Chapter 1 - Try

The air of the cold, barren landscape turns off any warm-climate mammal. Any cars passing through this town blast their heaters full power and try to maintain control on the icy roads. Any cold-climate mammals wandering around this town wear light jackets and hold warm liquids in a coffee cup in their paws. Vapor rises from their mouths as they let large breaths from their mouths, spreading the moist environment in their mouths into the air. Clouds crowd the sky, and a barely conspicuous light erupts through that barrier.

On a street in this frigid town, the perceptible noise of the puttering of an engine gradually increases as the source patrols the street. The engine belongs to a police cruiser belonging to the largest police force in the city – the Zootopia Police Department. Two figures, barely visible behind the dark windows of this police cruiser, have significant height differences. The taller mammal, with large, triangular ears and a long snout, operates the vehicle. The other figure, with long, gradually widening ears, faces the window and gradually scans the landscape.

"Wow, look at the frost in here," the taller mammal mutters, looking out the window of their police cruiser, the cold landscape of Tundratown surrounding him and his partner. He rubs the window covered in a layer of condensate. "Bogo seriously needs to rethink patrol locations. There's nobody here."

The partner does not look at him. She looks up at the window and smears the window herself. Her eyes dart to the slender mammal beside her. "Looks to me like someone didn't bring a jacket."

Holding one hand to the wheel, his other paw enters his blue pants pocket. For a moment, he glances at a nearby house. He smirks as he looks at her. "I'm sorry, the cold froze my eardrums. Did you just say, 'Nick, please shove me out the door?' " With his smirk still remaining, he pulls his paw from his pocket, holding it out and thrusting lightly in the air to imitate pushing her.

She lets out a humorous snort. "It also appears to me like you would really appreciate the air conditioning – granted, if we were actually had air conditioning," she fumbles with the controls on the control panel. "Nope."

He frowns, still looking out the window. He wipes the condensate from the window again, slightly wetting his fingertip. He rubs his paws together and grips the steering wheel as he slowly lowers his foot on the gas pedal. As they turn the corner, the communicator on the dash lights up. Hopps scrambles for it and hovers it below her mouth.

"This is WildeHopps, over."

"Wait a minute," Wilde asks, glancing at his partner with widened eyes. "Carrots, did you just call us–"

"Ohh-kay," the communicator interrupts. "I've got something exciting for you. Reports of a recent crime have just come in, and we're putting our trust in you to take a crack at it. For now, we need you guys to gather a few reports. We've sent you the addresses."

"10-4, over." Officer Hopps sets down the communicator, glancing at Nick. "Nick? Did you say something?"

"Why exactly did you call us WildeHopps?"

"Us? Well, Nick, you've been here a while, so – well, I gave it some thought – and I realized we haven't come up with a name for us as a duo."

"Carrots, that's crazy. For one, WildeHopps sounds like a marriage announcement. Two, nobody does that. Three, you'd better find that in a thesaurus because that's literally the worst word I've ever heard."

"Why do you want to throw it away? It's awesome."

"It may be awesome, but it throws my anonymity away. I'd prefer if we used something like Vehicle 1212 or something."

"You're terrible," Hopps says, her phone active in her hand. "This is it. The closest house to the crime spot."

After parking, Officer Wilde opens the door, momentarily forgetting about the cold. When he steps out, the freezing temperature penetrates him and makes a chill travel quickly travel down his spine, and it disperses throughout his whole body. He shivers, and the sound from his teeth chattering echoes across the small neighborhood.

Judy can't help but smile as she looks over her half-frozen partner. "Guess that's why we don't call you an arctic fox. I at least thought you were adapt to some cold." she looks at him again, then slowly walks up to the fox. She wraps her arms around his very narrow body and snuggles her head into his abdomen.

His eyes widen and he places his paws on her shoulders. "Carrots..." Judy giggles and squeezes him tighter. "I... need... air..." he pulls her from his abdomen and takes in a deep breath. He gives her a menacing stare, pulls the waistline of his shirt downward, then wipes his shirt with his paws and stuffs his paws in his pockets. He swiftly walks forward when she scrambles to his side.

"Hey! Why didn't you let me do that?"

