89. Drought: "Up, I'm so damn thirsty." Taz said as she plopped down next to up on the couch in his quarters. "Why is dere no damn water on dis ship?"
"Taz, I told you. We're in an area of this galaxy that has no constant water source. Our tanks ran out, and we're not permitted to refill until we get out of this area." Up explained. He rubbed his temples, trying to rid himself of the headache.
"Well can we hurry up and get out of dis galaxy?" Taz whined.
"Taz, it'll take as long as it takes, I have no control over it!"
"But I can't even work out or I'll get dehydrated!"
"Then why don't we watch a movie?"
Taz glared at him for a few moments before nodding. She wedged herself under his arm as the menu for The Karate Kid popped up on screen. Since they didn't leave the galaxy for another week, they would cuddle while watching a movie each day.
3. Subtle: Up walked back to the bar where his friends were sitting, a rather dejected look on his face. "She shut me down." He sighed as he took his seat between Taz and Krayonder. He took a swig of his beer.
Taz pouted a little bit, mocking him. "Aw, poor baby. Jou know jou could just ask me for a date." She winked and Up's heart jumped a little bit. "I know tons of girls that would love to date jou."
And there went that spark of happiness. His expression sobered up immediatly. "Taz, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Taz followed him with a confused expression on her face.
"What is it Up?"
He sighed and turned to her. "You know that I like you."
"What do you me-"
"Taz, I know you heard me telling Commander Criss about when we were on that mission a few years back"
She looked at the ground. "Oh. You saw me and Lieutenant Beatty then, huh?"
Up gave her a slightly bitter smile. "Yeah," he said softly. "What I don't understand is why is it for the past year, even though you've known I like you, you've been teasing me so much." He took a breath and interrupted the beginning of Taz's sentence. "You- you talk to me like I'm your boyfriend, but you never do a freaking thing. When we were on that last mission, and excuse me if I'm wrong, you seemed to be sticking close to me far more often than necessary ; for three nights in a row you insisted to sleep in the same bunk as me and never even acted like there was anything strange about that, and you can't just do those things without me getting some more-than-friendly vibes from that. I like you Taz. A lot. And unless you feel the same way about me, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop stringing me along. If you like me, can you just tell me now?"
A few moments of silence entailed. Taz closed her eyes. Up began walking away. "Up. Up. UP!" He turned to look at her.
"What?" His eyes didn't reveal any emotion
Taz bit her lip before talking again. "Up, I've been doing all these things, dropping hints for a reason. I really, really like jou. It's just that... I've been hurt before. Badly, by lots of people. It's hard for me to tell people my feelings anymore. I was hoping that jou'd catch on and, well jou know, make a move." Tears were glistening in her eyes as she looked up at him. "And I'm sorry if it made jou feel like I was stringing you along, but that's the only way I know how to flirt right now." Taz's voice was beginning to catch. Up pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her waist as she wrapped her own arms around him as well.
"Taz. I understand. Thanks for telling me." He smiled at her. Before either of them could realize what was happening, their lips had met in their first kiss.
"Wow." They breathed in unison. "That was just... wow." Up said. They smiled at each other and walked back into the bar, hand in hand.
66. Rule: There was an unwritten rule between Up and Taz that when either of them had a bad dream, they would wake the other up to be comforted. They never spoke of it, but it happened every time. Taz woke one night after they had drifted apart. She longed to go down the hall to talk to Up about it, but she knew that she couldn't. She sat up in her bed, crying. Taz felt so alone.
Down the hall, Up had woke up as well. He sat up panting in his bed, and was on his way to the door when he remembered that he and Taz were no longer on speaking terms. He lay back in his bed and closed his eyes tightly as a tear rolled down his cheek. He hated being alone.
15. Affront: "How the hell did a chick that tiny get to be Lieutenant?" A recruit that Taz was meant to be teaching asked right as she and Up walked in. Taz turned to him, affronted.
"Leave it, Taz." Up warned her, sensing her displeasure.
"Okay, idiotas, I'm going to teach jou about sparring." Taz announced.
"Yeah, like this chick could beat me sparring." The same recruit boasted. Taz turned and glared at him, eyes hard. She looked back to Up, silently asking permission to beat the shit out of this kid. Up nodded, to her relief.
