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Judy had been standing motionless for what must've been minutes. The mammals who'd been spectating or capturing the argument on video were slowly starting to scatter and go about their own ways.

There were a couple more invested ones in the bunch, it seemed.

"Aren't you gonna, you know..." a young antelope – seemingly a student – began carefully, her phone still in her hoof and pointed at Judy.

Fighting through the pain in her chest, she turned her attention to the stranger and spoke in a small sounding voice. "What?"

"Like, run after him or something?"

Judy stared at the doe blankly.

"I don't want to offend anyone here, but that's not how you finish an argument," she said a bit more confidently now that the rabbit wasn't in instant kill mode anymore. "He's a dumbass for walking away and you're an even bigger idiot if you let him."

Her stomach lurched and twisted at the idea of letting him go. If she didn't move quick, she would most likely never see her fox again.

But she couldn't lift her feet off the ground. He'd hurt her, intentional or not. And while it maybe didn't compare to how badly she'd treated him as a result, she couldn't bring herself to forgive him.

The antelope seemed to notice the conflicting emotions invading her head as she spoke again: "Look, rabbit. You can always cut ties with someone when you want. But the options he gave you sounded pretty indefinite. Either you go out there and you chase him down, or you let him leave and maybe never see him again. It's up to you."

Her head snapped to the bovid and her ears revealed themselves from behind her back.

Was she still angry at Nick? Yes, yes she was.

But if she ever came to regret letting him walk away like she'd regretted her press conference, she wouldn't see another happy day in her life.

Determination washing over her, she steeled herself and darted for the surface. Her legs carried her through the crowd and up the busy stairs. She heard one or two pairs of footsteps behind her, but being a small and agile bunny meant that she was out of the tunnels much before the paparazzis.

There was a problem, though. She couldn't see Nick.

Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for flashes of fiery orange or a particularly distasteful Hawaiian shirt. The streets were just as lively as they had been when she'd left her apartment. Bright smiles, families and laughter surrounded her. There was an endless stream of mammals passing by her, preventing any hope of having a sightline further than her forearm.

Another feeling of panic started kicking in, a tightness in her chest.

She yelled his name.

"Nick!"

She spun around frantically, her brain trying to figure out where Nick would go to vanish while her eyes kept looking.

"Nick, wait!"

Since he'd taken the sub, his apartment was too far away for that option to make sense. There were a number of different bars and restaurants around that they were both familiar with from their unofficial dates, but with the current happy atmosphere of Zootopia and its citizens, she doubted he'd want to stick around too many mammals. The precinct was within a walking distance too, but she couldn't figure out a reason for him needing to go there.

However, while a longshot, it was her only option. There was no way she'd be able to find him on foot.

The fastest members of her camera crew had just surfaced when she took off running, leaving the mammals panting and muttering curses under their breaths.

Even with the streets overcrowded, she reached her workplace in record time. Pushing through the front doors, she rushed towards the front desk.

"Clawhauser!"

Hearing this, the chubby cheetah quickly excused himself to whoever he'd been chatting to over the phone and ended the call. His expression was a mix of relief and excitement.

"Hi there, Judy!" the cheetah greeted with his usual upbeat tone. It had been a while since he'd seen the bunny. It was good to know she was still among the living. "How have you've been holding up?"

She stopped in front of the desk. There was no time for small talk.

"Have you seen Nick?"

Confusion and worry immediately filled the desk officer's voice. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, now inspecting the hasty rabbit a little more carefully, a careful smile on his face.

"Please just answer the question, Ben," she pleaded.

Caught off guard by her strange behavior, the cheetah thought on his feet. "No, he hasn't been to the-"

Judy jogged towards the stairs before he was able to finish, leaving a perplexed Clawhauser in her wake.

"-station since last week."

Many steps and strides later, Judy had entered chief Bogo's office – much to his surprise.

"Hopps!" he exclaimed, his phone nearly flying from his hooves as he flinched in his chair. Setting the device down, he lifted his reading glasses back on his muzzle all while glaring daggers at one of his finest officers.

The anger, however, quickly subsided as a feeling of empathy gained control. It had been five grueling days for the entire police force, but he knew how much worse it must've been to her and her partner. Experience taught as much.

