Chapter 12
In Paris, Drakken and Shego walked to a small hotel near the restaurant to find a room for the night. The man at the desk, thankfully, spoke English.
"We only have one room left, what with ze big computer convention een town zis weekend," said the hotel desk manager in a strong French accent.
"Fine, I'll take it", said Drakken. He was tired from his flight and needed some sleep.
The desk manager handed Drakken and Shego keys to their room. They walked up two flights of old wooden stairs in the hotel and unlocked the door to their room. It was a small cheap room, with only one king size bed in the middle of it.
'Great…', thought Drakken to himself, 'Now Shego is going to make me sleep on the floor…'.
He waited to hear Shego make an angry comment about there being only one bed, but she said nothing. She stepped into the bathroom and said, "I'm going to take a shower." When she closed the bathroom door behind her, and Drakken heard the water start to run, he opened up his small travel case and changed into his pajamas. He climbed into the bed and closed his eyes.
When Shego got out of the shower, she changed into her pajamas, while still in the bathroom, then walked out to see Drakken soundly sleeping in the bed. She had never seen him sleeping before. She looked longingly at his face, from across the room as he slept. Then she turned out the light and climbed into her side of the bed. Seeing him laying next to her, only two feet away, made her heart skip a beat. She loved him so much.
She thought about how she had lied to her brother Hego and old friend Stanley about being married to Drakken. She didn't seem to care what they thought about it. Why did she care so much about what her friends and other people thought of her choice in a boyfriend? She knew people would think she was crazy for liking Drakken. With her looks, she could have just about any man she wanted. But she didn't want just any man, she wanted Drakken. She loved Drakken. The more she layed there thinking about it, she felt that having a relationship with the man she loved would be worth having to go through whatever ridicule that might follow. She needed to tell Drakken how she felt. She couldn't keep living like this. It was torture.
She decided she would tell him tomorrow, when the time seemed right. She faced away from him and closed her eyes. She was slowly starting to drift off to sleep, when Drakken turned towards her and wrapped his arm around her. Her heart felt like fireworks of emotion were going off in it.
'He really has guts,' she thought to herself. She smiled and turned to face him. His eyes were still closed. She wrapped her arms around him pulling him close to her. After so many years of longing for this moment, Shego was finally holding him in a loving embrace. Suddenly his eyes opened and he quickly pulled back, alarmed.
"Shego, I'm sorry! I was asleep! I must have thought you were my teddy bear! I… I didn't mean to… umm hold you like that", said Drakken. He was holding up his hands defensively, expecting her to pummel him with her green laser hands. Instead, she looked at him with sadness in her eyes, and faced away without a word. He made a sigh of relief to still be alive, then laid his head back down on his pillow. As he tried to go back to sleep he heard a sniffling sound coming from Shego.
"Shego… are you crying?", asked Drakken. He had never seen her cry before, except for that time she had the moodulator attached to her and set to "sad". But now, she was crying for real. She was the toughest woman he had ever met. Something was definitely wrong.
She turned to him, with tear streaks on her face. When she looked into his eyes, she broke down into fully crying. She put her face in her hands, wiping the tears away as they fell.
"Shego, you never cry. What's wrong?", asked Drakken.
Shego looked up at him again and tried to speak.
"Drakken, when you were holding me just now, I thought you liked me", said Shego, "I held you too, because I love you. But you pulled away, and now I feel like an idiot, for thinking it was something more than a mistake. I just feel so rejected and stupid."
"Shego, you just said you love… me?", asked Drakken, still unable to believe what he just heard. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that such a beautiful perfect woman could love him. But there she was, crying in front of him. He had never seen Shego look so vulnerable, and so sad.
"Yes…", she said, "I'm sorry. I just feel so rejected…"
"There's no need to be sorry", said Drakken, "Why would I reject you? I just didn't know you felt this way about me."
He wiped a tear from her cheek, then wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair lovingly. They looked at each other and slowly their lips met. It was the most wonderful kiss Shego had ever experienced in her life. She never wanted to let go. They kissed for over an hour, until they fell asleep in each other's arms. It was the most wonderful night of Shego's life, and Drakken's as well.
