Five Months Later
Kim Possible fanfiction
immo - rated not for kids
author's note: Thank you so much for everyone's kind reviews. Again, I don't like naming names, you all know who you are when you look at the reviews. All of you roooooock hardcore to the max! Thank you for the people at KPslash haven who recommended that I should use different quotations for Chinese. I've thought about it and decided to implement the idea. Chinese will be in Italics. Peace out!
"Let someone else deal with it." Mrs. Dr. Possible pleaded. "You just got home."
"I'm not home!" Kim shouted unable to keep her anger in, immediately regretting her outburst afterwards. "I can't stay here, mom."
"Why not?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked tearfully. "What's wrong, honey? We can help you, we're your family."
Outside on the front lawn, Dr. Lipsky had parked his UFO on the driveway and was waiting for Kim to board. He would fly them straight to She Cun. Their guests and all of Team Possible, including Tim and Jim who had rushed home from school when Monique had paged them, were on the craft.
"Not with this." Kim shook her head stubbornly. "I have to find her."
"Why can't you leave this to someone else?" Mrs. Dr. Possible demanded, grabbing a hold of Kim's arm. The look her daughter gave her made her freeze. In her Team gear, Kim looked ready for action. Her hair, short when she had come back, had grown to about chin length. Those soft green eyes were as hard as emeralds.
"Shego's my responsibility." Kim replied softly, remembering a conversation she had long ago with Shego.
'I'm your responsibility.' Shego's voice was clear in her mind.
"From the time I started as Kim Possible, leader of Team Possible, Shego became my responsibility. She was a criminal that I needed to apprehend time and again because nobody else could catch her or hold her for too long." Kim said this with a touch of pride. "When I went missing, she became my... friend. She didn't have the best intentions when she took me, but in the end she let me go and made sure to the best of her ability, that I wouldn't return for her. And I still went back willingly to help her."
This was where Kim's voice hitched. "But I failed to help her. I failed her."
"Honey, some things--"
"-are impossible." Kim finished the sentence for her mother and nodded. "But not this. I should have... It should have been possible. When it counted the most. And now someone--someone s-stole her body. Who would do such a thing?"
Mr. Dr. Possible, seeing how his daughter was hurting, made shushing noises and enveloped her in a hug. "Oh, Kimmie-cub..."
Unable to do anything else, Mrs. Dr. Possible joined in in the hug, deeply troubled by all of this.
"Honey, can you please stay?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked, his voice muffled. "Please? This one time, can you just not go?"
Kim shook her head, pushing away from her parents. She had to do this.
"I'm going, mom... dad. With or without your blessings." Kim's mouth was a firm, hard line. Both parents recognized that look, knowing that she wouldn't be swayed and there was no way they could forbid her to go. She's been going out like this ever since she was young, it was too late to put their foot down now.
"Then go and come back quickly." Mrs. Dr. Possible said. Kim's father stayed silent, fear freezing his heart. What if his Kimmie-cub didn't come back this time? But there was nothing he could do as she hugged them one last time and headed to the UFO.
"Take care of your sister!" The patriarch of the Possible family shouted at his boys, his throat tight. The twins gave a thumbs up and smiled reassuringly. Jim and Tim was with Kim... but how come the doctors Possible didn't feel any better?
Hopping aboard the aircraft, Kim gave a last wave before giving the order to lift off.
'You couldn't abandon me like that.' Shego's black evil mouth had curved into an evil smirk when she said that. Arrogant with that tiny but powerful bit of truth.
'I couldn't then. I wouldn't now.' Kim's resolve hardened. 'I'm coming for you, Shego.'
The ride there was extremely uncomfortable. Not because Dr. Lipsky had neglected in the 'comfort' aspect of his craft, no. There was all sorts of aesthetically pleasing items on board, various modern comforts. Reclining leather chairs. A big screen high-definition TV mounted on the wall in the passenger area. Pillows and blankets. Champagne.
"This is your captain speaking," Dr. Lipsky's voice came over the intercom. "We're, um. Doing well. Please feel free to try the champagne, self-serve of course. And you could talk to each other. I find that conversation passes the time--"
"--this is your co-captain speaking." Jim had managed to take over the intercom. "We'll be there soon."
