I don't own these characters.

6: The Start of Something New

"Wade, any fix on Drakken?" Kim inquired, speaking to the genius through the wrist Kimmunicator. She was in Bueno Nacho with Ron, who scowled deeply and had not touched his Naco, which he believed counted as breakfast food.

Kim was trying not to pay Ron too much mind while conducting business. She believed she could help him by pressing on, finding Drakken, thus finding Yori and Ron would have a chance to talk with her or move forward in accepting she was bad guy now if that was what she was. Kim knew if she focused too much on him, she would just want to comfort him and get him to stop looking like the world was coming to an end. She had tried last night to ease his worry and betrayed feelings, but she had no luck in it. So, now, she was trying to do something beyond the physical comforting. Only answers would be able to help her life-long friend.

"I got nothing so far," Wade answered with a shrug. Drakken was being pretty quiet with his plan, which was something that was worrisome since the last time that Drakken was quiet about his plan he had nearly succeeded.

"Well, what about what he stole?" the redhead asked, resting her chin in her palm.

"Well, it's a highly concentrated experimental formula to seed clouds," he explained.

"You mean to make it rain?"

"Exactly. I'm guessing from that and the power cell that Shego stole for him a while ago is part of a weather machine or something," Wade commented, almost bored.

"Didn't he do that already?" Kim's forehead furrowed as she went through her mental files. She had had a lot of missions in her hero career, but she was pretty sure that Drakken had already tried the weather machine angle.

"He's probably running out of ideas," Wade offered without missing a beat.

Kim did not argue that one since she found it to be quite plausible. She was actually stunned Drakken could still come up with schemes after so many years. He needed something better to do with his time in her opinion. Surely he could actually do something for the good of mankind if he would just put his mind to it and then people might take him seriously, she thought.

The hero glanced up at her best friend/boyfriend, just to check on him. He continued to look sour, like he failed to save the world. She wanted to reach other the table and take his hand in hers. He did not even look at her.

"Everything's going to be fine, Ron. It'll work out," she promised. Everything would be fine, she kept telling him. He looked at her as if she was liar the first time she said it, which actually hurt her. It was that that made her aware her touch and her words were not going to be nearly enough to heal his wounds, especially not so soon after he received them.

She knew why that was. Ron felt betrayed by Yori, he felt lied to, and like every time the ninja pushed him to do the right thing, she was just manipulating him into doing what she wanted him to do. He was wounded to the depth of his soul, which he actually felt like he did not have anymore. It was like Yori sucked his whole spirit out of him when he saw her with Drakken.

He trusted Yori, trusted her with not just his life, but with his sister's life and she would dare work for Drakken! Ron's mind still fumed, boiling his soul, and only paining him more as he seethed over it. It was surprising smoke was not coming from the top of his head and out of his ears from the heated, fiery feeling burning in his gut. Yori might have had just stabbed him in the heart, in his opinion. At least that would have killed him and he would not have to live with his current tornado of emotions.

Ron had a headache from the agony dealt to him. The headache only got worse as his face fell permanently stuck in a scowl, tense and stiff. A churning in his stomach from all the turmoil he experienced joined it. His physical aliments along with everything else pressed down on him threatened to squash him flatter than a sheet of paper.

Kim turned her attention back to Wade. "Um… had any luck figuring out that other matter?" she asked.

"Not really. They cover their tracks pretty well there, as you know. I'm still looking around, though," Wade answered.

"If you can, please try to find out why Yori was with Drakken," Kim requested. She did not believe it was something deeper to it, but she wanted to help Ron.

"I've been on it since you mentioned she was there," he answered. Wade was trying to dig because he wanted to help Ron, too. Ron was his pal just as much as Kim was.

Kim glanced at Ron, who was still miserable. She turned her attention back to Wade. "You got anything?"

"The best I can tell is that Yori being there probably had something to do with Yamanouchi, but they don't leave any traces of their operations. I'll keep looking, but Yamanouchi ninja don't just pop up unless their school wants them to," Wade answered. Those words got Ron at least to look up. Kim offered him a small smile, hoping the thin theory would lift his spirits.

"So, you think Yori's working on the inside to maybe bring Drakken down?" Ron asked with hope as he finally looked up at his girlfriend. There was a light in his eyes. He needed to believe Yori was not a bad guy. "I bet that is it. She's been put on the case to watch Drakken and take him down. Master Sensei is a smart guy and he has to know how dangerous Drakken is, so he put his best ninja on the job."

