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Judy awoke, letting out a comfortable sigh as she felt the familiar embrace of a passed out fox protectively balled around her. She gazed up to see the bottom of the muzzle of her partner Nick. The dumb fox was snoring loudly, causing his jaw to tap the top of her head with each loud breath. Judy had to stifle her giggle to keep from waking him. She hugged his arms closer to her for a moment, basking in the exquisite cuddle, before gingerly pushing his arms away. Carefully she maneuvered herself out of the vulpine's grasp and eased herself up.

Judy yawned, stretching her arm in the air as she prepared to greet the new day. She could tell already by the lighting outside that it was the afternoon. Luckily it was their day off or she would be having a panic attack at how late they would have been. The rabbit reached over to the side table to collect her phone, and quickly checked the time.

"Two fourteen P.M." She muttered. "Needed more sleep than I realized."

The rabbit placed the phone back on the counter and scratched herself. She needed some tea fast, something hot to perk her up before getting ready to hit the books again. As she moseyed her way toward the hall, she turned to regard her roommate once more. Nick clearly had a longer night than she had if the bags under his eyes were any indication. She wasn't sure exactly when she nodded off, but it was well before sun rise. It still managed to surprise her how much of a good cop Nick had really become. She couldn't imagine many other mammals that would not only put up with her tenacity for solving crime, but actually outpace her at times. That was just one of the things the rabbit loved about the fox.

She smirked as she continued to eye her partner. His snoring hadn't dampened in her absence, his jaw flapping open and shut with each loud breath. But his arms managed to snag his long and fluffy tail, which he snuggled as if it were the missing bunny.

"He is such a doof." She thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"But he's my doof." She answered herself softly, letting out a sigh of affection.

Judy exited the office and made her way toward the kitchen. Using a stool, she climbed on top of it and opened the cabinet where she kept her tea, grabbing herself the box of blueberry tea bags. After getting down, she set up the kettle and put it on the stove before settling back on the stool. Now leaning on the counter, waiting for the pot to steam the rabbit's mind began to wander.

When had she first realized she was in love with Nick? It seemed like so long ago, lost in a haze of what felt like an eternity of police work.

It was true that when she first met the fox, there was something had had drawn her to him. Nick would probably argue that it was his 'devilish good looks' and 'charming personality'. The rabbit felt her eyes roll; she could hear him saying it in her head punctuated with his usual smug grin. But it was true that there was something there, something just beneath the surface of the fox's cool exterior that made her want to keep him around far past the point where she needed his help. Maybe it was because she could see the good in him, and the longer he was stuck with her the more it came out. As she dragged the reluctant fox all over the city she could see his barrier falling away, and with it came his cunning intellect, quick thinking, and bravery.

It was that moment where he stood up to Chief Bogo on her behalf, standing his ground against the giant water buffalo on that night in the Rainforest District where she first saw Nick Wilde as he truly was. He was simply a good mammal, and a true friend, regardless of the hide he wore. He was just like her, just beaten down to the point where it had become easier to run than to stand, and he deserved his chance to shine.

Judy bit her lip and sucked in air, cringing as her memories drifted to her biggest mistake. One of the few things to this day the rabbit could not forgive herself for. That stupid press conference, her stupid statements. She hadn't even thought about the words she was saying as she said them, they had simply came out. The look on Nick's face, the pain in his eyes. She had coaxed him out of hiding, and gave him some small bit of hope only to stomp on it right in front of him. For years she had been told foxes were monsters, but the only monster at the ZPD that day was her.

With the fox out of her life, her only companions became shame and guilt. And that feeling was amplified by the unrest she had sent rippling through the city. Not only had she inadvertently reduced a mammal she saw as her friend to nothing more that a mindless monster, but she had done it to every predator in the Zootopia. She had made a mockery of her dream, and had sullied what her badge, and the ideals it represented stood for. But the longer Nick was out of her life, the less her job seemed to matter. Her dream didn't seem to be worth it anymore without Nick in her corner. And so with all of this weighing down on the rabbit, she turned in her badge and sentenced herself to exile back in the bustling little town of Bunny Burrow. It was a fitting ending to her little life story, one the rabbit thought to be much deserved at the time.

