Chapter 21

…

~At the Possible Castle~

The Royal Possible family were still eating their breakfast, chatting with one another about various things. Kim was the first to finish her meal, looking to her father, she said, "All done! May I be excused Dad?"

"You may." King James answered. "Kim, remember, when you visit Ron this afternoon, you can have fun but be careful okay?"

The orange-haired teenager smiled. "Yes Dad" She gave him a kiss on the cheek before swimming off.

After she left, Yori looked to her father, concerned. "Father, I have been thinking. One of these days, I should accompany Kim to her meetings with Ron."

King James looked to her daughter in puzzlement & Yori explained, "Well, when the time comes I will be Queen of the realm. Shouldn't I learn how to negotiate with the humans?"

The patriarch realized that Yori had a point, with her being the eldest daughter; she would be next in line for the throne. She and the husband she would choose would be the next rulers of Middleton. He conceded though there was a bit of reluctance in his tone, "You make a fair point there Yori."

While they were talking, Anne looked towards Bonnie. A pensive thought came to her mind, and then she called out to her daughter. "Bonnie, are alright honey?"

The brown-haired mermaid beauty just turned away, arms folded. "I'm fine Mom." She replied sullenly.

Her other sisters saw that Bonnie was lying, and Anne could see it as well. She believed that something was wrong with her daughter, and that perhaps she needed to do something to make it up to her. To show Bonnie what she had been wanting for some time.

The Queen of the realm spoke in a serious tone. "Well would you like to spend time with me today?"

This got Bonnie's attention, looking to her with a small frown on her face. "Are you serious, Mom?" She asked.

With a genuine concerned look on her face, Anne answered back, "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

This made the brunette mermaid frown deepen a little, her mind wondering on what was going on. "Why Mother? Why now all of a sudden?" She then asked in a skeptical tone.

The Queen sighed, knowing that she had to get some privacy with her & her daughter. She rose up from her chair, started to swim towards one of the corridors connecting to the Dining Room, gesturing for Bonnie to follow. With some reluctance, she swam from her chair and followed her mother.

Tara and the others were puzzled by this, and it was Tara that was about to follow to see what was up but Monique put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her & Tara looking back to see the chocolate-skinned beauty shaking her head slowly.

Tara grimaced. She understood that it was something private between their mother and sister and they had to

When they were in the empty corridor, Anne looked into her daughter's eyes and hesitated. "I…I was thinking about what you said. About how you feel that your dad and I love your brothers and sisters more than you."

Bonnie folded her arms across her chest, looking away with resentment in her eyes. "Yeah, so?" She asked back in a bit of a harsh tone.

It really did hurt Anne that her daughter was like this to her, so she resolved to fix the matter between them as best she could! She held out her hand to her, careful not to touch her daughter. "I don't want you to feel as if I love you less." The Queen told her softly. "Please, give me a chance to prove myself to you."

Bonnie looked at the hand that was extended towards her, then to the face of her mother. Bitter resentment was shown in her eyes, but… it seemed that her negative feelings were starting to ebb away. Slowly at first, but it seemed that the good side of Bonnie managed to win in giving Anne a chance. She took Anne's hands in her own. "Fine, Mom."

This pleased the Queen of the sea kingdom, and it really showed on her face. She spoke with a smile on her lips, "So, what would you like to do? Anything you want to do, I'll do it with you."

Bonnie considered her mother's offer. "Maybe we could spend time at Club Starfish?" She suggested.

Anne nodded her head. "How about this afternoon?" She asked.

"Sounds good, Mom." Bonnie answered half-hearted before swimming away. The Queen's smile soon vanished as she saw her daughter leave, realizing that she had an uphill battle in reconnecting with her flesh and blood. However, she was determined to do so, her heart and mind convicted and firm in that resolve!

~At the surface~

At the Stoppable kingdom, Prince Ronald was studying in one of the classrooms at the castle with Regent Barkin watching his charge from a distance. Rufus popped out of his master's/friends pocket, climbing out and standing in front of Ron at the desk. He chittered in his language; Barkin finding this quite unusual for a rodent to be so intelligent like so… and more unusual was seeing the prince actually understanding the naked mole rat!

