"Thanks for the ride, Dana," Kim smiled at the pilot.

"It was the least I could do after you saved me from a near shark attack," she replied.

"Oh, it was no big," Kim told her before sitting down beside her best friend. "Ron? Hey, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothin'," he replied sadly.

"You're way too quiet…where's my Ronshine?" she asked.

"I betrayed you, KP," he told her. "We always tell each other everything, and I hate that I couldn't tell you about this."

"Ron—"

"I mean, we made a pact when we were little that we would never keep secrets from each other—" he continued.

"I don't remember us ever making an actual pact," she spoke in a light tone.

"It's one of those 'unwritten pacts,' he explained, complete with air quotes. "It came with the lanyards."

"Ron, I understand why it had to be kept secret," Kim told him. "It wasn't your secret alone. The fate of Yamanouchi rested in your hands."

"I know, but I never wanted to keep it from you," he replied. "We don't keep things from each other, KP."

"N—no, we don't," Kim agreed nervously, though Ron didn't catch her slip up. "It's seriously okay, Ron. We're cool. You're a hero in your own right. I'm so proud of you."

"Really? You are?" he asked, perking up.

"Of course!" she assured him. A moment of silence washed over them. Ron was back to his old self already, though Kim was feeling some tension still.

"So, uh, KP?"

"Yeah?"

"What's jellin'?" he asked.

"Ummm…why don't you read a book?"

Kim just wasn't ready to go down that road yet. Maybe one day…


Author's Note: In case it wasn't obvious, the 'secret' Kim is keeping from Ron is the fact that she may like him as more than a friend.