She had wanted to find Nick, to talk to him and apologize, but it all seemed so hopeless. She had essentially left the fox on a sinking ship and burned all of the life rafts. With no way to undo the damage she had done to Zootopia overall, and no way to begin to apologize properly to the fox it all seemed to be a lost cause.

It was when Gideon Grey of all mammals made mention of the "night howlers" that it all fell into place for Judy. Not only was it the missing link in the real 'why' behind the missing mammals case, and the key to cleaning up the mess she made of Zootopia, but it also gave her a catalyst for smoothing things over with her fox friend.

She hoped Nick would forgive her if she played her cards right, easing in from saving Zootopia into a grand apology. But when the fox simply turned away from her, she suddenly faced the very real fear of never being able to mend their broken friendship. She felt crushed, and couldn't stop the tears from coming. But at the very least she had to stay there and plead her case for the sake of the city, she needed his help even if they never spoke after that. She broke into full sobs as she prepared for the worst, a simple cold agreement to help with the case and nothing more. But when she heard her own voice played back on her carrot pen, and saw his familiar smug grin she felt all the pain wash away. Feeling the arms of her friend wrap around her, she knew that regardless of what happened with the case or Zootopia, she still had Nick, and that was what mattered.

From there it was all a whirl. The duo cut so many close calls wrapping up that case. When Judy thought about how many brushes with death they had that day, it actually spooked her. But Nick to his credit, seemed to stay cool enough to keep his mind running. She would have never come up with the plan to swap the blueberries for the night howler pellets, although to be fair she would have had a hard time coming up with any plan while still processing Dawn's betrayal.

"Dawn..." She mumbled to herself. At the time, playing off the hustle felt so good. Watching Dawn's expression drop to sheer terror at the sound of her own incriminating voice filled Judy with righteous satisfaction. But after everything, the trial, the ewe's statements, and of course seeing what she had been reduced to found Judy's anger replaced by pity. What Judy had first seen as a friend turned heartless criminal mastermind, was now a pale reflection of what Judy was at her lowest point. At the drive through window that night, Judy could nearly see herself at the roadside stand of her parents farm. Regretful of all she had screwed up, and dutifully accepting life's just punishment. While Dawn's crimes were much worse, and Judy couldn't see herself ever fully forgiving the lamb for her actions, there was a part of her that could see herself in Dawn's place had life had dealt her a different hand..

_"FWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_The kettle whistled loudly, snapping the rabbit out of her quiet reverie. Judy hopped off the seat and rushed to the kettle, hoping to silence it before it woke the sleeping fox in the other room. As she pulled it off the burner, the sound of the kettle began to die away causing Judy to emit a sigh of relief. Carefully she poured the hot water, then added the milk and just a dab of honey to bring out the flavor. After placing the kettle on a different burner, the rabbit sat back down and stirred her tea.

They had saved Zootopia, a fox and a rabbit. But as terrible as it was to admit, Judy was more happy to have saved their friendship. She was even more delighted to find out that Nick had kept his police applicant form and fully intended to join the ZPD.

The only bad part about the whole affair was that the two would be separated during Nick's time at the academy. It didn't give them much time to catch up with Judy recovering from her leg wound, her reinstatement and promotion, and then the circus that was the night howler trial. But thankfully they had Muzzletime and Yipe to keep in touch.

When Judy wasn't too tuckered out from the heavy workload incurred by being Zootopia's star Lieutenant, or Nick too wiped out from academy training they were on camera, whittling away hours talking about the most frivolous things. Other mammal's might have found such a thing boring, but Judy found herself rapt in anything Nick had to say. Whether it was about growing up in the city, or why one Bug Burga location was way better than another one, their chat's became a source of great comfort for the rabbit.

Judy could remember how proud she was on the day of Nick's graduation. She was filled with even more pride and joy than on the day of her own, because Nick had shown everyone else just what she had seen in him. Now all of Zootopia would be able to see that he wasn't 'just a fox', but a good mammal and a cunning crime fighter . The rabbit could remember feeling a tingling sensation as she placed the badge on her friends chest, overcome with joy to see the fox finally getting what he deserved. But that was friendly adoration, a feeling of joy and love for her friend the rabbit mused as she took a sip of her tea. At that point she hadn't felt a romantic love for the fox, and that much she was certain of.