"Do what?" He shoves both paws into his pockets with a smug smirk on his face.

"Gee, I don't know," she rolls her eyes. "It was obviously apparent that I just wanted to hug you."

"Next time, warn me. I swear you were going savage or something." Again, approaching the house, he outpaces her again. She scrambles up to his side, pacing faster and faster until halting at the front door. "Officer Hopps," he says, gesturing to the door. She glances at him again, who has a similar smug smirk.

Despite the clouds blocking the sun overhead, Nick dons his sunglasses as she taps the door lightly with her knuckles, while Nick clasps both paws behind his back. His stance becomes erect, and he holds his head upward toward the gigantic door.

The door opens, slowly, and a polar bear many times their height looks down at them firmly. "What do you two need?" he asks, his voice sounding impatient and cross.

"Sir," Judy says patiently, "I'm Judy Hopps, ZPD. I don't want to cause you any trouble, but we have multiple reports of a crime that occurred in this area."

"So what? It's not like I can't handle a couple dorks throwing snowballs at each other," he opens the door slightly wider than before, then pulls up the sleeve on his right bicep, revealing a large gash from the elbow to the shoulder. "See this?"

Nick slowly doffs his sunglasses, revealing a pair of widened eyes. "Who did that?"

"Good question," he pulls the sleeve back down. "Got 'er from a knife fight two weeks ago. If you're wonderin' what happened to him, he ain't comin' back. It didn't hurt – nuh-uh. Not one bit. You know what? If I can hurt him, I can sure hurt you guys too. Now, leave or I'll do the very same thing to you. I don't want a police report."

"Sir," Judy looks up at him again. "We're not trying to anger you, but I think threatening a police officer, with certain restrictions, is a Class 2 felony. If you don't know, that's kind of a crime."

His eyes widen. "Felony? Uh, no, no, no. I'm sorry I did that–"

She laughs. "Just let us in. We'll have to keep that instance, just to let you know."

"Keep it?" His eyes widen. "Please, no. I don't want that. Can you just do something else? Here," he digs into his pocket. "I'll give you anything – really – if you just don't do that. I don't want my name anywhere on the files."

"Sir, it's ZPD policy. I can't just do that. It's way too complicated to ignore it. I'm sorry, but a crime's a crime."

"When you put it that way," he pulls out a pistol and points it to the floor. "Now. I don't want to use this – really, I don't – but if you don't let it slide, I'll have to make this situation worse."

"Carrots," Nick whispers, tapping her slightly. "Bad, bad idea. Just do what he wants!"

Judy looks at him again. "You sweet talk him. Maybe you can convince him to put the gun down."

Nick looks at the floor, sighing. He looks up at the polar bear. "Sir, don't you know what you're doing by holding that gun? You're holding a ticket to jail, buddy. You can either put the gun away and get a Class 2 felony or shoot and kill both of us, get a Class 3 murder, and stay in jail your entire life. Think of all the time you'd be spending free instead of dwelling in some metal room."

The polar bear shoves the pistol back into his pocket, opening the door slightly. The two officers file in.

Upon entrance to the house, a white box set upon the right wall shows a 45 with a small circle to the right of the upmost horizontal line of the 5. Nick taps Judy on the shoulder. "Carrots," he whispers, gesturing to the box. Judy's eyes widen as she paces the floor toward the polar bear. The television in the front room has minor frost smeared on it, and three cups covered in condensate sit on end tables around the room. Strolling through the house, Nick frantically glances his eyes around the room, shoving his eyes in his pockets. He loosens his lips and clenches his teeth.

With a firm frown, the polar bear falls into his leather recliner. Judy gestures to a nearby couch and she and her partner sit. "So – what am I supposed to call you?"

"Officer Hopps, sir."

He shakes his head. "I already know you," he points at Wilde. "You. What's your name?"

"Officer Wilde." Nick grasps both paws together on his lap to hide his trembling paws.

The polar bear nods firmly and looks at them. "Ron. I'm a mechanic nut and whatever. Can we just get this over with?"

Judy nods and pulls out her clipboard and carrot pen. "Okay, Ron. I have a couple questions for you. First," she traces her carrot pen down the paper, "let me see here – have you seen any suspicious activity in the area outside your home?" She looks up at the polar bear.

