"At attention, class!" the rhino yelled. "We have a guest coming in today, and I do NOT want her to see a bunch of useless, lazy recruits! Am I clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Nick wanted to smirk as he sat down at his desk, but he knew better. After all, that didn't go so hot on his first day of police academy, and you'd think that he'd learned his lesson by now…well, no, he really hadn't, because two months later, he was still bold enough to let his lips curl up slyly. He knew who was coming— why wouldn't he? It wasn't like they'd solved the biggest case Zootopia had seen in years. Heck, he probably didn't even need all this extra "training" nonsense, but she'd insisted that if he really wanted to become her partner, he would have to go through with it. And besides, there was only one month left. He could make it, right?

That is, if Judy didn't squeeze him to death on sight. And by the look of it when she first walked in, she definitely wanted to. Her ears were straight up, and her nose was twitching rapidly. Within two seconds, she'd flicked her eyes over toward him and given the quickest of winks. He raised his aviators and winked in response, smirk full on his muzzle.

After a brief handshake with the rabbit, Chief Horner stared his class down. "This is Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. As the model of our Animal Inclusion Program, she will be talking to you on the values of perseverance— physical, mental, and psychological."

Coughing, Nick quipped, "You forgot emotional."

"Quiet, Wilde!" Horner yelled. "Don't make me-"

"Actually, he's quite right." Ah, yes, there she was, already defending him with all her furry might. Judy sent a warm smile toward Nick. "Thank you for your comment, Mister-?"

Nick had to bite down on his lips. He wanted to laugh so bad— she was acting like they didn't know each other! Smooth move, Carrots, smooth move. "Nick Wilde, ma'am." Even at a distance, he could see that her eyes had brightened just a little bit. She'd missed him, he knew it. And well, it wasn't as if he couldn't say the same for himself.

Taking his chance, Nick slid in, "But feel free to call me 'Foxy'."

"WILDE!" the Chief shouted again, but the class couldn't be controlled in their laughter. Even Judy let her professional facade go by the wayside for a brief moment as she giggled behind her paws. Nick smiled proudly. She'd laughed, and that was all he needed to be content for the next hour or two of lecturing.

Finally, the class settled down, and Judy stood up tall (or as tall as she could) again. She smiled brightly at them. "Good afternoon, recruits. You've made it this far, and I look forward to meeting you at the office in the coming months. If you were unaware of this beforehand, I will be speaking at your graduation ceremony, so we will certainly be seeing each other again!"

Nick glanced around the room. Some animals seemed impressed— after all, this little creature (more than a tenth of their size for some of them) was practically a ZPD celebrity, a force to be reckoned with. Others had haughty looks, wondering what this bunny was doing talking to them about perseverance. Nick made a mental note of these to make sure to cheat them later in a game of cards.

"…will only be speaking to you for a few minutes, as I know that you need to get back to work in order to graduate on time." Oops, Judy was speaking and he zoned out. Good job, Wilde, good job.

"But when I think of perseverance, I think of something a good friend of mine once told me." Her eyes were on him now, talking to him alone. "He told me, 'don't let them see that they get to you'." Then suddenly, Judy looked away, laughing a bit. "Well, I would amend that some."

Nick got a sick feeling in his stomach. He'd told her that what felt like ages ago, before their fight, before he'd realized how much he cared, how much he actually needed her. He'd been honest when he'd said that, true, but then he'd also said that nothing ever got to him anymore…her included. He wanted to get up and stop her, tell her he was sorry for saying that and that he didn't mean that he didn't care for her, but— oh, he was gonna get it, he knew it.

"He was partially right," she continued. "You should be tough, be willing to take the smack talk and stand there unaffected," He knew it was coming, he knew she was about to contradict him in the nicest way she possibly could, and he still felt awful about it. But then, she turned her eyes back to him, looking even happier than when she'd first spotted him coming in. "But you also need to know when to show how you feel. We aren't just police officers, peace keepers, whatever you want to call it— we're the ones who care so much for our home that we're willing to fight for it."

"My friend, well…" she trailed off, looking slightly bashful with her ears down. "He had a hard time showing that he cared for a while. I'm pretty sure he hated me, actually."

