Hello my dearest readers. Gird thine loins for this one. You're in for a fluffy gut punch, and I have zero apologies to give.
I of course do not own Zootopia and can make no claims to it, or it's characters. I claim only my own OCs, when they appear.
With that out of the way. On with the show.
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Nick and Judy walked out of the precinct with a light laugh. "Oh my gods, Nick! That was terrible!"
Grinning widely, Nick hip bumped Judy. "It might be terrible, but it still made you laugh. Besides… Who in their right mind would actually think that excuse would work? I mean… Really."
"I know…" Judy stopped, her voice dropping and causing Nick to nearly walk over her.
The shift in her tone and scent brought his hackles up and he looked around quickly trying to locate the threat she clearly had sensed and he somehow missed. The only thing he could find was her parents and several of her less than predator friendly siblings. Nick continued to look around as Judy continued.
Judy's tone went ice cold and Nick swore the temperature dropped in the area enough to feel. "Mom. No. It is not happening."
Bonnie frowned. "Judith Laverne Hopps. You were supposed to be in the Burrow days ago. Your wedding is in three days and now we are going to be hard pressed to make sure your dress is ready."
Nick looked down at Judy startled as it felt like a blade was just run through his heart and guts. "Judy? Wedding?"
Judy grabbed his paw and gave it a reassuring squeeze, looking up at him with a weak and angry smile. "Not happening, Nick. It's another attempt to sell me off in some arranged marriage to some nameless buck. They've tried this before. Remember when you had to cover for me for three days. Yeah, that was their last attempt." Her attention and icy stare switched to her parents. "But it isn't happening. That time I happened to be home for a visit and they sprung it on me.
Mom. Dad. This is not Bunnyborrow. It is Zootopia. I know you brought the morons to try and overpower me. Not happening. That would be kitnapping. There is a reason I don't go home anymore without Nick. I need the backup."
"Is that why?" He asked, unsure and feeling very exposed there on the steps of the precinct with zero cover.
"Yes. I knew you'd protect what is yours, even if you haven't actually said anything yet."
Nick squeaked and glanced down at her, eyes wide. "Uhm… Well… You see…"
Judy grinned up at him. The love in her eyes melted his heart. "Hush, Nick. We can talk about our first, official, date later when we get home." Her eyes went cold with rage as she turned back to her parents. "This is Zootopia, and it is not three hundred years ago when you could just sell off your daughter like you would a bushel of beets. I do not consent to this. I have never consented to this."
Stu held up a sheaf of papers as Bonnie spoke. "Judy, dear. We know that. That is why we have a court order."
Judy growled. "Signed by Judge Bunnley I'll bet. Unenforceable, and if you try it, I'll make sure he is not just out of a job, but disbarred and up on charges for ethical violations." Her attention shifted to the side and one of her brothers. "Don't, Billy. You try it and after I kick your ass, you'll be under arrest for charges of attempted kitnapping and anything else I can think to charge you with." The brothers backed off.
Mike and Lizz stepped out of the precinct, the smiles on their muzzles disappearing upon seeing and feeling the tense atmosphere. They both paused with a glance between them before Mike spoke. "Wilde. There a problem?"
Nick nodded but didn't take his attention off the rabbits. "Yeah. They're here to basically kitnap Judy and force her back to Bunnyborrow for some arranged marriage. I'm sure you can appreciate that."
MIke growled, which made the brothers back off further as Lizz put a paw on his shoulder. "Yeah. That's not happening."
Bonnie spoke up. "Actually. You, officers, will be helping us. You will detain the wayward doe by the name of Judith Laverne Hopps so she can be transported back home to get married." Looking at Judy with a motherly, long suffering smile. "Judy. This is happening. You cannot avoid it. This order is legal and not signed by Judge Bunnley but a Zootopia Magistrate Judge. So it is binding to you."
Judy gripped Nick's paw. "Mother. What lie did you tell them, huh? I am not, have not, and will not consent to this wedding. That makes it…" Judy paused to look down at the tranq dart suddenly sticking out of her shoulder. Her voice fading out. "Rotten… Beats…."