So, he held back on any threats on her career.

"Sir, has Nick been in contact with you?"

He could sense the weight behind her words.

"No, officer Wilde hasn't contacted me after his temporary-"

"I need to find him," came the interruption. Judy tried her best to look calm and collected, like she was simply trying to complete an assignment, but she knew her facade was failing. The panic was starting to overflow.

Her superior gave her a gruff exhale. "Explain," he said tiredly.

"He-" she began, only to swallow her words and reform her sentence. "I-" she corrected, trying her damndest to keep her eyes dry. "-didn't see him once after the shooting until today. We had a fight about fifteen minutes ago and he left and said I wouldn't see him again."

Bogo looked at the small rabbit in silence for a moment. His officers meant a lot to him and as much as he wanted to help, there were restrictions even he had to follow.

"Hopps, I'm sure you're aware that the force doesn't offer couples' counselling."

"Chief, all I need is a unit searching his apartment and for the others to keep an eye out on patrol."

The buffalo leaned back in his chair, which squaked under his weight. "I'll notify the officers on duty, but will not do the former-" he lifted his hoof to shush the rabbit who was about to protest, "-without a good reason."

Her brain was racing before he'd finished the sentence. She was pulling on her ears, which lay on her back. Her face was scrunched up and her eyes were shut.

Finally, she had her solution.

"He's suicidal!" she shouted much too exultantly. It didn't matter to her in the slightest, nor did the fact she was abusing the city's resources to fix a personal problem.

Bogo's calm composure didn't falter, not that it surprised her. "What makes you think that?"

Her response was imminent and a little enthusiastic: "He said I shouldn't waste my time asking his friend where he was!"

Bogo knitted his brow.

"Please, Chief," she begged. "I promise it makes sense."

He let out a long sigh.

"You'll be on parking duty for the rest of your career if I lose my position over this," he said in a low monotone and picked up his desk phone.

Judy's ears jumped up at that and she went to sprint out of the room, a little more hopeful than before. "Thank you so much, Sir!"

"Hopps!"

Pushing the door open, she turned to her boss one more time.

"Good luck."

She'd looked everywhere.

Every restaurant, every coffee shop and every pizzeria he'd showed her. Every movie theater, every beach and every park they'd visited together. Every bar, every night club and even every strip club she could find on her phone.

No fox.

She'd searched the entire city. The problem was that there was much more to the city than what she knew about. She was aware of this.

And also exhausted, both physically and mentally. The adrenaline that had shielded her from the terror of the situation had worn off. Her body was shaking feverishly and her feet were aching from all the running she'd done. There was a lingering pain in her hip with every step she took and the night was slowly but surely getting cool. Her nose was running and she had to keep rubbing her eyes to maintain her vision.

Walking was her only escape from a complete breakdown, so she walked.

It was late. On a normal day she'd already be in bed getting ready for another eight or so hours of fighting crime and serving the citizens of her beloved city. With her (beloved) partner.

She sniffled.

The streets were quiet. Few shops were still accepting patrons. The happy families had vanished and been replaced by night shift workers and a colorful variety of drunken mammals.

Maybe she'd join the group tomorrow once she was done pressure washing her tear canals.

Judy walked. Stopping would mean giving up, which meant she'd never see Nick again.

She wasn't mad anymore. Well, maybe she was, but only at herself. She couldn't believe she'd let him slip away. All the times she'd found it difficult to believe he was not only her friend but her partner. All the times she'd fawned over him late at night when his smile had prevented her from sleeping. All those times had been thrown out the window as she'd stood there gaping at the subway exit.

She sniffled.

And for what? Her refusing to accept the fact that their profession didn't exclude death? She'd read and heard stories of officers being killed in car crashes, detainees dying of asphyxiation, innocent bystanders dying of gunshot wounds and so on. Yet she still had trouble wrapping her head around him shooting someone possibly trying to kill them.

He'd been doing his job.

She couldn't save them all – no matter how much she wanted to.

He'd been doing their job. She'd acted like a dumb bunny.

Another sniffle left her as she passed a closed corner store. The inside of the display window was covered with recent newspapers, which in turn were filled with pictures of Nick – both in and out of uniform.

She finally stopped. Her wet eyes fell on the fox. She didn't bother reading the headlines as she knew them by heart already.

