There's still fireworks


a/n – Not part of the It Finally Happened/Trinity Sitch Continuity


"Aah! Oh! Shego, please, stop that! Oh, ho! Oh! I'm sorry! I'll make you dinner."

Despite the complex emotions still swirling in her head, Kim watched as the two villains disappeared over a hill. The flickering green light was lost as the night sky was lit up by the fireworks display.

That brought her mind back to the matter at hand, or, more exactly, to her best friend, who, thankfully, was fully enraptured by the fiery bursts and the thunderclaps of the explosions. It seemed for the moment his focus had shifted from her. That is, until she realized he was looking at her, and not the heavens. Their eyes met for perhaps just a fraction of a second, but so much passed silently between them. Her heart almost skipped a beat when she realized he was about to speak.

"KP, do you think we need to go after them?"

It took her mind a couple moments to register just what he was asking. At first she thought she heard him asking something about them, something she was not quite ready to delve into. Part of her wanted to deal with what had just happened between them, while the other just wanted it to go away. In the space of just a day, something that was a simple constant in her life had become so the drama.

"Uh." She hesitated a couple heartbeats, trying to get her mind back on their current sitch. How odd that Ron would be the one to think first in "Mission Mode" rather than her. "I don't think so. Dr. Drakken's not going to be in any shape to pose any kind of threat tonight, I think."

Kim looked around. A lot of the crowd still had their eyes on her, waiting to see if she was going to take off after Ron again. How was she going to live that down? The whole school had seen what she did and word had spread like wildfire about her kissing Ron as school. The fight at the festival was going to be paramount on the grapevine, perhaps for some time to come.

Oddly, for a moment, she felt very self-conscious about being out in public in the short, black dress.

"I'm a lot more worried about where Dr. Bortel got to." Anger flared through her mind, real anger, not something either put there by the Moodulator, or amplified by it. That was the real problem with her, she didn't know what was real and what had been forced on her. Emerald eyes met chocolate brown ones again, forcing her to look away, something she never had to do with Ron before.

Was the sudden urge to kiss him again her, or was it something left behind by the device?

"I don't see him." Ron craned his neck, then climbed up onto one of the vacant bleachers left from the parade.

Kim balled her fists, scanning the crowd as well, silently cursing her petite stature. The small, round-headed man was nowhere to be seen. Drakken's villainy was so much more direct, out in the open. It was something she could deal with, something she could point to and say 'that is evil.'

At that moment, to her mind, the ferociously unethical scientist was so much worse.

Ron climbed back down, fighting with the pickle costume he had donned after Shego slashed his pants. More out of habit than anything else, she scooped them up off the ground, handing them back to him. He was forced to hold them up to his waist, since the belt was now in two pieces, but at least he had some shred of dignity, at least as he perceived it.

He met her eyes again, a wavy, goofy grin forming on his face.

It took all of her will not to look away again. That is, until she remembered the tiny, shattered device hidden in her palm. She looked down at it again.

What lingering effects was it having on her? How much control did it exert over her while it was functioning? When it failed, she could feel the strong emotions quickly fading, leaving her momentarily weak as her body readjusted to what her mind and soul were feeling.

Was the crush all moodulator? She looked at him again, trying to sort it all out. The previous morning she had seen Josh walking hand-in-hand with Tara. That shouldn't have affected her as much as it did, especially considering there really had never been anything 'official' between the two of them. A couple dates, a little hanging around…that didn't mean they were a real couple. As much as she wanted there to be, there was never any real spark between them, yet, seeing him with her friend, obviously acting like a 'true' couple, had hit her like a hammer-blow.

Ron was so different from Josh. She never really thought about it before, but the person, the young man she considered her best friend in the world, wasn't really all that much to look at. That had never been important to her before, because that wasn't relevant to their relationship.

With a touch of shame, Kim realized that if Ron hadn't been her friend since childhood, she would have likely never given him the time of day.

All that changed when she kissed him.

It would have been so much easier if she couldn't recall what had happened, yet it was all there, burned permanently into her memory. She not only recalled what she had seen, what it had felt like physically to kiss him, but what she was feeling at the moment. The device might not have been creating fake emotions in her any longer, but there was nothing that could be done about the memories of them.

Her heart was sick, not knowing if what she was feeling at the moment was real, or just some leftover that would fade into a memory she did not yet know if it would be pleasant or not.

"You ready to go home, KP?"

She found her brain was pretty much functioning on autopilot. "Yeah, I guess so." She replied quietly. Her body almost jumped clear out of her skin when he gently took her hand in his to lead her back toward their neighborhood.

"Oh." She exclaimed softly.

"You don't mind, do you?" He asked as they walked.

"I…I guess not." She smiled softly back at him. They were technically still on their date, even though they had 'broken up' in the midst of it. To her, that was no more real than their brief relationship had been, so she took solace in the fact he apparently had no hard feelings about it.

