Quick A/N: This is my first and maybe only fanfic, so I may not have formatted it as well as I could have for ffnet's site. Italic script for an entire sentence represents inner monologue. Just bear with me I guess. This oneshot kind of ignores the finale, and a good portion of S4, I suppose. Another A/N is at the end.
Also, I don't own anything I've written about, all characters belong to Disney, yada yada yada.
No Longer Going it Alone.
"Awww man Rufus, this really tanks!" exclaimed the tow-headed young man as he sat at Bueno Nacho, sharing a double-supreme nacho platter and a few Nacos with his lifelong pet and life advisor, who just happened to be a naked mole rat.
"Hnk! Why?" was Rufus' response.
"Why? Because Kim's off visiting Cambridge again. Felix has already moved out to be near MIT. Monique's in North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. Even BONNIE is probably going to be accepted at the University of Wisconsin! And she didn't even graduate on time! And where am I? I'm sitting in a booth at Bueno Nacho #03581, eating nachos by myself. That's why." muttered 18-year-old Ron Stoppable, in a completely dejected manner.
"Hey!" exclaimed Rufus.
Ron favored the little rodent with a small smile. "Sorry little buddy, I guess I'm not by myself." Rufus just nodded and went back to gorging himself on tortilla chips and processed cheese goo.
With a long drag on his king-sized Slurpster, Ron couldn't help but reflect on the past 15 or so years of his life. Meeting Kim Possible in pre-K had undoubtedly been the high point of his life to this point. Without her, Ron's life would've probably been in an even more dire condition today. Even if she hadn't been able to make him care about his grades and his responsibilities, she'd at least taught him to respect himself, and she'd never wavered in her friendship with him, something nobody else in his life (save Rufus) had ever done.
Of course, his life had changed greatly a few years later, when he and Kim started adventuring around the world, saving people, disarming doomsday devices, and meeting some of the world's most interesting people. Overnight, his status had changed from 'aimless teenager' to 'aimless teenaged sidekick of world-renowned teen hero, Kim Possible'. That is, when the news outlets and people they rescued even acknowledged his existence. Regardless of how hard Kim tried to make it clear that they were partners, Ron always seemed to end up just out of frame. Still, he'd enjoyed every minute of it, and by the age of 15 he'd probably met more important figures and visited more exotic locales than most people could hope to see in a lifetime.
About 12 years into their close friendship, he and Kim had started dating. Of course, in typical fashion for the duo, it took an act of Drakken, a syntho-hottie, Bonnie Rockwaller operating in full-on Queen B mode, and the near-destruction of Middleton for them to finally get together, even if the signs of their mutual attraction had been written on the wall for some time. Ron couldn't help but smile as he thought about his relationship with Kim. It was great, and it had brought the two of them even closer together, if that were even possible.
But now things were different. Kim was ambitious, driven, a bit of a perfectionist, and had finished in the top 5 in her class. The globe-trotting teen heroine had the smarts, the drive, and the means to attend any school in the country. Indeed, any school in the world, and she had been all over the United States and the world in the recent months, scoping out universities and meeting faculties and students. This was her second trip to Cambridge, and it looked like she was probably going to be attending school there. It probably helped that she had letters of recommendation from nearly every single important person she had ever saved, more scholarship offers than she knew what to do with, and parents who were definitely on the positive side of well-off.
Ron grimaced as he thought about his own misadventures with school. His grades had been lackluster from start to finish. In fact, he was surprised he wasn't joining Bonnie at summer school. He hadn't spent enough time on the football team to have a real chance at getting one of those scholarships. He hadn't been involved in enough school-related extracurriculars to draw an admissions officer's eye away from his grades. Unlike Kim, he hadn't earned any scholarships, and while his parents were solidly middle-class, they really couldn't afford to send him anywhere he wanted to go, especially with an infant to raise. At least they were willing to let him live at the house if he chose to stay in Middleton, as long as he was still working and contributing to the household. He hadn't even shown the forethought to get letters of recommendation from some of the people he'd known in the past several years. He was sure that Martin Smarty or even Sensei from Yamanouchi would've been glad to give him one. Of course that wouldn't help him now, as he'd already spent all that time filling out applications and had a whole two acceptance letters to show for it. Middleton Community College and Lowerton Technical College had both accepted him.
'Of course' Ron thought somewhat bitterly, 'they'll accept anyone. Humph...you'd think I'd have managed to ride Kim's coattails into some small state school at least.'