The intercom went dead. Ron glanced around the cabin, noticing Kim sitting on one side of craft, arms folded. A black cloud seemed to hang over her head. Their guests sat on the opposite side. Nam Ho the Buddhist Abbot sat calmly, eyes closed, beads in hand and lips moving in recitation of a silent prayer. Vince also known as Cheung, glanced over at Kim from time to time, anger and guilt alternatively flitting across his features. The cabin was dead quiet.
"Just leave it, Ron." Monique advised when Ron's eyes had alighted on Kim and raised a bit from his seat. "Kim nearly bit off that guy Vince's head when he tried to explain himself."
The blonde man nodded, sitting back down. The cabin was rife with tension. Kim had refused every attempt Vince had made to try and explain himself. Nam Ho had ignored the whole affair and sat away from everyone to pray as soon as he got on the aircraft. Rufus and Tigger were currently playing blackjack. Tim had fallen asleep.
"Be right back." Ron excused himself from Monique. Not liking the atmosphere at all, Ron walked over to Vince and sat near him with a friendly smile.
"Wassup, dude?" Ron tried.
Vince gave him a tired smile and held out his hand. "We met before, but I'm sorry, I think I forgot your name."
"Ron Stoppable." Ron shook Vince's hand. "Its okay. Everyone seems to have that problem."
The intercom crackled, interrupting them. "Excuse me, er, buffoon. Can you bring us some snacks? Some of those chips--oh wait, we have some. Cancel that order."
Ron gave Vince a thin smile. "So don't worry about it."
The young Chinese man chuckled briefly, then looked over at Kim with worry. "You think she'll stay mad at me?"
"Naw, Kim's a forgiving kind of person. Just give her some time." Ron paused. "But honestly, I've never seen her this angry before. Except that time when Shego died."
The light atmosphere Ron had encouraged suddenly died. The very air itself seemed to have gotten heavier.
"Yeah." Vince nodded sadly. "It was our fault."
"It wasn't." Ron said quickly. "I mean, who can really control a giant snake?"
Vince nodded, not looking like he believed Ron. The blonde tried quickly to change the subject.
"That Shego, she was a firecracker, wasn't she?"
Vince's face became pained.
"Um." Ron felt incredibly awkward. "Maybe... maybe I should go."
"She... was. She was a great person. Sorry," Vince apologized weakly. "I'm just... suddenly I don't feel so well. Excuse me."
Vince got up and went to the washroom, his red eyes telling Ron that Vince was close to tears.
"Good job." Monique said dryly and gave Ron a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, we'll be there soon."
Tim woke up suddenly, almost falling from his seat. Seeing Ron and Monique, he smiled and pressed the pads of his hands against his eyes, trying to rub the sleep out of them.
"Whew!" The twin flashed a toothy grin. "Are we there yet? What'd I miss?"
"Almost five months." Kim had arrived in She Cun and was hustled quickly into the village meeting place, a small house at the edge of the village. Refreshments were at hand, but it seemed like nobody had the appetite. The tiny house was already filled to bursting, with the elders plus a handful of others including Team Possible. "FIVE months. And you didn't think to contact me? Send me a letter? A phone call?"
Lo po-po looked like she had aged greatly since the last time Kim had seen her, a few more lines on her face. Not lines of laughter though, but of daily stress and the hardness of life beating down on her old frame. She and the rest of the elders listened to her quietly, not saying anything, allowing the redhead to rant at them in Chinese.
"When our communications are back up again," Jim whispered to his brother, "We need Wade to hook us up with some kinda translators. ASAP."
"We're sorry, Kim." Lo po-po sighed, glancing over at Michelle. "But things have been... busy here."
"FIVE MONTHS!" Kim hollered, reacting to that weak excuse with fury. "Someone TOOK her body!"
"We didn't want to call you back after you had left." Grandpa Cho explained. "And this is something that is beyond your understanding--"
"I understand just fine!"
"Please." Grandma Lo held up a hand, eyes hard. "Kim, please calm down. We didn't want to keep this information from you. You were gone. We thought we would be able to find her body without your help since this is our neck of the woods. And the monks were helping us."