Judy fell to the side unconscious, NIck catching her. Looking up with righteous rage in his eyes. "What did you do? Are you absolutely insane?"
One of the siblings, reloading his weapon but never taking his eyes off Nick, spoke. "It's no longer your concern, pelt. She's getting married and there is nothing you can do about it. She is finally going to be a proper doe and start providing her buck some kits. He's been forced to wait long enough while she indulged this farce of her being a cop. It's time that ended already."
Bonnie glared at the brother who spoke. "Gerald Hopps. You shut your mouth."
Mike and Lizz and moved down next to NIck and Judy. Lizz glanced down at him. "Wilde, you have an exit?"
Nick nodded. "Never without one." Lifting Judy into his arms in a princess carry.
Bonnie and Stu froze a moment, Stu speaking. "Wait. What did you call NIck?"
Lizz and MIke glanced at each other then Nick, LIzz raising an eye ridge. "Uhm… Wilde. It's his name. Nick Wilde. How do you, of all mammals, not know that."
Stu pulled out his phone and quickly made a phone call as Nick tensed, holding Judy to his chest. "Hey… What did you say your other son's name was?" Glancing over at Nick. "Yeah. Black tipped tail? …. … … Yeah, Nicholas. … … Well, how about that." Looking up at Nick with a smirk. "Bon, we're taking them both."
Bonnie nodded and produced a tranq pistol from her purse, shooting Nick before he got a full step. He had spun to protect Judy and took it to his vest. He moved to run and suddenly dropped to a knee as a second dart appeared in his thigh. "Well, crap." Looking over at Stu and Bonnie. "I won't let this stand. She's … mine…" He managed to roll to the side as he fell, still protecting Judy.
With them both unconscious, they missed the absolute nuclear shit storm that took place after. Sheriff officers facing off against Lizz, Mike, and most of Precinct One as they prevented them from accessing the unconscious fox and bunny. Threats. Demands. And a dozen lawyers all arguing on the steps of the precinct, and all on camera as a news crew happened to be coming to the precinct to do an interview of Chief Bogo.
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Judy woke with a groan and blinked the crust from her eyes. She hated getting tranq'd. It always left her feeling drained. It wasn't a natural sleep, so it wasn't restful. Bonnie clapped her paws happily causing Judy to wince. It also came with an epic hangover. "Mom? What?"
Bonnie helped her sit up and then pressed some Tigrenol and a large glass of water into her paws. "Here you go, sweetie. Can't have you meeting your groom feeling like you've been trampled by a herd of elephants, now can we?"
Judy nodded numbly as she downed the pills and water, then froze, her mind clearing suddenly as adrenaline flooded her system. "Mother. I told you, this is not happening. You know what will happen if you try this. I do not consent, and you have to have my consent for this to have even the smallest bit of maybe being even remotely legal and binding. I will do like I did last time, and worse.
You will have to have me bound and gagged, and that will make it anything but legal. If he so much as touches me, I'll have him up on charges of assault. If the tries to consummate the marriage, I'll have him up on charges of rape. I am not playing with you, mother. I will not put up with this anymore. I am my own doe. I have my own life, and I am not giving that up, nor am I giving up Nick, just to satisfy some antiquated, backwards, arranged marriage from you, just so you can close a deal or something. Just so you know. You'll be on charges of kitnapping, conspiracy and anything else I can think of as well. I am not messing around here, mother. I am absolutely done with this crap from you. I have seen what some of my sisters have had to deal with that you have managed to bully into one arrangement or another. And all just because they didn't find a mate on their own as quickly as you think they should have. That is not going to be me. Period."
Bonnie sighed. "Yeah, we get that, Judy. You have to understand. We were not marrying you off to a buck. Not this time. I think you would have liked him. However, we found a better alternative."
