KP – The Light at the End: Part 54


"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this fine Saturday to bear witness…"

Ron caught himself almost stuffing his hands in his pocket for perhaps the tenth time since the ceremony began. Up until five minutes before the music started, he was pretty much assuming all he had to do was sit quietly in the nearly empty pews and dream about the two different precessions that would occur over the next few weeks. Watching Shego and Drakken getting married was just going to be a little tune-up for theirs, though it was likely there wouldn't be quite so many seats empty. No, it was more a matter of figuring out who they would notinvite so they could actually fit their wedding into Kim's church.

That didn't turn out to be the case. He was already settled into a seat just to the side of Kim's parents, who both seemed slightly amused they had been invited to the event at the last possible moment. It wasn't clear whether they were there as a function of James being Drakken's one-time college buddy, or the fact that Anne had been the one to care for Sherry when she was pregnant and had been pretty much forced to deliver the baby in her own home. Maybe it was Drakken's usual lack of thorough planning, or perhaps he really didn't know any better, but just as the organist was sitting down to start the pre-ceremony music, the Pastor who had been enlisted to perform the marriage came up to him, begging him to stand as Best Man, primarily because his fiancé was the maid of honor. Shrugging, he quickly agreed, having pretty much familiarized himself with the position while discussing it with Felix.

He was quite a bit surprised they were having the wedding at a church instead of driving into Middleton to hold it at the county courthouse. Neither Drakken nor Shego seemed to be particularly religious, and he could have sworn he heard somewhere that Sherry was actually raised Jewish as a child. Not that it mattered all that much to him, since his wedding was going to be held in a much larger Christian sanctuary, despite his heritage and faith. For just a moment he considered what Drew Lipsky had been like as a child. He'd never actually laid eyes on the man's mother before that day, but he had heard enough from Kim and her Mom to think she had probably dragged him to services every Sunday, his thick body poured into an ill-fitting suit.

That thought made him chuckle very slightly. The suit he was wearing wasn't custom-tailored like his tux would be, but it did fit him well enough. Kim saw to that, dragging him to the mall the day before the wedding, since his own Temple clothes were…slightly short in the legs and snug across his chest.

His first duty was to squire the two bridesmaids to the alter in turn, since the pastor hadn't been able to talk anyone else into being ushers. Ron beamed at Kim, seeing her for the first time in the dress. She blushed slightly and favored him with a sheepish smile, embarrassed to actually be seen by even him in it. She might have hated the dress, but the pale green did offset her fiery red hair, and the fit was astoundingly fantastic, if you looked past the slightly silly pattern. You look beautiful, he thought in her direction as hard as he could, as if he could simply re-forge the mental link they had shared during one of their adventures. Somehow it seemed to work, or she simply was just that simpatico with him to know what he was thinking, because she immediately brightened up.

Bonnie didn't seem to be happy at all, glaring at him as he reached for her arm, almost as if the old Bonnie Rockwaller was trying to reassert herself. That thought alone made him shudder for a moment, recalling all the horrible things she had said and done, each carefully crafted to goad them into doing something they were accustomed to doing to the real villains. All that passed quickly, since he knew the real truth about her and what she might one day become. None of that would help in the meantime, so he resorted to a tiny bit of Ronshine. He just mouthed the words You look nice at her, and that seemed to placate her for the moment.

Doctor Drakken was the next to appear, looking simultaneously nervous and happy. Somehow, even though he was wearing a rented black tux, he looked a lot more like the Drakken of old, with his hair teased up into a sort of short Mohawk and his ponytail neatly tied against his collar. Not needing or wanting to hide who he was for the occasion, he seemed to carry himself at his full six feet, looking for all the world like he was about to launch into a rant about his latest take-over-the-world scheme. His smile widened into a grin, flashing brilliantly white teeth, choppers Ron sometimes likened to piano keys. The man might have been an evil genius, but he did know how to take care of his smile.

