August 7th, 2009
Dear Kim,
Remember that one time when you blew off being a hero, and when I blew off being a villain for that afternoon? When it was early in May, and the temperature was just perfect? There was even an occasional breeze that kept pushing our hair in our faces, and you laughed at me when I accidentally inhaled a few loose strands…and a few moments later, the same thing happened to you. And how you laughed, muttering something about how karma is all well and good until it happens to you. Figures that you would be the one to talk about karma – Miss Perfect.
We went walking in the local park, and it was one of the first times you had seen me without my usual uniform; the expression on your face was priceless, I wish I had brought my camera. And then you chuckled, your face lighting up as you asked me if I just had this closet full of the same exact outfit. I think you were half expecting me to say yes.
And remember how all the onlookers kept glancing at us when they thought we weren’t looking? It was almost as if they recognized me, and were trying to figure out if it really was me, just in jeans and a t-shirt, walking alongside with you – holding hands even. But we only smiled at them, and then they had the good sense to look sheepish and apologize for staring because they thought your girlfriend looked a lot like that villain Shego.
Imagine…your girlfriend looking like the thief Shego! How preposterous!
And then we both had a race to see who could reach the top of the oak tree the fastest. You ended up winning, but you insisted that I had let you. For the entire rest of the day, you refused to let me hear the end of it. I promise you, you won fair and square – my hair really did get caught in a few loose twigs, and it hurt when I had to pull the snags free. There are even still a few strands twisted around the branches if you don’t believe me.
And do you remember how we even stopped on top of the wooden bridge to feed the ducks, and the wood was so creaky that we both were convinced that the bridge was going to collapse – as if falling a few feet into a slightly murky pond would be the most dramatic thing to happen to us! There were only a few mallards in the group, but you pointed out that the iridescent green of their feathers reminded you of my eyes. And remember how you then confessed that actually any shade of green reminded you of me, way back when we were still enemies – all those months ago. Has it really only been several months? It sure feels like a year. Maybe two.
It feels like forever.
I miss you, and I love you.
Yours most affectionately,
Shego.
Neatly folding the letter into thirds and gently sliding it into an envelope, Shego frowned as she licked the adhesive lining, the bitterness leaving an annoying aftertaste. Turning it over, Shego carefully and lovingly addressed the note to “Princess,” her writing elegant and refined - a sharp contrast to the rather garish stamp in the upper right hand corner.
Pulling out the bottom last drawer, Shego removed the lid from a shoebox decorated in newspaper clippings and pictures that featured the two of them fighting. She smiled to herself unconsciously as her eyes fell upon a particularly clear and focused picture of her and Kim engaged in a fierce combat on top of the roof of an abandoned factory – anyone could see that they were enjoying the fight.
Turning over the envelope in her hands as if testing its weight before mailing, Shego sighed as she carefully placed the sealed envelope in the box and secured the lid, guaranteeing that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands before she mailed it. It was late now, and she needed to get her rest.
Inside the box, the envelope was silent and still, resting upon scores of past letters and Valentine’s Day cards and holiday greetings and birthday wishes and get-well cards and I’m-thinking-of-you cards and confessions and realizations and apologies.
And one day, Shego might actually mail them.
The End