The night was peaceful. The sounds of the day had given way to the more peaceful ones of night time and the activity that was present when the sun shined was extinguished by the glow of the moon light. Darkness engulfed the whole town, and the only lights come from the many homes and the boarding school in the center. Inside the boarding school, known as Kadic Academy, all slept soundly...that is all but one.

Jeremie Belpois sat in front of his computer screen, eyes focused on the jumble of numbers and letters that littered the monitor. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he typed in command after command.

The sound of his door opening caused him to cease. Slowly, he turned only to see a pink haired girl standing in his doorway.

"Jeremie? Why aren't you asleep?" she asked, stepping into the doorway. Closing the door behind her she walked up to him and glanced at what was on the monitor.

"I couldn't sleep, Aelita." he replied, turning back to his work.

"You're not still working on finding the antivirus are you?" Aelita asked, a knowing look in her eyes.

"I'm making some progress. I want to get the virus out of you, so that you'll be free from XANA forever."

A smile crossed Aelita's face. "Jeremie, I know how much you want that to happen, but you won't be able to function if you don't get some sleep."

"I know. But every time I try to fall asleep, thoughts keep racing through my mind. I can't sleep well anyway."

"Well, I'm going back to my room before Jim catches me. Promise me you won't stay up all night?"

"I promise."

"Good night Jeremie."

"Good night Aelita."

He watched as Aelita walked through his bedroom door, quietly closing it behind her. He sighed. She was beautiful to him in every way imaginable. He loved her...even if she wasn't quite human. At least, not yet. As soon as he could find the antivirus and free her from the demonic artificial intelligence that bound her, she would be just about as human as she could ever be. He fantasized for that day for come . . . he prayed for it every morning when he got up and every night before he fell asleep.

A large yawn escaped past his lips. He moved his glasses to wipe his eyes; he was tired. Slowly he closed out of his research, being sure to save it all before shutting down his computer. Pushing back his chair, he put his glasses down on the desk before climbing into bed. He glanced at his clock before closing his eyelids: 3:18. He had pulled another all-nighter; no doubt he was going to be tired for the next day's classes.

It doesn't matter, Jeremie thought to himself moments before he fell asleep. The more time I spend on it, the faster I will find the antivirus. Then we'll never have to worry about XANA ever again...
*~*~*

The sound of her alarm clock woke Yumi Ishiyama out of a dead sleep. With a groan, the Japanese girl reached up and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. Why did the morning have to come so soon? She pushed the blankets off herself as she turned the alarm off least she would have to hear it's annoying beeping again.

Slowly, she stumbled into the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. She looked beat. Splashing some cold water on her face, Yumi tried to wipe the sleepiness from her eyes. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful. In the past few nights she had gotten a total of about 6 hours sleep - maybe. Time flew whenever she was in Lyoko and often times when she, Jeremie, Aelita, Odd Della Robbia, and Ulrich Stern finally defeated XANA, it was already into the wee hours of the morning.
She sighed as she dried the water off her face and grabbed her outfit she'd be wearing that day. In no time she was dressed and walking down to the kitchen where her parents and her little brother were already sitting at the table, eating their breakfast.

"Morning mom and dad." she greeted as she grabbed a bowl for herself.

"Yumi. You look exhausted!" her mother pointed out. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Yes mom." she lied . . . something she hated to do. Then again, she couldn't tell her parents that she had spent most of the night in a virtual world fighting a crazy artificial intelligence with one virtual girl who recently had been virtualized and three boys either.

Yumi quickly finished her breakfast and kissed each parent. "Goodbye! I'll see you after school."

"Good bye Yumi!" her mother called after her as the girl ran out of the front door, book bag slung over her shoulder. She was eager to get to school, not because she found the work great, but rather to see her friends.

She ran down through the streets for a few blocks until she came to the gates of the school, not winded in the least. The school and her home were not too far away from each other and all the running she did constantly when XANA launched an attack had kept her in top physical condition.

Yumi's paced slowed as she passed through the gates. As she walked inside, her eyes scanned the groups of students milling about. As her gazed traveled toward a bench in the center of the grounds, she spotted the others standing around talking with one another.

Ulrich Stern was the first to notice her. "Hey Yumi!" he greeted as she walked toward them.

"Hey guys." she greeted back, taking a seat on the bench next to Jeremie. She slung her book bag off her shoulder and set it down in front of her. Casting a sideways glance at Jeremie she saw a huge yawn escape past his lips.

"Up too late again?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm making too much progress on the anti virus to waste extra time sleeping." Jeremie responded with a nonchalanced wave of his hand.

A small smile stole away on Aelita's face. "But Jeremie, you do need to sleep. You know, if a human does not get enough sleep they could suffer from serious health problems."

"I guess that means that Odd's in the best health of any of us!" Ulrich joked, casting a glance at his friend.

Odd Della Robbia flashed a goofy grin in response to the comment. "Just another perk of sleeping in class."

A similar yawn escaped past Yumi's lips.

"I guess I wasn't the only one who was up late last night." Jeremie retorted.

"Between all these XANA attacks and the extra homework lately it's a wonder I got any sleep at all!" Yumi replied, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Like I said before," Odd started. "Sleeping in class has its advantages."

"Thanks Odd, but no thanks." Ulrich replied as he ruffled Odd's blonde hair. "I'm struggling enough as it is. I need to pay attention. Otherwise -"

"Oh Ulrich!" a female voice rang out in a sing song manner.

"Oh no." Ulrich muttered to himself. Slowly he turned to see Elizabeth "Sissi" Delmas approaching him.

"Ulrich, sweetie," she started. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Somehow I have the feeling I have no say in the matter." Ulrich retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

A small scowl appeared on Sissi's face, but only momentarily. "Guess what -"

"Time's up!" Odd shouted suddenly.

Sissi turned and glared at him. "Oh shut up you!"

"What?" Odd asked innocently. "You only asked for a second!"

"Humph!" Sissi snorted before turning back to Ulrich. "Ulrich, dear, you know that the Subsonics are doing a concert in town this weekend, right?"

A surprised looked crossed Ulrich's face. "Oh, really?" he asked.

Sissi smiled and nodded her head, glad to have gotten his attention. "Uh huh. And guess who has two front row tickets?" she asked as she waved two tickets around for everyone to see.

"You?" Ulrich asked, surprised.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go with me." she asked.

"Uh..." Ulrich said, glancing at Yumi. He would have loved to go, just not with Sissi!

"Come on Ulrich. I know they're your favorite group. No one else you know could possibly get you these kinds of tickets!" Sissi boasted, casting a sideways glance at Yumi, a small sneer on her face.

"Uh...you know...I have to see…what I have going on."

Sissi smiled as if she had won an enormous victory. "Alright. I’ll see you tonight then."

"Huh? What?" He hadn’t made any promises to her.

Casting another glance at Yumi, Sissi sneered at her in triumph, then turned and walked away. Nicholas and an extremely angry Herb followed.

"Ugh." Ulrich replied, leaning against the bench. "Why can’t she get it through her thick skull that I don’t like her?"

He glanced over at Yumi only to see that her arms were folded over her chest and an unhappy scowl lined her face. "What?" Ulrich asked.

"You never told her no." Yumi pointed out, anger and jealousy flashing through her eyes. She got to her feet and grabbed her bag. "Sounded like you really wanted to go."

"Well the Subsonics is his favorite group, Yumi." Jeremie added. "And let's face it, you know he would love those kinds of seats."

"So?" Yumi replied, getting to her feet. "If you don't like Sissi - like you claim you don't - it shouldn't have been all that difficult to tell her no."

"Yumi, what has gotten into you?" Ulrich replied, raising his hands in surrender.

"I'm sick of it." Yumi said. "Do you like Sissi or not?"

"What about you and William?" Ulrich retorted, trying to regain some credibility. He did not liking to have to defend himself to her.

"Oh boy. Here comes World War III." Odd complained.

Aelita squirmed around in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. She hated to hear any of her friends fight - especially with each other. She glanced at the two squabbling friends, then one at Jeremie who only shook his head.

"I'm sick of wondering about that!" Ulrich retorted.

"Why, jealous or something?" Yumi responded, grabbing her book bag up off the ground.

"Me? Jealous of William. You've got to be kidding!"

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted the argument.

"Uh, hate to cut it short, but we've got to get to class." Odd reminded them.

With fire in her eyes, Yumi turned and stormed off in the opposite direction as the rest of them without saying a word.

As the others turned and walked the other way, a sigh came past Aelita's lips. Jeremie could tell she was upset and, without a word, grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about it Aelita." Jeremie reassured her. "They can't stay mad at each other for too long."

"Ulrich, why do you and Yumi fight constantly?" Odd asked. "I mean, we all know you two like each other, so why do you guys try to deny it?"

"It's none of your business Odd." Ulrich snapped before walking ahead of the rest of them.

"Wow when he sulks, he does a darn good job of it." Odd commented in a low voice. No comment was made as the four continued to walk to their first class of the day.

*~*~*

Yumi sat in her chemistry class as the teacher lectured, not paying attention. Why is it always the same thing with Ulrich? Why did we have to fight constantly? Do I like him or don't I?

