Required Lawyer-Speak:
As always, I don't own Kim Possible or anything associated with her. I'm not making anything from this and I'm not planning on making anything. I'm just a regular Joe whose taking these characters out for a test-drive of sorts. Everyone got that? Good!
On with the show…
- Home for the Holidays -
Ever since Bing Crosby crooned that immortal ballad, people everywhere have dreamed of a white Christmas. Images of fluffy-white flakes in infinite variety blanketing the land have become just as much a symbol of the holiday as evergreen trees and fat guys in red suits. It is a concept that has been branded into our popular consciousness by popular culture, etched onto the surface of our minds by a thousand Norman Rockwell renderings.
And it was just this sort of scene that was now playing itself out before the attentive gaze of two emerald green eyes. Staring out across the wide-open space before them, they scanned the pitch-black winter's sky. Flakes drifted lazily downward, dancing about randomly as they fell and finishing their elegant waltz with a soundless impact upon the ground, joining the countless members of their brethren who had preceded them. The pure white blanket reflected the pale moonlight back toward the heavens from which it came, illuminating the falling flakes with an other-worldly iridescence, and giving the entire scene the feel of a fairy tale come true, or one of those cheap snow globes that you so often see in the airport's duty-free gift shop.
But it wasn't snowflakes that these eyes were looking for.
Keeping her focus on the sky before her, Kim Possible braced herself against the cold. She thrust her hands deeper into the pockets of her down parka and hunched her shoulders forward, trying to redirect as much of her own body heat back inward as another icy breeze blew past, causing her to involuntarily shudder. She really shouldn't be here right now, she lamented to herself. This was Christmas Eve after all, and there was much to be done and experienced. There were her family's traditional Christmas festivities to indulge in and there was catching up to be done with Nana, Slim and Joss, who all happened to be visiting this year. There was tree decorating to be done, eggnog to be partaken of, and of course the family sketch, without which no Possible Christmas would be complete. It was a very full schedgh.
In all honesty, this was probably her most favorite holiday on the calendar, beating out even Independence Day, which was admittedly quite a feat. She should be out spreading joy to those less fortunate, or snuggled up with Ron on her parents' sofa, absently gazing into the fire and sipping cocoa as he gently stroked her hair. She shouldn't be out here in the open air, freezing her digits off, waiting.
After all, it's not like she didn't know what she was getting into. Having spent her entire life growing up in Colorado, she was well aware that winter in the Rocky Mountains could be a harsh affair. Artic-like winds would blow down from the higher peaks with frightening intensity, and snow would often accumulate in quantities that would leave most lowland-dwellers stuttering in disbelief. It demanded a hearty soul to thrive here, and the residents of this most elevated state had long since learned to adapt.
Reaching up to pull her knit cap further down over her ears, she briefly dusted a few stray flurries from her auburn mane and returned her attention to the darkened sky. She sighed in boredom, producing a cloud of white condensation to drift lazily upon the breeze. She knew what she was looking for. It was out there, somewhere, invisible amongst the sea of snow, and she wouldn't leave her post until she had seen it, even if she froze to death in the process.
Her breath hitched when from the corner of her eye she caught glimpse of a faint twinkle amongst the flakes. It was fast. So fast that for a moment she doubted she had even seen it at all. It then appeared again, slightly brighter this time, and confirming its presence. Kim's soon forgot all about how cold she was as the twinkle quickly grew in both size and intensity, taking form as it approached closer, dropping lower in the sky until it finally touched down a few hundred yards away and rolled to a stop in the new fallen snow.
And then it began rolling toward her.
Kim clapped her gloved hands together in front of her and began to bounce up and down, partly to restore circulation in her extremities, but also because she found it difficult to restrain her enthusiasm. She eagerly stood aside as the sleek form of the F-14 glided into the cavernous hangar and rolled to a stop, the high-pitched whine of its engines slowly spinning down as its wings silently tucked themselves back against the fuselage like a giant bird settling into its nest for the night.
As the mechanical whir of the opening canopy filled the now silent room, Kim's emotions fell slightly. Trailing back along either side of the nose were faint streaks of charcoal gray. She knew gunpowder residue when she saw it, and she knew what it meant. Sky Rat's guns had been fired this night: Somewhere, there was a family that would be staring at an empty chair come Christmas morning.
"Well merry Christmas, snowbird!" A cheery voice called down to her, directing her attention upward just in time to see an oxygen mask being pulled down to reveal a goofy smile and a smattering of freckles.
"Merry Christmas yourself, flyboy." Kim replied, looking upward as Ron cocked an elbow and leaned casually on the side of the cockpit. God, he just looked so hot when he posed like that.
"Don't suppose a fella could get a stepladder around here, huh?" he jokingly asked with a smile that banished any residual chills Kim might have been feeling.
"Huh? Oh yeah! Lemme give you a hand with that." Kim quickly responded, jerking herself out of her thoughts. It didn't take but a minute to locate said ladder, and for Ron to descend from the cockpit back onto terra firma.
"Welcome home." Kim said, wrapping her arms around him, even though the bulky parachute harness and G-suit made the task somewhat more difficult than normal.
"Hey! Like you always say, it's no big." He casually replied, brushing away any concerns. "Just a little hop to keep the skills sharp is all."
"Uh huh." Kim sarcastically replied, showing that she wasn't nearly as dismissive about the sitch as he was. "It was an armed escort mission, Ron."
"Force reconnaissance, actually."
"Whatever. The fact is they put you up there for a reason. The brass figured there might be trouble, and apparently they figured right."
"What makes you say that?"
"Burnt nose, Ron." Kim replied, pointing accusingly at the Tomcat's forward fuselage. "I doubt you got that attending a backyard barbecue."
"Okay, okay…" Ron relented. "We did get into a little scrap up there… A little one."
"How little?" Kim demanded.