Kim looked away for a moment. It was plausible that Yori was spying, but it was more likely she was working with Drakken considering how she froze up when the good guys arrived. She did not have a cover story either. Kim really did not want to burst Ron's bubble since he seemed like he was going back to his usual, chipper self. He had not had his usual energy since the mission last night. In fact, he had been like a zombie since then, so she really did not want to take away his first signs of life.

"Well, I didn't say all that," she muttered, speaking more to the table top than her boyfriend. She probably could have been a bit more supportive if she tried, but she still had a secret jealous spot over the ninja. She knew it was petty and now that she was older, she was trying to get over it, but it was a slow road she traveled.

"That's probably it. Some secret ninja thing to stop Drakken once again for all. That's why she said it was a mission!" Ron proclaimed with a grin more to himself than anyone else. He punched his fist into his palm as he spoke because he was certain he figured things out. He felt loads better now. He started to eat his breakfast while making plans to talk things over with Yori when he saw her again.

Kim frowned, less convinced of her boyfriend's confidence the ninja was working covertly, but that was not really her issue. She was more interested in finding out where Drakken had disappeared off to and what he was doing with his repeat weather machine. She doubted he was totally replicating his old scheme. He was too creative for that, too dangerous for that. She tapped her fingers on the table lightly and waited for Wade to get back to her with news on Drakken.

-8-8-8-8-

Yori had been awake for hours, but she did not move at all. She was still pressed against Shego, as she had been for most of the night. Shego was asleep, breathing in a way that Yori discovered was very soothing to her only last night. She would not mind if Shego slept for the whole day as long as she could hear and feel the older woman breathing.

She had never been near someone in recent times where she could appreciate something simple like the rhythm of the breathing. She had never been calm enough where she could appreciate something such as breathing either. Her life was more turmoil than she ever cared to admit, but now, she realized just how messed up everything had been for her and that was thanks Shego… well, thanks to Shego and Ron's outrage.

But, in Shego's embrace, it felt like the chaos had faded away. Yori felt safe… really safe, not in the same way as practicing her skills. This was beyond her, which only made her think about how messed up she really was. Other people knew about this, she bet, but she had been neglected for so long, kept in the dark so long, she had no idea. She had no idea about anything.

In her calm, waking hours Yori figured out what she should do about her current predicament. She was all right with the idea that came to mind, even though it involved some dishonesty. At least it was dishonesty to do the right thing, which she found herself all right with. She had been doing dishonest things for so long and it bothered her because it seemed to be for no reason aside from money. She could do something right now that would be beneficial to people, but she hoped it went over well with the people she cared about, the people who mattered. She could not stand losing them, so for them and for herself, she was going to step away from doing everything because of her school.

With that out of the way for the moment, Yori was allowed to think of the other big thing on her mind. It was the reason she was anxious for Shego to wake up, even though it would mean the soothing breathing would change. She thought about the kiss they shared, and she had been thinking about it on and off since she woke up. It started out with her trying to sneak a kiss, but she was surprised when Shego returned it last night. Now, she wanted to talk about it and what happened. She wanted to know what would happen next.

Yori was not sure, but she could have sworn for the brief moment their lips touched, she felt electricity go through her body. When that lightning feeling passed, she just felt a gentle warmness go through her, causing a sensation she had nothing to compare it to. She wondered if Shego had the same feeling and if kissing was always like that. Last night was her first one.

The ninja guessed she was about to find out as Shego's breathing against her did change ever so slightly. She watched as Shego's face twitched slightly and then the pale woman yawned a little. She squeaked as Shego pulled her closer.

"Now, that is a cute noise," Shego mumbled, showing she was fully awake now, even though her eyes were still closed. She caressed Yori's side since her hand rested there.

Yori was ready to melt just from the gentle petting. What was the feeling? Yori had no idea, but she never wanted it to end.

"Shego-san… um… good morning," the ninja said for lack of a better thing to say. She was lucky she could remember how to speak considering how distracting she found Shego's hands to be.

"Indeed it is. Better than I've had in a months," Shego remarked, opening her eyes to look at the woman in her arms.

Yori smiled a bit. "Thank you for staying with me." She certainly appreciated the fact that Shego stayed with her throughout her bleakest moment. She was not sure if anyone else on the planet would do such a thing for her right now.

"No problem. Gave me an excuse to sleep next to a beautiful woman, so I don't have any complaints," Shego quipped and that earned her a blush from the younger woman.

"You have helped me a lot in the short time we have known each other. I really appreciate it."

"I could tell."