Rick nods slowly. "Yeah, a guy was mugging another one around 10 last night."

Judy scribbles down the information, then passes the clipboard and paper to Nick, bumping his elbow. Nick rubs it and takes the clipboard, then looks at the information. Nick clears his throat and glances at the paper. "Since you saw the guy who did this, did you see his clothing? What was he wearing?" As he looks up, he runs his fingertips over his elbow.

Rick closes his eyes tightly and frowns. "A little," he opens his eyes and raises his fingers into a 'perfect' sign with a slight gap between his thumb and index finger. "He looked around four feet tall, had a black baseball hat and some dark blue jeans. It kinda looked like he had a knife of some sort."

Judy smiles as Nick takes the pen off the paper. She does another short nod at him, and he gapes his mouth, giving her a look of 'are you serious?'. Judy nods again and he glances down at the paper. "Next question: were you involved in or committed any act of violence in the past twenty-four hours?"

"Of course. I told you at the door, remember?"

"I'm just doin' my job," Nick says, scanning over the paper again before shoving it to Judy and standing up.

Judy flashes him a vexatious stare. and stands up, clipboard in hand. Her smile returns. "Thanks for your time. We will call you if we find an accurate match."

Rick leads them out the door. "Uh, don't do that. I kinda want to protect my anonymity. I'm sure glad that's over with." He shuts the door, leaving them in the cold once again. The temperature had decreased dramatically, due to a blizzard starting up, and the two quickly retreat to their cruiser.

"Nice going," Judy says, putting a paw on the seat partition. Are you planning to do that four more times?"

"Do what?"

"You know what. You didn't want to help with the interview."

"Hey – I wasn't the one injuring you with the clipboard. Oh – wait. That wasn't the worst part. It's okay because it's not every day you almost get us killed!"

"That was an accident. You know I'm not Mr. Sweet Talk like you," she rolls her eyes and looks at the clipboard again. "Four more. The next house is just up ahead."

"Well, good. Can't wait to get an early day off."

"If we do." She brings the engine to life and inches the car forward.

After four more reports, the two exit the last house. The cold lets up a little bit, but the temperatures are still frigid. Nick now walks quickly to the car, along with Judy, whose paw is already on the door handle. She rips it open and Nick does the same. They close their doors and glance at one another. "Are we done?" Nick asks, tapping his fingers on the door handle.

She nods. "Yep. We turn these in and might get to go home."

He smirks. "Good. About time."

She shoves the key into the ignition, again, and the engine sputters to life and then dies.

She holds up her paws, then twists the key again. The engine starts, stays on for a little longer than before, then shuts off. She puts her head to the steering wheel. Nick sighs and glances out the window. "We'll never get this done at this rate. Now we'll have to get backup over here, then ride home in the huge cruisers. I hate the seatbelts on those things."

"Hey, at least it's better than walking home."

"Or walking on four legs like our ancestors. They walked around naked wherever they wanted back then – prancing around on four legs," he imitates it with two paws, "and marking their territories with a simple lift of the leg. That would be the life."

"Nick, stop it," she giggles, tapping her head on the steering wheel. "I shouldn't be laughing, but I am. All I'm wondering is why you said that in the first place," she giggles again. "Oh, man. What is wrong with me?"

"It's probably because you're off duty," he looks out the window. "Without that backup, I doubt that we'll ever get back home."

"Yeah... but I've got an idea. Stay here," she steps out and opens the hood. She inspects the engine, looking at it in confusion. Nick, who was once staring at his phone, now opens the door and looks out to his confused friend. He stands from his place and walks up to where she stands. "Carrots, if I was going to check the temperature of a frozen car – which I never have – I would touch the engine to see if it's cold or not," he touches the top of the engine with the knuckles of his right paw, then takes it off quickly. "Looks like your engine's frozen, so your battery doesn't work. We'll have to jump-start the battery and see what that does."

She frowns, her arms crossing her chest. "That's the problem – it might not start. We both are not trained in mechanics. There was that little mechanics class we both took, but I don't think it covered a frozen battery." She walks over to the door, and Nick mirrors her actions. They both shut their doors to conserve heat.