"Yeah, I know Rufus. I rather be somewhere else too." Ron told his companion, his tone gloomy.

Barkin went up to his pupil. "Your Highness, you need to focus on your studies. You still have much to learn if you are going to be a real prince."

The Prince looked up at Barkin, annoyed. "I know Regent B. But… all of this just doesn't go with my Inner Ronness."

The muscled man face-palmed himself and groaned. "Teenagers and there so called essences."

Rufus turned to the tall human and chittered angrily at him, making Barkin raise an eyebrow at the small mammal. He had to give credit to Ron's the pet; it certainly was not short on bravery. Brains maybe, but not bravery.

"Whoa there buddy, watch the language there!" Ron chastised his small friend,

Barkin cast his gaze to Ron. "What did he just say to me?" He asked coldly.

The Prince knew that the man would try to squish Rufus as the language the naked mole rat was something not meant for children's ears. He looked to the Regent and offered a weak smile and reply, "Uh…that you're a great…teacher."

The muscled man sighed and decided to let the situation slide, knowing that it would be absurd to the nth degree in trying to start an argument with a little rodent. He glanced at a nearby clock and saw that it was only going to be a couple of minutes until his class lessons were officially done. "Well, it seems that your break is about here. You can go now if you wish."

This instantly brightened Ron's mood and it showed on his face like and looking at the Regent, he exclaimed. "Booyah! Thanks Regent B! You're the best!"

Barkin had a neutral expression on his face as he commented unenthusiastically, "Yes I am."

Ron rose up from his desk, Rufus scampering quickly to get back into his pouch. As Ron rushed out of the classroom and to his room, he took out the magical shell and activated it. It seemed that on his first bit of freedom from his schooling, he would be calling his mermaid friend.

~Under the Sea~

In a special room made just for the royal daughters, Kim and her sisters were working on their studies with an elderly merman being their tutor. The quietness in room was so deep, the sisters focusing on the lesson in front of them. However, the silence was broken by a soft noise coming from Kim's purse. The noise broke the silence, causing the sisters and the tutor to look at Kim, who was blushing from embarrassment.

The elderly tutor turned towards Kim with a scowl on his face, "Kimberly Anne Possible." He stated coldly.

Kim gulped, knowing that any time her full name was spoken, that someone was VERY displeased with her.

"It's just a…friend of mine who is very impatient apparently." Kim answered awkwardly.

The sisters softly giggled at her answer, but quickly ceased when the merman looked to them, his gaze silently telling them to resume their work. The tutor turned back to Kim. "Well this friend will have to wait. You are still under my time, and I want you to focus on your studies."

Kim nodded her head, leaving the shell, which would turn off on its own if she did answer in the next minute or so. The tutor nodded his head, looked to the others, and stated crisply, "The rest of you, resume your studies."

~On the Surface~

Ron frowned, as Kim did not answer the shell. A message soon popped up on the screen. It said that the connection was terminated. "Awww, man." He moaned softly.

Rufus popped out from his master's/friend's pocket, chittering at said human.

"I was hoping Kim would be able to call now, Rufus." Ron told his friend. "It seems that she's still at lessons. Waiting is so boring."

The naked mole rat chittered in sympathy, knowing that his master was starving for some companionship with his new friend.

Ron paced about his room and then looked at the clock. He noticed that it was almost time for lunch.

"Well, it'll be lunch soon." Ron commented before looking back at his rodent friend. "How about me and you see what they have cooking for us?"

Rufus squeaked in delight and exclaimed, "MMMM! Cheese!"

The Prince chuckled at his small companion, the two soon leaving the room to see what was to be their lunch.

~Under the Sea~

The Possible sisters were just completing their schoolwork when something unusual occurred. The door opened up, and the tutor was going to give the intruder a severe tongue lashing… when he paused in mid-action, surprised to see that the one entering the room was Queen Anne Possible herself!

