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Kim Possible & Gundam Wing:

Silent Wars

Chapter 9: Return to Middleton

000

Kim and Ron were in their room getting their bags packed and ready to leave the Sank Kingdom. Kim had a better idea alternative to just following Shego. As soon as all the Gundams were called together she explained it. The plan was to go back to Middleton, USA. No doubt if Shego had traced them to the Sank Kingdom then she could trace them back to Middleton. So that was it, go back to Middleton and dare Shego to follow. Kim Possible would fight Shego on her own turf. It was especially needed since the Gundams were in desperate need of repair. The Gundam mobile suits were in tatters with their encounter with the legion of mobile dolls. Plus Kim had this itch to do something with the cockpit system of the Vayeate as well as the Mercurius. She felt that something needed to be improved upon, but she couldn't' quite put her finger on it. The idea was there when she fought Shego, but now its gone like a memory of dream that was forgotten in waking up. She brushed it aside thinking that the thought would come up sometime between the Sank Kingdom and Middleton, though it was a 16-hour flight to get there.

Kim had packed her bags in quiet thought, even though there wasn't that much to pack, but the one thing that she kept from this whole mission/war was the dress she wore. The dress she wore when she found true love when it was standing right next to her. She had it in its box and placed it into her bag with its square edges bulging and showing through the bag material. At last when she was finished she turned to look back at Ron who was putting his last few things in his bag. He was as quiet as ever, possibly the most quiet he had ever been since Kim had known him, which was quite a long time. That was something that stunned Kim was that she had known Ron ever since Kindergarten and at that present moment she would never feel the same way about him again. She watched him quietly as Rufus stood on his shoulder watching him pack his bags.

"You're very quiet, KP." Ron stated

"Just thinking is all," Kim answered, "it's hard to believe isn't it?"

"What's hard to believe?" Ron asked as he zipped up his bag, turned around and sat down on his bed looking at Kim.

"It's just hard to believe that we're going back home." Kim said with an air of melancholy, "it feels like another lifetime in Middleton. Everything, the cheerleading squad, schools, home, the people, and you. You were the only piece of Middleton that I brought with me, Ron. This has been the longest time that I've been away from home. How long have we been away?"

Ron sat in thought thinking about how long it had been and he answered, "I think we've been away from home for a month."

"It feels so much longer, doesn't it?"

Ron made the situation seem so much easier with his optimism, "Don't stress, KP. We're going home, we should be happy about that."

It's true, Kim should be happy that she's going home. There was so much in Middleton that she missed, even the annoyances she missed. Though the things she missed the most was her family, her mom, her dad and the "tweebs". She didn't want her coming home to be a surprise, so when she sent her message home she told them that she would be coming home. The response was instantly smitten, to Kim the response from her family was of absolute joy. She couldn't wait to see them in person again. It was that which made her smile again, to see the people in Middleton in person.

"You're right, Ron." Kim smiled, "Let's go home."

000

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable waited all those 16 hours on the plane to Middleton with the greatest of anticipation either of them felt. Ron never slept the whole flight and neither did Kim. Ron had never been this excited since he scored the wrestling tickets to Mayhem in Middleton. Kim on the other hand never felt this excited since seeing that green leather jacket from Club Banana. They had a moment of clarity that going home to the people that are cherished is more valuable then all the riches and events in the world. Home is truly where the heart is.

The plane that Kim and Ron were on was simply a refitted 747, the kind that was used for commercial flights. Except this one was made specifically for Preventer and unlike the regular commercial flights with the seats so jam packed that no one could breath without the next person feeling it. The seats in the plane were all torn out; to be replaced with couches, pash chairs as well as video game systems. Preventer knew that on long flights they had to keep their officers amused or they'd die of boredom on the plane. For most of the flight Kim kept looking out at the sea while Ron channeled his anticipation through the video games that the flight provided. Then towards the end, both of them were looking out at the windows to see the landscape around Middleton. It was all becoming familiar, the green grassy hills, the pine trees and finally the roads going into Middleton. The plane was landing. The two were giddy in waiting to see what they would see when the door would open.

