A/N: Greetings. First off I want to thank you for even clicking on my story and giving it a chance.

I had this idea for a story way back in early October and wanted to finish it in time for Halloween, but unsurprisingly, that just didn't happen cause I'm not that efficient of a writer. Then I thought maybe for Christmas for reasons you'll kinda see later, but even with Winter Break on my side, that just didn't quite happen. So here it is, way out of season. Ugh. Little side-note, I had planned for this to be a one-shot, cause a two-shot reminds me too much of those movie franchises where they split the final movie into two parts for the munnies. Harry Potter doing it was justified but then everyone else followed. But anyways, I'm posting it in two parts because I just want this OUT THERE and quite literally out of my hands. And because if it were a oneshot, it'd be over 10k. Which to be fair isn't unheard of but meh. So here be part 1 of 2. Hope you like it.

Nearly forgotten. Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or anything like that. Just this here story. Wish I was somehow connected though so I could give the directors a shove in the WildeHopps direction. They're on the fence apparently.

We're Simply...

In Zootopia, anyone can be anything.

That has never been truer than the case of Judy Hopps. A young and ambitious grey bunny that truly pushed the famous slogan of Zootopia to its limits. Since she was a kit she was determined to become a big city cop and make the world a better place. And for more than 15 years after she voiced her intentions to everyone around her (multiple times), she faced unprecedented amounts of speciesm. How could just a dumb bunny become a police officer?

But thanks to a bully and a fox named Gideon Grey, who clawed her and indirectly challenged her idea of never giving up, she remained determined, no matter how many rhinos and elephants nearly stepped on her. Because of that determination, years later she succeeded and became the valedictorian of her police academy class and was stationed at Precinct One, the city center and the busiest ZPD precinct.

As time passed, she continued to throw everyone's expectations of her and her species out the window. Within the first few months, she solved one of the biggest cases in Zootopian history and proved her judgmental boss wrong about her. Simultaneously making her eventual partner, a red fox named Nicholas Wilde, believe that he could be far more than what society had intended him to be. Soon after the case was solved, he joined her in proving "anyone can be anything," and a once con mammal fox became a cop and the partner of the famous Judy Hopps.

Not too much time passed before rumors and reports started leaking that the two famous underdogs were becoming romantic and had joined the minority in falling in love with a mammal outside of their own species. Even more surprising was the predator and prey aspect of it, fox and bunnies of course being natural ancient enemies. Only known to a much smaller population, but it was even more of a contrast because of the fact that he was once a borderline criminal, and Judy Hopps was always such an idealist and strict by-the-book rule follower. They were the embodiment of opposites really do attract sometimes. Certainly not a usual couple.

In just a few months after their partnership formed, they had quickly become the public face of the ZPD with the proud slogan posted above their heads "anyone can be anything." Chief Bogo would never admit it to anyone but whenever he saw that poster it made him extremely proud. And he didn't mind their relationship as they were thus far doing an excellent job of keeping it out of the work place. The approaching holidays made Bogo curious to see if they'd cause any grief for their relationship as the holidays often do. Spending time with your spouse's family often creates quite a lot of… friction... he'd know.

And speaking of the holidays, given the approaching holiday all department stores of course loved to start the decorations absurdly early. Like come on, Halloween is a month away! Ridiculous, Bogo would grumble while shopping, something no one in the precinct knew he did. He was, after all, not a mammal. Or so Officers like Wilde had started to say recently… Ok just Wilde originally but since then the joke has spread like a virus and now everyone joked about it and an unfortunate amount even believed it.

Another new thing that started this year, and just like the stores with their decorations, started far too early, was the scaring. Over the past couple weeks, now into early-October, mammals have been dressing up in scary clown like costumes and pranking others to the point of physical abuse and terrorism.

Ever since the species war between the prey and predators of the city reached a boiling point during the NightHowler case, even though it is not her fault, Judy has always blamed herself for the oscillating tensions. No matter how many times he tried to console her that the city has always been like this and it was broken long before she was born, it was clear to everyone she still beat herself up over it.

What made the situation even worse was that the clowns seemed to be going after exclusively prey. So in retaliation, the prey of course started to dress up and scare innocent predators back. And voila! More species tension.