He bowed in respect. "You're Highness!" He said in a revered tone.

The mermaid sisters looked up from their desks, surprised to see their mother there. "Mom, what are you doing here?" Zita asked.

"I'm here to pick up Bonnie once your studies are done." Ann answered Zita.

The sisters saw that their mother was dressed differently; she was wearing a white top, and also that her royal accessories like her crown & bracelets were absent.

"What happened to your crown Mom?" Tara asked. "And why are you dressed like that?"

Anne smiled softly. "Yes, I know I look a bit unusual without my royal crown and jewelry. I am going outside the palace to spend some time with Bonnie. Trust me; it's sometimes nice to not wear a crown when going out."

Bonnie was certainly surprised at this, seeing that her mother was very serious when she told her earlier that she wanted to spend some time with her. She was still a bit skeptical of course, but so far, it seemed that her mother was truly trying to make amends with her.

Yori nodded her head, seeing the wisdom in her mother's words as having any kind of royal items show cause problems. Moreover, that going in disguise was the better option as the common folk would most likely to leave her and Bonnie be. However, as an older sister, she also assumed rightly that her mother wanted to make amends to Bonnie.

Anne looked to the royal tutor. "How soon till my daughter's lessons are done?"

The tutor checked the clock in the room and right on cue, the time came for the lessons to be over. He looked back to the Queen. "They are done as of this moment, your Highness."

Anne nodded her head, and then looked to Bonnie with a warm smile. "Ready Bon, Bon."

The young brunette beauty frowned "Aren't we going to have lunch first, Mom?" Bonnie asked.

The Queen shook her head softly. "I figure we go out to eat. I believe that the city has some fine establishments that we can have lunch there."

The surprise on Bonnie's face spoke volumes, as did the surprise that was on the faces of her fellow sisters.

Yori spoke her very thoughts on the matter. "I have to say, this is certainly a surprise change here for you Mother."

Anne looked to her eldest daughter, a smile still on her face. "I supposed it's strange that the Queen of Middleton would eat at a diner like a regular civilian. Sometimes I think a little change every now and then like so is in order to keep things a bit lively."

She looked to Bonnie, gesturing for her to come to her side. Once she did, the duo swam out from the room. The tutor sighed softly. "Well, all of you are dismissed for now."

He made his way back to his quarters, while Monique, Zita, Yori and Tara swam down a corridor to do their own thing. Kim swam in the other direction though, planning to call a certain someone on her magical shell device. She took out said device and activated it, hoping that Ron would answer her.

Unbeknown to her, Ron had left the device on his bed in his room. He was eating lunch with his parents, thus not hearing the magical communicator at all.

Kim soon frowned as there was no pick-up, and the communicator soon cut off due to inactivity on the other end. She glared at the shell and muttered, "Ron… probably ignoring me on purpose."

She had quickly forgotten that she did the same thing to him earlier. She called another number, and this time someone did answer as Wade's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Kim! What's up?" Wade asked.

"Not much since lessons are over, and my Mom took Bonnie out to eat." Kim told her preteen friend. "So what's swimming with you?"

The young lad replied, "I'm about to have lunch actually. Are you still planning on seeing Ron later today?"

The princess's face quickly morphed into a scowl as she answered in a cold tone, "Yeah."

Wade had a look of surprise on his face as he stated in a tone mirroring his emotion, "Wow Kim! You sound like a shark about to bite someone's head off."

Kim grimaced as she had let herself go a little. "No big." She said sullenly.

Wade felt that something had happened between her and Ron already, but was smart enough not to pry further. One thing that he had come to learn was to NEVER pry into a mermaid's affair if it had said mermaid fuming like Kim was doing now.

"Well… okay then. Well see you later. Bye." The connection soon cut, the image fading fast.

The Possible princess sighed as her mood was low now. She swam down the corridors, soon reaching the Dining Room. The table had food on it, and it was her favorite though it did little to appease her. Her father was already there along with Yori and Tara, Zita and Tim and Jim. The orange-haired mermaid floated down into her seat, her face still having the frown.

