Author's Note: And the time has come for the chase to end. I hope everyone had as much fun reading it, as I had writing it. Okay, without further ado, the conclusion of Chasing the Dawn.

CHASING THE DAWN

CHAPTER 6: ...Before the Dawn

"Ron!"

Kim woke up with a scream. The nightmares had returned – with a vengeance.

Seeing Ron fall to the tune of Monkey Fist's laughter left her sitting on her bed shaking and covered with sweat. The vivid dream started losing its hold and Kim returned to reality. The familiar surroundings confirmed she was in her room. Still shaking, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. 03:11am. She pulled her legs against her chest and rested her head on her knees.

She thought the nightmares had stopped; it had been over a month since the last one. Why did they start again? And why now? All she knew was that tonight's dream had been the same one she'd had before; the feeling left behind wasn't. The details of the dream she knew all too well faded from consciousness leaving only a pressing need. Of what, she didn't know. Unable to shake the feeling, she got up and headed downstairs.

The house was quiet. Kim padded down the stairs and into the kitchen. She pulled out a milk carton from the fridge and poured herself a glass, hoping it would calm her. It didn't. She heard light steps approaching, and shortly her bathrobe-clad mother walked in the kitchen looking tired and worried.

"Kim, I thought I heard you screaming. Did you have the nightmare again?" Mrs. Possible asked worriedly.

Kim nodded and took another drink. Her mother walked up to her and hugged her.

"It'll be okay," she said and pulled away looking at her daughter.

Kim gave her an uncertain smile. Mrs. Possible turned to the counter and poured herself a glass of milk. When she turned back to Kim, she saw her staring absently at the floor.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Have you ever had the feeling you should be doing something or be somewhere, but didn't know what or where?" Kim asked back, her eyes still on the floor.

"I think so. Though it's usually because of something I've forgotten to do."

"I don't think that's it. I've been having the strangest feeling after waking up," Kim said furrowing her brow.

A few moments later she put down her glass. "I... I have to go see Ron."

"But you see him every day."

"I mean now."

"Are you sure? Can't it wait? He'll still be there tomorrow."

"I need to see him now. I just... need to."

Mrs. Possible saw there was no use arguing with her.

"Okay. But promise me you'll try to make it to school?"

Kim hugged her mother. "I promise."

She went back upstairs to her room. After she had changed her clothes, she looked at the small pink rodent sleeping in the basket by her bed. It had been small miracle Rufus had survived the fall. He had dropped out Ron's pocket and got caught in the tree branches. If he hadn't, he would have undoubtedly been crushed under his master. After Rufus had sufficiently recovered there wasn't any real debate on who should take care of him. It was pretty much a given that Kim was the person he should be trusted to.

She debated if she should take him with her, but decided to let the little guy sleep. Ron would have had a fit if she'd broken item #237 in the Care-of-Rufus-guide: It is essential for mole rats to get at least twenty hours of sleep a day.

She said good bye to her mother and left the house.

The streets were quiet and empty. Fine powdery snow fell slowly, glittering in the beams of the street lights. Occasional gusts of wind pushed whirls of snow along the ground. It was March and spring was just around the corner. But there would never be a spring in Kim's heart. Not without Ron.

Kim walked silently through the wintry town, echoes of the past keeping her company.

"You really think there's a guy out there for me?"

"Out there... In here..."

After the accident things had changed. Her life had taken some unexpected turns. If someone had told her she'd be friends with Bonnie, she probably would have had them committed. She was seriously considering it when Bonnie apologized for being such a... pain. Kim had noticed the change in her rival's behavior, but she wasn't expecting this. It was disturbing on so many levels.

It had taken some time, but they were able to move past their differences and become friends. The biggest facilitator of the improbable development, aside from Tara's mediation efforts, was their love for Ron. Bonnie had turned over a new leaf thanks to him, and was now happy with her life. If only Ron could be there to see what he had accomplished.

"I'm so proud of you!"

"Um, Kim... PDA."

"PDA, SchmeeDA. I'm proud of my boyfriend, and I'm not afraid to show it."

