Author's Note: I cannot express praise enough for my partner, Zaratan, who took this idea and fleshed it out into a real story for your enjoyment. This fic would not be what it is without him, and he deserves high credit for his impressive talents, as well as cleaning up after more than one or two of my messes.
Ladies and gentlemen, it has been an honor.
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"You don't know." Shego insisted.
"Of course I do. I'm the mad scientist around here, that means I know everything." Dr Drakken insisted, even as he worked feverishly, attempting to analyze the container of oblivioum.
"So then how does it work?" Shego asked again.
"Well…eh…very simply… it's an energy source… so it releases a lot of energy." Drakken pulled at the collar of his shirt, as he spoke, in an effort to vent the sweat that seemed to be gathering around his neck rather suddenly.
"So you don't know."
"Shego! Now is not the time to criticize what you don't understand."
"Or for that matter, what you don't." Shego cut in.
"Grrr, this is a very delicate process." Drakken insisted, even as he picked up the container to take it over to another work station. "Even the slightest disturbance could crack this container, causing the whole thing to… whoa!"
As the blue skinned doctor spoke, he suddenly fell face first onto the floor, the container flying out of his hands and into the air, only to be snatched at the last second by an over eager Shego.
"Explode?" Shego asked, finishing Drakken's earlier sentence for him. "Well then I guess we should… probably… be… more… careful!" Shego accentuated her words sternly, before adding. "Oh by the way mister all-knowing-mad-scientist, your shoelaces are untied."
"Grrr." Drakken's growl went straight into the floor before he brought himself up to retie his shoes. "You might have mentioned that before I started experimenting on a highly unstable anti-element!"
"I was getting around to it." Even as Shego spoke, she confidently held up the container in her hands, admiring its almost sensual glow, just as a grapple line fired out, wrapping around the container and pulling it straight across the room and into a pair of waiting hands.
"Didn't know you wanted an anti-element KP." Ron mused aloud as he took the container in hand.
"Well, you never know when you might have a science project due." Kim replied with a confident grin as she eyed Shego.
"Kim Possible!" Drakken exclaimed in horror.
"And?" Ron asked in frustration.
"And what?" Drakken asked frankly.
"What's my name?"
"Uh… uhmm… it's Reginald something isn't it?" Drakken guessed.
"NO! It's Ron! Ron Stoppable! I know you know it."
"Whatever." Drakken dismissed before turning to his side. "Shego, get that container."
"You want someone to play fetch, you get the henchmen." Shego's hands cackled with their familiar emerald glow as she leapt across the room, landing a precious few feet in front of Kim Possible. "I've been looking forward to this all day."
"Likewise." Kim assured as she eyed her nemesis confidently.
As Kim and Shego faced off, Drakken turned to the corner of the room, where several of his henchmen had already drawn their weapons. "Get me that container."
Without another word, the red suited goons ran across the room towards Stoppable.
"You know, after the day I've had, I'm actually looking forward to this." Ron muttered, even as Rufus assumed his loyal perch on his human's shoulder. Ron drew one of his more unnatural martial art posses before finally shouting in a determined voice "Ok bad guys, who wants to touch the monkey?"
There was an awkward silence as the henchmen stopped to look at each other.
"Yeah, that sounded a lot better in my head than it did out loud." Ron admitted uncomfortably.
At this, the henchmen let out a collective chuckle even as half of their numbers drew some kind of laser cannons, aiming them squarely at Ron.
"Whatever you do, don't shoot that container!" Drakken ordered from across the room. At this, the henchmen merely shrugged, dropping their energy weapons to the floor as they cracked their knuckles in anticipation.
Rufus let out a slight gulp at the sight of the imposing muscular figures as they seemed to tower ominously over Ron Stoppable. Without another word, Ron dropped his stance and began running back the way he and Kim had entered.
"I take it back. I'm not looking forward to this!" Ron admitted aloud even as the henchmen took up pursuit behind him.
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Shego flipped over a roundhouse, then, landing, aimed a kick directly for Kim's mid drift. Kim managed to deflect the attack even as she countered with a palm directly to Shego's chin.