As soon as Judy was back in the city she immediately went to put in a formal request to take on Nick Wilde as her partner. To her surprise, she found that Bogo had already filled out and approved the requisite paperwork on her behalf. When she asked Bogo about it he was his usual gruff self, and explained his motivations for approving it clinically, but Judy could see the small grin on his muzzle.

The first day on patrol was the beginning of their career as inseparable partners. After they caught Nick's 'buddy' Flash, which ended up forcing them to work overtime in order to process him, they spent the rest of the night at the Gazelle benefit concert. She knew Nick had gone more for her than for himself, as he wasn't a massive fan of Gazelle like she was. But the snarky fox did keep the Gazelle tabloid scandal jokes to a minimum, and even danced with her with a little prodding. By two in the morning they finally made it back to Judy's apartment, and proceeded to pass out.

That quickly grew into the routine for the two cops, minus going to the Gazelle concert. In the morning Nick would meet the rabbit at her place, they'd pick up breakfast on their way to the precinct. Then they would spend the day working cases or on patrol, catch a bite to eat after clocking out, and loaf around Judy's apartment until either Nick would need to leave, or he'd simply crash on a makeshift bed on the floor. While it didn't happen every single night, it certainly happened more often than one would expect in a normal friendship. Although Judy hadn't seen it that way at the time.

As the first few months went on, Judy began to give serious consideration to getting a better apartment. With Nick spending the night so often, the nosey and noisy neighbors, and the myriad of other problems it was becoming clear to the rabbit that she needed something a bit more comfortable.

But as she ruminated on her own living situation, she began to find herself more curious about Nick's living arrangements. In all the time they had been working together and hanging around each other she had never even seen it. Nick had never once even suggested relaxing at his place to change things up, they had always simply went to her tiny apartment. She tried to weave idle conversations into a direction that would cause Nick to make some mention of his own home. She brought up the woes of apartment life, and browsing for a new place, but Nick always seemed to deftly avoid any mention of his own place. Eventually Judy's curiosity reached it's limit, and during a routine patrol she decided to force it out of him. The two had been parked on Main St. in Sahara Square, trading their usual banter as they watched for any criminal activity.

"So...I was thinking..." The rabbit started.

"Hmm?" Nick grunted, his eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses, but still peering at the passing crowds.

"Maybe after work tonight..." Her voice was sing-song, trying to make the request as friendly as possible. "we could hang out at your place?"

The fox seemed to jolt for a moment, as if surprised by her question. Slowly he turned to her and lowered his glasses.

"Now why would you wanna hang out at my place Fluffs?" The fox crooked an eyebrow.

"Well, I just thought it would be different, you know?" She asked with slight confusion.

"A bunny in a foxes den?" He chuckled. "Why you'd be at my mercy, what would your parents think?" He chuckled.

Judy gave him a playful swat in the arm. "Nick, I'm serious. We never go to your place and now I'm kind of curious to see it. What, are you hiding a pig sty from me?" Judy chuckled.

"Now, now, I'm sure Officer Piggins would take offense to that kind of comparison." The fox continued.

"Nick!" Judy snorted. "C'mon, what's the problem. Tell me already."

The fox took his sunglasses off and let out a deep sigh. Judy could see his expression was pained before he turned away from her, looking back out on the street.

"I...don't exactly have an apartment Judes." He mumbled.

"So what? Like a house then? All that hustling buy you a nice little condo?" She chuckled.

When Nick didn't respond, her jovial attitude dropped in a heartbeat. This was clearly more serious than she realized.

"Nick?" She asked, with worry in her voice.

The fox continued to stare out the windshield at the mammals walking by. "You remember that bridge you found me under after you came back to the city?"

"Oh no, Nick you can't mean..."

"Relax Carrots, I don't live under a bridge." The fox turned back to her, placing a paw on her shoulder reassuringly. She placed her paw on his as he turned his sights back to the street.

