**Several Months Earlier, May 2007 -
WHAM! Went the Sloth's tires as they met the surface of the highway as it landed from its flight. Once on the ground, the jet engines disengaged and the 12-cylinder primary engine revved back into control.
"Boo-yah, KP! Now that is what I call making an exit!" Exclaimed Ron, as he fist-pumped his hands in the air, still in triumphant celebration over graduating high school.
"No big." Kim replied in her familiar catchphrase "It was just a little boost from dual hypersonic jet engines, breaking the sound barrier and checking the view from the stratosphere. Nothing too over the top." She said with a wink and a nod.
"Are you kidding me? The Air Force scrambled a freakin' fighter squadron on us!" Ron bragged.
"Yeah well, everyone's a little on edge as of late. You know, post-alien invasion and all."
As he began to calm down, Ron's buzz began to fade as he looked around at the desolate 4-lane highway they were traveling on. "So, uh, KP, where exactly are we going?"
"You'll see." she replied with a smirk. "I'd suggest that you tighten your seat belts though." she continued as she pressed a button on the steering wheel.
"Why's that KPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEËEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The Sloth's turbo engines kicked in and the car launched into hyperdrive as it blasted down the stretch of highway leaving a trail of smoking pavement behind.
"WHOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Kim in a rare form of exuberance usually reserved for her boyfriend as the two of them blurred down the road.
A short while later as they began to approach Kim's secret destination, she disengaged the boosters and began to drive slow enough so that Ron could make out the surroundings in hopes that he would begin to pick up where they were going.
"Do you know where we are yet, Ron?" Kim asked with a smile.
Ron peered out his passenger side window and saw a vast tree line of evergreens along with a shoreline which was visible outside of Kim's window. "Coastal water, pine trees, bay bridge. NO WAY! Of course!"
Kim began to smirk as she pulled the car into a parking lot at the top of the hill in which Ron hopped out before she could complete the stop.
"Astoria!" Ron exclaimed as he walked around the gravel parking lot Kim had pulled into. "I remember our parents bringing us here when we were kids! I haven't been here in ages!"
"Yep." Kim responded as she turned her head to look at a large structure which stood behind them. "How about we go up to the top?"
"The Astoria Column! Wow, I forgot how awesome that thing looked. Remember when we used to hock lugees off of the top?" Ron laughed.
"Yeah, your father thought it was hilarious. Especially that stray one that kind of hit him." Kim replied, eyes rolling.
"At least it was your lugee. If it were me, I would have been grounded for weeks."
"Um, yeah...thanks for reminding me of my crowning achievement." Kim said sarcastically as she turned her head to look at the structure. "How about we climb?"
With that, the pair of teens took to the spiral staircase and began to ascend to the observation deck above. Kim made it to the top of the tower first and ran over to the railing, overlooking the city and ocean below.
"It's an amazing view isn't it Ron? Ron?"
Kim turned around to see that her boyfriend struggling to make it up the final flight of stairs, out of breath and clinging to the handrail.
"I'm...sure *huff huff*...it's...beautiful, *huff* KP." Ron said between gasps, "I think I might have eaten too much pizza at the graduation party."
Once he managed to caught his breath, Ron made it over to the railing where his girlfriend was patiently waiting for him. He keeled over the railing in an attempt to catch his breath, while Kim gently took her hand and rubbed his back trying to calm him down.
"Don't even think about lobbing one over the edge." Kim said jokingly as she referred to his old spitting escapades. "I can't believe it's been almost ten years since we were last here. It was like the annual Possible/Stoppable vacation destination."
"Yeah, it was one of the highlights of life in elementary school. Why did we stop doing it?"
"I guess we just got older and things changed…" Kim sighed in nostalgia, "Nana retired and moved to Florida, so we started going there to visit her, and your parents wanted to start seeing the world so, I guess we couldn't do both with everyone's schedules."
"That's too bad. Those were good times...so um, why did we come up here tonight?" Ron asked as the two of them leaned over the railing and watched the moon rise over the water.
"It's been a while since we have been here. I wanted to come back and enjoy it with you before we went off to college. Just the two of us." she replied as she watched the reflection of moonlight dance across the water in the bay.
"Before we go off to college? Ron said in a slightly depressed voice. "Don't you mean before you go off to a prestigious university in Paris, or Rome or London for who knows how long while I stay here and go to Lowerton Community College with the rest of the losers?"
"Ron, you're not a loser..." Kim replied in a strong tone as she leaned next to him before bowing her head "...and, I'm...I'm not going to Europe."
"What?!" Ron replied shocked "Kim, for months all you have talked about is going to school abroad, about how you were accepted to some of the most prestigious universities in the world. How can you turn that down?! What happened?!"
"I lost my home Ron...it was destroyed in the invasion, my parents found it as a pile of rubble after they left the graduation ceremony. Outside of a few belongings, nothing's left."