Tara looked to her sister with concern. "Kim, are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Kim stated, refusing to look at her sibling.

No one believed Kim was fine. The twin princes looked at one another. "Sounds like she just had boyfriend trouble." Jim commented.

"Yeah." Tim chuckled.

Kim raised her head up at her brothers and angrily shouted, "Squeebs!"

This caused the family to be surprised at her actions. "Kim, calm down." James said calmly. "And boys, no teasing your sister now."

Kim, Jim and Tim looked down, knowing it was not best to test the father. "Yes Dad." Trio answered respectfully.

James looked to his sons. "Boys, apologize to your sister."

"Sorry, Kim." Jim and Tim apologized simultaneously.

"No big." Kim assured her brothers and looked away, still feeling down.

The father looked to his daughter in concern and asked, "Kim, do you wish to talk about what is bothering you?"

Kim shook her head and James accepted it for now, as he knew that prying would only do more harm than good.

Monique arrived, sitting down in her seat and seeing the current mood of her sister. She was about to ask what was up but Zita just shook her head in a silent gesture to not pry for now.

Monique accepted that and then Yori asked, "Father, shall we start?"

King Possible nodded his head, the group all saying Grace before digging into their lunch.

~At DNAmy's Cave~

Drakken was swimming back to the lair of the formerly living Sea Witch, his carrier loaded with all kinds of unusual items that would be ingredients for him to experiment with. For the merman, it still felt a bit unusual to swim with a merman tail instead of the eel one that he had for quite some time. It would still be some time before he got completely used to it.

As he neared the cave, a flash of light and an explosion! "What in the blue blazes?!" He exclaimed.

Drakken rushed over to the cave, pausing though when he got in the entranceway due to sand particles in the water. When the sand dissipated enough, he saw Monty coughing lightly in aggravation while floating over the cauldron. Apparently said item was made of very tough material to be able to withstand all the potions and explosive concoctions that it had endured.

Drakken swam towards him, smirking. "Having trouble, are we?" He asked in a snarky tone.

Monty turned to glare at him once he rubbed the silt from his eyes. "Silence!" He bellowed. "I am trying to do this spell."

Drakken looked at the mess, small scorch marks along the walls. "I can see that very much." He commented scornfully.

Monty scoffed. "Like you can do better, you blue buffoon!" He declared haughtily.

Drakken glared. "Sea Spouge."

"Crab face!" Monty retorts.

"Flotsam!"

"Jetsam!"

"Sea Scum!"

"Sea Sponge!"

"HEY, SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!".

The two mermen turned to see that the one who had broken their so-called verbal tennis match was Shego, the mermaid holding a large shell that acted as her carrier.

"Don't give me any lip Shego!" Drakken ordered angrily.

"I will not tolerate any kind of insubordination!" Monty declared haughtily.

Shego glared with an anger of her own. "Well I can't stand two grown mermen acting like a pair of hatchlings fighting on a playground! So zip it now!"

"I am nothing like him!" Drakken and Monty shouted indignantly and then the two soon looked at one another in surprise, and then growled at one another like two animals fighting over territory.

Shego rolled her eyes and muttered, "Like babysitting two brats, I swear."

Monty growled and started to take some items near the cauldron area, "I think I'll go practice outside where there is some peace and quiet." He told his two cohorts.

Shego swam over to a location that was near the kitchen, turning back to the mermen. "Oh, just so you know, that's my side of the cave. So don't touch my stuff." She told them coldly.

This got the attention of Monty and Drakken, turning to her with the blue-skinned being inquiring in a puzzled tone, "What stuff?"

"Well I can't expect either of you to put food on the table, so I am supplying myself with the basic needs." Shego stated her tone sharp as her form was alluring.

Monty scoffed. "Then it is settled, we will look after ourselves."

"We will look after ourselves." Drakken mimicked Monty mockingly.