"Well it seems that the bad guys don't like it when you over-fly their latest lair and take pictures," Ron explained as jovially as he could, "so they scrambled a squadron to intercept us. Four baddies tried to bounce the recon bird and we jumped 'em."
"And how many did you splash?" She always hated asking this question. The fact that Ron's newfound abilities occasionally resulted in loss of life was something that still didn't sit well with her, and likely never would.
"None." Was his surprising answer. "These guys were smarter than usual. As soon as they saw tracers zipping across their noses, they bugged out of there faster than a bunch of ants at an aardvark convention."
"They're learning." Kim observed, obviously relieved that on this night at least, all parties involved would live to see the sun rise Christmas morning. She drew herself a little closer into Ron's warm embrace.
"Yeah. Hey, you don't suppose that HenchCo is implementing some sort of entrance exam now, do you?" Ron suddenly asked, another one of his quasi-random thoughts clicking into place.
"Ugh. I hope not." Kim groaned. "We have enough trouble dealing with them as it is. If they start mixing brains in with the brawn…"
"Then you'll knock the smarts out of them as well as the stuffing." Ron completed with a complimentary smile.
"You know, how you manage to simultaneously be both romantic and weird is totally beyond me." Kim smirked good-naturedly.
"Ron Stoppable: International Man of Mystery." Ron replied, adopting his corny "British spy accent." "I take my slurpsters shaken, not stirred."
"Whatever you say, you big goof." Kim laughed in response. Although infrequent in occurrence, there were times such as this when circumstances forced Ron to fly a mission solo, and whenever it happened, Kim would spend the entire time worrying. To not know where he was or if he was all right, and to not be there to help him in the event of a fight were things that tore at her. She would spend the entire duration of such missions worrying, alternately pacing the floor and trying to busy herself with whatever responsibilities were keeping her from being by his side. Invariably, she would be at the airport waiting for him when he returned, and just as invariably, it would only take a small dose of Ronshine to make everything better.
"Soooooo… Are tonight's festivities all set and ready?" Ron asked once the redhead's laughter had died down.
"Mmm-hmm." She nodded. "Both our fams are making preparations at my house as we speak."
"Coolio! Then let's get this holiday on and crackin'." Ron enthused. He was just about to turn and run toward the waiting Sloth when Kim suddenly strengthened her grip around him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Nuh-uh-uhhhhhh…" She playfully chided. "You're forgetting the all important first step on the Christmas schedule."
"Oh-kaaaaaaay… Whazat?" Ron asked in confusion, casting a perplexed look at Kim.
"This." She sultrily replied, reaching up and drawing his lips down to her own. The kiss quickly deepened, lasting for several seconds before the mutual need for air forced them to surface.
"Whoa. Now that's what I call a good start to the holidays." Ron dreamily gasped, his eyes glazed over and slightly crossed.
"Merry Christmas, baby." Kim huskily breathed, gently nuzzling him just beneath his ear.
"And a very merry Christmas it is." He agreed, shaking his head slightly to clear the fog that was suddenly creeping in on his vision. "Uh, maybe you should drive, KP." he surmised as the couple began walking toward the car that awaited them in the adjoining room. "Maybe I just haven't gotten my land legs back yet, but suddenly I feel a little wobbly."
"Land legs… Riiiiiiiiight." Kim knowingly replied, climbing into the Sloth's driver seat and buckling up. It was good to know that she could have such an effect on him, just as he could have the same effect on her. It was yet another aspect of their partnership where they seemed perfectly complimentary to each other.
"Next stop: Casa de Possible." Kim declared as she backed out onto the airport access road and began driving toward the main gate. "Christmas is in the air!"
"Mom! Dad! We're home!" Kim called out as she and Ron entered the front door of her family's home and dusted the snow off of them selves. The house seemed quieter than normal, but neither of them thought much of it.
"We said 'hell-looooooo!'" Ron added when no response was received. "Hail, hail, the gang's all here! Let's get this party on and jumpin' now!"
Still, there was no response, and what was even more disconcerting was that they now realized nearly every light in the house was out.
"KP, is there any chance your fam decided on a surprise Christmas party this year?" Ron inquired, glancing nervously about the room.
"I don't think you can really have a surprise Christmas party, Ron." Kim replied, turning on a nearby light switch and heading toward the kitchen.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm plenty surprised right now." Ron responded, following closely behind his girlfriend, ready to back her up, or hide behind her, whichever the situation wound up calling for.
The kitchen was just as deserted as the foyer and living room had been. Kim clicked on the light and warily surveyed the room. Everything was just as it normally was, and yet still seemed so out of place. The house should be alive with activity, on this night especially, but the whole of the space was now dark and vacant.
"Where is everybody?" Kim wondered aloud, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. For the past few years she had enjoyed an annual Christmas truce with Drakken, but her other enemies were not so understanding. There was the distinct possibility that one of them had chosen this holiday to target her family, and make a particularly harsh point in the process.
"Hey, what's this?" Ron suddenly said. He reached over and plucked a stray sheet of paper off of the countertop. "A clue of some type, perhaps?"
"Does it say anything?" Kim absently asked, peering around the corner to check the darkened dining room.
"Well let's see here," Ron pondered, scanning the sheet in front of him. 'Dear Kimmie-Cub,' Ya' know, it's kinda cute the way your dad still calls you that."
"Yeah, I'm deeply moved." Kim sarcastically snapped back. "Moving on to the four-one-one."
"Oh yeah! Check it out. It says 'Sorry to have missed you. Emergency came up. Meet us at hospital when you get this message.'"
"The hospital!" Kim shrieked. "What is it?"
"Well as far as I know, it's a big building filled with doctors and sick people and stuff."
"I mean, why's my family there?" Kim growled
"Oh right! Sorry KP, but it doesn't say. It only says to use the emergency entrance when we get there."