Not to mention, it somehow felt really good, really natural to hold his hand that way. His paw (she really couldn't think of any other way to describe it) was very large, and very strong, but also very soft. Outside of their missions, Ron really didn't do all that much manual labor, being a tad lazy, so he never really got calluses to speak of. He was also surprisingly gentle. The relative few dates she had actually been on, the guy always seemed to want to show just how strong their hands really were, as if that was some indication of their virility. Kim's hands were astoundingly strong for their size (they had to be, to hold onto her grappler gun) but they were small and she always felt uncomfortable when they tried that. It was actually more uncomfortable than the awk-weird moment at the end when they were trying to decide if they should try kissing her.

Kim's cheeks flushed when she realized that Ron was going to be in that position when they reached her house.

Did she want to kiss him again? Actually, the answer to that was yes, but her reasons were somewhat muddled. For one thing, she wanted to know if what she experienced in front of her locker was real, or just the Moodulator messing around with her mind. It seemed like it had been real. Ron, though taken by surprise, had actually gotten into the lip action, at least until the point he passed out.

Okay, so Ron could kiss. That was certainly a surprise. A while back, while he was under the influence of the truth ray, he confessed that he had never actually kissed a girl. Apparently he didn't count that time under Drakken's mistletoe, though that was really only a peck on the cheek. Kissing Ron otherwise was something she never actually considered before. It was, like, something that really shouldn't have crossed her mind. To her, he was just like Monique, though closer…much closer.

Kim looked back over her shoulder. Downtown Middleton, with the lingering crowds still enjoying what was left of the festival, was several blocks behind them. Ahead, in the distance, she could see the brick arch that guarded the entrance of their neighborhood. Inside of ten minutes, they would be back before the red door leading into her home.

Oddly enough, she didn't want the night to end.

Holding firmly onto Ron's hand, she stopped, pulling him to a halt as well.

"Ron, we've got to talk."

She cursed herself for saying those words. It didn't matter that they truly needed to talk, but those particular words, in that order, carried so much more baggage with them. She could see his whole body sag just slightly, and this time he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"It's okay, KP. We already had the talk, remember. I don't want to ruin what we've got. I know I'm not 'golden' or anything, but I also know I'm your best friend. That means too much to me to screw it up with…this." He gently let go of her hand.

"Ron…I'm going to be honest with you. I really don't know what I'm feeling, what's going on with me right now. This isn't like the time Drakken put that mind control chip on me. All that did was control my actions. This is so ferociously worse, because I don't know what's real any more."

He took her hand again, and action that sent fire up her arm. "That's why it's okay. I'm your best friend, and maybe this time I know what's best for you, even if you don't. Even if it hadn't been for that mood thingy back there, it's pretty obvious you're just rebounding from Josh."

"I am so not rebounding." She said coldly.

"Yes, you are, KP. I've known you long enough I know what you're thinking. You might have seemed like you were just blowing it off yesterday morning, but I could tell it was just an act."

Kim let go of his hand and turned away from him. "How can I be rebounding? Josh and I didn't really have anything. He never asked me to be his girlfriend, all we did was go out a couple times."

"Kim, that's what makes it worse. You had feelings for him and he found out he didn't have them for you. What he thought he saw in you wasn't what he saw when you dated. He used to talk about you all the time, how you were so confident, so steady, so strong, but when you got around him, you turned into some kind of airhead."

"So not!"

"So did. Kim, you went to pieces every time you got within five feet of him. That's not you. He wanted the strong, take charge Kim Possible he saw when you were around me. You couldn't be yourself with him and that ultimately drove him away from you."

She turned back to him, narrowing her eyes slightly. "If anybody else were saying this to me."

"But I'm not anyone else. KP, you're everything I would ever want in a girlfriend. You're cute, you're smart, you're athletic, but none of that means anything if I wasn't your friend first. That's why I had to let you down easy."

A rude sound emerged from her throat, making her cover her mouth quickly. "Sorry, Ron, but I somehow thought I was going to be the one letting you down easy at some point, not the other way around."

They were close to a storefront with steps leading up to the door. The place was long closed for the evening, so she guided him to the steps and sat down beside him.

"Ron, I've got a delicate question to ask you. I think I know you well enough that I already know the answer." She took his hand again, marveling at how nice it felt to hold it like that.

"Uh, delicate? If this is about…"

"Ron, are you a virgin?"

She was certain he was going to pass out, and she knew the question would have that kind of effect on him. What surprised her was how much she felt like she was going to swoon as well.

To his credit, he managed to remain conscious, though it was a good thing they were both sitting down. "Kim, I think if I wasn't, you'd somehow know."