Ron had to admit that he had no idea where things were going to go with Kim. They were both depressed about the distance that would keep them apart, but that wasn't going to be enough to stop them from actually ending up on opposite sides of the globe. She kept telling him that she loved him, and that he shouldn't worry, that they could make it work. Ron knew that, apart from Erik and Yori, he and Kim hadn't given any member of the opposite sex any real attention in the past few years, instead seeing each other with complete tunnel-vision, but he still had his doubts that either he or Kim would be able to deal with the distance and loneliness of the sitch forever, despite the strong bond of the heart the two of them clearly shared. He knew they wouldn't blame each other if they did indeed drift apart, but that wouldn't make it any less painful. Still, it was good to hear that she wanted them to work out so badly, even if he couldn't figure out where she was getting her confidence and optimism. Maybe things would be okay. Ron knew that it would be completely wrong to try and hold Kim back for his own sake. She just had too much to offer the world.
Ron had considered his options and decided that he'd go to Lowerton. They offered certifications in both business management and the culinary arts, as well as several other disciplines in case he changed his mind about running a restaurant. Other possibilities had entered Ron's mind. He'd thought of joining the military, but he just couldn't get excited about that idea. He was Ron Stoppable, Mr. Never Be Normal, and not Steve Barkin. He'd considered seeing Sensei about possibly furthering his education at Yamanouchi, but he'd realized that this just wasn't an ideal path. A ninja academy just didn't leave many options in the way of a future career, nor did it offer the peaceful post-teen years he'd decided he wanted. He hadn't been alone in that decision. Ron and Kim had decided that they were ready to lead normal lives once they graduated high school, at least while they were in college. They couldn't be teen heroes forever, after all. She'd said that they could decide after college if they wanted to resume work with an organization like Global Justice. Ron didn't yet have the heart or guts to tell Kim that he had probably hung up his mission gear for good. He'd probably never tell her that he hoped she would do the same. No, he was just going to continue to work at Smarty Mart, and attend night courses at LTC. Or maybe he'd switch to second shift at Smarty Mart and attend LTC during the day. He really hadn't decided yet. But he had decided that he was no longer a teen hero.
So wrapped up was Ron in his thoughts and his meal that he almost didn't notice the small, bubbly voice that came from his right.
"Hey Ron!"
Ron looked up and smiled when he saw that the greeting had come from Tara Strong, his one-time teammate on the Middleton Mad Dogs cheer squad and Middleton High's former resident blond bombshell. "Hola Tara! How's it going?"
"Oh, I'm fine." said Tara as she stood there in her conservative shorts and small t-shirt, holding a chimirrito combo and a small diet Coke. "Are you here all by yourself? I never see you here without Kim."
"Yeah, except for Rufus here" groused Ron as he pointed to the naked mole rat sleeping on the table. "Pretty much everyone I know is off at their colleges of choice, but I'm still here." said Ron, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.
"Oh. Mind if I sit down?" asked Tara.
"Nah. It'd be bon-diggity to have someone to talk to right now, actually." replied Ron.
Tara plunked herself down in the bench across from Ron and took a few bites before she began to speak. "So, what's got the Ronster looking so down? You were always so cheerful when you were on the squad."
"Ehh, I dunno, Tara. I guess I just feel like I've wasted every opportunity I had and everything I did in high school and now everyone is moving on with life and I'm feeling left behind." replied Ron as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
Tara stopped eating and looked at him quizzically. She was sure she understood what he meant completely, in fact she had been having similar feelings lately, but decided to let him keep talking. "What do you mean?"
Ron took a breath. "I never paid any attention to my grades and I never really applied myself to anything." Ron paused. "And then I never took any credit for anything I did with Kim and completely goofed my college applications, so now my only real option is Lowerton Technical College, while everyone else is going all around the country and the world. Kim's even going to school in Cambridge! That's almost as far away as England!"
Tara stifled a giggle and decided not to correct Ron's iffy geography skills. "LTC? You're kidding! That's where I'm going! I'm going into their nursing program, I plan to be a registered nurse."
"You're going to LTC too? Coolio! I'm going to be taking business and culinary classes, so I can hopefully open a restaurant someday!" Hearing that there would be a familiar face at Lowerton definitely cheered Ron up. "Mind if I ask why you chose LTC?"