"A little ways from there is a abandoned warehouse where...I've been kinda squatting." He frowned deeply as he said it.

"Oh Nick." She rubbed his paw.

"I've fixed it up pretty nice, and it works for me more or less, but it's too much of a hole in the wall to host company." Nick responded sullenly.

"But why do you live there? You couldn't get an apartment anywhere?" She asked.

"My previous activities...er...kinda got me kicked out of a lot of places." The fox muttered sheepishly. "Eventually I stopped trying to get places I'd only live at for about three months at a time, so I found this place. I've been there for about two years now."

"But how have you been getting your paycheck? The precinct can't be sending mail to an abandoned warehouse." Judy asked.

"I have a P.O. box at the post office, that's where those have been going." The fox craned his head up, letting off another sigh. All this clearing the air seemed to be making him uncomfortable.

"I've been meaning to start looking again now that I have a..erm, stable career. But it's just been easier to-"

Judy suddenly stood up in her seat, cutting Nick off and causing him to shrink at her sudden movement. The rabbit had heard more than enough of her friends plight, and an ingenious plan had struck her.

"Nick! I just had a great idea!" The rabbit said excitedly.

"Do tell Fluffs." The fox snickered.

"Why don't we look for an apartment together!?" Her foot was practically thumping against the seat cushion. Nick gave her an odd glance.

"Like...two different places together or...?"

"No, one place! We can be roommates!" Her voice was brimming with enthusiasm.

"Geeze...I don't know Carrot's" Nick rubbed the back of his head. "That's a big decision to make on the fly."

"No! Think about it!" Judy grabbed Nick's face and looked him square in the eyes. "Instead of moving into two not so great places, we can pool our money and move into one really good apartment! We won't have to worry about meeting up to commute to work!" The fox continued to eye her curiously.

"Well..." Nick rolled his eyes.

"We already hang out together all the time anyway, so it'll barely be any different! C'mon Nick!"

Nick gently grabbed her hands and pulled them off his face. Judy quickly pulled her hands away, blushing in embarrassment as she realized that she had practically been groping her friend in an excited frenzy. The fox chuckled.

"You bunnies, so emotional." Judy ignored the comment, clasping her paws together and making pleading eyes at the fox..

"Alright Carrot's, you've swayed me. You've got yourself a roomie."

Judy couldn't contain the urge to hop around, pumping her fists in excitement. The prospect of living with her best friend sounded like so much fun, and not only that, but she would know that Nick had a nice home. But Nick's next words brought her mood down a peg.

"Geeze, if I thought your parents weren't going to like you coming back to my place, they really won't like the idea of me living with you huh?" Nick chuckled.

Judy felt her ears droop. That was something she hadn't even considered. Sure her parent's had become more open about foxes, even partnering with Gideon Grey. But their daughter living with a fox? She was sure that wouldn't go over well.

"Forgot about 'em huh?" Nick chimed in.

"No!" She fired back. "I mean...I don't have to tell them right away anyway..."

Nick nodded at her with a bemused expression.

"Besides!" She pointed a finger at him. "I'm a grown doe, and I can do what I want!"

"Whatever you say Carrots." Nick raised his arms defensively. "But if they decide to drop by, and your Dad tries to fox spray me I will have no choice but to defend myself." He chuckled.

Living together, Judy was sure that was when her feelings of friendship had crossed over into something deeper. It had only taken the duo a short time to find a beautiful and spacious apartment that was practically walking distance from the station. Moving in was even easier, as the two barely had a room's worth of furniture between them. Over the next few months the two slowly managed to furnish the place enough to stop their voices from echoing every time they spoke, albeit some of the foxes furniture choices were tacky to say the least.

Living with Nick also turned out smoother than she had anticipated. The rabbit had assumed that there would at least be some friction between them, regardless of how close they were. But the fox was surprisingly tidy, and generally quiet when alone in his room. The two were on the same schedule when it came to sleep, so there never really was a risk of waking one another up. The most they would tend to argue would be about cases, or the choice of film for their regular movie night. If anything living together had only made them closer, and with that came the unusual feelings.