So Officers WildeHo- erg... Wilde AND Hopps were walking around in civilian clothes in the hope that they'd be targeted and thus catch the perps in the act. Witnesses were saying that the perps wore full costumes so as to hide their identity and species. Clever, but not enough for the dynamic duo no doubt. They were too efficient, too witty, always on task while out in the city, the perfect example of the perfect cops.

"Y'know I hope we don't have to walk around much longer here Carrots. It's getting awfully close to dinner time and we hardly had a lunch."

"Aww is a certain foxxy woxy getting hungry?" Officer Hopps teased, looking at him with a half lidded smile.

"More like HANGRY Carrots." Nick grumbled without even sparing her a glance.

"Hangry? What's that?" She inquired, erasing the smug look and looking up at him with concern upon hearing the undertone of anger.

"A mix of hungry and angry. Hangry. As you can imagine not a good mix."

"Well, I am feeling it too Slick. Once we cover this last hotspot we'll call in." She didn't ask but she silently wondered what it was that had gotten Nick's fur ruffled. It was likely just the failure of their task so far as they had covered nearly a dozen different areas where reports of the scares had happened and haven't been "scared" yet. The constant suspense and anticipation of being jumped by some mammals in clown costumes surely wasn't helping either.

But... it also could be some of the looks they were receiving got to him. Since they were out and about in civilian clothes, while most recognized and respected them, there are of course still those few who...quite simply don't approve of them.

And it wasn't the typical matter of speciesm and "you shouldn't be a cop" comments; it was the anti-interspecies relationship ones. Comments like that always hit a bit of a soft spot in Judy. Partly due to her urge to protect Nick from such judgement even though she knew he didn't need it. But also because of the way her parents responded to the news. They didn't do anything dramatic like disown her or try and taze Nick, but they were more than a little apprehensive of the idea at first. Sure they were working with Gideon who was also a fox, but one of their precious kits being mated to one was…. Well, different. And farmers were never much for that.

After more than a few awkward family dinners and gatherings, they of course warmed up and began to see the reason why Judy loved Nick so much. But their initial discomfort of him left a lingering foul taste in Judy's mouth regarding others views on her relationship. Don't let them see that they get to you her boyfriend would always remind her. She certainly did her best not to, but she was being attacked from external and internal forces. The seed of doubt that their relationship wasn't right had been planted by others and she constantly had to cut it down. They love each other and that's what matters, who cares if nature never intended this to happen...

"Judy." Her real name snapped her out of her thoughts at light speed. Nick only ever called her by her real name when it was serious. "Don't look, but I think that wolf back there just spotted us. They must have a system for who to scare and when."

Turning on her serious cop mode, she nodded. "Ok so what's the plan?"

"We keep walking and be prepared for anything. There have been reports of physical attacks so bear in mind we're allowed to defend ourselves."

Judy nodded once more and they continued walking for about a block, guard up and ready for anything. Or that was the idea at least. Suddenly a figure looking like a wolf that had been badly beaten was tossed onto the sidewalk several yards ahead of them. Judy nearly screamed but when she quickly looked up at Nick and saw him looking at it analytically, she did too. Something wasn't right about it. That's when they saw another figure walk out of the alley perpendicular to them carrying a sledge hammer. A mammal the size of a wolf by the look of him, wearing only black clothes and a creepy clown mask.

Out of precaution, they both felt for their tazer and dart guns in case he tried to do something with the hammer. Surprising both of them, he walked up to the "body," looked at them, raised the hammer well above his own head, and brought it down upon the body's head.

In a rather gruesome spectacle, the head exploded and a red liquid resembling blood splattered all over the sidewalk and the clown. Judy screamed. There's no denying it. She wouldn't have ever said she was afraid of clowns, but one: that clown looked scary as hell, and two: WHAT THE RUT WAS THAT?!

Seeing that he succeeded, the clown who just smashed the "head" open began running at them and cackling madly. Judy was about to stun his ass into next month when a warm, strong, and familiar fuzzy paw grabbed her own. Looking up at Nick, she saw he was totally unfazed, and now looked amused, like he was about to enjoy something.

