I.
"I'm scared," Kim confessed.
Anne held her daughter and stroked her hair. "You've dealt with tough situations before, honey. You can do this."
"Super villains and natural disasters? No big. This?" she said with an unaccustomed lack of confidence, "I don't know that I can."
"Kimmie-cub, anything is Possible for a Possible," her father said encouragingly in a gentle voice.
"You can do anything, Sis," Jim enthused.
"Yeah, we know you can!" Tim agreed.
"We believe in you, Kimberly Anne," added Nana, who was visiting for the Christmas holiday.
"Thanks," Kim said with gratitude. "You guys rock." I just hope you're right, she thought. Otherwise, my heart will still be so broken and then I don't know what I'll do …
II.
The fight had come at the end of the summer following their high school graduation, just before Kim was to leave for college. They were on a mission, dealing with highly intelligent but emotionally unstable rampaging robots in Rotterdam that had been deployed by a new supervillain-wannabe, Andy Roid. Thanks to Ron's monkeying up, Team Possible had wrapped things up in record time. Bad guy AI tech had nothing on mystical monkey power.
Afterwards, grateful citizens mobbed Ron. The growing attention he'd been receiving over the summer had been a welcome new experience for him. For once, the news people wanted to talk with him, to put him on the magazine covers. Kim, long the public face of Team Possible, was lost in the hubbub as the media focused on its offbeat, ever-colorful sensation of the day.
It was after the press left and the two teens were waiting for their ride that the argument started. Matters escalated quickly, nerves were touched, things that would have been best left unsaid were given voice until the fight reached its climax.
"You know, Kim, the problem here is that you can't handle me being better than you at something, especially saving the world!"
"You are so flawed!"
"Am not!"
"Are too," Kim snorted. "You're, you're just getting so big heady!"
"'Sha," Ron said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "I've seen this movie before, Kimbo. The minute I step up, you get threatened and you begin jealin'."
"I am so not jealin'," she retorted sharply.
"You could fool me," he said. "You know, before I got my monkey powers under control and all I could do was try to help out, you were always on me for fooling around or not having my head in the game. Me? I don't say boo yet you still have 'tude."
"Don't say boo? About what?" an incredulous Kim asked.
"Kim, Kim, Kim, thanks to the monkey mojo, I can handle this stuff on my own. Not that I don't want you here. You're the smartest, most beautilicious distraction ever!"
Kim found herself having trouble breathing as she was consumed by an incandescent rage. "I am so not a distraction," she snapped. "And I am so not going to be your sidekick, Ron. Go find someone else to trip over their own two feet or lose their pants!"
Ron's right eye twitched. "You know what, KP? Maybe I will! There has to be someone out there who doesn't always need to be the boss of everyone!"
The two teens glowered at one another before stalking off in different directions, allow anger and pride to overwhelm a relationship that had begun fourteen years earlier.
III.
Ron had stared at the text for what seemed forever after it arrived.
Can we talk?
He sat on a bench in the courtyard at Yamanuchi, oblivious to the elegant classical Japanese architecture around him and the star-dappled sky above. Contemplating the question in the message, he realized he was terrified, experiencing fear in a wholly new way. As if sensing his turmoil, Sensei approached and sat beside him.
"You appear quite troubled, Stoppable-san," the old master said.
Ron explained the situation. "So, you see, that's why I seem upset. Because Mr. Barkin was right and the center cannot hold and I'm so lost it's not funny!"
Sensei nodded sagely. "It is most fortuitous that this query has been posed, for the time for the next step in your journey towards mastery of the mystical monkey power has arrived."
"Next step? Arrived? Uh, in case Rufus doesn't, oh, who am I kidding, I don't understand what you're talking about!"
"If you are to truly be the monkey master, you must learn about the strength that comes from not being in control."
"Uh, Sensei, how can there be strength in not being in control?"
"Tomorrow, you shall begin to discover the answer to your question. You will depart on your quest at dawn."
As Ron lay on his tatami mat that night, he found he was thinking not about the magical mystery tour on which he would embark the next day, but on something that he found far more troubling and frightening: What if we talk and the Rondo makes matters even worse? I don't know that I could handle that given how much I've messed things up already.
IV.
