Shego found it fascinating to look at herself in the mirror. To examine the changes that were happening to her. It was hard, though. She twisted her head to glance at her back in the mirror. The human skin that had been covering her new skin was slowly shedding off. The black scales gleamed softly, giving off colours like a puddle of oil. Because her new skin was so sensitive, Shego opted either not to wear anything or be content with a light robe.
Shego pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror, looking into her own eyes closely. Her pupils had started to change. They were stretching out into long thin slits, very much like a venomous serpent's. Along with her changing eyes, the woman also noted that her vision had changed. She was able to see in the dark a lot better and she was able to see heat in her surroundings. At night, just to test it out, she would sit on the roof and watch creatures scurry beneath her gaze, not knowing that the human was able to see them.
With Kim gone, this was what Shego did to entertain herself. Standing naked in front of a mirror admiring her changing body and taking daily inventory. Everyday, it seemed like she changed somehow.
“Kim.” Shego let out a shuddering sigh. A part of her selfishly wanted Kim to come back. For Kim to see through her plan and come back for her. But Kim wouldn't. Shego had felt bitter pride as she had cast the spell on Kim, knowing that that spell had been the best one she'd ever weaved. Kim would hate her for the rest of her life. Shego scratched angrily at her hat, then suddenly tore it off and threw it across the room.
Gingerly, the pale-skinned woman grimly fingered what was left of the hair on her scalp. Her long luxurious hair that she had been so proud of… had withered away. Her body had sacrificed those black waves in favour of the beginnings of pale green scales. The pebbly skin underneath made lesions and grotesque bumps under skin, and Shego shuddered at her misshapen skull.
And she had looked so good in cornrows…
‘Ugly.’ Shego thought wryly. The few strands of hair that remained reminded Shego of this documentary she had seen once on World War II and the dropping of the first atomic bombs. It reminded her of the people who had survived the bombs but had to live with radiation poisoning. Those people who had to watch their hair and skin falling off their bones…
‘I should just get rid of it all,’ Shego thought irritably. She hated it when she saw men walking down the streets with comb-overs. I mean, who were they fooling exactly? But the fiery woman was loathe to get rid of the few strands of hair she still had. Shego scratched at her dry arms, and hissed in pain as she managed to rake off some raw skin.
“You should not touch,” Xaio Qing clucked her tongue. Shego turned slightly to see her master come through the doors, holding a wicker container. “It is itchy, but you must not scratch.”
“It is itchy.” Shego kept her words to a minimum. Her tongue, she could feel it, was changing also. It made human speech hard.
“It is part of the transformation.” Xaio Qing held out the wicker basket to Shego. Her new senses could see tiny creatures scurrying in fear within the confines of the wicker case. Her tongue darted out, tasting the air and she approached Xaio Qing eagerly.
“Please.” Shego held out her cupped hands. Almost salivitating at the thought of the food inside. The first time she had eaten what Xaio Qing had brought her, Shego had instinctively scarfed it down, then immediately vomited up her dinner as her human revulsion kicked in. Now, Shego barely thought anything of it. In the back of her mind, Shego realized that it wasn't just the outside of her that was changing. It was the inside too. Some times, she would experience such excrutiating pain as she felt her innards shift. Her mind was going. Her mind… sometimes, she found it hard to think.
“Please, who?” Xaio Qing held the basket out of Shego's reach as the green-eyed woman lunged for it.
“Xaio Qing, please?” Shego asked prettily. Xaio Qing relinquished the wicker basker to her disciple, who tore it open with a passion. Hands reached in and tightened around the furry bodies of mice. Without hesitation, Shego promptly shoved the squirming, terrified animal into her mouth and swallowed it. Before, she had retched at the feel of this live creature wiggling down her throat. Now she relished it, smacked her lips at the thought of the texture of such a meal, the taste…
The family of rodents within the basket went the way of the first one in quick succession. When the basket was empty, Shego dropped it to the ground and sat down, instantly drowsy after her meal of field mice.