She shook her head slightly, fighting the urge to touch his cheek. "No, Ron, I don't think I would. We're so close, yet I don't even know if you've had real feelings for anybody, and the way you feel about me, I'm willing to bet if you had been with anyone, you'd go out of your way to keep it from me to spare my feelings."

"No way, KP. I don't keep that kind of secret from you. I swear, the furthest I've ever gotten with a girl is kissing…and I've only done that once."

"You mean, I'm the only…"

"Yeah. KP, look at me. I know I'm not all that attractive. I put on a show sometimes but that's really something I'm not. Closest I've ever come to anything was when Bonnie started hanging around because I had all that money. If I hadn't had that posse…"

"Wow. Never thought I'd be glad you were surrounded by all those fake friends."

"Hey, you're saying your glad I didn't score? Come on, KP, I'm a guy. It's not like I didn't want to."

"Ronnie, I'm sorry. Let me put it this way, I'm glad you didn't sleep with Bonnie." She sat there a couple minutes, just looking at him. She found his low opinion of his own looks hurt her more than the prospect of his losing his virginity to her rival.

"Aren't you going to ask me now?"

"Huh?" He was clearly perplexed.

"About me? Turnabout's fair play."

"KP…that…that's none of my business. What you and Josh may have…"

"Ron, I am still a virgin. I've never really been out with anyone to get to the point where I'd even think about having sex with them. That is, until tonight."

He almost swooned again. "You mean, you, me, tonight?" He swallowed hard.

Kim turned almost as crimson as the jewelry she was wearing. "Ron, that thing I had on me had me so screwed up, so…into you that…"

He slumped visibly, a slight smile appearing. "That's a relief."

"A relief? Ron, you wouldn't want to make love with me?"

"I…uh…we…uh…what were we talking about?"

"The fact that I was going to have sex with you at the end of our date. I didn't care how I ended up making it happen, it was going to happen. Here, let me show you something."

For the second time that evening, Ron's jaw just about fell off his face as she pulled the hem her short dress up, just enough so he had a glimpse of sheer black lace – lace that left very, very little to the imagination.

Almost a heartbeat too late, his hand went automatically to his eyes, shielding himself from seeing things he knew he wasn't supposed to see.

She quickly pushed the dress back down over her legs, immediately realizing how much of a gentleman Ron always was with her, even when she wanted him to see. How strange it was that, at least in that moment, she wanted to share her little secret with him.

"Ronnie." She paused a moment. She couldn't remember ever calling him that before that day, or anything other than just Ron. Why did she suddenly have the urge to call him that? "Ron, if it wasn't that thing, if I really was crushing on you, how would you have dealt with it?"

"I dunno, KP. I was so freaked out when it happened…it was just…so out of the blue. If it really was real, I think we would have seen it coming. We would have talked about it. Thing is, I just don't see it happening. You're…Kim Possible. You can do anything. I'm just your goofy little sidekick."

Anger flared in her eyes. "No, don't say things like that, Ron. What makes somebody love somebody isn't if they look 'golden' or have huge muscles or cute little ears. You're not ugly and I'm not all that pretty. I'm skinny, I've barely got hips and I really barely have anything else." She nodded toward her chest.

"Are you crazy, KP? You're like the most badically beautiful girl in the whole school. No, scratch that, the whole Tri-City."

"I don't have the most beautilicious eyes. You can't lie about that, Ron. I was standing right there when you said that to Penny."

"Kim, that was the truth then because I didn't see you that way. The idea of looking at you as…somebody I'd desire was so far from my mind. Besides, it's not just your eyes, it's the whole package."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"The word is beautiful, KP. I…"

She cut him off by kissing him again. It wasn't much of a kiss, she simply leaned in and captured his lips in hers. His eyes slowly closed as he gave into it, letting her guide him, taking the bus where she wanted to.

All to quickly she leaned back, looking straight at his face. He sat there frozen for a moment, then his eyes finally fluttered open.

"Ron, that one was real. I kissed you that time because I wanted to, because I wanted an answer to a question."

"A question?"

"Yeah. I wanted to know if kissing you felt that good without that thing."

"What was the answer?"

She smiled slightly, then responded to his query by kissing him again. This time she put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him in a little closer, her lips parting so her tongue could seek the tip of his. This time the kiss lasted many minutes, and when it finally ended, she left her hand there on his neck.

"Spankin." She breathed, putting her forehead against his.

"Really, cause I'm not sure I know what I'm doing."

"Ron, practice isn't what makes a kiss good. It's liking what's happening while you're doing it. It's wanting to do it. It's wanting to do it again."

Taking the cue, he leaned in, granting her a kiss of his own. Hesitantly, he wrapped an arm around her nearly bare shoulder, drawing her closer. She let him, feeling his slight body pressed against her slender frame, liking every moment of it.