Feeling his strength flow into herself, she stood her ground as the clown charged at them with the hammer dragging behind him making an eerie metallic scratching sound against the sidewalk. As soon as he was only a few feet away, Judy could feel the flight or fight response kick in and since her mate wasn't going anywhere, that meant she'd be fighting.

But before she could even grab her tazer with her other paw as her right one was still in Nick's grasp, she caught sight of two metallic prongs, followed by wires fly through the air and connect to the clowns chest.

BZZZTTTT!

The once fearsome clown dropped the hammer and started convulsing in place when the two prongs connected to his chest. After a few satisfying seconds of hearing the crackling and sizzling sound of electricity, Nick released the button and the fearsome clown clumped to the ground with a groan as if his bones had left his body.

Letting go of her paw, Nick started to strut forward. "Now now, that was quite the show. Clothed a mannequin, created some papier Mache in the shape of a wolf's head, put a plastic milk gallon inside it no doubt and fill it with fake blood then smash it with a hammer. How scary... Was that scary Carrots?" He mockingly asked as he crouched down in front of the dazed mammal and looked at Judy.

Realizing he was bringing her into their usual smug routine, she shook her head of the residual fear and replied with a confident grin. "Nope not at all."

"Exactly. And what did all that fun earn you, huh? Do you feel better about being wronged by prey? Judged by them, scared by them? How do ya feel?" Nick snidely asked, baring a little of his fangs, even though the perp probably wasn't even looking at him.

Said mammal just let out a low groan in response. The thought that maybe he had tazed the poor animal a bit too much passed through both their minds.

"That's what I thought. And since you had the unfortunate timing of going after two cops, you're in double trouble for this... Jake." Nick said as he ripped off the clown mask and hood, revealing a dazed coyote in early adulthood. Judy's eyes widened in recognition. They had caught this guy before doing scares like this. The victims and witnesses confirmed he had attacked and even used claws to, "make the prank seem more real," Jake had said upon questioning.

"But since this isn't your first offense and we gave you a strict warning about doing this again, we're going to have to bring you in." As Nick started reciting his rights, Judy unhooked her radio from her belt under her civilian clothes and called it in.

For the remaining couple hours of their shift (and a tad into overtime) they brought in their convict and of course had to file a report with a mountain of paperwork regarding the use of Nick's taser with excruciatingly tedious detail. Once they finally clocked out, said their goodbyes and began driving to their home it was well into the evening and the sun was setting. Nick never payed much attention to sunsets in his life, but now that he was a cop and with the love of his life, somehow such beautiful sights started to really stand out to him.

Speaking of beautiful things, Judy was being rather and the excuse of work was no longer present. But he didn't press the issue, he knew if something was on her mind she'd tell him about it... right? That's one thing they always tried to remain firm on; that in a healthy relationship communication is key. If you have a problem about something, talk about it.

Sure enough, nearly the moment they walked through the door into their apartment, Judy finally spoke up. "Y'know there's really just no reason to be like that! Scaring people in a haunted house and during Halloween is one thing, but on the streets and innocent random people, especially just in response to prejudice which ultimately just adds even more fuel to the fire, but you don't care because it makes you feel better, is just not ok!" As she vented, she glanced at Nick and half expected him to be smiling in that patronizing manner, but instead, he was passive and slightly inclined his head to encourage her to continue.

"But I still just... he was rather young... I feel kinda bad for putting those hefty charges on him." She mumbled as she started undoing her police gear and set down the keys and her badge on the counter in the usual spot.

"Do remind yourself Carrots, that wasn't the first time we caught him, we let 'em off easy last time with a strict warning, and he ignored it." Nick replied as he too undid his police uniform, loosening the tie to his standard of how they should be. When he set down his badge right next to Judy's, he genuinely smiled, just like he did every night. Side by side, just like how they should be.

"Yeah..." Judy said as her ears drooped. Not having anything else to say she started unclasping her vest and started walking to their bedroom.

Not liking to see his favorite bunny in frowntown nor the morbid atmosphere, Nick quickly spoke up before she was out of range. "But now it is time to compartmentalize my dear fluff! It is movie night and as customary for October, we must watch a Tim Bearton film."