The thoughts swirled around in her head. She stole a glance at William Dunbar while he was paying attention to the teacher. Or do I like William and that's why Ulrich and I constantly fight? She was so confused about everything. She hated fighting with Ulrich - she didn't know why she had snapped at him in the first place. She knew he didn't like Sissi...if she didn't see that then she was blind, but every time she saw Sissi talking with Ulrich, a large knot grew in the pit of her stomach.

"Miss Ishiyama?" the teacher's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?" Yumi asked, snapping to attention.

"Have you been paying attention to a word I have said?"

"Uh...well...I uh..."

At the best possible time it could, the bell sounded. Quickly she grabbed her books and began to walk out of the room. Just as she made it out of the doorway, a hand on her shoulder stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned only to see William standing there.

"Yumi. Can we talk?" he asked, pulling her aside.

"Uh, you know..." Yumi started, but was interrupted by William.

"Listen Yumi. I have to know something." he said. "Its about you and Ulrich."

Yumi sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable. "William, please, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"You like him, don't you?" he asked, his eyes looking directly into hers.

Yumi avoided looking back into his eyes. "I really don't want -"

"Because I really need to know." William interrupted, not letting her finish her sentence.

She turned her eyes and looked into his. "William...I...I..."

"What?" he asked.

"I just don't know." she replied. "I'm...confused. I just don't know what to think right now."

Without waiting for him to reply, she quickly scooted past him, relieved to get away from the uncomfortable conversation. Walking completely away from the classroom she spotted the others, but stopped walking when she noticed Ulrich standing there. Slowly she began walking again and toward the small group.

"Hi Yumi!" Aelita greeted her. Yumi made no reply, her eyes fixated on Ulrich who avoided her gaze.

"Well, nice to see we’re getting along still." Odd commented under his breath so only Jeremie and Aelita could hear.

"So, how was class today, Yumi?" Jeremie asked the angry girl trying to evoke some response from her. She merely shrugged.

Jeremie let out a slow whistle. "Wow can those two sulk."

"Come on," Odd replied. "Let’s leave them to sulk together."

With that said, the three of them began to walk away leaving Ulrich and Yumi standing there, facing away from each other, clearly not willing to talk. With an angry sigh, Yumi shifted her weight from one foot to the other, waiting for Ulrich to walk over to the rest of the group. However, he did not move. She slightly turned her head to glance at him only to meet his own eyes. With an angry huff, she turned away but not before she noticed something lurking underneath the anger in his eyes. She thought for a moment but before she could draw up a conclusion as to what it was, William made his way toward her.

Oh no. Not now! Yumi thought to herself as she watched him approach.

"Yumi." he said as he walked to her. "You never answered my question."

At the sound of his voice, Yumi saw Ulrich turn toward them.

"What question?" he asked, folding his arms.

"Nothing." Yumi snapped at him.

"Yumi, the only reason I asked…" he stopped and glanced at Ulrich for a moment before continuing. "…is because I want to tell you something."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Yumi rubbed her arm in nervous agitation, having a good idea of what he was going to say.

"Yumi, I’ve liked you ever since I met you." William began. "I’ve been waiting for a certain person to make his move to ask you what I’m about to ask you, but he hasn’t. So now I’m going to ask."

"William…" Yumi said, trying to stop him. He, however, ignored her.

"Yumi…would you like to go out with me?"

Even though she knew they were coming, those words hit her like a ton of bricks. She stuttered for a moment, not knowing how to even begin a response to that question. Deep down, whether she knew it or not, she had been waiting to hear those words from Ulrich…or maybe she had been waiting to hear them from William.

She turned to Ulrich to see him scowling at the two of them. Memories flooded back into her mind.

Yumi shook her head as the last of the memories faded from her immediate thoughts. Ulrich had made her so angry before…especially earlier in the day with that stunt with Sissi. Perhaps this was for the best…

*~*~*~*~*

Ulrich glared at William and at Yumi, waiting to hear her answer. Despite the angry exterior he was showing, he was dying inside. William had warned him that if he didn’t talk to Yumi he would. Now, months later, Ulrich’s fear was coming true. Unconsciously he prayed that Yumi’s answer would be a "no", but he knew that she was angry with him. And when she was angry, she tried to get back at him.

Then again, she’d only do that by being extremely nice to William…not by going out with him! He thought back to how he acted when he became good friends with Emily. In order to get back at Yumi, he himself confirmed what he wasn’t sure of himself at the time…of whether or not he was going out with Emily.

He hoped she wasn’t thinking about that.

Ulrich watched as many different expressions passed across Yumi’s face as if she were trying them on. She glanced up at him. For a brief moment, Ulrich was sure she would tell him no, but when her face twisted into a scowl Ulrich realized that he was stilling wearing the same expression on his face.

"Yes, William. I would."

The words pierced him like a thousand laser arrows. He did not hear or see what happened afterward. He glance at Yumi one last time before turning and running off. He did not want her to see how much she had hurt him…nor the tears that began to stream down his face.

*~*~*~*~*

"He's been sulking up in our dorm for two days now. He's really down in the dumps...I don't know how to snap him out of it. I've tried everything!" 

"I wonder why."

"I don’t know, but he hasn’t said a word…not even to yell at me!"

Jeremie turned up from his laptop and glanced at Odd then at Aelita. "I’ve noticed that Yumi hasn’t said much lately either." he added.

"Come to think of it," Aelita replied. "I haven’t seen much of Yumi period."

"Oh come now," Sissi’s voice was heard. "Don’t tell me you don’t know."

All eyes turned to her. "Know what?" Aelita asked.

A twinkle appeared in her eyes. No good could come of that. "Yumi’s dating William."

"What?!" the three of them exclaimed simultaneously.

A chuckle escaped past Sissi’s lips. "Uh huh." her face then contoured with one of anger. "And because of her, poor Ulrich is depressed."

Odd walked up to her, a stern look on his face. "Why should we believe you?"

Sissi shrugged. "See for yourself."

The girl motioned the three of them to look toward the vending machines. They all gasped as they saw William and Yumi standing there…hand in hand.

"What?"

"I can’t believe it."

"No wonder Ulrich’s sulking."

The three sentences overlapped each other as Sissi folded her arms over her chest. "What did I tell you?"

Odd turned and saw that Sissi was clearly enjoying seeing Yumi with William…and he knew why.

"Sissi…leave Ulrich alone." he warned. "He doesn’t need an airhead like you bothering him right now."

"Is that a threat?" Sissi asked, clearly not deterred by Odd’s statement. Before waiting for an answer, she turned and walked off.

They gave another quick glance at Yumi before scooting away from the area. While the three of them stood by their usual bench, Jeremie let out a slow whistle. "Now we know where Yumi’s been."

"And why Ulrich has been so miserable the past couple of days." Odd added.

"Do you think that Yumi dating William has something to do with that argument that she and Ulrich had a few days ago?" Aelita asked.

"It has to be." Jeremie replied. "That was when they both began to act so strangely."

Odd sighed. "Why don’t they just admit they like each other and stop this stupid fighting?"

Jeremie and Aelita could only shake their heads. "I wish I knew."

*~*~*

"You okay Yumi?"

Yumi glanced up to see William looking at her. Worried lines creased his forehead as he scanned her face.

Yumi flashed a half-hearted smile at him. "Yeah…sure…"

"You don’t seem alright." he pointed out. "Something bothering you?"

"No." Yumi replied. "No. I was just thinking."

William grabbed her hand, trying to reassure her. "Can I ask what about?"

"You can ask…" Yumi replied. "But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to answer."

William smiled back at her. "Fair enough." He put a coin into the vending machine and pressed the "hot chocolate" button. While it was dispensing, Yumi glanced around the school grounds. As she was looking around, she thought she saw Ulrich off by himself. She sighed…even though she was still angry with him, she couldn’t help but miss him. She had not seen him in two days.

"You okay?" William asked as he heard her sigh.

Quickly, Yumi turned back to William and nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" he asked, concerned. "You haven’t been acting like yourself lately. Does this have something to do with Ulrich?"

"No!" Yumi replied quickly. Too quickly. She calmed a bit and smiled at him again. "No, I’m fine. I’m just tired that’s all. Teachers are piling on homework again."

"Ugh, yes." William replied, grabbing the hot chocolate. After taking a sip of the extremely hot liquid, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Yumi couldn’t help but laugh. "What’s the matter?"

"Yuck!" William spat out as he dumped the liquid into a nearby trash container. "That has got to be the worst hot chocolate yet!"

"That’s why I hardly buy anything from this vending machine." Yumi responded. She felt William’s hand grab her own and she couldn’t help but blush. Tilting her head forward, she let her black hair hang into her face so that he couldn’t see as the two of them walked away. Neither noticed that the electric plug the vending machine was plugged into began to short out.

*~*~*~*

Ulrich sat back on one of the many benches that littered the school yard. He looked down toward his feet as if studying them but in all reality, he was off in a totally different place all together. Why was Yumi doing this to him? Couldn’t she tell how much she was tearing him up inside? It was obvious…she didn’t like him.

The sound of footsteps approaching interrupted his reveries. Glancing up, he mentally groaned as he saw Sissi approaching. Great…if I didn’t have enough problems…

"Oh Ulrich…" she started sympathetically.

"What do you want?" he snapped angrily. He was not in the mood.

Sissi appeared to be taken back by his harshness, but only momentarily. Regaining her composure, she slowly walked toward Ulrich and sat down next to him. Without turning his head, Ulrich glanced at the girl. She was unusually quiet; this unnerved him.