"Well, my grades in school were okay" said Tara, frowning a bit "but nothing spectacular, so I didn't get any of the scholarships I applied for. I can't really afford to go away to school either, so I didn't bother to apply to any faraway schools. I did manage to get some decent financial aid though, which is helpful."
Ron found himself lost in thought for a second. He didn't know Tara as well as he knew Felix or Monique, but he'd learned enough about her that he could probably piece together her situation.
'Oh man, that's right, her mom died like 10 years ago. I remember meeting her dad at the cheer squad parents night last year.' thought Ron.
As great a guy as Tara's dad had seemed when they met, Ron knew that he couldn't possibly afford to send Tara and her 2 younger siblings away to college on a widower plumber's salary and still hope to make his house payments and pay for whatever else his kids needed. Tara's continued education was probably up to her and her alone.
'I can't believe she's still so upbeat and such a sweetheart.' mused Ron. 'Her dad did a pretty good job, I'd say. '
"Ron? Are you still there? Hello Ron?" asked Tara, trying to snap Ron out of the haze he seemed to have slipped into.
"Oh, sorry Tara! Guess I wandered off for a second." he said, sheepishly.
"So, between my student aid and working second shift at the Lowerton Med Center, I should be able to swing LTC and a studio apartment in Lowerton." continued Tara. " No sense in burdening dad any more, since he's still got Katie and Robbie to look after. What are you planning to do? Gonna stay at Smarty Mart?"
"Yeah, I'm going to keep herding the animals at Smarty Mart" said Ron with his trademark lopsided grin "I'm thinking of switching to second shift and attending morning classes at LTC though." said Ron, not mentioning that he hadn't quite decided on the second shift idea until Tara had mentioned that she would be doing the same thing.
'It'd be nice to see a familiar face at school during the day, maybe at lunch or something.' thought Ron.
"Cool!" exclaimed Tara, equally enthused at the thought of knowing somebody at LTC. "Are you going to move out or keep living with your parents?"
"My parents said I can keep living in their attic as long as I'm still working and going to school." said Ron before continuing. "My dad just got himself a newer car and told me I could have his old Buick, so I'm just going to commute to LTC in that." finished Ron, his voice getting a little bit excited at the prospect of finally having his first car.
"That sounds great." said Tara. "You don't have to pay rent and you can still watch your sister on weekends if your parents need a break."
"Yeah" said Ron with a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure that's one of the reasons they're willing to let me stay at home."
The two of them sat and munched in silence for a few moments. Rufus stirred, and after giving Tara a quick greeting, retreated to Ron's pocket to continue his nap.
"You realize that's totally weird, don't you?" asked Tara with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, no dissin' the Rufus!" Ron shot back.
"Nah, he's too cute to diss." chuckled Tara.
Rufus shot out of Ron's pocket with a quick "Heya!" and a thumbs up before diving back in.
Both teens laughed, before turning back to the topic of school.
"Have you been out to the new Lowerton campus yet?" asked Tara.
"No, but I heard it's nice." replied Ron.
"It's great. They donated the old inner-city campus to the city so they could turn it into a park and community center. The new campus is on the outskirts of the south end of town, right off the interstate, so it'll be easy to get to. I'll probably be taking the Lowerton Transit bus there, myself, since route eight goes straight to the school."
"The south end of town?" asked Ron. "Isn't that near where the Tri-City Nature Preserve is?"
"Yep, they've got it built right outside the preserve, and they tried to blend the architecture in with the natural setting. It looks really nice, and its a great area! The woods are so...woodsy! The campus will look badical in the autumn!" chirped Tara, not noticing that she'd used a Ron-ism.
Ron smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown as he realized that he wouldn't be sharing any of this with Kim. Tara picked up on his change in mood immediately.
"You okay, Ron?"
"Yeah, I'm just kind of bummed that Kim and I are going to be so far apart. We've been at each others' side for so long, it's just going to be hard to get used to." explained Ron, making no effort to hide his feelings.
"You're really upset about this, aren't you?" asked a sympathetic Tara.
"Yeah." started Ron. "Kim keeps saying I shouldn't worry so much, but I'm just scared that we won't keep it together. We'll both be doing our own things and meeting new people, we won't be seeing each other on missions anymore, and we'll be on opposite ends of the earth. I just have trouble keeping my spirits up in this sitch."
Tara sat and listened to Ron's fears quietly.
