"Trials and Tribulations"


Kim defended Shego's onslaught and returned an offensive of her own. She was impressed with the new battle suit. Ron bowed to Monkey Fist and assumed fighting stance. Monkey Fist returned the bow and got in his. Ron charged Monkey Fist saying, "You will pay for putting Kim in that cage." As they continued exchanging the offensive Monkey Fist said, "Kidnapping Kim Possible was not my idea, it was Drakken's." Drakken swallowed hard as he knew he's be in for it from Ron. Normally he wouldn't be frightened of 'the buffoon' but seeing the elegance, skill and power of Ron's moves startled Drakken and he was becoming frightened. Either Ron or Kim Possible would be after him next. He locked himself in the control room.

Kim was gaining the upper hand on Shego. What she had been through the last four hours had her extremely focused. Shego, Drakken and Monkey Fist were going to pay for what they put her through.

Watching Monkey Fist and Ron were putting on quite a show. It was an elegant display of martial arts at its finest. Monkey Fist was putting up a better fight than he had in the monastery back in Yamanouchi. Clearly he had been practicing for the prospect of facing Ron Stoppable again. Ron still with the mystical monkey power flowing freely within him along with vengeance on his mind for what they did to Kim was in the end too much for Monkey Fist and he got taken down hard to the ground.

Kim and Ron tied Shego and Monkey Fist to a metal support beam. They made sure Shego's hands were well secured so she couldn't use the green glow to free herself. They proceeded up the stairs to the catwalk to the control room. Drakken looked frighten. Ron backed up and got a running start and leaped into the air and shattering the glass. Both Kim and Ron jumped in. Ron started toward Drakken who was backing up. Kim was starting to calm down. The anger that was burning inside her was dissipating. She was thinking with her head again and she knew that causing harm to Drakken even after what they did to her was wrong. She reached out and grabbed Ron's arm. Ron stopped and turned around to look at Kim. Her face had softened considerably. Ron still had a serious look on her face. Kim said, "Ron, this isn't you."

Ron stood there thinking about what Kim said. She was right, this wasn't him. It wasn't like him to seek revenge. He was above it. He remembered all that he was taught in Yamanouchi about honor and justice. Ron's facial expression softened and he backed away from Drakken. He said to Kim, "You're right KP, thanks for reminding me." He wasn't going to dishonor Sensai and Yori by going against what they taught him. He remembered why Kim was asked to Yamanouchi. To help guide him along his journey and Kim had done just this.

Wade had been monitoring what had been going on via audio and infrared imagery through the kimmunicator that Ron had in his pocket and the authorized soon arrived. It was just past 1AM by the time the authorizes had taken their statements and they were free to go. Ron went and got his scooter and rode it up Kim. Kim got on and grabbed Ron tightly around his stomach. Kim had always help on to Ron for safety when riding on the back of the scooter but she was more like hugging Ron from behind. She laid the side of her face on Ron's back. She let out a soft sigh. Ron just smiled happily.

The ride to Kim's house was quiet. The smile on Kim's face was gone. Internally she was toiling with her relationship with Ron. She knew he felt something for her based on what happened tonight. She also realized she was feeling something for Ron. However, Ron was dating Tara and they were going to the prom. Kim had already written off Eric. Kim was going to skip prom and stay at home. This saddened her but what saddened her more was not being able to tell Ron how she felt. How could she tell Ron? Things had been friendly but tense with Tara last month or so since Tara and Ron started going out and she knew it was because of her. Kim knew Ron wouldn't just flat out dump Tara, he was too good a person to do that. But she knew it would put a severe strain on Ron and Tara's relationship. She couldn't do that to Tara, especially right before Prom.