There was a picture of him standing in front of the precinct in his civils, looking dull and empty. That one had been taken the day of the shooting. The reporters stalking him hadn't come as a surprise to the fox and he'd managed to look as if he had it together.

Another newspaper had gone with a side-by-side comparison of Nick and the honey badger's pictures. The fox clad in blue looked serious and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of his favorite sunglasses. The "victim" on the other hand was smiling brightly with her accomplice kissing her on the cheek. Judy had no doubt it was a profile picture pulled from the badger's social media.

There was also a picture with her in it – one taken at Nick's graduation ceremony. They stood side by side in their dress blues and both wore giddy expressions. The photo was radiating happiness.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wished to return to that exact moment. She wished she could do things different. Nick was the one thing in Zootopia more important to her than her job and now he was gone.

Judy stood there in the empty street, breathing in the chilly air in long and unsteady gasps, her eyes locked on the fox's handsome and captivating smile.

If only she could just faint right then and there and let unconsciousness make her forget about everything that had happened.

But no, she needed to get back home.

Broken in both the physical and emotional sense, she sniffled once more, forced her eyes and mind off her soon to be ex-partner, and began walking again.

She'd given up.

Whether she was shaking because of how cold it was or the fact she was far from being done dealing with the vanishing of her closest friend, she didn't really care. Her steps were sluggish and short, her feet dragging on the cool concrete as she walked. Her posture was slouched forward and her eyes inspected the ground.

Shower, crying in the shower, then bed. That was her plan.

Tomorrow would come eventually. Even if the wait would be painful.

She nearly stumbled on the stairs to her apartment building. The door felt heavier to pull open than usual. The elevator ride seemed to last an eternity. There was no feeling of warmth or coziness as she entered her flat.

She couldn't fight back the wave of new tears and sobs. Her small whimpers turned into wails.

"Rough day, rabbit?"

Judy ignored her neighbors and opted to collapse on her bed, pressing her face into a pillow to muffle her cries. She didn't have the energy to deal with them at that moment.

"Can you not hear her, you idiot!" came the hushed, but nearly crystal clear voice of Pronk. "Obviously she's had a rough day!"

The follow-up from Bucky was oddly close to instant. "Yeah, yeah. Hey, rabbit, you hungry?"

Her head snapped to stare at the wall in disbelief. What kind of a question was that? Was it not clear enough she needed to be left alone? That she'd been through hell that whole day and wanted to disappear off the face of the planet? That even thinking right now was hard enough, not to mention interacting with others.

Was it that obvious she was starving?

Sniffling a few times, she forced herself to speak. "How come?" she asked in a small, uneven voice.

"We were just about to order some pizza and you sound like you could use some."

She hesitated for a moment. No matter how hungry she was, she didn't want to bother getting the food – even if that meant just opening the door and paying. She could bear the hunger until morning if she just went to the shower right away and got some sleep.

Not that she was expecting to get any.

"Our treat," Pronk added, cutting the silence short.

Judy had to give in. Perhaps a pizza could fill the hole in her heart, too.

"Spinach, broccoli and artichoke, please," she mumbled, defeated.

"Artichoke? Did I hear that right?"

"Mhm", she hummed in response, making a beeline to her bed and flopping right on it.

"It's not my pizza you're ruining, I guess", the oryx said in a quiet voice.

"She doesn't have to like the same toppings as you, idiot!", the kudu chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, food's coming right up, bunny!"

"Try and stay alive until then, neither one of us is eating that disgusting creation you've come up with!" came the final shout from her neighbors.

She very nearly chuckled at the jab. The next moment had her shut her eyes tight to prevent more tears flowing, however.

There was a sting deep in her chest. She felt hollow.

As if the world she knew and loved had ended.

There was nothing out there for her anymore.

She sniffled.

"Pizza's here!"

A series of loud knocks at her door startled the bunny back awake. She was surprised she'd dosed off, not to mention how quickly she'd done so. Then again, the day had been draining – in more ways than one.

She rubbed her eyes with one paw. Her face must've looked like a mess, judging by all the moisture around her eyes and the fact her nose was still runny from all the crying. She didn't care though. It was just a twenty second interaction with a pizza delivery guy who'd most likely seen mammals in worse condition than her in his line of work.