"Fine den. Jou come into de ring." The young boy swaggered towards her. "What is jour name?"
"Kristof. Kristof Nast."
Taz curled her lip. "De hell kinda name is dat?" When the boy opened his mouth to answer, she cut him off. "Don't answer dat. Now get into jour sparring stance."
Nast took a loose stance, leaving most of his body open to attack. Taz hit his jaw, roundhouse kicked him in the side and dropped down, pulling his leg out from under him. He landed on the floor with a dull thump.
"Get up, jou estupido boy! Dat was nothing." She yelled at him. "If jou think jou know how to spar, jou are patetico." Nast rolled over and sat up, rubbing his jaw where she hit him. "Get up and fight me again!"
He got up, a determined look on his face, improving his stance slightly. He punched at her face, but she blocked it and jabbed him in the stomach. He bent over, and she hit him again before kicking the back of his leg.
"Okay, jeez, you proved your point." Nast grumbled and pushed himself off the floor.
"Good. Now get back in line jou cabron." Taz walked back to Up, who kissed her cheek. There were some titters through the class before Taz glared at them again.
45. Zeal: Taz was always zealous towards fighting. That was, until she realized how attractive Up was. It first happened shortly after her sixteenth birthday. They were fighting in the training room, but the cooling systems had broken. Up had stopped fighting for a moment and peeled off his sweat-soaked shirt. Her eyes bugged out of her head at how toned and muscular his body was. She shook it off and they went back to sparring.
It wasn't until years later that she actually got to act on her feelings. The same situation was happening, though it was a year after their mission to Bug World. Up peeled off his shirt, revealing his robot and human sides. Sensing an opportunity, Taz pounced on him, kissing the Commander with zeal.
51. Done: "It's over Up. I'm done." Taz said before walking away from Up, who was now tearing up. Water was running down her cheeks as well, but the pair breaking up was really for the best.
Later in the night, Taz woke. She looked over at the clock and found that it 3:10 AM. Groaning, she turned over and smacked a pillow on her face. She couldn't stop thinking about Up. He had really made her a better person. With him, she was kinder, more open, even if it was only to him, and less sharp with other people. He was better with her too. It was obvious, especially after his injury. When she was around him, his limp wasn't as exaggerated, he didn't let the littlest things get to him and he was closer to the hard commander that she first met. With a sigh, Taz rolled over again and tried to sleep. However, after twenty eight unsuccessful minutes, she finally relented and slipped out of bed. Not bothering to put on a robe, she opened the door to her room and started walking to Up's room. As she got closer she began running until she got to the door. She punched in the four digit code and burst into Up's room. Luckily for her, he was still awake, watching The Karate Kid without her. She noticed that his eyes were red.
"Up. I don't care anymore." These were the only words she said, and a huge grin broke out on Up's face.
"Really? You don't care that we might get demoted?"
"No. Te amo, Up. Para siempre."
With hardly a moment's notice, Up's lips were crashing down on hers, woes of earlier forgotten.
71. Divided: "I do not know calculus, ask jour daddy." Taz said to her fifteen year old daughter.
"DAD!" Rose Lopez-Walker called. "I NEED HELP!"
In the living room, Up rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. "What is it Rose?"
"Mom told me to ask you about calculus."
Up chuckled and looked over at his wife, who smiled at him and shrugged.
"You divided it wrong, Rose." Up said gently "Instead you have to move this number up here and..."
Taz, who was reading in the oversized chair in the corner, chuckled, seeing the parallels between the sight before her and when Up taught her calculus all those years ago.
52. Justice: "Would the alibi come before the court and tell us what happened that night." Judge Montgomery called. Taz, dressed nicer than her usual combat pants and tank top, walked up to the stand.
"Now, Lieutenant Taz. You say that Commander Up was with you the night the the key was stolen, correct?"
"Si, we were in his room." Taz responded, her eyes flickering over to Up.
The judge raised her eyebrows. "You do realize that relationships between ranks is prohibited, correct?"
"Oh, no we were not doing anything inapropriado, we were watching De Karate Kid."
The judge nodded and took a note. "And what time did you go over to the Commander's room?"
"Around five o'clock."
"And when did you leave?"