“Shego,” Xaio Qing hugged Shego close, and the girl snuggled closer to Xaio Qing's warmth, hands and legs winding around Xaio Qing's body. Xaio Qing examined her disciple tenderly. Not quite human, not quite demon. An oddity. The scale Xaio Qing had embedded on Shego's back had been key to the transformation. It would help whoever it had been attached, nurturing the magic in the body in the direction of the form the scale had belonged to. That of a snake demon. Basically, the scale that had been embedded on Shego's back hijacked the woman's body, reworking Shego's biological programming before shedding off of Shego. Foundation set, after the scale had done its work, its magic was woven into Shego's being and it would be impossible to extract it.
‘Oh, but she looks so cute.’ Xaio Qing giggled at the sight of the reptilian-like Shego. Where Shego, with her still somewhat human mind saw ugliness, Xaio Qing obviously saw something else. So much potential. How would Shego look? Would she be a hooded snake? What patterns of scale would her body be marked with? How brightly would Shego's skin shine after her first shedding? Will Shego be fast in catching frogs with her? Or maybe Shego-snake would prefer the minnow. Xaio Qing picked off a flake of skin gently from Shego's cheek, then stroked the woman's blistering jawline posessively. Shego would never leave her. Xaio Qing would have Shego here forever, and no-one would ever take her away like with Bai Su Zhen.
Xaio Qing tightened her grip on Shego unconsciously.
No-one.
Kim sat on the corner of her bed, back against the headboard. Her knees were drawn up to her chest. Clutched in her hand was the hard coolness of Xaio Qing's green scale. Like jade. A lot of people mistook the smooth green triangular object for jade.
Sometimes, when she needed a respite from everyone, she would shut herself up in her room and just stare blankly at the wall opposite her bed. Nobody else but Tigger was allowed in the room at this time. Though it worried her family, it was better than when they had first found her.
Tigger had lead Kim out of She Cun and they had both passed that invisible barrier. They kept on walking, with Tigger leading the way and Kim stumbling after him. Tears still dripped quietly out of her eyes. Wandering after the german shepherd pup with no regard for her surroundings, Kim's clothes had been torn in various places from branches Kim hadn't avoided. Dirt and grass stains marked her pants and shirt, showing that she had fallen several times.
Team Possible had found Kim slumped against the base of a tree, unconscious, with Tigger nearby keeping guard.
“Sis,” Tim cleared his throat and whispered hoarsely. He was trying to keep the tears back as Jim let his tears flow freely. He had dropped to his knees in front of Kim. Both teens unable to approach their sister, not wanting to touch her, just in case she wasn't real. Wade had called them in a frenzy when he got a bleep on both Tigger and Kim's signal. Everybody just stood there staring awkwardly at the redheaded girl. Monique had a hand placed on Jim's shoulder, just about as overwhelmed as everybody else was. The end of their search. The girl who could do anything.
“KIM!” Ron ran to his friend and hugged her close, not one to hold back his emotions. And that was when the dam burst and everybody surged forward to crowd around in a huge group hug.
“What?” Kim opened her eyes blearily. At the sight of her friends and family in the dim moonlight, her face split in a tremulous smile. “Ron. Monique,” Kim managed a smirk. “Tweebs.”
“Girl! Where have you been?” Monique ruffled Kim's semi-long hair. It had grown out since Shego had cut it to just around her shoulders. At the thought of the dark-haired woman, Kim's smile fell. She wound her arms around Ron's neck and heaved up a huge sob.
“Don't worry Kim, we've got you!” Ron hugged his best friend tighter, while glancing at everybody else in a rather panicked way.
“Kim, you alright?” Monique did a quick once-over of her friend. Besides being dirty, there was nothing really wrong with her.
