Chapter Text
Not every animal develops a soul print. It's something rare, something special...and something terrifying. Because a soul print isn't a promise. It shows what animal you are fated for, but it is possible that the animal that matches that print on you won't have the same mark on themselves. They could even have the mark of a completely different animal.
Matching soul marks - where both animals bear the mark of each other are so rare they may as well be non-existent. They mostly exist in cheesy rom coms and telenovelas.
So when Nicholas Wilde developed a soul mark on his upper arm around his twelfth birthday, he ignored it. He tried not to even look at it. He stopped wearing anything sleeveless or rolling up his sleeves when it's hot, for fear of another animal seeing and commenting.
Well, perhaps fear was a strong word. More like anxiety.
His mother spotted the mark shortly after it developed. Nick hadn't paid much attention to it, just noted that the paw print that developed was a vivid purple and much smaller than he would expect a fox's paw to be.
"Nick...Nicky," His mother had seen the paw print poking out from underneath his shirt and had pushed his sleeve up to reveal the print. A small, purple print that did not take up much room on his shoulder. She had rushed to the encyclopedias, flipping through until she found the mark. "A bunny. Your soul mate is a bunny," She held up the page of paw prints she had opened to. Sure enough, the mark on his shoulder had matched the bunny paw print on the page exactly.
Nick had laughed. It just figured. That was his lot in life, wasn't it? Lucky enough to get a soul print, but unfortunate that it had to be the kind of animal that would never accept him.
So he had brushed it off, kept the paw print hidden. And just tried to get on with his life.
It was obvious to him, there simply couldn't be a bunny out there with a fox soul print on her. His print mark would never matter. It couldn't.
Judy Hopps was not the type to be concerned over soul prints. She rolled her eyes as some of her sisters and her mother would sigh and coo over how cute it was in stories when animals had matching soul prints. She tried showing them all the math once, about how the odds of two animals having matching soul prints and finding each other was almost impossible, but they refused to listen.
Her dad also had a soft spot for those stories, and was the first one to tell her that she should lighten up, that a little romance never hurt.
Judy was fifteen when the soul print manifested on her. But it was on her right shoulder, and she couldn't see it. It was there for months before anyone even commented on it.
She was wearing a tank top to do yoga, and the strap slipped. She heard a gasp behind her and whirled around to see her dad covering his mouth, his eyes widened in shock.
"It's just downward dog, dad, it's not even a hard move," She rolled her eyes and tried to get back to her work out, but Stu started stammering and pointing at her as though he was possessed before he finally called for Bonnie for back up.
Her parents had made her turn around while they moved the tank top strap out of the way.
"You have a soul print!" Bonnie squealed.
"But that doesn't look like a bunny print," Stu pointed out, frowning. "It's much too big. In fact, I'd say it almost looks like it belongs to a -" he exchanged a worried glance with Bonnie.
"Belongs to a what?" Judy's interest was finally piqued. She certainly had never expected to get a soul print, and having a soul print that belonged to an animal outside of your own species was even more rare. But Bonnie and Stu refused to answer her.
Since her parents wouldn't be upfront with her, Judy went to the bathroom that night with a compact mirror in her paw and a book on animal prints under her arm. There was a large mirror in the bathroom, and by angling herself and her compact just the right way she was able to see the paw print on the back of her shoulder. She studied it for a moment - it was large and a vivid green. She referenced the paw print book until she found it.
She stared at the page when she did, then opened the compact again to double check. It just didn't seem possible.
But there it was:
Her soul print shape belonged to a fox.
The first time Judy and Nick met, it didn't occur to either of them to think about their soul print. After all, their relationship started out fairly antagonistically.
It also just wasn't something Nick ever concerned himself with. He had met plenty of bunnies in Zootopia, but he never tried to pursue something with one of them. Besides, most would cross the street when they saw him coming.
No, to Nick Wilde his soul print was nothing but a cruel prank by the universe. He figured if there was a bunny who matched it, she either wouldn't have a soul print at all or would bear one for another bunny that she was supposed to be with instead of him.