"I was one of the ones who agreed on not calling you back, Kim." Nam Ho apologized. "You had just left. We were certain we would be able to find her--"
"But you couldn't find her, could you?" Kim said bitterly.
"No." Lo po-po sighed, glancing around at everyone present. "We have been having problems with the villages surrounding us. The ones that give us tribute. We're responsible for their welfare. In these parts... well, anything can happen. And recently, things have been happening that should not have been happening. When you came into the village, did you realize that there was not that many of us left here?"
Kim paused, suddenly realizing this. Actually, the people in the room seemed were the only ones she'd seen so far in the village. Everybody else was gone.
"We've sent families out to these villages and the problems have ceased, slightly. Plus the monks, they have been a great help. These... creatures dance on that line Xaio Qing has set, and some even arrogantly step over that line. But not when a descendant of She Cun is actually around."
"What do you mean?" The redheaded heroine asked.
"For Xaio Qing's continued benevolence and protection, she asks that the villages pay tribute to her through She Cun." Lo po-po explained. "We receive offerings of food, clothing, services. Everything is provided for us. But recently, the... otherfolk surrounding this area have been alarmingly disrespectful and haven't stuck with the law Xaio Qing had set down."
"Where is," Kim swallowed the bitterness in her throat. "Where's Xaio Qing? And Bai Su Zhen?"
There was a moment of unrest as the residents of the village all muttered amongst themselves worriedly.
"They're gone?" Kim gathered.
"I went to look for her." Cheung told Kim. "Her place was empty. There was someone there who told me both Xaio Qing and Bai Su Zhen had left, though."
"Someone?" Kim perked up. "Who?"
"Hu Li Jing Tai Tai." Cheung revealed, letting out a breath. "She's... something."
Michelle had been standing beside Cheung the whole time gave him a dirty look and kicked him in the shin. Cheung made an exaggerated show of pain, causing the baby boy in Michelle's arms to gurgle and laugh happily. Little David waved his chubby limbs happily, then clutched onto his mother again. There was light laughter, which quickly died away to its sombre atmosphere again.
"Hu Li Jing Tai Tai..." Kim turned to her team. "Mrs. Fox."
"Mrs. Fox?" Monique seemed a bit confused. "Like, what time is it Mrs. Fox?"
"That's Mr. Fox." Ron whispered.
"Wrong on both counts," Kim smiled without humour. "Do you remember the really pretty woman the last..." Kim faltered a bit, "...the last time we were here on the mountain?"
Everybody who had been there at the time suddenly got a dreamy look on their faces.
"She was sooooo pretty." Dr. Lipsky sighed. "Her hair was like silk..."
"Sooooo pretty." Tim and Jim sighed in agreement.
"She had the--"
"--prettiest eyes..."
"Girl had the nicest skin and the cutest ass..." Monique added. Everyone paused at that. Monique blinked and shook her head a bit while the residents of She Cun that understood English laughed.
"Mrs. Fox and all of her children have this affect on... well, everyone." Michelle's words did nothing to quell the redness in Monique's cheeks. "Mrs. Fox is that young woman's mother."
"MILF." Dr. Lipsky, Ron, Tim and Jim said immediately. Monique slapped Jim's arm, still blushing.
Kim switched back to Chinese, her mood not at all improved. "So what have you done to find Shego? All I've heard is how you've been helping everyone. And I realize that bad things are happening and She Cun is trying to help and that's really admirable but right now, all I care about is finding Shego's body."
"Its not like we haven't been trying." Another one of the elders snapped back, temper already frayed. "We've told the surrounding villages, the monks, everybody--"
"Everybody but me!" Kim screamed. Little David started crying, unused to the loud noises. Michelle bounced David, trying to calm the baby down. Kim took a few deep breaths, to calm herself. The entire house was quiet. Kim tried to smile, but failed miserably. "I'm sorry, Michelle."
"That's alright." Michelle nodded, understanding. David had stopped crying almost immediately and was looking around in curiosity, having forgotten entirely what he was crying about before. The sleeve of his shirt caught his attention and he waved his arms, eyes wide in amazement. Green!
