Chapter 4: Booster's Compassion

Passed. With several awards to his name. Team Lightyear could hardly believe it…

"If it were any other cadet, it would be a celebration…" muttered Buzz.

"But… it means that Team Lightyear is falling apart," sobbed Booster, clinging to the Tangean. "Mira… oh, Mira… no Ranger can replace you!"

"I-I know…" she stammered. Just a few weeks ago, Mira was on top of the universe. A ranger, a co-pilot, a one-year-anniversary party and three 'brothers' she fought side by side with! But this forced wedding crashed down and knocked her out of orbit. "It's not fair! Why did I have to be born a princess?! Why couldn't I be a normal being like the rest of you?!"

"Well, your father is the king," XR quipped, "and you can't help who your parents are–"

"UGH!" Mira kicked at an empty can of soda in frustration.

"Ouch!" another voice cried, and rubbed his nose. At once, Team Lightyear froze and saluted. Commander Nebula had slipped in upon them.

"Oh… s-sorry, sir," Mira gulped.

"Ranger Nova, explain yourself!"

Mira hung her head in shame. "I… I was frustrated and lost my temper, sir. I'm really sorry."

"I think you need some time to yourself," Nebula said calmly. "Your team will check on you later."

"Y-yes, sir…" Mira sighed and started down the hall. Her teammates and Nebula watched her go, before the commander turned to the others.

"Now, would you three kindly tell me why you were pulling all those stunts on Fop's training and Mira's premature premonition?"

The trio sighed before Buzz showed him a piece of paper with all the notes he had taken from the Tangean rulebook and the Star Command Mission Manual. Nebula silently read it to himself, eyes widening when he was done. "Listen, Rangers, I understand why you'd do things to give Mira more freedom, but… please, leave others out of the equation!"

"Sir," Buzz tried to counter. "Fop set her up!"

"And did any of you, including Mira, think of how Fop was set up too?" asked Nebula. "He didn't ask for Ranger Training, and he passed. Now you lot are spitting it back in his face."

A dead silence fell upon the rest of Team Lightyear. All this time, they had been thinking about how Mira – their teammate, their friend, their sister-in-arms – was unfairly dragged through the mud. Never once had they considered how Fop felt about the situation. In their eyes, he was little more than an obstacle in Mira's path to happiness. The trio looked up at their commander with guilty expressions. "No, sir…"

"And besides," added Nebula, "is the wedding really going to be that bad? Fop is a good man from what I've seen of him."

"It's not so much the wedding itself, sir," Booster explained, "it's that if Mira goes through with it… she will have to stay on Tangea. Though, she wishes she could marry for love too…"

Nebula nodded in understanding. "You three will have to operate on your own until further notice once Mira…" the commander hung his head, not able to finish his sentence. "I'm sorry…"

Nebula slowly made his way out of the room, as the remaining teammates sat down at the desk. Buzz put a hand on his forehead.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," the captain sighed, "but I'm out of ideas…"

"Welcome to the club, Buzz," grunted XR, "what do we do? Bring the entirety of Star Command to Tangea? Dad will throw the book at us for sure–"

"Hot rockets!" cried Booster; accidentally knocking over his chair as he sat up. "XR, that's a brilliant idea."

"Wait wait wait!" he snapped. "Towing all of Star Command to Tangea? Did you not hear what I said about–"

"Not that, XR," Booster chuckled before pulling both his teammates in for a huddle. "Here's what we're going to do…"

Buzz, Booster and XR had to work quickly, and make sure that Mira had no idea what they were doing. It was incredibly difficult, as her mind reading powers could spoil the surprise at any moment. The trio talked to several members of personnel that Mira was close with, gathering what they needed. They managed to finish their project just in time…

As 42 landed on Tangea, Team Lightyear slowly rose from their seats, believing it would be the last time they'd do so together.

"I guess… this will be…"

"Hold that thought, Mira!" cried Booster. The Jo-Adian, still with Mira's seat stuck to his back and knocking over some tools, rushed into the back of 42 and came back with a package. He handed it to Mira.

"Booster?" Mira asked. "What's this?"

"Go on," He encouraged. "Open it."

Rather surprised by the request, Mira did as she was asked. Once it was opened, she gasped! The package had her name written in a bright blue marker, with some Star Command stickers covering the top and sides. Drawings of her and her teammates also covered the box.

"Oh my…"

"Since you're leaving Star Command," explained Buzz, "Booster thought you could bring some of Star Command with you."

