I.

Ronald awoke to the sensation of his eyelids being pulled open and the sight of Hana filling his field of vision.

"Morning Ronald!" Hana announced happily as Rufus released his hold of Ronald's eyelids.

"Well, morning Hana, you too, Rufus." Ronald said as she slowly sat up in bed. The previous night, his mother had gently threatened Ronald that she would disown him if he didn't stay to get a good night's sleep in the families' guest bed room.

"I wanted to tell you good morning before I go to school." Hana said proudly.

Go to school? Ronald wondered just how late had he slept? "What time is it?"

"It's almost nine in the morning, which means you had better get a move on young lady." Barbara Stoppable said from the doorway, "Now finish telling your brother goodbye."

"Ok. Bye Ronald, love you." Hana said as she gave Ronald a big hug.
"Love you too, Hana." Ronald said as she returned the hug and added a small kiss to the top of her head. "Guess that leaves just me and Rufus here today then."

"Uh, uh." Rufus said, shaking his head no.

"What? Rufus, you don't want to spend time with me?" Ronald asked in mild surprise.

"Rufus is coming with me to show and tell today." Hana said proudly.

"Huh huh, show and tell." Rufus said as he scrambled into Hana's open backpack.

"Oh, well, ok then, you two have fun at school today." Ronald said as he masked his disappointment. He had hoped that he could at least spend a few hours with his old friend Rufus before leaving his parents' house to go see Bonnie and to return to his own home in Lowerton.

After Hana and Rufus left, Ronald made his way downstairs for breakfast. In the dining room, he found his mom finishing packing up Hana's lunch when she saw her son enter the room. "Good morning Ronald, how did you sleep last night?"

"Pretty good mom, or at least until Hana and Rufus came to wake me up."

"Well, don't be too cross with them, I told them they needed to wake you up before you slept the whole day away."

"And what's wrong with that?" Ronald asked in mock annoyance.

Barbara simply smiled as she closed the lid on Hana's lunch box, "I'm glad to see that some things about my boy haven't changed. Your father has already left for work, and I need to go to the grocery store after dropping Hana off at school so you'll have the house to yourself for most of the day. There's food in the fridge so help yourself to some breakfast." Barbara instructed as she herded Hana out the door. "Oh and Ronald, one last thing, I know that you're going to visit Bonnie at the hospital today, but I hope that you find time to try and talk to Kim and Ron also. I know you're not happy with them, but please, for your mother, at least try to patch things up with them. After all, they are family."

Making his way to the kitchen in order to make some breakfast, Ronald began to think about what his mother had said about Kim and Ron. Opening the refrigerator door Ronald simply stared blankly at the food inside, while normally Ronald would have loved nothing better than to put his cooking skills to the test by seeing what sort of meal he could come up with based on the random ingredients in some one else's kitchen, today he simply did not feel in the mood to cook. Making himself a cup of coffee instead, he tried to sort through his thoughts about his encounter with Kim and Ron from last night.

Yes, his mother was right about Kim and Ron being family, but that still didn't excuse Ron's actions. Trying to patch up his relationship with Kim and Ron had not been high on Ronald's to do list, and last night's tiff was a clear indication of just how hard of a project that was going to be. Besides which there was still a small part of his mind that was vocal in expressing its anger towards Kim and Ron and would be happy to never see or hear from them again. If Ronald was going to be to be honest with himself and others, then he had to admit that fact.

But as long as Ronald was being honest with himself then he also had to admit that as much as it broke his heart to lose Kim as a lover to his "clone brother", and although seeing Ron and Kim together no longer tore him up as much as it used, Ronald had to admit that he missed having Kim as a friend. At the thought of his former friendship with Kim, part of Ronald's brain began to recall Bonnie's story about her friend Molly. While Ronald didn't know all of the details about the girl, or what had happened to her or why she and Bonnie were no longer friends, it was easy to tell from the look on Bonnie's face that the former cheerleader greatly missed her former friend. Ronald knew because it was an expression he sometimes wore when he used to think about Kim.