While the groom was on his way to the alter, he had a chance to really take a look around the sanctuary. It was almost embarrassing, though he guessed it wasn't all too bad since the church was rather small. The rest of Sherry's brothers did manage to make it on time, so at least her immediate family was there. The short, rotund woman with pinkish hair he supposed was Drakken's mother, but that was it for his side of the family. That did make sense in a way, as Motor Ed was still cooling his heels after his last caper, though he didn't think Drakken would really want his mullet-headed cousin there anyway…

…seriously.

The only person he could quite figure out was the young lady sitting in the next-to-last pew. She was a slight woman, with puffy blond hair disappearing behind her back. She was sitting well behind Team Go, making him think she might be related to the Godfrey family in some way. She even bore a slight resemblance to the one-time villainess, but her only other known relative was waiting in the hallway outside the sanctuary, wearing a frilly violet dress with a basket full of flower petals.

Was that what Sherry would look like as a blond? He mused. Not a good look. Pale skin and light colored hair didn't go well together. After all, he should know. If it wasn't for his plethora of dark freckles, he'd look pretty much like a ghost himself.

The music changed. A lot of people thought the 'Wedding March' was a horrible cliché, but tradition often won out over style. Kim wanted it at her ceremony, despite the objections of her pastor, who thought it a bit to secular for such a holy event. For an instant, Ron pictured himself standing where Drakken was, and the bride appearing at the door flame-haired instead of raven, wearing a brilliant white gown instead of mint.

That was yet to come. Just a few more weeks. Granted, they were shaping up to be the toughest few weeks of his life, but soon it all would be over. He would have a college diploma, a nice, new home and a woman he loved with all his heart to spend the rest of his life with.

All in all, those were very appropriate thoughts to have at a wedding, even if it was between Drakken and Shego.

Amethyst preceded her mother, idly dropping flower petals in her path, looking much more like a very small young lady than a youngster just growing out of toddlerhood. A long lock of brown hair fell across the child's nose, mirroring her mother's usual hair style almost perfectly.

He almost gasped at the first sight of Sherry in her wedding dress. Not for an instant did he think anything untoward about her wearing green instead of white. This was Shego, the queen of green getting married, and anything less would have just been sick and wrong. From the first time he had laid eyes on her in a fuzzy freeze-frame from Dr. Acari's jungle lab, he thought she was a beautiful woman. Make that an incredibly hot woman, one who hadn't seemed to age one day in the intervening six years. Her long hair was caught up in ribbons, forming a bow of white silk at the very end. Her veil was indeed white, but that couldn't hide her bright emerald eyes, or the huge smile plastered on her black lips.

Ron started just for a moment when he realized she was fully powered up. That lasted just a blink of an eye, since he knew in his heart it was exactly what everyone should have expected.

Kim leaned forward just slightly, making eye contact with Ron as Sherry stood beside Drakken and the preacher started. It was meant to bring him back to the moment, but his mind was already skipping ahead to their own wedding. Just the thought of wearing the white yarmulke made his finger involuntarily go to straighten the black one he was wearing at that instant.

"Do you, Sheryl Lynnette Godfrey take this man…"


Amethyst had a bad moment when she realized Ron was looking directly at her. If Kim had noticed her sitting in the back, it was a lot more likely she would have been recognized, but sometimes her future foster-father could see things others couldn't. Fortunately, it was only fleeting, as he turned his attention back to the ceremony at hand.

She couldn't help but cry as she watched her younger self go by, followed by her mother. That was the big drawback of being an actual participant in the proceedings. She didn't have a very good view from her place up near the alter as her mother, and the man she always considered her true father finally tied the knot. That was why she couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it from the pews, even if it meant discovery. It was all she could do to hope that, if she was recognized, that, given the nature of the day, Kim would leave well enough alone and not spoil her friend's special day. There was a little bit of guilt associated with that thought, since she'd really be the one at fault, but as she thought before, she just couldn't pass it up.