Another two knocks got her to stand up and hurry to the door in exasperation.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming", she huffed out as she grabbed her wallet from her jacket which lay on the floor next to the door.

"Better come faster or it'll get cold and all moldy", came the response from the hallway, and Judy froze in place.

There was no mistaking that voice.

"And I'm not going to embarrass myself twice ordering artichoke on a pizza."

Her wallet hit the floor in an instant and the door to her apartment almost came off its hinges as she opened it. Her eyes went wide and her jaw hit the floor as she took in the sight of Nick leaning into the wall with three takeout boxes with him. Surprise and relief overwhelmed her and she barely managed to prevent herself from throwing herself at him.

He eyed her up and down in silence. She looked much worse for wear than before.

They stared at each other for a good moment, both expecting the other to take the initiative.

A gentle hoof tapping on Nick's shoulder brought their contest to an end.

Bucky stood up straight, cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the pizzas.

The gears in Nick's head began turning once again and he handed over two of the carton boxes.

"Thanks for the help", he said, watching the kudu retreat to his apartment.

"Anything for a free pizza", Pronk amusedly stated from the doorway before being pushed inside by his husband.

The rabbit and fox's gazes met once more.

Nick's other paw went to rub the back of his neck and he shifted on his feet. He couldn't remember a time when he'd been so tense talking to someone.

"I, uhh-", he started, desperately working the words inside his head into something sensible. "I think we should talk."

Judy felt as if she was frozen. It took all her willpower just to frantically nod her head a few times.

"Sooo, can I come in?"

The inquiry confused her to no end until she realized she was still standing in the middle of the doorway like an idiot.

Stepping aside, she motioned him to enter.

Nick didn't hesitate and walked inside. Judy shut the door behind him, staying near the threshold. He set the pizza on her table in the corner of the room, opting to lean on it instead of sitting on the bed like he usually did.

Despite the cramped space that was the apartment, the distance between them couldn't have felt any further.

"You knew I was going to chase you, didn't you?" Judy stated more than asked, her face as blank as her voice. "And you bribed my neighbors to give you a call when I got back."

The corners of the his lips curved into a ghost of a smile. His eyes stayed guarding the floorboards. "You're a great detective, Fluff, I gotta give you that, but no. That's not entirely true."

"Why's that?"

His tail swished to the other side of his legs, almost as if it was looking to hide. "I only hoped you were going to try and find me."

Just the brief, pained glance he gave her was enough to break her heart, not to mention how much the words hurt. Her lip quivered on it's own and she had to bite on it to keep her composure.

"I came here right away in case you, you know, didn't want to see me again", he added.

"Nick", his name came out of her mouth almost as a squeak. She took a small, careful step closer, unsure if by decision or sheer instinct. "You've sat outside my door the whole day?"

Finally raising his head, he didn't meet her gaze, but instead turned his attention to the terrible view her apartment had of the nextdoor building's brick wall.

"I would have if it hadn't been for those two." He gestured to the wall opposite of him. "Apparently pacing in the hallway for hours straight is somehow a major annoyance to the residents! Can you believe that?"

There was a shout from the other apartment, muffled not by the wall between them, but the food inside the speaker's mouth. "Don't forget the whining!"

Taking another step, the bunny gave a smile at the comment and the subsequent roll of the fox's eyes. As selfish as she knew it was, she was beyond the moon to know that Nick had cried – or whatever whining was the equivalent to – over her. Presumably, at least.

She stopped, and her smile faded in an instant.

Selfishness.

She'd nearly lost Nick because of it. And now she was about to walk down the same path again?

No. Not again. Right now she needed to be the friend she hadn't been.

Despite her promise.

Quickly recalculating her route, she took a hard left and plopped down on her bed, pizza box in her lap. Nick turned to look at her in confusion, and she, wearing a small smile, patted on the counterpane.

He raised a brow but ultimately, after a quick and very obvious sniffle and a rub of the eyes, sat down next to her, leaning back with his arms supporting him against the mattress. His head was tilted back, giving her a poor sight on his expression.

"Nick", she said in a soothing tone, turning to look at him with her ears halfway down. She had to repeat herself to gain his attention.