Ron was also having trouble dealing with what had happened. He had realized his feelings for Kim wouldn't just go away. Leaving Tara to save Kim was already going to require damage control. Ron knew that Tara would never be against Ron going on a mission or leaving a date to help a friend in need but the fact remains that Ron's tightness with Kim didn't help matters. Ron knew Tara was struggling to try to be closer to him like Kim was. Could he ever let any girl get as close to him as Kim was? The "what if" scenarios causing Ron heartache. Ron knew things weren't well tonight between Kim and Eric. But he had no idea how things would be tomorrow. This was a pretty tense situation for a new boyfriend to be in. Ron would have never in a million years done what Eric did but then again Ron wasn't a typical guy. Would Kim calm down and forgive Eric? Ron didn't know and he didn't want to ask for fear of the answer. What if Kim did suddenly profess love for Ron. What would he do? He couldn't just dump Tara to be with Kim. He couldn't do that to Tara. But the question still remained, could he be there for Tara like she deserved? He couldn't just string Tara along. Ron sighed and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long night.

Kim's face resting on Ron's back saw that Ron took a deep sighing breath. She asked Ron what was the matter and Ron just responded a lot had happened that night and he had a lot of things to think about. Kim only knew this all too well. She just kept holding onto Ron. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the moment.


At Kim's house she got off the scooter and secured her helmet on the back head rest. Ron got off the scooter to walk her to the door. Kim reached out and embraced Ron and said, "No matter what happens, I want you to know I am always here for you like you've always been here for me, even when I've forgotten."

Ron tried to say something, "KP.."

Kim put her index finger on Ron's lips. "Thank you for everything you did tonight, I will never forget it." Kim leaned over and gave Ron a peck on the cheeks. Ron turned a bright red. She turned around and walked into the house smiling and waving goodbye. She gently shut the door and let out a deep sigh. The smile turned to a frown as she slowly made her way to her room.

Ron with a smile on his face got back in the scooter made his way home. His smile dissipated as well as the doubts that had cluttered his head on the way to Kim's house returned.

Kim lied wide awake on her bed. She wanted to take to Monique but it was nearly 2AM. He tried to clear her head and get some sleep for school in the morning.

Ron got home and also couldn't fall asleep. He ended up hopping on his computer. He was going to play a video game when he noticed that Tara was signed on Instant Messenger. He sent a message to her wondering if she was really online. She responded so they chatted. Ron was checking to see how she doing still feeling bad about the way he left. Tara asked if Kim was ok. Ron explained what had happened. Tara had seen a late night breaking news story of what happened and saw a video feed of Kim walking out holding Ron's hand. She was extremely saddened by it. As much as she didn't want to accept it, she knew in her heart that Ron loved Kim and had a pretty good idea Kim felt the same. She saw all the signs and she up to this point was doing her best to try and ignore them.

Tara asked Ron what Kim meant to him. She could tell that Ron was responding but she waited what seemed like an eternity for the response. Ron must have deleted and retyped the message at least a dozen times before finally hitting enter. He decided Tara deserved the truth he typed, "Kim means the world to me." A tear appeared in Tara's eye as she read this. She already knew in her heart this to be true. Nothing was typed for 5 minutes. Ron was getting worried and was about to send her a message when another message from Tara popped up. "What do I mean to you?" Ron froze. This was the question he was dreading. He honestly didn't know the answer. Again Tara waited what seemed to be an eternity for Ron to finish typing. A few more tears started to flow. She really liked Ron and thought things could go far with him but she knew Ron's heart belonged to Kim. Ron's answer finally came across: "I'm going to be completely honest with you because you deserve nothing less. I really do like you Tara but Kim haunts me. I have to be fair with you. I would like to try and make things work but I just don't know right now. I understand if you want to end things with me. I've put you in a bad spot and I truly feel awful about it." Tara closed her eyes and shook her head. She already knew this before she even read it. She knew what she had to do and it was going to be difficult. Tara responded, We'll talk more in the morning. It's been a long night and I need some time to think." Tara disconnected. Ron turned his computer off having long forgotten about the computer game.


Next Chapter:Tomorrow morning at school.