Thanks to campy, my ever-indispensable wing man.

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Story recommendation of the week: The Second Date by Molloy. I really enjoyed it and I know you will, too.

If you saw it on KP, it belongs to Disney.

Kim Possible woke with a start. She looked around the darkened room, her gaze falling on the beam of moonlight spilling on the floor. Then she looked down at her nightshirt, a World's Greatest University extra-large "T" that she used when her usual sleepwear needed to be washed. Finally, she saw that she wasn't alone.

Sleeping in the bed on the opposite side of the room was Rachel. Her roommate.

Kim realized she was in Cambridge. In college.

Which meant she hadn't been at the wedding …

She had had the most horrible nightmare. Ron. Yori. Getting married.

Then, feeling as if she had just been hit by a freight train, she knew it wasn't just her imagination at work, that part of the nightmare was rooted in reality.

She really had broken things off with Ron. It had been over the Christmas holiday. She recalled how her parents and Monique were stunned when they learned what she had done; they had tried to talk her out of it, without success. And with an overwhelming sense of shame and pain, she remembered the ashen look on Ron's face when she broke the news to him.

"It's for the best," she explained. "Me in Massachusetts, you in Colorado, you know?"

She was in her first semester at WGU, having started a new chapter in her life. A chapter without Ron, but with lots of smart, talented, ambitious guys who wanted to go out with her. It was all so new, exciting, overwhelming.

As the weeks passed by that fall and Kim was caught up in life at WGU, she had thought that maybe she wanted to go out with those guys. Sure, Ron was great, her cherished childhood best friend and, yes, first love, but it wasn't like he was a prospective CEO or US Senator. WGU was filled with the nation's future leaders and Ron was still … Ron. And he was so far away. Kim began to think that what she needed was someone who would be incredibly successful, who would make a significant difference in the world. A smart, achieving world-beater. A guy she could spend the rest of her life with.

She was Kim Possible. She could do anything. Even rip her best friend/boyfriend's heart out and stomp on it, all while wearing a smile and telling herself she was doing the right thing, that at WGU she would meet the right guy for her, that Ron was resilient, that he'd understand. She'd always known what was best, after all, she told herself.

But her subconscious had insisted on telling her what she had not wanted to admit. She had made a mistake, the mistake of a lifetime.

Kim realized that what she had thought was important was inconsequential. Over the past six weeks she'd gone out on dates with those boys she thought she should be dating: guys like the senior who was at the top of his class and a sure bet for a Rhodes Scholarship; the all-American quarterback who was double-majoring in physics and French Literature; the junior who volunteered in a shelter even though his father owned a private jet. Some of them were jerks, only interested in dating her because of her looks or fame. There were others who were nice enough, but proved uncomfortable with her world-saving and freak-fighting or her love of kung fu and free-falling or her sharp tongue or need to be in charge. Straight A's, Big Man On Campus status, or a future as a leader in politics or business weren't what she needed in a guy.

What Kim Possible needed was love, friendship, patience, a unique sense of goofiness that would keep her grounded, help her be her best self, allow her to set the pace, be tough as nails, and let down her defenses. The irony was she already had the right guy for her. She already had found the guy she could, indeed should, spend the rest of her life with.

Unfortunately, he was back in Colorado and she had tossed him aside.

As if she were back in the rental car of her nightmare, gripped by remorse, sitting by the roadside in the wake of Ron and Yori's wedding, she began to cry. At first, the tears fell slowly, but soon flowed in a torrent. She was wracked by sobs and buried her face in her pillow in the hope that Rachel wouldn't be awakened.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Kim had cried herself out. Then she made a decision.

Quietly, and with desperate determination, she slipped out of bed. She went to her desk and found her Kimmunicator. Grabbing the device, she tip-toed out of the room and into the hall.

She pressed a button and the visage of a groggy Wade appeared on screen.

"Kim?" he asked, half asleep. "Do you know what time it is?"

"So don't know, so don't care, Wade. I need a ride," she demanded. "Now."

"Uh, sure," he said, unable not to notice the urgency in her voice. "Where to?"

"Middleton."

Moments later, a hoverjet set down in the ancient common, just footsteps away from the Yard with its brick buildings and Kim's room. Heedless of the late February cold, she bolted from her dorm, wearing nothing but a pair of old cargoes and a college sweatshirt. She ran across the all-but-deserted street and boarded the aircraft.