'I'm surprised Kim is willing to travel so far away from such a sweet, funny, caring guy.' thought Tara. 'I'm not sure if I'd be able to, even if I could go to school anywhere I wanted.'
"I guess I can sort of understand how you feel." said Tara.
Ron looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I was so bummed when Josh went away to college last year. And I'm going to miss Bonnie when she goes off to Wisconsin, she's been my best friend since we were 7, believe it or not." explained Tara.
Ron just nodded.
By now, both of them had finished their lunches, and were about ready to get on with their afternoons.
"What's your plan for the rest of the day, Ron?" asked Tara.
"I dunno. Probably just go home and play some Zombie Mayhem 4, and then maybe cook some dinner for me and Rufus. My parents are at an actuarial conference in Sacramento, and Hana is at my aunt's house." said Ron.
"Well, I was going to take the Tri-City light-rail line down to Lowerton and do some registration paperwork and stuff." said Tara. "Something you should probably do soon too, if you're going to school there." she continued in a somewhat scolding tone.
"You're right! I haven't even seen the new campus yet. Hey, why don't we both go down there? We can take my Buick." said Ron. "I just have to stop at home and get my acceptance letters and information packet." he continued. "And, if you aren't busy, it'd hurricane rock if you stayed for dinner when we get back to Middleton. I was going to make lasagna!" he finished.
"Sounds like a plan." said Tara with a smile. She hadn't had any Ron-cooked food since that time he'd taken over the home economics class.
Before they got up to leave, Tara gingerly reached out and placed a delicate hand over Ron's large paw. Ron looked up, with a confused expression on his face.
"Ron, I just want to say that I'm really glad to hear that we're both going to LTC. I was so worried that I'd be completely on my own, with no friends or familiar faces, and now I feel so relieved." she said with an earnest smile. "And, if you ever feel lonely or want someone to talk to about Kim or school or anything else, I'll be here and happy to talk and hang out with you."
Ron looked into Tara's pretty sky-blue eyes and smiled. Even when it seemed like everyone was moving on, he still had good people close to him. He may have been unsure about what was going to happen with Kim, and he may have been uncertain about his new sitch, but he no longer felt like he was facing it all by himself, and for that he was incredibly grateful.
"Back at ya, Tara" he said with his lopsided grin. She smiled back.
And, with that the two blond teens got up and left Bueno Nacho #03581, both feeling considerably better than they had when they'd entered. They may not have been certain about their futures, but they were no longer going it alone.
A/N:
So, there it is, my first ever fanfic, and possibly my last ever fanfic. Writing these things just isn't something I usually think to do. This one was borne out of a beer and pizza induced haze on a boring Thursday night. For some reason I just decided to write a short fanfic, and in a couple of hours I hammered this out. I went with a scene that has surely happened countless times across America. Not everyone goes to the college of their dreams, or even goes at all. The timeframe for this fic is immediately following their high school graduation. Very early summer.
I'm usually a fan of K/R (and D/S), with occasional forays into Ron/whomever. Could never really get into KiGo. Tara has always been one of my favorite characters, and I decided she could use some love, so I wrote something about her and Ron sharing a friendly lunch. I also had the easiest time picturing her in a 'school and future' situation similar to Ron's. Thought I'd give her a little back-story too.
I purposely tried to make the interactions and relationships here a bit ambiguous.
Kim and Ron are being distanced from each other and embarking on different life paths, but still share a strong bond of love and friendship in this story, despite Ron's insecurity and Kim's lack of presence. They both want their love to work. I honestly don't know if Ron would really hang his mission clothes up for good after high school, but I decided to keep that part in the story. Heck, I don't even know if Kim and Ron really would attend schools so far apart, or different schools at all, but it makes for a fertile fanfic topic.
Even if Ron and Tara are both happy to have each other as friends first and foremost, I think they're still able to appreciate one another as members of the opposite sex. Is Tara offering her support to Ron and Kim's future, or is she taking her first step on the path to claiming Ron for herself? Why did she come to Ron in the first place? Why was Ron so eager to change his Smarty Mart schedule? Did Ron invite her to dinner as just a friend, or is something else at work? I'm not certain myself, and I wrote it!
The girl Ron ends up with in the future is purposely left open to possibility. Basically, that's the reader's call.
I hope you enjoyed this, and feel free to R/R. My feelings don't get hurt that easily, so honesty is your best policy.