At long last after what felt like hours they got to see the airplane door open, but the first thing they felt was the sound of cheering. Loud uproarious cheering as the door opened, the door began to open even wider and that was when Kim and Ron saw them. They saw an enormous gathering of people at the airplane terminal. It looked like half the town of Middleton was there to welcome them back. There were people holding up banners with slogans of, "Welcome home, Kim Possible", "We love you, Kim", "Welcome back, Ron Stoppable". It was the greatest welcome home that Kim and Ron had ever received, and down there at the bottom of the stairs from the airplane door was Kim's family and friends. There was her mom, the Brain surgeon, her dad, the Rocket Scientist, her brothers Jim and Tim. There was also Monique and even Kim's former crush Josh Mankey. All of them were looking up at Kim with eyes full of tears, even the strong looking Josh was teary to see Kim back. Though Kim herself was starting to feel sorry for Josh since she couldn't love him anymore since now she loved Ron. That quickly was pushed out of her mind when she heard the unison of words coming from all of them.

"Welcome home, Kim and Ron!" All of Middleton said in one unifying voice.

Kim never had this kind of homecoming from anyone. From her normal missions she would simply come home and talk with her family as if she had only gone to the mall and back. That's how casual her family was about her going on these missions of hers. It seemed like everyone suddenly knew about the kind of work she did and how important it was. Everyone wanted to welcome back the hometown teen heroes. The homecoming made Kim and Ron's heart lift high in spirits, the two of them rose their hands, which sent the crowd cheering even louder.

Later that night at the Possible home around the dinner table, though the table had to be expanded upon to accompany the new guests to the household. Not only were there the mother and father Possible, the twin brothers, Kim, Ron and Monique there. Joining the table were the Gundam pilots of Preventer, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Wufei Chang and Zechs Marquise. This truly wouldn't be a normal dinner at the Possible household and certainly Mrs. Possible wouldn't be able to accommodate for her guests as well as the family. So, they decided to order Chinese, and what a feast it really was. There were bounties of egg rolls, pot stickers, and several other dishes mixing meat with a great amount of vegetables. Perhaps one question anyone would have was who would be picking up the tab for this lovely feast, and it was more of a combined effort of the guests as well as the Possible family. Before they ate the first one to say anything about this was Quatre, the peaceful one.

"Thank you for allowing us to eat here, Mr. and Mrs. Possible." He said

"Its alright." Mrs. Possible smiled, "it's great to see our Kimmie back home safely and in such great shape too."

"Mom." Kim moaned, "I've always been in good shape."

"Being slim yes, but you've also become a little muscular along with Ron."

Ron smiled and nodded, "Point taken, Doctor P."

"Anyway," Mrs. Possible continued, "How long do you plan on staying here?"

"That mostly depends," Quatre explained. "This part of our mission is actually Kim's idea."

"Really?" Mr. Possible asked, "Well, that's our Kimmie, she's a real pip."

"That's true." Quatre agreed.

"The idea." Kim took over, "was that we'd wait here in Middleton and wait for Shego to come to us. Allowing the fly to come to the spider, if you will."

"Yeah," Jim cheered, "then you're going to kick Shego's butt!"

Mr. Possible, being the father figure of the household had to bring about a form of sense to the dinner table. "Jim, you know how I disapprove of violence."

"Sorry." Jim backed down.

"It's alright." Trowa added, "Dr. Possible, you may disapprove of violence here at home, but with all do respect the entire world doesn't live in such a home as yours. A place filled with such family love."

Duo instantly took Trowa's side, "He does have a point, Doctor. There are some dangerous and violent people out there, that's why people like us and Kim exist. So, one way or the other we have to finish this before more innocent people gets hurt."

Mr. Possible looked over at Kim or Kimmie, as he and Mrs. Possible loved to call her. It was rather unbelievable that just a month ago she was like any other girl, aside from her mercenary work. At that time that Mr. Possible looked at her, he had a moment of clarity that his little girl was growing up, and he couldn't stop it. He simply smiled.