For a moment she said nothing, but then she turned her head slightly so that she was nearly facing him. "Ulrich…I’m sorry about Yumi and William hooking up."

He winced as he heard those words. It just sounded so wrong to him, he couldn’t even begin to describe the feelings those words evoked. But then again, Sissi wasn’t saying those words with the snobbery she usually did…she actually sounded sincere and sympathetic.

"I really am." she added as if she were not sure she convinced him. "I just wanted to let you know that if you need someone to talk to, I’m here to listen."

Before Ulrich could make any sort of reply, she got up and walked off, leaving Ulrich dumbfounded. He assumed that she would try her best to get him to go to that concert with her, not offer her condolences!

He shook his head as he watched her walk away and decided that she was just being nice to him so that he would end up dating her. That was not going to happen.

He let his eyes wander away from the shrinking figure to scan across the school grounds. Nothing really registered with him and instead he just appeared to be in some sort of daydream.

However, the sound of the school bell ringing snapped him out of the trance. Slowly, he got to his feet and made his way to his class without stopping and waiting for the others.

*~*~*~*

In class, Odd glanced around and noticed that his friend wasn’t sitting anywhere near him…in fact, Ulrich was sitting at the back of the class alone.

"Wow, he’s really down." Odd whispered to Jeremie and Aelita, who were both sitting in front of him.

Aelita and Jeremie both nodded simultaneously. "I wish that there was something that we could do." Aelita commented in a whisper.

"So do I." Jeremie agreed.

"Well, we could always break up Yumi and William and have Yumi and Ulrich admit that they like each other. Then we wouldn‘t have any more problems." Odd suggested, half jokingly.

"Yeah right." Jeremie replied. "That’s not going to happen."

"Odd, Jeremie!" Mrs. Hertz scolded.

"Yes ma’am?" the two replied simultaneously.

"If you have more important things to discuss, I suggest you do it outside of the classroom." the angry teacher replied.

"Sorry Mrs. Hertz." the boys replied sheepishly.

No more conversation was made for the remainder of the class period. Soon Mrs. Hertz’s class was over and Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita made their way out of the classroom with Ulrich lagging behind. He quickly took a seat on a bench close by, not saying one word to the others.

Aelita turned and glanced at him a moment before she turned to Jeremie. "I’m going to go talk with Ulrich. I don’t know how much help I can be, but it wouldn’t hurt to try."

"Alright Aelita." Jeremie responded. "Odd and I will be over by the vending machine if you need us."

Aelita smiled and nodded before turning and walking back to Ulrich. "Hi." she greeted him, but no response was made to her friendly gesture. "Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?"

Ulrich’s eyes didn’t even look up at her to signal that he was annoyed with her. Aelita sighed as she sat down. She put her hand on his shoulder, but knew that it would not get any acknowledgement from him. Or so she though. A huge sigh escaped past Ulrich’s lips and his gaze moved up to her.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked, knowing that if he felt like it, he would.

"Not really." Ulrich replied. "I just want people to leave me alone." He didn’t say it meanly to her.

"You know Ulrich, it’s not to late to tell Yumi how you feel you know."

"Yes it is. I’ve already missed my chance."

"No you haven’t."

"Yes I have. She’s dating William now!" Ulrich glanced up as he heard Yumi’s voice off in the distance. His eyes scanned for her and locked on her. She was laughing at something William had said. "See?" he asked Aelita. "She’s so happy! I couldn’t do that to her."

Aelita managed to smile at him. "Listen Ulrich, Yumi likes you just as much as you like her. Time will show you two if you are meant to be."

"Time has already shown me that we’re not." Ulrich countered.

"That’s not true." Aelita hastened a reply. "Whether you two are aware of it now or not, you both care for each other very deeply. You’ll see. I promise."

Ulrich sighed. "If you say so."

"Come on." Aelita urged. "Sitting here alone, sulking isn’t going to do you any good. Come hang out with Odd, Jeremie, and me…take your mind off it."

"I doubt that my mind will just wander off the topic like that." Ulrich replied as he got to his feet. "But I think I will hang out."

Aelita smiled again at him. He turned his head and glanced at her. "How did you get so knowledgeable about human emotions?"

She shrugged in response. "I have no idea."

"Thanks Aelita. You are a good friend."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey Ulrich!" Odd greeted his friend as he and Aelita walked toward them. "Feeling better?"

"Not really." Ulrich replied, throwing another glance toward Yumi and William.

"Well, regardless, it’s better if you spend your time with your friends rather than off by yourself." Jeremie replied. He turned his head slightly so that Ulrich wouldn’t see him wink at Aelita who blushed in response.

"Hey, want some hot chocolate?" Odd asked Ulrich as he flipped a coin into the air.

"No way." Ulrich replied, only half aware of the question asked of him.

Odd shrugged as he reached down and pressed the button. Once the product was dispensed, he took a sip. He began to choke and sputtered when he tasted it. "Yuck! That is the worst hot chocolate I have ever tasted…it’s even worse than the gym sock soup! Why is it that the school can’t ever have some decent food around here?"

He threw the cup away. The others shrugged as they walked away. The electrical outlet continued to spark furiously.

"You know, XANA’s been pretty quiet lately." Jeremie commented as they sat down on a bench near the vending machine. "Makes me wonder what he’s up to."

"You can never enjoy any free time we get, can you Jeremie?" Odd asked.

"That’s because he hardly ever gives us a break!" Jeremie retorted. "Usually when he’s really quiet, he’s up to something major."

"Well, until he does something, there isn’t much we can do about it." Aelita pointed out.

"Exactly!" Odd agreed. "So relax and enjoy-"

He was cut off by the faint sound of an alarm. Jeremie glanced down at his bag and pulled out the laptop inside. He opened it. "I guess XANA knew we were talking about him…he’s activated a tower in the Mountain Region."

Jeremie closed the laptop and glanced at the three around him. "Better warn Yumi."

He looked up at where she had been moments ago only to find that she was no longer there. "Great…" he muttered as he grabbed out his cell phone. Quickly, he dialed Yumi’s number only to receive her voice mail. "Guess we’re going to have to go without Yumi…she’s not answering her cell phone and we don’t have time to look for her."

"That’s because she’s much to busy with William!" Ulrich spat angrily. He folded his arms as Jeremie stood.

"It doesn’t matter now. Let’s get to the factory. I left Yumi a message to meet us there."

The four immediately sprinted off toward the passage in the park and made their way to the factory.

*~*~*~*

Yumi glanced around at the spot where she had seen Ulrich and the others moments ago only to find that they were gone. She sighed and turned her attention back to William who was going on about something or other…she hadn’t really been paying attention.

"Doesn’t that sound cool?" he asked her.

"Huh? Oh, I mean, yeah sure." Yumi replied with a small smile. She turned her head back to the bench as if hoping Ulrich would reappear there.

"Yumi, are you sure nothing’s wrong?" William asked as he grabbed her chin and turned her face toward him.

"Positive." Yumi replied.

"You don’t seem like it." William replied as his hand dropped from her face. "Have you been thinking about Ulrich?"

"Yeah…" Yumi responded automatically. Then, realizing what she had said, blushed before quickly adding: "I mean, because I haven’t talked to him - or the others - in a few days now."

A hurt look had crossed William’s face, but it immediately passed; that or he hid it well from her. "Well, if it will make you feel any better, we could go talk to them."

Yumi shook her head. "No, that’s alright. I’m fine. Really I am."

"If you say so." he responded putting his arm around her shoulders.

"You know William," Yumi started suddenly. "It’s getting late. I should be heading back to my house."

"Oh…you want me to walk you there?" William asked.

"Uh…no thanks. I have something to do first." Yumi replied.

"Alright." William replied, eyeing her suspiciously. She didn’t see however as she ran off toward the dorms. Being away from her friends for so long was killing her. She needed to talk to them…especially Jeremie. She always considered him like a younger brother that she could tell anything to, and she needed to talk to him about this whole ordeal.

She found the dorms empty…no surprise there, after all no one was supposed to be in their dorms at this time of day. That hadn’t stopped Jeremie or the rest of them however. She quickly made her way to Jeremie’s dorm and knocked on the dorm, hoping that he’d be in there working on something - like finding the anti-virus for Aelita.

However, there was no answer.

"Jeremie?" Yumi asked as she tried opening the door. It was locked. He wasn’t anywhere in the dorm then…he never locked the door unless he wasn’t around.

She sighed as she turned and began to walk away from his room. So much for talking to him, but perhaps Aelita was around. She quickly found that that wasn’t the case either. As she was walking down the hall out of the girls‘ dorm, the lights that lit the hallway began to blink. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up. "XANA?" It seemed that whenever he attacked the lights wigged out.

She began to sprint down the hall, only to find that the doors on the end were shut tight…no matter how much she strained against them, they just wouldn’t budge. "Oh no."

*~*~*~*

Odd landed on Lyoko with a soft thud! He glanced around to see Ulrich and Aelita slowly stand up straight as well.

"Hmm…no welcoming committee?" Odd asked sarcastically. "I think XANA has forgotten his manners!"

"Don’t worry…I’m sure they’ll be here." Aelita replied.

"Yeah…here they come now!" Jeremie warned. "Three kankrelots headed your way!"

"Ooh, good." Odd said as he stood ready. "They are so much fun to fight!"