“Kim Possible!” Drakken, who had been watching the scene quietly, finally spoke. Green eyes turned to regard him. He fidgeted under Jim's frown, but continued on. “Where… where is Shego?”
Kim looked away at the name.
Drakken asked again, more insistantly. “Where is Shego?”
“Okay, questions will come later,” Monique said as she helped Ron heft Kim up. “She needs rest. And Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible need to see their daughter.”
That had been a month ago. Kim had quickly gone back to normal. As normal as things were before she had disappeared for two and a half years. There were noted differences, of course. Kim Possible had, in her time of absence, honed her fighting skills so sharply that unless you had the manpower to outnumber her, going one-on-one with the heroine was useless. She wasn't as perky as she used to be. It was like… looking at a wilting sunflower. When she had first gotten home, after a tearful reunion with her family, Kim Possible had immediately gone to her room and shut herself up. She came out when called, of course. But otherwise, she shunned people.
Kim tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling, half-expecting to see the wooden rafters of her room in Er Mei. The bed was too soft here, the pillows too fluffed up. Her first dinner back at home, Kim had barely managed to eat. Everything was so radically different. From the food to the setting to the language. It was awkward when, during dinner, Kim had asked in Chinese for her mother to pass the salad.
“What happened during the time you were missing, Kim?” Dr. Director had questioned her, as had everyone else. It was too much to explain. And she didn't feel like explaining.
Tigger laid his head plaintively on Kim's lap and licked her knee, hoping that the woman would feel better. When Kim smiled at him, Tigger's shaggy tail thumped on the mattress happily. Unlike dogs, a show of teeth in humans meant they were happy.
“She's doing alright without me, isn't she, Tigger?” Kim whispered. Her eyes were burning, signalling the onset of tears. “She must be.” All Kim could remember about Shego now was how she had told the redhead how she wasn't needed anymore. She wanted to be angry. In fact, she felt compelled to be angry. But she just couldn't. And she didn't want to. “Why am I not alright?”
She couldn't talk to anyone about it. Being out of She Cun and Er Mei, the reality of what had happened hit her. Kim had had a clear chance at the beginning to leave. When Shego had told her all she had to do was lose to Fong in their fight to go back home. Even though Shego had made it clear if Kim had tried to escape, Shego would drag her back, Kim hadn't even attempted to escape. Once, maybe. But in the almost three years with Shego, that was a sad number of attempts.
Drakken kept asking about Shego.
What was she supposed to say?
“Kim Possible… you're such an idiot.” Kim whispered. A knock at the door prompted Kim to wipe her eyes, dashing away the tears that had fallen. “Come in!” Kim cursed her voice. High and weak from the bitterness clogging up her throat.
“Hey, Kim.” Ron came in and squinted at how dark the room is. “Sitting in the dark? You want some company?”
“I have company.” Kim cracked a smile and patted Tigger, who made a happy noise at the attention. “Tigger's a good boy, aren't you?”
While Kim lavished the dog with attention, Ron entered the room and closed the door behind him. He took a seat beside Kim on the bed and waited until Kim ran out of things to say to Tigger.
“You know, nobody really ever told you what happened to us while you were gone, right?” Ron reached out a hand and patted Tigger's stomach. The dog had rolled onto his back, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, pawing the air and whining for affection. “We really really missed you, Kim.”
Kim listened silently as Ron talked about how everybody had handled the situation. Ron talked about how the twins had changed so drastically. Their personalities, which had been nearly indistinguishable from one another before, had developed and grown. The two were very different from each other, with Jim being the more hot-tempered one and Tim the light-hearted one.
“Jim's kind of an asshole,” Ron said sheepishly, as Kim laughed. “But Tim's cool, you know? He's what I imagined they'd to be when they're grown up.”
“They still seem like the same tweebs.” Kim commented.