Yori's face scrunched up. "How could you tell?"

"A hint from early this morning sorta clued me in," Shego remarked.

Yori continued to look puzzled for a moment. It was clear when it dawned on her what Shego was implying. Her mouth opened slightly and her eyebrows shot up. Shego chuckled from Yori's expression. She looked so shocked that it was cute. Who was Shego kidding? She thought most of the things Yori did were adorable in some way.

"I was hoping to talk to you about that," Yori admitted.

"I figured you would," Shego replied. Yori seemed to need to talk about everything, which was not annoying to her. That was surprising in and of itself, but she was coming to see she had a lot of patience when it came to the teenager.

"Um… that was my first kiss…" the ninja confessed, looking away as she admitted that. She felt a little bit ridiculous saying that because she felt like Shego knew so much about the world while she was rather limited in almost everything.

The super-powered woman supposed that made sense, but she was still shocked by it. "Your first one? But, you're almost nineteen," she pointed out, stating the obvious because of her shock. She would have thought teenage hormones would have at least pushed Yori sneak in a kiss while training. But, then she remembered Yori was brainwashed into thinking she owed the school everything, so she had probably spent most of time focusing on her training, believing she owed all her time to the school.

The ninja looked away again for a moment. "I know. I've been focused on my training most of my life and the only person I ever considered kissing aside from you was Stoppable-san."

Shego was shocked again and her mouth fell open. Or maybe she was disgusted, she was not too sure. It was just creepy to know Yori was attracted to Ron and was now attracted to her.

"The buffoon?" Shego said incredulously, shaking her head. "Ah, don't even bring him up while I'm in bed. Geez," she groaned. She supposed she was going to have to work passed that because she was not letting the ninja go.

Yori giggled a bit since she could tell that Shego was being overly dramatic. "Please, do not refer to him that way."

"But, he's such an idiot," Shego groaned. "How could you like him?"

Yori silently admitted things were a bit weird for her, too. Not because she thought something was wrong with Ron, but first she liked Ron and now she liked Shego. She liked a boy first and now she suddenly liked a woman. She was not sure if that was normal. It did not bother her much since liking anyone was foreign territory to her. It was not like she learned anything about sexuality and things of that nature while she trained at Yamanouchi. Missions involving seduction had been left to other ninja.

"I was wondering… I mean, kissing you felt really good. Is it supposed to feel that way?" Yori asked.

"Doy. If it didn't feel good, people wouldn't do it so much," Shego commented with a smart-aleck smirk on her face.

Yori conceded that point. "So, it felt good to you?"

"Hmm…" Shego pretended to muse on her response. She answered by leaning down and kissing Yori on the lips.

The ninja tensed for a moment because of the surprise, but she quickly relaxed as she realized that was happening. Her eyes closed on their own while she was taken in by the feeling of Shego's mouth against hers. That warm feeling that she felt before returned and she was ready to melt into Shego. A part of her brain registered that Shego's hands were massaging her hips, which only made the warm feeling more intense.

Shego would be able to relate to Yori's reaction to the kiss. It was quite the delight and she would not mind doing it more often. When Shego pulled away, Yori whimpered in protest.

"That answer your question, Cherry Blossom?" Shego asked, smirking a bit.

Yori licked her bottom lip, tasting Shego on her mouth. She was not quite sure what she would say the plasma-wielder tasted like. It was more a concept than a flavor. Shego's lips were like a gentle summer rain on a hot, humid night.

"Um… yeah…" the ninja replied in a breathless tone.

"Anything else on your mind?" Shego inquired. She hoped it had something to do with biology, but she doubted it would be. That would probably be rushing things quite a bit and she did not want to do anything that might be harmful to Yori in the long run.

"Yeah, a few things. I want to be honest with you since you have helped me so much since I've been here. So, can I tell you the decision I have come to?"

"Hit me with it."

Yori nodded and before she started talking, she curled up more into Shego. She felt more confident in being able to say what she was going to say when she felt Shego's hold on her tighten. Shego also continued caressing her, which only helped. Shego kissed her forehead.

"I like that," Yori admitted without thinking. She blushed as soon as she realized what she said.

"Then, I'll be sure to do it more often," Shego replied. It would not be a hardship on her, after all. Yori smiled and it made Shego happy. "Now, tell me about what's on your mind."