It started with sometimes catching herself giving Nick a lingering stare. Then there was the tingling sensation that she would sometimes get when hearing the fox say her name. Judy had also fallen into the habit of snuggling up to the fox whenever they were lounging on the sofa together. It had started completely by accident, the two were watching a movie together and the rabbit unwittingly leaned into him. She finally noticed when she felt Nicks arms wrap around her, sending a chill up her spine.

She would have pulled away now that she had realized she was leaning into him, but he had her securely snuggled against his chest. What surprised her the most was that Nick hadn't objected, he hadn't said anything, in fact he just held her tighter in response. Judy felt that shudder again, and buried herself deeper into the foxes fur, brushing off the idea that this was somehow weird behavior for close friends.

"It was the accident, that was it." Judy muttered to herself, taking another sip of her tea. "The shoot out at Zootopia's First national Bank, the one where Nick..." Her words lingered as she began to recall the incident.

The memory caused Judy to wince. She remembered the fox letting out an almost feral yelp as he hit the pavement. She had ran over to him on instinct alone, with no regard to her own personal safety. The other officers yelled at her to stop, but she could barely hear them over the sound of her own terror. She somehow managed to drag the dazed fox behind the nearest squad car and then it all became sort of a blur. Her composure completely collapsed, reducing her to a blubbering mess despite the groaning fox's assurances that he was okay. She remained inconsolable for the entire ride to the hospital, as well as during her time spent in the waiting room. When she was finally allowed to see her partner she became even more worked up. Seeing Nick laying there, his chest wrapped in gauze was almost too much for her. She ran over and tightly hugged him, causing the fox to wince in pain.

"Ah Carrots! Chest wound remember?" The fox grumbled a weak laugh.

Judy quickly pulled away, horrified that she had done some sort of permanent damage. She sniffled hard.

"Oh N-Nick." She sobbed. "I-I'm so so-sorry. I-"

"I didn't say you had to stop hugging me, just softer." The fox grinned, opening his arms to the rabbit. "Now bring it in partner."

The rabbit weakly tromped over to him and slumped her head into his side, still sniffling loudly.

"Oh come now, this again?" The fox laughed, pulling the rabbit in for a proper hug. "I thought you learned how to hug properly after last time Fluffs."

Judy continued to weep into the foxes neck, albeit significantly quieter.

"Judes, I'm okay. It's just a shoulder wound." The fox patted her back gently. "I'm still here Carrots."

"D-Does it hurt?" She sniffled, her words muffled by being buried in the foxes fur.

"Well..." Nick rolled his eyes. " on a scale of one to ten I'd place it around blindingly painful."

The rabbit sobbed harder into his fur, seemingly startling the wounded fox.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He began to gently rub her back. "Just a joke Carrots, just a joke."

Judy pulled away from him, looking at the fox with disbelief.

"How can you joke at a time like this! You almost died!" The tears continued to stream.

"Judy, I got shot in the shoulder. My life didn't exactly flash before my eyes."

"But it could have been so much worse!" Judy interjected, glaring at Nick. The fox seemed to shirk under her gaze.

"Carrots, we're police officers." The fox looked at her dubiously. "That risk kinda goes with the territory right?"

Judy just stared at him, eyes still watering. He was right of course, being an officer meant your life was at risk every shift, every patrol, every call. Still it wasn't something she gave much thought to when it came the two of them. She began to sob loudly before burying herself back in the foxes pelt.

"I-I know" She sniffled. "I-I just don't want to lose you Nick."

She felt the fox's arms wrap around her again, and he gently rubbed her back.

"Hey, this guy ain't going anywhere Carrots. Like it or not, you're stuck with me now." The fox chuckled.

Judy continued to sob, but a few chuckles broke through.

"I'm t-telling them." Judy said.

"Hmm..." The fox murmured.

"I'm going to t-tell my parents I live with you. I-I've put it off long enough." She muttered in Nick's fur.

"Judes. you don't h-"

"I want to." She said, pulling away from the fox to look him straight in the eyes.

"I'm proud to have you as my friend Nick Wilde, and I want them to see that." She wiped her eyes.

