Chapter One
Monday Mundanity

It was Monday, late afternoon, the inside of a small apartment room on the second floor in a block of flats. It was a remarkably small room, dull gray in color and sparsely furnished. There was a small fridge and a microwave for a kitchen, the bathroom was outside the room, down the hall and to the left. There was a desk with scattered paperwork on it, a photograph of the tenant's mother and father and a few other sentimental treasures, one of them being a novelty plastic 'carrot' pen. There was a cheap wardrobe, containing several summery outfits and a uniform, a door on one end of the room, a window on the other and that was about it.

Except for the bed which was against the old wall and took up about a fifth of the floor space. There was a rabbit on the bed, more specifically a doe who sighed at that moment from apparent boredom. The bunny, her name was Judy, or to a certain red-furred friend of hers: Hopps, Fluff or Carrots, was staring up at the ceiling and waiting for the day to end.

Even though she had wanted to be an officer since she could hop. Even though she had finally made it. Even though she was the only rabbit ever to have done so, and even though she loved her job and found excitement in even the most mundane of tasks, she still had moments like this. Moments where her time at work was over for the day and she would find herself with nothing to do until work would start again, again and again. Crime never slept, but apparently she had to.

It was at moments like this that she realized... well, she realized she had no life outside her work: no hobbies or interests; no places to go and be other than here; no family to visit anywhere near within traveling distance. She was even missing the entertainment of her neighbors as they had gone away for the month. While she got on well with just about all the officers, she could only call one of them a friend in the real sense. Someone who she could talk, and open up to. Someone to tell how her day went and how her family was. To make jokes with, tease, embarrass, fall out with and then make up again later that day. And Nick, her only friend, was at work.

He was at work in Precinct One while she was at home... lying on her bed. Many officers would've been pleased to have the afternoon off, but not Judy. While at work during the morning, busy doing paperwork to follow up a foiled burglary, Bogo, the chief policemammal, had burst into the office and abruptly had told her that she looked dead on her feet and was to go home immediately and rest. She had tried to argue her point; she hadn't felt tired in the least; it was Monday morning, and she just had had the weekend off and was itching to get some work done at last! But Bogo had overruled her argument and had sent her home regardless. What was there to do other than lay in bed and wait for Tuesday to come?

Her phone buzzed, breaking the silent monotony. After a moment's wondering if it had just been in her head, she reached over to the end table by the bed and picked up the phone. There was a text. She looked at who the text was from and smiled. It was from her friend, Nick. She opened the text and read it, smiling yet further at Nick's appalling grammar at texting. It was a short text and didn't make much sense as it merely stated, "you in".

She stared at the bright screen for a moment, then texted back, "Yes..?"

Several seconds passed and then her phone buzzed again, "open the window". Her brow furrowing, Judy sat up out of bed. Putting her phone back on the table, she stood, threw her dressing gown on and pulled open the curtains. The dull grey light fled as the golden midday smile of the sun flooded in. She picked open the window, blinking in the sudden warm light. The street was busy with the standard comings and goings of city life. The cars, the public, all looking exactly as they always did. She was about to turn from the window and text 'what am I looking at' to the fox, but was interrupted by a certain noise.

Loud whistling drew her attention down to ground level two floors below, to a clearing on the pavement where she saw a very familiar figure with two fingers in his mouth that were responsible for that specific high-pitched sound. The rabbit raised her eyebrows. The daft fox was grinning up at her on one knee. He had one paw on his heart and the other proffered a bunch of flowers towards her. He opened his mouth and then — without any shame, much to the embarrassment of Judy and to several odd looks from passersby — Nick started to serenade her, "Come sei bella, più bella stasera. I brillare un sorriso di stella, nei tuoi occhi viola."

Leaping back from the window, Judy threw herself to her wardrobe and changed out of her pajamas, Nick's voice still calling clear through the open window, "Anche se avverso il destino domani fermarci. Oggi mi fermo per voi."