Ulrich turned to Aelita. "Aelita, hide. We’ll take care of them."

Aelita didn’t argue the order as she turned and fled behind some rocks. However, she didn’t want to be totally oblivious to the battle, so immediately she poked her head out from behind to watch the battle that was to ensue.

"Laser arrow!" Odd shouted as he aimed for one of the small monsters. The kankrelot dodged the attack and returned the blow. Odd jumped up and missed it as well. Another kankrelot fired at him, hitting him in the arm.

"Odd! You just lost 20 life points! Be careful!"

"No sweat Jeremie!" Odd replied as he fired another arrow at the monster. The arrow struck the kankrelot right in XANA’s mark and the thing exploded instantly. "Ha! One down, two to go."

He hit the last kankrelot right in the mark and it exploded like the others just in time for the three krabes to make their appearance.

"XANA must really be up to something…" Ulrich commented. "He’s sending us quite a variety."

"That doesn’t surprise me."

The three monsters encircled around Odd and Ulrich, making it almost impossible for them to get out…but that didn’t faze them.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich shouted. Immediately two other Ulrichs appeared from him, making three. The three took off running toward one of the krabes. The krabe fired at one of the Ulrichs and hit him making him disappear. The remaining two continued their attack; one of them jumped onto the Krabe’s shell and thrust his sword into the mark before jumping off. The krabe wobbled a moment before exploding. Another krabe took the opportunity to fire at the other Ulrich, making him disappear.

Meanwhile, Odd had his hands full with the other two.

"Odd! You’re loosing too many life points!" Jeremie scolded. "40 left!"

"That’s more than enough, Jeremie." Odd retorted. "Laser arrow!" he shouted as he fired his weapon toward one of the monsters. It hit it’s mark and the beast exploded, leaving only one.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted to his friend. "Take Aelita to the tower. Leave this one to me!"

"Gotcha." Odd replied as he turned and ran to where Aelita had hidden herself. "Come on, Princess. Let’s deactivate that Tower!"

"I’m sending you the Overboard."

Immediately, Odd’s vehicle appeared in front of him. He flipped up onto it and held out his hand for Aelita who took his assistance and hopped onto the board. "Direction Jeremie?"

Ulrich growled in frustration as his attacks against the krabe kept failing. "Jeremie, how many life points do I have left?"

"30." Jeremie replied.

"Great." he muttered to himself as dodged a laser blast fired at him. The krabe prepared another blast. Ulrich was able to jump up onto it’s shell and plunge his sword into the monster, and it immediately exploded. "Piece of cake." he muttered. He turned only to find a mega-tank blocking his path. Before he could even consider defending himself, the powerful monster fired. Ulrich was immediately devirtalized.

"Ok Odd, it’s up to you. I still can’t reach Yumi. I hope nothing’s wrong."

"Ah, she’s fine." Odd replied still on the Overboard. "We’re almost there."

"Looks like XANA’s got more surprises for you. Be careful…two blocks and a mega-tank are waiting!"

"No problem Jeremie." Odd replied. He turned to Aelita. "Ready, m’lady?" Aelita merely giggled in response.

*~*~*~*

Jeremie turned as he heard the doors open behind him. "Welcome back Ulrich."

Slowly and weakly, Ulrich made his way toward Jeremie. "Have you heard from Yumi yet?"

Jeremie shook his head. "No, and to be honest, I’m getting kind of worried. I have no idea if she’s stuck in some sort of XANA trap or if she’s just unwilling to answer her mobile."

"I’ll go look for her." Ulrich replied, turning back around and making his was toward the elevator. That wasn’t like Yumi at all…something was wrong. A grim expression settled on Ulrich’s face. If it’s because of William, then I’ll… the thought never completed as the elevator opened and he climbed inside.

*~*~*~*~*

Yumi furiously pounded on the doors that refused to open. However, it only lasted momentarily when she thought that if anyone else was in this building, they were probably suffering the same fate as she was.

With an angry grunt, Yumi turned and began to walk down toward the opposite end of the hall, trying to figure out what to do. She realized that she hadn’t attempted to call any of the others and immediately stuck her hand in her pocket to grab her mobile…or at least tried to grab it. In dismay, she realized that her cell phone wasn’t there…

"Oh great…" she muttered. "I must have left it in my room…I knew I forgot something this morning!"

She began to pace the hall she was trapped in. That’s why none of the others were in their dorms…they must left for Lyoko, and were trying to get a hold of her.

As she passed by the girls’ showers for the umpteenth time, Yumi noticed that the door was open slightly. "Worth a try." she muttered as she pushed the door all the way open and walked in. Immediately, the lights all began to blink again. She stopped dead in her tracks. Something wasn’t right. Was XANA trying to lead her through here for some reason?

That's when it happened.

As Yumi glanced into the mirror, momentarily, the lights drastically increased in intensity. That intensity proved to be far more than the light bulbs could handle and they all exploded simultaneously. Yumi stumbled back in unexpected pain, not only because of the brightness of the lights being reflected into her eyes, but also because of the small shards of glass that flew into them.

She never experienced such tremendous pain like that ever before. It sent her stumbling to the floor. She writhed in total pain, struggling to get the tiny pieces out of her eyes and thus end her pain. But it only worsened.

Unable to contain it any longer, she let out the scream that had been fighting to get out...it hurt so bad!

So that was XANA’s attack…

*~*~*~*

"Where is she William?!"

"Who?"

"Yumi! Where is she?!"

"She said she had to do something before she went home."

"What?!"

"I don’t know, but she went toward the dorms. What‘s wrong?"

Ulrich didn’t stick around to answer that question. Turning toward the dorms, he sprinted as fast as he could. He knew something was wrong…Yumi could be in danger! The thought of her hurt made his stomach twist into large knots and gave him the extra burst of speed he needed. Within no time he made it to the door of the building. Trying to pull the door open, he soon discovered that it would not budge.

"I don’t believe this…" he growled angrily as he continued to pull hard against the door. However, after a few attempts of it not giving any lean-way he decided his best bet would be to break the door. He quickly saw that that would not prove any problem since the door was mostly glass. With ease, he kicked his foot through the glass then crawled through, careful not to cut himself on the sharp pieces that lined the doorway.

Quickly he made his way through the halls, eyes scanning for any trace of her. "Yumi? Yumi!" He tried to get into the hall where Jeremie’s dorm and his own was located only to find that the doors wouldn’t open. However, this time he couldn’t just kick the glass in…there was no glass on these doors. That did not stop him, though. He knew that since he was able to kick a locked, normal door to free Samantha, then this wooden, swing door should be no problem.

And it wasn’t. He sent a couple of powerful kicks toward the center of the doors, which eventually swung open. "Yumi?" he called down the hall as he walked in. Nobody.

Ulrich knew that Yumi wouldn’t be in any of their rooms if they weren’t there. But if she wasn’t here, then where was she?

Duh! Around Aelita’s room! She’s probably trapped down there somewhere…

Quickly he burst through the remaining doors into the girls’ dorm. "Yumi?" he called. No answer. He sighed angrily as he didn’t see her in the hall. "Where is she?"

He turned to walk out of the dorm, but was stopped short by the sound of a scream. "Yumi? Yumi!"

He sprinted toward where he heard the sound and found the door to the girls’ bathroom open. He hesitated a moment before going inside but the sounds of her groaning and yelling made him rush in. "Yumi! What’s wrong?!" He exclaimed as he saw her on the ground. Within moments he was there by her side. "Yumi?"

He was horrified to see her this way…her hand were pressed tightly against her eyes, yet Ulrich could see tears brimming past her hands. She was in pain.

"Yumi, what’s wrong?" he repeated. He saw her open her mouth to reply, but a yell escaped instead as she clawed again at her eyes. Knowing he wouldn’t get an answer from her, he glanced around to look for the source of her pain. Immediately he noticed that nearly all the lights were broken. He began to piece it all together as he cradled Yumi’s wiggling form…somehow the lights broke, getting pieces into her eyes. Ulrich reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. Quickly he dialed Jeremie’s number.

"Ulrich!" Jeremie exclaimed on the other end. "Did you find her?"

"Yes, but she’s hurt. Looks like the lights in the girls’ bathroom in the dorms exploded and the pieces got into her eyes. All the doors in the dorms were shut tight…XANA must have trapped her inside."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a white force came toward them, engulfing both of them, sending them both back in time.

The return to the past reversed time back to earlier that day and all five of them were standing together near the bench. Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd quickly turned toward Yumi, all wanting to ask the same question; "You ok Yumi?"

Yumi opened her eyes and immediately pain shot through her head. She let out a small yelp of unexpected pain.

"Yumi!" Ulrich exclaimed as she again clutched at her face.

"Th-the return to the past….didn’t work." she replied through clenched teeth. "It st-still hurts."

"Are there still pieces of glass in your eyes?" Jeremie asked, concerned. Yumi slowly shook her head.

"What else happened?" Aelita asked, feeling that there was more to the story than they knew.

Yumi’s head began to spin, and she felt as though she was beginning to detach from her body. "Yumi?" she heard Odd ask, but his voice sound distant.

"Lights…all exploded…into my eyes…so bright…" she could not come to finish her thought. Her legs felt like gelatin and her knees buckled. The last thing she remember was hearing Ulrich call out her name before she fell into complete darkness.