"So you just gonna tell them or....?" The fox crooked his eyebrow.

"The Chief spoke to me before I came in. He said you were getting two weeks off for medical leave. He also thought it best that since I was your roommate and sole medical contact that I take off for the two weeks to help rehabilitate you." She placed her fist to her chest boastfully.

"And there's nothing better then fresh country air to help a mammal get well."

It wasn't too difficult to get Nick on board with the idea of recuperating in Bunny Burrow. It was as simple as pitching the idea of an endless supply of blueberries straight from the bush that had the fox practically dragging her to the train station, well as much as he could with an arm in a sling. It had also been surprisingly smooth telling her parents that the two were sharing an apartment shortly after arriving in Bunny Burrow. Her Mother was supportive, and her Father was at least putting on a brave face. Though despite the old farmer's assurances that he thought it was_'great'_, the fact that his paw continued to claw at his own chest inadvertently was rather telling. The difficult part of the whole trip ended up being on Judy herself, after a sobering morning talk with her Mother.

The duo had been on the farm for at least a week at that point. Judy had been doting on Nick to the point where the fox had to tell her to stop, but Judy ignored his pleas. She was certain Nick was leaning hard into his usual 'I don't need anyone' persona in an effort not to appear vulnerable. Although he looked considerably less convincing when buried under a mound of her curious brothers and sisters, all berating the fox with questions.

She had been helping her mom with the morning breakfast orders, taking special care to make Nick a perfect stack of blueberry pancakes when Mrs. Hopps broached the subject.

"Judy dear, I do appreciate the help. But I kind of need you to work on more than one stack. I think Nick's are done." The older rabbit chided.

Judy blushed a bit as she set the stack aside. "S-sorry mom, It's just that with Nick the way he is, I wanted to make su-"

"Honey, they're pancakes with blueberries on them. It's not rocket science." Bonnie chuckled.

Judy gave a weak smile in response, as the older rabbit placed more batter in the nearby skillet. Judy joined her shortly after, pouring batter onto her own pan to create another batch from the seemingly endlessly hungry household. She was silent however, her mind still on the wounded fox. "Was he alright?", "did he need his pillows fluffed?", "were her brothers and sisters overwhelming him again?". She was unaware of how lost in thought she was until Bonnie spoke, pulling her back from her reverie.

"Judy? Is something wrong. You are usual more talkative when we're cooking together." Mrs. Hopps asked.

Judy had nearly forgotten what she was doing, and in surprise snapped her head up in alert. "Huh!?" She yelped. The older rabbit stared at her with half lidded eyes.

"O-oh I'm fine mom...I'm just worried about Nick is all." She replied somberly.

"Darlin' Nick is fine. Honestly you're smothering the poor boy dear, you brought him out here to relax didn't you?" Bonnie chided.

"What!?" Judy snapped. "I'm not smothering him. He was seriously hurt." Judy looked at her mother in disbelief.

"Yes I know he was seriously hurt dear. But now he's recovering, and quite well I might add." Bonnie smiled softly at her daughter. "But there are two hundred plus mammals in this house, and if Nick needed any help it would be easy to find it. It doesn't always have to be you." The rabbit flipped the pancakes over, creating a loud sizzle as the uncooked batter reignited the skillet.

"Mom..." Judy shook her head. "No one here knows Nick like I do. He doesn't like to ask for help with anything."

"That reminds me a lot of someone." She said, shooting her daughter a knowing glance. Judy gave a slight huff in response.

"Even so, Nick seems to be the type that doesn't care to be doted over." Bonnie nodded. "If anything you are keeping him from relaxing with all that coddling."

Judy rolled her eyes, causing the older rabbit to chuckle.

"There you go again. What? Your Mother's too old to understand how different this is?" the older rabbit crossed her arms.

"Mom, it's not that...it's just-"

"Can I tell you a story Judy?" Mrs. Hopps cut her off. Judy tilted her head back and sighed before allowing her Mother to continue.

"Back when I was your age, Stu and I were really close friends. And one day when he was visiting my families farm the dumb bunny tripped over a root in the field and twisted his ankle something fierce." Bonnie pantomimed the larger rabbit falling.