"Who?" She called out from the bedroom.

"Oh no... No. Nooo! My favorite bunny doesn't know who Tim Bearton is?! Were you raised underground?"

Judy's head and shoulders, now bare of any clothing poked out from their bedroom and glared at Nick through the hallway and into the living room. He just smirked at the cute sight. "Oh yeah... I guess you were."

She did her best to glare at him, she always does. But that smug smile of his was just too attractive to her now. Too handsome. It gave her too many fond memories. So she ducked back into the bedroom before her smile became too apparent.

With a chuckle at his bunny's antics, Nick walked over to the entertainment center and kneeled down to start looking through the movies they owned. Judy had of course owned none when they first moved in together a few months back, but Nick had owned quite a few in his bachelorhood. The collection had grown quite considerably since then now that they were living together and having movie nights on a regular basis. Versus when they weren't living together and only having movie night… y'know, a couple times a week.

Moving in together felt like the most obvious thing for them to do when Judy broached the topic only a month or so after he officially joined the force. They were already spending nearly all of their free time together so why not? After all, they were in a relationship by then.

During Nick's time at the academy, a whole grueling forever lasting endless eternity of... nine months... the two of them came to realize how much they enjoyed and desired each other's company. Those couple days during the Nighthowler case and a couple weeks after before he left for the academy really brought the pair close together.

As soon as conceivably possible, Nick and Judy got a laptop so they could video chat while he was away. And some of those chats were the fondest memories they've made thus far. Nick would be exhausted, defeated physically and mentally, and then Judy would effortlessly make him feel full of energy again.

And sometimes Judy would arrive on camera in a foul mood due to what she was assigned to for the day. Since the Nighthowler case Bogo's respect for her had of course skyrocketed and she was no longer a permanent meter maid, but she still had very monotonous duties to attend to like traffic control. During many of which, despite her fame, she'd still get the occasional nasty citizen. But then she'd see Nick's smug but caring smile on his handsome face that she just wanted to punch and kiss at the same time. Somehow, without even trying he managed to get her feeling full of hope and optimism again. Imagining how great it'd be once he was her partner and always by her side. She was always looking forward to every minute spent with him.

"So when I return, am I going to have to fight for you attention over some savage bunny named Jack?" Nick teased one night a couple months into his training.

Jack being the placeholder name for all of Judy's nonexistent boyfriends that Nick would inquire about. Before this particular night, this line of inquiry had never roused suspicion. Judy just attributed it to her best friend's curiosity and caring about her. But for the first time, she really noticed how Nick looked during and after that question. He was anxious. Apprehensive even of her answer, looking away at whatever was in his dorm, he refused to meet her suddenly penetrative stare. Was he...? Why would he...? Did she...? Were they...?

The flood of questions stunned Judy for a moment but one voice adamantly stood out above all the others that gave a rather obvious answer to all of them. The voice of logic. The one that she always did her best to follow. She was falling in love with Nick... It was so blatantly obvious, it was a wonder she hadn't seen it yet. Some detective she was going to be...

But did Nick... feel the same...?

Looking through her memories, again the answer was so obvious she must've been blind as a bat the whole time to not notice. Guess she really was a dumb bunny sometimes. All the heartfelt moments they've already shared, the concerned look on Nick's face when she came home in a foul mood, the apprehensive questions about her relationship status, those eyes filled with mirth whenever he'd get her to smile, which was of course nearly all the time.

A smile began to grow on Judy's features. Not a regular happy smile, no no. This was a smug and mischievous one, one that made Nick's ears go down in fear.

"Carrots?" He nervously asked. That smile looked so much like his own. One that a fox should have, she might as well be a vixen... Was that a good thing? A bunny reminding him of a vixen?

"Y'know come to think of it Nick, this one ZBI agent came in the other day and was talking to Clawhauser when I walked in. A grey hare by the name of... Jack Savage." Judy had only just begun to weave a tale and she already saw the signs she was looking for in Nick. His ears, which moments ago were slightly back in the nervous position, were now even lower. Nick's eyes hardened, the lines in his forehead increased and his eyebrows furrowed. She already had her answer. He was jealous and it was adorable! Now she just wanted to mess with her...THE...well, soon to be her fox.