They had come a long way in such a short period time. They went from having no respect for each other and doubting each other's skill to where they were gladly sharing a bed. Not to mention Yori was sharing plots on what she was going to do with her life. They both figured they would be together for a good while, too. They would see just how far what they started could go.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Yori stood next to each other in the main room of the lair. They were supposed to be focusing on two things. The first thing they were supposed to behold was the large, cylinder-shaped machine the center of the room. It went all the way to the ceiling and there was an opening for it to continue on. The second thing they were supposed to be paying attention to was Drakken, who was doing his tradition rant/explanation of what his machine did. They were not doing either of those things.

"Um… Are his things always this big?" Yori asked, motioning to the machine with a quick wave of her hand.

"No, but they're usually this dumb," Shego remarked, folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes, which was directed at Drakken.

"What is it meant to do?" the ninja asked.

"From what I can tell, from not listening to him, he's going to use it to seed the clouds and rain down this brainwashing shampoo he invented a couple of years ago that he still seems to have a bunch of and rule the world," Shego sucked her teeth. There was no way in hell this would work. First off, the machine was too big to even leave the lair. Where would he use it?

"And what is he talking about?" Yori asked, pointing at Drakken, who was walking a few feet away from them while going on and on, oblivious to the fact that they were not listening to him.

"Who cares," Shego replied with a shrug. Yori nodded and mimicked Shego in not caring.

Drakken continued rambling as far as his two sidekicks were concerned. Little did he know, while he was talking, they were making plans for later on. They only turned to look at him when the room was silent. He did not look pleased when they met his gaze.

"You're not listening to me!" Drakken huffed, stomping his foot and making fists.

"Sure we are," Shego lied and then she shrugged once more. "Well, we're doing something like listening."

"If you don't listen to me, how are you supposed to know how the machine works," he pointed out in a heated tone while motioning to the weather machine.

"Well, you're making the assumption that we give a damn how the machine works," she countered calmly.

"The hurting words, Shego," Drakken commented with a sour expression, turning his mouth up and folding his arms across his chest.

Shego sighed. "Fine, show us how the hopelessly complicated machine works," she said without much feeling. She wished he would not whine so much and that way she would not have to give into him.

Drakken smiled as he went to show them how the machine worked, having to turn it on first. Yori smiled a little, too. As rough as Shego acted, it was nice to see her soft side directed at Drakken. Yes, he seemed immature and insecure, but he really wanted Shego's acknowledgement. Yori understood that now and she sort of understood why he would.

Shego turned her eyes from the machine to her nails. They were much more interesting than Drakken when he was all excited. Yori stared at the machine for a while, taking in what the scientist said and did. It seemed easy, but she suspected that was because Shego gave her a tutorial before Drakken started his rant. Shego was surprisingly knowledgeable in science.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim's Kimmunicator suddenly went off. She wasted no time in answering it, even though she was in class. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Kim, there was this huge energy signal off of Drakken's volcano lair. I think that might be him activating his machine," Wade reported.

"I'm on it, Wade," Kim informed him.

"Finally," Ron said. He was anxious to get to Yori to apologize to her since he now figured out she was conducting some secret ninja mission to stop Drakken. Although, he could not figure out why Yamanouchi was suddenly interested in stopping the mad scientist. The why did not matter to him, though; it was all about the fact that he was certain that she was not a bad guy now. Plus, he got out of history class.

-8-8-8-8-

"All right, so do you two understand how the machine works?" Drakken inquired, speaking to his two sidekicks.

"Oh, yeah," Shego replied. Yori only nodded.

"Are you sure?" he asked suspiciously. He probably would have believed them if only Shego was not filing her nails as she spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she replied flippantly. The ninja nodded again.

"All right, then let's fire this bad boy up and get to building my brainwashed army! Now, where should I hit first?" Drakken wondered aloud, a finger to his chin, showing that he was pondering a location.

"Yamanouchi," Shego volunteered with a bright smile. She would like to see how they liked being mind-raped.

"Shego-san!" Yori objected with a slightly upset expression on her face. She knew Shego held no love for her school, but it was her school. She would even concede they had messed with her mind a little bit, but they still made her who she was, so she did not want to see any harm befall them.

"What? It's just a little harmless brainwashing shampoo," Shego commented in a light tone, as if it was nothing serious. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind." If would be nice to get a use out of Drakken's machine before the scheme fell to pieces.

"Leave Yamanouchi out of it," Yori said.

"Fine, fine, fine. I retract my request," Shego replied with a sigh.

"What about Iceland?" Drakken proposed. He figured that might be a way to sneak back into Shego's good graces since he had upset her about wanting to fire Yori. After all, Shego seemed to be interested in having control over Iceland.

