A/N I don't own A Bug's Life or its characters; they are owned by Disney and Pixar. What I DO own are my OC, Kimberly, and any other characters that weren't in the movie.

Guest: Thanks :) I also liked the ice-skating part.

She plans on doing that ;)

I guess it kinda does.

Sarahfelixclaremordred: Thanks :D Since he let her go willingly, he won't really try to bring her back, especially when he realizes she isn't really happy at the grove.


Kimberly still barely believed she was going back to Ant Island. She kept praying that if it were a dream, she wasn't woken up. To be sure, she pinched her antenna extra hard. It hurt, and it confirmed she was awake.

She remembered asking how far away Ant Island was once. The answer surprised her.

"A few hours? Ant Island's only a few hours away?"

"Yep," Isaia nodded. "And you go to the south-east to go there."

Kimberly calculated the directions. From Grasshopper Grove, they went south-east to Ant Island. From Ant Island, they go to the Mosquito Desert Resort. Then, from there, they go back north to the grove. That meant they would go down south to the resort, and from the island, they went south-west. "Wait, so when you guys go from here to the island, to the resort, and back here, you went in a circle?"

"That's what it means, sweetwings." Carlo nodded, flinching at the glare Hopper sent him.

It comforted Kimberly that Ant Island wasn't a day away from the grove, like the resort was. And she was happy that she knew the general direction to go as well.

After a few hours, she saw the familiar giant tree, full of bright green leaves. She grinned widely, giggling with glee. She flew down low over the lake into the grass. When she landed, she took a deep breath and sighed heavily, feeling very nostalgic, both from being back on the island, and from remembering a year ago when she was found by the ants.

Remembering this, she moved cautiously. Her antennae perked up at voices. She slowly moved towards the voices. She didn't recognize them, but was sure they were ants.

"It feels strange not collecting for the grasshoppers." One said.

"Yep." Another agreed.

"Not that I'm complaining, of course."

Both voices laughed. Kimberly carefully brushed a blade of grass aside, and saw two male ants standing by a stalk of grass. "Speaking of grasshoppers, it's been a year since that female grasshopper was here."

"Oh yeah, that strange yellow one." The other ant nodded. "What was her name? Catherine? Bea?"

"Kimberly." The first ant corrected. "She was an odd one indeed. It was amazing she never expressed hatred against us, especially in regards to the 'Ant and Grasshopper' story."

"One kid said Princess Dot mentioned Kimberly told her that story at bedtime, but told it as the grasshopper unable to collect food because the other insects took it first."

The first ant laughed haughtily. "That's probably the way grasshoppers tell it."

"The kid also said the princess said Kimberly was surprised when she was told that the grasshopper was lazy during the summer in the story."

"Speaking of the princess, she's stopped crying about that grasshopper leaving."

"She hasn't cried for a couple of months. Probably realized she wasn't coming back. Good."

"That she stopped crying?"

"No, that she's not coming back. I never liked her. Especially since Hopper took an interest in her."

"Wasn't exactly her fault…You think that's why she left? Hopper's still alive?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if she ran away with him."

"Why? She doesn't like him."

"She didn't then. Besides, who's to say she wasn't faking it? Grasshoppers can't be trusted. They're lazy, dependent, no good insects. Maybe Queen Atta's realized that by now."

"She did mention she didn't trust Kimberly at first."

"Exactly." The ant nodded. "And she's not as sad anymore that she's gone. Nor Flik or Her Majesty Phyllis, or even Princess Dot. They've realized that Kimberly is like every other grasshopper: not to be trusted, ever."

There was a loud sob in the grass. The ants jumped, startled. "What the heck was that?!" One exclaimed.

They looked in the grass where they heard the sob, but found nothing. They shrugged and left, still talking.

Kimberly flew away from the island as fast as her wings could carry her. Her hands were over her face, though her tears still fell as she sobbed. The ants' cruel words echoed over and over in her head: Good. That she's not coming back…Wouldn't surprise me if she ran away with him…Grasshoppers can't be trusted. They're lazy, dependent, no good insects. Maybe Queen Atta's realized that by now…She's not as sad anymore that she's gone. Flik, or Her Majesty Phyllis, or even Princess Dot.

They've realized that Kimberly is like every other grasshopper: not to be trusted, ever.

Kimberly knew most of the ants disliked her, and she understood why. But she never dreamed that her best friends, her surrogate family, would "realize" she wasn't to be trusted, like with other grasshoppers, or even be happy she was gone. Not even Dot. The more the gibes echoed in her head, the more upset she became.

She finally landed and fell against a small tree, sobbing. Her depression and sadness slowly turned into anger. Even though she never hurt the ants, it didn't mean she was never angry at them for distrusting her. In all the time she lived with them, she never gave them a reason to distrust or hate her. She never hurt anyone!

Kimberly slowly stopped crying, and began growling, sounding not unlike Thumper. With a scratchy roar, she began to attack the tree she was leaning against, scratching, punching, and kicking it. Her lips curled back to reveal her sharp teeth, and her pupils shrunk, leaving nothing but brown orbs outlined with blue-green in her eyes. She let out her pent-up anger towards the ants, and even the grasshoppers, including Hopper, on the poor tree, leaving scratch marks in the young bark.