“Only because you came back, Kim.” Ron took her hand in his, holding it carefully. Kim lay her head on the young man's shoulder, breathing out a shuddering breath. Even though Ron couldn't see, he could feel and hear Kim crying quietly. “You know, I missed you too, Kim. And I'll always be there for you, whatever whenever. We just want to know what happened to you. You're so… sad all the time. Your parents are really worried about you.”
“Ron. I… I don't want to talk about it.”
“Kim, you gotta let it out. Come on,” Ron nudged her playfully. “Its the Ronster. You can tell me anything!”
Despite herself, Kim giggled. She had missed her best friend.
“We were so scared, you know.” Ron let go of Kim's hand when Tigger smooshed his hands between them, demanding their attention. “Until that letter came, of course--”
“Letter?” Kim's looked up suddenly, cracking her head against Ron's. “Ow,” They both rubbed their head, wincing in pain. “What letter?”
“It was like, ripped apart. I think your mom and dad still have it--”
Kim froze for a second then jumped out of bed, and was out of her room in a flash.
“Hey, Ron's here?” Tim had just come back from school. Did he bring over his old SNES--” He blinked as his sister barrelled past him in a hurry. Tim blinked again. His sister was sure in a hurry.
“Kim!” Ron zoomed past Tim. Tim stood there for another second before running after the two. If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em.
“Mommommommommom!” Kim burst into the kitchen. Since Kim had gotten home, Mrs. Dr. Possible had begged off a month to be with her daughter and the hospital had been very understanding.
“What's wrong, honey?” Mrs. Dr. Possible wiped her hands on a washcloth. She had been experimenting with different kinds of food since she saw that her daughter's appetite had gone the ways of the dinosaurs recently.
“My letter, Ron said you received a letter from me when I was missing.” Kim blurted out. “Can I see it?”
“Of course,” Mrs. Dr. Possible's eyes rested on Tim. “Could you get my purse in the hallway closet, Tim?”
“On it,” Tim was gone in a second. The little group consisting of Kim, Ron and Tim sat down around the dining room table, anxiously awaiting for Tim to come back. He returned promptly and gave the purse to his mother.
“Thank you, Timmy.” Mrs. Dr. Possible turned to Kim and smiled at her and the young woman smiled back uncomfortably. Everybody acted different around her now. Even though she was back on missions and as Monique put it so eloquently, ‘kicking ass and taking names', people treated her like glass. And her parents always seemed to want to just stare at her tearfully. It made the young heroine feel so guilty.
“We were so happy when we got this letter, bubble-butt.” Mrs. Dr. Possible fished it out of her purse and handed it to Kim. Tim and Ron snickered a bit but quickly looked away when Kim glared at them.
To the Possible Family
Kim's eyes stayed glued to the bold writing at the front of the envelope. The script that addressed this letter to the Possible family jumped out at her. No return address, and apparently no clue as to who sent it. Kim knew, though. She knew. The hints were all there. In the way this person dotted their i's, crossed their t's. The arrogant swirls and loops. The elegeant scrawl.
Shego had sent this.
“Look.” Shego held up the letter. Then without pause, quickly ripped it in four.
‘She sent it.’ Kim took her letter out of the envelope. It was her letter, her parents had taped it back together. It was during her hardest times at Er Mei, when she had felt so homesick. The first time she had thought Shego didn't care about her.
‘She had cared. Maybe she still… no.’ Kim silently handed the letter back to her mother and walked out of the dining room, ignoring Ron, her mom and her brother asking her what was wrong. She marched back up the stairs, back into her room and propped a chair against the door so nobody could come in. Tigger had been waiting patiently for her on the bed. Seeing her morose look, he sat up and held out a paw, hoping that would cheer her up. Kim sat down on the bed next to the dog and he patted her thigh with a paw in a comforting gesture.
“Good boy.” Kim laughed quietly.
“You alright, sis?” Jim stuck to his sister like a burr when they went on missions. Kim was touched by how her younger brother was looking after her, but it was getting annoying. It was just a routine mission. DNAmy had decided she needed to make a new polar bear hybrid. So she had decided to go to Canada. Unfortunately for DNAmy, she got as far as British Columbia before Team Possible caught up to her.