Shego shrugged, disinterested. Yori did not see the big deal about Iceland. Drakken sighed and frowned from his sidekicks' lack of interest in his scheme. He turned his attention to a computer panel, which would be where he programmed coordinates in for his machine to hit a certain area. Shego would like to see that work.

"Come on, where should I hit?" Drakken begged. He wanted some input.

"I know where you should get hit," a voice remarked from the top of the machine.

"Kim Possible?" Drakken gasped in shock as he and his minions looked up.

"Does he always say that when she shows up?" Yori asked Shego.

"I'm guessing he likes knowing he can remember something," Shego remarked with a half-smile. "So, I've got Possible. You handle… Stoppable," she muttered as if the name tasted bitter in her mouth. She would have to get used to it a bit since he was such a good friend to Yori.

"Hey, she finally remembered my name!" Ron cheered, grinning as he felt that he was finally getting some respect from the pale woman. Rufus gave him a high-five.

"I'm happy for you, sweetie," Kim said sarcastically as she jumped down, only to be met by Shego.

"Keep them away from the machine!" Drakken ordered.

"I'm on it," Shego replied, keeping Kim occupied as usual.

Ron jumped down from the machine, proud to not get snagged by anything on the way down. He was about to start touching things on the computer panel since he landed close, but he suddenly found himself in Yori's grip. She flung him away from the machine since her orders were to "keep them away from the machine."

"Yori, what're ya doing?" Ron implored while trying to catch his balance.

"I am keeping you away from the machine," Yori replied while standing between him and Drakken, who was still standing by the computer of his machine.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're actually listening to Drakken?" Ron inquired, throwing his hands out in disbelief. Now, he was confused. Was Yori trying to help Drakken win by keeping him away from the machine? That did not make any sense. It did not match up with the fact that he was sure she supposed to be undercover to ruin Drakken's scheme or bring him in or something.

"He is my employer," Yori informed her friend. Her tone was cold, which was only baffling him all the more.

"What are you talking about?" Ron screamed, throwing his hands out in frustration. "Isn't this some big secret ninja mission thing?"

"Something like that," Yori replied, still sounding frozen and indifferent toward Ron.

"Did Drakken 'chip you? He did it to Kim and Shego once. He got you, too, I'll bet," Ron figured. There had to be some rational explanation for why Yori was on the bad guys' side and he was willing to go down a list of not-so-rational explanations until he got to the real reason.

"What is chipped?" the ninja asked.

"Shego, why isn't the ninja girl fighting the buffoon?" Drakken inquired in an annoyed voice as he watched Yori just standing there.

"A little busy, Doctor D," Shego replied. She was busy trying to claw Kim in half from what the redhead could tell.

"What the hell did you two do to Yori?" Kim demanded, dodging the plasma-charged attack.

"Oh, you don't even want me to start answering that question, Pumpkin," Shego remarked with a devilish smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kim growled. She was not sure how to take the implications, but considering the things that Drakken had done in the past, she was with Ron on considering that Yori might actually be chipped.

Shego did not respond. Well, she supposed it was nice that people Yori assumed were her friends were worried about her. It showed she did not get all worked up over nothing and that her friends were worth fighting for. Shego was actually happy she decided to support Yori in trying to keep her friends, even if they were Possible and Stoppable, who were their enemies. Well, they were enemies when they clock was going anyway.

"I know! I'll make it rain in here and then Kim Possible will be my slave because of the shampoo!" Drakken declared with a grin. He obviously thought that was quite the brilliant plan.

"He's going to make it rain brainwashing shampoo in a room that we're all standing in," Shego commented, speaking more to herself than anyone else. It was just that the idiocy involved in that move amazed her.

"He doesn't think these things out at all anymore, does he?" Kim asked Shego with a deadpan look on her face.

"Did he ever really think these things out?" Shego countered with an almost twin expression.

Kim shrugged since she thought Shego had a point. They halted their fight, silently agreeing on a timeout as Drakken turned his attention to the computer keyboard. Yori and Ron were intrigued with what was going on by the machine, too. They all turned to see Drakken typing into the computer. He was actually going to make it rain brainwashing shampoo in a room where not only his sidekicks were, but so was he. Shego shook her head as she watched him, curious if he really was that freaking out of his little mind. She grabbed Kim as the redhead tried to rush Drakken.

"What the hell?" the hero said as she was yanked back by Shego. She could not believe she was being halted from saving them all from Drakken's loony plan by someone with a brain.

"Wait for it, cupcake," Shego remarked with a smile.

