Chapter Three
Memories
Up left the room in a daze, his ears still burning from what he'd just heard. It couldn't be true. Not after all this time, why would Space-Claw even think he could get away with this evil... monstrosity of a scheme. And Taz... It was as if he had fallen into one of his own nightmares. When everything seemed so perfect. He should have known it couldn't last. The corridor was long and silent, it made Up's stomach tense. Should I tell her? Could I tell her? The questions were spinning through his mind so fast he felt dizzy. He wanted to return to his quarters, and at least try to calm himself down before he could even think about what to do. But he didn't even notice where his feet were taking him, until he found himself outside the gym. The door slid open, and she was there of course, beating the living shit out of the punch bag.
He stood and watched her, taking in every detail, every move, every punch from the fighter he knew so well. Something must have alerted Taz to his presence, she tensed then wheeled around, her fists still raised.
'Oh... hey Up.' She said, lowering her arms her sides, barely panting.
'Hey- hey Taz' Up said, suddenly feeling a rush of panic he couldn't quite explain. Taz looked at him oddly, and he realised he was just standing there, staring at her with his mouth open. He closed it, and started looking at his feet, the feeling of panic still aflutter in his chest.
'You...you want to go?' Taz said uncertainly. Up gulped, struggling to regain his voice. 'Go? Oh...yeah sure thing Taz.' Taz left the gym first, shooting an odd glance back at him, a look that contained something like confusion, perhaps even concern. He supposed he must have looked very strange, standing there gaping after her, but his mind was full of everything that was said in the meeting. What could he do?
His senses had frozen on him. Space-Claw's plan is to capture some humans to experiment on. I'm afraid this includes the Lieutenant-Commander. Li's words fluttered around his mind again. He wasn't going to let them get to Taz, he couldn't. He could never live with himself if she got captured, and he willingly stepped aside and let it happen, when it was in his power to stop it. But if she knew what was going on, she
would want to get involved, she was never one to sit back and let others do the fighting, keeping her unaware would keep her away from Space-Claw, and hopefully away from danger. It seemed cruel but Up knew it was the only way to keep her heart beating. And his.
For the rest of the day Up resolved to have the best time he could possibly have with Taz, and tried to push the looming arrival of the drop pod from the Bright Eye tomorrow morning to the back of his mind. It was against regulations, but Up didn't see the harm in taking the A2 out for a quick ride, after all what better way to remember the day by breaking a few rules?
'Right then team, where shall we go? We have a super speed engine so we can go to the end of the universe and back again before tea time!' Up chuckled, hitching a smile onto his face, as he set up the navigation controls.
'Logically speaking Sir, that is scientifically impossible-'
'Bullshit Specs! Anything's possible!' He gave a little wink to
Taz as she stood with her back to the wall watching him set up the controls, and he tried his best not to get slip up with her eyes on him.
'Commander Up, I have an idea' It was Bug's first flight on a real Starship, something he had been dreaming of his whole life. Up couldn't possibly refuse, and locked in the coordinates given by Bug. After a while they arrived at a planet that seemed all too familiar.
'Umm...Bug?' Up looked at him in disbelief. Why in dead God's name would he choose to come here?
'Bug World?' said Taz, disbelief in her eyes. But the Bug had a huge grin spread across his face.
'You'll see.' And he led the crew out of the ship, and onto the planets surface.
It was a different side to where the crew landed a year before, but it still looked the same, with the deep, thick foliage, the bright blue and purple leaves, and the hot sticky air. Bug led them through the trees, getting deeper and deeper in, until the light could not be seen any more. They walked in silence, but Up could sense that Taz was biting her tongue, trying not to get frustrated at the long, seemingly pointless journey. All of a sudden, when they reached a small clearing, Bug stopped, and February crashed into him, making everyone behind her crash as well, casing a massive pile up in the middle of the forest. Bug laughed.
'Well...here we are!'
Up looked around. The surroundings looked exactly the same as they did half an hour ago. But they waited, and sure enough, the ground seemed to crack apart in front of their very eyes. February nervously grabbed Bug, and Krayonder jumped into Tootsies arms. Taz even had to hold onto Ups arm, for balance of course. No one knew whether it was an earthquake or not, but then they saw small green shoots forcing their way up through the earth. Then a little trickle of water started making its way down the rock opposite them, and which became heavier and faster as they watched, until it became a mini waterfall, which filled up the clearing in a manner of minutes. What was once a deserted clearing had become an oasis, which was so stunning and beautiful, that the crew all took a small intake of breath as one.
'Impossible!' Up heard Specs gasp, but he was grinning. Only Bug would understand how much something like this would mean to everybody.