Ulrich was able to stop Yumi from falling completely to the ground. "Yumi?!" he called again to her as her body hung limp in his arms. He looked up at his friends to see that they all wore the same shocked expression on their faces. "What happened?"

"I don’t know." Jeremie replied.

"Help me get her into the infirmary." Ulrich said to the others. They complied and helped him carry her limp form toward the infirmary.

*~*~*~*

"Alright, what happened to her?" the nurse asked as they brought Yumi inside and laid her down on one of the beds.

"Uh…" the others stuttered.

"She fainted." Ulrich replied quickly as the nurse glanced over Yumi, checking her pulse and breathing.

Aelita suddenly saw her eyelids begin to flutter. "Look!"

Ulrich and the others glanced down as Yumi’s eyelids slowly lifted.

"Are you alright?" the nurse asked upon seeing Yumi come to. Yumi, however, didn’t answer the question. She seemed as though she wasn’t listening to anyone. She shook her head a few times and blinked her eyes rapidly. Her breathing became rapid as she furiously began to rub her eyes.

"Stop that." the nurse scolded as she moved Yumi’s hands away from her eyes. "Is something the matter?"

"Why is it so dark in here?" Yumi’s voice asked shakily. "Where is everyone?"
Shocked looks crossed each of the others faces. They were all too stunned to say anything…they all had a good idea what the injury caused.

Yumi moved her head from side to side as if trying to find anything that she could see, but couldn’t find anything.

"I’ll be right back. I need to go get something to check out your eyes." the nurse replied as she turned and walked out of the room. Once she was gone, Jeremie glanced quickly at Aelita before looking at everyone else.

"Can you see anything Yumi?" he asked.

Yumi replied with a shake of her head. "No. Nothing!"

"Do you think its from XANA’s attack?" Odd asked.

"I have no doubt." Jeremie replied, rubbing his head in confusion. "What I don’t get is why the return to the past didn’t fix her eyes. I mean after all, it fixed Ulrich’s broken arm when XANA trapped us in the factory."

Yumi’s head drooped lower. Her hair hung in her face, covering her sightless eyes. "What am I going to tell my parents?" she asked, almost inaudibly.

"Don’t worry…we’ll think of something." Jeremie assured her. Before anyone could say anything more, the nurse walked back in and made her way toward Yumi.

"Hold still." she instructed as she gently opened Yumi’s eyes wider. "Alright, I’m going to shine this light in your eyes…if it’s too bright, look off to the side."

However, Yumi’s eyes never moved. Instead she kept them looking straight ahead of her. "Hmm…it seems like you’ve scratched them…" she turned off the small light. "Alright, I want you to follow my finger."

"I can’t even see it. How am I supposed to follow it?" Yumi asked, but not bitterly. The nurse immediately put her finger down.

"Did you get something in your eyes…dirt or glass or something?

"Uh…" Yumi stuttered. "Well…I did get a few pieces of glass in my eyes." She shifted uncomfortably, hoping that the nurse wouldn’t ask how she got it in her eyes. To Yumi’s relief, she didn’t. Instead, she took a few steps away from the bed. Turning back around, she glanced at each one of them before saying: "I’m going to have to contact your parents and then the hospital."

"The hospital?" Yumi replied incredulously. She knew something was wrong, but the doctors there asked many, many questions…she couldn’t tell them that the pieces of glass came from the lights in the girls bathrooms when the lights themselves weren’t even broken anymore.

"Of course! What did you think, that I’d just send you home?"

"No…but…"

"I’ll be right back."

Odd, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremie watched the nurse walk from the room before again turning attention back to their friend. Ulrich was surprised to note that her eyes were cold and dark…they no longer held the shine that they had before.

Before anyone could even open their mouths to say anything, the door was flung open, causing Yumi to jump. They all turned to see William there who quickly strode over to the bedside.

"Yumi, what happened? Are you alright? I heard you fainted and -"

"William! Slow down." Yumi scolded him.

Ulrich watched the boy who had stolen his heart and soul away take her hand. Angrily he glared toward him, but the other didn’t see…he was too deep in concern to notice anything other than Yumi.

"What happened?" he repeated.

Yumi’s eyes remained unfocused and continued to look out in front of her. "I got some glass into my eyes and - and it scratched them…I c-can’t see."

"What?! How did that happen?" William exclaimed.

"Stop bothering her, William!" Ulrich spat out, glad to have a reason to yell at him.

William turned and glared at him but a moment later turned back to Yumi who looked as though she was distant and far away.

The door again opened, this time the nurse walked back into the doorway. "I’ve contacted your parents and the hospital." she informed as she gently grabbed Yumi’s arm. "Come with me."

*~*~*~*

"Ulrich, will you please sit down! You’re making me nervous."

"Sorry Odd, but I’m too nervous to sit. What if she’s permanently blind?"
"Don’t worry…everything will turn out, eventually." Aelita comforted. "So please, come and sit down."

With a frustrated, but helpless sigh, Ulrich plopped down on the bench next to Odd. He glanced around the hospital’s hall and saw many different things, however none of them registered with him. Moments later he was back on his feet pacing again, much to the dismay of Odd.

Jeremie, meanwhile, turned to Aelita with a puzzled look on his face. "You know, I’m really clueless as to why the return to the past didn’t solve Yumi’s problem. Normally it would have."

"Something has to be corrupted in the return’s program files." Aelita replied. "That or XANA has found a new way to attack us."

"Great," Odd commented sarcastically. "So instead of just outright killing us, he’s going to maim us?! Nice XANA."

Ulrich felt like cheering when he heard the news. So Yumi wasn’t permanently blind? Great!

"That does not mean, however, that she will regain her eyesight. And if she does, it may occur many months from now."

Of course he add to add that little bit of information. Ulrich glanced around at the others before again turning his attention back to the doctor. A million questions came to his mind, but none more prominent than: "Will she still be able to attend Kadic Academy, or will she have to go to a special school?"

The doctor looked directly at Ulrich, and his face softened. "It all depends on what her parents decide on."

"But, what I mean is, is it still possible for her to stay?"

"I don’t see why not, as long as the principle is willing to hire someone to become her aid and perhaps teach her brail."

"Can you talk to him?" Ulrich asked, hopefully.

The doctor smiled and nodded. "Yes, I’ll do my best just as long as her parents decide to allow her to stay at the Academy."

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as the car door slammed shut Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita were immediately next to the gates. Other than the occasional hospital visits, none of them had seen Yumi in two days. In that span of time, XANA had only attacked once, but the rest of them ended up foiling his plans easily. That did not mean, however, that they had an easy time fighting on Lyoko without Yumi…all of them had her on their minds but none more so than Ulrich.

When Yumi’s mother helped her out of the car, Aelita felt dismayed. Yumi always seemed to be strong and confident even if deep inside herself she wasn’t, but Aelita could see that this wasn’t the case today. Instead of the confidence and sureness that always seemed to reside on the Japanese girl’s face, all Aelita could see was despair. She glanced around at the others and could tell that they all noticed it as well.

"Hi Yumi!" Odd greeted the girl as she extended her cane and walked toward the gates. However, his voice wasn’t full of the cheeriness that Aelita was used to.

"Hello." Yumi responded dejectedly. She turned her head in the direction of her parents. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome Sweetie." her mother replied. After giving Yumi a small kiss on the forehead, she turned and walked back to the car with her husband. Both watched their daughter carefully before slowly driving away as if to make certain that the others would take care of their treasure.

"Glad to see you back Yumi." Odd commented, then as if realizing that he used the word ‘see’, he decided to quickly rephrase the sentence. "I mean, it’s good to have you back."

Yumi angrily grunted at him for having changed the welcome but otherwise made no indication that she had heard the correction. She moved the cane she was holding and began walking forward through the gates.

"Here, Yumi, let me help you." Ulrich said, as he gently grabbed her arm in an attempt to help guide her. He was surprised was she wrenched her arm free from his grasp.

"I don’t need your help. I’m quite capable of getting along on my own!" she spat out, shocking the whole group.

"Uh…I-I’m sorry." Ulrich replied. "I just w-wanted to help."

Yumi sighed as she hung her head. "No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that I’m sick of having people do everything for me."

Ulrich nodded his understanding, but then realized that she couldn’t see him. "Right. I understand."

"Hey Yumi!" William’s voice rang out. With a scowl Ulrich turned to him. Yumi’s head also turned toward the sound, but her eyes remained in the same position as before. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he stood next to her and grabbed her hand.

"As good as one could possibly feel under the circumstances." Yumi replied flatly.

"Uh…right." William replied, not knowing how to respond to her comment. "Do you…do you need some help getting to your classes?"
Ulrich secretly laughed inside. Definitely the wrong thing to say!

"No! I do not need help!" Yumi responded. "Why does everyone think that just because I can’t see that I’m helpless?"

"I’m sorry Yumi!" William replied hastily. "I just-"

"Wanted to help." Yumi finished. "I know. And I appreciate it. But I don’t need any extra help."

"Right." William replied with a smile. "I’ve got it. No extra help."

Ulrich mentally growled at the other boy. His hand balled into a fist unseen by any of the others with the exception of Aelita who was very perceptive when it came to her friends’ emotions. She watched as he closed his eyes momentarily to regain his composure, but Aelita knew that it wouldn’t help him very much. Not only was he jealous of William, but he was angry with the boy - as well as with himself.

