Chapter Ten

Regrets

Being back on Bug World felt strange, the first time Taz had set foot on that planet was her first mission back with Up, the mission that brought them back together after the two years on the Bright Eye. The long walk to the Hive entrance was painfully slow but after two months or so of making the trek back and forth, it was getting easier, Taz thought if Li wanted this report as a matter of importance she could wait a few months. Tootsie was smiling joyfully holding his wife's hand

'I can't wait to see how February is getting along down here, last I heard she's really got to grips with them bugs' It was obvious that February's relationship with her alien boyfriend wasn't going to be simple, but then again, neither was a robot and human relationship. February decided that she wanted to stay with Bug, after all his life span as a bug wasn't very long. So moving down there was a big decision for February. Everyone supported her decision, even Taz thought it was a good idea; anyway it would be cruel to keep them apart. They all just hoped she wouldn't have a mental breakdown by trying to handle bug life.

Once the wall of the Hive was in sight, Taz dodged out the way of a bouncing February who tried to get a hug out of her, it had took at least six months, but Taz had finally managed to get February to call her by her real name even though Taz did tell her on countless occasions. Taz had never seen the crew this happy since before Up left. Specs and Krayonder were talking to Bug who was proudly showing his ambassadors badge that he wore, Tootsie and Mega Girl on the other hand were being questioned by February on their relationship. Barely dodging another attempt of a flying tackle hug from February, she decided that if anyone was going to find places for the colonists, it was inevitably going to be her. So with that, she mumbled something about searching the planet, and hurried off into the wilderness. Bug World hadn't really changed. The same beautiful colours, the hum of each insect as they buzzed near the group of rangers. Krayonder seemed to be the honey of the group, every minute brought a different creature to hover over him, or even landing on him. He didn't mind of course, but he did jump a little when a giant bee thought he was a flower and sprayed pollen all over him.

'Guys it great to see you' Bug crawled over happily from a group of stick insects already in conversation. 'I didn't know you guys were coming down today! We though you had everything you needed.'

'Well you know man, once you get us there's no goin' back!' and all the Rangers chuckled at this. A strong friendship had been made between Bug and Krayonder in the last year, they seemed to have a lot in common.

'So anyway what's the gossip up at the A2?' February asked 'Anything interesting?'

'Well, Taz just wants to keep coming back down but we don't care, the more she wants to keep coming down the more can see you guys!'

'Aww that's sweet thanks guys!' Bug blushed.

'OH MY DEAD GOD! Hey guys! Actually, while your here, do you mind if you help us out with a little itsy problem?' It was obvious that February knew everything about Bug World, after numerous tours from Bug to help conquer her fears. She seemed to know a lot more about the planet than Specs's spectrometer.

'Problem?' Specs raised her enormous glasses up at Bug in concern.

'Don't worry it's nothing serious, it's more a mystery really, and it's just well...'

'What Buggy is trying to say is that the mammals on this planet have the same life span as the insects, which is something like two years, they're like... living longer, there's one mammal that has been here for at least five years, which is the cutest. We just can't figure it out!' If there was one thing the crew had learnt about Specs over the past year, was that she loved mysteries. 'Lead the way Bug, I think we can solve this mystery once and for all!'

It was quite a forest, towering trees and flowers bursting out like huge blossoming jewels. Taz thought she had walked into a parallel universe, this was not the last forest she had ran through last year, when they were fleeing from the bugs. This was the last place she needed to look which was a pity she enjoyed these little walks, it gave her time to think. She clutched the ring in her sweaty palm, hanging from her dog tags as she walked through the hanging green vines, steeping over all sorts of multi-coloured flowers, she walked until she couldn't walk any more. She made it to the edge of a low cliff overlooking a large lake that swirled with shoots of pink and orange colliding with each other. The water looked so inviting, something to wash away the bitter memories of the last few months, the little comments from of Krayonder, the solitude of her quarters. Within a few minutes she had scrambled down the cliff, stripped down to her tank top and underpants, and dived into the cool, fresh water. She dunked her head into the water listening to the soothing sounds of the lake life. She shut her eyes and let herself sink to the bottom of the lake until her feet touched the soft moss.

'Taz?' came a man's voice, reverberating across the rippling water. 'Taz!'

All the hairs on the back of Taz's neck had stood on end.

No...no it couldn't be... 'Taz!' Up! Taz thought, opening her mouth to scream his nameback and incidentally swallowed a mouthful of lake water.After a minute of choking, her eyes streaming, she blinkedrapidly to bring them into focus on the man standing on theshore of the lake. 'Taz!' said Krayonder, his face ablaze withexcitement. 'You need to come and see what we found! Itcould just be a miracle!