'According to my geographical sensors, it appears that this clearing is a morph.' Mega Girl stated 'It can transform into any place or thing that you desire.' They all observed the scene, the rippling pool, the sand that had appeared beneath their feet, and the trees that had parted slightly to let in a single ray of sunlight. It was nothing short of paradise. Bug looked around with a delightful smug grin at the sight of the now speechless crew.
Every second that slipped away seemed like a punch in the gut to Up, dreading the moment he would have to tell the crew, and more importantly, Taz, that he had to leave. He decided to divulge this news at the last moment, so there was no time to reflect on regret or sadness, and use the time he had left to let each of them know how important they are to him. It seemed stupid but it was the only chance of a proper goodbye he was going to get.
'Hey Feb, have you got a minute?' he took February to one side and Taz found herself being poked in the arm by Bug
'Is everything okay with Up? It's just... he looks a bit agitated today.' They took a look over to where Up and February where talking. It was hard to see, but Taz swore she saw a tear rolling down February's cheek. She decided to ignore it and looked back to Bug. Bug was the only one out if the whole crew Taz could talk to about Up, only because he seemed to understand about feelings more than most people.
It had been one of the most carefree days of the past year, and everyone was in good spirits. After exhausting themselves in the morph-clearing, they bade each other goodnight and retired to bed one by one.
Night came, and Up and Taz found themselves to be the only ones left in the oasis. Taz could hardly control a smile. She had just had one of the most enjoyable days of her life. Up seemed so happy, so...carefree. She decided to disregard what
Bug had said to her earlier. Up couldn't be agitated, not on a day like today. At that moment Taz wanted nothing more than to be with Up, the man she loved, for the rest of her life, no matter what anyone said. She imagined telling everyone about them being together, maybe even getting married...
'You know what we haven't done for a while?' she asked quietly, she didn't fancy being intruded on by a bunch of giant bugs.
'What?' Up whispered back with a small smile creeping on his face too.
'We haven't practised our dancing idiota. I hope to dead God you've improved after last time.' She held out hand to him, a challenge in her eyes. 'Come just remember what Madam LaViolet taught all those years ago.' she put on a very good impersonation of their old teacher that made him chuckle. He took her hand and stepped forward nervously. They waltzed down the make-shift beach to the sound of the planets humming beat, their eyes locked to each other. They had improved massively and this shocked Taz as much as it shocked Up, they continued to dance, up and down, until Taz stumbled on Ups foot and fell on top of him. He held her tight, foreheads pressed against each others. He wished so much that's he would open her eyes. After a while she did, and without hesitation he pulled her closer for a kiss, he expected her to pull away like she always did when he tried, but not this time.
He didn't want it to end. Taz looked at Up and smiled, and he winked and together they stood up. Their faces were hit by the light breeze that ruffled their hair. They took a step forward together, their feet sinking into the soft sand, and they both looked out onto their tiny section of heaven. Taz took Up's hand gently, and led him forward towards the pool, the moonlight reflected in the shimmering waves. They kicked off their boots, and walked around together, their toes making small prints in the sand, to be washed away by the next small wave. They walked by pools edge for some time, feeling the occasional chill as the next wave washed over their bare feet, the only sound was the waves breaking gently onto the sand.
They were nearly at the point where they started walking, and Up had never felt so at peace. He glanced at Taz, who looked exactly the same, and a mischievous smile crept across his face. His foot had just been engulfed by another tiny wave, and he flicked it up so a small amount of spray hit them both.
Taz looked almost shocked, but then she scooped up a hand full of water and flicked it at his face. He did the same, with even more water, and she stopped her hands over her eyes. Up went back to her, concerned, when she suddenly let out a battle cry, and jumped onto his chest, and Up, taken by surprise, toppled backwards into the pool, taking Taz with him. He looked at Taz and raised one eyebrow. He then picked her up, and dunked her straight into the water, just as another wave broke the edge. She emerged, spluttering, and glared at him, then let out a very shrill giggle. The noise was so un Taz like, that he too, burst into laughter, until the next wave came, and the game began again. They continued playing until there was no energy to draw breath. They struggled out from the pool, dripping wet, where they flopped down onto a nearby rock, which had turned smooth and flat, where they lay, struggling for breath.
'You know, Up' Taz wheezed after several minutes. 'If you asked me to do this again tomorrow, I wouldn't say no.'
Shit. He had almost forgotten. Almost forgotten the reason for making this day memorable. He looked at her, the sudden urge to confess rose up in him. But then she looked so happy, and more carefree than he had ever seen her. He wasn't going to ruin this perfect day for her. He put his arm around her, and huddled her closer.
'Me too, mi amor.' he whispered as he swept a strand of her hair across her face, and looking straight into her beautiful eyes.
'Me too.'
They lay like that for a long time.
