Don't worry, Leave Her Alone is still my main priority! This is just a li'l side project to switch things up and keep the creative juices flowing. The events in this take place way before the movie, meaning it features the baby Flik and Atta shenanigans we all deserved. Enjoy!

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"You come back here and apologize, young lady!"

Atta pushed aside the stalks of grass in her path with a vengeance, ignoring her mother's demands that grew fainter with each footstep she took. She would say sorry for what she said to her mean old tutor when he said sorry to her. Right now, she needed to get as far away from both of them as possible.

Atta's lungs felt on the verge of bursting when she finally reached a clearing. She stopped, took a few gulps of air, and brushed away the tears forming in her eyes. Being an angry crier was the most frustrating thing in the world. The last thing Atta wanted when she was mad was sympathy, but it was hard to strike fear into the hearts of her fellow ants with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Once her eyes were mostly dry and her breathing was back to normal, Atta took in the scene before her. About a foot from where she stood were several holes, one big one and four smaller ones, surrounded by clovers and filled with water that sparkled in the spring sunshine.

The odd shapes of the puddles brought to mind a conversation Atta had recently overheard between her mother and her teacher, Mr. Soil. Mother was expressing concern about a cat roaming these parts, fearing for the safety of her colony, but Mr. Soil assured her that cats generally left ants alone.

In fact, he'd noted with a shudder, it might even help them to have one around, what with the abundance of birds born this time of year.

Atta liked Mr. Soil. He was always kind and patient with her and the rest of his students, never belittling them if they zoned out for a moment or didn't know an answer to one of his questions.

Mr. Cornelius, on the other hand…

Stop twiddling your thumbs. Princesses don't fidget.

Did you hear anything I just said to you, or was your head in the clouds like it always is?

Your sister's ten seasons younger than you and she's more ready for the throne than you are.

Mother always said Atta would learn to appreciate Mr. Cornelius's strict teaching style when she got older, but Atta didn't think she'd ever appreciate being made to feel stupid for the entirety of the time they spent together. And they spent a lot of time together. She wished she could stay in Mr. Soil's class all day with the rest of the ants her age, but being the Queen's daughter meant she had to learn about things the other kids didn't, like council meetings and census-taking and the most efficient way to collect food for the grasshoppers. Those things just didn't come naturally to her the way math and science did, and her tutor made sure she knew it.

Atta bowed her head and brushed her fingers along the leafy top of the crown she wore. How could something so light feel so heavy? She slowly slid it over her antennae and held it before her, gazing down at the teardrop-shaped sap that accented the middle leaf.

Then she drew back her arm and flung it forward as hard as she could.

The crown sailed through the air in a perfect arc, the teardrop glinting in the sunlight. It landed in the center of the big puddle with a faint splash, and Atta smiled smugly. Take that, Mr. Cornelius.

Then her heart dropped and she sprinted to the puddle's edge.