Judy looked at her mother like she had grown a second head. "What? Not a buck?" Putting her head in her paws. "It has to be the tranq. I swear you said you were not trying to marrying me off to a buck. Then who? What? Mother, you are making even less sense than you usually do when you try this. I'm not going to miraculously decide, sure, I'll marry this random buck you have lined up for me this time. Not if he is a buck. Not if he's a jackrabbit or a pika, or a damn squirrel. I love Nick, mom. We had to reach a certain point, and we actually had gotten there. Finally. I'm not marrying whatever rando, buck or not, that you have lined up. I'm returning to Zootopia. I'm going to date and marry Nick, and if you are lucky, I won't file charges."
Bonnie smiled knowingly with a nod. "Sure. Just have a peak. Won't you? Your groom is just next door." Opening the door to the adjoining room.
Judy rolled her eyes, but looked, and gasped in shock. "What? I… What?"
Bonnie grinned as she closed the door. "Yeah. Perhaps I should explain."
Judy glared at her mother. "Ya think?!"
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Nick woke with agony in his brain like he was waking from a three day bender. Ask him how he knows what nearly dying of alcohol poisoning feels like? Only, this was a tranq hit, without a shot of neutralizer, so it was worse than the bender he went on after he left Judy at the press conference. He sat up slowly and peaked out of his eyes, thankful that wherever he was, they had the lights off save a small lamp in a far corner, behind him.
Putting his paws over his ears, he focused on his nose, focused on all the training for K9 that he and Judy had undergone as he mumbled to himself. "Time to make Mike proud."
Taking a deep, slow, breath so he could analyze each scent. His own was easily first and while he checked himself via that scent, other than the post-tranq hangover, he seemed to be in good health via scent. Next… Bunnies. Lots and Lots of Bunnies. In fact, he knew a good portion of them. Bonnie and Stu were prevalent. There were also rabbits he liked and didn't. He was clearly in the burrow, though not sure what room.
By smell, it was near the great room. He knew he needed to explore more the last few times he was there, but Judy wouldn't let him out of her sight and now he understood why. Once he got out of the room he was in, he could find his way. There were other scents as well. A coyote he didn't know. Gideon and Baked goods, which made sense, but Gid didn't get to explore past the front kitchen as far as he knew. Odd. Probably a cake, Blueberry and Strawberry layers.
There were at least three, maybe four other foxes present by general scent. Definitely all related. Their scent was… familiar, which shouldn't necessarily be an issue, but the scent tickled at his brain as if he knew them more personally. Knowing not to chase, as their trainer had joked, that rabbit, he left his brain and memory to work on that and took another breath to take in more information.
As he did that, the scent of one of those other foxes hit him much harder. They were in the room and he opened his eyes slowly. Vixen. Older. Familiar. She spoke in a voice that was equal parts terrifying and impossible. "Here you go, sweetie. Some Tigrenol and a glass of water. I'm told this will help clear your head quickly."
Nick took the pills and water, sniffed them quickly, and then downed them and the entire glass of water. "Thanks, Mom." He then froze, his eyes popping wide, hangover forgotten. Snapping his eyes to the older vixen as she moved into the small amount of light. All he could do is blink in shock. "Mom?! What?!"
Smiling a smile he had not seen in nearly twenty years she nodded. "Hi, Nikky. It's been too long. It's so good to see you. I'm so proud of you."
Nick looked around quickly and took stock while the adrenaline kept the hangover at bay. This was definitely the burrow. The strength of his scent now made more sense. This was one of the guest rooms. More to the point, this was the one that they gave him for when he visited with Judy. Not that he slept here much. Judy, for reasons he again now understood, did not let him out of her ear shot for long or often.
"Mom… What? How? … Huh? What are you doing in the Hopps burrow? Where have you been? Where did you go? I looked for you. For Dem. For Dad. You just… Vanished."
She looked sad and ashamed. "I'm sorry, Nikky. They let your dad out, but then deported him. I mean, he was a citizen, but also a fox. We left messages for you that clearly never got delivered. Dem and I joined him while we fought in the courts to restore his stolen citizenship. After you and your bunny took down that sheep, things changed. We were able to return, and we were not the only predators who had been wronged.