"Mechanics..." his face remains apathetic until a smile gradually appears.

"Yeah, I don't think we could do it." She twists the key again, and the engine fails to start again.

"No," he puts a finger on her lips. "Sh-sh-sh. We just met with a mechanic nut."

"What do you mean?" She stops from attempting to start the car.

"Ron! If we go up to him–"

"–he'll help us?" She wears a similar smile to his.

"Exactly! However, I really don't think that he'll ever want to help us after what I just did."

She remains, pondering until her ears perk up. "Wait a minute. Don't you remember what he said?"

"Who? Ron?"

"Yeah. Don't you remember how he acted when we gave him a Class 2 felony for threatening?"

"Yeah – I do. If you hadn't given him that felony, you'd think he'd actually help somebody."

"That's it, Nick! Have you read the ZPD enforcement code book?"

"Have I read the ZPD enforcement code book? Why? The thing's like two-thousand pages long!"

"Right there, in the glove compartment, is a copy. Give it to me please."

He smirks and produces a copy of the book, setting it on the seat partition. Judy turns it to herself and turns to the middle of the book. "Section 150, code 123 states that any felony below a class 2 can be eradicated from the record books if – let me see here – 'the felon is willing to pay a one-hundred-thousand-dollar fine or assist a law enforcement officer in malfunctioned property, such as vehicles, equipment, or weapons. If the latter is chosen, the felon must completely repair the officer's property, alongside paying a fine of twenty-five-thousand-dollars within two months to omit the record of the felony in question.' "

She looks up at Nick's seat. No evidence of his existence appears visible within the car. Judy looks around the car, calling his name. Nothing. She reaches for her phone when 'Try Everything' emits from it. She looks at the screen. "I guess it's technically not a personal call..." she picks it up and holds it to her ear. "Where are you?"

"Don't worry, Carrots," he gasps, panting, "I'm up the hill. I guess you can tell that I haven't worked out for a while."

"Well, I know what you're up to. You know what you're supposed to say?"

"Carrots, I am more articulate than you, and you're asking what I'm supposed to say?"

"Hey, I didn't take public speaking in high school."

"Neither did I. I told you, Carrots – it's natural. Now, do you want to get home?"

"I guess – but I thought I was going to do it."

"I couldn't risk you going out there."

"You're too nice, Nick."

"See you in a minute, Carrots." He hangs up.

Nick returns about five minutes later with the polar bear carrying a strange device with two cables connected to it. Nick walks to the hood of the car, completely exhausted, and looks through the driver's side window, connecting the cables to the car under Rick's instruction. As he does this, he gestures to the driver's side door. "I need you to start the engine on my word and lightly press on the gas pedal. Make sure it's on neutral."

She climbs into the driver's seat, looking out the window. Nick does a short thumbs up, and she shifts it to neutral and starts the engine. It sputters and starts up, then shuts down once again. Nick walks slowly over to her, knocking on the window. Judy opens the door and looks him in the eyes. "We got to wait a minute while it warms up," Nick fumbles with his fingers, then plants his forearms, an inch after the elbow, palm side down, onto the window frame. "When I tell you to do it again, do the same thing," he gestures towards the gas pedals, "and make sure it's on neutral." A short moment later, Nick instructs her to do it again, and this time the car starts successfully. They let it run on the strange contraption's power, then unhook it, say goodbye to Rick and watch him stroll away happily as they sit in the cold interior of the vehicle.

"What exactly was that thing? It sure wasn't a car." Judy asks, glancing at engine temperature.

Nick smiles. "If you didn't know yet, he invented that thing. He just isn't rich enough to buy a patent for it. It is a portable replacement for a car to help jump-start it. Too bad he's going to be even more in debt than he already is."

She nods, glancing down for a second at the buttons below the radio controls. She rolls her eyes and touches a few buttons. "Hey, didn't you know! The air conditioning does work!" He spots Nick's satisfied smile as he adjusts the heat to his face.

"What was wrong with it?"

"It appears that somebody kept the heat function turned off. Anyway, speaking of Ron." She shifts the car to drive and turns around completely.

Nick looks at her. "Is it just me, or are we not supposed to go this way?"