Finishing his cup of Joe, Ronald decided that while it had perked him up, it still hadn't helped him to clear his mind enough to sort through his feelings about Ron and Kim. After a moment or two of contemplation, Ronald decided that he would follow his mother's advice and would at least try to improve his relationship with both Kim and Ron. However, after Ron threw his efforts back in his face last night, Ronald felt that he was justified in letting Kim and or Ron extend the next olive branch. With that decision made Ronald felt that he could now focus on the task he was actually looking forward to. He would go and visit Bonnie at the hospital.

II.

Locking the door to his parent's house behind him, Ronald began the mile long walk to the nearest bus stop. Taking a deep breath, Ronald could feel the first traces of fall in the air as cool air filled his lungs. Slowly letting out his deep breath, Ronald had to admit that dinner with his folks, along with their talk and a good night's sleep, had done much to restore his body and mind. But these things, along with the coffee, the shower, and now the cool fresh air of Middleton had not done nearly as much to help restore his soul, for a bit of it still ached at the loss of his best friend and former love, and worried about his current love.

The events from his encounter with Ron from the previous night still weighed heavily on his mind. Ronald was also still mad and slightly hurt at Ron for the way he had reacted towards Ronald's attempts at being civil last night. The more Ronald thought about things between him and Ron, the less sure he was that he could, or even should, ever reconcile with the man. But despite these thoughts, one counterargument kept appearing in his head, telling him that anyone could change even though if it took time and effort. After all, look at Bonnie. The thought of how hard Bonnie was struggling to be a better person and to let go of the past made Ronald feel slightly ashamed that he wasn't able to do that same.

Ronald was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice the red sedan that had been following him for several blocks until the driver of said car honked her horn. Looking up at the sound, Ronald was surprised to see Kim Stoppable looking right back at him from the window of her car.

"Hey there, stranger, can I give a ride somewhere?" Kim asked.

"Wouldn't your husband have something to say about that?" Ronald asked snidely.

"Ron isn't here. It's just me. Ronald, I want to talk to you and to apologize," Then almost as an after thought she added, "for last night."

"Not your fault, KP. If anyone needs to apologize, it needs to be Ron, not you."

"You're right, Ronald. Ron does need to apologize to you. But I want to apologize as well."

"Ok then apologize."

Kim let out a small sigh. Apparently, Ronald was not only upset with Ron but sadly with her as well. "I apologize for my husband's actions last night. He was rude and out of line." Then pausing to take a breath, Kim continued, "And I was out of line too for not standing up for you more last night."

Ronald just stared at Kim as though he wasn't entirely convinced of her sincerity.

"Ronald, please, let me make it up to you. I know you tired hard to be civil last night toward Ron," Kim stopped as she left unsaid the results of Ronald's attempts.

"Is that all you're going to apologize for?"

"Ronald, that's in the past." Kim said sternly. "I won't apologize for that, and if you keep bringing that up, then I won't apologize at all." As much as she wanted to make up with Ronald, she didn't want him to keep bringing up the topic of her choosing Ron over him.

Ronald took a deep breath and stood there for a moment as he thought over what Kim had said, that maybe she was right and he did need to stop bringing up the past since that wasn't going to change the fact that he and Kim simply were not destined to be together as lovers. Letting go of the past meant embracing the future, hopefully a future with Bonnie in his life, and possibly even Kim as his friend. Ronald then thought back to that rainy night he and Bonnie had their blow out and she had walked out on him, their reunion in the rain that night, and their they're promise to each other to make their friendship work, no matter how hard it was. If he and Bonnie, with all of their personal baggage between them, could do that, then surely he could do the same thing with Kim. A smile began to cross Ronald's face as this little euphony crossed his mind.

"Ok, Kim, I'll accept your apology, but you have to give a little too, because there is only one way that I know you are sincere in making things up to me."

"Anything, Ronald, you name it."

"Buy me a Naco."

Kim stared at the blond haired man as though he had an extra appendage protruding from his head, then wordless, although her action spoke volumes, she opened the car's passenger side door.

III.