Taz blushed. "I didn't. I slept over in his room."
Judge Montgomery took this rather calmly. "Then what time did you fall asleep?"
"Most likely around eleven o'clock, but Up was asleep before me." Taz replied.
"Did you hear any disturbances during the night?" One of the council members asked.
"No, and I would've. I'm a very light sleeper."
"Given this evidence, we will rule that Commander Up is not guilty. The two of you are free to go."
The pair walked outside of the courtroom, gigantic smiles on both of their faces.
"Thank you Taz. I could've been ejected from the GLEE if it hadn't been for you."
"It's no hay problema. I don't no what I'd do without jou." Then, without another thought, Up leaned down and kissed her. It was brief, but wonderful.
When he pulled away, Taz was awestruck. She touched her lips; they were still tingling. Had that really just happened?
49. Remain: Taz was crying. Now, she hadn't cried for years, but she felt that she had a reason. Up was dead. He had been struck with Zapper fire in battle at the same time that a robot shot him with a flame thrower. There was nothing left of him, not even his robot side had been spared. Only Taz's memories of him remained.
100. I Do: Up was nervous. He was pacing in his handsome tuxedo, taking deep breaths and wanting to relax in a nice warm bubble bath.
"Up, would you stop pacing? Everything is going to be fine." Bug reassured him.
"Yeah, man," Krayonder added "you're in love with her right?" Up nodded eagerly "Then get it over with and marry the chick."
"Commander, you're sure to be real happy. When I married Megagirl it made me the happiest guy in the whole universe." Tootsie told him. Up was calmed down slightly and looked over the three groomsmen that were just comforting him.
"Thanks boys. I'm just real nervous it's the first time I done something like this."
"Believe me, Up. You won't regret it." Bug said, placing a claw on his shoulder.
In another room across the Starship, Taz was nearly pulling out her hair with frustration. "February I do not want a dress like dat. It is estupido." She glared at the monstrosity of a dress, with its fluffy bottom and strapless top.
"Taz!" February whined. "It's so pretty though..."
"No, February." Taz said with an air of finality "It's too much like de dress I wore at my Quincenera."
"Oh." February said quietly. "Well, how about this one?" The dress she held up was much less puffy, with a bottom that flared out slightly, a sweetheart neckline and translucent short sleeves that draped down to her waist. There was some slight light pink embroidery in the top half, almost the same colour as her quincenera dress.
"It's perfect." Taz said softly. She dressed in it, then February finished off her makeup. Taz pinned the comb with the veil attached to the top of her head. She looked at herself in the mirror, smiling slightly.
"You're doing it Taz." She whispered to herself "After all you've been through, you're getting married to the man you love." She began to tear up, but stopped herself when her bridesmaids appeared, February, Specs and Megagirl. She had no Maid of Honour, like Up had no best man.
It was now time for the wedding. Up stood at the front of the chapel, a small group of colleagues from the GLEE sitting before him, Bug, Tootsie and Krayonder at his side. The bridal march started playing and the bridesmaids walked down, starting with Specs. They each wore a blue dress reminiscent of Up's blue eyes.
After what seemed like ages to Up, Taz walked down the aisle. She was accompanied by no one, just her alone. Up stopped breathing for a minute as he watched his fiancee walk down the centre of the chairs. He forgot about everyone else; his eyes were only for her. By the time she got up to where he stood, Up was grinning like an idiot.
Not bothering to look at her, Taz shoved her bouquet in February's direction, then grabbed Up's hands.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two fine Starship Rangers." Admiral Albain began. As she was reading through the lengthy text, both Taz and Up were thinking of everything they had done together. When he saved her from the robots twelve years ago, the time he taught her calculus, when she had stood up for him when people thought he had gone soft. They even thought about their fights and what happened on Qo'nos. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled. This moment was perfect.
"Do you, Upton Walker, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"And do you, Tazia Felicitas Lopez, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Si, I do."
"Then by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." The Admiral said to Up, a small smile on her face.
Up lifted Taz, joining their lips gently before Taz grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, smiling into the kiss.
That was the moment that they both knew. They would never lose each other again.
So, this is the last chapter of the story! *tear* I'm glad everyone has enjoyed it, and thanks to everyone that has reviewed. :)