Judy smiles. "I'm going to go the other way in a minute. It's just that I had a major last-minute revelation before we leave." She continues forward and stops a minute later in front of a blue house.

"Um, isn't this Rick's house?" Nick asks, looking towards their destination.

She laughs. "Yep," she steps out of the car and Nick follows. "And don't worry – I left the heater on a little so the car doesn't freeze again." Nick gives her a confused stare while they approach the door. Judy taps on the door and it opens again.

The door opens and Rick appears. "Oh, hey, guys. Do you both need something? Did the car stop working again?"

Judy shakes her head. "No, it's fine. But, sir, I'd like to give you something," she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a neat stack of dollar bills. "You were a great help. Really. Take this as a token of our appreciation."

Rick looks at her slowly. "Wait. Why? I don't need this. Use it for yourself." he places both paws on the door, moving it slowly closed. Besides, I was an officer in the ZPD many moons ago. I know the ZPD codebook like the back of my hand. Officers aren't allowed to give perpetrators money."

"You may be a perpetrator, but you're also a former police officer. According to Section 200, Code 43, a police officer can grant a police officer – or former officer – money to support them." She shakes her head and holds it out further. "Please."

Rick pushes the door open wider and takes the money from her outstretched hand. He looks through it and his eyes widen. "This is two thousand dollars."

Nick's eyes almost pop out of his skull. "Two th-" Judy elbows him in the ribs and he almost bites his tongue. He gives her a menacing glance and looks ahead again.

"Use it for your patent," she smiles, putting her paws behind her back. "Or something else you want."

"I can't really use it for my perpetrator side, so I'll keep it to my patent. But, are you absolutely sure you want me to have this?"

She nods. "I wanted to be generous. Besides, it's hard to get a patent nowadays."

Rick smiles. "Thanks. Really. You know what? If I become a millionaire because of this invention, I'll give you half of what I earn. Have a wonderful day, Ms. Hopps."

She smiles. "You too." The door shuts.

The two walk back to their car, and she shuts the door, Nick following. She starts it up, and Nick speaks after she backs out. "Why would you do that?"

She smiles. "I like helping other people. Besides, our apartment costs got cut in half. I have more money than I can spend. Might as well use it on other people."

A short drive to the police station later, the two deliver their reports to the police station. Sitting on a bench overlooking the street in front of the station, Judy looks up at the sun as it begins to travel down to the horizon. She looks at the clustering traffic ahead of her, and she turns around to a loudening panting approaching. She squints at the figure approaching, then she smiles ear-to-ear and she waves her paw in the air. "Nick!"

The fox puts his paw on the backrest of the bench and takes a deep breath, still taking large gulps of air. "Hey."

She frowns, inspecting him. "Where were you this whole time?"

He shrugs. "I got – caught up talking with Wolfard," he smiles and switches the subject simultaneously. "My apartment rent doubled yesterday, so I had to shut it down temporarily this morning before you picked me up," he frowns. "Do you mind if I stay with you tonight? I'll just have to grab a few things from my room."

"Why not?" she lets out a short squeal, and he looks at her in confusion.

"Did you do that?"

"What? No. That was probably a bu – tire or something. Anyway, sit down and we'll be at my place in a little bit."

Shortly, after a couple stops, the duo arrives at the occupied lot of the Grand Pangolin Arms Apartment Complex. The shabby, well-built building stands tall and awaits the partners' entrance. Judy leads Nick into the lobby, up the elevator, and into the hall. Nick inspects the hall, running his finger on the wall for a second.

The wall is rectangular-shaped, tall, and long. Only the left wall contains apartments; the only places on the right are vending machines and ice dispensers, along with guest bathrooms on the far end of the right wall. The carpet of the hall is copper-colored and thin, permitting Nick to hold his foot straight up and run his toes through the carpet. He sticks both paws in his pockets, silently locating his friend standing at the door. Judy shoves the key into the lock and twists it, pushing her way into the room with one paw, the other holding a full, white grocery bag.

The room, dark without illumination, remains still and quiet. The window, on the opposite wall from the door, stays behind a black curtain. A neatly made bed remains still on the far left side of the rectangular room. A table, supporting a digital clock and multiple notepads, sits across from the bed, leaving an aisle between the two furniture. Another clock sits on a low end table next to the bed.

