Zootopia

Revelation

It had been maybe a month since the night howler case, and Nick was training in the academy. He did well actually - growing up on the streets of Zootopia his whole life made for pretty good training. Honestly, he shouldn't have anything to worry about.

He has an amazing friend and soon-to-be-partner, a good place to sleep and eat, no trouble with his old life, still gets to see Finnick, and no worries about Bellweather, now that she was in jail.

However, there was still something nagging in his mind when he went to bed. Something that haunts him, and he just couldn't seem to get it to go away.

It was the way Judy had looked at him that day.

The day of the press conference.

The day he had been betrayed.

It was strange. At the time, he had only taken in her actions - raising her paw to stop him, other paw ready to grab her fox repellent.

It had broken him. The one person he thought would actually believe in him was still afraid. But since the case, he began to look at that moment differently. He thought about her face. Her wide eyes, mouth slightly open, ears up. What he had assumed was fear before looked more like...

Shock.

Like she was surprised that he had lunged at her. She looked like she was in disbelief.

Well, that got him thinking. If she was only surprised by him, why did she react that way?

He decided he would find out. So after a bit of convincing, he was able to request a day of leave from the academy. He let them pick which day, but made sure he was well prepared for whatever they decided to throw at him before hand so he could earn it.

After a week, he was on a train to Bunny Burrows.

I know what you're thinking. Why would he go there? Why not just ask Judy? and Judy wouldn't be at the Burrows, she has a job!

He figured it would be easier to find out what might have happened in the place it happened. If there was a reason Judy was weary towards foxes, then why hadn't she told him? And if it was something she didn't like to talk about, he wanted to be able to support her without forcing the story out of her.

So why not just ask the people she grew up with?

When he got there, it was different than anything he had been used to. There was almost nothing here. No buildings, just barns and houses. No streets, just dirt roads. No constant honking and city noise, just children laughing and bugs chirping and the occasional tractor running in the distance.

It occurred to him, as he got off the train, that he had no idea where he was going or who he needed to talk to. Soon enough, though, he was approached wearily.

"Hey!" He glanced over in surprise at a bunny that was the spitting image of Judy, only with darker fur and longer legs. "Don't often see city foxes 'round here. Ya look lost!"

"Uh, I guess I am? Hey, you wouldn't happen to know Judy Hopps, would you?" He replied, still trying to wrap his head around the resemblance.

She laughed. "Know her? I grew up with her! She's one of my many, many sisters!" She held out a paw. "Jade Hopps, nice to make your acquaintance!"

He shook her paw lightly with a smile. "Nicholas Wilde, my pleasure."

"Wait, you're the old 'Slick Nick'?" She laughed again. "Judy's mentioned ya! Glad to know you're on better terms again! Sorry to tell ya, but she ain't here."

"Oh. Oh, no, I know she isn't!" He tried to explain. "No, I wanted to ask about her life here? I guess?"

"Hmm," Jade watched him closely. "You mean, ya wanna know why she 'freaked out' after the case?" She air quoted the words freaked out.

He opened his mouth to argue, but came up with nothing, so he closed it again and nodded.

Her eyes softened. "Come with me, there's someone ya need to meet."

She led the way out of the station, across some fields and towards a small market.

"None of us know exactly what happened that day but one person-" she stopped at a pink truck with a pie painted on the side. "-Gideon Grey."

There was some shuffling in the truck before a large red fox stepped around the front of it.

"Hey neighbor!" He exclaimed, a bright smile on his face. "I thought I heard someone out here!"

"Nicholas Wilde, meet Gideon Grey!" Jade smiled between the two of them.

"Nicholas Wilde?!" Gideon's jaw dropped. "Hey, you're Judy's partner! Nice ta meet ya, and thanks for helping her!" He held out a paw to shake and Nick took it wearily.

"Yeah, well, not yet!" He chuckled. "Actually, Judy is who I'm here to talk about."

"Oh, well, sure. I mean, don't know her too well, but I guess I'll see what I can do!" He seemed a little confused, looking at Jade pointedly.

"He wants to know about when you were kids, Gid." Jade supplied, putting a comforting paw on his shoulder. His face dropped.

"Oh." He scratched the back of his head. "Well, not the best story, I assure you.

"I guess I always disliked Judy. She was the only prey animal who stood up to me without fear," he started, looking down. "I was a bully, a jerk to her and everyone else. The worst time was when she and some other kids performed a play about Zootopia, and what they wanted to grow up to be one day. When she announced she was gonna be a police officer, I mocked her. She made me mad, with the way she responded to me. After the play, she caught me pickin' on some sheep. She was tellin' me ta leave 'em alone. We were arguin', and then I pushed her to the ground. We laughed at her for lookin' scared, and she kicked me in the face. I got mad and scratched her cheek open." He paused, taking a breath before continuing. "I found out later that she had nabbed the tickets I stole from the other kids from me somehow anyway. I didn't get to apologize to her until she came back home a few months ago." He looked back up at me. "I'm guessin' you're askin' 'cause somethin' happened with you two?"

"I, uh..." Nick swallowed. "During the press conference, she said something that upset me. We were arguing, and I asked her if she was scared of me. I bared my teeth and claws and lunged at her to see what she would do. She almost grabbed her fox repellent." Gideon and Jade's eyes widened and they exchanged a glance. "But she didn't look scared to me. She looked more shocked than anything, so I wanted to know if there was a reason she always had that on her if she wasn't actually afraid."

"Nick," Jade's voice was soft, "the fox repellent was our parents' fault. Judy didn't want to take any of that stuff with her, but she took the repellent to, and I quote, "make them stop talking." I bet she thought she'd never have to use it."

Nick was silent for a moment. He looked back up between the two.

"Thank you. Both of you, for telling me this." They smiled, and he felt like he needed to come here again. With Judy, next time. "And I can tell that Judy doesn't hold what happened against you, Gideon." Gideon's smile grew, and he scooped Nick up into a hug.

"Comin' from you, Nick, that means a lot! Thank you!"

After a while of chatting and getting to know the two better, he was on the train back to Zootopia again. He thought about what he had learned. Jade had said Judy was 9 when it happened. Wasn't that a crazy coincidence?

Once he got back he flopped onto his bed, and he smiled softly. The nagging in his brain was gone, filled only with new and old happy memories alike.