We got a huge settlement upon our return, your dad for what happened to him since it was clear that he wasn't the actual thief, then his time in prison, and then having his citizenship denied and illegally deported. Then for Dem and I for having to follow him to keep our family together. Technically you are due as well, you'd just need to file, since you basically got abandoned due to what happened."
She paused before continuing. "Look. Nick. I'm sorry. We should have tried more. And… And I… I shouldn't have been quite so proud. I only saw that you were hustling and didn't pay attention to what you were doing with the money. I didn't pay attention to the fact that you guys were going hungry. I guess… I guess I was also ashamed because I couldn't support you three."
Nick frowned. "Three?"
Smiling widely. "Yes. Three. I was pregnant when you left. From that last conjugal visit with your dad. You have a little sister you're gonna need to meet. Your dad and brother are here helping, while she is helping that wonderful baker set things up."
Nick understood everything, even having a sister he didn't know about, but helping set up? That confused, then suddenly angered him as he remembered why he'd been tranq'd. "Mother…" His tone cold and icy as he stood. "Why in the name of Karma are you helping the Hopps basically sell off my mate!" Nick paused with a flinch. He hadn't meant to… Did he mean that? Physically flinching again as things, memories, actions, reactions, and everything fell into place in his mind.
The other scents, the foxes. That was his dad. Older, but his dad, as well as his brother. He hadn't smelled them in nearly twenty years, and then he wasn't trained like he was now, so not immediately recognizing them made sense. That made the other vixen he smelled, who had familiar, and dare he suggest, familial notes to her sent, the sister he just learned about. But no. That wasn't it. He could smell Judy, and she wasn't that far away. They had fans going though. That's why things were confusing via smell. The scents were all mixed up.
Turning his attention back to his mother. The shock of her presence along with his brother, father, and before unknown sister, were not his primary concerns. "Mom. Why are you here? Why are you here and participating in the wedding of Judy to some rando buck her parents are trying to offload her onto? She is my mate, not some bucks she has never met. I know she isn't consenting to this."
Giving Nick a very familiar smirk. He had gotten that from her after all. "Oh, Nick. Let me continue and it will start to make sense. You see, when we got back, we had money, and a lot of it, but no place to go really. We didn't know where you were. Heck, I reached out to some contacts and they said you'd been iced!" Wiping away a tear. "When we saw you on the news. It was a shock. We moved to Foxenburg where a number of other Wilde Clan foxes live. We bought up a small orchard and some additional land, and well… Your father restarted his tailor shop. We dedicated part of the land to grow and process cotton, another for silk.
The weather, with some greenhouses for the colder winters, is actually really conducive to silk production. Of course he opened up his contacts to get things like wool and such, and got his tailor business back off the ground. In the intervening years, he's added fashion and even done a few of Gazelle's outfits. She speaks highly of you and Judy.
We have been doing well, but ran up against an issue with shipping out our crops. Apples and such, just as every other grower in Foxenburg has. Your dad was on one of the far edges of our land when he noted that there was an old railway cargo depot along the line that goes through Bunnyburrow, but…"
Nick nodded. "It's currently inactive, even though the freight trains still use the line. I know. I've talked to Stu about it in the past. He was asking about what it might take to get the rail lines to start stopping there again." Nick's eyes got wide. "Wait! You reached out to the Hopps about the depot?"
His mother nodded. "We did. They were very amicable to the idea. However, they needed some deeper assurances, being the traditional rabbit clan that they are, to lock in the contract and splitting of the financing since it would be going around the town council of Bunnyborrow. The Foxenburg council is all in on it. To get the BB council in, and shut down the more conservative, and as Stu put it, skittish, members of the BB council. Well, it was decided to look into some form of at least family level merger."
Nick laughed darkly. "So, what? They aren't marrying Judy off to some rando buck, but instead some rando fox? My gods, mother! That's the sort of thing that went not just out of fashion, but without consent of both parties to be wed, is patently illegal."
