1
"Wade, if you don't have a hit on the site, you get me a hit on the site!", Kim yelled at her hand held Kimmunicator. "That's what we had you for."
Kim pushed the off button as forcibly as she could. Her parents looked at each other in the breakfast nook and then stood.
"Dear, maybe I could make you some breakfast?", Mrs. Dr. Possible asked.
"No thanks, mom.", Kim told her. "A quick energy/protein shake and I'm off to my daily marathon."
"In your mission clothes?", Mr. Dr. Possible inquired.
"Never know when some sitch is going to happen, dad.", the girl replied.
"I'm a doctor, Kimberly Anne Possible.", the neurosurgeon stated in her most motherly tone. "You cannot perform on a mission if you've already run yourself ragged. It's medically impossible."
"Check my name!", Kim snapped. "Check yours. I can do anything. Anything!
"Except..."
"Oh, honey.", the mother drew her daughter into a comforting hug. "You can't/"
Kim pushed away. "Yes, I can. I have to, for his sake.
"Ron died because he believed in me helping people. And what do you want me to do? Just go about life like a normal teen? Like he didn't die for that ideal. He just wanted to have my back, mom! I won't let him down. I'll help anyone, anywhere haven't you heard? I'm all about saving your world. The best friend a girl could ever have died for that."
Kim was mad at herself for crying again. She needed to be the hero he believed her to be. The teen didn't save Ron, even though he followed her around the world, became a master of supernatural power and set history saving the world from alien invasion all for her. The least she could do is save the world for him.
"I'm tired of hearing out of you and out of his parents and out of Zita and Felix and out of Monique and out of everybody! I'm not wearing myself down and I'm not keeping myself from grieving! I accept that my only lover is dead.
"Yes, dad: lover. See, I'm being honest; with you and myself. I am not in denial! I'm just giving his memory the respect he deserves. So the next time you think I'm being 'overzealous' or 'impractical' you can just shove it."
Kim finished mixing a barely stomachable brew of caffeinated ginseng and whey and stretched her steps to the Possible home's back door.
She opened it to Yori, dressed only in a white kimono carrying a bouquet of lilies. "I am sorry for not arriving in time for the funeral, Possible-sama. Judaism's tradition of a rapid burial is...merely an excuse I could offer. But I won't, the fault is mine and I won't insult you.
"The world has lost enough, since the girl who could do anything let Master Stoppable die."
Kim's fist left her drink floating in mid-air. The resulting fight returned so much of the environment into the state it was after the Lowardian invasion, one of the fire fighters responding had a flashback.
The emergency crew offered condolences to the adult Possibles and assured them that Jim's and Tim's previous experiences allowed them to deal with the insurance paperwork. It was least they could do considering. You know. They made sure not to disturb the Asian girl holding Kim Possible on the floor as the teen bawled her eyes out.
Yori patted her back and let the tears soak into the outer robe of her kimono. She stayed quiet and made damnably certain that her breath and heart rate remained steady. The lilies were crushed of course.
"I love him so much!", Kim wailed. "I love him and he's gone. I'm so sorry I treated you like...after you came all this way...and I just..."
Then the teen perked as if a switch had been thrown. "You came all this way. You have something. Some mystical monkey thingy to bring him back. Oh, I'm so sorry I hit you. We'll get started right away. What do we have to get to bring him back?"
Yori's eyes hardened. "It will be my honor to mourn, not retrieve, Possible-sama. I have come here to attempt some closure on the wonderful experience that was knowing the Ultimate Monkey Master. I have no miracle with which to provide you hope."
"That's garbage, Yori!", Kim spat at her. The kneeling girls built a tension that threatened the budget of rescue services for years to come.
"You don't have a tear in your eye.", Kim continued. "Don't keep his resurrection secret from me. You know you can trust me."
"It is not a matter of trust, Possible-sama.", Yori replied. "I have practice discipline all my life. This is how Ron-kun knew me. I will not betray his memory by flitting about like a soap opera character just to convince you that I am not here to raise Ron-kun from the dead. I would suggest that you accept this fact as even American government's deficit ridden budgets can ill afford a repetition of your last mistake."
Yori stood. "May I come by later? Or has our friendship been irrevocably harmed by my not bringing you the gift of hope you desired, Possible-sama?"
Kim remained on the floor. "Of course, Yori! I'm sorry. I'm a mess. You don't have to go."
She shook her head. "I would like to seek my own closure. I will meet with you again, soon."
Yori stoically walked out of the Possible household.
Kim remained on the floor. The teen punched the floor in frustration. Then a glare of suspicion was thrown against the door Yori had exited. The decision to trail Yori was inevitable.
2
The incense Yori brought with her filled Ron's tree house with aroma. The aroma helped her want to breathe long deep breaths instead of the soft sobbing that kept her away from Ron's funeral. Her heart rate maintained a calm pace as well. A lifetime of training to keep a level head while sneaking into enemy strongholds for the purpose of assassination was the only thing that let her clear her mind.
It took moments for her to be aware of Master Sensei making his presence felt. "Greetings Yori."
"Master Sensei.", was the curt reply to the vision of her mentor.
"I sense that you are still troubled."
"Of course I am still troub/", Yori bit off. She clenched her eyes and forced herself to breathe in and hold...and now release.
"Master Stoppable was more than just a respected messiah. Or at least to me.", Yori stated. "I apologize if this has impeded my abilities."
Master Sensei's apparition nodded. "Your connection with Master Stoppable is an asset for this task. The evil that has lingered in the background of his existence is more...insistent."
"I will find this evil, teacher.", Yori assured.
"And your plan to invite Possible-sama's investigation, how does that progress?", her elder asked.
"I am in Master Stoppable's sanctuary.", Yori began. "Possible followed me here, probably believing that I would not know the dot of pink in the sky of her flying car. Today, I will determine what I can sense here and at his school and his synagogue. She will be forced to accept my word that I am attempting to bring closure to my relationship with the Ultimate Monkey Master.
"We will keep Ron's love from being exposed to this...ethereal threat, should it even exist."