Kim couldn't help blaming herself. If only she could have done something differently. She let it happen.

"Ron, we need to talk."

She should have been more understanding. She knew he was prone to insecurity.

"If you can't be sure about us, then we sure as hell don't belong together. Go find yourself someone else to trifle with!"

Maybe then they would have been more concentrated on the mission and wouldn't have let Monkey Fist get the drop on them.

"Ron, are you okay?"

And Ron wouldn't be...

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

-...

But she had paid the price. She could still see the blood on her hands, staining her soul.

"It ends here, Monkey Fist. You're going to pay for what you did to Ron!" Kim growled in seething anger, her hate-filled words echoing in Monkey Fist's castle.

"We shall see about that, Miss Possible," Fist replied with an arrogant smirk.

Kim lunged at Monkey Fist, stepping over unconscious monkey ninjas. She bombarded him with punches and kicks, only to have each of them deflected. She stopped to take a breather and Monkey Fist started his own attack equal in ferocity. They kept going back and forth, looking for the advantage. It wasn't going to be easy; both them were martial arts experts. The fight prolonged, taking both combatant's stamina to its limits.

Fist was getting tired, while Kim was still fueled by her rage. He started making mistakes, and soon made one too many. He threw a punch with all that he had left. Kim leaned to the side turning her torso narrowly avoiding getting hit. She grabbed him by the wrist and jabbed him in the arm with all of her strength, breaking the bone with a loud crack.

Monkey Fist howled in pain and retreated holding his arm. Kim resumed a battle stance and stared at him with fiery eyes, her lips forming into a feral grin. Her hairy foe returned the stare, beads of cold and hot sweat running down his face, mixing together. He pressed the injured arm against his body and attacked three-limbed, letting out an angry roar. Kim had no trouble fending off the handicapped attacker.

Monkey Fist desperate attack was an exercise in futility as he failed to land any hits. After yet another missing strike, Kim was at his side and stepped on his foot. With her other foot she stomped on his shin, breaking it painfully. Fist dropped on the ground, whimpering. Kim straddled him and started pounding on his face. He tried to block her with his good arm, but she grabbed it and thrust her forearm into his elbow, making it bend the wrong way. A sickening crunch accompanied the tearing of tendons and ligaments. His cries of pain no longer registered to Kim.

Kim brought her knees on Monkey Fist's arms, pinning them down, and continued to smash his face.

"You bastard! You bastard!" she screamed at him, tears running down her cheeks.

Suddenly she stopped. She looked at Monkey Fist's bloody and broken face and her hands wet with his blood. Instead of the former lord, she saw Ron lying there broken-bodied. Frantically she backed away, desperately trying to wipe the gore off her hands.

Kim stared at her shaking hands. She had almost become one of them, one of the bad guys. She had come close to killing someone. After that incident Kim had finally agreed to see a therapist. GJ had been trying to get her to see one since the accident.

The sessions did help her cope with the situation, but couldn't make her stop blaming herself. And they couldn't make her renew her interest in her schoolwork. It just didn't seem important anymore. Her grades went down, and getting accepted to a reputable college would be touch-and-go, if she even chose to go.

The brightly lit building awakened Kim from her thoughts. She had reached her destination: Middleton Hospital.

She walked through the automatic doors and greeted the nurse on call. They usually didn't let in visitors this time of night but everyone knew her and her mother was the head of neurosurgery, so they made an exception. She was pretty much allowed in any time of day, though she did usually come during regular visiting hours.

Kim made her way to the elevators.

Inside the elevator she sank back into her thoughts. Her recollections of that day were sketchy at best. She faintly remembered administering CPR before being forced into a harness and winched up to a helicopter. The only things vivid in her mind were the calls of 'Clear!' preceding the sounds of the defibrillator discharging and Ron's body jolting from the electricity shooting through his heart. They got his heart started and thanks to Kim's CPR he didn't suffer permanent brain damage. But he didn't wake up. He had fallen into a coma.

The elevator rang and the doors opened. Kim got out and headed toward her destination.