"Are you nuts?" Kim demanded. Shego shrugged while keeping a good grip on the redhead. Kim turned her attention to Ron. "Ron, stop Drakken."

"I'm on it, K.P," Ron called and he tried to go forward, but Yori continued to block his path. "Yori, get outta the way!" he pled, hands up in a begging position.

"I cannot do that, Stoppable-san," Yori said in a firm tone.

"That's right, ninja girl, keep the buffoon away from me while I enter these coordinates," Drakken stated. He seemed thrilled with Yori now, even though he was not using her name.

"Yori, move!" Ron begged desperately.

"I cannot," she repeated.

Rufus tried to spring into action, but even he was not fast enough. He leaped out of Ron's pocket, but Yori put her foot out, tripping the little rodent. He slid across the floor. She kept a close eye on him, not wanting to hurt him.

"And now, Kim Possible will be mine!" Drakken cackled as he hit the enter button on his computer. Kim gasped while Ron's jaw practically hit the floor. The same with Rufus. Drakken won from what they could tell. Drakken actually won.

And then, the whole machine started to explode. Kim laughed a little. Of course the machine would explode.

"What's going on?" Drakken begged, looking up at the machine as smoke began to pour out of it.

"Same thing as always. Let's get the hell out of here!" Shego called, knowing things were not going to end well. She was actually speaking to everyone and they seemed to know that.

Shego grabbed Drakken as the computer blew up near him. He nearly lost his fingers, but Shego got to him just in time. She then grabbed up Yori as the explosions fed into each other and grew larger. While Drakken wondered what was going on, Shego pointed to an exit for the two heroes to use while the villains went out the opposite way. Kim and Ron did not question why Shego helped them and ducked out before things got worse, which they did. The machine flared up as huge chunks of hot metal flew from it, tearing through other items around the lab and lair.

"Did Shego just help us?" Ron asked as he and Kim made it safely to the beach outside of the liar.

"I think she did," Kim replied.

"Um… okay, why?" he inquired, eyebrows curled up. He started to think he was just in a dream with how backwards everything seemed. The only thing that made sense was that Drakken's machine blew up, but even that was usually helped along by accident.

"Hell if I know," the redhead answered honestly. She agreed with Ron. Maybe they were both stuck in a nightmare. She tried to think if they might have eaten something that was either bad or that they had just eaten too late one night and that was bringing on peculiar dreams.

-8-8-8-8-

"Why does this always happen!" Drakken cried to the heavens as they escaped the exploding lair in a hovercraft. He was in the backseat lamenting how close he was to winning that time. His sidekicks were in the front seats with Shego acting as the pilot.

"You okay?" Shego asked Yori with concern. She looked over at the younger woman to make sure she did not have any visible wounds or scratches. The ninja appeared to be quite all right.

Yori nodded. "I'm fine. You?" She also looked Shego over for any injures, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. Shego was not even winded after having to practically carry Drakken to the hovercraft.

"Still in one piece. Good thing we moved our stuff out before that little mix up. Did you know that was going to happen?" Shego inquired in a low tone with an intrigued expression. She had not expected several growing explosions. It was very out of hand.

"Well, I really did not think it would be that big," Yori admitted with an embarrassed look on her face.

"I'm going to have to teach you how to read blueprints better," Shego sighed and shook her head. Yori only smiled sheepishly.

-*-(New day)-*-

"Okay, I don't get it. What the hell is Yori doing with Drakken? I mean, she totally blocked me from turning off the machine and tripped Rufus when he was about to save the day. We got lucky that the thing exploded!" Ron griped as he and Kim were headed into to Bueno Nacho. She was going to treat him to hopefully calm him down.

"Ron, I think you just have to face it that Yori's a bad guy now," Kim commented because that seemed to be the easiest and most logical explanation. It was either that or back to the bad dream theory.

"Wow, Princess, you don't have any faith at all in the little ninja, huh?" Shego queried from behind the couple, causing them to whip around. They were face to face with Shego and Yori, both of whom were in street clothes. In fact, the two raven-haired beauties were dressed semi-formally, both looking their best.

"What're you two doing here?" Kim demanded as she tensed up, ready to throw down it seemed.

"Will you cut that out! Damn it," Shego huffed. "Save people's asses and they still act all uptight when they see you. We're off the clock. Drakken's all depressed over what happened," she commented, sounding rather amused.

"Then what do you want?" Kim asked, relaxing for the most part. She knew Shego being off the clock was better than any truce that they could ever call.

