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 :D While I won't spoil too much, I can definitely say I'd like to write Hopper and Flik having a conversation that doesn't involve threats and/or talking down to one another; just a nice, civilized conversation.

Mistery5Lover6: Thanks :)

Mocarela: Thanks :) Let's just say things are gonna get REALLY interesting...

Hopper and Kimberly sat back on the tree branch and sat, watching the fireflies dance around in the darkness, and occasionally talked. After a few minutes, Kimberly began to doze off, and leaned on Hopper's shoulder, yawning. He lifted her up, and carried and set her down in the large hollow in the tree. Smiling softly, he kissed her temple and whispered, "Good night, darling. I love you." He then turned and flew out of the tree.

When he got back to where the grasshoppers were staying—it being a hollowed-out tree stump—some of them asked where he was. Deciding to be honest, he said bluntly, "With Kimberly."

The other grasshoppers oohed and chuckled, elbowing each other. "Knock it off, you idiots." Hopper rolled his eyes.

"Is she still on the island?" Isaia asked.

"Yes, she is. And I think she's happy there."

"How'd you know?" Carlo raised an eyebrow.

"How has it been for the past few days?" Hopper asked. His left arms were wrapped around Kimberly's shoulders.

"Pretty nice." Kimberly said. "I feel like I really belong here."

"Oh?"

"I loved it at the Grasshopper Grove and the Mosquito Desert Resort, but the resort isn't really a home, and no offence, but the grove doesn't really feel homey."

"Because the ants aren't there?" He asked.

"Exactly." She nodded. "I know they're a few hours away…but it's just not the same. I also know I'm accepted here by insects who love me."

"But I love you."

"And I love you too. But the ants are my surrogate family. And it's already hard enough choosing between the two of you." She brushed a tear away. "I just wish I could have both. I wish somehow, we could all live together. It's like when I was little, I dreamed of finding my Prince Charming, like from stories my mother told me. But when I grew up, I realized life wasn't like fairy tales. It's not that simple. For the most part, I'm happy. You've become worth more than any boring old Prince Charming. But if I could have one fairy tale-esque wish come true…it would be that the grasshopper gang could live peacefully on this island with the ants. You're all like my family…but I have to choose one of you."

Hopper held Kimberly closer to his side and leaned the side of his head on her head. "So…you're choosing the ants?"

"It may come to that. I'll still go to the resort during the winter, and I may visit the grove in the fall. It's not the same, but at least it's something, right?"

"Right." Hopper half-heartedly agreed.

"Because I just know." Hopper said, crossing his arms. He was still somewhat hurt that Kimberly chose the ants over him and the gang, but he understood why. He understood that she was with the ants first, and they became not only her dear friends, but her family as well. And as he preached before, family came first.

If he had the opportunity to move the gang to Ant Island, no strings attached, he would do it in a heartbeat. But real life wasn't always that simple. Even though he didn't have any intentions on hurting the ants, they still hated him, and more than likely didn't want anything to do with the grasshoppers.

Even though he felt jealous of the ants, he understood Kimberly's decision, and he wasn't going to force her to do otherwise. He just wanted her to be happy.

The next morning, Dot and Kimberly were in the clover forest, talking. The young princess was still asking questions about the grasshoppers and Chanda. "How come you're so interested in the grasshoppers all of a sudden?" Kimberly asked, smiling slightly. "I'd understand Chanda, her being an ant. But why grasshoppers? Especially after all they've done to your family?"

Dot shrugged, "I guess because you're one of the good grasshoppers, and you said the grasshoppers aren't so bad anymore."

"I suppose that makes sense." The female grasshopper nodded. "I'm glad you don't seem to hate them anymore, in the sense of continuing the hatred between ants and grasshoppers."

"Is it true that the bedtime story you once told me started ants and grasshoppers hating each other?"

"It's true, but that was many, many, many years ago. I think it's nice that it's changing."

"Do you miss the grasshoppers? And Hopper?"

Kimberly nodded, "Yeah, I do. I love you guys, and consider you, your mother, sister, and Flik my family. But it was also great being with my own kind. I just wish the grasshoppers could be able to live on Ant Island with the ants peacefully. Unfortunately, that's only wishful thinking."

"Do you like Hopper?" Dot asked innocently. "I mean, like how Flik likes Atta?"

Kimberly hesitated, but only because she was seriously contemplating telling Dot. Finally, she nodded, "I do, yes. It's really interesting, I started out hating him, but as he changed, I fell in love with him."

"And he likes you?"

"He does, yes. He said he's been in love with me for a long time. But aren't you upset?"

"Why?"

"Remember, I pinkie-promised I wouldn't fall in love with Hopper?"

"I thought you said you wouldn't if he stayed the same." Dot pointed out. "And you just said he changed."

Kimberly smiled and hugged the young princess, making her giggle. "You're right, I'm being silly. How about we have some fun today?"

"Yeah! Let's play tag! Not it—you're it!" She jumped out of Kimberly's arms and flew away deeper into the forest.

"No fair!" Kimberly laughed, walking after—since she had long legs, she figured it wouldn't be fair to run after Dot. "Dot, that wasn't fair!"

Her giggles faded away as the young purple ant faded into the green forest. As she looked around, she heard something at the edge of the forest behind the grass. Smirking, she crouched down and crept towards the grass. Pausing, she leapt into the grass with a laugh. To her surprise, she tackled something larger than the ant princess. As soon as she stopped rolling, she blinked in surprise, "Thumper?! What the heck are you doing here?"

Grinning widely, Thumper nuzzled Kimberly's nose with his cheek. She stood up and asked again, "Why are you here? If the ants find you—"

"Kimmy!" Dot screamed in fright.

