Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible or any of the characters. They belong to Disney.

After the long day, she wanted nothing more than to crash on her own bed and unwind.

She entered her dark room and fumbled around for the light switch before turning it on.

"Hey, Princess," drawled a familiar voice.

Turning to face the source of the voice, Kim Possible instinctively got into a fighting stance, raising her arms and making a fist as she saw Shego sitting calmly on the open windowsill, looking back at her.

"Easy there, Kimmie." said Shego as she made no move to stand, "I'm not here to fight you."

Kim then lowered her arms by a fraction but did not move to shift her stance.

"Really?" she asked skeptically, "Given the circumstances that you were about to do just that, moments before you left earlier, could've said otherwise."

Instead of replying, Shego glanced away somewhat guiltily and held up her hands to show Kim that she wasn't going to try anything. The red head was slightly astonished to say the least.

It took the cheerleader a moment to get over her daze.

"What are you doing here, Shego?" asked Kim in a softer tone, dropping her arms.

Shego glanced back at the teen hero before moving her gaze to Kim's bed. The red head followed suit.

A plain shoe box lay upon it. The teen hero missed it when she was too busy paying attention to the intruder in her room.

Kim then looked back at Shego who was now watching her with the usual smirk in place, eyebrow raised.

"What is it?" asked Kim warily as she glanced back at the rectangle object sitting on her bed.

Not missing a beat, the green thief answered, "I believe it's a shoe box, Kimmie."

"I meant; what's inside?"

"Well, why don't you open it and find out?"

Shego then got up from her seat to move around the teen's room. Before she could take two steps however, she could feel the red head's penetrating gaze. Kim was obviously skeptical about it as she stared at Shego suspiciously, arms folded across her chest.

"Oh come on, Pumpkin!" exclaimed Shego, "Did you really think you'd still be glaring at me right now if I wanted to destroy you?!"

Kim didn't respond but her gaze did soften as she glanced away. Unfortunately, it went unnoticed by Shego.

"Look," began Shego agitatedly, "I get that I'm your enemy and I know that you don't trust me at--" Shego stopped short, looking away and sighing.

"Would you just open the box, Kimmie?" Shego sighed tiredly.

The red head stared at the plasma wielding woman for a moment. But Kim didn't even get a chance to reply as Shego quickly took the silence as a bad thing, "Fine, I might as well return it since you're not going to…" She added roughly as she moved towards the box.

"No!" answered Kim quickly as she moved in Shego's way, blocking the woman from taking the package.

Shego then gazed intently at the smaller girl in front of her, searching behind her forest green eyes.

"I'll open it." Kim assured Shego gently as she started to nod her head fervently; worried that the verbal promise wouldn't be enough to convince the older woman. "I'll open it." She repeated in a whisper.

A small flicker passed behind Shego's emerald orbs and before Kim could catch it, Shego blinked and her usual smirk took place.

"Very good, Kimmie." said Shego in a tone that Kim was used to from the woman; scathing and derisive. Yet, somehow that tone seemed strangely out of place at the moment. Shego then moved away from the red head, ignoring the feeling of her shoulder roughly brushing against Kim's in the process.

While Shego observed the many ornaments on the teen hero's dresser with little interest, Kim Possible stepped up to the box, taking hold of the lid.

As the thief's emerald gaze and gloved hand fell upon a familiar looking photo strip, she heard a light intake of breath behind her when Kim finally saw what was inside that plain looking shoebox. Shego's mouth then curled to a small grin.

"This is..." started Kim.

"The heels you had your eyes on but couldn't afford?" Shego offered, turning around so she could face the cheerleader, her grin growing bigger as she leaned against the dresser.

In the box were indeed the black heels that Kim tried on when she and Shego's alter ego went out shopping the other day.

Shego then noticed that Kim's face turned bright pink, but decided not to say anything. "There wasn't enough money on me that time, Shego!" replied Kim.

Shrugging slightly, Shego indifferently countered, "I'm sure if you just asked Miss Go..."

The bright pink blush was now a shade darker. Shego took a moment to take pleasure in it inside.

"Go ahead and enjoy it, Pumpkin." said Shego as she stepped away from the dresser and moved to the open window, "Knew you would love it."

The green thief was a foot away from the windowsill when Kim abruptly asked, "Shego, you didn't steal this did you?"

Kim's intruder paused from reaching her destination. Her mouth turning to a half grin as the thought of Kim's judgment came as to no surprise to her.

Shego turned to face the questioning girl, mocking a look of hurt before a brief smile betrayed her previous emotion.

"I thought you of all people knew Miss Go, Princess." Shego responded, holding up a receipt which had the shoe store in its name.

Kim glanced away in slight discomfort and could only wonder how Shego could get in a shop without having to steal.