"Awfully nice of you to leave I and Ron to sink into Drakken's little doom pit unsupervised." Kim noted, even as she ducked another blow from her opponent.
"Oh I knew you'd get out of there." Shego admitted in frustration as Kim leapt over another one of her attacks, coming down behind her.
"So you do care." Kim taunted as she landed. She quickly adopted a defensive posture, but too late to block a kick from Shego that knocked her down to the ground.
"Only about what I want." Shego admitted as her hands seemed to re-intensify their glow. "And what I want, princess, is to take you apart with just my bare hands. It's all I live for anymore, I don't even care about Dr. D or his little scheme. The guy couldn't take over a nursing home, so it's a safe bet that he couldn't handle the world even if he got his hands on it. But every time he tries some take-over-the-world plan, I just know you're going to show up and stop it. That's pretty much the only reason I even stay with him; so that I'm there when you are, and that I get another shot at you. So get up girl, cause we're just getting started."
Kim merely grinned as she stood up. "Oh you got that right."
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"How are there more guys chasing me now than there were when I started running?" Ron shouted as he continued his fast paced retreat through Drakken's lair. As he looked back to get a quick peek, it seemed true. Somehow, Ron had managed to run through every possible corridor, around just the right corners to attract the attention of every other henchman in the lair.
"Oooh, faster." Rufus uttered atop Ron's shoulder.
Suddenly, the blonde hero had an idea. Doubling his speed, he sprinted his way down a familiar corridor and straight into the room where he and Kim had dangled over a pit of doom just minutes earlier.
Following his lead, every one of his pursuers chased after Ron into the room. A few seconds later, having run all the way around the pit with his pursuers close behind, Ron rushed back out of the room, and over to the lock on the outside of the door, pressing down on the sightly red button and sealing the door shut.
"Oh yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "Guess you guys can just chase each other now! Haha! Who's the man? Who's the man?" Ron cheered as he gave Rufus a spare finger.
As if on cue, the metallic door opened back up, revealing a pack of very annoyed looking henchmen.
"Oh, right. KP and I broke the lock in there when we escaped. It's all coming back to me now." Ron recalled nervously.
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Kim ducked under another roundhouse, then backed away from a foot swipe before leaping forward, her foot extended, aimed directly for Shego's head. Shego dodged the attack, stepping off to the side as Kim landed beside her, then caught Kim's high kick squarely in her hands.
"You know Kimmie, I got to say, that shirt you're in is looking awfully plain." As Kim's face recoiled in minor shock, Shego took the opening to land a kick directly to Kim's already bruised mid drift, knocking her back.
"Cheap shot." Kim commented as she held the bruised area with her hand, chiding herself for letting herself get distracted. "Let me guess, Junior?"
"He wrote me a little love letter." Shego admitted, almost proudly if Kim didn't know better. "It was so sweet; its ashes now, but it was so sweet."
"Not your type?" Kim asked. Without waiting, she returned on the offensive with two kicks aimed at Shego's neck and face. Shego deflected them both, and then leapt over Kim.
"Oh it's not that." Shego explained briefly as she came down, before pouncing back up across towards Kim, tackling her red headed foe to the ground, and pinning her as she attempted to bring her energy clad hands down over Kim's face. "Just don't need anyone thinking that I'm going soft."
Shego pushed down with all her strength, trying to bring her clawed glowing glove right over Kim's eyes. Kim clenched and sweat as she struggled with all her might to resist.
"What about you Kimmie? What's your type these days? Finally grew out of that 'blonde loser' phase you were going through? Decided to trade in your damaged model for one with some better features?"
Kim's eyes shot wide open. Stone resolve poured through her as she kicked up with all her might, knocking Shego off her.
"You wish."
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Ron ducked the reach one of the nearest henchman, even as he did a back flip away, bringing his one foot up and directly into the henchman's chin, knocking him back.
Another moved to flank his buddy, but Ron spun around with a strong roundhouse that knocked him back into several more of his comrades.
Even as Ron regained his bearings, a pair of strong arms reached around and grabbed him by the waist. As Ron gasped for air, a pair of buck teeth came down into the side of one of those arms, prompting a cry from the goon behind him. As this happened, Ron brought his head back, knocking it square into the face of the goon thug behind him, causing him to loosen his grip. As Ron felt unrestricted air move through his chest again, he grabbed the barely limp arms around him, and threw them over his shoulders and into his massing friends.