Monty glared at Drakken. He soon let out a loud growl to show his frustration with the whole situation, swimming out of the cave quickly with some of the stuff he was going to use to experiment outside the cave.

Shego just shook her head, hoping that the merman would not do anything flashy or loud. She started to set up her area, wanting to make sure that all of the items she acquired were in proper place.

Drakken went over to the main cauldron and looked down at the remaining ingredients that Monty was working with before he vacated. He frowned, then turned to Shego and asked. "Do you think Monty would have a problem if I experiment with this?"

Shego scoffed. "No, I'm sure he be fine with you messing with his stuff." She said with heavy sarcasm.

"Excellent!" Drakken exclaimed in glee. He grabbed a spare magic wand that was around, apparently DNAmy having the bright idea to keeping spares just in case something happened.

Shego groaned, closing her eyes in aggravation.

~At Middleton~

It was high noon and the sun shined brightly on the ocean's blue surface, brightening the ocean floor below. At a small diner that was full of merfolk customers out for lunch, the patrons kept stealing glances at a table that held two certain customers.

Though they looked average, most everyone recognized their Queen and her daughter, and it was not every day it is rulers going about like normal civilians. Anne took another bite of her lunch, then threw a glare at the staring bystanders who instantly stopped staring & went about their business. She smirked in satisfaction, glad that she still was able to do something like that. It would seem that Bonnie had inherited that trait from her, to be able to make people do something with a mere glare.

Anne looked to her daughter in concern. "Bonnie, are you alright?"

Said young mermaid frowned at her mother. "I'm fine Mom."

Bonnie took another bite out of her food, Anne knowing that it was not true but did not pry. Instead, she started to make conversation. "You know, it's been quite a while since I ate at a simple diner."

The brunette beauty looked to her mother after swallowing her food. "Really?"

The Queen nodded. "I was maybe a few years older than you the last time I did these kinds of things. Funny… I almost forgot how much I miss simple enjoyments like eating out or going shopping."

The Possible daughter had a look of confusion on her face. "Then why did you stop?" She asked.

Anne swallowed her food, looked to be in thought for a moment before answering. "Well that's a complicated question. As you grow up, things in your life change. In my case, I married your father and we had so many responsibilities running the kingdom and… having a family. Anyway, I guess during those times, eating out and hanging out didn't seem important."

It was true for Ann as many things in her life. Not only did she marry, but also it was to royalty that meant certain responsibilities that had her focus on others rather than herself. Having children changed much of her life, replacing simple pleasures for something much more and honestly, she would have not changed that for anything.

Bonnie frowned as she considered what her mother told her. "Will that happen to me?"

Anne took a sip of her drink, looking to her daughter. "What do you mean, will it happen to you?"

"Will I not be able eat out, hang out or go shopping when I became older?" Bonnie asked nervously.

The Queen looked thoughtful for a moment yet again, gathering herself before answering. "It's hard to say, Bon-Bon. I suppose I could have found time after I married your father to still do the things I liked. Therefore, I guess it depends on you. If you still want to, that's your choice."

Bonnie smiled, slightly relieved, she then took another bite of her lunch. Shopping, eating out like so and hanging with her friends… she loved to do that, and could not bear to give all of that up for good.

Anne decided for a change of pace as she asked, "So… are you seeing anyone?"

This caused the brunette beauty to freeze in mid-bite of her meal, looking to her mother in surprise "Mom!" She exclaimed while blushing.

The Queen chuckled softly at seeing her daughter's reaction. "It's okay Bonnie. After all, I have to remember that my girls are not children anymore and your brothers will soon be mermen."

Bonnie huffed, but there was no frown or anything negative on her face. She decided to change venue and inquired, "Can we go to Club Starfish after this?"

Anne smiled and nodded her head in an affirmative. The duo soon finishing their lunch and swimming out to go to said club, which thankfully was only a block away from their location. As they swam in said direction, many Middleton denizens of the deep paused to see the royal Princess and Queen passed by them.