The ride to Bueno Nacho had been mostly quite despite a few aborted attempts at making small talk by both Kim and Ronald. With both of them tip toeing around the major sticking points in their lives, there just wasn't much for them to talk about. None the less Ronald took it as a good sign that Kim had come to apologize to him, and that would make trying to fix their relationship easier. The trouble was he just didn't know how to articulate these thoughts without falling back into the same old recriminations of how she had broken his heart.

Kim, on the other hand, although she had to hunt Ronald, was down in order to try to apologize to him. She took it as a good sign that he was at least willing to accept her apology. Even if his acceptance did have strings in the shape of a Naco attached to it. She was also guardedly hopeful that maybe she would finally be able to tell Ronald how much her decision to choose between Ron and Ronald had hurt her as well. Fortunately for both of them, the trip was short, and by the time they pulled into the restaurants parking lot, they saw that the early lunch crowd had not yet arrived. As Kim killed the engine, she shot a quizzical look at Ronald.

"Of all the things in the world you could have asked for, you wanted me to buy you a Naco?" Kim asked incredibly.

"Well, you did say you would do anything to make it up to me. Besides, I haven't had breakfast yet." Ronald answered with a goofy smile.

Kim, happy to see that Ronald had started wearing a smile again, submitted to the man's argument, "Fine, a breakfast of Nacos it is then." Kim said in a playful teasing way as they entered the restaurant.

"Ola Stoppables." Seemingly assistant manager for life Ned greeted the pair as they came in.

"Umm, yeah, I guess that's a correct statement." Kim answered to a confused looking Ned as she approached the counter to place their orders.

"So what brings you two here this morning? It is a bit early for Nacos, even for you, Ron." Ned inquired.

"I haven't had sustenance yet this morning, and this fine young lady said that she would purchase me my much needed sustenance."

Ned looked at Ronald as though he was growing something from his forehead.

"I said I would buy him a Naco for breakfast." Kim informed.

"Besides which a Naco always tastes better when someone else pays for it." Ronald said triumphantly.

"Which I want to talk to you about." Kim said as she gently punched Ronald in the arm.

"Oh right, well in that case, then I'll bring your order out to you when it's ready." Ned said.

Watching as Ned headed to the back to begin making two Nacos, Ronald and Kim made their way into the dining area. Taking a booth, but not "their" old booth, the two young adults sat down to await their meal.

"So now that I have bought you a Naco yet, does this make up for last night?" Kim asked.

"I'll let you know once I have tasted my Naco." Ronald said with a grin before continuing, "Of course, I forgive you for last night, Kim. Ron, I'm not so sure about it, though."

Kim let out a small sigh of relief that Ronald did not fail to pick up on.

"Kim, were you actually worried that I was angry with you about last night?"

"No, yes, I don't know. I mean, I was sort of worried about last night, but that wasn't the only thing I'm worried about." Looking up at Ronald's brown eyes, Kim finally decided to tell him what was on her mind. "Look, Ronald, I don't think it was a Freudian slip when you said you forgave me for last night. You meant what you said just last night, but not the other things from the past." Kim then paused for a second as she collected her thoughts, "I've tried to reach out to you on several different occasions, but you never answer my calls, you never respond to e-mails, you won't give me your address in Lowerton, and your visit to my folk's house last night was the first time you've been there since my wedding. I was starting to wonder if maybe you really do hate me, or worse, you never wanted to see either me or your brother again."

Watching Ronald for several minutes as he made no move to disagree with her assessment, Kim began to feel a growing sense of dread within her gut. "I guess I was more right than I thought. You do hate me."

Ronald thought about what Anne had told him the previous night during their car ride to the Possible's home and realized that she wasn't just being a concerned mother but that Kim really was feeling as though Ronald really was angry with her and ignoring her. Ronald also realized that a small part of him had, in fact, still been angry with Kim and maybe even a bit jealous. Once again, Ronald thought about Bonnie and how she was striving to be a better person despite the setbacks she suffered along the way. If Bonnie could keep trying to be better, then so could Ronald.

"Do you?" Kim asked in a small voice after Ronald's lack of an answer.

"Truthfully? For a while there, yes, I did hate you. I hated the fact that you broke my heart the way you did by choosing Ron over me and that I was betrayed by my best friend."