"Apparently he was waiting for me because as soon as I walked up to Ben he introduced himself. Even went as far as to bow and kiss my hand." Did Nick's eye just twitch? "Oh you should have seen him Nick, he was so...so, elegant in his tuxedo. Those interesting stripes on his face. So intriguing." Nick was absolutely fuming now and Judy was having an extremely hard time herself from exploding in a fit of laughter.

Time to reel him in.

"I was rather taken by surprise of course by all this and then he dropped the bomb. He asked me out to lunch." She paused here to see if Nick had any kind of response. He simply grunted and continued looking off to the side. It took a couple moments, but he eventually spoke in a very uninterested tone, "And... how'd that go?"

"Oh I politely turned him down. Saying I was already taken." She said nonchalantly while looking away from the screen to hide her grin. Secretly ecstatic with how well this was working out.

And suddenly Nick's interest was back like a charm. "Oh?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Looking back at him now she spoke carefully, trying to choose her words to sound the least cheesy. "Yeah, I told him a certain red fox had managed to con his way into the depths of my heart. Somehow he seemed to have tricked me into falling for him. Or it was just because I could never resist that irritating smug yet handsome smile of his, especially when he asked me out..."

Nick's mouth slowly fell open and for only the second time, he looked genuinely shocked and pleased at the same time. The first time being when she had asked him to be her partner. Both times he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Now only a couple months later, she had him again.

"So what dya say Slick Nick?" She asked, losing a few ounces of her confidence at Nick's silence. She could very well have been wrong about all those signs she thought she was picking up on.

Shaking his head, he got back into his lovable sly and confident persona and said, "I say, 'you are one clever bunny. And when can I take you out for lunch? Or was it dinner he asked about?'"

And from there their relationship simply took off. They went to a simple yet elegant dinner on one of Nick's easier days so he wasn't exhausted, and made their feelings even more clear to each other. Barely more than a month passed of movie night, "case studies," which were usually more hanging out than anything, and simply spending all of their free time together when Judy casually brought up the topic of "why don't we just live together?" And before anyone knew it, they were living together.

She had never told him that the entire story of Jack Savage was made up in order to dig for clues on Nick's feeling towards her. Judy smiled at the memory of one of her biggest hustles of her boyfriend as she put on a shirt that was far too big for her but had a too great of smell on it.

"So what's he known for?" She called out to Nick who was still in the living room, a smile evident in her voice.

"Movies like Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare before Christmas." Nick listed off and then mumbled but her sensitive ears still picked it up. "Which is actually a Halloween movie, not a Christmas one mind you. Everyone always debates about it..."

A few more minutes passed before Nick heard Judy approaching. Nick slightly turned from his knelt down position to see Judy walking out of their bedroom wearing yoga pants that hugged her form in all the right ways. She was also wearing a ZPD t-shirt that was far too big for her but somehow still looked great. Wait a sec...That's MY shirt. Nick's jaw fell slack at the sight and once more (this was becoming far too common of a thing) Nick smiled in a way that did not at all look smug or mischievous. It was those rare but not smiles that Judy absolutely lived for.

"I haven't heard of any of those." She said as she entered the living room with a little extra sway in her hips. Not being able to resist due to Nick's lustful but loving stare.

If it could, Nick's jaw fell open even wider, but now for entirely different reasons. He held a paw over his aching heart. "Carrots... you wound me. You haven't hurt me this badly since you told me you hadn't seen any of the Star Wars films."

"Well that's what you get for falling in love with a dumb sheltered farm bunny like myself." She teased, arching her hips and placing a hand on the stuck out one.

"A dumb beautiful bunny. Can't forget that." Nick said as he stood up and walked over towards her, looking down at her with a warm smile. One that was returned with a warm smile of her own. "And I'm more than willing to pay that price Carrots."

Unable to resist Judy stood up on her tiptoes and gave Nick a kiss. It was meant to be a peck of a sort, but when she pulled back Nick chased after her like the predator he is. The kisses quickly became faster and became deeper, deprived of attention all day; their need for physical touch from each other was coming to the surface. It might have gone further if Judy didn't pull back with a giggle.