Upon arriving at Club Starfish, Anne looked around and was impressed by the various items that were around the store. She went over to some mermaid tops, noting how different they were from the ones she used to get back in her youth. "Hmm, I haven't done this since I was a teenager." She commented.

Bonnie, who was nearby and looking at some golden accessories, glanced to her and smirked. "You used to be a teenager?" She asked teasingly. "I thought you were born a Mom."

Anne gave her a playful glare. "Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, angelfish." But inside she was feeling good and warm, feeling that she was starting to reconnect with her daughter. It would still take time and effort on her part, but this was the first step and it was always the most important one.

Bonnie looked at some shell bras hanging in one rack. She then checked out some headbands of various colors, shapes, some embedded with jewels, shells and pearls. She then checked out some communication shells on another rack.

The Queen looked to her daughter and asked, "So anything you want to get, Bonnie?"

"I want everything!" The brunette beauty exclaimed, "But I only have a limited amount of money."

Anne smirked softly and asked in a teasing tone, "And you know why, right angelfish?"

Bonnie's pout that made her look cute. "You want us to be responsible." She answered sullenly.

The mermaid matriarch nodded her head. "While you'll probably not become queen like your sister, Yori, it doesn't mean you can be less responsible."

"Yes Mom." Bonnie conceded, wishing that her Mom would stop going on about responsibility.

Anne sense Bonnie's growing frustration and decided to defuse the situation. "Well go look about and see if there anything you like."

Bonnie scowled as she swam to a location, eying the various merchandise Club Starfish had. She examined some cloaks made of various shades and designs. The cloaks were of human design from fashion designers that found clothes from human shipwrecks and decided to utilize them, though changing them mildly to suit more for mer-people.

Bonnie became less sulky and looked at a set of necklaces. Anne swam next to her, memories of her own teen years flashing through her mind. She was thankful & glad to be making new positive memories with her teenage daughter.

~At the Palace~

Meanwhile back at the Middleton Palace, Kim took out her communicator shell and frowned. "Ron, you better answer this time." She grumbled.

She activated it, and this time a connection was made an Ron's face appeared in front of her. The blonde human prince smiled brightly at seeing her. "KP!" He exclaimed joyfully. "Man, am I glad to see you! Where have you been?"

The orange-haired princess became indigent. "Where have I been?! Ron, you called me during lessons! And when I tried to call back when I was finished, you didn't answer!"

The Prince looked puzzled, and then remembered something and slapped his forehead. "Awww man! I left the shell up in my bedroom while I was having lunch with my parents! That is why I missed your call! Sorry about that KP."

Kim sighed. "It's no big," She assured her human friend. "Are you still on for today?"

Ron's smile lit up the magical panel. "Booyah! He exclaimed in delight. "Of course I am! I'll get the boat ready!"

Kim chuckled softly, seeing that the young man had the energy of a child… and attention span of one it would seem. She would have to help him work on that. She smiled and said, "Actually, just wait on the beach Ron. I'll meet you there."

He nodded his head, and then said his goodbyes before terminating the connection. Kim soon dialed in another number, and appearing on the screen was the face of Wade.

"Hey Kim! Are you all set?" the preteen mer-boy asked.

She nodded. "You bet I am! Let's go!"

…

To Be Continued

Well I hope you liked this chapter.

One, I toyed with ideas of at least one subplot with Kim's family and considered that Bonnie tends to be such a petty and resentful girl and thought of exploring why she is the way she is: namely, she feels overshadowed by some of her siblings.

Sometimes parents make mistakes and indirectly make their children feel like they are not good enough. Moreover, sometimes people are very insecure and take it out on others. Either way, Anne is trying to reconnect with Bonnie and will consider the wellbeing of all her sons and daughters.

Two, as I mentioned before, I had to rewrite Ron and Kim's continuations many times to make it feel organic and balance their positive and negative.

Same with the subplot with Drakken, Shego and Monty.

And some of the scenes and dialog are based off scenes and dialog from different franchises.

Please Review.