It was a funny thing about Valentine’s day. So many people happy and spending timed with there loved ones. Even the little kids got in on the act, buying little cartoon covered cards to trade back and forth for fun, while those older did the same thing, but with a little more meaning behind them.
Yet for Kim Possible, Valentine’s Day was just another day. Each year she got gifts from admirers all around the world. She received roses, cakes, candy, ever once a singing minstrel from Prince Wally. Some were merely to show the gratitude of those she had helped, and she sincerely appreciated those. It was the others that made her slightly afraid of the day. These people claimed to know that they would be the best for her. They had never meet her in person, but each year hundreds of e-mails flooded the site asking Kim for her hand, whether it be for a girlfriend all the way up to a wife. She sighed as she rolled out of bed, and moved to her closet. She grabbed her green shirt and blue pants, pointedly ignoring anything that was pink. She had a feeling that there was going to be more than enough of that color in her world today.
Kim sighed as she walked into the school. Sure enough, all around her locker were gifts from various boys throughout the school. Josh had sent a dozen roses, while Brick had sent a box of chocolates. Kim was in a small part happy that they sent her gifts despite her once having a relationship with both of them. Although, she thought, in Brick’s case it really wasn’t much of a relationship.She picked up the cards and moved them into a pile, inside her backpack. She may not want all the attention, but she still wrote a thank-you to everyone who sent her a card. Perhaps that was her problem. She thought that in some small way, these notes kept the people coming, hoping against all hope that this time, it would be different. Unfortunately for them, it never was.
“Hey KP!” Kim allowed herself a small smile as her ex-boyfriend and always best-friend Ron Stoppable walked up to her. After Junior Prom, things had been great, for a while. Then it all got too…awkwierd. They had both agreed that things were not working out. Kim had sensed it, but she had ignored Ron for others for so long that she didn’t want to do so again. Then she had a bombshell dropped.Flashback
“Kim, can we talk for a minute?” Ron wondered what was going on in his head, going through with this. This was Kim Possible for God’s sake! But that was the problem. She was the same person, and yet…she wasn’t KP anymore. Now she was Kim, his girlfriend.
“What’s the sitch Ron?”
Ron looked around at the Possible family as they sat eating breakfast. “In private?”
That perked Kim’s interest and she stood to follow him outside. “Bye Mom, bye Dad.”
“Be careful on the way to school Kimmie-cub!” As Dr. Possible watched his daughter walk out the door, he turned to his wife, watching the sad expression on her face. “It has to stop honey. We all thought it would work out. Heck, I even decided to not give him the ‘black hole deep’ speech this time! But he can sense it, so can Kim I think.”
“I know James, but it’s just…”
“hard to see your hopes go out the window?” Seeing Andrea nod, he sighed then went over to her. “Kim and Ron are a great pair, and they do love one another. It is just not the love that we thought it was.”
Kim listened in as her parents talked, unaware that she was leaking small tears. She had forgotten her jacket, and had went inside to get it. She heard her parents and put two and two together and got four. She walked softly out of the door to see Ron again, and strangely, she felt her ache leave her. Ron talked and basically said the same things her parents had. She smiled at the way he moved and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Her parents were right. She did love Ron, but in the same way she loved the tweebs.
End Flashback
And so it was that Kim and Ron were back to being what they were meant to be: Best Friends for Life/ surrogate siblings. They came back to how they had been, and lived on. Days like today though, she almost wished she had a boyfriend, if only to stop others from being so…forward!
“Hey Ron. Who are the flowers for?”
Ron picked out a flower from his group of roses and presented one to her. “One for you, and the other 13 for Monique.”
“A baker’s dozen huh? The best you can get from TMC.” A beautiful girl strode up to Ron and gave him a kiss on the check, which turned into a kiss on the lips when Ron turned to give her her flowers.
“Easy there you two, you know what Barkin is like today.” The pair immediately separated, and looked around, afraid the burly ex-military man would take his wrath for “PDA” out on them. “And what’s TMC?”
“The Master Chef of course!”
Kim laughed as she opened her locker and grabbed her books, ready to face another day.
Kim almost ripped her locker open in frustration. God! How could this day get any worse? Five different guys, three of whom she did not even know the NAME of, had asked her out! She quickly grabbed her materials for homework and was about to slam the door shut, when she noticed something on her terminal. It was a message sign, one which meant she had an email. This caused her anger to vanish to curiosity as she thought about the reasoning behind that. Wade had told her he would use the Kimmunicator only for missions today, to give her some relief from the fan mail. So whoever left this message either had to be a better hacker than Wade, which would never in a million years would that happen, shethought,or had left the message on her terminal by typing it there. Finally, Kim succumbed to her inner cat and opened the message.