"You alright Ulrich?" William asked, seeing his eyes closed. Ulrich’s eyes immediately flew open in response and he shoved his hands into his pockets to keep anyone from seeing how hard his fists were clenched.

"Just fine." he replied through clenched teeth.

"Ulrich…" Yumi started but was interrupted by the sound of the bell.

"Well come on. Let’s get to class." William said as he gently tugged on her arm.

"Wait…I need to…" she didn’t have time to say much of anything as William pulled her away. Aelita noted that he seemed relieved to be able to pull her away from Ulrich. Was he worried about what Yumi would have said had the bell not interrupted?

Ulrich folded his arms over his chest as he half-glared at the couple that was soon becoming just two more people in the sea of children that surrounded the school.

"Hey Ulrich!" Odd called out. "If you don’t get it in gear, we’re going to be late for gym class!"

Ulrich kept his gaze where it had been, but answered: "Alright. I’m coming."

*~*~*~*

Odd glanced at Ulrich who, of course, was not paying any attention whatsoever. "Hey Ulrich, wake up! If Jim sees you spacing out, he’s not going to be too happy!"

Ulrich shook his head in response and looked at his friend. "Huh?"

"I take it you were thinking about Yumi and William, right?" Odd whispered, a knowing look in his eyes.

"No, of course not!" Ulrich snapped back in a low voice. "That’s ridiculous! Yumi’s free to date whoever she chooses…why would I think about that?"

"Uh huh." Odd replied sarcastically. "Sure. If you say so."

"Odd! Ulrich!" Jim shouted at the two boys. "I’m sorry if you feel you don’t need to hear the rules!"

Both boys sheepishly turned and faced the angry gym teacher. "Sorry Jim." They both replied simultaneously. Ulrich’s voice, however, was barely heard. Jim looked at them a moment longer before turning his attention back to the entire class.

Ulrich, however, paid no attention to Jim. He tried to concentrate on what the gruff man was saying, but he found himself unable. His mind kept wandering back to Yumi, wondering how she was coping with her blindness and thinking about how he wanted to be there to help her.

But, no, she was receiving help from her boyfriend.

"Ul-rich!" Odd whispered while lightly elbowing his friend. "Pay attention!"

Annoyed, Ulrich shifted his weight from one foot to the other and tried to pay attention.

"Ulrich! You’re up next!" Jim called. Slowly Ulrich walked up to the starting line while Jim got his stopwatch ready.

"On your mark…get set…go!"

Ulrich began to run, but he felt as though he were in a fog. He remembered running off the starting line, but nothing after…that is until he felt himself fall face-first into the track. "Ugh."

"Ulrich!" Jim shouted. "What’s the matter with you?"

Ulrich sat up on the track and looked up at the P.E. teacher. "Sorry Jim. I’m not feeling good. Can I go to the infirmary?"

"Oh all right." Jim responded distastefully.

Ulrich slowly got to his feet and turned and walked in the direction of the infirmary. However, that was not his destination. Instead he turned and made a detour toward Yumi’s classroom. Sneaking up to the window he slightly raised his head over the ledge just far enough for his eyes to peak over. His eyes scanned the classroom and finally rested on Yumi’s figure. Sourly he noted that William was sitting right beside her, taking notes for her so that she could go to whoever the school hired to help teach her brail and they could work together on the homework.

Ulrich sighed as he continued to watch her. Her face remained expressionless as she "stared" straight ahead toward the teacher. Her eyes remained clouded, unfocused. He hated seeing her like this. The once confident Japanese girl now seemed dazed and depressed. As he was staring at her, Ulrich completely lost track of time. The bell tolled and students began to file out of their classrooms, glad for the freedom.

Ulrich immediately pushed himself away from the window least he be caught by anyone – especially Jim – peeking into a classroom when he was supposed to be in the infirmary. Slowly he began to walk away, wondering what their lives would be like if Yumi stayed blind the rest of her life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jeremie liked being able to solve problems. He was excellent at it too. But this whole mess with Yumi was something he couldn't fix. Yet he couldn't help but feel a tad bit responsible for what happened to her. If he had been searching for the reason why XANA had been so quiet, then maybe his attack wouldn't have caught them by surprise.

But in all probability it would have anyway.

As the sound of the bell echoed down the long hallways, he stood and glanced at Odd and Aelita. All three were silent as they walked away from the track, looking for Ulrich. Jeremie knew that he hadn’t gone to the infirmary…none of them rarely ever did. He knew that he had gone to see Yumi.

While making his way toward the benches where they normally met Yumi at this time, Jeremie spotted a troubled Ulrich walking slowly toward them. Not only was his crush dating William, but now she could hardly do the things she used to. Jeremie shook his head and sighed.

He suddenly felt Aelita’s petite hand on his. He looked up at her and blushed as she flashed a small, innocent smile at him but otherwise said nothing.

"Hi Ulrich. How was your trip to the infirmary?" Odd asked, trying to lighten up his mood a bit.

Ulrich merely shrugged in response as he plopped down on the bench. His eyes followed Yumi and William’s figures as they made their way toward the rest of the group. "Hi guys." Yumi called.

"Hey Yumi." A chorus of voices replied back.

"How was class?" Odd asked.

"Not too bad." She replied. "But it was extremely difficult trying to listen to a math lesson and not being able to see the examples."

"How’s the tutor working out?" Aelita asked.

"Not too bad. But I never realized how hard brail was! That and going home and doing 2 more hours of schoolwork on top of the rest of the school day is far from fun…not to mention it’s cutting into other things."

Jeremie immediately knew that "other things" meant going to Lyoko. He realized that she still thought that she’d be able to be transferred there to fight XANA. He was going to have to talk to her about that.

Meanwhile, in the Forest Region, the blue haze that surrounded the tower there slowly changed to red and the ground began to tremble.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yumi sat at her kitchen table, food in front of her, but she didn’t have much of an appetite. Her bowl of noodles sat in front of her, completely full. Both of her parents kept glancing at her, but neither really knew what to say. Even Hiroki was silent and somber, which was unheard of for him.

"Yumi, why don’t you eat something?" her mother asked, trying to get her daughter to at least take a few bites of her meal. She was beginning to grow worried…Yumi had barely eaten much of anything since she became blind.

"I’m not hungry." Yumi replied, seeming as though she was a million miles away. "I think I’m going to go to bed." She added as she stood and reached for her walking cane.

"Hiroki, help your sister up to her room." Yumi’s father told the young boy.

"That’s alright. I’m quite capable of getting into my room by myself." She extended the cane and stumbled to the stairs and ultimately to her room. Once there, she collapsed on her bed. Millions of thoughts raced through her mind.

Why did this have to happen to me? Why didn’t the return fix this?

It was torture living day in and day out with this crippling disability. Then, to top it all off, Jeremie dropped the bombshell and told her earlier about her future trips to Lyoko…there were no more. She knew why he would say that, but she still felt that it was unfair. She needed to go to Lyoko…she needed to feel as though she had some purpose, and that that purpose was protecting Aelita from XANA. But she really couldn’t do that; nor could Odd and Ulrich if she was there. Not only would they have to worry about protecting Aelita, but they would also have to make sure that she didn’t accidentally walk off a plateau and fall into the digital void...again.

Yumi flopped onto her stomach and held her head in her hands. She hated being like this; she hated feeling so helpless.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A hot shower always felt relieving to Odd, but on this night it didn’t feel as good as it normally should have. Perhaps Ulrich’s mood was rubbing off on him, but Odd sincerely doubted that. This whole thing with Yumi’s eyesight had made them all a little more apprehensive and edgy than usual. Things that they normally enjoyed were overshadowed by this whole incident.

With a sigh he finished putting on his pajamas and made his way back to his dorm where he was instantly greeted by Kiwi. Tossing his clothes on his bed he reached down and scooped up the small dog in his arms, patting him on the head.

"Hey Kiwi." Odd greeted the animal. "Did you keep Ulrich company?"

He slowly glanced at Ulrich who was sitting at his desk, studying. Or at least, he appeared to be studying. Odd put Kiwi back down on the floor and walked up behind the brown haired boy.

"Ulrich? You okay?" he asked, setting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

It was as if Odd had lit a firecracker behind him. Ulrich jumped up off his chair, nearly missing it when gravity pulled him back down. Bewildered, he turned and faced Odd who was trying his best to keep from laughing.

"Don’t do that!" Ulrich scolded, standing up out of the chair.

"S-sorry." Odd replied, a giggle escaping. "I didn’t realize that you were sleeping."

Ulrich grumbled as if he didn’t believe what the other boy said. Sluggishly, he walked over to his bed where he collapsed.

"Hey, Ulrich." Odd started as he sat down on his own bed. "Why don’t you take a shower? Maybe it’ll help take your mind off everything."

"No Odd." Ulrich replied. "I’m fine. I just need to get some sleep."

The blonde haired boy shrugged as Kiwi hopped onto his bed and crawled into his lap. Odd pet the animal before laying down on his own bed and falling asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Knowing that her night’s sleep had come to an end, Aelita pushed the covers off of herself before swinging her feet onto the floor. She stood and stretched, a few of her bones making a popping sound as she did so. At least she could get in line for showers earlier this morning. Perhaps when she actually got into the showers, she’d have some hot water.