"Now, your Father wasn't as er....'stoic' as Nick was. He was pitchin' and whining up a fit. And I was so worried about him I wouldn't let him leave my families farm till he got healed up." Bonnie chuckled to herself. " I was waiting on him paw and foot, to the point where he was pleading for me to stop. His own Mother even came over to tell me to stop fretting over him, and send him home."

"And what did you do?" Judy asked, flipping her own flapjacks as her Mother continued.

"I did what you did, rolled my eyes and told her I knew better." The older rabbit grinned and rolled her eyes, causing Judy to chuckle.

"Do you know what she told me after that big fuss I made?" Bonnie asked.

"No, what?" Judy replied.

"That she had been exactly the same way when she fell in love." Bonnie stated, scooping the pancakes out her pan and onto a plate.

Judy nearly knocked her skillet off the stove, her ears pointed and alert. She looked at her Mother in shock.

"W-What!?" Judy sputtered. "Are you saying..." Judy couldn't even finish the sentence.

"And now you're gonna tell me you don't love that boy, and list all the reasons why you don't." Bonnie chuckled. "And that's exactly what I did." She brought a paw to her chin as she reminisced. "But after I thought about it, I realized your Grandmother was right on the button. I loved your Pa dearly, I just didn't see it."

"B-But were friends, were partners. He's a fox and I-"

"Darlin', think about it. I mean really think about it. You live together, you work together, you spend all your free time together too I bet. And what kind of friend dotes over the other this much? Nicks a grown mammal, he doesn't need to be waited on like a little kit. But you want to wait on him because you really care about him. " Bonnie concluded.

"But I-" Judy stammered, before bringing a paw to her own chin in reflection. She began to think about her relationship with the fox, about the time they've spent together, and all the odd feelings she had been experiencing as of late.

When Nick had been shot she was petrified. She couldn't fathom losing him, and suddenly that risk was made very real. She had reasoned at the time it was simply a natural response to her friend getting hurt, but now under the lens of her Mother's words an obvious truth was becoming more and more visible.

"Oh no..." Judy mumbled.

Bonnie smiled and nodded at her daughter.

"I can't...I can't love him, can I?" Judy asked her Mother almost pleading me.

"Sweetie, are you asking my permission?" Her Mother chuckled.

Judy simply sagged her head down, her ears drooping over face in sadness.

"I do...I do love him." She sniffled.

Slowly Judy turned to look at her Mother. Tears were welling in her eyes as she looked at the older rabbit, earning a concerned frown in response.

"Are you ashamed of me for loving him?" Judy asked.

"Oh Judy no, no, no, no." Her Mother placed a paw on Judy's shoulder. "I could never be ashamed of you sweetie." Bonnie kissed her daughters forehead before letting out a sigh.

"We can't help who we love." Bonnie cooed. "But what we can do is choose whether to pursue it or not."

Judy sniffled. "D-do you think I shouldn't tell him, j-just try to get rid of the feelings?" She wiped her eyes.

"Judy." Bonnie sighed. "You've always been a strong doe. You never let anyone tell you how to live your life, and everything you wanted you achieved and more." The older rabbit looked down and away from Judy. "Your Father and I were bad parents in that respect."

"Mom no-" Judy was cut off as Bonnie raised a paw to stop her.

"Now let me finish." Bonnie chided. "We never supported your goals like we should have, we were just so afraid that the world would hurt you that we couldn't even see that we were. But you were better and stronger than us Judy. You showed us how wrong we were, that a mammal was more than their pelt.

Even Gideon Grey, who tormented you and your siblings growing up turned out to be a really upstanding mammal. But if you hadn't shown us how small minded we were being about everything, we would have never even given him a chance to work with us. And we would have missed out on some great things if we hadn't."

Bonnie placed her paw back on Judy's shoulder. "I can't say I'm in love with the idea. But it's your life, and me and your Father will stand by you if you decide that Nick is the one." The older rabbit smiled at Judy, and with that Judy wrapped her arms around her mom and hugged her tightly.

"I love you mom. Thank you." Judy softly sobbed.

