Chapter Text
“You're the best thing that ever happened to me.”
It was the first time she had ever heard those words.
The idea that she—Judith Hopps—could be the absolute center of someone else's universe?
It was like a sudden, overwhelming wave.
Until now, everyone had laughed at her, giving her pitiful glances.
They assumed a fragile, tiny prey animal like a bunny would never survive among the giants of the ZPD. They had all watched and waited for her to hit her limits and break. But the fox standing in front of her was saying something else entirely.
“The thought of losing you scares me, because… you’re my pack.”
For the first time in her life, she felt that she actually mattered. Someone cared not just about what she could do, but who she was.
Nick believed in her even when she couldn't believe in herself. Even when she wasn’t the best cop, the ideal partner, or a historic bunny—but just her.
Judith Hopps, exactly as she was, was the best thing that had ever happened to Nicholas Wilde.
It was such an immensely freeing feeling.
That cold winter, a quiet love began to bloom.
Through the long weeks of nursing their wounds, endless welcome-back parties, and finally returning to active duty, Judy’s feelings for Nick had done nothing but grow exponentially.
Nick had even gone back to that cliffside, retrieved the shattered pieces of her carrot pen, and painstakingly fixed it before handing it back to her with a casual—
“Love you, partner.”
If this wasn’t love, Judy didn’t know what was.
The sheer joy and romantic butterflies from that moment had practically swallowed her whole.
In fact, it was a poorly kept secret that she played that voice recording on a loop at home. She played it so loud and so often that even her annoying neighbors screamed and begged her to stop.
But she couldn't.
Every single day spent by his side was becoming a heart-fluttering happiness.
To make matters worse, bunnies, by nature, are animals governed by their honest emotions. They practically wear their hearts right on their sleeves. Unable to suppress the sheer affection bubbling up inside her every time she looked at him, Judy had subconsciously begun throwing out clear romantic signals—instinctual Bunny Signs.
“Whoa whoa. You’re bouncing off the walls today too, Carrots. Is the caffeine dependency finally kicking in?”
“Wha...I am not! Shut up, you dumb fox.”
“I’m just saying, your tail has been twitching like crazy next to me this whole time.”
“I can’t help it! And don’t look at my tail, you pervert!”
Judy threw a punch at his arm. But Nick only laughed, reaching out to affectionately pat her head. Judy huffed and crossed her arms, but internally, she was melting. A deep, instinctual bunny purr threatened to rumble in her chest, but she fiercely swallowed it down.
No, don’t show your cards yet. Nick hasn't even dropped a proper signal of his own anyway.
“Relax, I’m just saying you’re cute,” Nick murmured, his voice dropping slightly as he leaned over. “Ah, hold still. You’ve got something right here.”
He tilted his head, crowding her space as he reached for the base of her ear. Instead of using his paws, he casually used his teeth to gently nibble away a stray piece of lint, his breath brushing against her fur.
Judy, who had been ready to snap at him for calling her 'cute,' froze instantly. Her brain short-circuited as she stood entirely still, letting herself be groomed by a predator.
“Hey! Take the PDA outside, you two! Some of us are trying to work here!” a passing officer glared their way.
Judy’s ears shot straight up, burning hot, while Nick just offered a lazy, unbothered wave to their colleague.
For weeks, they had been swimming in this beautifully sweet, heart-fluttering atmosphere, trading playful banter and casual touches.
At least, that was what she thought… until today.
“Remind me again why we are awake before the sun, Carrots?”
Nick groaned, slouching heavily against the counter of the neon-lit coffee shop just 2 blocks from the ZPD building. His tail dragged along the tiled floor, the absolute picture of misery.
“The bear we barely managed to arrest yesterday didn’t kill me, but this ungodly hour just might.”
Judy looked at her partner with a pity look on her face.
“That bear finally confessed where the next target is, Nick. If we want to catch them, we have to move early.”
“Can’t we just leave it to Captain Porkbelly? She’s the one leading the raid anyway.” Nick mumbled into his crossed arms, using his favorite derogatory nickname for the stubborn pig captain.
“You’re the one who released 200 prisoners from the holding cells, Nick.”
“Because they wrongfully arrested me first!” Nick shot back, defending himself with a sleepy whine. “And it’s not my fault the release button was placed right next to the exit door. Design flaw, Carrots. Now my entire body is screaming for caffeine.”
He let out a pathetic sigh.
Enamored despite herself, Judy climbed onto the stool to bring herself up to his eye level. Reaching out, she gently pressed her thumbs against the furrowed crease between his brows, smoothing it out.
“Just hang in there for a few more minutes, you lazy fox,” she murmured.
Nick snuggled under her arm, crowding her space in that comfortable, casual way he always did now. A sleepy but undeniably soft smirk tugged at his muzzle.
“I suppose I could be bribed into a better mood,” Nick murmured against her, “If we survive this morning without Bogo throwing a binder at us, I might take you to that overly expensive organic cafe you love. The one with the dandelions.”
Judy’s chest fluttered.
Look at him. Just look at this stupid, handsome, incredibly attentive fox.
He remembered her favorite cafe. He remembered the dandelions.
Even through all his complaining, his very first thought was always how to make her happy.
He really is the best thing that ever happened to me.
The sheer intensity of her affection caught her completely off guard.