Grabbing a few toiletries, she walked out of her dorm room and made her way toward the showers. She was thrilled to note that no one was waiting in line in front of the door that led to the girls’ bathroom and she quickly made her way inside. A few other girls were inside, but not nearly as many as there normally was at five after six. Aelita smiled to herself as she made her way into one of the showers.

Quickly she hopped into the shower and let the hot water cascade down her body. There were numerous things she liked about living on Earth, and this was definitely one of the best. She let her eyes drift close and enjoyed the serenity she felt at that moment. It was great to finally live on earth and with every new day came new surprises as well as plenty of not-so-new ones.

Shortly, Aelita stepped out of the shower and dried off. Within no time she had her clothes on and was walking out of the shower room. As she walked by the mirrors she glanced up at the lights…the same lights that had cost Yumi her sight. She shuddered to think of how such a seemingly harmless object could cause so much distress and pain.

She sighed as she finished getting ready for the new day…a day full of learning, adventure, heartache, and who-knows-what-else. Walking out of the bathroom Aelita couldn’t help but smirk at the girl who made her first few weeks of life on earth miserable. Sissi had obviously gotten up later than she planned and thus was waiting in line.

"Pity." Aelita said sweetly to her. "Looks like your going to be here for a while."

"Hmph!" Sissi snarled, turning her nose up at the pink-haired girl and then turning away. Aelita smiled to herself before making her way back to her dorm room. Once inside, she glanced at her clock and found that she had another twenty minutes before breakfast would be served.

After putting away her things and making her bed, Aelita turned and walked out of her dorm room, making sure to lock her door behind her. She then sauntered down toward Jeremie’s room where she found the boy hunched over his computer.

"Jeremie?" she asked as she peeked her head into his room after knocking.

"Hi Aelita!" he greeted as he swiveled his chair around.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she stood over his shoulder, looking at the computer monitor. "Not still working on the anti-virus, are you?"

"Yes and no." Jeremie responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I’ve been working on trying to find your anti-virus, but I’ve also been trying to figure out what - if anything - is wrong with the return trip."

"Ah." Aelita replied, sitting down on Jeremie’s bed. "Have you had any luck?"

"No. But there’s not much I can do here on my laptop. I need to go to the factory to analyze the program files."

"We can go after lunch." Aelita suggested, including herself.

Jeremie smiled at her. "Sounds good. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we can figure out a way to make everything right again."

Aelita glanced at him, her eyes hoping that he was right. "I really hope so."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Odd, tell me, where do you pack all that food?" Aelita asked her friend as she watched him shove not only his own breakfast into his mouth, but Ulrich’s as well.

"Hey, a guy’s gotta eat you know." Odd retorted, his mouth still half full of food.

Aelita smiled in reply before turning to Ulrich. The brown-haired boy looked as though he were a millions miles away.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

His eyes became focused again before he turned and glanced at her. He did not, however, answer he question; it was almost as if he didn’t hear it. Instead he sighed and resumed staring off into space.

Odd watched the whole spectacle, his fork full of food which was almost in his mouth. He put the fork back down on his tray, obviously troubled to see his friend in this state of mind. He glanced at Aelita who likewise had the same expression on her own face. Inside her mind, all she could think was: I wish that there was something I could do to help you, my friend.

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as Yumi walked in through the gates of Kadic, Ulrich became even more depressed. He enjoyed seeing the Japanese girl, but not when she was like this. Not when she looked so depressed herself

"Hi Yumi." Jeremie greeted her.

"Hey Jeremie." Yumi responded, but not in her normal, cheerful manner. "Is everyone else here?"

"Yeah."

"Hi." Both Odd and Aelita said simultaneously.

"And Ulrich and William?" she asked.

"Ulrich’s here." Jeremie replied, throwing a glance at whom he was referring. "I don’t know where William is."

"Who cares?" Ulrich muttered under his breath so that no one else heard. Yumi’s sightless eyes "looked" in Ulrich’s direction. She had obviously heard something. Ulrich noted that only a few days ago, her eyes held angry fire; now they were lifeless and cold. Ulrich closed his own eyes and tried to ignore the depressed look that loomed everywhere on Yumi’s face…all except her eyes.

The bell chimed.

"Well let’s get to class." Jeremie instructed.

"Great." Odd whined. "Music class."

"Yumi, do you need some -"

"No, that’s alright Aelita." Yumi interrupted. "But tell your teacher that Ulrich’s helping me to my class."

The others looked at her momentarily confused. "Um, alright." Jeremie answered as he, Odd, and Aelita turned and headed toward class. Ulrich glanced at the girl, confused himself.

Without a word, Yumi held out her arm. Ulrich knew that she meant for him to take it, but he hesitated. Not only was he unsure of whether or not he was still upset with her, but she was also dating William. And, while he didn’t like William - nor the fact that he was dating Yumi - he still respected her decision.

"Ulrich?" Yumi asked. "Are you there?"

"Yeah." Ulrich replied quickly.

"Hurry before we’re both late to class."

"Sorry." Ulrich replied before gently grabbing her arm. The two slowly began to walk, for a moment neither of them saying a word. Yumi was the first one to break the silence.

"Ulrich we need to talk."

"Yumi, I don’t think we have time-"

"Just listen to me." she interrupted. "I have to talk about what happened before this whole mess."

She paused a moment before continuing.

"Ulrich I’m really sorry that I got so angry when Sissi offered you those tickets. I shouldn’t have. You had every right to go with her if you wanted to."

"But I didn’t." Ulrich replied. "You should have known that."

Despite the blank look in her eyes, Ulrich could see that the remark had made her feel better.

"Well, here you are."

"Thanks Ulrich." Yumi replied with a smile, turning her head in his direction. "I’ll see you after class." she said, purposly adding the word 'see' into the sentence.

"Right." Ulrich replied with a smile. "See you later."

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as Ulrich sat down, Jeremie immediately noticed a change in his mannerism. He wasn’t back to his old self, but he seemed a bit better than before.

"What did Yumi have to say?" he asked, knowing that there was a reason she had asked him to help her.

Ulrich slowly turned to the boy genius "We’re okay again." he replied. "She apologized for getting so upset about the tickets."

"Great!" Odd replied. "So, are you going to stop sulking?"

"Leave me alone." came the answer.

"Guess not." Odd commented under his breath.

Without warning, Jeremie’s laptop began to beep. Quickly he reached down and pulled it out of his backpack. Opening it, he discovered that a tower had been activated in the Forest Region.

"An activated tower!" Jeremie whispered to the others. "There’s only a few minutes left of class. We’ll head over to the factory as soon as the bell rings."
"Right." came the reply.

"Ulrich, if you can, warn Yumi." Jeremie instructed.

Ulrich nodded as he pulled out his cell phone in an attempt to message her. Then, as if realizing that she wouldn’t be able to see it, sighed.

"Ulrich Stern!" came the teacher’s scolding voice. Ulrich glanced up to see the teacher staring at him, a stern expression on his face. "Put that cell phone away before I take it away!"

Sheepishly, he complied with the order and the phone was back in his pocket in seconds. Jeremie looked at him once the teacher resumed his lecture. "After class." he whispered.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Yumi heard rustling as someone sat down in the seat next to her. She listened, trying to figure out who it was, but Mrs. Hertz saved her the effort.

"William Dunbar!" she snapped. "Care to tell me why you are late?"

Yumi heard nothing, and she assumed that his answer had come in the form of a head shake.

"1 hour of detention then!"

Again, Yumi heard nothing in response. Mrs. Hertz again began her Chemistry lesson, but Yumi wasn’t paying attention. Something was wrong with William. Had he seen Ulrich helping her to class?

"William," she whispered to her boyfriend. "Where have you been all day?"

"Around." came the gruff reply.

"Hey, you okay? Your voice sounds strange."

"I’m fine!"

"Um, okay…"

Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of another long Chemistry class. Yumi heard William stand and begin to walk away.

"Hey William!" she called out. "Aren’t you going to help me?"

Yumi heard a low sound emanate from him - almost as if he was growling at her. She held out her arm and yelped in unexpected surprise when he clenched it extremely hard.

"Ow! William that hurts!"

She tried to get him to loosen his grip, but was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She fumbled to move her walking cane into her other hand so that she could withdraw the mobile out of her pocket.

"Hello?" she asked into it.

"Yumi! Be careful! XANA’s launched an attack!" came Ulrich’s voice.

"Meet me at the bench in front of the vending machine." she replied "Bye."

She hung up the phone and stuck it back into her pocket.

"William, can you take me out to the bench? Me and Ul…Aelita have to talk about some stuff. Girl stuff."

William didn’t reply. Instead he clenched her arm harder and began to drag her. "William!" she scolded, confused. "You know you could loosen your grip and not walk so -"

Her ears suddenly heard a strange, yet familiar sound. Shocked, she realized it was the sound of XANA’s mark twitching in his possessed victim’s eyes.

In terror, she realized that that possessed victim had a death grip on her arm.

"XANA!"

In all the times that she had faced XANA - many of those alone - she had never felt so much fear well up inside of her. She was helpless against him, completely at his mercy. Even if she managed to break free of his grasp, she had no place to run…she could not see where to go.

"Let go!" she commanded, but she knew that it would do no good.

Voices had since begun to fade off into the distance. Yumi realized that he was dragging her away from the school grounds.

"Help!" she shouted, hoping to draw attention to her, but the next response was not one she had been hoping for.