She entered Ron's room and despite seeing him like this countless times, she still winced at the sight of him hooked into machines. He wasn't on life support anymore, but the monitoring equipment looked every bit as bleak. Every horizontal surface of the room was covered in get well cards and flowers. It seemed he wasn't so badly thought of as he had believed.

Kim hung her coat on the rack beside the door and made her way to Ron's hospital bed.

"Hey, Ron," she said and kissed him lightly on the lips, cupping his cheek with her hand.

His hair was unusually neat; someone had combed it. She reached out and tussled it, making it messy like he liked it.

"There you go."

Kim moved the bedside chair to face Ron and sat down, taking his hand in between hers', being careful not to disturb the sensor on his index finger.

"Still here, I see. You're probably wondering what I'm doing here this time of night. To tell you the truth, I don't even know myself. I just had this feeling, you know? Like there was something I had to do, I'm just not sure what. Crazy, right? Maybe I am."

Kim paused and glanced briefly out the window.

"So how are you? Having the time of your life, eh? You probably consider this extreme lounging. All you need now is a naco IV and the TV plugged to your head. I bet Wade could hook you up. Nah, better not. Then there'd be no reason for you to wake up."

The last part made her countenance fall as she briefly considered the possibility that Ron might not wake up. Her heart felt cold.

With tremendous effort she pulled herself together and decided to change the subject.

"It still feels strange. Being friends with Bonnie. We fought all those years and now, because of you, we've actually grown quite close. I still can't believe the effect you had on her. You actually tamed the shrew!"

She could almost see the big grin on Ron's face and hear him saying: "The Ronshine is powerful stuff."

"It sure is," she answered the imaginary proclamation.

She sat silently for a moment, looking out the window into the dark night. It had stopped snowing. She turned her attention back to Ron.

"You know Tara forgives you. And she's sorry for hitting you. She was just so disappointed because she liked you so much. Can't really blame her, I almost did the same. Maybe I should have, might have knocked some sense into you."

Kim felt a flare of frustrated anger.

"Damn it Ron! Why did you have to throw it all away?! We could've been happy together. We would've been. It never mattered to me how other people saw you. Even if you did mean so little to so many, it wouldn't have mattered. You meant everything to me."

Tears were already starting well in her eyes. "I miss you, Ron. I miss your smile, I miss your laugh. I even miss your American style buffoonery. Oh, God, how I miss your buffoonery."

"Please come back to me, Ron. I need you."

Kim buried her face in her hands and sobbed. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to be happy and spend their lives together; happily ever after. But no, no fairytale ending for them. They saved the world for crying out loud - several times. Weren't they entitled to it? They should have been able spend the rest of their lives in a tropical paradise for the things they've done. Sigh... Life's definitely not a beach.

She finally regained some composure and blew her nose on a tissue. She had been through this enough times to know to come prepared.

She looked around the room.

"Would you look at all these cards and flowers. I bet you'd never have guessed so many people cared about you."

She glanced at the bedside table that held some of the more recent cards. She rifled through some of them and came upon one with Ron's picture. It wasn't a picture of just him, but also of Bonnie. They were standing side by side, with Ron's arm around her. Rufus' head peeked out of his coat's breast pocket. Kim opened the card and found another picture. It was of her and Ron kissing at the prom. She smiled and caressed the picture with her forefinger. Her attention was drawn to the poem written on the other page.

"There's a poem here for you. Wanna hear it? I'll read it anyway," Kim said and cleared her throat. She began reading the poem aloud.

when your world is weary,
when all is dark,
when dreams die and fade away,
and all of life is stark,
take heart in gentle love,
for she waits in the wings,
and where she walks,
fairies dance and angels sing,
though you cannot see her,
she weaves a silken touch,
leaving footprints in the sand,
sprinkling spells and such,
lighting the dampened corridors,
the dark corners of your mind,
leaving you breathless,
bewildered by her kind,
goodness glints in her eyes,
hope is in her arms,
and all you've ever dreamed of,
rests sweetly in her charms.

Her voice gave out halfway through, and by the end she could hardly see from the tears. She bent over the hospital bed and wet the covers with her tears.

