Where Did the Time Go? Chapter 1: Part I, a kim possible fanfic

Where Did the Time Go

Chapter 1

I can do this.

I can cause doomsday spacecraft to self-destruct in orbit.

I can single-handedly defeat Monkey Fist.

I can do this.

Ron stared into this dresser mirror, trying to understand what he was doing wrong. All he had to do was nod at Rufus and he would be on his shoulder helping him. He simply didn't want to do that. For once, he wanted to accomplish this on his own.

Letting out a sigh he unbuttoned the tips of his collar and turned them up. The neck button was already done. He actually hated wearing shirts this way, feeling like he was being choked to death even though the neck was the correct size.

Flip and twist and fold and pull. He looked in the mirror at his handiwork. Well, it looked a lot more like a knot, kind of like a half-Windsor. Only he'd been going for a traditional square. Well, close enough, only the top was going to show over his robe anyhow.

No, this just wouldn't do. The back was far longer than the front and that was only down to the middle of his chest. Growling slightly he undid his tie once more.

Rufus sat on the edge of his dresser, looking up at his human proudly. This day was the culmination of so much. Twelve years finally complete, finally he was ready to take his first steps into true manhood. He may have been considered a man in his faith and had been for almost five years but the rest of society saw this as the true beginning of adulthood.

In his case it was actually quite a big accomplishment. There were times when it was very likely this day would either never come or would be put off one, two even three years. There had been a real scare at the end of his eleventh year that he would not be allowed to begin the twelfth. It took everything he had to pull up his grades at the last moment and get promoted.

The little Naked Mole Rat sat there, knowing Ron had to do this himself. He understood that. It was fine when he climbed up there and helped him get ready for Temple once he decided he had outgrown clip-ons, but this was different. Completely different.

"I can go this, little buddy." He said, wrapping his tie around the back of his neck again. Rufus just held up a claw in an approximation of a thumbs-up sign.

Would I be weird if I pointed it out that Naked Mole Rats are not supposed to have opposable digits? He thought with a slight chuckle.

It was the first time he had been able to laugh in months and even that brought another wave of melancholy. He sighed again and made another go at the knot. This time the knot came out looking right, though the length was even worse than before. The tail of the tie was hanging way down past his belt.

He looked down and noticed Rufus was holding a book open. He couldn't quite make out the writing but the pictures there were clear. It was instructions for tying a neck-tie.

This was supposed to be easy. Easier than tying a bow-tie.

No. He wouldn't think about that night. He didn't have to, it was still too fresh in his mind, too painful. So much so he would literally never wear a bow-tie again. It just wasn't going to happen, it hurt that much. Today, however, he had to wear a neck-tie. That was fine. He wore them to temple, especially now that he went with his parents every Saturday without fail. It was time he grew up and that meant being more observant in his faith.

This time when he looked in the mirror he had the length right, but the knot looked, well, deflected was the word kids would use for it. To him it just looked corrupt. It wasn't even qualified to be the acceptable messy knot, the half-Windsor he managed earlier. Besides, tradition called for a proper square knot here. Sure, some of the others would wear string ties or more fashion forward round buttoned collars, but Ron was a little more traditional. Dark, conservative tie, white dress shirt, dark slacks, freshly polished dress shoes. He was going to look right for this. He did it, mostly on his own and it was going to be done correctly.

This time, though, strong feminine fingers reached around his neck and started guiding his hands. In a few deft moves the tie finally came together with a nice solid knot and the length just right. Those slender fingers tucked the tail into the tag so it wouldn't flop around behind the front and smoothed it on his chest.

Then she went over to his bed and pulled something dark blue, almost purple from the tissue paper lined box, holding it up to the light streaming in through his bedroom window. Then she took something else from the box, inspecting the perfectly square object, made of matching dark blue material with a tassel of blood red and goldenrod.

She pulled off her glasses for a moment to wipe her eyes.

"My little boy, all grown up into such a fine man now. Where did the time go?" His mother said, looking at him from head to toe. Ron was never going to be a very tall man in any respect, still sitting a couple inches shy of six feet tall. He was, in every regard, nicely average in height and build. Intensive exercise over the last year plus a final growth spurt had filled him out a little better. There was no way anyone could call him bird-chested any more. In fact, he had to replace a good portion of his wardrobe. Only his remaining two red jerseys would still fit him.

He frowned slightly, realizing where the other two were.

"To think you did this all on your own. Not the top of your class, but this is still impressive and going on to that prestigious school in Denver no less. I can't tell you how proud I am of you."