"Emergency entrance? I'm so not liking where this is going." Kim stressed, worry and anxiety now deeply etched across her face. A thousand possibilities raced through her mind: An accident at the space center, her nana having a heart attack, one of her brothers' experiments going awry, each potential situation seemed more frightening than the last.
"C'mon, Ron! We're going!" she sternly commanded, racing back out to the foyer and grabbing her coat off hook by the door. "Let's shake and bake here!"
"Alright! I'm coming!" Ron replied, pulling his own coat down from the wall. "But under one condition."
"We don't exactly have time for negotiating, Ron!" Kim scolded. "Whatever your ish is, it can wait!"
"Sorry KP, but if we're going, I'm driving."
"WHAT?"
"I think you heard me."
"Ron, we really don't have time for your childish…"
"I'm serious about this, Kim. Look at yourself. You're a nervous wreck right now, and if you get behind the wheel like this, then I'm afraid you'll become a real wreck."
"I' so not a nervous wreck!" she protested."
"Uh-huh. So do you always absently jingle your keys like that?" Ron asked, pointing to the objects that Kim now held in her hand. Sure enough, the keys were rattling about like a wind chime as she nervously twitched her wrist to and fro.
"I don't think those are sleigh bells you've got there." He observed.
"Okay, fine!" Kim conceded, tossing the keys to her boyfriend. "But try to step on it, will ya'?" she remarked. "The clock's running with this one."
Christmas Eve traffic was heavy as usual, but Ron still managed to make good time en route to the hospital. Bringing the Sloth to an abrupt halt in the snow outside the Middleton Medical Center's trauma unit, he didn't even have time to kill the engine before Kim was out of the passenger seat and racing toward the glass doors that fronted the main entrance. She was well into questioning the duty nurse by the time he got himself inside.
"Yes, Miss Possible." The nurse calmly responded. "I understand your concern."
"Do you now?" Kim mockingly asked. "I come home on Christmas Eve to an empty house and find a note directing me to the local trauma ward! Exactly how many holidays have you spent in that fashion?"
"Admittedly none, ma'am." The nurse replied, cool as a cucumber. "But there is a message here for you if you'll give me a moment to pull it up."
"Please and thank-you!" Kim huffed. So far, this was most definitely not the evening that she had anticipated. Her favorite holiday of the whole calendar had just been tossed out the window, and her Christmas spirit had followed right behind it. She found herself starting to fight back tears when she suddenly felt Ron's hand engulfing her own. The gentle contact at once calmed her nerves and settled her thoughts, and she quickly found herself more at ease. Knowing that Ron was there to back her up somehow made the whole crazy sitch that much easier to take.
"Alright, I see that your family left you a note on our memo system." The nurse spoke up. "They're waiting for you in the third floor commissary, room three-seventeen."
"Thank you!" Kim blurted out, turning and walking briskly toward the nearby elevators. "C'mon Ron."
"Right behind you, KP!" Ron shouted before turning to the nurse once again.
"Listen, I know you're real busy right now and everything," he said, "but I've had this mole for a while now, and I was wondering if it was something that I should have…"
"RON!"
"Coming!" he called, sprinting toward the elevator and the form of a very tweaked redhead.
The elevator doors had barely opened before Kim was racing down the hall. Vaulting over a gurney and dodging a linen cart, she slid around a corner and fairly dove through a door marked by a placard that read "Staff Services – 317."
What she saw nearly took her breath away.
Far from the images of anguish and anxiety that she had imagined, everything seemed the picture of calm normalcy. An oversized Christmas tree occupied one corner of the room while overhead fluorescent lights lent a slight glint to the tinsel garlands that adorned the surrounding walls. Various staff members in white lab coats and surgical scrubs milled aimlessly about, catching whatever small dose of relaxation they could squeeze from their hectic schedules.
And right there in the middle of it all sat her family, together, and apparently unharmed.
"Alright, sitch me!" she demanded racing up to the group. "What's the emergency?"
"Oh, hello Kimmie-cub. I didn't notice you come in." James Possible remarked, turning to face his only daughter. "Your mother got called in to supervise an emergency cranial bypass operation. It just came out of the blue."
"Okay, and so explain to me just how exactly does that constitute and emergency?" Kim asked with more than a little bit of tweak evident in her tone. She had spent the last twenty minutes worrying herself frantic over what this so-called emergency may have been, so to find out it was something as routine as her mother being on call in the O.R. left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Well I'd say it's certainly an emergency for the guy that's on the table right now." Her father replied matter-of-factly.
"Wha… The guy… You mean…" Kim incredulously stuttered. She probably would have lost it right then and there if Ron hadn't chosen that moment to provide one of his trademark distractions.
"Man! Slow down there, KP!" he wheezed as he staggered into the room. "Your man may have the mad running skills, but even he's got his limits."
"This from the kid who once thought he could run through the sound barrier." Kim smirked, forgetting her current tweak as she remembered one of the more eccentric episodes from their shared childhood.
"I couldn't believe it." Ron moaned in remembrance of the experience. "No sonic boom. Not even a pop."
"I remember hearing a pop all right, but I think it was one of your lungs." Kim playfully quipped, recalling just how winded his ill fated attempt at speed stardom had left him. "You were so spent after that last pass that I was catching my breath."
"Yeah, you two were always getting into something." James wistfully remembered. "But getting back to the topic at hand, your mother's operation is probably going to be a long one, so we decided to move the party here."
"Come again?" Kim asked, not quite understanding her father's meaning.
"This year, the Possible clan celebrates Christmas at the Middleton Medical Center!" he cried out, throwing his arms in the air for effect. "The boys and Joss are bringing some things up from the van, but once they get here we can begin!"
"But… but what about…"
"Your mother? Oh, she's just supervising on this one." James jovially explained. "She'll be popping in periodically throughout the night. Once they wrap things up in there she'll join us full-time."
