SANCTUARY: PART TWO

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Conclusion to Part One, once again from Kim's point of view.
Disclaimer: KP does not belong to me.

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I'M DIZZY, BARELY ABLE TO STAND, as Shego and I stumble through the door of our apartment.

We were out dancing, and I can still hear the blaring music pounding in my ears. Shego supports me as I stumble.

I giggle softly and stand on my tiptoes to kiss Shego's neck. Her hands gliding over my body feel so good.

She pushes me down into the couch and plunges into me, her hands slipping up my shirt. I grip her waist and cling to her until she stops.

"I love you, Kimmie," she murmurs, tangling her fingers in my hair.

"Right back at you," I groan, hanging on to Shego like my life depends on it.

"You have no idea."

She kisses my forehead. "Let's relax, shall we?"

I nod, keeping my head snugged under her chin. "Mmmm," I sigh, pushing her thick sweater up. She must have been roasting alive in the sweaty, smoky club where we just were; I know she wore that sweater because she knows how much I love the way it looks on her. Something about that particular black, clingy sweater makes me want to pull it off her and touch her skin.

"You're loving this, aren't you, Kimmie?" she laughs, gently brushing my hands away.

"Tell me the story," I breathe, stroking her.

"To you or about you?"

"About me." I said "to me" last time.

She bends over me, smiling. When she speaks, her voice is low and husky. "It wasn't so long ago that I had to fight this little girl. Fiery redhead, absolutely beautiful."

I smile at the thought that Shego thinks me beautiful.

"When we clashed in battle, I watched the way she moved, making my mouth water. I wanted to be close to her so bad. Instead of trying to hurt her, I wanted to protect her. But I knew no, that was impossible, and it made me furious, and I used that anger when I fought this girl. She would never be mine. That's what I thought, until I noticed, in her eyes the same color as mine, a look similar to the way I watched her."

I'm sure you made my mouth water more than the opposite, Shego, I think. I'm nowhere near as breathtaking as you. Remeber when we were fighting in that giant cheese wheel? You looked stunning in that Club Banana jacket that I wanted. It fit you so perfectly. I wanted to pull one of your arms out of that jacket and push my arm through the sleeve, and snuggle myself into it next to you.

"Then one day after I finished fighting her, she was lying, injured, close to a fire that would have consumed her if I hadn't done something. But I did. I picked her up and I carried her to a place where I knew we could be alone."

"I love this part," I whisper with my head buried in her chest.

"So do I. I stayed with her until she was ready to face the world again." I gave her that phrase. "She eventually fell asleep next to me."

I remember her hands clenching my sides during our first kiss. She's been much more gentle lately. It's amazing how tame she is around me when I'm not vulnerable.

"That wasn't the end of it, either. Oh, no; it was only the beginning.

Sometimes I would show up in her hometown when I knew things were going rough for her. I always managed to help her feel more comfortable with her...trials and tribulations."

I don't know how she knew when I was upset, but then she would find me when I was coming home from school or walking to the mall. We would slip somewhere we wouldn't be seen and she would hold me until I was ready to face my problems. It meant more to me than Shego knows. The first time it happened, I had done badly on a biology test that I was sure I would do well on. I was positive I would be in ferocious trouble with my parents. While I was walking home through Middleton Park, suddenly an arm grasped mine and pulled me behind a tree. It was Shego. I clung to her and sobbed out what was wrong, and she caressed me and whispered reassurances until I felt strong enough to face my parents.

"But this story isn't completely happy," Shego continues, her tone becoming somber. "The girl's parents found out about me...more specifically, how this girl felt about me."

I feel the backs of my eyes begin to heat up. I hate this part. It still stings.

"Her family and friends, whom the girl was sure would still accept her, rejected her. Because she chose me." Tears drip from the corners of my eyes. "She was thrown out of her house, even though she was only sixteen years old."

I know she doesn't give too many details at this part because I hate the memories it brings back. Ron's horror-struck expression, Monique's stubborn, repulsed silence, my parents' rage, the door to my own house slamming in my face. I tried to go on with my life, and go to school, but not even the teachers would look at me straight on. Everyone who had been my friend suddenly denied that they knew my name. And Bonnie attacked me like a rabid dog at someone's bare ankles. I was kicked off the cheerleading squad. Everyone in my school thought I wasn't in my right mind, because I loved Shego.

I'm crying silently, but hard, as Shego continues the story. "So what else was I supposed to do? I took her in, and we share an apartment now. It's been...what, a few months?...since I took her off the streets. She doesn't need those misled people who didn't think she was good enough anymore. She learns her school lessons online, with some help from me. So, this story has a happy ending. Right, Kimmie?"

I don't answer. I'm still sobbing into her, my arms wrapped around her waist as tightly as possible. I'm trying to focus on how relieved I was when Shego took me off the streets. I was curled up on a bench one night, trying to sleep, when I felt a sharp-nailed hand stroke my side. I heard Shego whisper, "It's all right, Kimmie. Come with me."

But it doesn't work.

"Kimmie?"

It's no use. I still can't forget how it felt to be ostracized by everyone I knew. Not only rejected, but mistreated. I felt lower than dirt. Even though Shego rescued me, I can't stop thinking about how everyone I knew thought I was no better than scum because I had chosen Shego. They thought she wasn't worth anything. So they thought the same about me.

"It still hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yes," I moan. "It still hurts. I still feel like I'm worthless."

She strokes my hair thoughtfully. "I can fix that."

She picks me up and carries me, like she did that first time. She walks into the bedroom at the back that we both share and places me tenderly on the blanket. The bed is small, but we don't mind. It gives us an excuse to be close. I love waking up and hearing Shego's gentle breathing right next to me.

"Shego?"

"Hmmm?" She draws the blinds but doesn't turn the light on, and I can barely see her in the darkened room.

"What are you doing?"

I feel Shego's presence next to me. She pulls the covers back, then over our heads. She slowly draws me in closer to her. I plant a quick kiss on her cheek.

Shego kisses me at the place where my skull rounds into my neck. She guides my hands underneath her sweater, pushing it over her head. Then she tenderly unbuttons my top, and waits for me to pull it off all the way. So I drop my shirt on the floor, my pulse hammering. I see dewy sweat beads begin to form on Shego's bewitchingly pale face. A seductive smile curls her lips as she sees a fine trickle of sweat drip down my cheek as well. She kisses it away, and her warm lips against my skin send a blazing tingle up my spine. A few new droplets of sweat issue from beneath my hairline.

"You know what I'm doing, Kimmie," she murmurs, tracing the hollow of my neck with her tongue. She looks ravishing here in the dark, with the bedclothes cresting her head, her sable hair falling over her face in a soft, sensual way that makes me want to stare at her until the sun stops shining. I lean in to touch her lips with mine, and I feel her fingers tugging lightly at the zipper of my jeans.

Finally, Shego answers my question. "I want to show you that you're special."

So she does.