"I'm sorry, Ronald, but it wasn't like it was an easy decision for me either." Kim said as she stopped her self from grabbed on to Ronald's hand out of habit, "There were two identical men in my life that cared about and I knew that I was going to break one of their hearts no matter what I did. What would you do if there happened to be a clone of me and you had to choose between the two of us?"

"I know, and I guess I can't blame you for your choice either. It had to be a hell of a choice to make knowing that no matter what, someone was going to end up being hurt. I think what hurt me the most, though, was feeling as though I had lost out to that imposter."

"Ronald, we've been over this before, Ron is the original, and you are the clone. But that doesn't matter to anyone but you."

Ronald sighed at Kim's answer. Even though he had absolutely no empirical proof that he was the original and Ron was the clone, that was what his gut feeling kept telling him. "I guess you're right, Kim. I probably should let that go." Then a after a second Ronald added, "But as for what I would do if there had been a clone of you, I just would have suggested that we all move to Utah and convert to Mormonism, then we all could have gotten married."

Kim had to stifle a laugh at Ronald's comment, "But Ronald, that would be bigamy."

"Thank you, that's big of me too." Ronald said while waggling his eyebrows and shaking an imaginary cigar in his hand.

After a moment of laughter, Kim finally collected herself enough to continue her conversation, "Ronald. I know my decision hurt you. It probably hurt you more than I can ever know. But I want you to know that it was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life, and to an extent, it hurt me too. Even after I made it, I was still wracked with doubt if I had done the right thing. I spent a lot of nights lying in my bed wondering if I had done the right thing, if there was some way I could have done things without breaking your heart in the process." Kim then paused to take a breath before continuing, "At first I didn't know if I would be able to face you again, so I ignored you for a while, hoping that you would eventually be able to forgive me. But after several months, and after sending you several unanswered messages, I could see that you weren't going to forgive me that easily. At first I thought it might be better if I just left you out of my life, but my mom insisted that I try to be friends with you, if not for my sake then at least for your brother's sake." Kim then began to smile again. "I know my mom is smart, but she can be pushy at times, too."

"That she can." Ronald acknowledged. "But that's probably a good thing. If she hadn't insisted that I let her give me a ride last night, then we probably wouldn't be talking now."

"Ola again, Stoppables, here I bring you our finest creation for the fine couple." Ned said with a false flourish as he placed two Naco's in front of his friends.

"Um about that Ned…" Kim began.

"Nah, let him have his fun." Ronald interrupted.

Ned could simply look back and forth between the two in confusion for a moment before he figured out what was going on, "Oh, I get you're talking about top secret stuff. I bet it's top secret stuff. Yeah, top secret stuff. I figured it out, I'm such a genius, ha haha ha ha ha ha ha…".

"Ned, you're being annoying. Please go away so Kim and I can talk." Ronald said flatly.

A slightly surprised and rebuffed Ned quickly left the two to their meal while mutter under his breath about people complaining about him acting rudely and insensitively.

"Ronald, stop picking on poor Ned. That was not only rude, but you're going to have him confused for the rest of the day." Kim chuckled. She was finding it surprising how well they were getting along and how at easy going and happy Ronald seemed to be. There is nothing like the sullen man she knew from a year ago.

"You think he's confused now? Wait till I tell him I have a girlfriend."

Kim couldn't help but laugh out loud at the image before she regained her composure. "Speaking of girlfriends, I was certainly surprised when you mentioned that little bit of information last night. Is she the reason that you're back in Middleton?"

"Yes."

"I see." Kim said neutrally. "I had hoped that you had come back to Middleton to try to fix things between you and Ron, or hopefully me. Guess that was just wishful thinking."

"No offense, Kim, but you and Ron were the last thing on my mind when I came back to Middleton. I needed to get B…, er my girlfriend somewhere she could get medical help, and the first thing I thought of was Middleton and your mom. I hindsight any doctor or hospital would have been fine, but I was sort of in a panic, so I went with what I felt comfortable with."

"I can understand that, Ronald. She must really mean a lot to you, and since you're taking the time to have a Naco with me, that must mean that she's ok then."