"Yeah, but… that's not what I…" Kim stammered. She understood the reasons behind this decision, but still… Being home for the holiday was one of the major elements to the entire Christmas ritual. The concept of a family celebration in the family home, celebrating the virtues of family: Just up and moving the whole operation on a whim went against the entire spirit of the season.
No… As far as she was concerned, Christmas was a lot like real estate in this respect: The three most important elements were location, location and location.
She was just about to voice these concerns when her boyfriend once again fortuitously derailed her train of thought.
"So you're saying that we're all going to be having Christmas right here, in this room?" he asked.
"That thar's the gist of it, ah reckon." Slim Possible confirmed from his position along the far side of the table.
"So the caroling?"
"Goin' room to room." Slim answered.
"And the eggnog?"
"The boys are bringing the machine upstairs right now." James replied
"And Snowman Hank?"
"Got the DVD right here." He confirmed, waving the reflective disk about.
"Well then. I've just got one thing to say then."
"And what's that, Ronald?"
"BOOOOO-YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
This was SO not happening!
Christmas at the hospital went well beyond sick and wrong, as Ron would undoubtedly put it: It was wrong -sick. Heck, it went directly against every convention and tradition that the day was supposed to represent. Christmas was about warmth and welcome… The joys of home and family… It was about being somewhere cozy and familiar and knowing that you were in the one place where you truly belonged. In other words, it was about everything that this cold, sterile, brightly lit, antiseptic environment wasn't. She tucked her arms tightly across her chest and sank back in her chair, sulking at the unfairness of it all.
"Ron! I so can't believe that you're down with this!" Kim gripped as she watched her brothers go about the business of setting up the mechanical marvel that was their eggnog-making machine.
Ron regarded his fuming girlfriend with a perplexed expression. Christmas was such a happy time of year he had always thought, especially when it came to the Possible clan. The fact that the redhead beside him was currently in full-blown tweak mode just didn't jive with that image.
Diverting his attention from this holiday anomaly, he chanced a concerned glance at Rufus, who was eagerly eyeing the nearby beverage-making contraption from a perch on his master's shoulder. The pink creature momentarily regarded the young man and shrugged before returning his attentions to the confectionery refreshment that was even now taking form. Ron could only sigh dejectedly as he returned his own attentions back to Kim.
"Well why wouldn't I be?" he asked confusedly. For the life of him he couldn't see what had his girlfriend so upset.
"Why? Because it just isn't right, Ron." Kim tried to explain. "Christmas is the calendar's feel-good holiday. It's meant to be spent with family. You know… at home."
"Wait, is this a Christmas specific thing?" Ron confusedly asked. "Because if it is, then maybe I'm not the best person to be making your case to."
"Being Jewish doesn't change anything, Ron." Kim sighed. "Hanukah may have different origins than Christmas, but the overall spirit is still the same. It's about the sanctity of family, on some level, and gathering around the family hearth."
"Well that's too bad, because I don't see too many hearths around here." Ron observed, taking a quick survey of the room.
"My point exactly." Kim agreed. "This entire place just doesn't have the Christmas feel to it."
"Yeah, I see what you mean." Ron observed, glancing about the room once again. "But that really doesn't change anything, you know, when you think about it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's still Christmas, isn't it?"
"Obviously."
"And there are people here, aren't there?"
"Once again, obviously."
"And they're gonna be here tomorrow, on Christmas, aren't they?"
"Yes, yes and yes… Yahtzee!"
"So then it's Christmas here too." Ron concluded. "I mean, this place isn't exactly home for anyone here, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that most of them would much rather be somewhere else if they could help it. But the simple fact is that they're stuck here, so they make the best of it."
"Yeah… but…"
"Look: At least were not stuck in bed with some horrendous injury or some sort of icky disease or something. Given the circumstances, I'm willing to count our blessings and make the best of it."
"Well… I guess…" The weight of Ron's argument suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. Here she had been sulking about forgoing on her cherished traditions for one year while she was literally surrounded by people who were in positions far worse than hers. How many of them were sick, injured or dying? How many were spending Christmas Eve in a sterile room, looking painfully up at those blinding fluorescent lights? How many didn't even have any family to come visit them? How many lonely souls were spending this, the most joyous night of the year, lying alone in a cold, darkened room with nothing to comfort them but their own thoughts? The wave of guilt that washed over her was a veritable tsunami of regret.
"And besides," Ron added, "trekking through the Amazon and fighting a giant anaconda isn't exactly a Courier and Ives moment, is it?"
"No, it isn't." Kim lightly giggled, allowing herself to be drawn out slightly from her funk.
"But you enjoyed yourself doing it, didn't you?"
"Yeah, this is true."
"So then why not look at this the same way? Just pick your chin up and show me some of that badical Possible spirit, alright." Ron enthused, cupping Kim's chin and bringing her eyes up to meet his own. The two of them locked gazes for several moments as the smile on Ron's face slowly spread to Kim's as well.
"Ron, you know how sometimes you say the sweetest things without even knowing it?"
"Yeah, why?" Ron quizzically asked, raising a confused eyebrow. "Was just now one of them?"
"Oh yeah." Kim cooed, slowly bringing her lips to meet his.
So maybe it wasn't quite what she was expecting Christmas to look like, but this worked.
Truth be told, the evening was actually going quite well. The caroling had brought smiles to the faces of several patients, and the Tweebs' cyber-robotic eggnog machine had certainly wowed the entire hospital staff with its advanced design. Granted, there hadn't been the traditional "visible-from-space" house-lighting ceremony, (they all expected to receive a thank-you note from the FAA for that), but the Tweebs had latched onto the idea of linking their holiday invention to the pour source of a MRI machine, so the "technological mischief" quota had been fulfilled nonetheless. They had added some of their own decorations to the tree in the corner and the Christmas Skit had been adapted at the last moment to reflect a broader audience than just members of the subject family.