Kim Possible and college were a match made in heaven—or they would have been if she hadn't been contending with a ferociously huge ish during her first semester of her freshman year. Though she found her classes stimulating and rewarding, joined numerous clubs, earned a spot on the cheer squad, and even attracted the attention of some of the hottest, coolest, nicest guys on campus, she was increasingly distracted by thoughts about what had happened with one guy who wasn't on campus. She finally acknowledged that she and Ron needed to talk and confront what had happened, whatever the outcome.
Kim was preparing to return home to talk with Ron when she learned from her parents that he had abruptly withdrawn from Middleton Community College, taken a leave from his job at Smarty Mart, and headed for Yamanuchi. The idea of Ron at the secret ninja school threw Kim into a dark despair of a kind she'd never before known. She couldn't help but think that Ron, her Ron, who she hated to accept was no longer her Ron, was now with Yori. Kim found herself growing ever more despondent and so it was with gratitude that she received a text one day from the lithe young Japanese warrior. All the message said was, He is your destiny, not mine. Those six words gave her hope, however tenuous. Kim reached out to Ron. And she heard nothing. Her spirits sank again and so, seeking escape, she dove deeper into college life.
She was taking a final when the text arrived. Her phone vibrated mid-test and instead of focusing on the questions before her she found her attention had been commandeered by the message on her phone, the one she could not look at until she was done with her exam. Forcing herself to concentrate, Kim finished the final and, once done, raced out of the classroom into the hall, pulled out her phone, and saw there was indeed a message from Ron. Christmas Eve Day? Tree House at Noon? See you then?
Her heart raced. With trembling hands she typed out her answer. Yes. Yes. Yes. Then she backspaced over her words, deleting the message. She didn't know where things stood with them, but she wanted something more personal and so wrote, Please and Thank You.
V.
Kim climbed through the hatch and into the tree house. Much to her relief, there were no freshly painted signs about girls not being allowed, and the old picture of Ron and her as kids was still tacked to the wall. But a feeling of melancholy quickly enveloped her as it became clear from the layer of undisturbed dust that the place had not been visited in a long while, leaving it to seem like an outpost of the past that had been forgotten as time and people moved on. She found herself feeling incredibly sad.
VI.
She wondered where he was. He was late and it was chilly. Maybe he's forgotten, she thought, before she entertained a darker possibility: Maybe he's changed his mind about coming.
VII.
To Kim's relief, Ron finally appeared. Her heart beat faster when she first spied his cowlick emerging through the hatch. As he climbed into the tree house, she noticed he looked different. Ron has sideburns? she thought. Whoa.
"Hey, KP," he said sheepishly before he even finished climbing into the aerie. "Sorry I'm late but I got here earlier and realized this was not one of my better ideas …"
Kim suddenly felt anxious, dreading where their conversation might be going, but then decided, well, hoped, that Ron was once again stating things in his own unique way and that she should not jump to conclusions until he said everything he had to say.
"… Man, is it cold up here. I went back to the house to get some cocoa and then Han started running around and we had to get her off the ceiling and I, oh man, I forgot the thermos—"
"It's okay," she said gently. "I understand."
"Thanks, KP," he said, still lost in his rambling. Then he actually focused on Kim. "Great googly moogly! Your hair!"
"I decided to try something different," she said, referring to her new hairstyle, which was as short as Ron could ever remember it being. She wanted to ask him what he thought, but wasn't sure the time was right. She hoped he liked what she had done.
He sat down on the couch, his movements betraying his nervousness. "So," he finally said. "You wanted to, uh, talk?"
Kim nodded and then felt a wave of panic wash over her. Get a grip, she told herself. You've climbed Everest, swum the English Channel, survived an alien abduction and fought invaders from space, stopped runaway trains and prevented planes from crashing, and you regularly defeat villainous freaks. You can do this. She took a deep breath and stepped off the proverbial cliff. "I want to apologize."
Ron looked surprised. "Apologize?"
She nodded. "I was such the jerk last August. Ron, I'm not going to lie and say I was happy with how you were acting all the time, but the truth is I had my own issues and, and, insecurities to deal with and instead of confronting them and talking with you, I ran away, but not before I took it out on you and hurt you. What I said about tripping and losing pants and being a sidekick and everything, well, I'm so, so sorry."
Ron sat quietly, mulling over what she said before he shook his head. Kim feared that she had failed in conveying her remorse. Then he chuckled, prompting a quirked eyebrow.
