Kim woke up to the feeling of being jostled about, and opened her eyes.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty. You're onboard Air Shego.” Shego joked. With a pair of aviator sunglasses, a bomber jacket and a pair of headsets on her head, she looked like she knew what she was doing. Looked like.
“How did I get here?” Kim moved her head, and winced at the pain. Then it all came back to her.
The fight in the gym. It had been the best she'd fought. She was in top physical condition and she held nothing back.
The last thing that she had remember was that she had lost. Frighteningly quick.
Looking out of the window of the private jet, her heart sunk as she felt the aircraft lifting off
“And we have lift off,” Shego murmured. “Destination? China.”
Now she was on a jet on the way to middle-of-nowhere, China.
Shego had apparently knocked her out, and when she had come to, she was sitting beside Shego.
“Seatbelts until we're at cruising altitude.” Shego stated without looking at the teenage heroine. Kim noticed belatedly, that Shego had strapped her in.
“My bag?” Kim asked, after looking around.
Shego shook her head. “Didn't bring it.”
“It had my clothes--”
“You're mine for three years.” The sun gleamed off of Shego's sunglasses. “I take care of what's mine.”
Kim Possible had been sure before that her heart could sink no further, but it did.
“You will work for me and do everything I say. I will cloth you and I will feed you.” Shego said, as if running through a to-do list in her mind. “You will have daily tasks to complete, and its easier to explain when I show it to you…”
“This is crazy…” Kim interrupted, completely stunned by the turn of events.
“This is a bet you lost,” Shego corrected her sharply. “Are you going to back out?”
They fell into silence.
“My parents--”
“--will figure out that you're not coming back.”
Silence reigned in the cockpit again, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of wind. Half-an-hour into the flight, Shego glanced over at Kim.
Oblivious to Shego's scrutinization, Kim had pulled up her knees to her chest and had her head buried in her arms. For a few seconds, Shego watched as the redhead's shoulders shook silently as she cried.
“Load up the car.”
They had landed after a good twelve hours of flight, with only Shego flying the plane. From the sky, Kim could see people eagerly awaiting the plane's landing, waving at the aircraft enthusiastically. She had fallen asleep after crying her heart out, and had awoken only when she had felt the plane's descent. The landing strip was just an empty field with neon orange pylons put up as markers to help the pilot land, which Shego did expertly.
As Kim did as she was told, she could see a whole bunch of people running towards the plane, and several others collecting the pylons. In the distance, she could see a village further out. From the plane, she remembered that on the other side of the village, the land was divided into squares of rice paddies that twisted and turned around valleys, reminding her very much of a snake's body…
“Ah, Shego, nihao!” A Chinese man dressed in jeans and an open short-sleeved shirt approached, grinned at the villainess. “Long time no see!”
“Cheung,” Shego shook hands with the man, and he glanced expectantly at the redhead loading up the jeep. Shego shook her head. “Ni bu yao pa, ta shi wo ger pun yao. Ta shi, Kim.”
“Ah, ni ger pun yao shi wo ger pun yao,” The man's speech was slower, and had an accent that seemed familiar to Kim. He was nice enough, as he trotted over to Kim, who was struggling with a particularly heavy pack, and hefted it over his shoulder.
“Oh! No, I got that--”
“No problem!” The man grinned. “I'll take care of this for you.”
“Let him.” Shego shrugged. Kim was at a loss, as the villagers started helping to unload the plane.
An elderly woman parted from the sea of people, carrying a tiny wooden tub, followed by a couple of young children. They were carrying a larger woden tub between them, and they were positively squirming with glee when they saw the green and black clad woman.
“Shego, Shego!” Their chatter of Chinese overlapped each other, making what they were saying indiscernible.
“One at a time!” Kim looked over, watching in astonishment as the children dropped their load and ran to Shego, flinging themselves on the young woman. What was even more surprising was that Shego caught them in a hug, grinning happily.
“Po-po,” Shego inclined her head respectfully to the old woman who was watching the scene with amusement.
Another stream of indescernible Chinese, as the old woman hugged the embarassed villainess close, her voice almost raising to a wailing level.
“Poor Shego,” Cheung stopped beside Kim, who had paused to openly gawk at the scene. It was… strange. Kim never pegged Shego as someone who got along with children. Or be welcomed so warmly by a village.
“Cheung, is it?” Kim relaxed when Cheung smiled charmingly and shook her hand. “What is she saying?” Kim nodded towards the scene.
Cheung listened for a few seconds, then laughed. “Grandma Lo is saying that Shego isn't eating enough and its making her look like a drug addict.”