"Cheung, take him." Michelle handed the baby to Vince, then grabbed Kim's hand and left the house. Nobody followed them, except for Tigger, probably sent by Jim to keep an eye on his sister. They walked in silence, Kim's breath ragged with emotion, Michelle not saying a word.
They walked through the winding pathways of the village, until they had left the village and were at the side of the village where a river ran lazily by. This was where the villagers did their laundry, further up, where they got their water when there hadn't been rain for a while and their well wasn't used. Michelle remembered a time, that didn't seem long ago, when Shego had knelt down in front of her and brushed aside a stray strand of hair from her face that had gotten loose from Michelle's usually tidy bun. The two women looked into the river and Kim willed her anger to flow away, knowing that she needed a clear head.
"We all miss her."
"Why didn't you contact me?" Kim rounded on Michelle, not angry anymore. Just sad and defeated. "You, of all people, must know how I feel. How would you feel if this happened? If the person you loved, they died... and somebody stole their body? And nobody told you?"
A fresh onslaught of tears came over Kim. These past few months she had cried so much, she was always so surprised when she found that she still had more left inside of her to empty out.
"We didn't want to involve you because this whole thing's become more than just about a missing body." The emotionless mask Michelle kept on her face at all times slipped a bit. "I... I was one of the people who didn't want to tell you and I told them not to tell you. I was one of the main people. A lot of people wanted to drag you back at once. But I didn't want you here and I made Lo po-po convince the council that it was better that you weren't there."
"What?" Kim was stunned. "Why?"
"Because that's what Shego would've wanted." Michelle raised her chin a little bit, as if daring Kim to get angry at her, to challenge her decision. "She wanted you to leave here. She would've wanted you to move on."
Kim was momentarily speechless. "What?"
"I'm married to someone who loves me more than I love him." Michelle smiled bitterly. "I love him, don't get me wrong. I love him and I don't regret marrying him or having David. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, maybe not even... but I loved Shego so much. So much, Kim, do you know how much?"
Kim was mute.
"So much that I was able to marry someone else when she told me to. So much that I was HAPPY for her when I found out you two were together. And happy that she was alive, somewhere close by. And I knew, inside her black heart, I knew there would always be a little bit of me inside there. She loved me. When Shego was alive, she loved a lot of people, but you and I were lucky and she cared about us more than, more than..." Michelle sobbed, cried like her heart was breaking all over again. "She c-cared about us enough to die for us. To s-send us away. I understand n-now why she didn't w-want me with her. W-Why she pushed me away. Do you see she told us t-to leave? But...but you came back."
"I can't forget her, ah Fong." Kim said in a tiny voice, sounding very much like a lost child. "I just... I can't."
Michelle shook her head. "Its Shego's fault. All of this. Stupid, selfish Shego. All of this is her fault. When you r-really think about this, its all her fault. But I-I can't blame her. And you're not to blame. A-And I have to, have to keep telling myself that--that I'm not to blame either."
Tigger whined, watching the two women and unable to do anything. They stood next to each other, crying.
"Who would do this?" Kim asked no-one in particular, bewildered and hurt. "Who would take her body?"
Michelle took out a hankerchief and wiped her face, trying to compose herself. "W-We have our suspicions. The monks also came to investigate. And they said that any number of things could have taken her. Because her body--" Michelle covered her mouth with the back of her hand as if this simple gesture could stop the grief, her voice getting high and squeaky from trying not to cry. "--her body holds a lot of power. So... its valuable. But we think... it might be Xaio Qing."
"Xaio Qing." Again, that name. Kim felt so much regret, regret that she hadn't killed Xaio Qing. The idea of killing had never appealed to her. Taking another life seemed so horrific, so needless. Kim couldn't imagine herself ever doing it. But right now at this moment, Kim knew that it would have been the right thing to do. She should've done it when she had the opportunity.
"We can't find her. But things have escalated and we think all of this--Xaio Qing, Bai Su Zhen and Shego's missing body--is connected. Maybe you've heard, but things have been happening in the outside world that only happens in She Cun." Michelle's tears had stopped and she was all business. The Ice Queen again.