“I'm fine.” Kim nodded absentmindedly. They had captured DNAmy in the approximate area of Vancouver's Chinatown. And every store seemed to be selling items of red, that Kim had come to associate with joyous occasions. That's right. it was almost time for Chinese New Year's. The hustle and bustle, the different dialects of Chinese flying thick and fast in between people made Kim suddenly feel nostalgic and homesick.
“Ready to go?” Monique approached the siblings.
“Not… really.” Kim smiled apologetically. “Is it alright if we stay here for a little bit? I just wanna look around.”
“Kim--” Jim started, but Monique quickly shushed him.
“Sure, I'll arrange for our ride to wait.” Monique shot Jim a warning look and motioned for him to follow her. He looked ready to argue but changed his mind at the look on Monique's face. “Take as long as you want, girl.”
“Thanks, Monique.” Kim gave the other woman a thankful smile.
The substitute leader for Team Possible winked at Kim. “No problem. That's what I'm here for.”
“Call me if anything, k?” Jim kept glancing back as he was bodily pulled away by Monique. She waited until they disappeared into the crowd before Kim approached one of the stalls. Looking down at the red melon seeds, niangao, candied lotus seeds and various fruits, she smiled.
“Chinese New Year soon,” The stall-owner had been watching Kim for a while and beamed a gap-toothed smile at her, motioning to his wares. “Very sweet. Very good.”
Kim smiled and licked her lips before trying her Chinese. “I know. Its because of the food that I love Chinese New Year's.”
The man almost fell off the stool he was sitting on, then burst out laughing. “Oh, so you speak Chinese! You're very good!”
“I try,” Kim grinned, slipping easily into the language she had used almost exclusively for a while. “Could I get some lychee?”
“Its not in season, so its a bit expensive.” The stall-owner smiled at her. “How about some longan instead? Its less ‘yeet hay’.”
Kim grinned. “No, lychee is fine.”
“Okay, then. This much?”
“Please and thank you.” Kim paid for her purchase and was about to leave but was stopped by someone gently grabbing her arm. Kim looked up into warm laughing honey-coloured eyes and froze in the presence of this creature. She was divinely beautiful, a fact not lost on people in the near vicinity. She had long black hair arranged in two loose braid hanging down her front, almost to her waist. Her features were elegeant and beautifully exquisite, and for some reason or other, reminded Kim of Xaio Qing even though they looked nothing alike. In a long white coat, white pants and a pair of high-heeled white boots; the golden-eyed woman cut a stunning figure. Being caught in the gaze and grasp of this strange woman, Kim couldn't help the physical yearning that welled up inside of herself. It was as if those eyes and that smooth touch had ignited a fire in her belly. All she could think of right now, trapped in that gaze, was to fuck. Her mouth was literally watering at the sight of the woman in white.
“May I have this?” When those golden eyes looked away, Kim felt weak-kneed knowing why as she tried to compose herself. The heroine was in the presence of another being like Xaio Qing. That's why she reminded Kim of Xaio Qing.
The gap-toothed stall-owner nodded dumbly and handed over a small windmill on a wooden wand. The beautiful woman turned back to Kim, holding up the multicoloured wheel with an impish smile on her face. That was when Kim tore her arm out of the woman's grasp and started running. She didn't know where she was running to or why she was running. Just something told her to make a break for it. Not to get involved with snake demons, mythical beings or Shego ever again. Kim ducked into an alley and ran, zipping by astonished people, busy with their shopping.
Maddened by her need to put as much distance between the stranger and her as possible, Kim ran until she was lost and breathless.
A flash of white at the corner of her eyes.
Ducking quickly into the open sidedoor of an abandoned store, Kim pressed herself against the wall beside the door, trying to calm her breathing.
