoke up:

- Such admiration calls to the attention of anyone. Some might even mistake it for infatuation.

Nick had his ears raised as he nearly froze over after hearing that, the fox did not feel any sort of chilling jab that made him stop and think things over, he simply… stopped acting out for a moment and was placed in silence. Nick turned his head slowly to the left, he looked at Donovan and asked of him:

- What… exactly do you mean by that, agent Howlbert?

Nick suddenly felt the need to act a little more formally towards the agent, Donovan was just getting around to answering that question but he first took one last long sip of his drink and then he answered:

- Please, master Wilde. Even a blind bat needs to place some level of recognition to his inane screeching.

That still did not put any clarification on his previous words and Nick could only look at the wolf with even more confusion and no clue of what to say and do next, Finnick hopped into the talk as he delivered a soft slap to Nick's right shoulder before pointing at him and saying amidst laughter:

- Dude, he just called you a bat.

Nick turned to face Finnick with a sour expression over his muzzle, he did not believe 'that' was the point of the words spouted by the wolf agent. Donovan rephrased his words by saying:

- Come now, master Wilde. Even you have to admit at this point that your affections for miss Hopps are apparent. There is no possible way that you cannot recognize that for yourself.

Nick retreated after hearing that, he did not know if he should laugh or gasp, the fox showed a toothy smile as he tried to brush that aside from the conversation:

- What the… ? 'Affections'? What's this about 'Affections'? Judy and I are partners and friends, nothing else.

Finnick raised his glass and followed Donovan's cue, taking another small sip from his drink before saying:

- Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.

Nick had no idea of what was going on or even why, he turned back to Donovan and told him:

- No, I'm being serious. Judy and I… we're just friends and partners. We've known each other for quite a while and have been hanging out a lot so the things I say about her are nothing new. I tell her that she's amazing all the time.

- But do you actually say anything when you do it?

Donovan seemed to adopt the same stance he used for interrogations and investigations, he was snooping all over Nick's business, taking into consideration his tone of voice, posture, facial expression, it all pointed out to one irrefutable truth, a truth that not even Nick seemed to be aware of. Nick took some time in silence to think about Donovan's words but he was determined to let his two friends know that what he felt for Judy went no further than respect and friendship, Nick tried to deescalate the condition in that conversation but he was hesitating with his words, he hated when that happened, the fox tried speaking out loud:

- No, that's not… Look, Judy is…

Donovan cut him off, showing the fox the palm of his right paw before saying:

- Let me guess: Judy is simply unlike any other mammal I've ever known before, be it predator or otherwise; There is no clear way your words can measure up to her since mere words cannot make her justice; She inspired you to become the best version of yourself that you could possibly be and among banter and teasing you two just make it work somehow; Judy is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning and the last thing in your mind when you lay to bed at night. Have I hit the ground running yet or what, master Wilde?

Nick did not want to openly admit it, but Donovan was right on the money, every single one of his guesses turned out to be just as the fox felt and yet he still refused to say it openly. Nick squinted his eyes, his blinks while he looked straight at the wolf were slow as it momentarily felt like he had been hit by one attack after the other, his quick wit had been thoroughly overpowered by the wolf's pinpoint thought processing. Finnick remained mostly silent, just sitting back and enjoying his friend being cornered like that, he wanted a front row seat to see what would Nick do after the truth of that matter became all too clear, if Nick took a step forth or not was still unknown, but it was sure to be enjoyable. Nick shook his head slowly as he leaned his body forth, he looked at Donovan from a lower angle as he asked of the wolf:

- How could you possibly… know that? How could you know any of that?

Donovan repeated his gesture from before, patting Nick's shoulder before telling him:

- Son, we all know how it is. The players change and grow but the game play is always the same, even if you don't care to admit it out loud. Or maybe… you just haven't taken the time to even consider it. Getting all hung up on your own weird emotions and what comes with them as you deal with life from the sidelines, but that doesn't do anyone any good. You have to be smart enough to acknowledge your own feelings and follow through with them and you have to do it before it turns out to be too late.