Ok. So there's two of you and… a lot of them. Ron took a quick tally.
Fortunately, their numbers seemed to be working against them, compounded by the limited dimensions of the hall they fought in. It seemed that only three of them at a time could put themselves within reach of him, while the rest had to huddle behind their friends, desperate for some kind opening. As long as Ron kept them all in front of him, he had a fighting chance… in the same sense that a snowball had a chance of some mathematically insignificant figure when tossed into an active volcano.
Another came at him from the right. Ron struck out with his foot, striking the side of his leg at a very precise angle, dislocating it. This would slow them down slightly. Yet Ron's hopes were dashed as another thug punched out at him. Ron ducked this punch right into a kick from another goon knocking him back.
Ron struggled to catch his breath, while Rufus took the chance to act. Leaping from Ron's shoulder, the naked mole rat leapt on top of the left henchman, kicking his head over and into the one in the middle.
Another henchman reached out to grab Rufus, but the rodent leapt over the grasp, kicking the side of another goon's head into another of his buddies, and then another, and another. On and on Rufus maintained his attack, compounding upon their confusion.
Ron took this moment to rush to the aide of his tiniest friend as he let out the mightiest kick he could directly for the henchman in the lead. The bewildered thug never saw the attack coming, and took it directly in the gut, falling backwards and knocking over at least a third of his buddies like bowling pins.
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"So I'm the thing you live for these days, huh Shego?" Kim asked. "Well, I'd say I was flattered, but the truth is, I really don't care."
Shego growled before moving in with a series of jabs. Kim dodged or deflected each one before landing a kick to Shego's ribs.
"The truth is Shego, we fight, you lose, and I never give you a second thought."
Shego deflected a kick to her face, and then leapt over another of Kim's foot sweeps. Then, taking an opening, she drove her elbow directly into Kim's face.
"Well there's something for you to think about." Shego taunted
The super hero regained her composure in time to see Shego flying through the air towards, her foot aimed right at Kim's chest. Instinctively, Kim's arms shot out, grabbing Shego's foot in mid leap as she threw the super villain to the side.
"Don't get me wrong, I really do hate you. I can't stand you. And that's exactly why I usually don't let it bother me too much when you get away."
"Huh?" Shego looked confused, even as she stood back up.
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Ron felt himself slam hard against the side of the lair wall, wiping his sore jaw, even as Rufus was thrown at his face.
The hoard of thugs, their numbers admittedly whittled down considerably, advanced on Ron's slightly battered form.
"Ok guys, well this was fun. Same time next week." Even as Ron spoke, he grabbed Rufus into his hand as he began running back down the way he had come.
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"I don't let it bother me," Kim explained "cause I know that sooner or later, you will be back. And we'll fight, and you'll lose again, and again. And no matter how many times we fight, it's going to be the same. You're going to lose to a cheerleader and her best friend and boyfriend."
Shego practically snarled as she leapt forward with a sloppy jab that Kim easily grabbed before twisting Shego's hand up into the air, causing her to bend over.
"You said you've tried to get Drakken to break us up. That's a laugh because the truth is; you and he have probably done more to bring us together than anyone else in the world."
Shego's eyes went wide with disgust. She struggled all the more viciously against her hold, but all it did was increase the pain and growing numbness in her arms.
"You see, at the end of the day, you and Drakken aren't the greatest threat that I've ever known, you're not the bane of my existence, you're not my great arch foe which I live to defeat, you're just slightly a pain in my rear, and one more thing that only Ron and I share together."
"That's… bull…sh… arrrgh!" Kim increased her hold, prompting a cry of pain from Shego that cut her voice off.
"Your little brain switch machine helped me understand him so much better, you and Drakken were his Christmas gift to me, and when it's all said and done, if it hadn't been for your little homemade boy toy, we might never have admitted how we felt."
At this, Kim allowed Shego to bring herself up right, and right into the full force of a savage round house that knocked the sense right out of Shego and she flew straight into the side of the wall, impacting with a loud thud and a soft groan as she slid back to the ground at an awkward angle.