The door inexplicably slammed shut, and Kim drew in a quick breath as she spotted the woman sitting on a chair in the middle of the empty store, playing with the bright colourful windmill.
“Why do you run away from me?” The woman in white asked curiously.
Trapped.
“Because,” Kim inched towards the door frantically.
Golden eyes caught her and stilled her. “I don't want you to leave.”
“I don't have to listen to you people.” Kim's hands tightened into fists.
“You people?” Eyes filled with mirth. “So you know what I am?”
“A snake.” Kim spat out.
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I know.” Kim crouched down in a ready position. If she couldn't flee, then she'd fight!
The redhead dropped her bag of lychees and lunged forward but was unpleasantly surprised as her punch was stopped by the woman in white, without the woman even raising from her seat. Kim tried to kick upwards, but her leg was stopped effortlessly by the woman once again.
With an enraged yell, Kim let loose a flurry of attacks, all evaded or stopped by the golden-eyed woman. Finally, tiring of the attacks, the woman's hands shot out quickly, lithely pressing several pressure points on Kim's body and stopping her movements.
“Why do you attack me?” The woman stood up and approached Kim curiously, studying her. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the green scale that hung around Kim's neck. “You've met a snake, I see.”
“Yes.” Kim's heart was beating irregularly at the close proximity of the golden-eyed woman. The woman in white held her face gently, gloved hands warm against the sides of Kim's face. Then she leaned forward and placed her mouth over each eye, kissing them softly.
Kim blinked and shook her head, feeling something irritating, like sand, fall out of her eyes.
“Amateur,” The lady in white scoffed. Kim had a feeling the woman wasn't addressing her. She tapped the green scale Kim wore around her neck. “The spell would've worked perfectly if you didn't have this. Whoever wove the spell should've been aware of that.”
The irrational urge to flee left Kim as did the paralysis on her limbs. About to thank the woman, Kim was, to put it lightly, surprised as the stranger surged in for a passionate kiss. The redhead's knees buckled underneath her, but Kim didn't fall. The woman in white held her up effortlessly despite her smaller frame. An icy thrill took hold of Kim, each kiss stealing some of the warmth from her chest, making her heart hammer with adrenaline.
Finally, when that icy feeling was starting to branch out into Kim's stomach, the golden-eyed woman retreated to get some air, smiling mischievously.
Kim thought she saw something red at the corner of her vision…
‘Odd,’ The heroine thought, drunk on the woman's affections. Looking down lazily, Kim sobered up right away when she realized what she was looking at. Trailing out from behind the golden-eyed woman, a long red furry tail, tipped with white fur, flickered from side to side.
“AH!” Kim tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground. Scurrying away backwards, she watched the golden-eyed woman laugh at her reaction.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“You're a-”
“I am called a ‘Hu Li Jing', by the Chinese.” The fox demon grinned, showing pointy canine teeth. “My name is Yinchun. But my English name is Fox.”
“Fox?” Kim raised an eyebrow. “That's real creative.”
“Its supposed to be funny! Honestly, instead of sarcasm, you could laugh a little. Its a clever joke. No gratitude at all for breaking the spell on you I see.” The fox rolled her eyes while tucking her luxurious tail back under her white coat and scoffed. “Humans.”
“Hey, you stole a kiss from me!” Kim blushed. “You got your gratitude!”
“I had to steal it.” The fox pouted, an incredibly sexy pout at that and Kim felt herself drawn to Yinchun. “You could've shown your gratitude by initiating it.”
“I can't, I'm involved with someone.” Kim blurted out without thinking, surprising herself. But she hadn't felt this confident in a long time. Kim Possible had someone she liked. Someone who had dumped her, but the redhead was resolved to get that person back or get a better explanation from that certain someone. Somehow, Kim wasn't satisfied with Shego's act from before.
“There.” Fox seemed to sense the change in her and smiled. “Do you feel it? You can think more clearly now, can't you?”