"You just did, Mom. You just did."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulder again. "I love you so much, Son, I hope you know that."

"I do, Mom. I do." He said, leaning his head over to touch hers.

"I just hated to see that happen to you. It wasn't fair."

Ron broke free from her. "Mom, I don't want to talk about that, not today, Okay."

"All I'm saying, Ronnie, is that I tried to tell you that was going to happen. It was inevitable. It's just the way she's made." She said, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Mom, don't talk about her like that. She's not made that way, she's just…"

"Just what, Ronnie? She left you high and dry on what should have been the most important night of your lives and for what? Just because some pretty boy from Middleton College decided to sweep her off her feet. I tried telling you before she was only with you until something she thought was better came along."

"Mom, it wasn't like that. She…just didn't trust me. I don't think she ever really did." He said sadly.

"Trust you? How could she have distrusted you? You were with her every moment of her life until she decided to throw it all away. She could have trusted you with her life."

"That's not what I meant. She…she couldn't handle that she might not be the only one I cared about. She couldn't handle that somebody else might want me enough to get her out of the picture. That wasn't true, but she couldn't see that."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. We shouldn't be having this pity fiesta today Ronnie." She picked up the robe and held it to his chest, still marveling she had to hold it up. Ron had grown into the tallest Stoppable ever, standing a few inches taller than either of his parents.

She left him to finish getting ready for graduation. Graduation. He was finally going to put that hated Middleton High School behind him. That was fine with him. That meant putting her behind him as well. It was a good thing Middleton College passed him over. He was accepted for the Johnson and Wales program in Denver anyhow. He didn't know if he could take going to the same school with her for four more years.

Some time over the summer he would go find himself a nice apartment in Denver and he would finally move out. There wasn't anything to hold him here any more and it was still close enough he could drive down and visit his parents regularly. He didn't have to worry about money. His father had increased the allowance he could draw off his Bueno Nacho trust fund and there would be plenty left over after the apartment and books to live on if he was careful.

He glanced around his room. Most of the old toys were gone. Before he had access to his own money he found that a lot of them were actually quite valuable. That worked out well at the time, since he needed the money to buy her a nice birthday gift. Too bad it was just wasted money, though he hoped she still wore them from time to time. The emerald earrings themselves cost more than a thousand dollars. That would be chump-change when he turned twenty-one and could draw on his whole trust fund, but even now that was a lot of money.

It was still an hour before they would pile into his father's Camry and head for the ceremony. The graduation itself was really more than two hours away, but he always insisted on being early for everything. Ron had an assigned seat based on where his name fell in the alphabet, so he wasn't worried about getting a prime spot, but it didn't matter, his father had to be early and that was it.

Ron lay back on his bed, propping his hands behind his head. He really wished she was with him today. He missed her terribly. He closed his eyes tightly and wished it could be different. Mom was wrong. It wasn't her fault, not completely. Oh, yeah, she'd been the one to finally throw him over for a college guy, but that was just the final step. He was the one that let it get that far. He was the one who drove them apart.

It was his fault.

His fault.

Ron opened his eyes with a shiver, and it wasn't just from the cold. He had grown stiff sleeping like this and the dress shirt was itching. At least he'd undone his tie, leaving it hanging from his collar. Something else was bothering him, so he used his free hand to check his chin.

The rubber band holding his party hat on was starting to chafe his chin slightly, so he took the conical party favor off and sat it on the end-table just to his right.

He was also aware his other arm was completely asleep.

There was no way in the world he was going to move, though. It was wrapped around Kim's waist. She was curled up asleep on his chest, her tiny but strong hand palm down on his shoulder. Even in the low light of the Possible's den he could see the contented smile on her face.

He twisted his head and realized why he was so cold, despite having a very warm girlfriend cuddled up to him. Outside snow was falling again. It hadn't been called for, but there it was, deepening the blanket of fluffy white that had dominated the landscape for the better part of December. A white Christmas (and Hanukah for that matter) had given away to a snowy New Year.

Then the dream started coming back to him. The details were lost, but he could remember the despair he felt. In that future, Kim was lost to him and it was his fault. Unconsciously he pulled her closer. She responded by letter her hand drop to his waist, snuggling even deeper into his chest. There was no way he could see his watch, but it had to be very early in the morning. The party itself had gone on past one. They had watched the ball drop on the east coast and then the central states, finally watching the ball in Denver drop, followed by the one in LA before everyone finally said their goodnights.

Nobody ever seemed to bother them when they fell asleep together on the couch.

Thank God, it had only been a dream.