Slowly, but surely, she began to calm down. She fell to her knees, panting, as she got a hold of herself, and her pupils grew back to normal. "So, are you done torturing my tree?"

Kimberly's antennae perked up at the voice. She looked around, but didn't see anyone. "I'm up here."

She looked up, surprised to see a dark-red ant sitting in the tree, one leg hanging over the edge. She couldn't quite see the features because of the growing leaves casting a shadow, but she saw forest-green eyes. And the voice sounded feminine. "Are you done torturing my tree, or are you gonna slice it down?" The ant asked.

"I-I'm sorry." Kimberly said, standing and backing away. "I didn't really mean to, I was just…"

"Venting out your anger?" The ant asked.

"Mm-hmm." Kimberly nodding, somehow now noticing the ant's voice had a slight French accent.

"We've all had those days, honey. I saw you fly in, crying, and I figured something happened. What's the matter?"

"It…it's nothing important. I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"Nah, you're not disturbing me. I was bored anyway." The ant climbed down to the ground and into the light of the afternoon.

Kimberly gasped before she could stop herself. The ant's left eyebrow and left side of her face were burned. Her entire left antenna was burned as well, and leaning to the side, as if it were dead, and her whole left hand was also burned, and her middle finger was missing from said hand.

The ant cocked her head, as if confused as to why Kimberly was startled. Then, her eyes widened in realization, and she laughed. "Sorry, should've warned you about the burns. Hope I didn't scare you."

"N-not really." Kimberly shook her head. "What happened?"

"Kind of a long story. I was practicing spinning fire—that is, sticks that are on fire on either end—I tossed it in the air, and it came down on my head and antenna. I grabbed the wrong end, and had to have my finger amputated. I'm kind of a pyromaniac, which I suppose isn't too unusual for a fire ant, and it kinda makes up for me not having a venomous bite. I'm a fire spinner and eater, and when practicing…I've had a few boo-boos."

"Looks like they were more than just 'boo-boos.'" Kimberly remarked, feeling better now that she knew what happened.

"I suppose." The ant shrugged, chuckling. "Sorry if I seem chatty. I haven't had company in a while."

"That's fine."

"I never introduced myself, did I? I'm Chanda. What's your name, Wings?"

"'Wings'? Oh, my wings," Kimberly laughed. "That's kind of a long story for me. But I'm Kimberly."

"Nice to meet you, Kimberly." Chanda held out a hand, which the female grasshopper shook. "How's about you come in and have a drop of leaf juice?" She gestured at a small cave made of rocks.

"Oh, I couldn't impose—"

"I insist! It's rare I have company. 'Sides, you haven't told me your story about your wings."

"I suppose it's only fair I tell you, since you told me about your burns. But I have to warn you, it's a very long story."

"Fine by me. I like long stories."


The cave actually covered a small tunnel leading underground, reminding Kimberly of the anthill back at Ant Island. Like the anthill, the lighting came from a luminous mushroom. There was a table and two chairs made from rocks.

Kimberly told Chanda her whole story, from when she first arrived on Ant Island, to meeting Hopper, the circus bugs and ants' plan to scare the grasshoppers away, her deal with Hopper, living at the grove, and finally overhearing the ants' conversation on Ant Island. "I just ran away and came here." She finished.

Chanda hadn't said a word while the female grasshopper talked, though her facial expressions did change. Her eyebrows would rise in surprise, her lips would purse in sympathy, her eyes would widen in shock, and she'd scowl, especially as Kimberly told her about Hopper, who the red ant decided she disliked. Once the story was done, Chanda could only think of one thing to say: "Damn, that's quite the story."

"I've been through quite a bit."

"I'll say. Maybe this is the time to really start fresh, Lee. My home is open to you, if you'd like. It does get somewhat lonely out here, but it's home."

"Thank you," Kimberly nodded. "I really appreciate it."

"It's the least I could do."


A/N Not sure if I really liked the ending, but I'll go with it (and try and figure out how to start the next chapter XD)

I had actually forgot to have Kimberly ask where Ant Island is and how far away it is, only to have someone say it isn't very far in the last chapter. So, instead of adding it (too lazy X)) I just had it in a flaskback.

I bet THAT was a big plot twist. I'm not saying whether it's true or not; let's just say there's bound to be a lot of gossip in the ant colony. I really tried to make it seem like the ants could be telling the truth or just exchanging gossip. But Kimberly, as you saw, thinks the worse.

I also kinda (I think) made Kimberly a bit more realistic in adding that even though she ignored the other ants hating her, she was still mad at them. She did nothing to deserve being hated and mistrusted, but their opinions about her hardly changed, save for Atta, Flik, Phyllis, and Dot's.

Here's where we introduce another ABL OC I created: Chanda the fire ant. Her pic's been up on DeviantART ever since the story was only one chapter old. She slowly came into play while I was thinking up the plot for Toxic Wings, and when I decided she'd be a fire ant, I also decided it'd be cool to have her not have a venomous "fiery" bite, and be a pyromaniac. Like she said, she enjoys fire eating and spinning (kids, do NOT try that at home)