"Please come back to me..."

Kim cried herself to sleep for the umpteenth time.

She began to dream. In her dream she was reunited with Ron and they had their fairytale ending. She smiled.

A faint blue glow surrounded the sleeping lovers.

Dawn began to break. The rising sun painted the horizon with a glowing mix of red, orange, and yellow. The warm light flooded the hospital room.

The monitoring equipment stirred from its dreary monotone harmony, filling the room with a cacophony of beeps. Ron's eyes began to flutter open.

He struggled to keep his eyelids from squeezing shut. The light hurt his eyes and all he could see was yellow haze. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the newly introduced stimulus. From the haze a human form emerged.

Am I dead? Is that an angel?

Ron's vision began to focus.

Kim... real close.

"Kim," he said in a raspy whisper.

The redhead stirred. She raised her head from her hands and looked over at her friend.

"Ron?" she asked, not quite sure if she was awake. Realizing it was not a dream she let out a scream: "RON!"

Kim jumped at him and pulled him in a tight embrace. She started crying.

"I thought I'd lost you," she managed through her sobs.

"What happened?" Ron asked groggily.

Kim withdrew from the embrace. "You don't remember?"

"Something about Monkey Fist. It's all a blur."

"You... you almost died." Kim felt ill just saying the words. "You've been in a coma for four months."

"Coma? Four months? Wait, that means.. My suspension is over!" Ron said trying to conjure up his best goofy grin.

"Ron. This is serious," Kim said crying. She embraced him again, afraid to let go. She wasn't going to let him slip away again.

Ron figured it was better to let her get it out. Besides, he wasn't in a hurry. And feeling her arms around him again felt good. Oh, how he had missed it. He wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed holding the redhead once again. Everything about it felt right and comfortable. It was like had come back home. In a way, he had.

He was also filled with a strong urge to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her until they couldn't breathe, and beyond. But there was something that had to done before he could entertain any romantic notions. He had to face the music.

He waited until Kim stopped sobbing.

"Kim... There's something we need to talk about," he said softly into her hair.

"What about, Ron?"

"Us."

"Oh," Kim said and pulled away slowly.

"Yeah. I," he said and paused to take a deep breath.

"We don't have to do this now." She took his hand.

"Yes we do. The reason we broke up was because we didn't talk, because I didn't talk. I should have let you known what I was feeling."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I let you down. I let myself down. I should have known better than to believe what Bonnie said."

"BONNIE!? She's the reason?" Kim looked like she was ready snap the brunette in half.

"Kim, it's okay. I've already forgiven her. And you should too," Ron said laying his hands on the angry redhead's shoulders.

"But if she hadn't opened her big mouth, none of this would have happened."

"You don't know that. She never said anything I hadn't thought of myself at one point or another. It was better to get those questions out in the open now than when we were married or had kids."

Oops.

Kim's face went blank."M-married?" she stammered.

"Well... Yeah," Ron said sliding his hands from her shoulders to her hands.

"Don't you think it's a bit early to talk about marriage? We're still in high school."

"I know. But talking to your mom made me realize some things."

"What kind of things?"

"What an ass I've made of myself. And that doubting my feelings for you was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"I'd have to agree - on both counts," Kim said with the beginnings of a smile forming on her lips.

"See, you're the smart one. And I sorta realized that... I don't want a future without you."

"Me neither."

"So.. how do feel about.. you know.. us.. married.. with children?" Ron asked brokenly, breaking and making eye-contact.

"Well, I don't hate it. Actually... It sounds kinda nice."

"Really?" A hopeful smile spread across Ron's face.

"Yeah. But promise me you won't start putting your hand down your pants when you're watching TV."

"Not even when Psycho Dad's on?"

"Not if you want dinner."

"Since when did you know how to cook?"

"Roooon!" Kim complained in a shrill voice, doing a fairly good Peggy Bundy impression.

The teens broke in laughter.

The door opened and Mrs. Possible walked in carrying an IV-bag.

"Okay, Ron. Time to change-," she said before noticing Kim and Ron. Both the bag and her jaw dropped.