"This is true. However, we were assured that they had a daughter that had little to no fear of predators, worked closely with them, and seemed fairly fond of foxes. Demetri agreed to the wedding as he has no interest in vixens. According to him, they are just too overbearing. He figured that he and the doe could tough out the required 4 years and then separate. Thus closing the deal for both families. He wasn't worried about her giving him any kits, and maybe they could grow to like each other in time as long as he supported her."
Nick thought that through and nodded. "Yeah, you might almost convince Judy to go along with that, so long as Dem didn't actually try and push her into anything. However… Her parents have not exactly approached this in a way to make her amicable to the idea, or even consider entertaining the idea of it. Hell, they tranq'd us both. I'm assuming your job is to keep me here until the wedding is over." He stood, fully intent of leaving the room and locating Judy.
Smirking even wider. "Well… Yes and no. I'll remind you. Prior to seeing you on the news, we didn't realize that you were still alive, and most of these negotiations and discussions happened before that. Not only that, but there was the news conference itself which derailed things due to what she said, and the savage attacks. Once things got back up and running, we tried to find you, but none of our old contacts knew where you were. The police academy would be where I assume you were. So, we went back to the original plan. Everything was ironed out, planned out, and then it was just a matter of timing."
"So… I totally appreciate the situation, but I am not letting Dem, or any other rando on the planet marry MY bunny." Tapping his chest to accentuate the point.
"And you don't have to, dear."
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Nick stood at the altar in his dress blues. He wasn't sure who picked them up from his and Judy's apartment, but given Mike was standing at the start of the aisle with Lizz ready to start the procession. He had to guess it was one or both of them. Behind him was Fin and a black sheep he could only assume was Sharla. After Fin was Henry, who Nick could only assume was there because Fin told someone about him. Especially as Jason was behind him. Some of Judy's siblings or cousins standing with them.
Glancing to the side where his parents, brother, and sister he only learned about a few hours prior, all with smiles for him. "Mom. I am still not sure how I ended up here. I mean. I'm not complaining, it's just… They tranq'd us in order to try and force Judy here to get married."
Nick's father chuckled. "I get it, son. It's one of those things. We have talked many times with Stu and Bonnie about you, how you were lost to us. How it was seeing you on the news and all that. How we wished we could find you. Bonnie and Stu in kind told us stories about the fox that saved their daughter's life and became a cop to help support and protect her. Which they appreciate at a level I don't know if they are sure how to express to you. The connection between our Nick, and Judy's Nick just got missed by all of us because they didn't know your last name, or if they heard it, it didn't click.
Plus we were all worried about and focused on getting the wedding set up. Then, when your friend called you Wilde. Since we and the wedding was directly on their mind, it kinda clicked with Stu. He called me, and well… Tranq'ing you guys was probably a bit over the top, but it worked out for the best."
All Nick could do was roll his eyes. The entire situation was absolutely beyond the pale. Yet there he stood, about to participate in the arranged marriage of himself and his bunny. A wedding they were both prepared to fight just a few days prior.
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Judy stood behind the curtain in a dress she never in her life expected to be wearing. Looking over to her grinning father as he wiped yet more tears from his eyes. "Dad. I'm going to warn you one more time. If this is some trick…"
"It's no trick, Judy. We never made the connection between your fox and Vik and John's eldest, and missing in action, son. Mostly because they always referred to him as Nicholas. Then your friends referred to him by his last name and it just kinda hit me."
"Okay. I can buy that, but tranq'ing us? Seriously? That is extreme, even for you guys."
Stu looked down ashamed. "Yeah. That was your brothers who talked us into having those with us. Mostly to protect us from Nick who they were convinced would stand in the way, which he did. Though I understand more."
Judy sighed tiredly. "Dad… It doesn't matter. That was borderline criminal. As long as Nick is up there when the curtains part, I won't be pressing charges. But we need to have a serious talk about what is acceptable."