Mira examined the things in the box. The first thing she pulled out was a small stack of photos held together by a paperclip. Carefully, she removed it and started to flip through the photos.

"Oh…" she gasped quietly, seeing her and her friends on the stage when Nebula handed out their medals. "That's us when we first formed Team Lightyear."

The next one was on 42, Mira giving a confident smile at Buzz, with Booster giving a goofy wave in the navigation seat and XR grinning at the camera. "There's your first time as Co-Pilot," smiled Buzz.

"And there's us at Cosmos," added Booster. Buzz had Cosmic chilli – half eaten already – Booster had a rather large burger, Mira had just started her salad and XR's oil can was dripping on the floor.

"And there's us hanging out in the rec room," XR quipped. Buzz, Mira and Booster each were eating popcorn and drinking sodas, while XR was highly enjoying the movie WALL-E.

The next thing Mira picked up was a couple of rolled up posters. She carefully unrolled them to get a better look. "Oh wow…" she trailed. "This one is of the Star Cruisers. And this one…" she let out a happy gasp as she wiped a tear away. "That's us! And… you all put your signatures on it." Smiling, Mira took out a pen of her own and marked her own signature in red.

"Now that poster is perfect!" grinned Booster.

Giggling, Mira stored it away. An aroma of something sweet filled her nose as she looked deeper in the box. "Are those…"

"Your favourite brownies," Booster said proudly. "The cafeteria staff had them freshly made. And the recipe is in there too."

"At least I have something nice to eat back home!" The cooks of Tangea could never make anything quite so delicious. Maybe she could teach them a thing or two…

As she put the brownies back, she felt some plastic at her fingertips. Pulling it out, she realised there were four plastic figurines… that looked very much like her and her teammates. "Where did you get these?!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"The LGMs made them for their merchandise stalls," Buzz explained with a chuckle. "Go on, push one of the buttons."

Mira handed her friends their respective toys and did so. "Ranger Nova, reporting for duty!"

"Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!"

"Hot rockets! I'm Booster!"

"XR here, don't wear it out."

All four laughed and pretended their toys could fly around 42, using the laser lights to defend their ship from imaginary Zurg hornets. Handing the toys back to Mira, she picked up the final item: a large card. The card itself was green, but had purple text right in the centre reading. "We'll Miss You, Mira!"

As she opened it to read it, several messages were written inside. One such message was "once a space ranger, always a space ranger", Buzz no doubt wrote that. Another was "Team Lightyear will be dull without you", that had to be XR. A third was "we'll visit any chance we get", most likely Booster's message. Others wrote well wishes as well: Nebula, the LGMs, Ty Parsec, Rocket Crockett, and several more of Star Command personnel. Mira gently closed the card and looked fondly at her teammates. "Guys... thank you all so much! You're the best team I could ask for…"

Buzz, Booster and XR all gathered around Mira for a big group hug; Booster being careful not to crush any of his friends this time.

"We'll miss you, Mira," Booster said earnestly. "Best of luck…"

"Hey, I'm not getting rid of you three so easily," she insisted. "You're all going to be guests at the wedding." The others all stared with surprise at her.

"Mira…" gasped Booster. "Are you sure about this?"

"It may not be the happiest day of my life, – contrary to what dad says," she couldn't help but remark, "but if you guys are there… I feel like I can take on any challenge."

Buzz nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course we'll be there."

"Indeed we will, Mira!" cried Booster. "Every step of the way."

"We'll make the party as fun as we can," remarked XR. "Don't be afraid to let loose on the dancefloor!"

Mira had to let out a giggle. The royals could laugh all they want, but her 'brothers' allowed her to truly be herself. She couldn't fault them for that. With that, the quartet began to leave the shuttle. "Oh, er, Booster," the Tangen looked behind the Jo-Adian. "Just as a friendly tip: chairs are not really wedding clothes. Just so you know."

Booster glanced back sheepishly at what remained of Mira's co-pilot seat. "Heh… oops… I'll get that fixed, Mira."

Technically, this was a team effort, but it was Booster's idea to give Mira the gift package. So, he got the title this time. Booster is a really sweet and loving friend who showers those he cares about with everything he's got. This was such a wholesome chapter with our four leads.

We also get a bit of a cold truth from Nebula here. Mira had also set Fop up at the academy, and he was also put through quite a task. Which Team Lightyear spat right back in his face. Ouch...