"Truth is, I owe you Shego. And that's why I'm going to let you in on a little surprise." Kim bent over to whisper directly into the green villainess' ear. As she spoke, a look of wide eyed disgust and horror spread across Shego's features.
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Ron continued his fast pace, the loud clumping of feet close behind him. As he ran, Ron finally settled his eyes upon a discarded energy rifle. Desperately, Ron reached down to pick up the rifle, taking it firmly in his grasp as he turned around and leveled it at the hoard of hired muscle behind him.
"Nobody move. I got an itchy trigger finger and I'm not afraid to use it."
For a moment, the pack of thugs stopped in their tracks, coming to an abrupt halt a precious few feet away from where Ron stood. Suddenly, the leader of the pack got the idea to test his luck by taking a step forward.
"I'm warning you." As he spoke, Ron aimed the rifle for a spot just in front of the henchman's foot.
A dead click was Ron's only reward as he pulled the trigger. Ron tried again, and again, each time the rifle produced nothing more than a lifeless click, eliciting a collective low laugh from the thugs.
Rufus uttered instructions to Ron in rodent even as the naked mole rat rushed down Ron's arms to the weapon, taking the energy clip out, flipping it over and reinserting it, prompting a low hum from the weapon as it powered on.
"Who puts the battery in backwards on a laser rifle?" Even as Ron spoke, he aimed his weapon upwards, firing a full powered shot at the ceiling over head, causing rocks and rubble to come collapsing down, sealing the henchmen behind it.
"Oh booyah!" Ron exclaimed proudly as he again reached his finger for Rufus' paw. As they shared in mutual congratulations, Ron felt a hand reach into his pack and take something out.
"I'll take that." Dr. Drakken announced rather satisfied as he walked off with the oblivioum container.
"Oh no you don't dude." Ron called back as he tackled Drakken to the floor, wrestling around on the ground as Ron struggled to get his hands on the container.
"It's mine. I stole it." Drakken argued as he rolled around fiercely.
"If you stole it, then it can't be yours." Ron argued back.
"It can if I'm a villain." Drakken retorted.
"No, if you're a villain, then its still stealing, it's just expected of you." Ron bit back. "And I'm a hero, so I'm expected to get it back."
"Well not this time." As they argued, the two stood back up, still tugging back and forth on the container.
"Hey, take your hands off my butt!" Ron shouted indignantly.
"What? I'm not touching you, see!" Drakken insisted as he held up his hands for inspection. As he did, Ron shot a fist right at Drakken's face, knocking the blue villain out cold.
"Sorry. My mistake." Ron replied coolly. As he triumphantly stood over Drakken's unconscious form, a slight growl came from his side. Ron turned to the side to see a disapproving Rufus.
"Ok, so that was a low blow. I admit." Ron replied apologetically to Rufus' burning scowl.
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"And you're not invited." Kim replied as she finished her secret to Shego. The pale skinned villain looked absolutely mortified.
"You can't get…" Shego was cut off as Kim's fist slammed into her face, rendering her unconscious.
"Check my motto, I can do anything… I hope." Kim added the last part softly. As she stood looking down on Shego's beaten form, she realized that this had been the easy part. The real challenge was still ahead of her.
"So," a familiar voice announced, and as it did, Kim felt her heart flutter at its sound "I see you got Shego. That's one for Kim Possible."
"And I see in your hand there that you lost those rent-a-thugs and got the oblivioum." Kim tallied. "Score for Ron Stoppable."
"Not just that," Ron admitted proudly. "I even nailed Drakken. I so totally beat your score."
"Oh really." Kim replied with a challenged grin. "Well I believe that I got Monkey Fist and DNAmy earlier. Point's for Possible" Kim declared confidently.
"Pssh." Ron dismissed. "I took on the whole mutant monkey family. Major points there, I think."
"I took down Killigan." Kim countered, a wide smile on her face.
"No you didn't, that was me!" Ron argued, Kim's infectious smile spreading to his face as well.
"Well, I lined him up perfectly for you." Kim replied, feeling warm all over as she saw Ron's smile. "Besides, I took down Junior."