Stu nodded. "You're right. I guess we should have just talked to you about it. I mean. Dem was just planning on going through with the wedding, sticking out the years needed to satisfy things, and then separating, with a hope that maybe something more might bloom in the intervening. He talked about how he wasn't going to make you stop being a cop or anything like that. How he was going to get a job at the university and support you in what ways he could.
But then we find out about you and Nick, and who Nick actually was, and well… It solves our problems, and other than needing to date after the wedding instead of before. You get to have the fox of your dreams."
Judy chuckled. "This is beyond absurd. While it is working out for me, you guys really need to outlaw arranged marriages. They're just a messed up thing. However, I hear the music shifting, so it is time. One last time." Poking him in the chest. "This better not be a trick."
Stu smiled as the music changed and they waited for the curtain to open. "It isn't, Judy. We are just happy you found someone who loves you as much as he does. That he is a fox is actually less surprising than I think we expected. The fact that this works out for both our families is just a bonus at this point. And… You're right. We need to find a better way."
"It isn't three hundred years ago. It isn't a hundred, or even fifty years ago, dad. The courts are very good about enforcing contracts. Nextime, maybe consult with the lawyers first."
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The music shifted again and Nick turned from greeting his groom's mammals to look towards the curtain hiding his promised bride. The curtain pulled aside and the first mammal he saw was Stu standing there with a proud grin unlike anything he had ever seen on the bucks muzzle before. Nick had to admit he looked good in the tuxedo. Then his vision shifted to the side and the doe standing next to him. Nick's jaw hit his chest as his head fell forward slightly. His breath and all thought left him as his eyes drank in the sight. Even at the distance Nick could see the brilliant purple of her eyes. The dress was a perfect white with accents of emerald green and crystal amethyst.
His brain tried to restart itself as Mike leaned forward and reminded him to breathe. Nick managed to muster enough brain power to take a breath and close his mouth as Judy's crystal giggle filtered its way to him through the collected mammal's gasps. He then swallowed thickly as the reality of what was about to happen truly hit him and a wide, toothy grin he couldn't stop came over him as he watched her blush hard enough to tint her cheek fur.
As she approached, escorted by Stu, Nick could make out that the accents were an emerald vine and violet foxgloves stitched into the fabric with metallic thread. Her simple veil was sheer fabric that caught the light with a pearlescent sheen yet seemed almost not there at the same time and was held on by a crown made of brilliant green ivy with foxgloves woven with it. The train of her dress was made up of just that. Ivy and foxgloves. The dress itself was not a large billowing thing, but minus the train and such, could be an evening gown, and simply hugged her curves in ways that gave Nick ideas even her fur tight uniform didn't.
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Judy watched the audience be revealed and was shocked to see ZPD officers, including Chief Bogo. Then she saw polar bears holding tiny animals on their paws. What shocked her most though was Maria and her tigers. All her friends were there. The Otterton's and their pups sitting on her side as well. Then she saw her sisters, Sharla, and Lizz up on her side of the altar and couldn't help a grin.
However, when she saw Nick she blushed. Watching him almost fall forward in shock as his jaw quite literally hit his chest made her giggle. Especially as Mike leaned forward, keeping a paw on his shoulder so he didn't fall and she assumed whispered something about breathing as Nick stood back up with a deep breath.
She blushed more as she took him in, moving with her father as he prompted her down the aisle. His tux was perfect. Black with a crimson cummerbund, and then green and purple accents at his collar and the seams of his pants. It was clear he had eyes only for her as they shined with a love and adoration for her she had only prior dreamed about.
She would never not give her parents hell for the whole trying to force her into getting married to some random mammal, be it a buck, a todd, or whatever. However… in that moment, she could not be happier. They really could have just handled it better.
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Judy stepped up next to Nick and grinned up at him mirroring the grin on his muzzle. "Hey, Slick. You ready to get hitched so we can go on some dates?"
Nick chuckled. "I've been ready for all of it since we met. And doing it out of order. Well, that just seems par for our course, so very much on-brand for us."
"It really is."