Now as a general rule, the young redhead was ordinarily reluctant to admit when she was wrong. Being the fiery competitor that she was, winning was everything, and what's more it was also synonymous with being right. Publicly admitting that your thinking was in error was equivalent to conceding defeat to an opponent in the ring. It was something that you just didn't do.
But given the current circumstances, however, she had to admit that at least in this instance, she had indeed misjudged the situation. The evening was going spankingly well, to spite the drastic change of venue. It was yet another holiday to remember.
Standing before the large tree and sipping slowly from her glass of dairy-based holiday delight, she silently acknowledged that for a place that wasn't home, this was actually quite homey.
She smiled serenely, allowing her mind to drift to more pleasant thoughts: An action that was only complimented when a pair of large hands softly captured her shoulders from behind and began to gently massage away the slight chill that hung in the air of the sterile environment.
"Hey Ron." Kim softly purred, leaning back ever-so-slightly into her boyfriend's ministrations.
"Hey yourself." Ron responded simply. "How are we doing over here, this bon-diggity holiday evening?"
"Doing good and feeling good." She replied.
"So are we over our bout of homesickness, then?"
"So over."
"Well that's good to hear." He began tracing slightly wider circles with his hands, allowing his fingers delicately work the muscles over a larger area.
"Mmmm-mmmmmmmmmmm... That feels nice." Kim moaned. "I don't know where you learned this, Ronnie, but you do it so well."
"Meh. I'm just naturally talented, I guess." Ron shrugged.
"I knew there was a reason I keep you around."
"You mean it's not for my devilish good looks?"
Kim snorted merrily at her boyfriend's mirth.
"Okay… Maybe two reasons." She conceded, settling back into Ron and surrendering herself to his mad massage skills.
For about another minute, silence reigned between the two. The festive aura of the tree set the mood, and they took the moment to simply savor being in each other's company. With the fast-paced, jet-setting, save-the-world life that they normally led, moments such as this were few and far between. So on the rare occasions when such a moment did present itself, they knew enough to take full advantage.
"So anyway, I was thinking," Ron spoke after several seconds, "do you remember what we were doing just before Drakken tried stealing that memory machine thingy?"
"Ironically, yeah, I do." Kim admitted. For a day when she had nearly all of her memories wiped clean, the fact that she remembered certain details so clearly seemed ferociously odd to her.
"So you remember what room it was?"
"That too."
"Good! 'Cause I was totally drawing a blank on that one." Ron sighed in relief, completely missing the irony of the moment. "Anyhoo, I was thinking that maybe we could, ya' know, drop in or something? Like, spread some Christmas cheer or something like that?"
Kim's mind raced with Ron's words, conjuring up images of the pediatric ward where they had been entertaining a small group sick children right before the whole MRM sitch started. They had all seemed so frail and disheartened, virtually imprisoned within those sterile rooms corridors at an age when they should have been outside, playing, attending school, and enjoying the exuberance of youth. Life had been cruel to many of them, forcing them to endure more suffering and hardship in their brief lives than many adults would ever experience. It was the ultimate injustice in her emerald eyes, and the thought that they might just be able to bring some small measure of light into their existence on this most hallowed of nights compelled her heart to action.
"Good thinking, Ron." She smiled. "Let's go make the season of light a little bit brighter for some folks."
Every time she thought this day couldn't hold any more surprises for her, she was proved wrong.
The cold atmosphere of the pediatric ward had received a ten degrees boost the moment Team Possible had walked in the door. Many faces were new, while some others Kim recognized from their previous visits. The realization that many of the hospital's youngest patients were also its longest hit hard for her, but the smiles their mere presence brought to those same faces just seemed to make everything okay.
Granted, they didn't have any sort of a holiday-themed program laid out, but they managed to ad lib their way through with a mix of seasonal activities, such as asking the children what Santa was bringing them, and their normal bag of miscellaneous fun. Kim had regaled the small crowd with up-to-date tales of her most recent adventures, Rufus launched himself into his usual acrobatic "stunt rat" routine and Ron had provided comic relief with his still-lackluster balloon animal skills.
The biggest surprise came, however, when Ron disappeared for several moments, only to reappear carrying a medium-sized box and asking for a few minutes of stage time. Kim was reluctant at first, but Ron was insistent that the contents of the box he held would be the highlight of the show.
"Whatcha got there, Ron?" Kim demanded.
"Sorry KP, but it's a surprise." Ron steadfastly refused to divulge his secret.
"Is it anything sharp or pointy?"
"Nope."
"Combustible or explosive?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Is it something that my brothers came up with?"
"The answers to that and any related questions that you might ask are no, nada, nein, niet, no way Jose, not a chance Lance, fuhgedaboudit, and my personal favorite, man falling off a cliff: NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo…………………"
"Okay, okay! Thank you Mister Dramatic." Kim finally agreed. "But you better promise that you won't get carried away with… with… with whatever it is you're planning."
"Chill out, KP." Ron reassured his girlfriend. "Just slide on down to the relaxation station, 'cause your main man is gonna be performing a laughendectomy tonight."
"I hope you took out malpractice insurance on that." She said warily as he headed for the front of the room.
Set-up for the mystery routine was quick, consisting merely of Ron setting the box on a stool in front of him, and handing a CD to Rufus who in turn scampered over to a boom box in the corner. The tiny rodent waited momentarily for his master's high sign before inserting the shiny disk and hitting "play."
"Good morning boys and girls. It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood." The soft and syrupy voice on the recording began. Although it was poorly imitated and blatantly satirized, Kim immediately recognized this as the rather popular children's' television host, Mr. Rodney. Ron simply stood like a statue with a cheesy smile chiseled onto his face as the over-the-top impressionist on the recording continued.