"But KP, wouldn't they have homeowners insurance to take care of that?"
"I don't think 'alien invasion' is covered by their policy Ron. Even with my parents' salaries between rebuilding the house and taking care of the Tweebs, having money to send me to college in another country, just, doesn't seem..." she looked down in disappointed irony "possible."
Sobered by the news, Ron dropped his normal goofiness and took on a more serious tone. "KP I am so sorry. I don't know what to say..."
"Well, If it's any consolation, your parents have apparently offered my family the use of their guestroom and attic rooms...so the Stoppables have come through for us...so they're taken care of."
"And you?" Ron asked.
Kim reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Ron. He began to unfold it and noticed it was an acceptance letter, to where became clear almost immediately once a giant green "O" appeared on the letterhead.
"Oregon?" Ron said surprised yet excited. "The great Kim Possible is going to the University of Oregon? Three hours away? The Ducks?!"
"Yep...quack quack.." she replied with an unenthusiastic hand gesture forming the famed "duck foot. "I was accepted there a few months ago, I'm going to call them tomorrow to see if they have any last-minute openings for a prospective student facing extreme circumstances."
"So... This is good or...bad?"
"It's good, I guess. Considering the circumstances." she replied as a gentle breeze began to blow through her long red hair. "It's not my first choice, but it's a good school. Plus I qualify for a few scholarships they offer, so that could help out with expenses. It would at least allow me to stay close to my family and help out as they rebuild and and I guess if I really wanted to see the world I could always do a semester abroad somewhere...I mean, it's not like we haven't been to Europe, Asia, Africa, or Outer Space before..." she winked as she worked up a smile.
Ron smiled back at his girlfriend as she tried to make light of the situation, reached over and gave her a hug trying to lighten the mood.
"I don't really know what to say. I feel horrible about the house, and that you can't go to Europe like you dreamed...but I can't help but feel happy that you're going to be closer to home."
''Yeah, I thought you'd say that." she said as she broke away from his embrace. ''Ron, the last couple of days has really made me think of a lot of things…''
"Oh? Like what KP?" Ron replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Like, maybe we should, you know, live in the moment…" her eyebrows beginning to turn upwards in uncertainty" You know, grab life by the horns, and not waste our time with small things. I mean, Warhok, I almost bought it with him and…"
"Go on." Ron replied, not liking where this conversation was going.
"And, well, the whole Lorwardian invasion kind of got me thinking, that life is short, and well..maybe I have been wasting time and that I shouldn't put off something I've needed to say for a while..''
'Kim, are you um, breaking up with me?" Ron said nervously.
"Huh, whuh? No! No, no, no! That's not what I was going to say! Of course not!"
"Okay, phew!" he said rather relieved "Sorry, you just sounded like you were going there."
"No silly, I wouldn't go there."
"Sorry, um, so what were you going to say then?"
Kim leaned off the railing and grabbed Ron's still-trembling hand. "That I love you." she replied with a warm, comforting smile.
"You...you love me?" Ron repeated making sure he had heard what he thought he had heard.
"Yep! I...love...you, Ron Stoppable." she reiterated with a wink and a giggle "and I think I've waited too long to tell you those words….although I'm pretty sure I knew it was the case for a while now.''
''I love you too KP!" a beaming Ron replied back.
"Good! Now, come here and kiss me…" Kim said as she leaned in with puckered lips.
Ron obliged, and leaned in and grabbed Kim into a warm embrace before their lips gently touched. Kim had other plans though as she decided to take their relationship to another level and opened her mouth and gently slipped her tongue into Ron's mouth. The move startled Ron for a second as he jumped but quickly got over the initial shock and returned the favor as his tongue met with hers. A few seconds later, Kim withdrew and pulled back to see the reaction of her boyfriend.
"Whoa." Ron managed to get out after a few seconds of coming to grasp with what just happened.
"Love me?" Kim asked in a playful banter as she batted her eyes at a stunned Ron.
''Oh yeah!" Ron replied "Totally love ya."
"Good...now come back here." She exclaimed as she grabbed Ron again and pulled him in for yet another deep passionate loving kiss which seemed to develop into their first make out session high atop the Astoria Column. After a few minutes of kissing they pulled apart and looked back over the bay.
"It's getting late. We should probably head back to Middleton." Kim sighed. Ron agreed and they began to head back down the stairs.
"You know KP, with you being down in Eugene, we could still keep doing missions…" Ron implied.
"True. But we'll have to see how it all works out. College life is going to be different than what we've been used to. Lots of homework, independence, a little bit of distance between us...it could get difficult. At least Shego and Drakken seem to be on the straight and narrow now."
"Pfft! logistics smolgistics." Ron chirped, "What's the worst that could possibly happen?"