Nick looked down but his sight turned up in clear defiance to Donovan's words again, the fox made a sign of dismissal by moving his arms to the sides and it showed finality by doing so, he spoke once more as if his slightly uncertain tone would do anything but assure the other two of the whole truth:

- No, it is so not like that. There is just… no way.

Nick placed his right paw on the back of his head as he rambled on:

- I can't feel this way for Judy, it's just not possible. I mean, sure, she is clever and tough… she is sweet and kind and she makes me smile like no one else and… she is always willing to help and she is brave and affectionate and… and…

Donovan could sense the gears in Nick's head almost grinding to a halt, his line of thought was forthcoming but not very progressive, the wolf agent decided to put a final pin of assumption in the talk, convinced that it would make Nick see things from a more enlightened point of view. Donovan took a short breath, making sure that Nick would take a moment to breathe and think during the talk and seizing that crucial moment in order to tell him:

- Master Wilde, you are a clever fox and a capable officer, as clever and capable as they come. I believe that who a mammal truly is comes down to their choices and the paths they take in their lives, however, I came to learn that it does not matter how many branching paths one take, the fact that they are who they are and who they will always choose to be leads an individual to arrive at the certain destination, at an unavoidable junction.

Having that metaphor concluded and making certain that all of the points would be proper for Nick to take reference, Donovan asked:

- With all that you know, the choices and thoughts processed thus far, what is the most logical of paths? What is the most evident of answers? Is it really not possible for there to be no other emotions or entanglements beyond friendship among you and miss Hopps, or is the answer to it all staring you right in the face since not that long? Dismiss protest or confusion and answer it honestly.

Nick took the time to think, really think, about what he was going to say next, he looked over at his glass, still half filled with the delectable drink, he began breathing slowly and deeply before the answer rushed into his mind. Nick recalled all of the paths leading to that same point, he chose to be Judy's partner and remain at her side, support her at the same measure that she supported her constantly, the time that they spent together left its mark on him, it all came rushing down into his mind. Nick recalled how Judy's touch felt at any moment they were together, how her smile made him glean and her sadness just broke him apart, their discussions out of curiosity, intrigue and care for one another, the fact that they shared some of the most private portions of each other's lives, Donovan was right, it all seemed to be leading to one unavoidable conclusion and Nick could not back away from it. The wolf called to his attention as well as he asked one final and vital question:

- Can you sincerely tell me that as you sit here, enjoying one of the most coveted drinks in all of Zootopia, that you wouldn't want to be anywhere else at all with her?

Nick opened his eyes wide and lowered his ears, he was out of options, out of any leeway, it was the truth and he had to admit it. Nick's mind began to fire off one memory after the other, all of them turning to Judy in a way, she had always been in his mind even if she was not around, even if his actions were in the rarest of occasions detached from her. Nick's heart began to beat faster and he felt a little short on breath, his claws scrapped against the counter, his tail flopped down over behind his seat, there was only one thing to say as the realization came at him like a bullet train on an inclined rail and Donovan finally got to heard the matter of fact that he always suspected up until that point. Nick looked ahead with an awestruck face, he just could not believe that the answer was staring him down all this time and he only noticed it then, when there was no more excuse or clever remark to be had, he felt a chill in his belly and it caused the fur on the back of his neck to spark up, the fox looked ahead and said:

- OH, God! It's true!

That prompted the look of both Finnick and Donovan in his direction, Nick concluded his thought as he squinted his eyes and leaned his back slightly forward to place some of his body weight over the counter of the bar, the fox felt as if the motivation was sucked right out of him as he said:

- I'm in love with her! I'm in love with Judy Hopps.

Donovan adjusted the right sleeve of his suit before saying:

- There it is.

Satisfied with the fox and his sudden realization. Nick closed his eyes as he pressed his eyelids shut, his body was nicely leaned forward and his arms were placed over the counter as he looked down and bonked the top of his forehead against the counter. The dramatic outburst out of Nick surprised Donovan, the sound of the moderate impact of the fox's skill against the counter even surprised some of the other mammals who were enjoying the night on seats and tables next to the main bar. Donovan watched as Nick lowered his head against the hard surface of the counter and he spoke sincerely, looking at Finnick before saying:

- That… is certainly not the reaction I was expecting out of him.

