Kim woke up in her bed after getting four hours of sleep from the previous night. Her parents had given her a house slave who was responsible for aiding her throughout the day and she frowned when she didn't see her anywhere. Wasn't she supposed to wake her up? Kim rubbed her tired eyes and was thankful she let her sleep. The hot Georgia heat woke her up and she knew even if she tried, she'd never fall back asleep. She stretched and got out of bed to start her day.

Her house slave entered the room, a dark skinned girl the same age as Kim. Monique gave her a look with her eyebrows raised, indicating she knew what Kim had been up to the night before. It wasn't a mystery since her nightgown had dirt all over it from laying on the ground and her feet probably weren't any better. "You left at night again? Miss Kimberly, you know you aren't supposed to do that. Girl, if the Master and Missus find out, you're in deep trouble," Monique lectured.

"I told you, call me Kim," she replied and rolled her eyes.

"Don't change the topic, Miss Kimberly," Monique piped.

"What else is there to say?" Kim said and flopped back against her pillows, her blankets already on the floor since she must have kicked them off in her sleep. "Will my parents approve of me going out at night? No. Will I stop? No. I'm going to do it because I crave the fun, as minimal as it is." Kim stood up and helped take her own clothes off as Monique undressed her to get ready for the day ahead. Dressing was always a chore and Kim hated the seven layers she had to be put in every day. The worst of it was the corset. Monique fastened it around her and began pulling at the strings. "And there's another girl, well, I guess she's a woman. She's maybe a year or two older than me and she's just…Monique, can you keep a secret?" Kim turned around once her corset was put into place.

"Miss, if I couldn't keep a secret, you'd be at finishing school," she pointed out. Kim nodded excitedly and couldn't wait to tell her everything. Kim considered Monique her best friend. She could tell her anything and everything, which was something she admired about the girl. She couldn't tell her other friends secrets because they'd gossip about her, completely destroying her reputation which would really put a dent in her parents' reputations and she didn't want to hurt anybody because of the decisions she made.

"You know that girl I told you about? The one I met back in Atlanta years ago?" Kim asked.

"Ah, yes," Monique nodded. "If I remember, she's a neighbor."

"Exactly!" Kim nodded vigorously. "Well, I found her on the property last night." Kim knew her smile was ridiculous and she was glad Monique was too busy dressing her to see it.

"Last night?" Monique paused briefly, but then continued to pull up Kim's skirts.

"Yes," Kim said.

"What was she doin' on Master James' land?" Monique asked.

"She was stealing peaches," Kim blurted out. "But it's okay. It's just peaches," she said when she saw Monique's look of bewilderment. "It's fruit my parents forget about all the time at the edge of the property. I can't tell anyone, either, because how would I know?" Kim said quickly and forgot to breathe until the end of her outburst.

"Go on," Monique said after a moment of silence. Kim swallowed hard and continued.

"She awakened something inside me that day I met her. I never knew what having an adventure was like until I followed her in Atlanta. Ever since, I've craved that sense of freedom that I cannot have." Monique already knew why Kim went outside some nights and climbed trees, ran through the grass, and occasionally attempted a summersault in the yard. "Anyway, we talked and then we looked at the stars. She was telling me about constellations and she wanted to show me Hercules, but I couldn't see it because I didn't know what it was. So today, I shall go into the library and look it up!" Kim declared. Her smile faltered when Monique frowned.

"Miss Kimberly, you don't really have no business lookin' in the library for books like that," Monique stated. "I get that you like to climb and run like a boy, but you shouldn't be reading books you know women don't have business reading."

"It's just stars," Kim shrugged.

"I guess stars aren't so bad," Monique said slowly. "Just be careful."

"Don't worry about me so much," Kim said and gave Monique a quick hug once she was all dressed.

"I'll wash your nightgown," Monique said when she collected Kim's nightclothes.

"Thank you," Kim said. "You're great, Monique."

"That's just because I clean up after you and don't say nothin'. Now, go to breakfast. Everyone's probably waiting." Monique put a brush through Kim's hair and didn't bother styling it yet since Kim was running late that morning.

Kim nodded and rushed downstairs to breakfast. Monique was indeed right; even her brothers were at the table before her. They gave her an irritated look since nobody could start eating until they said grace. Kim gave a sheepish smile before she got into her chair and clasped hands with her mother to her right. Her father cleared his throat and thanked God for their meal. The moment his father said amen, the twins dug into their food as if they never ate in their entire lives. Kim, on the other hand, ate carefully and delicately just like her mother. She was in a hurry to get to the library, but she'd never get there if she was scolded and punished by practicing piano for three hours without stopping.