"Today we're going to be making some magic. Can you say magic?"
"MAGIC!" over a dozen young voices enthusiastically shouted.
"I knew you could." The impersonator soldiered on.
"Today we're going to make a bandana disappear. Won't that be fun?"
"YES!" the children shouted.
"Well then let's get started. The first thing we'll need to do is to get a bandana."
Ron reached into the box and pulled out a banana. Lifting the yellow, crescent-shaped fruit triumphantly above his head, the room erupted in laughter, no small share of which was coming from the auburn-haired girl in the back. Maybe she didn't need to worry about Ron after all, she thought.
"Now, to make this trick, we'll also need your mommy's purse."
Ron reached into the box once again, and produced something that kicked Kim's worry works right back into overdrive. She most definitely recognized the object that he now held in his hand, and it was no small cause for concern.
The blue, sequined clutch purse was a Club Banana limited edition, and one of her favorite fashion accessories. She had purchased it months before, as an accent piece for her junior prom dress, and had carried it with her on some her most memorable dates with Ron. It had become so much more than a mere object or possession to her over time. It had come to be a symbol of their relationship: A cherished memento that had been there from the very beginning, representing the journey that they had undertaken together.
And now, to see it held aloft in her boyfriend's hand, side-by-side with a very large and squishy piece of fruit… Well, let's just say that while she wasn't entirely sure where Ron was going with this, she was pretty sure that she didn't like the neighborhood.
"First of all, we need to fold the bandana."
Ron eyed the banana in his hands quizzically for a brief moment before bringing the ends together and mashing it flat. Needless to say, this action split the peel open like a piñata and ejected a large amount of its contents. The raucous response from the young crowd indicated that Ron was hitting his mark.
"Now, take the bandana and place it into the purse."
Kim's hands shot to her face in horror as Ron simply eyed her beloved clutch, shrugged, and proceeded to slide the entire gooey, potassium-rich mess inside. At that moment, the small section of her brain that was still functioning rationally understood what was meant by the phrase "justifiable homicide."
"Now, here's where the trick is, boys and girls." The melodic, recorded voice proceeded to explain. "What everyone doesn't know is that you didn't really put the bandana into the purse."
The cheesy smile on Ron's face suddenly morphed into a look of abject terror.
"You really kept it in your hand the whole time."
Ron's eyes darted nervously to and fro, first to the purse, then to his audience, then to Rufus, then back again. He swallowed hard and tried to force a smile with little success.
"Now you can open the purse and show everyone that it's empty. They'll all think that the bandana has disappeared."
Slowly, methodically, and with great trepidation and foreboding, Ron ever so slightly cracked open the purse and peered inside. It seemed like an eternity for Kim as he inspected the satin-lined interior, giving no indication of what secrets it held. Her heart sank when he finally glanced upward with an expression of total resignation on his face.
Then, in the flash of an instant, he raised the purse triumphantly in front of him and pulled the enclosure open to reveal… nothing. The inside of the small handbag was just as empty and just as clean as the day she had purchased it. Nowhere was there any trace of the mutilated fruit that she would have sworn he had stuffed inside of it just moments before. The accursed banana had, quite simply, vanished.
The assembled crowd roared its approval as Ron took his bows and exited the stage area, casually tossing the purse to Kim as he joined her at the back of the room.
"Here ya go, KP." He said. "Ship-shape and good as new."
"But… how… I mean… the banana, and… where'd it… 'cause… you…" Kim stammered incoherently, unsuccessfully trying to wrap her mind around what she had just seen.
"Ah, ah, ah…" Ron playfully chided. "A magician never reveals his secrets."
"Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that, mister." Kim growled, silently vowing to one day find out just what the heck he had done up there. Even if it took her years, she would learn his secret.
So just what the heck was the big secret, anyway?
Shuffling her feet through the new-fallen snow, Kim grouchily noted that her evening was now bearing a striking resemblance to how it had begun. She was outside, in the snow and quickly losing feeling in her extremities. At least her previous outdoor adventure had an obvious point to it, she sourly thought. But this had no apparent point to it at all.
All she knew was that following their final bows in the pediatric ward, Ron had quickly excused himself, pausing only long enough to tell her she should meet him behind the hospital in 15 minutes. That time threshold had now come and gone, and the intermittent tweak that she had been experiencing throughout the evening was now returning with a vengeance.
"If Ron is going to show himself, then he'd better do it darn soon," she grimly thought, " or else they're not gonna find his body until the spring thaw."
She was about two seconds from shouting his name when something unusual caught her attention. Off to one side, barely noticeable through the darkness, a faint glow could be seen through the trees.
The space immediately behind the hospital was an open, semi-wooded area that had been turned into a small park many years ago. The idea had been to give patients and their families a quiet and aesthetically pleasing to visit. After all, for people who spend 22 hours a day cooped up in bleak hospital rooms, a little time in the great outdoors is a truly precious commodity. Making this area available in this way was viewed by the hospital board as an important part of the healing process.
And somewhere within these same woods, a fire was now burning.
Immediately fearing the worst, it wasn't half-a-second before Kim was off to the races, dodging branches and weaving through the trees, rushing desperately to halt the building inferno's advance before the entire park was reduced to cinders.
She pulled up short, however, when she broke into a clearing. While the source of the light was most definitely a fire, it wasn't a wildfire as she had initially expected. It was a campfire, dancing lazily about within the confines of a sunken fire pit, clearly posing to threat to anyone.
Green eyes darted about, probing the dancing shadows along the clearing's perimeter, searching for the fire's guardian. Someone had gone to considerable lengths to build and tend this bastion of light and warmth, and it seemed most likely that they would not stray far from their charge. She stepped closer toward the glowing visage relishing the warmth it provided, even as she continued to scan the shadowy tree line for any sign of life.