"About that movie slick Nick." She murmured.

"The movie can wait," Nick softly said while leaning in for another kiss, which Judy couldn't deny him. "They aren't going anywhere."

Breaking away once more, Judy softly patted Nick below his navel and said, "So can this. You know as well as I do if we go in there," she said nodding behind her. "We won't leave for quite a while, and there will hardly be time for a movie after we get a dinner going. Cause I know we'd be hungry afterwards."

Nick relented with a slouch but a smile still present. "Alright. So movie. Let's watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. That's probably my favorite of his films."

"Alright. Then put it in."

"Oh I will Carrots." He said with a wink, but reached for the case nonetheless.

Judy just snorted at the innuendo and shook her head with a smile. As Nick began setting everything up, she idly wondered about what they'd do for dinner. Her stomach of course took that opportunity to loudly growl.

Nick looked over at her amusedly as he turned on the TV and began the search for the remote for the DVD system. "Is there another predator in here somewhere Carrots? I swear I just heard a predator growling."

Judy giggled and lifted a pillow up to find the remote he was looking for and handed it to him. "Think maybe we should just order pizza for dinner Slick?"

"Eh, we had that last night. I'll admit your healthy ways of salads and the like have made an impact on me." He said as the dvd started playing and he pressed the menu button to skip all the trailers before it.

"Well then we can add a bunch of veggies to it. I say pizza, what say you?"

While walking around and turning off the majority of the lights, then finally sitting down next to Judy, Nick said, "I say... I love you so much." and leaned in for another kiss, which Judy happily gave.

After breaking apart, he added. "And ok you win rabbit. Tony's it is then." Judy just happily snuggled up against him and handed him his phone to call them as the movie began to play.

My dearest friend, if you don't mind,

I'd like to join you by your side,

where we can gaze into the stars

And sit together,

now and forever

For it is plain as anyone can see,

we're simply meant to be...

The movie ended with a happy note, the two main characters kissing, and the ghost dog belonging to Jack Skelington (upon learning his first name, Judy blushed a little at the coincidence) flew off into the distance and with a twinkle of a star was gone.

As the credits started rolling with the slightly haunting intro music playing in the background, Judy spoke up. "The song at the end seemed a bit, I don't know, misplaced don't ya think? Like those two hardly even interacted during the movie, much less show any chemistry or romance. I saw it coming but... was a rather weak relationship."

"Oh cause you're a master at romance and chemistry are ya?"

"I'd like you to know buster, that I got an A in chemistry."

"And in romance?"

Judy leaned in towards Nick and smiled that one smile that he's positive she obtained from him. "Pretty sure I got an A there as well. I got you didn't I?"

For a moment Nick just sat there speechless but happy as his bunny was inches away from kissing him. He thought she was going to but then she backed away and walked out of view.

"So the bunny catches the fox now does it?" He said, following her with inquisitive eyes. Particularly her tail and the way she was swaying her hips as she walked down the hallway to their bedroom.

"Oh you know I like unorthodox things like that." She replied with a sickly sweet tone. "Makes everything more interesting."

Taking the subtle but noticeable hint, Nick got off the couch and charged at Judy. When he was about to nearly tackle her, she took off like a... well, bunny. As the two ran into their bedroom, Judy giggled as her fox picked her up and pinned her on the bed and "claimed" his prey. While they were in their bedroom for the remaining of the evening and into the night, they didn't go to sleep for... Quite a while.

A/N: Alright that was fun. All the fluff and romancy stuff is in this chapter. Next one is a bit more serious and drama filled, but still has all the WildeHopps shipping cause come on, it's me. I have no idea if that was anywhere near as good as I think it is, I'm rather inexperienced in the relationship department so forgive me if this is not how it works. XD Tell me what ya think! And if you're wondering "When will the second part come out?!" ...to be honset idk. A chapter of The Faded Line will probably take priority next, and then I'll no doubt work on the 2nd part. So... a month? Probably more. But possibly less depending on my motivation levels.