The frustrating part about soul prints was it made it impossible to really date any other animals that might have interested him. One look at the soul print and any females who were previously interested in him would back off. Because soul prints were destiny. How were they supposed to compete when somewhere out in the world he had a soul mate?
While Nick did think of his soul print (even if it was always in a negative fashion), Judy rarely ever thought of hers. After all, it was somewhere on her body she couldn't see without aid of a mirror. And she was far too busy trying to prove herself as a cop to ever stop and think about romantic love.
Not once while they were solving the Night Howlers case did either pair stop to think about what their soul print might mean for their relationship.
No, for Nick the first thoughts would start while he was at the police academy. He had just been told "you're dead!" for the sixth time that day (after falling off one of the obstacle courses yet again). And he was wondering why he was putting himself through all this humiliation.
He had almost opened his mouth to quit, when an image of Judy floated up through his mind. Oh. Right. I don't quit cause of her.
Nick had been brushing mud off his fur as he thought, but he froze. He had never before put himself through so much trouble for someone. And that begged the thought - why was he going this far? For him, of all mammals, to become a cop of all things?!
Because...because Judy wanted him to. Because she wanted him beside her, and he desperately wanted to be there for her. He rolled up his sleeves, determined to get back on the obstacle course but as he rolled his left sleeve up he caught sight of his soul mark.
A bunny print...and the same purple as her eyes....oh crap....
Nick hid behind humor and snappy comebacks, so it might shock other animals to know he was actually fairly emotionally intelligent. He rolled his sleeve back down, eyes darting around to make sure no one had seen. He didn't need any other potential officers giving him a hard time about his soul mark.
The soul mark had always been a puzzle that he hadn't intended to solve. But with all the pieces presenting themselves like this, he had no choice but to slot them all into their proper place. He was in love with Judy. His soul mark was her paw print, in the same color as her eyes. No wonder he had started jumping to do anything she asked.
He had always been fated to love her.
Nick sighed before running back into the obstacle course. If he was going to be beside her, he was going to have to pass the police academy. And while he expected no reciprocation of his feelings, he'd be damned if he wasn't at least going to get to be beside her and with her as often as he could. Just as soon as he passed.
Nick had been swallowing his feelings, avoiding saying anything, but the world had the worst way of timing things where he was concerned. He had admired the way Judy looked in her Zootennial Gala dress, but had walked into someone when he noticed the mark on her right shoulder.
Her dress revealed a paw print on her uncovered right shoulder, and he openly stared at it, his mouth dropping open. It was green, and he was ninety-eight percent certain that it was a fox print. He resolved to say something, but then Gary had revealed himself and they ended up tangled up in a mass conspiracy.
Nick and Judy had sniped at each other and he had tried multiple times unsuccessfully to stop her from nearly killing herself. She had ended up alright each time, but after the injection with the snake venom it had only been because of Nick and Gary that she had been safe. Just as it was only because of Judy and Gary that Nick himself hadn't died (and he supposed some help from Nibbles as well).
When Nick was pouring his heart out to Judy on the Weather Wall, he almost said something about the soul marks. But the world had gone crazy, and he wasn't sure she was ready to hear it. So he did tell her how much she meant to him, but not that he was pretty certain they were soul mates.
He didn't tell her weeks later when the reptile district had been fully thawed out and Gary threw a party and invited seeming all of Zootopia (and quite a bit of Bunny Burrow). He didn't tell her when they spoke up at the meeting for Partners in Crisis.
He didn't speak up when they were on the hunt for Bellwether, though he thought of suggesting that they take a vacation together afterward, believing they both deserved a break.
Nick started reading his Partners for Dummies book, hoping for suggestions in there. But of course that only made suggestions about working as partners. Online searches for stories about soul marks were no good - most of what he found were animals lamenting that they had a soul mark for an animal who either did not have a soul mark or had one for a completely different animal. And of course, there were a lot of rom coms suggested that used soul prints as their premise.
