Kigo

Humanities and Sciences by StarvingLunatic 9

9: Women's studies 211 — How to be Equal and Balanced

Kim took a deep breath and leaned against the cane that she had to use when walking more than three feet as far as her lovers were concerned. She stood at the top of the stairs that led to her classroom in the building. Behind her stood her girlfriends. Bonnie held her free hand and Shego had a hand on her shoulder. Shego gave a little squeeze.

"It'll be fine. They miss you," Shego tried to assure her.

"It's been so long and kids have short memories," Kim replied in a small voice with some trepidation in her eyes.

"Only sometimes. Other times, kids have memories like elephants and remember better than adults," Shego stated.

"Way better," Bonnie chimed in with a nod. The conviction in her voice caused her lovers to look at her. She shrugged. "To this day, I remember my first grade teacher because she hugged me on really bad days. I mean, I could spot her in a crowd right now because she made me feel a little less worthless," she explained. She knew the story would come back up one day because her girlfriends would want to make sure she was all right, but she hoped it did what it was intended to do now.

Kim nodded and took another deep breath. "Okay, I can do this. I can do anything." She continued to believe that despite her injuries. No matter what, she would always be Kim Possible.

"Yes, you can," Bonnie promised her and gave her hand a squeeze.

The redhead smiled and her girlfriends released her. She took the last few steps on her own, crossing the threshold to reclaim her kingdom from the twin regents who had watched over it in her long absence. The Wego twins grinned as soon as she entered.

"Hey, guys, look who's here!" both twins shouted, motioning to the doorway with both hands.

About half of the children screamed and charged. While Kim knew she should not, she let the kids all hug her. Bolts of pain coursed through her still healing body, but the most she did was whimper slightly. She caressed those closest to her, running her fingers through their hair. They all giggled and gushed over the affection.

"You gonna be our teacher again, Kimmie?" one little boy asked, his eyes shining with hope.

Kim grinned. "I'm going to ease myself into the role. I'm not totally healthy yet." She tapped her cane to help make her point.

"But, you'll stay, right?" another child implored.

"I plan on staying the whole day, every day," she promised. She was feeling better by the day, probably normal for most people, but definitely not up to her usual standards. She would be soon, though.

For now, she wanted her students to re-familiarize themselves with her and she would do the same with them. She also needed to learn more about the new students. She did not want to rock the boat for them, especially since the twins were the only teachers they had known so far. So, she would observe for now. Eventually, she would give verbal instructions and the Wego twins would do demonstrations until she could handle that herself. With luck, the class would transition seamlessly from them back to her and they would be able to get back to their wacky lives without almost two-dozen kids demanding to know where they were.

"It's good that you're back," Wes said to her in between classes.

"Yeah, they've been dying for you to come back," Wen added.

Kim smiled. "They're not the only ones."

"Yeah, we're happy you're getting better, too. For a while, we were scared for you," Wen admitted.