Hi there! What's this, another update? Yep. I hope you enjoy! Please remember to review with any comments, critique, love or flames. They're all greatly appreciated. Here's a shout out to Starkidtheatregeek for reviewing and Acciorenner for favoriting! thank you as well to everyone who has read so far. You guys are fabulous. :)
Disclaimer: Taz, Up,and the G.L.E.E. are not mine.

Voila!

Chapter 17- Apples and Aftershave

As the weeks past, Taz's time as a tag-along apprentice was slowly drawing to its soon, she realized, she'd be an ACTUAL first year in the Ranger Academy. She would be an official G.L. . She'd be taught by people like Up instead of sharing a room with Him and Mary and Dancing-Tacos. She'd have to refer to them as 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' in just a little while. It was a... oh, what did they call it... a bummer. It was a total bummer. It was while the four of them were enjoying a spaghetti dinner that Taz decided to voice her worries to the group. Up was to her left, struggling to twirl the noodles onto his fork. Mary was on her right, trying not to bump elbows, and Dancing-Tacos was waltzing back towards them with a round of seconds.

"What's eating you, Taz?" He asked, once he had slid into his seat and dropped a baggy of croutons onto the table. "You look like you gorged on a lemon or something."

"More like a metaphorical lemon of pessimism... do you guys realize that I'm entering into the Academy in a week? I'm not ready for this!" Mary ruffled Taz's hair and grinned down at her young friend.

"Of course you're ready. You've lived with rangers all your life. This past year has practically been unofficial training what with us being around."

"Yup." Up gestured to her with a sauce covered fork, "You are better in combat that most of them graduating first years."

"But Up, that's just fighting. There are a bunch of other classes that I'm going to need to do... and they're all going to be en englais." She shlumped over onto the table, food forgotten. "What if I'm never able to graduate?" What if the classes proved to be too hard to understand? Sure, her english had gotten better while here at the base, but was it good enough?

"Aw, Taz." Up's warm palm found it's way to her shoulder. " You're one of the smartest gal's I've ever met. If you do struggle a bit, there are plenty of people who can help you with studying. You'll do fine." Dancing-Tacos reached across his plate to stick a finger under her chin and bring her brown eyes up to meet his blue ones.

"Don't worry about a thing kid. It may seem hard at first with all its' strictness, but the academy ain't that bad. There will be classes that you like. History was mine. It was my second best course, right behind agriculture. Now that I think about it, it was the easiest 'A' that I ever got..."

Mary spoke up one last time. " Just study hard, and don't be afraid to ask your teachers questions. They're here to help you learn, if you don't understand something, it means they're failing their job and need to know where to step it up. They'll secretly appreciate it."

Taz crinkled her nose and blew a strand of hair off of her cheek. "Are you sure guys? You're not just saying this stuff?"

"What's the point in lying?" Up poked her in the side. "We already know you're going to be el malo hijo de puta to come out of the academy."

"Brushing up on español, I see."

"I figured it would be a good thing to learn what you yell about! My Spanish has become very... colorful thanks to you."

After the school and spaghetti talk, Up noticed that Taz was carrying around a bag of books with her. She wasn't watching his classes anymore. Instead, she'd sit quietly with her nose in a textbook. Which, he supposed, was a good thing. English was her second language after all. studying now would give her a leg up in the academic class placement tests. Her social life had all but disappeared though. Taz opted out of their nightly poker sessions, which was admittedly kind of a let down. His little fighter was now a little bookworm.

The day before her induction into the academy, Up stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, chin half shaved. He was going to miss having Taz following him around, once she became a G.L.E.E.k. He'd probably only see her during combat training, maybe during meals once the students were situated enough to eat with the rest of the Base. You know what? He stared determinedly into his reflection. I'm going to spend the rest of the day with Taz. He quickly shaved the rest of his face (besides the mustache, never the mustache) then pulled a pair of pants on. "Hey Up!" Taz banged on the bathroom door. " You've got three roommates who need a shower and one of them wants to head to the library as soon as possible!" Problem solved.

Up accompanied Taz to the Library soon after to help her study. "So... Taz, what subject are you looking into today?"He asked as they stepped into the elevator.