They both turned to the red deer who smiled at them both. "Nick. Judy. As this is an arranged marriage to satisfy and solidify a contract and merger of clans. I have to ask you both, before we continue. Though given the smiles on your muzzles, I am pretty confident I know the answer." Both gave a nod for him to continue. "Do you, Judith Laverne Hopps, enter into and agree to this marriage arranged for you and without your input?"
Judy smiled. "While my parents could have done a better job of communicating, and approached things better. Given the other circumstances. I willingly consent and welcome this marriage to the mammal I had chosen for myself anyway."
The deer smiled with a nod and turned his attention to Nick. "And Nick. Do you, Nicholas Piberius Wilde…" There was a snicker from behind him that was cut off with a quick elbow to Mike. The deer ignored that and continued. "...Enter into and agree to this marriage arranged for you and without your input?"
"As Judy states. Both of our families could have done a better job of communicating things and approached things better. I do however consent willingly and happily welcome this marriage to the mammal I had chosen for myself without knowing of the arrangements made."
With a nod and smile the deer opened the book before him on a small podium to a bookmarked page. "Excellent, then let us start."
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Taking a deep breath, the deer looked up at the assembled. "We are gathered here today to join these two mammals in the bounds of matrimony. What underlying reasons or arrangements may have preceded them here, they approach this marriage with love in their hearts and a clear hope for a future together in spite of the circumstances that may have brought them here before they expected it.
So, before we join these two. Do any here have reason and just justification, objection, or righteous dispute to this union?"
There was a long pause with only the sound of Stu, Nick's mother Vicky, and Ben, crying. "Then with no objection, let us begin."
Taking a deep breath, the deer spoke. "Nick, please repeat after me. I, Nicholas Piberius Wilde."
"I, Nicholas Piberius Wilde."
"Do take Judith Laverne Hopps."
"Do take Judith Laverne Hopps."
"To be my lawfully wedded wife."
"To be my waffly… lawfully…" Judy started giggling, and Nick couldn't help himself. "And Pancakie…" Judy lost it and Nick just grinned. After a few moments he spoke again. "I've been scared of this my entire life." After a few more moments as Judy tried, and failed, to get her laughter under control, members of the audience snickering as well. "Just give her a minute."
When Judy finally got herself under control and gave one last deep clearing breath, Nick picked up again. "To be my lawfully wedded wife." The rest of the wedding went off without a hitch and they moved to a massive reception where Nick and Judy had their first dance.
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With only her dress and crown on, the veil and train removed, Nick was sure she could not look more beautiful as they stepped into the center of the floor, everyone else moving to the sides. "You ready fluff?"
Judy smiled up at him. "I am. One hundred percent."
The first notes of Perfect by Ed Sheeran started playing. Nick put out his paw to Judy who took it with a smile containing nothing but love and adoration for him. They both closed their eyes and started moving with the music. The assembled watched in amazement, the rabbits in shock, especially the older rabbits, as Nick and Judy flowed together across the floor, both of their eyes closed yet in perfect sync.
Bonnie and Stu held each other tightly with tears in both their eyes. "Bon. I… I never thought I'd see it myself. To think, we almost broke that for them."
Bonnie nodded. "It's all for the best in the long run. I'm so glad she has been so ornery about dating. We might have missed seeing one of our girls get her true forever love."
As the music shifted to Calum Scott, You are the Reason, Nick and Judy continued to flow, eyes closed, clearly lost in each other. The music shifted to Coldplay – A Sky full of Stars and then John Legend – All of Me. Other couples started to join in at the edges as Katy Parry – Unconditionally started up, Nick and Judy getting to keep the center and adjusting without ever opening their eyes as the others joined them on the floor.
As the sixth song ended, they came to a stop in the middle of the floor and opened their eyes, grinning. Nick leaned down and pulled Judy into a deep kiss. "Gods. I love you, Judy."
"Not nearly as much as I love you, Nick." And they shared yet another kiss. Both thinking that, while dating would be fun, who needed it when you already got what you always wanted.