"Besides," continued Shego as she unconsciously took a step towards Kim, "I knew you wouldn't even look at it if you knew I stole it."

Kim then looked up at Shego, trying to find the hidden meaning behind her words instead of wanting to coming up with a witty remark.

"But…why?" questioned Kim softly, needing to know.

Shego looked away and shrugged with indifference once more, "Miss Go figured; since you gave the cat suit back, she'd give you back something in return..." Shego then turned around to make her exit once more. "Don't think too much about it, Kimmie. You'll get flattering white hairs."

"Do you always have to refer to yourself as a different person every time you do something nice?"

This time, the question wasn't accusatory, skeptical or questionable. Instead, it was filled with a knowing sadness that was so gentle; it was broken at the same time. Like the feeling one gets when their flicker of hope are only met with a heartbreaking disappointment.

It was so sad and so innocently pure…

There was more to that question than what was said.

This feeling... so raw and foreign; broke through the many walls Shego had put up for herself and it hit her to the deepest core, shaking every stringent fiber inside. It was worse than any physical hit the teen hero has ever inflicted. Shego didn't know what to do. She didn't react, didn't respond. She just stood there facing the open window. It beckoned to her, telling her to make an escape, but she wouldn't move. She couldn't.

She gazed down to the windowsill where she was sitting a few minutes ago, trying to swallow a lump forming in her throat. She moistened her lips.

"I guess I'm just afraid of owning up to those actions, Kimmie." Shego heard herself say. It was barely above a whisper and too late to take back. She's sure that her Princess didn't hear anything.

Now that she got her limbs moving, Shego stepped one foot out the window.

"But you weren't so afraid to confe--" Kim started.

"Confess WHAT?!" snapped Shego. She brought her leg back inside, spun around and advanced towards Kim. Shego couldn't take it anymore; the brutal honesty, the innocent truth, the raw emotions. She didn't care if she made a promise not to hurt Kim earlier; she was more than capable of breaking that promise. "I didn't actually say anything, Kimmie!"

"You were about to!" cried Kim as she too stepped towards the green skinned woman.

Shego's hands burned bright green as she took the last step towards the cheerleader, who defiantly stood her ground.

"Well, it doesn't matter now!" replied Shego, raising her voice when she was only a foot away. "Miss Go was the one about to confess – NOT ME!"

Kim then pointed out kindly, "You and Miss Go are the same person, Shego."

"No, she is not, Possible!" defended Shego angrily, "She's stupid, gullible and insanely naïve!"

"Maybe," replied Kim, "but I'd gladly add that she's braver than you are too!"

Shego immediately bristled at that.

"Don't you think I've been brave enough, Kimmie?" asked Shego loudly, glaring into Kim forest green orbs, "Don't you think it took all my fucking guts just to see you again after my stupid slip up an hour ago?" Kim Possible ignored the cuss word and instead watched as Shego continued on, turning away from Kim. "Did you think that I wasn't holding my breath just waiting for you to get here? At least I had the fucking bravery not to run while I still had the chance!"

Kim waited until Shego calmed down a bit.

She then slowly reached out and cupped the side of Shego's face, gently asking her to look at her once more. Kim noted how the green flames extinguished themselves the moment Shego looked up at Kim, uncertainly.

"Then be brave enough again, Shego." said Kim softly.

Neither thief nor hero noticed that time then stopped short for them as both stared deeply into each other's green gaze.

Unexpectedly, Shego leaned down and captured Kim's lips with surprising tenderness. Her hands already found their way to Kim's neck and lower back, pulling her close.

Before Kim could move a muscle and react, she felt the cool breeze from outside brushing her face.

Opening her eyes and not knowing when she had closed them in the first place, Kim saw that Shego was no longer standing in front of her. Her room was now devoid of any other occupant. Quickly looking out her window, she could then see the faint silhouette of familiar black and green quickly disappearing down the dark street.

It was all the red head needed, to know that what just happened three seconds ago, wasn't part of her imagination.

While the presence of the green skinned woman was slowly ebbing away from her room, Kim quietly returned to the box to admire the gift once more, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

As she picked up the left heel from the box, Kim noticed that a small green card lay behind it. Curious, she put the shoe down and picked up the card, unconsciously trailing her lips with her fingertips as she read the content inside.

Inside, the thin and cursive writing asked only one thing in its' black ink.

'Can you hear me now, Princess?'

End

I hope you enjoyed this as you did with the previous chapters in this story. Thank you for reading and more importantly, thank you for your supporting reviews and thoughtful feedback! They kept me going and motivated!

I hope you have a wonderful day,

--FlexibleFish--

p/s: If you've paid attention to a tiny detail in this chapter, I'm sure you'll be wondering 'what happened to it?' Hehe, I'll leave that to your imagination! ;)