"Maths. Specifically Algebra. Geometry made sense, but dios mio! Why put letters into math! It doesn't make sense... I shouldn't have put it off until now..." She stared down at her scuffed boots.

"Oh well. We'll see what I can teach myself today."

"Do you have the book?"

"Yea."

"Then why are we going to the library?"

"I wanted to see if there was an easier book... something easier that I could understand. Something possibly in spanish."

"Why don't I help you out? I don't have anything to do today, and math came pretty easy to me as a kid. What do you say?"

"You be like... like a tutor?"
"Sure thing." He'd be fine as a tutor, in fact, he had just accepted the job of Calculus teacher... though no one knew it yet. They arrived at the doors of the library, Up taking the handles of the door and pulling it open. This was the only pair of non-sliding doors on the base; it was only fitting that an old fashioned door led into a library. " Well, let's get to learning, shall we?"

The rest of the day was spent hoarding algebra books and discussing tricky problems that Taz was having issues with. Taz's favorite library corner now had a desk and two chairs that they had dragged over, writing supplies spilled all over the surface. Up patiently worked with her for hours, stopping only to let Taz go down to the kitchens to prepare dinner (enchiladas). During that time, Up took a nap. soon after though, Taz rushed back to her lieutenant, plates of food in hand, and the continued to pound information into her brain. They worked bleary eyed into the night, not realizing that the librarian had closed down the area long before. The old woman had decided not to kick out the pair. Up was responsible, so she trusted that nothing would go wrong in her library tonight.

Around 2230 hours, Up looked up from a couple of corrections he was making to a set of problems she had completed just minutes prior. A soft snore left Taz and fluttered the pages of her notebook that she had been writing in, her cheek smushed against it. She would kill him if he voiced it, but she was an adorable sight. Quietly, so as not to disturb his sleeping friend, he piled up the borrowed books and returned them to their proper shelves. Softly, he pulled out the notebook from under her and and returned it along with her pencils into her bag. Finally, he scooped her up, albeit very carefully, and made his way to the library exit. "Come on Taz," he whispered, "let's get you to bed."

Taz's heavy eyes fought to blink open, winning only to see olive green fabric. Huh? She thought groggily. That wasn't math homework. As her senses came back to her, she realized that she wasn't sitting, but was being carried... she was rising and falling with the persons footsteps as they echoed down a silent corridor. The person smelled like aftershave mixed with a hint of apples. That was okay, she liked that. The scent also meant that it was Up who was cradling her to his muscular chest. That was okay too; he was a nice guy, strong, and her best friend. She was safe here. Up, not noticing that his charge was awake, stopped to put his hand against their room scanner. She bit her lip, this was the last night that she'd be sharing a room with Up and her other friends... her family. Tomorrow, by this time, she'd be in a dorm with twenty five kids her age who probably had no idea what fighting robots was really like. How does someone act with a bunch of people who probably needed a reality check?

"Very carefully." Up chuckled as the door slid open. Whoops, had she said that last part aloud? "You said everything aloud. Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" He whispered into her hair.

" Lo siento." She blushed in the darkness.

"I smell like apples?" Taz blushed harder.

"Si. But...it's a manly apple scent. Don't worry."

"Phew. I thought my reputation was at stake for a moment."

"That'll never happen Up." He set her down on her bed, taking a moment to fluff her pillow.

"Goodnight Taz. Get some sleep. Tomorrow you'll be a cadet for the G.L.E.E."

She yawned and kicked off her boots. "Si... Hey Up?"

"Yea, sleepy head?"

"Thanks for...everything." She didn't have to say anything else. Up knew what she was referring to. For saving her, and befriending her.

"Don't mention it kid." He pulled her into a hug. "It was worth it."

"Taz, you know I love you," someone spoke up in the darkness, "but you two better shut up within the next ten seconds or else I'm chucking my alarm clock at you."

"Love you too Mary." Taz chuckled. "Buenas noches."

Translations:

-el malo hijo de puta: baddest mother f-er

-Lo siento: I'm sorry

-Buenas noches: good night

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