Three years later and Judy had made it to Zootopia. She'd graduated valedictorian of her class and faced specism from her boss. She'd spent two weeks as a meter maid in a closet of an apartment. It took a conspiracy against predators for her to gain the recognition she'd deserved. Now here she was, detective Hopps, the rising star of the ZPD. It was everything she ever wanted, her dream come true.

If only it didn't feel so empty.

Despite everything, despite her positive attitude and socialization. She felt alone. She had friends sure, Clawhauser, Wolfard, Pennington, Fangmeyer, but when she wasn't distracted by those around her everything was just… hollow. Was she always this way and just didn't realize it because of her always present family? Was it something that developed from being exposed to the worse society had to offer? Or was it the nig-

"Well, if it isn't Lieutenant Carrots." That voice, that name. It could only be-

Judy quickly turned in her seat as the realization hit her. There standing a couple of feet behind her was a mammal she never thought she'd see again.

"Colonel Wilde!" She belted out, standing from her seat to go to attention and offer a salute. All that time living a certain lifestyle and having it drilled into you caused the urge to always be present. Before she could get her arm up he quickly closed the distance and placed his paws on her shoulders.

"Easy, easy fluff." She said with a chuckle. "No need to get worked up over me." Was it just her or did he look older than when they first met?

"Right, sorry colonel, just…" She faltered for words.

"Habit?" He offered, to which she replied with a sheepish smile and nod.

"Will you join me?" She offered, gesturing to the seat across from hers at the outdoor table of some local deli.

"I'd be happy to and please, call me Nick."

"Well, please call me Judy. So, last I heard of you, you'd been made a full colonel and given command of the BEF(Burrow Expeditionary Force)."

"Yup, right before I busted my knee during a training jump. Wind caught me just before I hit the ground and sent me sideways. Had to have reconstructive surgery but the damage was too extensive. So, here I am, medically retired."

"Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry." She said, being consoling.

"Quite alright, retirement gives me a chance to take care of a few things I've been putting off for a few years." He held a sad smile as he spoke. Judy just thought he was still getting used to being a civilian again.

"That's good, having something to do will keep you entertained at least." He nodded in response. "If you don't mind me asking, how are things after the sanctions were put in place?" After the war, many countries had placed sanctions on both Canisia for their invasion and Vulpisia for their attack on supposed civilian targets.

"It's actually not as bad as it could have been. Having the Burrowlands as an ally certainly helped a lot. Most of the materials we were importing and exporting were easily negotiated with them. Our economy took a hit but it recovered soon enough."

The two spent some time just catching up. Him asking how she liked being a cop so far, mentioning seeing her name in the paper for the missing mammal case. Judy, informing him that she'd had help from Jack to solve it after a couple of predators suddenly went savage in Bunnyburrow. Nick, telling her that Skye had made quite a few trips to Bunnyburrow over the last couple of years. Even seeing her in Foxton with a certain striped rabbit.

"Hu, that's an odd pair." She remarked.

"Indeed, but, well, I guess as long as they love each other, what does it matter." Judy nodding in agreement.

"So, what brings you to Zootopia?" She finally asked.

"Family business I'm afraid. See, I was actually born here. We moved to Vulpisia after I had a run in with some prey kids." Judy raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but Nick waved her off telling her it was a long story. "Anyway, after mom passed I learned that she'd actually been paying taxes on our old property in happytown. I didn't even realize she'd owned the place till it was time to read her will."

"I'm sorry about your mother. What do you plan to do with it?" Judy asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I'm not sure. I never bothered to try and come see it. I just picked up the tax and insurance payments." He said nonchalantly.

"Do you want a ride? My cruiser is parked just up the street." At that, Nick's smile grew into a full on smirk.

The walk to the cruiser revealed a limp she didn't remember being there before. Seems his injury had taken quite the toll on him after all. After a short drive, they pulled up to an old town house, 1955 Cypress Grove Lane.

"This is it." Judy said, looking at the dilapidated building. The brick looked old and dirty, the windows had been boarded up and were covered in graffiti. Judy wanted to stay, she wanted to go inside. It was strange, she barely knew this fox. Yet, they'd shared a life changing experience together. And through that, she felt a kind of… bond. She couldn't tell what he was thinking as he looked out his windows at the old building. "Is it, anything like you remember?" She asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

"No." He answered in a flat voice. "I was only 8, maybe 9 when we left. I remember the neighborhood seemed much nicer back then. Could have just been what a child that age would think." He replied with a shrug.

Judy watched him for a moment as he just stared out the window, wondering what might be going through his mind. His behavior seemed completely different from the lively commander she'd observed on the battlefield. She worried that-

"Would you mind going in with me?" He asked, looking back at her with a neutral face. "If that's alright."

"Sure, just give me a moment to call dispatch." She pulled out her phone, waving it at him.

She saw his eyes flash to the device and she could have sworn worry filled his eyes for just a second before going back to being neutral again.

"Sure." He stepped out of the cruiser and went to the door.

Judy quickly dialed the front desk and waited for a reply.

"Precinct One, Officer Clawhauser speaking." Came the answer from the bubbly cheetah.

"Hey Ben, it's Judy. Can you clock me out for the rest of the day? I should have plenty of PTO time to cover it." She always felt nervous when asking for time off.

"Sure, no problem. Chief will be glad to see you using some of it. You know the union reps always give him a hard time whenever someone's time expires. And you've been on his naughtly list for over a year." He laughed into the receiver.

"Thanks Ben." She looked out the window as Nick was trying to peer into one of the boarded up windows. "I might have a reason to use some of it soon."

"Oh really? And why's that?" She heard him say in his conspirator's voice.

"I'll tell ya later. Bye Ben." She quickly hung up the phone before the cheetah could get another word in. She had no doubt she'd be getting the third degree from him later. She popped out of her cruise and hopped up the stairs to join him. Curious why he hadn't already gone inside. "Sorry about that. Had to get dispatch to clock me out for the day."

"Oh, I didn't mean to inconvenience you." He said with concern. Honestly, he wasn't sure if she was actually doing just that or calling for backup against the shifty fox. Not that he believed she needed backup, but just in case. She seemed a bit nervous when she said she needed to call her dispatch. Well, he was here now, he might as well wait and see how things play out.

"Oh, it's no trouble. I just get nervous whenever I have to ask for time off. I have plenty of time and the chief has actually reprimanded me for allowing it to expire sometimes."

Nick had pulled out the key as she spoke, her nervousness from before was gone. Now she just seemed anxious.

"Hmm, maybe you can use some of that time to help me fix this place up." He thought it was cute how her ears stiffened and narrowed in on him while her eyebrows both shot up. "If the bones are good that is."

"I might enjoy that. Been awhile since I've helped build anything."

As Nick jimmied the door open, he couldn't help but look back at Judy and smile.

"Oh really? What were you…"

As they entered the old house, their voices fading away, both fox and rabbit wondered to themselves if this was the start of a new friendship.

A/N:

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this story. I know that ending of the last chapter left many frustrated with all the buildup for it only to end so suddenly and in an anticlimactic way. Sadly, as just about anyone who served in the military will attest, that's just about always the way it goes. I spent 12 years in the military where we would spend months planning and prepping for a big event of some sort just for it to come and go with very little fanfare. Some of you asked about Judy and Logan's relationship. I never said they were dating. They'd surely grown close in the time they'd spent together but with Judy's aspirations to go to Zootopia the two never truly broke the threshold of more than close friends. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this closing chapter and I hope I answered most if not all of your questions.