"If anyone should be saying sorry, it's the Ronman. I was the jerk, Kim, not you. I let the whole master of the mystical monkey power thing get to my head and forgot to pay attention to the stuff, oh, let's be honest, the person, that really matters: you. It was like me and my naco millions again except this time instead of too much Claude, I had too much ego. I'm sorry, KP. You've done so many badical things for so many people for so long and are so much more than, than, a distraction or a sidekick. I can't believe I dismissed you like that. Man, am I an idiot."
"Ron, I had problems with how well you were doing, and it shouldn't have been a big and I let it be one. You have a right to excel and you've been doing great, especially since graduation. That whole sitch with the giant mutant sea urchins in Tokyo Bay …"
"You heard about that?"
"Hello! It was all over the news. Everywhere. You were spankin'."
Ron reddened. "Thanks," he said, appreciating the compliment. "But it would have been way easier, and a lot more fun, with you there. You're the hero with experience. I'm just an overpowered cartoon character from a bad comic book."
"Hey, no dissing the BF," Kim said sternly.
A silence enveloped the tree house. Finally, Ron spoke. "Did you just call me your BF?"
Kim gulped. She so wanted that to be true but after what had happened earlier that year …
"Coolio," he said.
"You mean that?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Ron Stoppable may be dumb, but he's not stupid!"
Kim smiled fondly and soon the two were engaged in a fierce embrace.
"I've missed that," he said.
"Me too," she agreed.
"So, we're an us again?" Ron asked.
"I so hope so," Kim replied.
They continued to hold each other. Then Ron began to fidget and Kim worried that he might be having second thoughts.
"KP," he said hesitantly. "If we're gonna start dating again, I think we should talk to someone, get some advice, you know, maybe do some counseling."
Kim was pleased and impressed by Ron's thoughtfulness. Seeing this, and given what had happened earlier in the year, he thought a bit of honesty and some humility on his part were in order. "I talked with Rabbi K. It was his idea."
"Maybe, but you were smart enough to listen," Kim said approvingly. "I think us meeting with Rabbi Katz is a ferociously good idea."
"He's a smart guy," Ron said.
"I know," Kim said with a wry grin. "I saw him in action in Vegas, remember?"
"Ah, yes, the molecular muscle enhancer. Good times, good times."
Kim snorted. But then her expression changed. While she appeared determined, it was evident she was nervous. "I'm so about us getting back together. And I was hoping you'd be, too," Kim said as she pulled out a flat package, as her eyes began to water. "I, I want to give this to you."
Ron held the present. "Thanks, Kim," he said softly. "I've got something for you, too."
"Open mine first," she said softly but firmly. "It's important."
Ron did as instructed. "A job application?"
"Happy Hanukkah," Kim said. "Now read it, please and thank you."
"Job you are applying for … sidekick? Applicant's name … Kimberly Anne Possible?" Ron looked up from the sheet of paper to see Kim looking at him intently.
"Keep reading," she ordered.
"Goal in applying for this position: To be the best sidekick possible to a bon-diggity hero.
"Kim, I … you can't be my sidekick!" Ron protested.
"And why not?" she said a little more heatedly than she intended, her arms folded across her chest. "I can do anything, remember? Even support the guy with mystical monkey power who can do things I will literally never be able to do, even if I know sixteen kinds of Kung Fu. You've had my back, Ron," she said, taking his hands in hers. "But now you've stepped up. Let me have yours."
Ron sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, KP, but no can do."
She was shocked. She wondered if he thought she wasn't good enough or, even worse, he had lined up someone else.
He reached into his pocket and removed a small wrapped box. "Merry Christmas," he said.
She looked at him quizzically, then removed the paper and opened the gift box, which contained what appeared to be an amulet. The object, fashioned from green jade, was stunning – but it was broken into two pieces. Kim was expecting Ron to whine or grouse about the damage the item had clearly experienced since he'd wrapped the present but instead he seemed—serene. "It's beautiful, Ron, but, um …"
"Damaged? Yeah."
"Care to sitch me?"
"You are now the proud owner of the only known Amulet of the Monkey Monks of Morakami. Legend, or at least Sensei, says that it is able to soak up mystical monkey power like a sponge and hold it, contain it. But if the doodad breaks, pfffft."