When she finally spotted her quarry, she was immediately overcome by a warm, cozy feeling that had nothing to do with the fire. Ron was standing off to one side of the clearing, as silent as the snowfall that surrounded him, grinning with a warmth that made the fire he had built seem like a tub of ice water.
The two lifelong friends simply stood in silent, mutual observation of one another, each drinking in the beauty of the surroundings and the company alike. Fresh, white powder blanketed the ground as gossamer flakes continued to fall through the web of barren branches and pine bows that surrounded them. The light of the fire was reflected almost perfectly by the new-fallen snow, scattering its fanciful glow upwards through the legions of perfectly flocked pines, glinting and reflecting off the multitude of icicles that adorned their branches. And directly above it all, the heavens blazed with the light of countless stars, the cosmic firmament bursting forth in all its approving glory on this, the most holy and sacred of nights.
"Merry Christmas, KP." Ron finally broke the silence, stepping forward from his place in the shadows.
"Merry Christmas, Ron." Kim replied, she herself stepping forward and into his waiting arms. For the longest moment she simply reveled in the moment. Having the warmth of the fire behind her and the warmth of Ron in front of her, any and all thoughts of the cold were quickly banished from her consciousness.
"You did all this?" she finally asked, pulling away slightly to look directly into Ron's brown, puppy dog eyes.
"Mmmm-hmmm." He nodded gently, confirming his girlfriend's suspicions. "You mentioned something about 'the family around the hearth' earlier." He explained. "I figured since the hospital probably doesn't have too many hearths, this might be a passable substitute. What do you think?"
"I think it's wonderful, Ron." Kim noted as Ron led them both to a large log situated near the fire. A few brisk swats of his gloved hand cleared away enough snow to allow them to sit in relative comfort. They had just gotten settled when Ron suddenly bounced up again.
"Oh man, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed, reaching behind the log to grab a small duffel bag that had been obscured by the snow. It wasn't a few seconds before he had produced a borrowed hospital blanket and draped it over both their shoulders.
"Better?" he asked expectantly.
"Totally." She cooed, pulling the blanket around herself and snaking her slender arms around his chest, pulling herself closer into his tender embrace. It was an incredibly sweet gesture that her boyfriend had put together this evening, but so in-character for him as well. Not knowing him the way she did, few people would ever suspect that beneath his goofy and occasionally awkward exterior beat the heart of a true romantic. It was one of his many hidden qualities, and something for which she could never be grateful enough.
"So what did you see up there, tonight?" Kim asked after a few minutes of gazing into the flames.
"What do you mean?"
"That recon mission you flew. What did it turn up?"
"Honestly?"
"Please and thank you."
"I think we're gonna be hearing from Dementor in the not-to-distant future." Ron sighed.
"Oh." Kim deflatedly replied. "How not-to-distantly are we talking about?"
"Sometime after New Year's, I figure."
"So we should make it through the rest of the holiday's without anything major going down?"
"That's about what the brass is saying."
"Well we should at least be thankful for that, I guess," Kim sighed resignedly. She always hated to see the spirit of the season slip away each and every year.
The pair quickly returned their attentions to the fire's graceful dance lazily holding their collective gaze there for several more minutes.
"You know what would be really cool right about now?" Ron asked, finally breaking the peaceful silence.
"Hmmmmm?" Kim responded, to content to be bothered with using actual words.
"Exchanging gifts right now."
"Ugh. It would be if yours wasn't still back at the house." Kim grimaced. "After getting dad's message, we rushed out of there so fast that I didn't even think to grab it from under the tree. I'm sorry, baby."
"Meh, 'salright." Ron dismissively replied. "Maybe if just tell me what it is?"
"Well, I wanted to get you that new 'Zombie Mayhem IV' game that you've been raving about since Labor Day." Kim explained.
"You mean you actually landed a copy of 'You Only Die Twice'?" Ron exclaimed, his voice suddenly rising two octaves in pitch. "That's like, totally impossible! Even for you!"
"Well I tried to get it at least."
"Oh." Ron observed, his voice suddenly much more subdued.
"Yeah," Kim continued, "but the electronics store only had one copy left, and the mall was so crowded…"
"It's okay, KP. I understand."
"I just can believe that somebody would actually push their way past security, vault themselves over five people in line and grab it from the display case before the clerk had even gotten his key out of the lock." She explained.
"I see." Ron consoled her, wrapping an arm tenderly around her waist and gazing silently into the fire for several seconds.
"But you did it anyway, right?"
"Oh yeah." Kim smiled.
"Booyah! That's my girl!" came Ron's enthusiastic reply.
"Anything for my guy." Kim responded, nestling her head onto Ron's shoulder and savoring the closeness between them. "So what did you get me?"
"What makes you think I got you anything?"
"Ron…" Kim growled menacingly.
"Alright, alright…" Ron said reassuringly. "Your main man did manage to pick you up a little something-something."
"So spill, already."
"Well, I could tell you," Ron wavered, earning another menacing glance from the redhead beside him, "or I could just show you."
With that remark, he reached into his coat and pulled a small velvet box, its crimson red coloring contrasting perfectly against the bleach white snow that surrounded them.
Kim sat up abruptly, her astonishment only growing as Ron gently opened the lid to reveal a single princess-cut emerald in a braided gold setting. The solitary stone caught the light of the fire, scattering it in a thousand different directions, all the while shimmering with an intensity that would lead one to believe the stone itself was on fire.
"Ron!" she gasped. "It's… it's… beautiful!"
"Yeah, I know." Ron replied nonchalantly. "That's why it made me think of you when I saw it."
"Oh Ron." She cooed, staring intently at the ring that sat securely nestled within the box's satin lining. "I just… I don't know what to say."
"Well for one thing, you can choose a side."
"Beg pardon?" Kim arched an eyebrow in response, not quite getting where her boyfriend was going with this line of thought.