“What happened?”
“Fish scales on your eyes.” Fox replied. “Someone was trying to blind you to the truth. It was a well-weaved spell, a good beginner's spell. But of course, not good enough to stop me.”
Kim was about to thank the fox demon, but stopped, suddenly suspicious. “Why did you do it?”
“Help you?”
“Yes.”
The dust swirled around Yinchun's immaculate white shoes as the fox demon circled Kim slowly, the windmill in her hand spinning sporadically. Kim watched the golden-eyed woman warily, noted that even though Kim's own shoes were splattered with slush from the sidewalks and the bottom of her cargo pants had soaked in a great deal of moisture, Yinchun was spotless from head to toe.
“Well, I have a party to go to some time in the near future. I was hoping since I took the spell off you, that maybe you'd come with me?” Fox clasped her hands in front of herself pleadingly. “It would be so much fun with you!”
“Why me?” Kim asked cautiously. Instead of blindly making a decision, Kim questioned the request. The heroine's mind felt decidedly… fresh. Sharper.
“I could just take anybody, you know?” Fox's voice took on an offended tone. “But I chose to take you!” Fox paused to glance at Kim sideways. Seeing the woman didn't look moved, the fox demon sighed. “Well, I don't want to bring just any human. That wouldn't be fun at all. But you, you're special!”
Kim was certain that Yinchun's eyes had strayed to the green scale that hung from the slim gold chain around her neck.
“No, thank you.” Kim replied carefully. The fox demon pouted, but shrugged a bit too casually, dropping the subject a bit too quickly. Which only made Kim more suspicious. Kim had expected the fox demon to continue trying to convince her to go to this party. Perhaps it was because Kim could think so much more clearly, that the leap from confusion to awareness made her overly conscious of everything.
“Your friends will be here soon, so I'll be seeing you.” The fox skipped over and pecked a kiss on the side of Kim's mouth. Flashing Kim a bright smile, Yinchun vanished in a rush of wind that momentarily kicked up the filth in the room, blinding the redhead.
“Kim?” Ron ran through the door, the rest of Team Possible following close after him.
“Guys,” Kim coughed, trying to wave the dust away from her. “Hey.”
“Why'd you run off?” Monique asked. “We were worried, girl.”
“You guys are tracking me?” Kim got over her coughing fit and frowned at her friends and family.
“Just in case!” Jim and Tim said simultaneously.
“S'alright,” Kim looked around the abandoned building. There was no sign of Fox, or where she had gone. The only exit was the one Team Possible had come through. The front door of the store was boarded up.
‘Maybe I'm imagining things,’ Kim frowned. But that fog in her mind had cleared for sure now, and she was certain that she had just had a conversation with a fox demon.
“This yours?” Monique picked up the bag of lychee. Kim paused when she saw a multi-coloured windmill peeking out of the bag.
“Yeah.” Kim smiled.
“What are these?” Ron dug into the bag and took out the round fruit with the rough, leathery rind.
“Lychee,” Kim smiled. She reached into the bag and took out several lychees, passing them around. Rufus examined his curiously.
As everyone stood around trying out the new fruit, the gears in Kim's head was turning quickly.
‘I need to get back to Er Mei.’
Getting back to Er Mei was easier said than done. It seemed like the team was always around. And she was almost under constant surveillance. Not that Wade was watching her with little cameras Big Brother styles. Just that she knew if she left Middleton suddenly, Wade would know via the transmitter implanted in her body and all of Team Possible would be alerted and come chasing after her. She wouldn't get ten miles out of Middleton before everybody came gunning for her. She would make it… but she'd have every law enforcement agency working with Monique and them to bring her in. Not that she had time to herself to sneak away, anyways. She was constantly barraged by friends she didn't know she had, well-wishers and just the usual suspects.
Days passed while Kim plotted. But it seemed like she wouldn't need to plan her return.