Dear Kim,
I bet you are wondering how this got on your computer. Well, I placed it here for a reason. I have watched you for a while now Kim, and have grown very attached to you. I can’t say I understand it, or even that I want to. It’s there, that’s all that matters. Before you turn this in to the police, no I am not a stalker…per say. You and I know each other very well, probably better than we know ourselves. For instance, I know that you are still reading this letter because you can’t resist learning all you can.
Another thing I know about you is that you can NEVER resist a challenge. I have placed a series of clues that will help you to figure out who I am. If you figure it out before 5 o’clock, I will do whatever you say, even if it is go away. If you don’t, then you will promise to listen to me and hear me out for a half-hour. My feelings for you are genuine Kim, and I want you to see that.
The final thing I know about you is that you will do this, because by now it is driving you to near insanity wondering who I am. My first clue is in your friend Mr. Stoppable’s locker. He knows who I am, and while surprised, has agreed to help me. Before you ask, no, he will not tell you who I am. He wants to see you happy, and thinks that this may be a way to do so. Good luck figuring out the clues, I await you at your final destination.
Love from now to forever,
Your secret admirer
Kim stared at the screen, slack-jawed. She wasn’t angry, she wasn’t upset, she was astounded. Someone besides Ron and her family knew her, the real her, not the teen superhero, and had laid a trap so elaborate that she was completely caught in it, willingly! She grinned, perhaps today would get better after all. She moved to Ron’s locker and opened it, slightly glad that some things, including Ron’s locker combination, never changed. As she opened it, a small sheet of paper was seen next to a bottle of wine and a block of cheese. Looking curiously at the bottle, and assuming the cheese was there for Rufus, she read the newest note.
I told you I knew you Kim. So first let me surprise you again. No the cheese is not for Rufus, it is the clue. The wine is there as a gift, although it is non-alcoholic, despite my desire to buy otherwise. It is a slab of Wisconsin’s finest, and is very important reminder to me. The next clue will be at your house, in the cabinet with the rest of the wine. Tell your father that it was a gift from a friend and you want to place it there, he should give you the key.
Kim ran into the house at break-neck speed, completely in mission mode. This was who she was. She was a fighter, a thinker, a leader. She would accept any challenge towards her not out of fear of being a coward, but out of a sense of adventure. She spoke to her dad, and he agreed to put the bottle with the others. As he opened the doors, another note fell out. Inside the cabinet, there was a box of chocolate, along with a beautiful heart shaped pendant, blue tinted and see-through, revealing the water that was inside. She opened the note and read again.
This pendant is filled with the water that was melted from an iceberg. It also holds meaning to me, and hopefully, once you figure out/am told who I am, to you too. Go to the first house you saved someone in, and your next clue will be at he gate.
And so it went. From one spot to another Kim traveled around Middleton, picking up clues and presents. From the mansion where she received a set of roses and a picture of her blushing, to Bueno Nacho to pick up her final clues, a Lil’ Diablo, purely a toy now, and a crystal tiara. The last note told her to meet her admirer at the park at 5, and Kim was anxious. She was there and waiting, having all the clues out in front of her trying to figure them out. The cheese block, the pendant, a box of cookies, the picture, a bottle of Day-Quill, a TV Guide, a single copy of “The Naked Mole Rap” CD, and the toy and tiara. As her watched beeped five, so groaned in frustration, because she knew she had lost.
“Didn’t get it figured out huh KP?”
“Ron? What are you doing here?”
“I played a part in this too. I wanted to see if it worked or not.”
“So when is my admirer going to get here?”
A new voice spoke up from behind the tree. “Right now.” Out from behind the tree stepped a figure Kim knew well, very well. Her true arch-foe.
Shego.
Shego looked at the fainted form of Kim Possible, and growled in frustration. “Okay Stoppable, you win. Here.” She pulled out a wallet an pulled out two twenty dollar bills. “Ten for saying she wouldn’t figure it out, twenty for saying she wouldn’t attack me, and ten for saying she would faint.”
“BOOYAH! Nacos on me Rufus!”
“Uh-huh, Uh-huh.” The naked mole rat popped out of his pocket and gave a hearty cheer as he and Ron walked away to give the two some time to talk.
“Shego, one more thing.” As Shego turned she was for the first time in a long time, actually afraid of a look someone gave her. “You hurt her, and you will wish that any jail in the world was safe enough for you to hide from me.”
Shego began to snort, then looked into his eyes. She was a hero turned villain, number one on Global Justice's most wanted. Yet upon seeing the look Stoppable directed to her, she merely nodded her head. “Fair enough. Now I see why Monty says you are his arch-foe.”
“Really? BOOYAH! I have an arch-foe!”
“Ron? What’s going on?” The two looked over to see a very much awake, and very confused Kim Possible.