"Well to be honest, I'm not really sure what this rock means." Ron began to explain. At fist I figured it was a friendship ring. You know, just a little bit of bling for you to wear and think of me."
"Okay, go on." Kim prodded.
"But then I got to talking to the saleslady, and she said that the hand you wear a ring on really says a lot."
"Well yeah. Like duh, Ron." Kim snorted. "Wearing it on the right means it's pretty much just another piece of jewelry. But the left hand is closer to the heart and symbolizes love. That's why wedding bands are always worn on the left. It's a very old tradition."
It was at that moment that the tumblers inside Kim's head suddenly clicked into place, unlocking a stunning realization.
"Ron? Wha… What are you trying to say?" she stammered in disbelief.
"I'm trying to ask if this is a friendship ring, or a promise ring?"
Kim could only silently sit there, jaw agape as Ron continued.
"We've been together for quite a while, haven't we Kim?"
"For almost as long as I can remember." Kim answered, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"And in that time, we've gotten to be pretty close, haven't we?"
"So true."
"And while I can only speak for myself, I often find myself hoping that nothing ever comes between us, and I'm kinda hoping that you feel the same."
"I can't imagine life without you." Came her whispered reply.
"So I guess the $64,000 question is," Ron concluded, "does this represent our past friendship or our hopeful future?"
He paused, blushing slightly at his own words.
"Was that really as corny as it sounded?" he sheepishly asked.
"Yeah, it was." Kim confirmed with a loving smile. "But it was also the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." She leaned in tenderly placed her lips against his, allowing the kiss to linger for several seconds.
"Heh. I guess sometimes the ol' vocab comes through then." Ron chuckled. "Even if English was yet another one of my 'Gentleman's C' classes."
"You're still forgetting one thing, grammar boy."
"Whazzat?"
Gazing deeply into the chocolate brown pools that she had come to adore so much, Kim reached outside the cozy confines of the blanket and to spite the belligerence of the frigid air around them, pulled the insulated glove from one of her hands. She offered forth her slender, exposed fingers to her lifelong partner, her loving smile only brightened when the expression on his face told her that he had realized the sitch…
She was offering her left hand.
"Rea… really?" Ron choked, not quite believing what was right in front of him.
"Mmmm-hmmm." Kim confirmed. "Ron, I realize that we're both still pretty young, and that even thinking about things like engagement would be enough to throw daddy into one of his patented 'black-hole-deep' speeches, but that doesn't change the fact that I totally love you and can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. I want to wear this gift on my left hand, Ronnie. I want it to be a promise ring."
"You're sure about this." Ron asked, still thinking that his girlfriend's response was too good to be true. In his normal, self-deprecating way he had made his earlier speech as more of a gesture than anything else. Granted, he had meant every word of it, but he never expected that Kim would reciprocate his feelings so wholeheartedly. He never imagined she would agree.
"I've never been more sure about anything." Kim confirmed. "Now hurry up with that thing, lover boy. Your girlfriend's fingers are about to freeze."
"Oh right! Sorry!" Ron apologized as he plucked the gleaming ring from its case and deftly slipped it onto the appropriate digit. Kim simply stared at the glimmering stone, slowly turning her hand from side to side, mesmerized by how the patterns of refracted light drifted to and fro with each minute change in orientation.
"Uh, I thought you said your hand was cold." Ron spoke up after more than a minute.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Right." Kim sighed, reluctantly replacing her glove. But even still, she savored the sensation of the new item against her skin, as well as all that it represented. She nestled into Ron's warmth once again, imaging all the joy and promise that their future together had to offer. The knowledge that this man would always be with her was at once her greatest joy and the source of her strength. He was her emotional center, and as long as he was with her, then all things were truly possible.
And it was at this critical moment that something struck her, causing her to silently marvel at the sitch.
It has been said throughout history that "home is where the heart is." Now while this may seem a tired cliché, ordinarily relegated to the realm of greeting cards and folksy needlepoint craftwork, it rings true in some very real ways. A house no more equals a home than a warehouse equals inventory. While the physical structure certainly serves as a symbol of the concept, the "home" itself is an abstraction: A manifestation of emotional connectedness, and a sense of being in the singular place where one truly belongs.
Which was exactly how she felt now.
Earlier in the evening she had been so tweaked at being forced to celebrate Christmas as the social equivalent of the visiting team. Away from the familiar walls and decorations that she cherished so much, she had felt cheated and betrayed by fate. She felt as though there was some sort of cosmic holiday conspiracy being waged against her, and the feeling had left her bitter and without cheer.
But now, surrounded by gently wafting snowflakes and the warmth of her partner, she realized just how off base she had been. The house she had grown up in was important, to be certain, but in and of itself it was not home. Home was anyplace where she could be surrounded by the warmth of family and those whom she cared about the most, be it her house, the hospital, a jettisoned garbage pod deep within the Arctic Circle, or fireside on a frigid winter's night. Home was wherever you found it.
And as the two young lovers gazed deeply into the glowing heart of the fire beneath a cathedral of trees and stars, each knew that they had truly found that special place.
Author's Notes:
Not surprisingly, the above story represents my entry into Zaratan's Holiday Story Contest. Perhaps somewhat more surprisingly, this also represents the first time I've ever dared to enter such a contest. There's truly a first time for everything, I suppose.
As a side note, the magic/comedy sketch that Ron performs for the children is something I originally saw performed several years ago by David Copperfield. Such small-scale, close-in magic may seem an unlikely genre for a performer so closely associated with mega-magic spectaculars and Vegas-type showmanship, but it still stands as one of the most entertaining acts that I've ever seen. Lance Burton and David Blaine, eat your magical hearts out!
In any case, I hope everyone enjoyed this holiday one-shot. May the magic of the season find you and your own family in the best of health and spirits this season, and throughout the coming year as well.
Merry Christmas, one and all!
Nutzkie…