"I love you too sweetheart, but your flapjacks are burning."

Judy rapidly pulled away from her Mother and turned to see her pancakes were beginning to char. She flipped them in a panic before letting out a sigh. Turning back to her Mother she smiled weakly.

"I'll take these ones..." And the two shared a laugh.

Judy finished her tea, setting her cup aside as she hopped off her stool.

"Thanks Mom." She muttered softly. The accident hadn't made Judy realize her feelings for Nick, but it had been the catalyst that led to her Mother opening her eyes. She loved the fox dearly, and since her confession to her Mother the feeling had only deepened. But since then she had been faced with the problem of telling the fox how she felt, and the courageous Judy Hopps had shirked at every opportunity to. Even after her own terrible accident...

Judy shuddered at the memory, and began to walk back to the office. She had spent enough time idly tracing the steps of her love life and was now ready to take on something that was a little less uncomfortable to analyze. As she entered the office she glanced over at Nick, who was still out like a light. The fox hadn't moved much at all since her little tea break.

Turning her attention to the whiteboard she was immediately puzzled. The evidence scribblings were completely unrelated to the Stoat case. There were notes about a fire bomb, charred wool and strange phone calls. Turning her gaze to the top of the board her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Bellwether Arson Case?" Judy mumbled quietly. She turned back to look at the sleeping Nick Wilde.

"Nick had a case involving Bellwether and didn't tell me?" She thought, her brows furrowing in agitation.

She was annoyed, clearly the fox had thought she was too emotionally compromised to be of any help on the case. Or maybe Nick just didn't want to bother her with anything Bellwether related because he was protecting her. Either way the rabbit was growing more and more angry. She didn't need Nick to protect her when it came to a case, and she thought the fox should know better than to think she'd let Dawn's involvement make her jump to inaccurate conclusions. She was about to open her mouth to yell at the sleeping fox when something on the board caught her eye.

"Cracked hoof prints?" She eyed the writing suspiciously.

She spent the next few minutes familiarizing herself with the case via Nick's notes to better understand what happened. After affirming Nick's conclusion that Dawn hadn't done it herself, Judy eyed the 'cracked hoof prints' clue again. It didn't make sense to the rabbit. Dawn had always been a neat sheep, and for as long as Judy had known her the ewe polish and colored her hoof nails. Even at the drive through Judy remembered the lamb's hooves having been in immaculate order.

Judy strolled over to the clues laying on the nearby desk. She inspected the photos of the hoof prints closely, eyeing every errant crack with intensity.

"No...these can't be hers. Not at all." Judy put the photos down and picked up the bag of charred wool. As she gently shifted them around through the plastic she inspected each dark and messy piece with a critical eye. The grain of the wool of each chunk was haphazardly maintained, as if it was rarely brushed or combed. Again, it didn't match up with Dawn's profile. Her wool was always well treated, it was something that should be obvious to even a simple passerby with Dawn's perfectly balanced head puff that the lamb took a great degree of care in her outward appearance.

"Of course!" Judy said loudly before clasping her mouth shut. She looked back to see Nick stir, but he remained asleep.

There was a simple reason that the wool and hoof prints were so sloppy, a reason Nick would have missed because he wasn't thinking like a lady lamb, or rather like a lady in general. The type of mammal who generally wouldn't care about cracked hooves or messy wool would be the type of mammal who tended to care less about their outward appearance in general, and nine times out of ten that was a male.

"The perpetrator was....a ram." Judy mumbled in surprise.

Judy jerked suddenly as her phone rang. Turning to look back at the sofa she saw Nick was scrambling to grab the phone. Half awake the fox brought it to his ear.

"Nick Wilde duzzn't sell pawpsicles aneemore!" Nick blurted out, half asleep.

Judy simply tromped over and snatched her phone out of his paws, tapping his head with it as she brought to her own ear.

"That's my phone you dumb fox, go get some coffee in you bef-"

Judy paused, her face was stricken with shock. Nick looked at her, still half asleep and more confused than ever.

"Wazzat? Carrot's wha-"

"What do you mean Doug Ramses has escaped from prison?"