“I was just leaving KP. You and Shego have some things to talk about, and me and Rufus have a date with a Naco, then one with Monique!”
“Bye-bye!” The little mole rat threw a wave before clawing his way down to his pocket and getting settled in. As he walked away, Ron smiled to himself. Maybe now Kim can be happy on Valentine’s day.
Kim turned to face Shego, unsure of how to proceed. She had made an agreement by taking up the challenge to figure out the clues. She had to spend at least a half-hour with Shego, and listen to her. She wanted to run, but her sense of honor forbid it. She sighed, then settled against a tree, waiting for Shego to start.
“Well, Princess, you just cost me 40 bucks. Even if I get to talk to you for once without fighting, you still manage to injure me in some way.”
“Shego, what’s going on? This isn’t like you.”
“No, it’s not. Kim, a few days ago, I quit working for Dr. D. The guy is a genius, but he couldn’t take off a pair of socks without help.” A very Shego like snort followed this comment, as a small giggle did from Kim. Taking that as a sign to continue, Shego went on. “This might make more sense if I explain the clues. The first one was the cheese. It is from the building Dr. D was hiding in with the laser into the earth thing. That was the first time that I felt something. I was glad that you wanted something of mine, happy I had made you jealous. You wanted that jacket, and I had it. It made me feel great for some reason.”
Kim continued to listen as Shego explained why each piece was important to her. The pendant had water from an iceberg alright, one from right outside the pod where they had first had a truce for Christmas. The cookies were from the incident when Shego was teaching Junior to be evil. Shego had been surprised that her supposed “winning” had left her feeling the exact opposite of what she had expected. She was sad that she had won, and almost ecstatic to see Kim get back into the fight.
“The picture is from where Drakken had you blushing with the embarrassment ninjas.” Shego rolled her eyes, still unable to comprehend what had brought about THAT particular profession. “Seeing you blush was just so…cuteto me, and when you started to disappear, I actually was worried for a while.” A faint blush now crept on to Shego’s cheeks, and Kim was shocked to find that her face felt a little warm too.
“What about the others?” she asked quietly, afraid to disturb the mood that had settled around them. Shego’s face cleared and she went on.
“The TV Guide is the same issue for when we all got pulled into the cable universe by that pan dimensional vortex thing. You and I had a common goal then, much like when we tried to save my brothers from bird boy. When we were working to get out of there, I saw that we could be a good team, and that the deal with Aviarus wasn’t a one-time thing. Then there was the incident with Drakken’s shampoo. When you got that on me, you could have told me to do anything, and yet you didn’t. Once I was able to get it washed off, I realized that you could have told me to quit being a villain and I would have had no choice but to not.” Seeing Kim about to speak, Shego put up a hand. “Hold up Princess, let me finish.” Kim nodded her head and lay back again. “That night got me thinking about you, and I realized that what I thought and felt about you wasn’t hatred or even healthy respect, it was something more. I didn’t even know what until the Diablo thing.”
“What did that have to do withthis?”
“When you knocked me into that tower, I couldn’t think about anything else but what you said. You said that what you really hated was…me”
“That stopped me more than the tower impact did Kimmie. The feeling of ice running through my veins, the deadness I felt in my chest was more of a burden then a few volts of electricity. When I was in jail, I made a promise to myself. I would not leave until I knew why you uttering one word hurt me so much more than a thousand kicks and punches. I kept my promise. I…love you.”
Shego’s whispered words were barely loud enough for Kim to hear, but hear them she did. She stared shocked at the villain, who rushed to finish her story. “I made another promise Kim, that once I broke out I would confront you and tell you about how I felt. I couldn’t fight you anymore without doing so. We never hold back in our fights. If I knew that I loved you and that you didn’t know, I would, and that wouldn’t help me at all.” Some of Shego’s old ‘myself before anyone else’ attitude came back, but it was gone in an instance. “So I cancelled the contract I had with Drakken, and did one thing I never thought I would do. I called in Team Possible for help. Your computer guy got me in touch with Ron, then after Ron actually believed me, he helped me get everything set up, even giving me help writing that letter for me on your computer. I told him what to write through the Kimmunicator, and then waited here for the rest of the day.” Shego looked at her watch and sighed in a very un-Shego-like way. “Time’s up Princess, you listened to your worst enemy confess she loves you, and now you fulfilled the contract. You can go.” Shego stood up and began to walk away.
“You forgot something.”.
Kim’s voice caused Shego to stop and turn around to the younger girl. “What?”
“The Day-quill and the Tiara.”
“Doy Kimmie. A princess needs a crown, and you’re my Princess. The medicine…well, that’s for if we ever get the cold on the same day again.” Kim giggled a little, then turned the giggle into a full out laugh. Shego soon followed suit and began to laugh as well. After a few minutes, the girls settled down, and Kim looked at Shego again.