"Yori's looking to talk to you two for a second," Shego answered and she motioned over to Yori.

The ninja took a step forward and looked at her friends. She was silent for a moment, just needing to find her voice. She made sure to keep eye contact with them, though. She wanted them to be able to look at her and see she was not as terrible as they thought she was. She was still the same Yori they knew, just in different circumstances. Hell, she might actually end up being better than the Yori they knew and for that, she could hold her head up high. After all, she was finally doing something to help them instead of the other way around.

"I know you think very ill of me, but working for Drakken was not my choice. He hired me through Yamanouchi, but that still does not make this right. I am sorry you had to see me this way, but just because I do this job does not mean that I am against you," the ninja explained.

"You work for our arch foe," Kim pointed out.

"I follow his orders, but I have my own mind." Yori glanced at Shego, who smiled and nodded. Yori took a breath and turned back to her friends. "I am going to continue to be paid by this man, as long as he has a contract with Yamanouchi, but that does not mean I have to agree with what he does," Yori insisted.

"You're not making any sense," Ron of all people pointed out.

Yori reached out and took Ron's hand. He was going to ask her what she was doing, but then he saw her place something in his palm. He looked confused.

"What're these things?" Ron inquired. He was now holding few small metallic black cylinders.

"They are from the machine that was going to turn everyone into mindless slaves," Yori answered with a bit of a smile.

"Wait, is this why it blew up?" Ron asked.

"Yes. He ordered me to steal pieces to build the machine and he ordered me to keep you away from it, but he never said anything about me not touching it or taking parts away from it," Yori commented with more of a smile. She was rather proud of herself, it seemed.

"Oh! You sly fox, you!" Ron grinned. She was not a bad guy. She was more like a man on the inside, so to speak.

Ron was so overcome with joy with Yori not being a bad guy he grabbed her into a tight hug. It was appropriate, but still bothered two people present, Kim and Shego. They decided not to say anything and let Ron and Yori have their moment. After all, they both needed it.

"Oh, man! I'm so sorry for blowing up on you like I did, Yori!" Ron apologized wholeheartedly. He pulled away a bit to look her in the eye. "I am so sorry for that," he reiterated.

"It is quite all right, Ron-san. I think I needed it," Yori admitted. If it was not for his outburst, she never would have realized how messed up she truly was. Or her self-discovery would have taken much longer. Thanks to his raw emotion and pain from seeing her do such terrible things, she was able to wake up and see just how much she was hurting herself and those around her by doing something that she knew was quite wrong.

He made a skeptical face. "You needed me to yell at you like that?"

"You brought me off a path I disliked traveling, but was going to bear the burden of. Your anger let me know that someone out there cares about what I do with my life and my life is my own. I cannot keep using excuses to do the wrong thing and lose all sense of self and self-respect at the same time. I need to start thinking about myself and those that care about me," she explained.

"Wow, I did all that?" Ron asked in an impressed tone.

"Yes, Ron-san, you and, well, a little bit of someone else," Yori replied with a shy smile.

"Well, me and someone else kick ass to get you screw up Drakken's machine like that. Man, you really had me going for a second, though. I mean, for a while I thought you were a complete and total bad guy," he said.

"I might as well have been. But, now, I am going to step into a little grey area and hope I am comfortable with it. It was nice to help you guys out and ruin that machine," Yori admitted with a smile. She was able to do the right thing in the long run and she helped save people.

"Well, that makes up for one thing, but what about all of the stealing?" Kim pointed out, hoping it would get Yori to step away from Ron now as they had been embracing long enough in her opinion. Shego agreed with that assessment.

"I have a contract. It is my honor to uphold my contract," Yori replied.

"It was also her honor to force me to carry that damn power cell back to where we got it," Shego grumbled with a frown, folding her arms across her chest. She was not sure what was more annoying, returning the power cell or locating it in all of that rubble from the destroyed lair. Ron and Kim thought that was an odd thing for her to say but chose to ignore it for the moment.

"So, you're going to keep stealing?" Ron asked curiously, focusing on the ninja.

"Well, yes and no. I am hoping to take things to Drakken and then return them later on when he is not watching. I need to uphold my contract or someone else will replace me and they may not take pieces from Drakken's evil machines," she explained. She wanted to stay where she was and for that to happen Yamanouchi needed to think she was doing her job.

"Well, Yori, since you're not a bad guy really and you're not on the clock, you can hang out with us, then," Ron suggested with a bright smile. He felt giddy knowing she was not evil.

