A/N: Saw Zootopia yesterday with the fam. I thought about this a lot towards the end of the movie, and I thought this would be a nice little moment to share.

Trust Exercise

-{[(•)]}-

It'd been a while since they'd been in one of these kinds of situations.

They were trapped in this small, dark room, waiting for backup. Nick was curled up in the corner; he kept flicking his sunglasses open and closed. Judy was leaning against the wall by the door. She wanted to hear as soon as the other officers arrived.

The criminal had gotten away, for now, but they would find him and they would bring him to justice.

"I-I don't think I ever really explained why-" Judy started. The open sunglasses flicked closed and stopped moving. "-why I reacted so badly, that first time."

"What are you talking about, Carrots?" Nick mumbled affectionately. She could just make out his eyes in the dim lighting, and her heart leapt for a moment.

"Our first case. When I asked you to be my partner?" She clarified. She cleared her throat slightly. "When I said horrible things at that press conference. And you played predator-"

"Don't tell me you're getting emotional right now!" He joked weakly; he sounded worried. His paw landed on her foot, comforting her slightly. "You apologized, and we said we were good."

"Yeah, but... It's been bothering me," she whispered. She rubbed the back of her head, just under her ears. She'd had a few sleepless nights from thinking about it, and she figured now was as good a time as any to explain herself.

"I already forgave you," he smiled. "You don't have to keep apologizing, emotional little fluff-ball."

"I'm not... not apologizing!" She protested quietly. "I just... You shared your story, about... about the Scouts. And I thought... I should tell you mine."

"You don't have to-" he assured.

"I want to," she cut in. "I want to."

She took a deep breath to gather herself.

"When I was nine, there was a fair in our burrow. I put together a play with some of my friends, about how predators and prey had evolved and become friends. About how we could be anything we wanted to now. After the play, there was a fox, a little older than me, who started picking on some of the prey. He stole their fair tickets and kept mocking them."

"I don't see how-"

"Let me finish!" She huffed. She gently grabbed his hand, taking another deep breath. "I had wanted to be a cop, even back then. So I tried to step in, tried to make him give the tickets back. He- He attacked me. He pinned me, and he scratched deep into my face." She lifted his hand to her cheek, pushing aside the fur so he could feel the scars.

He gasped softly.

"He just- just kept growling at me. Being as aggressive as he could to show me how weak I was, how he could kill me if he wanted to. I was terrified." She sighed. "I managed to get the tickets back, and it actually encouraged me to become a cop even more. But... But when you came at me like that..." Her breath hitched. "I could only see him. It scared me so much."

"Judy, I'm sorr-"

"No!" She laughed wetly. She swiped at her eyes quickly. "No, I don't want you to apologize. I just wanted you to know. The fox repellant? That was a gift from my parents. They wanted me to take it with me on the job. When you came at me, I was scared, but I knew I had something. Knew if you did attack, that I could protect myself. But..." She smiled. "But my hand hovered. I was waiting for you to make the first move. I didn't want to repel you in any way."

He laughed.

"I'm glad. That stuff smells horrible." His nose poked against her forehead for a second, and she recognized it as the gesture of affection it was.

Her ears perked suddenly, and she began to pound on the door.

"We're in here!"

-{[(•)]}-

A/N: Real short but sweet, right?

QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: If you met an animal that could talk like in Zootopia, what would you ask them? I would ask what they think about life. Like, what do they think about families and food, how do they think the universe started. I don't know. It seems like the answer would be interesting.