Kim didn't pay attention to the conversations at the table. Her parents were talking amongst themselves while her brothers were snickering and playing with their food when nobody was looking after they finished eating. Nobody corrected their wolfish way of devouring their food because they were boys and they'd learn to be gentlemen soon enough. The twins knew how to act in public and put on a respectable show, but at home, the two would get into all sorts of mischief that Kim wished she could have gotten away with back when she was younger.

The fourteen year old decided to think of other things, such as the constellations in the night sky. She wondered how many there were because Hercules couldn't have been the only one. Maybe there were five? Ten? Twenty? One hundred constellations? That would be amazing, Kim thought, and she wondered why nobody ever spoke to her about them. "You're awfully quiet this morning, Kimberly," her father spoke up. It wasn't like she talked all that much since her mind tended to wander. But she realized she was sitting there with a grin on her face in anticipation to go to the library and she wasn't really eating anymore. "Are you feeling well?"

"I feel fine," Kim assured him. "I'm sorry, father. I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" James Possible asked.

Kim wasn't sure how much she should tell him. On one hand, perhaps he might be able to help her find a book on the constellations in his library; on the other hand, he could easily tell her it wasn't something she should worry about. Kim took a deep breath. "Well," she began. "I've been looking outside at the stars lately because I overheard a gentleman at last week's barbeque speaking about the stars and constellations. I know it is terrible of me to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but overhear about it."

"Is that all?" James laughed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a little curious."

"I am," she smiled at her father. "Just a little."

"There is probably a book in the library about this. I will fetch it for you after breakfast."

"Thank you, father!" Kim beamed.

After breakfast, Kim followed her father to the library and would have jumped for joy if her multiple layers of clothing weren't so restricted. She gave him a hug when he produced just the book she needed and she sat down on one of the chairs near the currently unused fireplace and began to read. She started off reading about Hercules. She observed the starts which made it and couldn't wait to try and identify it. It turned out that Hercules wasn't just a constellation, but also a Greek demigod. Kim wasn't really sure what that meant, but didn't dwell on it. She was more concerned with impressing Shego by being able to identify multiple constellations next time she saw her.

The next time Kim saw Shego, she found her taking peaches from the tree again about two days from when she began reading the book on constellations her father found for her. Kim had been coming out every single night to see if she'd find Shego by the peach trees. In the moonlight and dressed in nothing but her night clothes, Kim ran as fast as she could towards Shego with the book held tightly against her chest which prevented her from using her arms to balance as she ran, so she stumbled ungracefully a couple of times. She smiled broadly at Shego and looked up to her, making eye contact with her piercing green eyes.

Shego smirked when she saw her, a hand on her hip, and her cloak hood was down. The moon was bright and full enough so Shego didn't need a lantern this time. Kim thought Shego looked stunning as always and admired her physical features. She held the book out. "I've been reading all about the constellations," Kim beamed. Shego wordlessly took the book from her and scoffed at it after thumbing through it, handing it back to Kim in a not so friendly manner. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Well, that book isn't very good," Shego stated.

"I read about a lot of constellations," Kim argued. "I learned a lot and I can identify some of them, even Hercules."

"I guess I can't blame you for trying," Shego sighed. "Kimmie, being able to locate the constellations wasn't my point."

"Then what was it?" Kim let her anger subside because her curiosity was stronger.

"My point was that you should start learning things, not just wonder about them."

"But I did learn," Kim pointed out.

"I will admit, you did learn. I was probably a little harsh before because this is your first time wondering about something and learning about it. But the book you chose is poor and it doesn't tell you much. Did it mention explorers using the stars to navigate their ships? Did it point out the Greeks and Romans in detail? Did it explain why the constellations are named what they are?"

"No," Kim shook her head and stayed quiet to listen to Shego.

"The thing is, princess, you need to ask further questions and ask not only what, but why, how, and when. Tell me something, Kimmie. Did you find that book by yourself in the library?"

"I asked my father for a book and he gave me one," Kim admitted and looked down at her feet, slightly ashamed.

"That's what I thought," Shego sighed. "Your father gave you that book because it's simple. Men think women are the simple minded sex and they like to keep us unaware of knowledge. There's a reason why men only send men to university," the raven haired woman explained with such devotion.

"Men aren't all terrible," Kim said more to persuade herself that Shego was wrong, which she wasn't because Kim didn't know of any university that accepted women. She knew her brothers were destined to get a higher education, but Kim's academic education ended a couple of years ago. The content she was learning lately was how to sit, how to act, and how to dress appropriately for many occasions. But that was important, wasn't it? If a lady didn't learn how to be a lady, then what was her purpose?

"I bet the things you're learning are all about how to find and attract a husband so you can marry and produce a male heir." Shego made it sound awful. The words she used to describe Kim's current education made it sound vile and wrong. Kim scrunched her nose when she heard Shego's harsh words she wasn't sure she wanted to believe because that meant her whole life so far was a joke.

"Isn't that what you're learning, too?" Kim asked. Shego was silent for a long time. Kim watched as Shego grabbed a peach off of the tree and bit into it. The fruit was ripe and juicy. Kim noted how Shego didn't let the juice unattractively dribble down her chin and chewed with her mouth closed. She swallowed without making a sound before taking another bite. It seemed as if she was contemplating her words carefully.

"No," Shego said slowly. "Nobody is teaching me anything. However, I know how to imitate and that's all I need to do to get by sometimes. In order to be the perfect wife, all you have to do is copy people. You don't actually have to learn which fork to use or to wear black when you're in mourning. These are things you can just learn from experiencing it and simply living in a society."

"If that's true, then why bother teaching us how to be respectable women?" Kim queried, not to discredit what Shego just said, but because of pure curiosity alone.

"To distract us from actual learning," Shego replied without missing a beat. "It is thought that men are the superior sex and are smarter. The only reason why they seem more intelligent than us is because they keep us from learning by distracting us with poetry and fiction, keeping nonfiction from us so we cannot learn anymore so we don't end up thinking about anything of importance."

"My father gave me this nonfiction book to read." Kim gestured to the book she still held in her arms.

"It's simplistic. He doesn't care that you can see pictures in the sky, Kimmie. What he cares about is you learning who came up with the names of the constellations, their importance for travel, and why people connected the dots to make it seem like the stars make pictures in the sky." Shego tossed her half eaten peach on the ground with a soft thud.

"That can't be true," Kim said, not wanting to believe Shego's words about her father.

"Then ask him to teach you all about the stars," Shego challenged. Kim only frowned. She had a feeling her father wouldn't like her asking so many questions and demanding answers to questions that wouldn't help her out in her future. Kim knew her future husband wouldn't want to have intellectual conversations with her based on anything but poetry and important literary works in fiction which made her seem cultural and interesting. Some women didn't even get to read, Kim recalled.

"Listen," Shego put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "I don't think you're an idiot. I think your curiosity is a great thing. Most women don't run around at night and climb trees. You do these things because you want the freedom to do as you please without judgment and you crave it. I like that you question me. A lot of women don't question anything and that's the problem, or at least, they don't do anything about it."

"What should I do?" Kim asked in a quiet voice.

Shego took the book out of Kim's arms and flipped to the page with the constellation Hercules. "This book claims that Hercules is a Greek demigod. See here? Do you know what a demigod is?" Kim shook her head. Shego went on to explain that if Kim didn't know something, she should search for the answer. Kim learned that a demigod was part mortal, part god and that Hercules wasn't actually the Greek demigod. "Hercules is the Roman version of Heracles, the actual Greek demigod. The Romans renamed the Greek gods, but were essentially the same."

"Then why did the book say that Hercules was the Greek demigod?" Kim queried.

Shego told her not everything in print was correct. If Kim wanted to get answers, she'd have to check her sources and read reliable books. She learned that books written by people who were known scholars were generally good sources. The more Kim read, the more she'd learn how to figure out the reliability and accuracy of the source. Kim was clueless on how someone could write an entire book and then the information in it was not completely accurate.

She wasn't paying attention to what Shego just said, and she blushed when Shego gave her an annoyed look with one eyebrow up high and the other resting there normally. When she was alone, Kim tried to do that herself, but found she couldn't. She marveled at Shego's elegance, even if the girl was dressed in a nightgown and the shoes she wore were obviously too big and looked like they belonged to a man. "What?" Kim gave a nervous grin.

Shego shook her head, but smirked. "I said don't let anyone see you read anything that'll make you think about the real world," she repeated. "I have to get going." Shego adjusted the sack of peaches on her shoulder and quickly turned to go back home. Kim watched Shego run and she noted how her shoes flopped and slightly slipped off her heels.

"Wait!" Kim shouted to get her to stop because she didn't say goodbye and she needed to know if she'd see Shego soon.

"Yes?" Shego turned around and stopped running, but continued to walk backwards. Kim didn't hear her take in deep breaths as she talked and wondered just how much Shego had to run in order to have that much stamina.

"I'll see you soon?" Kim queried.

"Probably not," Shego said before she sprinted off into the dark and left Kim with many questions left unanswered.

Thank you so much for the feedback in your reviews! I really listen to what you guys have to say, so please let me know if there's anything I need to change going forward or any other critiques you might have. I'm doing my best to keep the time period as close to accurate as possible (no pun intended). Thanks again and I am so glad those of you reading this found interest in this story!