"When I left last night, she was doing ok. But I do want to go back and check on her again. She isn't close with her family and could really use some company."

"Is she the reason that you're so happy today, because you were on your way to see her?"

Ronald began to smile as he thought about his significant other, "Mostly."

"Mostly?" Kim asked, confused.

"Kim, it wasn't my intention to get together, yet alone try to fix my relationship with you and Ron. But that just sort of got dropped in my lap yesterday," Ronald paused for a few seconds as if reconsidering his words. "Well, maybe not so much dropped as pushed. Your mom did a good job convincing me that I should try to least be civil towards you and Ron."

Kim giggled as she answered, "Yep, that's my mom. She knows how to be pushy when she wants to be."

"Maybe it's better that I don't have her as a mother in law then."

This comment elicited a round of laughter from both Kim and Ronald. Getting his laughter under control, Ronald began to dig into this Naco but after a few bites, he noticed that Kim wasn't eating her's but was instead staring at him.

"What is it, Kim? Do I have something on my face?" Ronald asked as he used a napkin to try and wipe away any offending food.

"No, Ronald, you don't have any food on your face. But…"

"But what?" Ronald asked as Kim's silence dragged on.

"It's just that. Well, to be honest, Ronald, other than when we talk about your brother Ron, you seem happier than I've seen you in a long time. Your girlfriend must be a good influence on you. Does she have a name?"

"Yes, she does."

"Well, I know it starts with a B since you almost mentioned her name earlier."

"Yes, it does start with a B. But I would rather not mention her name right now."

"How come? Afraid I'll get jealous?"

"No, it's not that."

"Well, whatever her name is, I can tell you like her a lot. Every time you talk about her, your face lights up

She's a really good person, Kim. In fact, she's the reason I'm no longer mad at you."

"Wow, she must be something then."

"Yeah, I think I will keep her around." Ronald said before a frown replaced the smile on his face, "If she still wants me around, that is."

This caught Kim by surprise, and she asked what Ronald meant by that.

"Kim, we both know about Ron and me. One of us is the original, and the other is a clone. I know everyone tells me that Ron is the original and that I'm just the clone and that I still contend that I'm the original and that Ron is the clone. But the problem is that my girlfriend doesn't know that I'm, well, that I'm Ronald and not Ron." Seeing the look of confusion on Kim's face, Ronald explained, "When we first meet, she called me Ron because that's who she thought was who I was, not Ronald but Ron."

"It never occurred to me that could be a problem for you, Ronald, having people think you're someone else." Kim acknowledged, "Do you want me to help explain things to her? I would like to meet her someday. Maybe I can visit her at the hospital with you? You did say that she could use some company."

"No." Ronald said quickly. "I mean, it's probably better if I explain things to her myself. You see, when she called me Ron, I asked her to call me Ronald, and she knows that we aren't together, but I never explained why. So I guess I sort of kept a secret from her." Ronald then looked down at this Naco without bothering to take another bite, "But if she likes me for me, then that shouldn't change things, right?"

Kim noticed the almost pleading tone in Ronald's voice as he asked the question. Whoever this girl was, she meant a lot to Ronald. And if she meant a lot to Ronald, then that meant a lot to Kim, and she would do what ever she could to help Ronald with his relationship, "Your right Ronald, it shouldn't change things. You're a great guy, and any girl should be proud to have you as a boyfriend."

The acknowledgment of the slight grimace that crossed Ronald's face at those words was left unspoken by the two.

"Thanks Kim, coming from you, that means a lot to me."

"No big, that's what friends are for." Kim said with a smile, "That is if you want to be friends?"

"That's actually something I've been thinking about recently. I won't deny that it hurt losing you as a girlfriend, but it also hurt losing you as a friend. Kim, I know that things will be a bit akweird between us, but I would like to try to be your friend again."

"And I yours." Kim said as this time she took Ronald's hands in hers.

"Thanks, KP, err. I guess I can't call you that anymore, can I?"

"No one does not even Ron. But I'll tell you what, I'll make an exception for you."

Ronald grinned ear to ear. "Thanks KP, my world's a little more right than it has been for a long time."