Just as the "I dos" were exchanged, she realized that her younger self was staring directly at her. She had an awful thought that the small child might have had some special insight into recognizing her older self, but that passed just as quickly since she vaguely remembered the 'strange' blond woman from the wedding too. Even at three, she was already accustomed to many odd things, so an unknown woman was nothing to be troubled over.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as "Daddy" lifted her mother's veil and kissed her for the first time as his lawfully wedded wife. Mixed in with those tears were slightly sadder ones, since she knew, as they started back down the aisle, it was time for her to make her exit. No party for Amethyst Stoppable this day.

She calmly slipped out the door while all eyes were on the newlyweds, and lensed away unseen.

There was much to do in the next few days. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and soon she would be able to return to her own husband and family.


"I know it really should be Ron to say this, Sherry, but mozel tov!" Kim said after hugging the taller woman.

"What she said." Ron chimed in, still gripping Drakken's hand in a tight handshake, the older man's hand nearly disappearing in his big paw.

"So, what's the sitch with the honeymoon?" Kim pressed, still holding Sherry's hand.

"Princess, if you have to ask, I think you need to go back to Middleton High School and take a few more health classes." She grinned wickedly as Kim's cheeks almost matched her hair. "I'm kidding, Kimmie. Drakken's got a surprise for me, that's it."

"Yes…a surprise." The blue-skinned megalomaniac said softly, staring at the ceiling of the reception hall.

"I was really hoping maybe we'd go to Niagara Falls. Of all the places in the world I've been, I've never actually been there. Isn't that strange?"

"I'm just surprised he never tried to build a lair under the falls." Ron joked.

"What? What do you know, who have you been talking to?" Drakken's eyes narrowed, the black pupils locked directly on the younger man.

"Whoa, Drakken, you are not going to be building a lair there, or anywhere, got it?" Sherry nearly growled, nodding toward her daughter.

"Oh, I'm just kidding." His face softened almost instantly. "If you want to go to Niagara Falls, we go to Niagara falls." He shot Ron another glance, making him wonder if the semi-reformed villain really was kidding or not.

"There's just one little detail we need to take care of first." Sherry said, looking directly at Kim.

"Cutting the cake?" Ron asked.

"No." Sherry answered. "That's taken care of, we just have to go through with it."

"First dance…dollar dance?"

Sherry shot him a confused look. "Dollar dance?"

"Never mind." Ron quickly covered.

"You'll explain that one to me…later, Ronnie." Kim switched to holding her fiancé's hand. "For a moment there, I thought she was going to ask us to take care of Ammie while they were on their honeymoon."

Sherry's skin was already fading back to 'normal' but the smile the crossed her ebon-glossed lips harkened back to her former life. "Actually, pumpkin, that's precisely the last little detail I was talking about."

Kim paused for a moment, taken aback. "Wait, I've got my own wedding coming up, finals to prepare for, a honeymoon to plan…I can't…"

"Pwease?"

Kim's eyes shot wide in open shock. She couldn't believe what she was actually seeing. Only a moment before there had been a wicked grin in the slightly older woman's face. In the twinkling of an eye, it had changed completely, her eyes getting as large as possible, her lower lip jutting out. "No, not the puppy-dog-pout!"

"That's hers!" Ron protested.

None of that helped. If anything, she just poured on the power, turning the heroine's most powerful weapon back on her.

Resistance, as the semi-robotic villains in Space Passage would often say, was…not possible.

Kim could do anything, including being caught with her own ploys.

"Oh, alright. It's not like we haven't taken care of a little girl before."

"Is CJ going to be there?" The little girl asked, appearing at her mother's side.

"I'm sure she can come over to play." Kim said.

"Yay!" Amethyst skipped off, begging one of her uncles to get her some punch.

"You sure it's going to be okay?" Sherry looked after her daughter as Mego bent to give the little girl her drink.

"Yeah. I guess we can put her in CJ's room a few days. You are just going to be gone a few days, right?"

"Well duh, princess. It's not like we're going to be traipsing halfway across the universe, dumping the most important person in my life on you."

"The most…?" Drakken asked, confused.

"You're number two, Drakken." She gave him a quick, but warm kiss. "A very close number two. You know that." That seemed to placate him, as he got a wistful look in his eyes, his mind already skipping ahead to the honeymoon.


Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney