At first the voices were indistinguishable. As they slowly morphed into familiar tones, Kim rolled onto her side.

"Just five more minutes..." she mumbled inaudibly, thinking it was time for school. But the voices didn't leave her alone. They buzzed around her head like a swarm of bees, forcing her back to conciousness.

"Kim?" she opened her eyes, then just as quickly shut them again. The light was so BRIGHT!

"Uggh" she moaned.

"Kimmie, you need to wake up now, sweetie." This time when she opened her eyes she could make out a blurry form hovering over her.

"Mom?" The form split in two and cleared, showing both her parents' worried faces. She tried to sit up, but the room began to spin dizzyingly, leaving her more disoriented than she had been.

"Don't try to sit up yet. You're body's still recuperating from the drugs."

"Drugs?! What drugs?!! What happened!?" her parents exchanged a look that held a plethora of hidden meanings.

"Just try to relax, honey," her mom said gently. Kim supposed she should listen to her... after all she WAS a brain surgeon and would know about the effect of different drugs... but she had a strange feeling that she was missing something important. A little pink creature jumped up onto the table beside her bed and everything came rushing back in a terrifying tempest. Clutching her head, Kim tried not to cry out, but the pain was too unbearable.

"It's ok, sweetie, I know it hurts. Just let it out." Her mom rubbed circles on her back slowly, comfortingly. Kim threw her arms around her mom and began to cry.

"Mom! Ron... I... he..."

"Shhhh. I know." Kim continued to weep, oblivious to her parents, Rufus, or anything around her.

After Kim had cried herself back to sleep, her parents quietly left the room, shutting the door behind them. They made their way downstairs to the living room, where Ron's parents sat on the couch. When, earlier that afternoon, the strange flying saucer had landed in their yard, the twins had thought it was a great new toy. But Rufus and Blaze had exited the ship, locking it behind them, with a note to Ron's parents. They had composed it during the flight and typed it out so that the Stoppables could understand. Rufus had led Blaze into the Possible's kitchen, with the twins trailing behind them, curious to know what was going on.

Kim's mother had been cooking dinner when they entered, and, upon seeing TWO naked mole rats she had scolded the twins, playfully, about cloning experiments. But Rufus had scurried over to her and shown her the note and all playfulness had faded. She called her husband into the room, and he, after reading the note as well, called the Stoppables and asked them to come over. He hadn't mentioned the reason, for he knew they would need to hear it in person. While he contacted them, Rufus tugged on Mrs. Possible's leg, pointing out to the ship. She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say, but she followed him. Inside they found Kim, unconscious, with a strong sedative syringe in her hand, as well as Monkey Fist, Shego, and Dr. Drakken still lying strapped in their medical beds.

Kim had been transferred to her own bed after being checked out by her mother. The police had been called to take the three supervillains, the twins had been sent to a friend's house, and Ron's parents had arrived, obviously worried from the serious tones of Mr. Possible's call. They had seen Kim being taken up to her room, and, as they waited, they had sat on the couch. Kim wouldn't wake from the drugged sleep for awhile, so her parents had joined the Stoppables in the living room. There Blaze and Rufus had shared their note, their story. Mrs. Stoppable had broken down in tears, and Rufus and Mr. Stoppable had tried to comfort her.

Feeling that the other couple needed some time alone, the Possibles returned to Kim's bedside to be there for her when she awoke. Now, after comforting their daughter, they returned to the living room. All was silent as the four adults each wrestled with their grief in their own way. They knew that the school would have to be notified, as well as a service set up, but for now, none of them felt up to it.

It was a few hours later when Kim emerged from her room. The Stoppables had left, gone home to make the necessary arrangements. Her parents looked at her strangely, unsure how to approach her. She flopped down on the couch and curled her knees up to her chest, staring into space. When she felt someone touch her leg she jumped, startled, nearly breaking the couch.

"R-Rufus?" she eyed the little mole rat confusedly. "What are you doing here?" Her mom stepped forward with an explanation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable wanted you to keep him. They..." she hesitated, "they felt he would remind them too much of... and he was really never THEIR pet, only..." she came to a stuttering halt. She was afraid to mention Ron, not knowing how Kim would react. Unfortunately being a brain surgeon didn't mean she understood emotions; she wasn't a counselor. Rufus looked up at Kim with trusting eyes. Eyes that seemed to say, "I need you now. There's no one else to take care of me." Of course, she could just be imagining it, she told herself... putting her own feelings into another...

"No." she whispered.

"What?" Her mother was afraid she was refusing to take care of Rufus, and she had hoped that the two of them would be able to comfort each other... both of them having been Ron's best friends.

"N-nothing." Kim shook herself slightly. Take care of her? That was definitely NOT her emotion. It must have really been there in Rufus' eyes. She reached over and gathered Rufus in a gentle hug. He clung to her, wishing he could do more to make her feel better, yet needing, at the same time, to find solace himself. She released him and brushed a tear off her cheek. Then she blinked. Why were there two Rufus'? Then she felt stupid as she recognized Blaze as he crawled up onto the couch as well.

"Blaze." She gave a weak smile. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the colony?" he shook his head.

"Uh-uh...NOPE! Stay here!" Kim raised her eyebrow, but mentally shrugged it off. Maybe Blaze could be a good friend for Rufus...she sure knew SHE wasn't going to be able to do a good job at it. All she could think about was Ron. She never realized how much he had meant to her. He had always been there for her, put up with her quirks, even as she had put up with all his wierdness. Of course, now, looking back, she saw all his strange peculiarities as part of what made her love him so much.

"What?!" she glanced at the two mole rats, who were deep in conversation, to see if they had noticed her voice the thought out loud. Love? Ron? Well, sure...as a best friend. But even as she tried to convince herself, the ache in her stomach was being replaced by an ache in her heart. She shook herself mentally. She was just reacting to his death. Didn't people always do that? They see the deceased person through rose-colored glasses... faultless and perfect. That was it. It had to be.

But as she climbed into bed a few hours later, Rufus curled up on an extra pillow on her nightstand, and Blaze asleep in one of her shoes (his idea, not hers), she couldn't quite ignore the little voice in the back of her head telling her that she had lost even more than she had realized.

"... and that is how the neoclassicism period in literature was marked by an increase in satirical writings." The bell rang, waking up the entire English class. "Don't forget your essays for next class on Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' and the pros and con's of eating one's young." Mr. Barkin called out as the students ran over each other in their haste to get out the door. Kim trudged towards her locker, alone in the sea of students. Since her return three weeks ago everyone had been walking on eggshells around her. Even Monique was avoiding her, and she couldn't blame any of them. She had only returned to school a week ago... her only other public appearance had been at Ron's memorial service. She rounded a corner and saw Josh Mankey talking to Bonnie. Bonnie was the one person who hadn't been acting different...she was just as self-absorbed as ever.

"Oh Josh, you're so funny!!" she gushed. She saw Kim out the corner of her eye and her smile grew even wider. "Of COURSE, I'd LOVE to go to the prom with you!" Kim stopped, surprised and confused. She was about to turn and walk the other way when Josh saw her.

"Kim!" he had the decency to blush. Kim raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Um... I thought, like, you know, since... um... you wouldn't want..." she took pity on him and pasted a smile on her face. The truth was she wasn't really as upset as she should have been. The prom and Josh himself had lost their appeal to her... in fact, everything had in the last few weeks.

"It's ok, Josh. I'm not really feeling up to going, anyway." He gave her his classic heartthrob smile, but Kim was unaffected. She moved on, deciding to bypass her locker and head for home. She thought it was a better idea anyway...she wasn't ready to open her locker. She hadn't gone there since her return to school, fearful of the memories it would evoke. Also, Wade had tried to contact her numerous times, but she was ignoring him. She had written "return to sender" on the new Kimmunicator he had sent, she refused to open her locker, and she had told her parents not to give her the phone when it was for her.

"Hey Kim!" Jim piped up when she got home.

"We raided your room..." Tim added.

"And read your diary..."

"And took apart your radio for..."

"The rocket we're..."

"Building." No response. The twins' faces fell. They had been trying to get a rise out of her for the past week. It was just too weird for her not to be chasing them down for some indiscretion, screaming "tweebs" at them, and thereby showing the proper sisterly love.

"Nice try, kids." Mr. Possible walked through the kitchen on his way out the door. "I'm going to the store, want to come?" The twins scrambled to accompany him, hoping they could convince him to buy them stuff.

Kim, meanwhile, had returned to her room. Rufus and Blaze were nowhere to be found... it seemed they, too, had felt the need to be wherever Kim wasn't. She flopped down on her bed with a sigh. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear her mom enter the room.

"Kim? KIM?!" she was startled out of her reverie by her mother's raised voice.

"Huh? What is it... what's wrong mom?" Dr. Possible rolled her eyes when she was sure Kim wasn't looking.