'No, no!' he wanted to shout. 'Okay, well, maybe a little bit, but not anymore! You're my best friend, and I'm really sorry and please don't make those eyes any bigger, I can't stand it, please stop—'

There was that bright smile again, that look she gave him that said those words that they'd never actually said out loud because it wasn't necessary— they knew.

"But then he saved me. You see, I was an idiot and we were running through this museum storage room or something," she started rambling. "-and I cut one of my legs, and Nick-"

She realized her mistake almost automatically, as did the rest of the class. Wide eyes turned and stared at him. And as always, Nick Wilde was completely prepared to be the center of attention.

"Yeah, you sliced it on one of those marble statues, didn't you?" he commented, then tsked, "That was one nasty wound, there, Carrots."

The wall had been broken down, leaving Judy to roll her eyes and reply, "Oh shut up, I thought you were about to panic before you remembered those stupid blueberries you brought and started wrapping up my leg. Why did you bring those, anyway?"

The class was in awe now, eyes going back and forth between the pair as if they were watching a tennis match.

"What, I was hungry, okay?" Nick parried. "But you gotta admit, they did come in handy when she thought she shot me with the virus."

Judy and Nick snickered together when they thought about their little "death scene", especially the part when he had to act savage and she started shouting about blood.

Still giggling, Judy continued her speech, "As you can see, Nick and I had each other's backs-"

"Fell through a rainforest," Nick coughed.

She shook her head, mumbling, "That was one time, Wilde, one time." Nick smirked again.

"Anyway, Nick's got me, and I've got him. We know we can count on each other because we care about each other, and that's okay. When you get a partner, you might find yourself in situations you could only dream of. It's going to be tough, and you can't persevere on your own, no matter how confident you are that you can." Her eyes softened now.

"I probably wouldn't be here— heck, I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Nick Wilde. He went from being my worst nightmare to my best friend, and I can't thank him enough for that and the lessons he's taught me. So go out there and be strong. Be bold. Be confident. But show that you care, because that's what'll get you far. Not being rude, or arrogant," she stopped to give a look at the students Nick had noted earlier. "Being an officer isn't about getting to wield authority over others, getting to turn the siren on, or being the boss. It's about caring for and protecting your city. Can I expect that from you?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" The class shouted, standing up abruptly to salute her.

She smiled brightly at them, nodded at Chief Horner, and looked back at the class. "You are dismissed, with the exception of Mr. Wilde."

His cocky smirk was back, and he put his feet up on his desk as he watched the rest of his class go out for training on the ice wall. Some of them stopped by to thank Judy, to which she replied with a big smile and a thank you.

Once the door was shut, he swung his feet off his desk and began his slow stroll up to the front of the class. "I've gotta say, Carrots, that was some spee-"

Judy cut him off by hugging him as tight as her little self could. He hardly had a second to hug her himself before she jumped back and said, "How was it? Did I do okay? Gosh, I forgot how much I hate public speaking, and I'll be doing a speech too at your graduation ceremony and then you're here, which makes me feel even more pressure because I don't want to screw up again and I-"

"Judy?"

That made her stop her rambling. He never used her first name. "Y-yes?" she stuttered.

A knowing smile came onto his muzzle. "Deep breath, sweetheart. You're gonna start seeing carrots."

Judy punched him in the shoulder, laughing. Then she hugged him again, nuzzling her little pink nose into his rookie uniform. "I missed you, you stupid fox," she mumbled. Nick could feel his heart warming, expanding, almost like it was going to burst.

She looked up at him, amethyst eyes serious. "You need to hurry up and graduate— it's been so boring with you gone."

Nick hummed, gently pushing her head back into his chest with one paw and stroking her back with the other. "Let me guess…meter maid?"

Judy groaned and nodded. "Chief knows I need a partner to keep me in line, so he's been keeping me busy with other stuff until you get back."

"A fox? Keep you in line? Well I'll be darned."

"Shut up," the bunny giggled. "We keep each other in line," she amended.

Nick allowed his walls to come down just long enough to give the top of Judy's head a quick nuzzle. "That's more like it."