Her hair was a mess, her clothes rumpled, but she didn't care. She was returning to Middleton, to Ron, to apologize and to try to win him back.

Two hours later, in the dead of a wintry Colorado night, the jet landed on a quiet suburban street.

Kim disembarked, barely noticing the frigid, sharp air or the heavy snow that was falling from the sky.

She stood before Ron Stoppable's house. He'd decided to live at home his first year at Middleton Community College so he'd have money to buy plane tickets to visit Kim at WGU. She winced as she thought of his big heart, of what he'd done to make things work for them. Was Ron perfect? No. But was he big hearted? Yes. Ferociously big hearted. Hopefully big hearted enough to forgive her.

She ran to the front door and rang the bell.

A light came on and her heart pounded. The door opened.

And there stood …

Mrs. Stoppable.

The woman wasn't so much shocked as displeased by who she found on her stoop.

"What do you want?" Ron's mother asked acidly, not particularly concerned that Kim was now shivering and standing in the beginnings of an incipient blizzard. "Going on a mission but couldn't find someone else to be your sidekick?"

Kim's heart broke; ever since Christmas, she'd been going into the field alone, having had no luck in finding a replacement for Ron. She knew now that was because there was no replacement for Ron and never could be. It was a cruel thing for Mrs. Stoppable to say, but it wasn't unfair.

"No," Kim said softly. "I–I'm here to say I'm sorry. To see if he'll take me back."

"Why? So you can break his heart again?"

Kim shook her head vigorously. "No. Once was more than enough," she said softly. "Please, let me see him."

Mrs. Stoppable looked at the tired young woman standing on her doorstep. She could see the regret in Kim's eyes. The sense of loss and pain. The emptiness.

"Okay," she said, letting her unexpected visitor in. Then, as Kim headed to the stairs, Mrs. Stoppable grabbed her by the arm. "But hurt him again, Kimberly, and I'll make Shego look like your best friend. Understood?"

Kim nodded.

And then she headed up the stairs to apologize.

She tapped lightly on the door.

There was no response.

She knocked again, heard the shuffling of feet, a hand on the knob, the sound of the door swinging on its hinges.

And then she found herself looking at him. He was wearing his orange pajamas, the set he used to keep at her house when they were in high school.

He stared at her, unsure of what to say.

Finally, she spoke. "I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" he mimicked incredulously.

She nodded, wringing her hands. "Yes, I'm sorry."

"What happened? Smotties didn't work out?" he said bitterly.

"Ron –" she began to protest, neither knowing nor caring what a smottie was.

"No, Kim. Don't 'Ron' me. I may not be WGU material, but even I'm not that stupid. You dumped me because you wanted someone higher on the academic food chain, someone better, smarter, a leader, and if he was better looking, bonus. A wannabe chef wasn't good enough for you. That's fine," he said trying to sound defiant, but losing his own struggle as tears began to form in his eyes. "Well, actually, no, it's not fine. It tanks, really. Maybe I'm not a smottie …"

Kim now understood a smottie was a smart hottie, and her heart broke again as she realized just how well Ron knew her and how much she had truly hurt him.

"… But I was always there for you. I cared about you because you were you, not because you were pretty or famous or smart. Being your boyfriend, your best friend was the most badical thing in my life because you were the most special person in the world to me. That's why I gave you my heart," he said, his lip quivering. "And, and you threw it away."

"I know," she said, now crying herself. "I know. I was so ferociously stupid, such the idiot. Please, Ron. Forgive me."

"Forgive you? Why?" he asked, choking out the words.

"Because I can't live without you. I want you back in my life again."

"I can't do that, Kim. I can't go back to being just friends, even best friends, knowing I'm not good enough—"

"Ron, I'm not asking you to be my friend."

"Then what do you want?" he asked, confused.

"I, I want you to marry me," she blurted out.

Ron stared at Kim, mouth agape.

"Marry you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," she said with a small, hopeful smile and more confidence. "Marry me. All I need to be happy in life is the perfect guy for me – and that's you. Marry me, Ron. Please. I love you."

Ron stood silently before Kim, thinking of how, despite the hurt and anger, he still loved her, but also of how she had broken his heart. He was confused, at sea, lost in a maelstrom of wild, conflicting emotions. He thought about what she said, about the look on her face, the hope and fear mingling in her eyes, then took her hands and silently led her into his room.

He sat her down on his messy bed, then sat beside her.