"Um… I cannot actually…" Yori replied with a blush invading her cheeks.

"No? Why? You can't hang out with us off the clock?" he inquired. "Drakken won't care. Shego lived with KP and Drakken didn't care!"

Yori chuckled. "This is the second time I am hearing of this. I need might need the full story."

"It's not that interesting," Shego said, but there was a little bite in her voice that made it seem like it was that interesting.

"The point is, you can hang out with us. Drakken won't care. He'd probably hang out with us if he could," Ron said. Kim and Shego realized that was probably true. Of course, it would not stop him from trying to rule the world afterward.

"It is not that actually. I just have plans tonight. But, you can call me. I just got a cell phone," Yori said with girlish glee lighting up her face. She had never had her own cell phone, as in a line of her own to take private calls on. Shego had just taken her to get one yesterday.

"Um… Okay…" Ron answered in a confused tone. He could not figure out why she was so happy to have a cell phone. After all, as far as he knew, everyone had a cell phone.

Yori recited her number for him. He wrote her number down on his hand with a pen Rufus handed him from his pocket. Kim quickly programmed the digits into her Kimmunicator because she knew he was bound to forget it was there, wipe or wash it off by accident, and then lament over how he lost the number.

"So, how does this work?" Kim asked, referring to how Yori was going to be working for Drakken.

"It should work just like it did the other day, except we will all be aware of what is happening. We sort of put on a decent show, I guess," Yori answered.

"Sounds good. I'm glad you're still one of the good guys, Yori," Ron said, still smiling up a storm.

"It is nice to be something like one of the good guys," Yori replied. She supposed she had a long road ahead of her to get where she really wanted to be, but she was content with the start that she made.

"Hey, what're your plans for tonight, anyway?" Ron asked.

"Oh, Shego is taking me to the movies. Dinner and then the movies, I believe," Yori answered with a smile as she stepped back next to the pale woman, who put a possessive arm around the ninja's waist. "I have never actually been in a movie theater."

"To the movies? Like friends?" Ron inquired with a baffled look on his face because of where Shego's arm was situated.

"No, not like friends," Shego answered with a devilish smile. "You put those pieces together yourself. Yori's already handed you everything else, so you use your head this time."

"Farewell, friends. We will speak soon," Yori said.

Shego led Yori away to Shego's car. Yori turned her head to smile at her friends. She waved at them while they just stood there dumfounded, their mouths opened wide from shock and their eyebrows curled up from confusion.

"Do you think they're…?" Ron asked, trailing off because he could not even imagine Yori like that. After all, last time he checked, she liked him, so she liked guys, goodnatured guys.

"You know what, Ron, I think we've learned enough about Yori for one night. Let's just be happy she's still on our side," Kim replied with a smile.

Ron nodded, even though he was still shocked Yori appeared to be dating Shego. It actually was not an appearance. Yori was dating Shego.

It was new, of course, only a few days old. Something Shego suggested after they shared several kisses after making it to the backup lair after the explosion. So far, they were doing all right, helping each other in a way. Yori was finding her way in the world thanks to Shego and Shego was finding her compassion, understanding, and several other positive emotions had not withered away while being locked away for a long period of time.

They got to know each other much better while doing regular dates, like going to the movies, taking walks in the park, trips to museums, and trying out plenty of restaurants, until Drakken got another crazy idea. The inevitable happened, of course; Kim and Ron showed up to put a stop to Drakken's scheme.

"Um… Before we start, is this explosion going to be as big as that first one?" Ron asked Yori in a whisper as they pretended to face off. "I mean, I almost lost my eyebrows to that one."

"To be honest, I do not know. Shego refuses to help me pull parts out and she's the one who knows about machines way better than I do. She explains how the machine works and helps me read blueprints, but this is all still very new to me. Just be ready to run when he touches a button," Yori answered in a whisper of her own. She was on her own when it came to sabotage since the furthest Shego would go was to tell her what she should probably yank out after her explanations on how the machine worked.

Shego figured a degree of separation between her and the actual sabotage would spare her conscience when Drakken started whining about how close he was to winning. She also liked to tell herself that Drakken was never actually going to win anyway and it eased her little ninja's nerves to do something for the good of people, so she was fine with things.

"This is just wild," Ron said with a chuckle and then he went at Yori to make it look good.

-8-8-8-8-

The End.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. There's a sequel called Evil Takes a Vacation with more SheYo goodness. I'm returning to my padded cell. Come say hi to me over at Facebook (link on my profile). And check out my books (also a link on my profile).