"Pfffft?"
"Pffft, so long, buh bye, no more mystical monkey power."
"You mean …"
"Yep, I'm back to being plain old Ron Stoppable. No additives or artificial flavors. Not that that's bad, but as you can see, I'm now the one who should be doing the sidekicking, not you."
Kim looked at Ron intently. "You gave up your monkey powers why?"
"Because they got in the way of us," Ron said now hanging his head in shame. "And being the monkey master was great, but not if it meant I was such a jerk gooning on his own supposed awesomeness that I could no longer be your guy."
"You did that for me?" Kim said in wonder.
Ron looked at Kim, then shrugged. "It's not as big a deal as this," he said, looking again at the paper form she had created. Not surprisingly, given it was the handiwork of Kim Possible, it looked quite official, designed and produced to a standard that would have pleased and impressed a professional.
"Ron, I filled out a stinkin' piece of paper! " Kim said with a roll of the eyes. "You gave up your monkey powers."
"No, KP," he said with a seriousness that caught her attention. "All I did was give up what amounted to a magical expansion pack. You, on the other hand, have offered to give up some of your Essential Kimness for me. That's well, it's … wow."
Kim considered what Ron said. Overwhelmed by emotion, she lost control and she began sobbing. Ron, who was also struggling with powerful feelings and was himself sniffling, gathered her into his arms. "I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing, KP. This is why I took so long to get back to you. I knew I would mess things up."
"I love you so much," she said through her tears.
"What?" a confused Ron said.
Kim cried some more. Finally, she regained her composure. "You really don't get women, do you?"
"Yeah, well, I think by now we should know that I don't. I was reminded of that this fall."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Yori wasn't the only hot ninja at Yamanuchi," he confessed. Kim stiffened, then untensed as she thought about the early part of her own autumn and how they both thought they were no longer a couple, and thus free to see other people. "I tried going out with a couple of the ladies when I first got there. Even got one to kiss me. Which was great until I began murmuring—"
"My name?" Kim suggested.
"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"Been there, done that myself. There was a guy at school I went out with and kissed and he was so not into hearing me whispering things like 'Oh, Ron …'," she said with a playful grin. "But that's probably because he realized he couldn't hope to meet the Ron Stoppable standard."
"And how do you know I can still meet the Ron Stoppable standard? I've been eating a lot of sushi, you know. That might have affected my mojo," he joked nervously. Until just a very short while ago, Ron thought he'd never kiss Kim again, but now …
"You'll just have to let me find out," she said as she cupped his cheeks in her hands and brought her lips to his. They started off tentatively, but were soon kissing with an intensity that betrayed a months-long yearning for one another.
"Boo. Yah," Ron said breathily when they were done.
"There are most def still fireworks," she agreed.
They sat back on the couch, holding hands, leaning into one another, reveling in each other's presence.
"So, uh, KP, if you're going to be a sidekick and I'm going be a sidekick, who's going to be the hero?"
"I'm not going to be a sidekick. I said I wanted to be your sidekick."
"Okay, you lost me."
"You said you wanted to be my sidekick. Which means …" Kim smiled, wanting Ron to puzzle this out for himself.
Ron remained confused until understanding dawned. "Holy cannoli! We can both be a sidekick and a hero!"
"Exactly. There for each other, and ready to be helped by each other, however we're needed. On missions and, I hope, in our relationship. So, Mad Dog, you got game?"
"For you? Yeah," Ron said with an endearingly goofy grin.
"Spankin'," Kim replied, her smile radiant with joy.
VIII.
The sun was setting, a light snow was falling, the temperature dropping. Kim and Ron knew the time had finally come to leave the tree house. They made their way down the ramshackle ladder and began to walk, fingers laced together as they held hands.
In her free hand, Kim clutched a broken amulet, and in his, Ron gripped a large envelope containing a homemade certificate, both affirmed by the knowledge that in giving something of themselves to the other each had received something far more precious in return.
Fin.
Author's Notes
My thanks to campy for proofreading this story.
As always, leave a review and I'll send you a personal response.
KP, RS © Disney
I would be remiss in not acknowledging O. Henry and his masterful tale "The Gifts of the Magi," which was the inspiration for this seasonal entertainment. If you've never read his short story, do. It's a classic.