Taro, held his breath as he waited for Xena to tell him the truth about his condition. It was obviously something very serious, otherwise she would have told him right away. Seeing how desperate Taro was for an answer, she decided to just tell him and get it over with.

"Taro, what attacked you, is a very dangerous and dreaded creature. As a matter of fact, it's the very reason why my people have lived underground for all these years. It can't survive for very long out of water."

"But…what is it?"

"It's an Adelocosa. It may be only a little bit smaller than your palm, but it's killed more of my people than anything else recorded in history. It only eats small insects, but it will also attack anyone that disturbs it. The Adelocosa's forceful bite is extremely venomous, with the strength to kill a hundred Twilohites. Anyone who was bitten by it, was dead within two weeks. I still remember how terrible it was to watch so many suffer such a slow painful death, and knowing that you couldn't do a thing for them, " Xena said, with a pained look.

"Do-do you mean, th-that there's nothing that can help me?" Taro asked in almost disbelief. Once he saw the look of sorrow spread over her face, he looked down figuring he knew the answer.

"There may be one way."

Hearing that, Taro quickly shot his head up. With a small amount of hope beginning to grow inside of him, he pleaded for her to continue.

"A long time ago there was a scientist who was doing research on the Adelocosa, in hopes of finding a possible cure for it's venom."

"Yes, and…?" Taro asked anxiously.

"Well, after much studying, he thought that he may have found the answer."

"And what was that?"

"The deadly venom, itself."

Giving her a skeptical look, Taro asked, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that the scientist, Barlow Kapritoa, believed that the only thing strong enough to fight against the Adelocosa's bite, is the actual venom. You see the scientist Barlow, felt that if the creatures venom could be abstracted from it, it could then be administered to the victim. The second dose of venom would combine with the first dose, and when the antibodies of both fought for dominance over the body they would extinguish each other."

"Did it work?"

Xena, gave a sigh before answering, " Unfortunately, he never tested his theory. Anyone suffering from the venom already, were afraid that the same venom would only harm them further. I know how ludicrous that must sound, since what harm could it do them if their dying anyway."

After thinking the wild idea over , Taro decided that he was at the point where he would try anything. "I want to try it."

Xena, looked at him like he was crazy or something. "Are you serious!?" Realizing that he was, she continued, "Besides, how on earth do you plan to even get the adelocosa's venom?"

"There's obviously only one way?"

"Which is what?"

"You and me, will have to find a way to get back to Twiloh."

"What! Are you out of your mind!? I'm a prisoner here, remember?"

"Not for long," Taro said with confidence.

For a moment Xena was speechless, but after awhile she was able to utter, "But… why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you do that for me? I mean, I already told you all I know about the cure, which may not even turn out to be the cure at all. What possible reason would you have for bringing me along?"

"I don't know. Maybe there isn't one, other than, because…" he then looks deep into her eyes, "I like you…and I want to be your friend. Furthermore, you deserve your freedom."

Xena, says nothing, being somewhat moved by his statement. It's only now that she realizes how close Taro is. He's only about a foot away from her, and while still on one knee, he inches a bit closer. She is now able to feel his soft breath on her face, and when she was about to object to his being so close, she suddenly noticed her hand instinctively reaching out and gently caressing his upper arm. This positively terrified her, especially since she didn't seem to have any control over her action. Taro, appeared to experience the same type of panic, as he reacted to the touch by looking at her hand on his arm and then staring back at her with a dumbfounded expression. Feeling his cheeks beginning to heat up, Taro turned his face from her, which she found relieving since she felt the same thing happening to her.

After a moment she was finally able to pull her hand away from his arm, before apologizing, "I'm sorry."

This surprised taro, and looking at her again he asked, "For what?" Figuring why, he rubbed the back of his neck before saying, "Oh, it's okay. I'm just not used to being touched like that."

This only made her feel worse, which Taro quickly noticed, and before he knew what he was saying, he quickly blurted out, " Your very beautiful."

She immediately stared at him, shocked by that last statement. Taro quickly regretted saying it, and almost wished he could take it back. Not because he didn't think it was true, but because he was afraid that she would think that he was a fool for saying something like that. After a moment she coughed into her fist and tried desperately to change the subject.

"Uh..l-let me look at your hand."

"What for?"

"I have to see how bad it is, so I'll be able to tell how much time you have left."

With a slight hesitation, Taro showed her his hand. After examining it, she arrived at an estimate.

"We have to act fast, you haven't much time."

"How long would you say?"

"Forty-eight hours at the minimum, so I suggest you find a way to get me out of here as soon as possible. If we're going to get to planet Twiloh in time, we have to leave now."

Taro, suddenly went into a panic. He hadn't thought about how they were going to get there.

"We have a problem. I don't know how we can travel to your planet. You can't fly, and there's no way I can fly there in the condition I'm in, let alone take you along."

"But, how did you manage before?"

"We created a portal that transported us there and back."

"Well, then why can't you just do it again?" argued Xena, while becoming irritated.

"My powers have exhausted themselves almost completely. I'm far too weak to create a portal all by myself."

"Who says you have to do it all by yourself?"

"What do you mean?" asked Taro confused.

"Why don't you just ask one of your Ultra friends to help you. There must be at least one who would keep his mouth shut and not rat on us."

Taking what she said into consideration, Taro began thinking over who would be the best choice to go along with them. It has to be someone seemingly close to him, who wouldn't go to his parents. Of course, it also has to be someone who's already aware of the prisoners situation and would at least give him a chance to explain.

It didn't take Taro long to decide who, so he went write ahead and told Xena his one and only choice.

"My brother Ace!"