Grandma Lo had captured Shego's face in both hand, and right now, was laughing as she stretched, pinched and contorted Shego's face. Shego, with her arms full of children, was helpless in the attack.
“Now Grandma Lo is saying that Shego's grown prettier and she's very happy to see her.”
“So… why is she doing that to her?” Kim pointed out. Shego was trying to avoid Grandma Lo's chopping hand as she beat Shego across the head, cackling loudly as she did.
“Annoying Shego.” Cheung said, amused. “Grandma Lo thinks its hilarious.”
Shego, still holding the children--with more piling on--couldn't even run away. She turned to the side and caught Kim looking at her. Blushing furiously, Shego tried her best to shake the kids off. “What are you looking at?!”
Everything was just too weird. Some of the woman had set down a blanket and were opening the mysterious wooden containers. Apparently, the containers were many-layered and were for carrying food, as dishes of food were taken out of the two wooden tubs, along with white buns, chopsticks, bowls of hot white milk among a bunch of other things.
“Time to eat,” Cheung herded Kim to the blanket, and everyone sat down, talking animatedly.
“Here,” Shego handed Kim a pair of chopsticks. She had gotten rid of the kids, but Grandma Lo was still nearby, talking a mile a minute while everyone that was listening to her laughed sporadically at what she would say.
“Po-po, no!” Shego's pale cheeks, red from earlier abuse, darkened a shade.
“Wo bu hui shuo ying yu,” Grandma Lo shrugged. “Wo bu jee dao ‘noooo!’ “
“Quite spry for someone who's so ancient, huh?” Cheung was muching on a white bun cheerfully.
“I'm surprised Shego got such a huge welcome.”
“Well--”
“Cheung!” Unbeknownst to Kim and Cheung, Shego had been listening in on the conversation quite attentively. “Shut up and eat.”
A young child, carefully balancing a bowl of hot white soup in her hand, slowly and very carefully walked over to Kim. Her face was pale and pretty and she looked utterly adorable with two pigtails jutting from the sides of her head. Barely four years old, she kept her face serious as she gave her offering to the redhead.
“Oh, thank you.” Kim took it with both hands. The child didn't leave, and just stood there expectantly, waiting for Kim to drink.
Kim sipped at the hot soup, and blinked.
“Sorry,” She smiled at the young girl. “What is this?”
“Hot soya milk.” Cheung explained, slurping his own bowl of soya milk.
“Oh,” Kim sippd at it again. It was weird, but it was good after such a long journey by plane. The food hitting her belly suddenly reminded her of how hungry she was.
“Slow,” Cheung laughed. “Slow.”
Kim ate slower. When she was half-way full, she noticed that a lot of the villagers, especially the children, were looking at her oddly. Being one of the only two white people in a sea of Chinese people, she floundered helplessly, not knowing whether to turn to Cheung, or her arch-nemesis, whom she was having mixed feelings about.
“What?” Shego noticed Kim's lost look, and her furtive glances from Shego to Cheung.
Relieved that Shego had spoken up, Kim nodded her head to the little girl who had given her her soya milk, and was staring unabashedly at her.
“Why are they looking at me?”
“Ting Ting,” Shego called out to the child. Obediently, the girl turned around and listened carefully to Shego's question.
“Ta ger tao fa shi hong!” Ting Ting blurted out excitedly. “Wo yao!”
Shego threw back her head and laughed and looked over at Kim, still laughing. “Watch out, Kimmie. They're after your hair.”
“Wo yao!” Ting Ting stood in front of Kim and very forcefully made her demand.
“Ai, Ting Ting!” Cheung frowned. “Lay de lai mao le? Gnor mo gau lay hai hat yan meen cheen lay yiu gwai, meh? Lay mm ho gum yai ah.”
It was very obvious to Kim that the child was being seriously rebuked by Cheung. Ting Ting's lower lip started to tremble after the scolding.
“Its alright, she's just a kid.” Kim held open her arms to Ting Ting. “Come here.”
Shyly, the little girl walked forward, and Kim pulled the girl into her lap. In that privileged spot, the girl twisted this way and that, looking up through a curtain of Kim's red hair, giggling happily, and reaching up to grab handfuls of it.
“Don't encourange them,” Shego snorted. A bunch of other children had inched forward, and were casting furtive glances at their parents to get permission to investigate further. Their parents were alternatively giving their children stern glances while smiling apologetically at Kim.
“Its alright,” Kim smiled at the children and motioned them forward.
That was all the permission they needed as, suddenly, Kim found herself mobbed.
“Told you so.” Shego rolled her eyes.