"Hi, Mom. Ron's awake."

"I... I can see that," Mrs. Possible said while trying to recover from the shock. A smile spread across her face as she walked briskly to Ron's bedside and gave him a big hug.

"I'm so happy you're back," she said, shedding a few tears of joy. She pulled back and turned to her daughter. They both had huge smiles plastered on their faces as they hugged.

Reluctantly Mrs. Possible returned to doctor mode and did a preliminary check on Ron's condition. Satisfied with the results she left to arrange for a more thorough check-up.

After the news of Ron's awakening had circulated, he was mobbed with visitors bearing gifts. He couldn't believe how many people cared about him, let alone even knew him. Kim just said it's all because of the Ronshine.

Among the first visitors were Bonnie and Tara.

It was the next day after the awakening. Kim and Ron were alone in the hospital room enjoying their time together. They just sat staring at each other holding hands and exchanging tender kisses every now then. After being apart for so long, they found it hard to keep from touching each other. Their quiet bliss was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in," Kim and Ron said simultaneously. "Jinx, you owe me a soda!" Again simultaneously. That's gotta be like, jinx squared.

The door opened to reveal Tara Matthews and Bonnie Rockwaller.

"Hey, girls," Ron greeted the stunned cheerleaders.

"Ron!" they screamed and rushed toward him. Rufus, who had been sleeping on Ron's bed, woke up and saw them barreling down on Ron. He squeaked and jumped into Kim's lap. The girls crushed Ron in a hug-sandwich.

"I'm happy to see you too. But I still need to breathe," he wheezed.

Neither of them showed any intention of letting him go. He heard quiet sniffling and he gave in. Besides, there were worse ways to die.

Kim was getting mildly tweaked. Ron seemed to be enjoying the hug a little too much. She cleared her throat. The two cheerleaders slowly relinquished Ron from their vice-like grip and pulled back to reveal their tear streaked faces.

Bonnie looked at Kim. "Sorry, Kim. Didn't mean to hog your man. It's just that..."

"We didn't think we'd ever see him again," Tara continued and looked back at Ron.

Kim's expression softened. "My reaction was pretty much the same."

"The ladies can't get enough of the Ron-man," Ron said leaning back with his hands behind his head.

All three women turned to look at him.

"Hey, don't kill the messenger. I'm just telling it like it is."

"'The Ron-man' better keep in mind which lady can put him back into a coma."

"Eep."

Suddenly Ron's expression turned serious. He looked at Tara. "Uhh. Tara. Are we okay? I mean we weren't on the best of terms when I..."

"Yes, Ron, we're okay. It wasn't easy, but I got over it," she said with a soothing smile.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just so confused," he apologized, shame and regret evident on his face.

"It's okay, really. I understand. And it doesn't matter now. The important thing is you've come back."

Tara accentuated her words with a hug. Relief washed over Ron as he was able to put the last of his fears to rest. He had been so worried he had caused irreparable damage to any of the extraordinary women who had chosen to grace his existence. But they were strong women. Come to think of it, there were nothing but strong women in his life. He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

With the air cleared the room was soon filled with happy chatter. The girls started to entertain each other with the most embarrassing anecdotes of Ron they could think of. Ron feigned discomfort. He was too happy to be bothered. He just kept counting his blessings. How did he get so lucky to make friends like this? Friends who cared this much. And the fact that they were all incredibly hot, well, that was just a bon-diggity bonus. He stifled a chuckle as he dubbed them Ron's Angels in his mind.

Ron looked at Kim. As if she had felt his gaze, she turned to him while the other girls continued talking.

And she smiled.

THE END

A/N: I hope the late revelation of Ron's coma wasn't too gimmicky. It just felt like a good way to add to the suspense and uncertainty.

I have tentative plans for a sequel, which won't be this angsty. It would be a fluffy look into the College days of Kim, Ron, Tara, and Bonnie, and maybe Felix. But this is still a distant thought.

The poem on the card is It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn, by J. Blagojevic.
The line 'so little to so many' came from the Billy Talent song Pins and Needles.