"Junior has been taken down by his own comb!" Ron countered, even as he tried to hide his growing glee at the grin all across Kim's face. "That only counts for half a point."
The two shared a laugh as they stopped to look at each other. Kim felt herself longing to rush up and throw herself into his arms, and if she had any inkling of how cherished Ron would have received her, she might have. But one thing at a time.
"Ron…"
Kim was interrupted as an explosion overhead shattered a whole in the ceiling through which a series of agents in full GJ gear lowered down on their lines. Kim and Ron wore a look of shared surprise as one of the agents removed their goggles and face gear to reveal himself.
"Team Possible," Agent Will Du announced. "We are here to assist in the retrieval of the stolen anti-element as well as the apprehension…"
"Too late." Ron smiled as he held up the oblivioum container.
"But you can 'assist' with the clean up, and its return." Kim filled in for Ron without missing a beat as she thrust the container into Will's surprised hands. "Oh, and we need a ride back to Athens." Kim smiled as she returned to Ron's side, the pair walking off towards one of the exits leading up towards the roof.
"Later dude." Ron waved without bothering to turn around.
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Kim and Ron checked their chutes in the back of the GJ hover jet.
"You never do anything normal, do you?" Ron asked with a smile, already knowing that Kim had refused to be landed right in front of their hotel in favor of another sky diving adventure.
"Look who's talking." Kim replied with a matching smile. "After you?" Kim offered.
"I insist." Ron replied politely. "Ladies first."
"You know, you're so cute when you're being all gentlemanly." Kim smiled a smile that made Ron's heart skip a beat even as she leapt right out of the plane. Ron didn't hesitate to follow her lead, he never had before.
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The rush of the air was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush of the jump. Ron had first jumped during this trip out of fear, then out of anger. Now that he was able to enjoy himself, he could understand the thrill of it.
Miles and miles of countryside and ocean stretched out below him, offering itself to him for his inspection. He could understand why Kim loved this.
"How are you doing?" Kim's voice asserted itself to reach over the apparent howl of the wind.
"Badical." Ron admitted enthusiastically.
"Ready to pull?"
"Not yet." Ron called out. He wanted to savor the experience. Falling without fear gave him such an appreciation for the landscape around them. It seemed such a shame to him that the two were going home in another day.
"Ready?" Kim asked again.
"Your call, KP." Ron replied.
The two fell a little while longer, before finally opening their chutes. They both couldn't be restrained to let out laughter as their chutes caught them, the pair gliding across the wind.
"You know, I don't know why I never tried this sooner." Ron admitted to Kim.
Kim couldn't say anything at first, so she didn't. Instead, she just smiled lovingly at him, before finally calling out.
"Follow my lead."
The two guided themselves across the air, until Ron finally could make out their apparent destination.
Kim was leading them directly for the steps of the Parthenon.
Ron suddenly felt himself grow uneasy. He wanted to veer off, aim for the city itself. But instead, he followed Kim's form flawlessly as the two landed right before it.
"KP, what are we doing here?" Ron asked warily, suddenly feeling very small before the ancient monument.
"I thought we needed to come back here." Kim spoke so softly, as much for his sake as hers. "Here is where things went wrong for us last night, and here is where they need to start going right again."
"Kim…" Ron felt his voice shake. He knew he didn't have the strength to go through this again.
"Here is where, last night, the man that I love told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and I reacted out of fear, and I hurt him."
"Please… don't…" Ron could feel himself losing hold over himself all over again. He wanted to throw his hands over his face and hide it from the rest of the world, yet as he tried, he felt a familiar pair of hands take in his in their strength.
"I crossed so many lines with you last night Ron, and there is no excusing it. And I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness…" Kim paused to sniffle even as her eyes began to water again "but I will work for as long as it takes to earn it if you let me."
"KP…"
The two pulled each other closer, tightly, drawing on strength that neither of them seemed to have, yet still drawing on it from one another.
"I am so sorry Ron. And I know I said it earlier, but I can never say it enough, I am so sorry. I'm sorry."