"I think your Dad is going to ground you if I don't get you home soon." He held up his watch, showing that it was already five minutes after ten.

Kim withdrew her hand, putting it in her lap and looking down at her feet. Somehow the moment seemed lost.

"Awk-weird?" She asked.

"A little."

"Yeah. I liked it, though."

"So." Ron said, obviously torn whether he should take her hand again or not.

"So." Kim replied. "Where do we go from here?"

"I think we need to get home before your Dad starts calling the space center. I so don't want to end up being sent to a black hole."

She chuckled slightly. "I'm talking about us."

"I don't know, KP. I love you like all the world as my best friend, and kissing you is so beyond badical I don't know where to begin, but…"

"…but neither of us knows if what we're feeling is real, or at least I don't."

"What do you want, KP?"

She rested her hand on her chin, showing no sign that she was ready to resume her walk home. "I honestly don't know what I want, Ron. Until a couple days ago I was still sitting around waiting for Josh to finally ask me to be his girlfriend. When I found out that wasn't going to happen…I…I think I stopped thinking about stuff, thinking about having somebody in my life. I've been wrapped up in him so long…"

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You're afraid that I'm either just a rebound, or it's just a leftover from that mood thingy. The fact you found out I'm a bon-diggity kisser was just a side effect."

"You certainly have a high opinion of yourself all of a sudden." She laughed, still leaning on her fist, but shooting him a sideways glance.

"I have it on good authority, from somebody I trust and respect. It's just…having feelings…that kind of feelings for somebody, it isn't about kissing, or even that other stuff you were thinking about. Riding the spinny rides at the fair feels good, but you don't see me sending them flowers or something."

She smiled broadly "Why is it I can see you doing something like that?"

"Hah hah. Honestly, Kim, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe we were just meant to be friends."

"Ron, you asked me what I want, but what do you want?"

"I want you to be happy, KP."

"But what if I said I wanted you to be happy too, Ron. Besides me being happy, what do you want…to be happy? Do you want to be my boyfriend? I know, you want what I want, but deep down. What if what happened tonight isn't a rebound, or a side-effect. What if all that's really happened is we've opened up our eyes?"

"That's the problem. There's too many 'what-ifs' in there. There's also the what if we weren't meant to be together. There's the what if we make a go of this and it doesn't work. What's that going to do to our friendship?"

Kim reached out and took his hand. "We've been friends for too long. Can asking the question whether we love each other, or can love each other that way such a bad thing that what we already have can't survive it?"

"The song says, 'Love is a powerful thing.' It's stronger than anything. They also say there's not much between love and hate."

"So not the drama. If that were true, then people could think that all this fighting with Shego was…something else. Ron, what if love is what we already have, being best friends? We already like being together, and if the last little bit is any indication, we like kissing. Could it be you've been right here beside me all this time?"

"KP, you make it sound like you want to be my girlfriend."

This time she actually did touch his cheek, with both hands. She cupped his face for a couple seconds, then reached behind his head to pull him in for another kiss. It wasn't as deep as the previous one, nor as long, but the feelings behind it were becoming much clearer.

"Ron, all those thing you said, they might be true, but…I'd hate to not try, I'd hate to miss out on something just because we were afraid of what might happen. I would so hate not having you in my life, and if I did meet somebody, if I did finally get some other boyfriend…you remember what it was like when I met Monique. You were afraid just having another good friend would come between us. I felt the same way about you and Felix…and if there were some girl. If you were crushing on somebody…"

"Honestly, up until this morning, if it had been somebody female with a pulse, I'd have thought about that. This just seems…too easy, too quick."

"Ron, we've known each other twelve years. And maybe it's supposed to be easy. I don't know. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow morning and wonder just what got into my head tonight. Right now, at this moment, I don't care. I want it to be easy. Ron Stoppable, will you be my boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Will you put up with my natural Kimness? Will you understand if I do feel differently in the morning?"

"You're scaring me, KP."

"Look at me, Ron. I'm shaking like a leaf. I've never had a boyfriend before. I'm literally scared out of my wits that this might not be real."

"KP, if it makes you feel any better, everything I feel for you is as real as it gets."

"I know, and maybe that's what I love about you most, and that much I do know. I promise you, no matter what I think I'm feeling in the morning, we're going to make a go at this, and I expect you to hold me to that deal, Mr. Stoppable."

"Since you put it that way, Miss Possible, I can't do anything but take you up on it. I do have one question for you, though."

"What's that, Ronnie." She leaned in, resting her forehead against his so the tips of their noses were touching.

"What did you mean about there still being fireworks?"

She wrapped her hands around his waist and showed him. Many minutes later, they broke the kiss and he helped her to her feet.

"So, all that other stuff, that was all the Moodulator, huh?"

She shot him another look, favoring him with a sly smile. "Yes, it was."

For now, she thought to herself.


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