"Well," Ron said, "foods ready, shall we eat?"

"Yes." Mr. Possible smiled, "let's."

The feast went on and the Gundams with the Possible family shared their stories about what had happened. Especially in that one battle in Antarctica, the first time that Kim Possible had ever lost a fight. Sure, she'd fought Shego before but never within a mobile suit, unless that time during Halloween when she had that Centurion Project stuck to her wrist was counted. Other than that Kim had never fought Shego on that kind of level. The truly scary part to Kim was the fact that Shego had the Zero system at her disposal. Kim had tried to use the Zero system once, but she nearly lost control and went berserk. If it weren't for some quick thinking on the parts of Heero and Quatre, Kim would have been beyond aide.

These stories were shared around the dinner table all through the dining hours of the night. Then came the time for all of them to head to bed, the Gundams of Preventer headed back to the base where they're Gundams were, while Kim and Ron spent the night together. Though again, Ron and Kim never shared the same bed, Kim slept in her old bed. It felt wonderful to Kim to be back in her own bed; it was like putting on an old favorite set of clothes or shoes. It was welcoming to be back there. While Ron slept on one of those Igia blow-up beds, he tried to sleep but he couldn't help but keep looking over to Kim who slept with her face towards Ron. She looked so peaceful and penchant that Ron could have stared at her all through the night, but soon he fell asleep.

000

The next day at Middleton High School, Kim, Ron, and Monique were catching up on their way to the school. The three of them walking through the urban streets like the old generation saying how they had to walk to school. In their case they were doing it since it was the best way to catch up without being disturbed by anyone say on a school bus or in a car. Just walking through those urban streets felt good to Ron and Kim, a feeling of truly being home. They say that home is where the heart is and in no case is this better than in Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. The feeling of being home almost come to a point of elation, Kim knew that each person had a comfort zone and that to go beyond that zone would be uncomfortable to that person. She and Ron had to go out of that zone to help the Gundams. Now she was back in it and she wondered if she had changed emotionally, mentally as well as the obvious physical.

"Girl," Monique said to Kim as the trio walked, "Josh has been asking a lot about you while you were gone."

"Really?" Kim asked. Normally she would have jumped with excitement and anticipation that her crush was so concerned about her. Then again, she brought herself back down from cloud 9 realizing that a great deal has happened to Kim since she left Middleton to go to space. That in itself was one of several undeniable truths. So, she tried to sound interested.

"Yeah, he'd been asking where you were and what you were doing. Kim, I think Josh really likes you."

"Yeah," Kim said teetering between trying to stay interested and guilt. The teetering of emotions was seeing quite clearly in Kim's eyes like watching a turbulent ocean from behind safe windows.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Monique asked seeing these feelings in Kim.

Kim found it very difficult to speak, it was as if the saliva in her mouth had turn to cement and she couldn't speak the truth to Monique. She slowly opened her mouth getting ready to tell the truth, but she didn't know how Monique would take the news about herself and Ron. Either Monique would be disappointed in that Kim would be in love with a guy like Ron or she would ask if she could go after Josh herself. Then again, Kim remembered back to her Halloween fiasco of her small lie that snowballed into greater lies and caused an overabundant amount of damage. Kim had to tell the truth.

"Monique." She started with a heavy heart; "I don't like Josh anymore."

Monique looked confused with a raised eyebrow, "What Kim?" She asked

"Because I found someone else." Kim took Ron's hand at her side, she interlocked her fingers with Ron's and brought it up to show Monique the truth. Kim found it difficult to say who but she felt that by just showing it would be enough. She brought down hers and Ron's hand down to their sides still keeping their fingers interlocked like a great gate. Kim looked to find something about Monique that she never expected, he felt that Monique would turn white with shock, but she didn't she was surprised.

"You and Ron?" She asked

Nervously, Kim nodded her head bringing her eyes back down to the ground to see her own feet instead of Monique's face. She felt that the surprise might wear off and that it would be replaced with something more terrifying.