Ron felt overwhelmed to find the great Kim Possible, the most powerful, most able, strongest woman in the world, more confident and more amazing than anyone he had ever met in his well traveled life, in his arms, trembling. He knew then and there that the wrong words from his mouth could destroy her. He wouldn't even have to try. He found himself with the power to absolutely crush her… and was horrified by it.
"Kim, you have nothing to apologize for."
"Yes I do!" Kim felt herself want to draw back, yet Ron held her tight. To her surprise, rather than resist further, she felt herself grasp at his sleeves all the more tightly. "God Ron, what I said to you…"
"Hurt." He admitted for her. "But then, I suspect that you having to watch me kiss another girl in the middle of a rain forest hurt too. So, why don't we just admit that we're not perfect, and promise to try harder?"
Kim felt herself smile as she wiped clean her tears. "Where did you come up with such a mature idea like that?"
"I saw it on an episode of Agony County. You know the one where Danny cheats on Charity, and so Charity gets back at him by cheating on him."
Kim let a small laugh, muffled by Ron's shirt. "You're such a fan."
"Guilty." Ron confessed, before adding. "I promise."
"Me too."
"Are we gonna be ok?" Ron felt silly for asking, but he needed to hear it from her. He had to, just once.
"Yeah. We're going to be ok." Kim felt a surge of relief flow through her at how naturally the words came out of her.
There was a long pause as the two stood perfectly tranquil together, their tears seemingly blown away by the cool breeze coming off the water, as the sun set off in the distance, all the while regaining their strength to speak through their mutual embrace.
"So the drama, huh?" Ron asked finally.
Kim couldn't help but let out another laugh. "I know. I always thought I'd have wedding jitters, but this…"
"Yeah." Ron just chuckled lightly, before adding "Wait, what?"
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It is said that people in near death situations often experience a peculiar phenomenon. Apparently, in a brief instant, the sum total of their life flashes before their eyes, often giving them a clear or new perspective on their outlook on life in general or at least that is what's supposed to happen.
Kim had always dismissed this as some weird urban legend or myth. In all the countless times that she had faced death square in the eye, she had certainly never experienced anything even remotely similar to this supposed spiritual slide show.
Until today.
As Kim and Ron were slowly lowered into the bubbling pond of green, each passing second marked by the clanking sound of the chain as it lowered them another notch, Kim's life flashed before her very eyes, and she saw…
She saw a young Ronnie rushing across the frozen playground, a snowball in hand, the war cry "Noooo prisoners!" howling from his lips as he rushed to little Kimmie's aide, the two side by side valiantly fighting off Bonnie Rockwaller and her army of goons. When it was all said and done, the evil army had been driven off, and the pair had celebrated with hot cocoa to commemorate their heroic victory.
She saw herself stumble and fall onto the hard, cruel concrete of her parent's drive way after trying, and failing to perfect the techniques that she was convinced were absolutely essential for her to land even a spot on the cheer team. Yet as tears streamed out young Kimmie's eyes, Ronnie rushed out with a band aide in hand, tenderly cleaning and covering the wound and kissing it for luck, somehow completely missing the strong crimson hue burning across Kimmie's cheek as he did so.
She saw their first day of high school together. How strong she tried to appear. How confident she wanted to seem to any who might cast her a spare look. Yet for all her appearance of outward strength, she remembered her heart fluttering as Ron took her hand, smiling at her, as the two walked through those large imposing doors for the first time.
She saw their freshman spirit dance together. So many couples dancing around the dance floor instead of on it as one would expect, yet still the two of them moved fearlessly into the center, dancing, not to impress anyone, but just because they wanted to.
She saw their first kiss, under the influence of the Moodulator. But however uninhabited her actions may have been, there was no excusing away the look of pure bliss on Ron's face as he fell over with glee afterwards. And how that look on his face had remained locked in Kim's mind, even well after the affects of the device had been supposedly removed.
She saw Ron, slaving night and day over text books, being tutored by every person Kim could call in for a favor to bring his grades up so that they would attend college together. Ron had been absolutely tireless, save for the couple times she caught him napping, which frankly were more than few in number, in his determination to bring his grade point up enough to the university's standards.