"I don't know, KP …" he finally said.

She gulped.

"… I want to say yes, but how do I know you won't break things off in six months when you're feeling lonely or meet some future-president-type guy? You know, I'm here, you're there …"

"I'll transfer to Upperton," she said quickly. "Now. I'm sure they'll take me."

"You'd give up WGU for Upperton?" he asked, unsure that he'd heard her correctly.

"Yes, Ron. For you. For me. For us."

He thought about that for a few moments. "No," he said shaking his head. "You can't do that. You'd hate Upperton. You wouldn't feel challenged, you'd resent it, and sooner or later, me. You belong at WGU …"

Kim's shoulders sagged. He was sending her back to Massachusetts. That meant she'd failed. Then, to her surprise, he put his arm around her.

"… That you'd offer to transfer means a lot to me, though. You know, there are a lot of schools out there. Maybe I could attend one of them. There must be a good cooking institute. You know I was thinking of transferring to one next year, anyway."

"Then you'll marry …" she said hopefully.

"No," he replied firmly.

Her face fell.

"Kim, I still love you. But we need to put things back together before we can even talk about getting married. We need to rebuild things, make sure it'll last. I hate what you did to me …"

Again, Kim cringed.

"… But I hate being apart from you even more. Maybe if we're in the same burg, we can make this work. Besides," he added with a grin Kim had missed terribly, "I'm all about clam chowdah."

"And you're not the one at WGU why?" she asked, spunk finally returning to her voice as she marveled at Ron's ability to see that in her need to be decisive, to have control of a sitch, she was once again ready to make a rash decision. The moment she had asked Ron to marry her, she was determined to exchange vows, and she still was. But she knew he was right. They weren't ready to even talk about marriage. Not yet. But, if she had her way, she hoped, someday, and maybe sooner than he thought …

"Why am I not at WGU?" Ron asked, looking at the ceiling and rubbing his chin in a gesture of exaggerated thoughtfulness. "That's a good question. You'd think they'd give a scholarship to the guy who invented the naco," he said, eliciting a fond smile from Kim. "But I'm serious," he added. "If we do this, it's going to take work. We can't just go back to where we were before, well, you know, you …"

She bit her lip and sat on her hands and nodded, fighting back tears, plagued by the memory of breaking things off with him, now wondering if they'd ever be able to put the way she hurt him behind them. But then she felt his hand under her chin, bringing her face to his. She looked at his warm eyes, his tousled hair, and asked herself what she had been thinking when she had broken up with him. It wasn't just that he was cute, in his own, special, goofy way, but that he was filled with love and enthusiasm, which were worth so much more than top grades or a corner office.

"… But maybe we can start fixing things right now, KP," he added as he cupped both of her cheeks in his large, yet gentle, hands.

She parted her lips as he did his, felt his warm breath, and awaited his kiss, letting him take the lead, just as he did almost two years earlier when they were tied to giant faux cacti in a Bueno Nacho storeroom and he uttered the words that led them from friendship into romance.

She was Kim Possible. She could do anything.

She remembered all of this as she stood at the rear of the synagogue, wearing a simple yet elegant white taffeta wedding gown. Standing beside her at the door was her new husband, dressed in a black tuxedo and red bow tie that he'd been given by a member of a top-secret Canadian spy organization a few years earlier.

It had been the day she dreamed of long ago. Felix and Ned by Ron's side. Rabbi Katz waiting to perform the ceremony. Rufus processing down the aisle, bearing two rings on a small, satin pillow.

But there had been differences from her dream. This time, Monique was at the front of the sanctuary, serving as Kim's maid-of-honor, along with Joss and Kim's WGU college roommate, Rachel, her bridesmaids. And while Yori was at the wedding, she was seated in a pew with Sensei and Hirotaka. Wade, too, was present, standing among Ron's groomsmen, while Jim and Tim served as ushers. And James T. Possible escorted Kim down the aisle; she knew he was sad to be giving away his little Kimmie-cub, but delighted that her husband would be the little boy she'd met at pre-K all those years ago.

As they accepted the well-wishes of family and friends, Kim sneaked a peak at Ron. She was filled with joy and relief that it was she and not Yori standing by his side on his wedding day. She had once made a mistake, a terrible, awful mistake. But she had been able to rectify it, and with hard work and love build something new and wonderful with the man she had known most of her life and had now just married.

She was Kim Stoppable. She could do anything.

The End