"What things?" Kim was confused and now was slightly afraid that her months-long isolation had made her miss something of dire importance. The troubled look on Michelle's face made the redhead repeat herself. "Ah Fong, please. What things?"
"Haven't you noticed that this place is a haven for the 'mythical'?" Michelle said this with a special emphasis on 'mythical'. "But you don't see this in the outside world. Xaio Qing created a sanctuary here, she was so powerful that she was able to create a bubble around this place and protect it and keep it from outside influences. Her bubble stretches out over several VALLEYS and MOUNTAINS. The nature of the spell protected everything within its borders. Even the demons and the spirits that live here. And they flourished here. When they're outside, they don't. Do you know why?"
Michelle led them away from the river as they talked, back into the labyrinthine village of She Cun. That physical seperation from the houses of She Cun had done Kim some good, she felt a lot more composed and a lot less angry.
"We got the answers from the monk. In the outside world, the very atmosphere itself discourages any sort of magical growth. In here, because of Xaio Qing's protective bubble, it protects these creatures greatly. Those who stay outside of one of these 'bubbles', unless they're extremely powerful, are prone to being destroyed."
"Destroyed?"
"They die if they don't find one of these bubbles to enter and rest in. This protection is sort of like taking a gulp of air and then swimming underwater. After a while, you have to come up for air or you die." Michelle navigated the alleys of the village expertly, Kim also found that even after being gone, she still knew the village so well. Everything was so familiar. "But now, the atmosphere outside has changed. Its a lot more welcoming. So things happen. And recently in India--well. We'll get to that later. There's a huge chance that all of this involves the disappearance of Shego's body."
They stopped in front of a familiar house, Kim had been so focused on what Michelle had been saying that she hadn't seen that Michelle had lead them straight to Shego's house. The doors were wide open, as if welcoming them in.
Michelle stepped inside with Tigger quickly following. "Come on."
"No. I can't." Kim shook her head. Lips pressed together to prevent herself from bawling. "I can't, ah Fong, I-I-"
"You have to." There was steel in Michelle's voice. "Come on. This is your house now. You and your friends will stay here tonight."
"Any place else--"
"This is your place." Michelle said through clenched teeth, trying to show a strong front. "You have to, Kim. I know what you're going through. Trust me, I understand so well. She's gone, she's dead. But the dead would want the living to continue living."
Michelle gently tugged Kim through the doors. An altar had been set up, a black lacquered plaque sitting on the table with Shego's name on it and a bunch of Chinese characters written underneath her name. Red candles sat on either side of the plaque, plus offerings of fruit and food. Three tiny red cups with a little bit of rice wine still in them were lined up in front of the plaque. There were also three pairs of chopsticks. Flowers were placed in vases in front of the altar. A tiny brass pot sat directly in front of the plaque and Kim could see that this was where people put sticks of incense.
"Hey Shego," Michelle spoke to the plaque casually, as if Shego was really there. "Look who came to visit, finally."
Michelle stooped down to grab a container full of incense and took out three, handing them to Kim. She took out matches and lit them while Kim seemed like she was frozen to the spot.
"Go ahead." Michelle nudged Kim. Having seen this kind of worship a few times, Kim hesitantly bowed three times. She felt like she was going to cry again. But the redhead held it in, aware of that black plaque sitting in front of her. The only physical representation of Shego left in the world that they had.
"I'm doing okay." Kim said to the altar, finding that she was comforted a bit, doing this, talking as if Shego was right there listening to her. So she continued. "I'm doing okay, Shego, so don't worry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the time I wasted when I could have been alert. I'm sorry I ran away. And I promise, I promise that I'll get your body back and lay you to rest."
Kim placed the incense in the pot and directed a soft smile at the plaque, feeling like Shego--wherever she was, was watching her very critically right now. Judging her. That superior smirk on her lips and an eyebrow cocked up in a questioning manner.
"I'll find you, Shego. I haven't forgotten: you're my responsibility."
endnote: Sorry its so short. I'm trying! Comments, reviews, criticism, etc... are all really welcome. Really. Like I said during 'a few new tricks', they keep me going! :D