She saw their graduation; the two of them standing side by side before family, so proud of themselves and their accomplishments. Knowing that their greatest challenges were still ahead of them and being unable to wait for the opportunity to triumph over them as well. She remembered grabbing Ron passionately during the class 'hat toss' and bringing his lips to hers.
She saw… him.
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Kim moved up to Ron, reaching into his pocket and quickly retrieving the small box, taking it in hand before Ron could move to stop her.
"I thought you would have thrown it away." Kim's discovery came as no real surprise. Still, the sight took her breath away all over again.
"Yeah well, you know how it is." Ron tried to mumble something that might sound like an excuse. The effort produced a language never spoken anywhere on the planet in its entire history.
"I do."
Kim's voice brought Ron back to attention.
"You do? You do what?"
Kim paused as she reached out to grab Ron's hands, taking them in her own as she leveled her eyes to look him straight in his own.
"I, Kimberly Anne Possible, take you, Ronald Dean Stoppable, to be my lawfully wedded husband; to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do us part."
The well rehearsed words blew Ron away. He knew he should say something, but only one word escaped his mouth.
"KP…"
"I'm still not ready for marriage Ron, not yet. I may not be for a while, even after college, and we still have a lot to talk about before then. But if it's a question of who I want to spend the rest of my life with, there is no question. I choose you. I always did, even if I let myself forget it for a little while."
Ron was speechless, but as Kim reminded herself, he had said everything he needed to say. Now it was her turn.
"You are my best friend, my partner, my hero, and my boyfriend. You're sweet, kind, funny and the only person I know I can turn to when things are getting heavy. Whatever else happens in my life, I never want to face it without you. I can't imagine a day without you, let alone a lifetime, and I never could. If you'll still have me as your wife, I can't think of anyone else I could ever have as my husband. I want to be with you for the rest of my life Ron Stoppable, I want to marry you."
Ron's already shattered mind tried desperately to keep up as his world, having already been spun upside down, was now being set right back up again.
For fifteen and a half of the longest, most agonizing seconds of her life, terror gripped Kim Possible's heart as silence reigned. Horrifying thoughts began to swarm through her mind as she tried to account for this calm. Was that too much? Had she waited too long? Had she already blown her chance? Should she say something else? Why didn't he say something?
Finally, he spoke, his voice a ghost of a whisper.
"So… that's a yes?" Even as Ron spoke, a tear dripped down from his eyes, prompting a sigh/laugh of relief from Kim, as well as several of her own.
"Yes." Kim whispered back as she fought for breath.
"Yes!"
"Yes." Kim moved towards him, feeling his hands cup around her face, warming her very being.
"I love you."
"I love y…" Kim was cut off from finishing her reply as the two pulled each other together for the longest, most passionate kiss that the couple had ever shared. The setting sun perfectly complimented the moment, illuminating the duo as though the universe itself had decided to send down its blessing on the pair. They had earned it.
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Kim and Ron knocked in the door to their hotel room, their lips still locked tightly together as they stumbled through awkwardly, maintaining their hold on each other.
Ron reached wildly for the door to shut it behind the pair, even as he stumbled a bit in Kim's tight grasp, prompting a laugh from them both.
"Graceful." Kim teased as she returned to his lips.
"You're… distracting… me." Ron replied smiling between kisses even as Kim continued to press herself passionately against him, all the while he savored every moment of it. The feel of her thin body, the smell of her hair, every last one of his senses was electrified by her presence, and he didn't want it to end for the world.
At this, Kim pushed Ron back for a moment, prompting a look of concern from his face. However, before he could give voice to his questions, Kim silenced him with a finger to his lips.
"No more distractions." As she spoke, Kim turned to lock the door to their room. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed the Kimmunicator, turned to Ron, smiled, and then casually tossed it out the room's window, only to hear the echo of it shattering to the ground below.
"KP…" Ron was again silenced as Kim reached down for the hem of her shirt and proceeded to lift it up and over her head, discarding her shirt entirely, standing before Ron in only her black sports bra for a top.
"Are… are you sure you don't want to wa…." Kim returned her finger to his lips, silencing Ron once again.
"Not another minute." She whispered before pulling his lips back to hers. And with that, she took him in a kiss, even as she guided them both down on top of their bed.
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Author's Note: Zaratan, send us off.