Dressed, Judy headed to the door but stopped, quickly returning and fetching her phone. "Dimmi che illusione non sono solo, dimmi che sei tutta per me." Throwing open the door and sprinting down the steps, while giggling all the way, Judy came to a stop outside the door to grin at the fox who was still singing, "Dimmi di più sul nostro amore, l'amore che abbiamo tra il coniglio e la volpe, l'amore condividiamo, me e tu." Rushing forwards once again, she hurried across the street, throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him flat, while he wrapped his show up. "Hey, easy there, Carrots, easy!"

She laughed as she drew herself away. "Since when have you sung Italian?!"

"Just one of my many talents, Carrots. I may have just learnt a few lines. Perhaps just enough for me to impress a certain bunny by appearing at her window to serenade her. Quite good I think..." with that, he burst back into song, "come sei bella, più bel—"

"Nick!" Judy quickly regained her composure, without meaning to shout out quite that loud. "Nick, thank you, that was very kind of you. It really was very thoughtful and thank you again!"

"You're welcome, Hopps. But if you think that's as far as my thoughtfulness has gone on this momentous day of ours, you're in for something else entirely." Her ears pricked up as he mentioned a 'momentous day', but she was interrupted from asking about it by a large bundle of flowers being pushed before her face.

"Oh, my favorites! Thanks, Nick." She gave him another appreciating hug.

"Wait, that's it? A hug? I buy you flowers, I serenade you. What's a fox gotta do to get a kiss around these parts?" Lost in the moment somewhat, Judy humored the reynard with a playful peck on the cheek, while Nick's already smiling face notably brightened at this gesture, as he handled her the flowers.

"So," Judy asked as she started munching into the tasty treat her fox-friend had brought her, "you say this is a day of some significance, what's the occasion?"

Nick's face dropped, his expression became aghast. He stood upright. "Don't tell me you've forgotten! Oh, the agony, the heartbreak." Concern grew within Judy at this display. Fortunately, she had known Nick more than long enough to spot the gleam in his eyes and the twitch of a grin which danced around the edge of his initials.

Judy, instead, watched the display with a bemused smile as Nick placed one paw over his heart and the other to his forehead as though he was about to faint. "Oh, cruel, cruel bunny! How could you forget today of all days?"

"Nick, just tell me what today is…"

Nick stopped, suddenly bending over to Judy's height. His emerald eyes sparkling mischievously, "Three hundred and sixty five days ago from today, Carrots, a certain restless bunny was on meter maid duty, whilst a certain suspicious-looking fox was trying to con a jumbo-pop from an elephant."

Judy gasped, her paw going for her shocked mouth. "Has it really been a year? A whole year since I met you?!" She had meant to do something memorable with Nick for their 'meeting you' anniversary: spend the day with him, go for a meal or a film, or a walk in the country or something. But she didn't have a clue just how late in the year it had become.

"Time sure does fly, Carrots," Nick said, softly, to which a blush filled her cheeks as she looked away from his emerald gems in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry I forgot, Nick. I'm so sorry I forgot…"

"You bunnies, so emotional." She looked back and punched him playfully on the arm. "Come on, Fluff, before they give away our table."

Suddenly Nick was gone, walking briskly away. It took Judy a second to process the statement and Nick grinned as Judy ran to follow, as he knew she would, while calling up to him, "Table? What table? Nick!" He remained stubbornly silent as he led Judy through the streets and back-alleys of Zootopia until she was truly lost. At length, they approached a small café on a street corner. It was old and slightly shabby, but warm and inviting, with peeling red paint, yellow light shining from within and a sign written in gold-leaf above the door itself.

'Joe's Place'

Nick stepped forwards and opened the entrance for Judy, bowing playfully as she entered, before following behind her. It was only two stars, but that was pretty good going for a pair of coppers living in the heart of Zootopia during their first year of service, and felt like fine dining to the two mammals as they went to their seats.

The chair was pushed in for Judy by Nick as she sat down, much to her amusement. Then he walked around the round table to his own. He looked down at the accommodated surface as he seated himself and found, much to his surprise, that the chair was being pushed in for him by Judy.

Nick managed to stop his mouth from dropping open, if only just. She giggled at his expression as she returned to her own spot of comfort.

How quick can that bunny move?

…

Author's notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don't hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

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