Nick wondered if he was just a bad researcher when it came to these sorts of things. It wasn't a con, after all, so it didn't fall in line with his usual set of skills. Sometimes he thought of just finding an excuse to take his shirt off around Judy so she could see the soul print on him and put two and two together, but there was never an excuse for that and besides, he actually felt kind of self-conscious without a shirt on.
The easy way, of course, would be to tell Judy directly. Just come out and say "Judy, I know you have a soul print, and I know it's a fox print, and mine is a bunny print so I think we're meant to be together."
Sure, Nick snorted, Easy if it was anyone other than Judy. Judy had never mentioned anything to Nick about romance, about if she was even interested in that sort of thing. And even if she wasn't, interspecies relationships, while not unheard of, faced a bit more of a challenge than dating within your own species.
And Nick was not the type who wanted to let destiny decide everything for him. Just because they had matching soul prints didn't mean he had to be with her.
But he wanted.
Oh, man, did he want. He had wanted before seeing the paw print on the back of Judy's shoulder. Her having that soul print had only made the yearning harder for him, because now it seemed like a possibility.
Part of him wanted to go back to when he had thought they could never be a thing. Hope was dangerous. Hope could get you muzzled by who you thought were your friends...but then, hope had also gotten him his new job as a cop, which he was enjoying in spite of himself. Or maybe because of Judy.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to where he had Judy labeled as "Carrots". He hovered over the call button, but jumped when the phone rang before he could press any buttons. It was Judy.
"You just can't stay away from me, can you?" He teased as he answered, taking a seat on his couch and settling in.
"I call you every night, Nick. But there's a new...development."
"Say no more, I'll be there in five minutes with the fake mustaches -"
Judy chuckled. "Oh, I wish. But Higgins got the last of the criminals you released-"
"That was an accident, and I was trying to get to you-"
"I'm not mad!" Judy insisted. "We got all of them, so it's fine now. Bogo's not even mad at us. ...Or, I didn't think he was until today."
"Bogo? Mad at us? Impossible, Judy. We're his favorite cops. ...Or at least you are. But I think he's warming up to me. Last joke I made he raised an eyebrow. That's like laughing hysterically in Bogo speak, I think."
"He wants us to take tomorrow off."
"Vacations are not a punishment."
"This is not a vacation!" Judy's voice went up in pitch, her tone worried. "He wants us rested up before the next case, but it still feels like we're in trouble, you know? We did technically twist a lot of rules on the Lynxley case-"
Nick let out a laugh. "'Twist' the rules? Carrots, we outright broke a few laws, I think."
"It was in the pursuit of justice!"
"Sure, sure. But we should enjoy our day off tomorrow. Wanna go to the park?"
"You don't like parks."
"No, I don't like how you use the parks," Nick explained, "You use it for jogging all the time, which, gross. We'll go on a short rom-" Nick coughed. He had almost said 'romantic', and he didn't want to scare Judy off. "Um. A short walk. Then ice cream. My treat."
"Oh, your treat, huh? You won't forget your wallet this time? Like the last four times?"
"Old habits die hard," Nick laughed, "But I promise. Just you and me, a nice stroll and then some ice cream."
"I don't know. I have paperwork-"
"So do I!" Nick exclaimed, "But guess what? It can wait. If Bogo is making us take the day off, we are taking the day off. I'll be by your place around noon, okay?"
"Okay. It's a date," Judy agreed, hanging up without saying bye.
Nick stared down at his phone. He hadn't expected for Judy to phrase it as a date, even if in his mind he was trying to build it up to be one. He chuckled and put his phone on the charger before setting an alarm.
He pulled out a book that Dr. Fuzzby had suggested to him - Speaking Your Heart and Mind. He felt like it was garbage and a waste of time, but he had promised Judy he was going to do better in speaking about how he felt.
She had meant as partners, as a team.
But now that Nick had seen her soul print, now that he had hope...he just needed to figure out how to say how he felt as someone who was desperately in love with her.