Monique and Kim had whiled away the day mallrat-ing until it was time for the mall to close. Refusing a ride home firmly, Kim walked on the darkening streets of Middleton back to her house. As she walked along, she noticed a child sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with a man next to her, as if waiting for someone. They were sitting just beyond the pool of light from the streetlamps that were just flickering on, and Kim approached curiously. As she got closer, the man looked her way and stood up somberly upon seeing.
She froze in place as she recognized the robes, of a Buddhist abbot.
“Kim!” The child got up from her seat and bounded towards the young woman. “Kim!”
“Ting Ting!” Kim embraced the little girl, alarmed, her attention split between the monk and the child. Kim's Chinese immediately kicked in. A bit rusty, but by the third syllable, she had the hang of it again. “What are you doing here?”
“Aren't you happy to see me?” the precocious child pouted, doing a perfect impression of Kim's puppy-dog pout.
Kim melted in the face of the pout. “Of course I'm happy to see you! But… this is such a surprise!”
“Uncle brought me! I wanted to see you!” Ting Ting said, an insistant tone in her voice and tugged at Kim's hand. “You have to come back.”
“Why?” Kim suddenly did a double take when she saw the grim look on Nam Ho's face and the frantic one on the little girl's. “Is something wrong?”
“Ms. Possible, even though I don't want to involve you in this any more than I did at first,” Nam Ho grimaced. “It seems I might have to beg you to come back.”
“Why?” Kim was instantly suspicious.
“To save a life.”
Kim immediately kicked into hero mode. Above all things, Kim was a hero. “What's the sitch?”
“The person you will be saving… is Shego.”
Icy fear clenched her heart, and for a moment, she couldn't breath. Her vision whitened at the edges as she struggled to collect herself.
“Kim!” The tiny hands that clenched hers tightly strengthened her and brought her back to the present. She smiled gratefully at the little girl, then looked at Nam Ho sharply.
“What's wrong with Shego?”
“You'll know when you see her.”
“Why can't you just tell me?”
“You'll see.” Nam Ho repeated. He knelt down and Ting Ting ran to him, climbing up to ride on his shoulders. With Ting Ting safely astride her uncle's shoulders and holding on by her uncle's ears, the asian girl looked at Kim pleadingly.
“Kim, please.”
Despite not trusting Nam Ho, Kim gave in to the child's plea. “Okay, I'll call in a favour to get us a ride--”
“That's quite alright. By the time your ride can get us there, it will be too late. We have our mode of transportation right here.” Nam Ho held out his arm to the side. At once, there was a loud echoing cry, like some great bird of prey was making its presence known. The sky suddenly brightened as a great winged creature flew down from the sky, its entire body seeming to radiate with an inner fire that made the air before it shimmer. Alighting on the monk's arm, the bird's brilliant eyes studied Kim warmly, and it let out a gentle cooing trill. “This is Feng. He has agreed to help transport us.”
“You…” Kim was suddenly entranced by this mythical creature. It preened in her presence, showing off its multicoloured feathers proudly. Even though the bird was a mix of black, white, red, green and yellow feathers; the random colours did nothing nothing to detract from the dignity of the bird. “I've seen you before.”
When she had first slept at Er Mei. Kim had glanced out the window and seen the bird circling the house. So she hadn't imagined it.
“I wouldn't be surprised.” Nam Ho nodded to the bird, and the bird replied with a grave incline of his head. “This phoenix has a mate, Huang; and they have been watching you for a long time. Should we go?”
Kim made plenty of split decisions in her life. And she didn't think she regretted even one of them, ever.
“Yes.”
Feng spread his wings and raised his head, letting out another loud cry. A circle of flames suddenly scorched a circle around the four.
The circle of flames grew, roaring upwards, transforming into a huge pillar of fire. Just as suddenly as the fire started, it died; and when it did, the people and the bird that had been in the center of that inferno were gone.
endnote. Almost, guys. Almost.