It was an overwhelming spike of pure, unadulterated joy. And in the biology of a rabbit, when happiness hits an absolute maximum, the brain completely loses control of the body.
Before Judy could think to suppress it, her hind legs loaded like coiled springs.
Pop.
With a sudden, violent burst of pure joy, Judy launched herself off the barstool.
In mid-air, she twisted her body, flicked her back legs out, and did an ecstatic spin before landing gracefully on her paws on the coffee shop floor. In the language of bunnies, it was a biological scream: I am so happy to be with you!
Nick jumped, utterly startled. His hands instinctively shot out in an awkward, hovering gesture, trying to catch her before she hit the ground. His green eyes went wide, staring down at her as if she had just spontaneously combusted and reformed on the tiles.
Realizing what she had just done, a massive wave of heat rush to her ears. Judy looked around the shop frantically, but thankfully, the sleepy customers and the badger barista hadn’t noticed a thing.
Embarrassed, Judy tried to play it cool. But her instinctual urge to claim her space and show affection was still overriding her logic. Unable to stop herself, she immediately broke into a rapid stride—circling Nick.
She did one fast lap around his barstool.
Then another. Spinning a tight ring around his legs.
You’re mine, you’re mine, I’m so happy you’re mine!
—Her biology chanted.
Nick now held up his paws in a surprised canine gesture. Watching the little rabbit orbit him like a satellite.
“Whoa whoa, easy there Sputnik,” he chuckled, waving his paws playfully as if trying to catch a spinning top. “What is going on in that fluffy head of yours?”
Judy finally stopped. Panting slightly, her face burning.
She forced her shoulders back and tried to adopt her most professional, tough-cop demeanor.
“Nothing. Just... stretching. Warming up for work. A good officer is always physically prepared!”
Nick let out an amused huff, leaning his elbow on the counter as he looked down at her. He didn’t look touched. He didn’t look like a mammal who had just received a profound declaration of courtship.
“Stretching,” Nick repeated, his voice dripping with playful skepticism.
“Right... Well, your little routine certainly woke me up. If that was your goal, it’s a success, darling. That was highly entertaining.”
“…Entertaining?”
Judy was shock.
Entertaining?? Was this a new way of rejecting?
Before she could process it, Nick reached out and affectionately patted her head, ruffling the fur between her ears.
Does he really... not know?
Refusing to believe a mammal could be this dense, Judy stepped back, faced him, and took another sharp hop into the air.
A textbook binky — right then and there.
This time, a few other customers caught the display.
“Sshhhh, did you see that? That bunny just confessed to that fox!” a nearby squirrel whispered frantically to her friend.
“Wow, talk about witnessing a wild courtship first thing in the morning.”
They mumbled quietly, but the words reached Judy’s rabbit ears perfectly. Her face burned.
Yet, Nick only laughed—a bright, oblivious sound.
“Look at you, hopping like a real bunny now. I gotta say, Carrots, if Bogo ever kicks you off the force, you’ve got a bright future in the Zootopia Gymnastics League. That mid-air twist? Flawless. I’ll give it an 8 out of 10.”
Judy’s jaw practically dropped. She stared at his blinking, annoyingly beautiful green eyes.
She had just poured her genetic soul into a physical manifestation of love, and this idiot thought she was auditioning for the Olympics.
Wait...
A horrifying thought struck her.
If he doesn’t know what this meant... then he didn’t understand any of it. How long had this been going on? How many of her signals had he missed?
Before she could spiral further, Nick, completely blind to her existential crisis, tilted his head in confusion. Seeing the badger barista set their coffee cups down, he stood up and walked over to grab them.
Judy stood frozen in the middle of the shop.
“Did that bunny just get rejected?”
“Aww... poor thing. Imagine getting dumped first thing in the morning.”
The whispers continued around her, but she no longer could hear them.
Cheese and crackers. Have I been the only one who thought we were in a situationship this whole time???
She had every reason to believe they were on the same page!
Just last week, when a sudden downpour soaked her fur during patrol, Nick had wrapped her in his oversized uniform jacket like a burrito, lifting her straight into his arms without a second thought. And then there was the way he subtly groomed her—casually licking a stray ink smudge off her cheek while they did paperwork, offering that lazy, devastating smile that made her pulse jump.
To her, it was a courtship.
To him, it was just... him being a dog.
“A real bunny...” Judy muttered under her breath, a violent twitch beginning to form under her eye. “I am a real bunny, you orange idiot.”
“What was that, sweetheart?” Nick asked, turning around with a charming smile, two paper cups in hand. He was completely unaware that he just provoked a tiny, furious herbivore.
He gestured toward the counter with a smirk.
“Wow, the service here is great. They gave us an extra pastry on the house. Guess it pays to have you do your little morning performance, Carrots.”
“Yeah, go choke on it,” Judy snapped, snatching her coffee from his paw with enough force to rip the cardboard sleeve.
She then turned on her heel and marched toward the exit, her feet stomping aggressively against the floor. Nick blinked, thoroughly confused by the sudden, drastic shift in weather. He hurried ahead to open the door for her.
“Hey, wait up! What did I say? Was it the 8 out of 10? Fine fine, it was a solid 9.5!”
As she stormed past him into the crisp morning air, Judy clutched her coffee cup and swallowed a scream of pure frustration.