Finnick remained unaffected as he looked at Nick, the little fox showed a side smile before saying in return:

- He's actually taking it pretty well all things considered.

Donovan and Finnick waited for a short time to check if Nick would do or say anything else, the fox was simply being dramatic but it did not excuse for any for the two mammals seated next to him to simply leave him like that. The female leopard who was attending to the bar that evening, passed by in front of the trio and her sight caught Nick in his mortified pose over the counter, she pointed to the fox and asked with concern:

- Hey, is he gonna be okay?

She had no idea if that was the result of a drink she served or something else entirely, Donovan reassured her shortly after by saying:

- Nothing to worry about, my dear. Our friend here is merely having an epiphany.

The leopard had no idea what was actually going on, her vocabulary of bar lingo did not include the word 'Epiphany' apparently and Donovan was placed at a momentarily loss. The leopard ears twitched to the sides and her tail swished upward before she looked over to the wolf with her eyes furled and asked:

- What?

Finnick chimed in, as he pointed his left paw at Nick and called to the bartender's attention by placing a quick explanation:

- The point of a personal matter is hitting him like a brick.

The bartender now had a bit of a broader understanding of what was happening, she took in a short gasp of air and her eyes opened a little wider as she said:

- Oh! Got it. Should I… do something?

Donovan spoke up once more, making a waving gesture with both of his paws over Nick's figure right next to him, pointing to the fox in his entirety before saying:

- It is usually best to leave him to his own thoughts, he will come to his own conclusions eventually.

The leopard nodded her head and took her leave, she had other tasks to get to and she was very relieved to know that the fox's reaction over the counter was not her fault or some strange aversion caused by any drinks she had served that night. After almost a full minute or so of waiting and contemplating, Nick sat straight once more, the bump of his head against the counter and the extended time he spent with his forehead pressed against the hard surface left a small impression on his skin, luckily, it was nicely hidden by the fur over his head. Nick blinked slowly as his eyes moved around, his sight inevitably landed over Donovan to his left and he asked:

- I don't… how long have I been feeling this? Have I seriously been just too dumb to figure it out on my own?

Donovan made an impediment gesture with both of his palms pointed at Nick before telling him:

- I'm afraid I am not the one to answer to those questions, master Wilde. Only you can figure such things out for yourself.

Nick reacted to that by placing his paws over his eyes and rubbing his fingers over them while saying with a certain level of strain on his voice which could be felt inside his mind:

- This is so freaking messed up. I'm in love with her!

Donovan opened his arms and tried to lift Nick's spirits, the wolf was showing a wide grin as he turned his entire body and the stool followed his uptight rotational motion before he spoke:

- Why such dread, master Wilde? You are in love, most mammals are happy to discover that!

Nick turned to Donovan, he looked right at the wolf's eyes as he made a clenching gesture with his left paw, grabbing nothing but air as he emphasized:

- That's just it! I'm not in love with some run-of-the-mill girls. This is Judy we're talking about! I'm a fox, she's a bunny! How is that even going to work out?!

Finnick released a guffaw as he pressed his mouth shut, the little fox could not contain the brief shot of laughter he was experiencing and that called to the attention of the other two seated by the bar. Finnick blinked once before letting Nick know:

- Yup. Can't duck down out of this one. You're in some serious trouble there, Wilde.

- This is not funny, Finn, this is serious. Judy is my friend and my coworker, and to top it all off we're not even the same species. Granted, I don't have a problem with that but I have no earthly idea of how she is going to respond to it. What should I even do?!

Donovan patted Nick's shoulder with a little more intent as he answered to that while still having measured enthusiasm on his voice:

- Isn't it obvious? Go to her and ask her out, talk to her about it and see where it takes you, both of you.

Nick released a snarky retort as he placed his right paw over the top right side of his head, brushing his fur and flopping his ear back before saying:

- Oh, yeah. That's a winning move if I ever heard one. I'll just walk up to the coolest girl in town and ask her: Hey, remember me? I just found out I'm in love with you. Wanna go out sometime?

Donovan and Finnick looked at Nick, both of them demonstrating pensive expressions mostly meant as a joke, the fox's tone of voice incited them to respond in kind as they said respectively:

- Need some work.

- Even I could have done better than that.

