They drove across town to Kim's destination, parallel parking beside a fenced playground. It took a moment after they exited for Ron to realize they were at the pre-school where they first met. Before any words came out, Kim was already climbing over the fence. She jumped down and faced him through the wiring.
"Well? Are you gonna climb over or not?" she asked, smiling at him.
"Are you sure this is okay to do?" Ron inquired as he pulled himself up and over.
"Totally!" Kim assured him. She took his hand and led him over to the exact spot where their history began. "Remember how we met?"
"One of the other kids was pulling on your pigtails," he recalled.
"And you stepped in, defending my honor," she laughed. "You were talking about the fact we had structure and rules to follow. It was all very cute."
"Cute, huh?" he smirked.
"You were my first crush, Ron Stoppable, though I never admitted that out loud before," Kim told him.
Ron furrowed his brows, not expecting this confession from her.
"I was?"
"Mhmm," she confirmed. "Remember what I said to you?"
"Something along the lines of, 'you're weird, but I like you.' That was a good day," Ron replied.
"I heard what Bonnie and Gil were saying to you today, though I didn't think you'd let it get to you," Kim confessed. "So, before you say anything, let me say this: Those two are stuck in high school. In the real world, there is no 'food chain,' and there's certainly no made up rules about who's out of whose league. But if you wanna look at it that way, then you and I are in our own league."
She wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, smiling when he reciprocated immediately, like two magnets.
"How lucky am I that my best friend—my favorite person in the whole world—is also the love of my life?" she spoke softly. "You will never lose me. I wish you'd see that I'm the lucky one in this situation."
"Kim, I—"
The sound of the kimmunicator interrupted the moment. It was rare that it rang for a mission nowadays, but there were still some villains out and about.
"Go, Wade," she spoke in her serious tone.
"I've got a tip that Dementor is planning something huge. He's recently stolen dangerous military equipment," Wade informed them.
"How dangerous?" Ron asked.
"The explosive could wipe out an entire city," Wade replied. "He's planning on setting everything in motion Sunday night. You two already have tickets to Bavaria and a room booked for tomorrow."
"Thanks, Wade, we're on our way," Kim told him.
As they took their seats on the plane, Kim said, "Sorry our date night was interrupted."
"S'alright, KP, we gotta stop the bad guy," he replied. "Thanks for tonight."
"No big," she responded.
"Wrong. Very big," he told her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Kim immediately settled her head on his shoulder. Ron pressed a kiss into her hair, his free hand holding hers. His thumb lightly drew circles in the palm of her hand. It wasn't long before she fell soundly asleep.
At one point, midway through their flight, Kim woke up and found Ron fast asleep. She pulled out her book, intent on reading it until they land. Hours passed along slowly, but Kim smiled when she reached the point in the story where they two best friends realized they had fallen in love with one another. The book was an old favorite of hers, but despite having read it several times, she always found herself smiling like an idiot over the main characters finally opening their eyes to one another.
"KP?" Ron mumbled sleepily. "We there yet?"
"About a half hour left, sleepyhead," she laughed. "How do you always manage to get bedhead while sleeping on a plane?"
"It's a talent," he yawned.
When the plane landed, they took a taxi to the hotel. They collapsed on the bed, still exhausted from jet lag. It didn't take long for them to fall back asleep again. They had the coordinates on where Dementor was going to be tomorrow to set his plan in motion. If all went well, they'd stop him before he even started.
Author's Note: I would really love to know your favorite moment of this chapter! The feedback really helps me to figure out what works and what doesn't. Though I've known these characters for 16 years, it's still a bit challenging. Thank you!