"Okay, so this is where you'll be staying." She instructs Nick to set his luggage down and for him to sit on the bed next to her. He pushes off the floor and plants himself on the bedsheets, where his legs hang slightly off the floor. Judy places the bag next to her and looks at him.

"How long do you think you'll need to stay?" she asks.

He grins. "Are all rabbits this desperate to get rid of foxes, or is just you?" She looks at him for a moment, playfully punching his shoulder. He rubs it and looks at her again.

"Seriously," Judy says sympathetically, "how long are you staying?"

"Probably until I can afford my apartment again."

She nods. "You can stay as long as you need."

A question puzzles her, and she motivates herself to ask it. "If you can't afford when your apartment rent doubles, nor can you afford a car, how do you keep up with your phone plan?"

He smiles without looking at her. "Carrots, that's the reason why I can't afford the car or the high rent. My phone plan is $120 a month – and that's just for infinite data and communication. I almost forgot – my phone in and of itself costs about a thousand dollars. Plus, I haven't gotten any bonuses since that one a week ago. Finnick's got access to my bank account, so the money I've earned through hustling is almost gone. My first paycheck from the force is almost gone too."

Her eyes widen and her ears fall behind her head. "Nick, thank you for telling me," she places her paw on his arm, and digs through her pocket with her free paw and produces another stack of bills. "Here."

Without looking, he holds his paw up. "And don't even think about giving me money. You need it more than me, Carrots."

"Why not?"

"Because, Carrots. I don't want your money. Finnick's gonna steal it anyway."

"Can't you set up a separate account?"

"No, then he'll get suspicious and try to find me. He expects me to fulfill his gambling career."

Judy shakes her head. "C'mon, Nick. Can I at least give you something? Don't you know that you can do something about Finnick?"

"Yes, I know I can do something about him. But if I do? He'll never forgive me. Even if he gets a simple ticket, he'll never let me forget it," he looks down at the floor. "Carrots? Remember that story I told you on the gondolas that one day?"

"Yeah. The one with the scout incident?"

"That's the one. I forgot to tell you that something else happened after that incident."

"What?"

His face falls into an apathetic look, and he glances at the floor. "Carrots, I met Finnick that same day. He wanted to adopt me."

"Adopt you? Why?"

"I don't know. At the time, he seemed so kind and sympathetic, I couldn't think. I let him adopt me, nevertheless. I never saw my mom after that," he closes his eyes. "My mom died two weeks later..." he blinks a couple times, eyes still fixed on the floor.

Judy, who now can't help let out a couple tears, places her paw on his back. "How about your d-dad?"

"He left. I'm a single kid, Carrots. I hated him. All he did was yell at me. That's why I wanted to join the Junior Ranger Scouts. I wanted to get away from my dad as much as possible. Now, I'm grown and have no parents except Finnick. If I get rid of him..."

"You'll lose your last known memory of a parent?"

"Exactly. If I get rid of Finnick, he'll be mad at me. I don't want two people to be mad at me, let alone one."

"Can't you just take the money?"

He shakes his head. "No, Carrots. We're getting paid next week. I also applied for government relief last week."

Her eyes wet with tears. "I want to help, but you don't want to. Please? You're a really important person in my life, and I want to help you."

Below his paws, his eyes widen. Important? Nick looks up at her. "Carrots – it's been years since I've heard someone say that I'm important to them. But still," He shakes his head. "No is no, Carrots. That money is yours. I can't let you give it to me until I can find a way to save my money without attracting suspicion."

"Nick?" He looks up at her voice. Judy smirks and holds her paws up to him. "C'mere, big guy. Give me a hug."

Without a second thought, he leans his head on her shoulder. She rubs the back of him with her paw, and he lets out a sigh onto her shoulder. "You're gonna be okay, Nick. No matter where we go, I'm here to protect you. That's why I wanted to be a police officer – I wanted to make the world a better place – and still do today – even if it involves solving issues, one person at a time."