Nick released a long sigh before saying:

- Guys, that's not helping.

Donovan returned to a more serious tone of voice for the moment, enticing Nick to look further into his own emotions and at that situation by telling him:

- Master Wilde, I understand that figuring something like this out of the blue can be a little… overwhelming, but it is no reason to despair or falter in such a way. It is true that cross species couples are a wildly ranged topic nowadays but the main thing you are supposed to be focusing on is your own feelings.

Donovan repositioned his body over his seat, rotating the stool under his posterior so that he would be facing the counter once more, his head was still turned at an angle to the right as he looked at Nick and continued to speak to him:

- I'm sure you have heard this sort of thing before but, in terms of love, want, desire, curiosity, the barrier between species hardly matter anymore at this day and age. You are able to make a plan of action and act upon it, you can talk things out and discover things for yourself alongside her and that is not a dumb risk to be taken or a destructive move to be made, it's just a path you can choose to take. Do you seriously think that talking to her, confessing about your feelings so openly and sincerely, would be such a bad thing?

Nick began to take a hold of that new feeling, his breath became deeper, stronger and more controlled, the fox rose up until he was sitting straight over the stool and his mouth opened slowly as he articulated his next set of words. It did not take too long before Nick spoke up:

- No. Not at all. It would not be bad at all.

Nick grabbed the glass in front of him and took the last long swig of his drink, being hit by the same sensation from before as he believed that taking the long and daring swig of the beverage would provide him with sufficient courage and determination for what he had to tackle soon after. Nick turned his body around over the revolving seat of his stool, he hopped down and placed both his feet on the ground as he then decided to cut the drinking night short and take his leave, Finnick saw his friend getting up and turned his direction to ask:

- Where do you think you're going?

Nick did not exit the bar right away, he rummaged around his right front pocket and retrieved a wad of folded bills, he flipped through them with the fingers of his right paw before taking out two bills of selective value and paying for his share of the drinks, he looked at Finnick and pointed to the path leading to the exit before telling him:

- I'm going home. I got to think a few things through.

With that being said, Nick walked out of the bar, making his way back to his apartment and thinking about what he would say and how he would interact with Judy from that point on, figuring out that he would have to account that his feelings for her were ever present but now he could acknowledge them far loftier manner than before. Donovan and Finnick were left in their seats inside of the Matriarch, the wolf slowly raised from his seat and picked up his cane before telling the little fox:

- Well, this night was certainly productive, but I am afraid I have to take my leave, lots of important work to be done first thing in the morning.

Donovan grabbed his wallet, after opening it, he placed a bill with the value of one hundred over the counter to pay for the drinks and that just alerted Finnick about just how expensive that drink was, the little fox watched with wide eyes filled with shock as the wolf walked calmly to the exit and took his leave and Finnick was left there to enjoy the rest of the night on his own. That night had not gone as Finnick imagined, he figured that he and Nick would just enjoy some drinks and throw some talk to the wind as they used to do but he accepted the outcome without complaint, deep down he was happy for his friend and his sudden realization that he was in love, he even welcomed the presence of the elder wolf as if, for some reason, there was an air to him that exhaled more than mere wisdom.

Finnick retrieved his cellphone from his jacket pocket, the little fox messed around with the menu of applications but his eyes picked up on something from the far wall of the bar just before he got too into inspecting the device in his paws, The Matriarch was quite the famous locale in Zootopia and the owner of the place prided in the fact that quite a few celebrities had stopped by to enjoy the drinks and atmosphere that the spot had to offer, there was a wall filled with monochrome pictures of some of the famous stars that dropped by and there was plenty of room for more pictures, however, among them, there was the image of a wolf. Finnick squinted his eyes and leaned his head in the direction of the wall as he focused on the picture of a young wolf, shiny and long coat, striking a triumphant pose while having boxing gloves covering his paws, the picture was autographed with a single name written in cursive letters meant as a stage moniker: 'THE STORM'.

After studying the picture for a little while, Finnick looked at the direction of the door leading outside, past the other various mammals that were coming and going around inside of the establishment, he lowered his ears and admitted to himself as the last surprise from that night was seemingly unveiled to him:

- No freaking way!