"I was wondering when that would happen." Kim heard Monique comment. She immediately brought her eyes back up to Monique's face and found her to be smiling about this. The only question left in Kim's mind was why was Monique so happy about this? Why?

"I mean, you two have been friends, for what?" Monique asked, "Ever? You'd think that by now you'd have already been boyfriend and girlfriend. It is surprising that you two only found that out recently. I'm happy for you both."

Ron and Kim looked at each other at the same moment as if queued to do it. Both of them had a look as if to ask the same question at the same time, did I miss something? Then they looked back at Monique with that same expression on their face. Monique was still smiling at them both like the bride's maid at a wedding, absolutely happy. She then looked back at her watch.

"We'd better get going or we'll be late." She said and the three kept walking. Ron and Kim still holding hands as they continued onward to the school. Their minds still filled with questions about the future, would they defeat Shego here, or would it simply be another case of defeat and then run? The question was deterred when Kim, Ron, and Monique rounded the corner and found the most welcoming sight of all. There was Middleton High School, the green grass, the orange tinged buildings, and the sign saying Middleton High School. Coupled with these was a great banner as if it was election time for Middleton that hung over the front doors. The banner said in bright and friendly letters,

"Welcome back, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable."

Both Kim and Ron were rather stunned by this, the school did know about the world saving that Kim did but they didn't take any notice of it. At least until they joined up with Preventer, and now the whole school was welcoming back Kim and Ron like national heroes. The two continued to walk towards the school with the eerie feeling that something was amiss. There were no students on the grounds. No one out on the grass or on the steps of the school enjoying the sun, it was as if the school had become a ghost town of its own. The only thing that the students did before they left was make that sign for Kim and Ron, but as they drew closer they noticed the banner in more detail. It was signed by nearly every student and teacher in Middleton High School, all of them addressed to Kim and Ron, saying how much they missed them and how good it would be for them to be back.

"Oh," Ron said, "This is real welcoming." He said it with great sincerity because before he left no one would even take notice of him but now that he was doing something of importance the school knew who he was now. There were even some welcome backs from Kim's cheerleading squad, to both her and Ron, which was extraordinarily weird since most of the squad had a low tolerance for Ron.

The trio opened the front doors; they were only opened as much as the width of a crack in cement when the loudest of sounds came from behind them. They opened the doors all the way and the hallways were filled with students, packed against the locker walls all of them cheering as Monique led Kim and Ron inside. Kim suddenly had an idea of what was going on.

"You planned this, didn't you?" she asked Monique with a raised eyebrow

Monique smiled, "Duh."

"Why you sneaky monkey." Ron smiled

"Yeah." Rufus agreed from Ron's pocket.

"I know." Monique smiled as she led them through the halls of Middleton High School. Kim and Ron had a pretty good idea of where they were going. Kim had walked that combination of lefts and rights. It was coming back to her, even though she had been away for so long the impression of this place were there in her mind. It's halls as automatic as breathing in and out. Kim's idea was confirmed as the three of them turned a corner and they walked into the gym.

In the gym, a roar of applause greeted Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible. In the bleachers were all the students of Middleton High School. All of them were out of their seats and cheering like mad. Even the students that never stood up at pep rallies were cheering for the two of them. It was truly a welcome back for them, unlike any other mission that Kim and Ron had been on. The cheers were so loud that they had to cover their ears at least at first. Then Kim felt a great swell of pride in hearing the crowd call and cheer for her like a popular music star. Ron on the other hand felt like a great wrestler entering the ring to show off his strength and prowess. He couldn't help it, he rose his arms into the air and it sent the crowd into a cheer even louder than before.

At last the two heroes looked to the center and there at the podium was the principal, Mr. Barkan. The podium was set so that all the bleachers in the gym could see who was speaking. Mr. Barkan turned and he had the most unusual face that Kim or Ron had ever seen. Mr. Barkan, the tough but fair principal was smiling.

"Welcome back, Possible. Welcome back, Stoppable." He said it loud enough to carry over the noise of cheers. Kim and Ron smiled basking in their welcome home cheer.

To be continued…