"Nothing's wrong, exactly... I have just been trying to get your attention for about five minutes!" she smiled a bit to let Kim know she was slightly exaggerating.

"Oh. Sorry." Kim let her gaze wander around the room, not really feeling like listening to her mother.

"Kim, I need you to pay attention." Kim grudgingly focused again on her mom. "Kimmie, I know these last few weeks have been hard on you... they've been hard on all of us. But your father and I are becoming worried about you." Kim stiffened. She wasn't sure what her mother wanted to say, but if she was bringing up Ron, Kim didn't want to hear it.

"Mom..." she began, but Dr. Possible cut her off.

"Kim I know you miss Ron. I know it hurts. But you can't give up living your own life. You haven't left the house except for school, you don't talk to your friends, I know you were planning on going to prom, but you haven't bought a dress..."

"What do you expect, Mom?! My best friend is DEAD! Ok? Gone! He's not coming back and it's MY FAULT!!!" she screamed the last few words, then paled. She buried her face in her hands. "It's my fault..." she whispered.

"Kim! It is NOT your fault! How can you think that!?"

"It IS! If I hadn't started the whole 'save the world' business, Ron would still be here! He'd..." she started crying and Mrs. Possible sat down next to her on the bed, hugging her close.

"Sweetie, if you hadn't started, Ron still wouldn't be here. You know that. Wade explained everything to us. And Rufus, and the other little mole rat...what's his name?"

"Blaze." Kim said quietly.

"Right, Blaze. Anyway, the world was going to be destroyed. If you hadn't interfered, everyone would be dead. Me, you, Ron. And all the other 6 billion people on this planet. So why are you punishing yourself for something that was beyond your control?" Kim shrugged, then shook her head.

"But I survived...I should have been able to save him too!" she angrily punched her pillow. Her mom looked at her sorrowfully. She was a brain surgeon. She could fix a brain so that the person who owned it could walk, or talk, or do any number of things they couldn't before. Her schooling had focused on anatomy and physiology more than anything else, but she had taken a few psychology classes. They were useful in diagnosing disorders of the brain sometimes. She recognized the survivors guilt in her daughter...it was obvious even to people without any psychological background. But all the classes, all her abilities to fix people, couldn't help her to "fix" her daughter's broken spirit.

"Honey, maybe it was just Ron's time to go." Kim tried to cover her ears, but her mother wouldn't let her. "His parents don't blame you. Ron wouldn't blame you. No one blames you but you. You never made Ron follow you on your missions, he made the choice on his own. And I think it's time you stop punishing yourself and start living again. Think about it. Ron wouldn't want you to shut yourself away like this. Would he? Tell me, what would he tell you to do if he was here now." Kim shook her head, tears pouring down her face.

"I... I don't know!" Her mom gave her a look that clearly said, "that's not good enough" and she thought for a bit. Memories that she had tried to lock away came flooding back. Ron and Rufus. Ron at Bueno Nacho. Ron at school, trying to get a date. Ron....

"He'd probably say I should go eat a naco in his honor or something." She said wryly. Dr. Possible nodded. Kim looked at her with a melancholy air. "But how can I go out and do something fun? How can I even pretend to be happy when he...he's..."

"It will take awhile, I know. But you'll see. Eventually you will be able to look back at your memories of him and smile instead of cry. Those we love never truly leave us, you know. But you can't forget them. By locking yourself away from the world you disrespect Ron's memory. Let him live inside you. Like you said, go to Bueno Nacho, talk to Rufus...he misses Ron too, you know... think about all the good times you had with him." Kim sniffed, then threw her arms around her mom, hugging her tightly.

"I love you, Mom." She whispered.

"I love you too, Kimmie." She got up and left the room, leaving Kim to think about what she had said. Maybe she WOULD go eat a naco. Or... she should find Rufus. She hadn't thought about how hard this all had been for him. Wiping the last traces of moisture from her face, she stood up and glanced outside. The sun was shining. Funny how she hadn't noticed earlier. The tightness in her chest was easing. It still hurt to think about Ron, but her mom was right. He wouldn't want her to stop living.

She thought about what her mom had said earlier. She HAD been planning to go to the prom...with Josh, but he was obviously not an option anymore. She thought back to the dances she and Ron had gone to together as friends and smiled a little smile. She could still go to prom...alone, or maybe take Rufus and Blaze, in a kind of remembrance of Ron. But first she needed to make peace with the living. Looking towards the future for the first time in weeks, she headed out towards the school, where her locker, and the Kimmunication system inside, was waiting for her.

To be continued...