He pulls out of her hug, looking at her with red eyes. "Oh, Carrots. Thanks for that. I don't know what came over me then – I'm usually strong. But something about you – it reminds me of my mom."

"How so?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was her kindness, her motivation – her love. Even when my dad yelled at her, she didn't get mad. That's probably where I got that from. But you – Carrots, you're like another mom to me. I don't know if that's a good thing or not."

"Of course it is!" she looks at him again. "If I remind you of your mom, then you sure as heck can stay here forever if you feel like it. If that's what makes you feel any better, then stay here as long as you'd like."

He nods, smiling. He then looks at the clock on the table and rubs his stomach. "When'd we have lunch? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry right now."

"That's why we bought the food," she pulls the bag between her and Nick.

As the two chow down on the vegetarian-friendly dinner, Nick looks up at the closet, which has no doors and showcases the internal tools and clothes. "I really wish I could afford something like this. The apartment I have back home is way smaller."

She nods and looks up at him. "About the money you need – I think I have a solution."

"And what is that?"

"Well – it's not really a solution – but you could set up two accounts, and you could add some money to the other account so you don't get Finnick suspicious."

"Alright, look," Nick sets down the fork on the plate in his left paw. "Set up two accounts? Why? Then I'll have to pay for another. Plus, Finnick's gonna still get suspicious. He expects a certain amount a month to come in. It's 3/4 of my monthly paycheck for this job."

Judy glances up at him, shrugging off the suggestion. She slaps her fork onto the plate and gently disposes of it. "When you're done, how about we do something to take your mind off the money?"

He shrugs, also disposing of his plate. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

The two mammals settle down for a nice movie connected to her laptop and then decide to retire after. Judy retrieves a pillow and two blankets and sets them on the ground, where Nick refuses her generous offer of sleeping in her bed. Judy climbs into her bed, looking over at Nick, whose eyelids remain shut over his eyes.

She rolls to her side and ponders her day: The reports, her car breaking down, and Nick asking her if he could stay the night. Then, the shocking story. The story and his money problem. If only she could help him out. She had tried, but he was too concerned about her.

Had telling him he was important too soon? A friend is someone who has a shoulder to cry on. He'd literally cried on his shoulder, and she'd helped him rejuvenate.

As he sleeps on the floor, she feels lonelier than before. Feeling as if all her relatives move, leaving her alone. Sitting up in the bed, she takes out a handheld flashlight, scribbling a short sentence onto the sticky note. She sticks it to the wall beside the bed, turning off the flashlight and lying back down onto the mattress.

Suddenly, she feels like she isn't in the present. She feels like she is traveling in time, going into the future. She can feel herself, in the future, helping him. Or something helping him. She felt herself crying in the future, which almost made her cry. Something happy – or sad – happening. She knows she will make good, friendly relations with him.

But she wanted more. She wanted a more romantic relationship. But being romantic with a fox was unheard of. Having a romantic relationship – even a marriage – with a fox was crazier than any jackpot that Pawerball could even produce. But part of her knows it isn't right. If she tries to be romantic, he might reject her. If she didn't try, she'd feel rejected by herself.

But she has to try.

She is a trier, after all. It worked with the motivation to join the police force. Now, she wants to try something to risk devastating consequences, ones with irreversible effects. Ones that can ruin everything – even their simple relationship as friends.

But trying is part of her nature. Her grandfather was a trier. He was a major swimmer in the big swimming competitions, a major inventor of one of the most incredible inventions known to rabbitkind, and a role model for her. If her grandfather married somebody, so would she. Her grandfather married the craziest rabbits she'd ever met, but he still got along well with her.

Why? Because he tried. If her grandfather loved her grandmother, then her grandfather would do nothing else but to marry her. The same with herself. She felt a connection with Nick – and she would do nothing else but see what happens if she tries. Tries to get him to notice her.

Hello, guys, CrazyWriter here. This first chapter's edits concluded on July 31, 2017, and released on the respective date. This is the second edition of Try and Fail, and will be completely revamped within two months, or by October 1, 2017, but may finish before or after the respective date. No further chapter of Try and Fail will release until the editing concludes. Other chapters of Little Moments and A Savage Battle will release as editing proceeds on this story but will be delayed due to editing on this story. Thank you.