Kimberly's eyes widened and her face paled. "Dot!" She cried, leaping back into the clover forest as fast as she could. At the edge of the forest, she found Dot standing frozen, with two dragonflies circling around her, chuckling cruelly. One was black with a short blue tail with a dark-gray tip, and wore an acorn cap on his head. The other was sky blue with an apple green thorax and head, a black stripe down his back, and his right lower forearm was missing.

As soon as she saw the dragonflies, remembering what they did to the ants years ago, Kimberly's pupils shrunk in anger, and her maternal instincts seemed to kick in. "Get away from her!" She yelled, kicking the dragonflies away from Dot and snatching her up.

Shaking his head and adjusting his hat, the black and blue dragonfly remarked, "Well, look what we have here, Buzzer."

"I thought there weren't any grasshoppers." Buzzer said. "Why would one be here, Skimmer?"

"Dunno."

Kimberly simply growled, baring her sharp teeth. "What are you doing here?" She snarled. "Dragonflies are not allowed!"

"We heard grasshoppers weren't allowed neither." Skimmer countered. "So we have free range of the island now."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Kimberly placed Dot on the ground, shoved her back with a foot, and attacked the dragonflies. "Dot, run!"

"But—"

"Do as I say! Run!"

Glancing back in fear, Dot flew away, her wings buzzing softly. "Run fast, Dot! Don't look back! Just keep running! Keep running!" Kimberly yelled after her.

Tears of fright began to bud in the young ant's eyes. Not looking back, she flew away as fast as she could. She glanced back, hearing loud buzzing. Two red dragonflies, with large, crazed eyes, were flying after her, saliva drooling out of their mouths.

Dot screamed in fright and looked back ahead. She fell to the ground because her wings were too tired to fly. She pushed herself up and ran, glancing back. Because she wasn't seeing where she was going, she tripped over a rock and fell. Hearing the buzzing approaching fast, she curled up in fright.

THUD! Something large landed in front of her, halting the buzzing. Dot looked up, gasping in shock. "Hopper?!"

Hopper stood over Dot, slightly crouched down, claws held up threateningly. Even though she didn't see it, Hopper was glaring darkly at the dragonflies, curling his lip as he slowly glanced from one dragonfly to the next.

The dragonflies stood on the ground, looking at Hopper in more surprise than fright or anger, as they growled. With a snarl, Hopper attacked. Dot crawled backwards, watching in fright as the one-eyed grasshopper fought against two dragonflies. Claws scratched, teeth bit, and legs kicked; all the while, all of the fighting insects were growling.

Dot screamed when grasshopper arms and legs surrounded her. Looking up, she saw Thumper standing over her on all six legs, scowling at the dragonflies. "Thumper?" Dot gasped.

Thumper grinned down at her and continued to watch the fight, ready to jump in if needed.

However, Hopper managed to scare away the dragonflies, who had several scratch and bite injuries. Hopper himself, having thick armor-like skin, wasn't very damaged. He stood up straight, sighing heavily. He jumped slightly when something grabbed his leg. Looking down, to his surprise, he saw Dot hugging his leg. He glanced at Thumper, who shrugged and was standing on his feet. He looked back down at Dot and said, "Uh, you all right, Squirt?"

Dot looked up at him and nodded silently. "What were you doing?"

She gasped in remembrance. "Kimmy!" She tried to run back the way she came, but Hopper picked her up.

"Hold up, what about Kimberly?"

"She's back there fighting two other dragonflies!" She exclaimed. "She told me to run!"

Growling, Hopper shoved Dot into Thumper's arms. "Take her back to the anthill! Tell the ants to stay there, and don't come out here."

"But—" The princess started, hardly aware that she was in the arms of a grasshopper who pushed her off a cliff in the past.

"No buts! It's too dangerous. Just go!"

Thumper turned and flew back to the anthill. Hopper turned and ran towards the direction Dot was running from. Several thoughts ran through his head: what were the dragonflies doing back here? Had they gotten braver? And what was Kimberly thinking attacking them?

As soon as he left the forest, a deep voice shouted, "Stop!"

Hopper skidded to a halt, waving his arms around to keep his balance. He gasped in astonishment at what he saw.

A/N With stories that involve the movie they're based on (like this and Amphibiques in Boggan's Armor) there seem to be two plots going on: the plot of the original movie, and the plot in the story. And as such, each have their own buildups and climaxes. For this story, the buildup for the second plot is really kicking in.

I hope Hopper doesn't seem too OOC. But you guys seem to really like the changes he's been going through :)

The two dragonflies who talked are ones I made up a long time ago. The one with the hat, Skimmer, is a Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly, and is voiced by Joe Pesci (I've only seen him in Home Alone and Home Alone 2 so far, but I've seen him in clips of other movies he's been in...the guy has quite a mouth) The other dragonfly, Buzzer, is an Emperor Dragonfly, and is voiced by Michael Richards, whom I know as Kramer from Seinfeld. Not sure if he's in anything else I've seen other than Seinfeld.

When Hopper landed over Dot and attacked the attacking dragonflies (they aren't any specific breed, they're just red-colored) it was kinda subconsciously-inspired by a similar scene in Lady and the Tramp, where Lady is chased by alley dogs, and Tramp jumps in, fights them, and chases them off (when I was little, I thought that was one of the most epic scenes ever) I guess Kimberly wasn't the only one with parental instincts XD Just kidding.

I was gonna write more, but this was just such a PERFECT cliffhanger, I couldn't resist! I'm mean, I know, but it'll get you guys hyped up for the next chapter. I know I'm always hyped up for a new chapter of an unfinished story I like, whether the last-updated chapter ends in a cliffhanger or not.