Judy made sure her eyes conveyed as much emotion as they could as she stared into his emerald ones. Her paw found his forearm and rested on it.

"I'm sorry, Nick."

He said nothing. It was like he'd turned into a statue.

"I've learned my lesson", she continued. "I shouldn't have left you alone. I should've been there for you."

Her gaze turned to the window and her ears lowered to rest against her back.

"What happened that day was horrible, and I still haven't come to terms with that kind of thing being a part of our job", she paused, feeling yet another tear forming. She swallowed. "But I know it was out of our control, and I know you would've done things differently given the chance."

Her paw on his forearm moved to capture his and squeezed on it. She looked back at him, taking note of his eyes looking glassy, too.

"But most importantly", she forced out in a small, shaky voice, "I know I shouldn't have let you walk out of that subway."

Nick blinked at that a few times. "Carrots..."

She had to sniffle. "I put myself first by ignoring you for a whole week. And then", she sniffled again, "when you finally confronted me about it, I still wouldn't see how badly I'd hurt you."

For the second time that night, Nick didn't have the right words. He'd always been proud of his silver tongue, but with this bunny... things never seemed to come simple.

A brief silence filled the apartment before Judy kept going, managing to hold back her crying just enough to speak coherently.

"I really thought I wouldn't see you again after you left", she nearly whispered.

The look in those beautiful, cute, violet eyes nearly gave her a heart attack. If there had ever been a time he'd been more hopeful about his feelings for her being mutual, he couldn't recall it.

Sitting up straight, he threw his arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer and captured the paw that had been squeezing his in his other one. He tilted his muzzle to point at the base of her other ear and spoke in a soft, albeit unsteady, voice. "It's fine, Judy. I understand."

He mentally debated on giving the top of head a light peck, but ultimately decided against it.

"All I care about is that you came back and apologized. The rest is behind us now, okay?"

The rabbit nodded her head, her sniffles calming down a notch.

"I forgive you."

She tilted her head to look up at him, their muzzles ending up dangerously close to one another.

Judy could've sworn that he looked like he wanted to lean in closer almost as much as she did.

Nick could've sworn that she looked like she wanted to lean in closer almost as much as he did.

She was the first to close her damp eyes and take the leap of faith, although he wasn't far behind.

Their lips met in a gentle kiss that lasted not longer than a moment. Judy's ears stood up in alert and Nick's arm fell from her shoulders to rest on the bed awkwardly. Their eyes opened to inspect each other's in utter confusion, dread and bliss. They pulled away with steadily worsening blushes.

Simply sitting still felt unnatural and challenging but also like it was the only thing they wanted to be doing at that moment, right there, next to each other. Neither of them said a word for a good while. Neither of them knew what to do with what had just happened.

Judy was the first one to move and opened the box containing her by now lukewarm food. "You want some pizza?" she said meekly, nudging his arm and holding a slice in front of him.

Looking more than just caught off guard, he turned to look at her and then the slice.

Apparently they were going to ignore it – for now.

"This isn't you trying to get revenge by poisoning me, is it?" he quipped, a grin starting to wash away the earlier gloom in his expression.

Judy noticed him give an artichoke a long, dubious look before accepting the fat-rich treat. Her gaze lingered on his lips for unnaturally long.

"It's not going to kill you, Nick", she chuckled lightly, watching him nibble on his food. "Judging by the way you look, it's probably the healthiest thing you've eaten in a week."

Conversation starting to flow more naturally, both bunny and fox let out an internal sigh of relief and for a moment, forgot about everything but the present.

"My lawyer has advised me not to comment on that, officer Hopps", he responded in an instant. "Thanks for letting me eat the food I paid for though. That's very sweet of you."

She landed a playful punch on his shoulder.

Then, with her heart thumping a little too hard for her liking, rested her head against that same spot.

With the pizza devoured, the carton box was dumped under the bed and the two weary mammals were left leaning against each other in contentment.

Judy was troubled though. It was time to do what she had avoided for all too long.

She took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to speak.

But he beat her to it.

"They're going to bury her next week, Judy."

She could feel him tense up. She wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in his shirt.

Good thing her species had big ears, because she had some listening to do.

They'd get through it and heal.

They always did.