“So you really…”
“Love you? Am a Lesbian? Want to kiss you so much that it’s driving me crazy? Yes to all three”
Kim looked at the woman before her. She thought about what had been said, and truth be told, she had felt some of the same things. Saying she hated Shego had hurt her as well, more than she thought possible. She looked into the woman’s green eyes, and looked hard. She saw there compassion, understanding, sacrifice, love in huge amounts, and resigned despair. She felt her eyes widen at what she finally saw. Shego had given up everything she knew, her life as a thief for Drakken, here loner attitude, even hope that she could ever go back to the villains, all because she loved Kim enough to tell her. Her mind began wokring its way around the feelings she held for the older woman. Kim had to admit, that she had peeked a little in the showers after practice.She never really felt anything for anyone before, except for the crush on Josh and the mixed-up feelings for Ron. What she felt for Shego however, was something so different than anything she had felt before. The times they had fought…it gave Kim a rush like no other! Shego was the only person to ever be her equal in combat, and she had appreciated that. Over the years, her feelings had changed, just as, apparently, Shego's had. It went from respect, to admiration, to something more. Like Shego, what Kim had said that night had nearly killed her inside, but at the time she put it as being a part of fatigue. Now though…after the incident and with no reason to be tired, the thought of saying…thatagain nearly caused her to cry out in agony.
She was not close-minded, and had no problems with homosexuals, but the thought of her being one had never crossed her mind until now. Sheclosed her eyes, andtried to see what the rest of her life would be like if she decided todate Shego. She would most liekly be ridiculed, exiled, and treated horribly by many. However, she knew that her family, Ron, even Monique and Wade would support her no matter what. Do I need anyone else?She thought about what might happen to her position on the squad, her other friends, even what might happen to her missions. But the overriding thought was that she could live with the changes. She COULD she herself with Shego. She couldn't imagine a life without her in one shape or form. If she could admit to herself what she was feeling, her life would never be wanting for anything. So she forgot everything else, forgot the “rules”, forgot the stereo types, and listened to her heart.
Shego watched as a smirk crossed Kim’s face. Kim stood up, and began walking over to her. She readied herself for a slap, maybe even a full out punch, but this time, she had resigned herself to take it. She couldn’t ever risk hurting Kim again, for it would hurt her too.
“As for the last two questions, I think it depends on whether or not I love you.” Shego’s head slumped in disappointment. She had expected it, but it didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“As for whether or notI love you…” Shego readied herself for the final blow, unable to keep a few tears from leaking out. Kim’s hand came into contact with her face, but not in the way she expected. Her soft hand slid under her chin and lifted her eyes towards her own. Green meet green as Kim’s face was inches away from Shego’s own.
“Doy. Yes I love you.”
Shego’s eyes widened in surprise, then seemed to looked at her, afraid to believe that her dreams had become reality. “You really…”
“To quote you ‘Yes, to all three’.” Kim suddenly stood up, and pulled open her Kimmunicator. “Wade, get me Dr. Director, I want to offer a deal for Shego’s pardon.”
Ten minutes later it was over. Dr Director wanted only two things in exchange for pardoning Shego. One was that Kim must stay with her and make sure she “stayed out of trouble”. Since she had been planning to do this anyway, that was no problem. The second was that Kim and Team Possible would become freelance agents of Global Justice. They would still get to choose their missions, and still act separately from the GJ chain of command, but all work for GJ had priority over everything else. Kim agreed to this after adding one condition: Shego be allowed to be an operative as well. Dr. Director narrowed her eye at this, but agreed. She did say however, that “if I so much as hear one word from the villain community that Shego leaked something out to them, she’s behind bars again.”
“Deal.”
Shego now sat with her arms around Kim, unable to believe that not only was she free, but had Kim. She could only think of one way to celebrate. As the sun set on Middleton Park, she turned to face her former enemy turned ally/girlfriend. And with the sky a brilliant shade of pink, gold, blue, and black, Kim Possible, epitome of goodness and the savior of the world, kissed Shego, the world’s most dangerous woman, formerly wanted in eleven countries and former fugitive from the law. It was neither lustful nor fiery, but was soft and passionate, containing the love of two people for each other. It was a simple kiss, yet it held more meaning for the two of them then any other moment of their lives.
“Happy Valentine’s day Shego.”
“Happy Valentine’s day Kim.”
The End
A/N: Mark Two: Wow, this thing just flowed out of me. I, like any red blooded American man, always enjoy some “HLA”, but unlike others, I can focus on the feelings as well. Hopefully I captured them well, and for those that are disappointed in the pairing, I am sorry I did not put a warning, but it would ruin the surprise if I did that! I hope you enjoyed this little tale, and have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Peace and Out,
Pwn Master Paladin