She felt a long jolt of electricity travel from the possessed William’s hand up through her arm. She cried out in agony as the purplish haze danced around her body. It only took a few moments before the electricity and the pain took its toll on her body. The last thing Yumi remembered was hearing a demonic snicker before she was plunged into darkness.

*~*~*~*

"Where is Yumi? She should have been here by now. It’s not that far a walk from Mrs. Hertz’s class."

"Maybe William finally showed up."

"Shut up Odd."

"Shesh, ok Ulrich!"

"Calm down Ulrich. Yumi’s a big girl…she can manage on her own." Jeremie added. The minutes ticked by and still no sign of Yumi.

"Now I’m starting to get a little worried." Aelita commented, folding her arms. "It shouldn’t take fifteen minutes to get here."

"Try calling her." Jeremie suggested.

Ulrich nodded as he grabbed his mobile out and speedily dialed Yumi’s number.

"Konichiwa, you’ve reached Yumi’s mobile. Leave me a message."

Ulrich hung up. "She’s not answering. Something’s wrong." He stood and shoved the cell phone back in his pocket. "I’m going to go look for her."

"Alright." Jeremie replied, standing up off the bench, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Odd, Aelita, and I will head over to the factory. Call us if you need help."

Ulrich nodded before heading off in the opposite direction of the others, hoping that he was just overreacting. Perhaps Yumi just got lost.

Not likely. Ulrich thought to himself. She knows this school like the back of her hand. It’s not likely that she’d have gotten lost.

He walked by Mrs. Hertz’s classroom, hoping to find her talking with someone and set his mind at ease. To his dismay he saw no one.

Where is she?

He turned and scanned the school grounds, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of her somewhere. As he was searching, Sissi slowly made her way toward him.

"Oh there you are!" she exclaimed as she stood beside him. "I was looking for you."

"Keep looking." Ulrich retorted, continuing to look for his friend.

"Looking for someone?"

"Not you."

"If you’re looking for Yumi, she and William just walked that way about 5 minutes ago."

Ulrich hastily turned toward her. "William? When did he get to school?!"

Sissi was slightly taken aback by the manner in which he asked the question and for a moment was unsure of how to answer. She finally regained her wits and brushed her hair flirtatiously. "Well how should I know? All I saw was the two of them walking hand in hand."

Ulrich took a step toward the girl. "Where did they go?"

"Uh…" Sissi faltered. "Well, they were uh, walking toward the gates…"

She never had time to finish her sentence. Ulrich turned and sprinted away from her, grabbing his phone out of his pocket as he did so.

"Jeremie!" he called.

"Ulrich?"

"I think I know where Yumi’s at!" he panted.

"Great! Where?"

"With XANA."

"Ulrich, don’t jump to conclusions." Jeremie rebuked. "I know how you feel about William, but…"

"Jeremie, trust me!" Ulrich interrupted.

Again he felt his insides twist into large, painful knots. He couldn’t loose her…not again and not like this. He had lost her once to William, but to loose her to one of XANA’s evil plots was something that he would never be able to live with.

"Ulrich! Are you still there?"

"Yeah." Ulrich replied hoarsely.

"Hey, you okay?" Odd asked.

"Send Aelita to Lyoko." Ulrich instructed. "I’ve got to help Yumi!"

"Alright." Jeremie replied. Ulrich hung up his cell phone and pocketed the device. He thought for a moment. The quickest way to get to the factory from here is to go through town. Without another thought, he ran through the gates and away from the school, praying that Yumi was still alive.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Yumi groggily awoke to the sensation of being carried. She instantly remembered the events leading up to this and tried to free herself from the XANA-controlled William, but all she did was agitate the entity. She felt him stop walking and braced herself for another electric shock, but to her surprise received none.

Instead, he put her down. Yumi staggered uneasily, the effects of the first shock still with her, but she remained on her feet. Where am I? she wondered to herself. She listened, trying to get a idea of where she was at. As she listened, she heard the steady rhythm of small waves hitting concrete.

XANA had brought her to the factory! But, why?

Before she had time to react, the grip on her upper arms intensified. She cried out, trying to somehow free herself from him, but she could not. Yumi heard his eyes again twitch and imagined his expressionless face.

He spun her so that she was facing toward the river. She could feel the cooler breeze on her face as the slight wind blew against her skin. She knew immediately what XANA planned to do and again cried out, hoping that one of the others was nearby. She felt herself being pushed forward and could only take a deep breath before her head was plunged into the icy water.

*~*~*~*

"Virtualization!"

A large gust of wind blew at both of them. Odd and Aelita felt every part of their bodies being reconfigured as they traveled down a large tunnel. When they came to the end, they each got the final sensation of falling to the ground.

Odd and Aelita both stood and glanced around the Forest Sector, looking for any of XANA’s monsters. Upon not seeing any, they glanced at each other, each a bit apprehensive.

Jeremie looked at the monitor on the super calculator. "No monsters in sight for the moment." he said as if reading their minds. "Here comes the vehicles. Aelita, I’m programming the Overwing for you."

Even as he said this, the two vehicles were virtualized in front of the two passengers.

"What’s the matter, Jeremie?" Odd teased as he hopped on the Overboard. "You afraid to have Aelita ride with me?"

Jeremie shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No. It’s just that Ulrich still hasn’t found Yumi and if Ulrich’s right, Aelita needs to deactivate that tower as soon as possible. Who knows what XANA has in store for us and I’d rather we didn’t find out."

"Fair enough." Odd replied as he glanced over at Aelita. "Let’s go, Princess."

"Meanwhile, I’m going to see what went wrong with the return to the past." Jeremie muttered more to himself than to the two virtualized teens. He typed in a few commands and immediately the files for the return popped up. "Doesn’t look like anything’s amiss with the files."

"Should we go into Sector 5?" Aelita asked.

"No." Jeremie replied. "It would take just as long. Besides, you need to get that tower deactivated. Worry about that. I’ll handle this."

Odd took a quick look at Aelita before concentrating on where he was heading. "Don’t worry. We’ll get to that tower in time."

"You’d better." Jeremie informed. "If not who knows what kind of mess we’ll be in!"

"Yeah, we know." Odd replied, scanning for any sign of XANA’s monsters. He saw none. "XANA really needs to work on his hospitality!"

He glanced around, looking for the small, dumb monster that he was referring to, but saw none. "Where are they Jeremie? I don’t see them."

"There!" Aelita pointed from the Overwing toward her right. Odd glanced over Aelita’s head and noticed three little monsters striding down the path there.

"Ah, there you are." Odd commented cheerfully. "Go on Aelita. I’ll handle them."

Aelita nodded in response before zooming away, dodging the occasional laser fire that the small monsters shot at her. Odd watched her for a moment before turning his attention back to the Kankrelots.

"Laser Arrow!" he shouted as he shot his own weapon at the three. He missed and one of the monsters returned the favor.

Back at the factory, Jeremie rolled his eyes. I swear his overconfidence is going to get us all killed one day!

"Just be careful!" he said instead.

"Jeremie, how’s the return to the past coming?" Aelita asked.

"So far no luck." Jeremie responded, typing away furiously at the keyboard. "But in any case you’re closing in on the activated tower."

"I thought you said you weren’t going to get hit again." Jeremie remarked.

"So I lied!" Odd responded, speeding away from the laser fire of the two remaining Kankrelots. "Sue me!"

Before another word could be made, one of the Kankrelots fired and hit the Overboard. Odd jumped off onto one of the numerous trees the lined the region. Climbing down he ran toward the two small monsters, using his cat-like agility to avoid all the laser fire.

"Laser Arrow!" he shouted as he aimed his arm toward one of them. Immediately, an arrow shot out of his glove and sped toward the Kankrelot, striking it smack dab in the middle of XANA’s mark. The monster exploded on contact. "One left." Odd stated to himself as he ran toward the remaining creature.

"Aelita, your getting close to the tower, but watch out. I’m sure the Schyphizoa is slinking around somewhere." Jeremie warned as he watched Aelita’s progress on the monitor as well as fiddling with the return’s files.

Aelita glanced around her at her surroundings. "Well, it’s not in sight for the moment."

*~*~*~*~*~*

It didn’t take Ulrich very long to make his way through town. The thoughts of what could possibly happen to Yumi gave him the strength and energy he needed to continue sprinting toward the factory as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. The bridge soon came into view as well as two figures next to the pillars.

Without warning, one of the figures was shoved forward. Ulrich knew that it had to be Yumi and urged his tired legs forward, praying that they would not give out on him. He was close enough to see Yumi and William and yet too far away to do anything about what was happening.

"Please Yumi," he urged her as if she could hear his quiet plea. "Hang on."

*~*~*~*~*

Yumi could hear nothing as her head was submerged under the water except for the sound of her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen but she dared not open her mouth. She would certainly drown then.

Someone, please help me! She prayed in her mind. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

The grip that held her underneath never once relaxed and, by this time, she had ceased struggling against him. It was no use. While William was under XANA’s control, he was hundreds of times stronger than she was.

Yumi’s lungs continued to cry out against the harsh treatment, but she could do nothing to free herself. Her vision became clouded as she fought to remain conscious.

She suddenly felt William’s arms jerk as if he were taking his attention off her and to something else.

Once she nearly had her breath back, she listened to hear who her rescuer was and immediately realized that it was Ulrich. But now, by the sounds of it, he wasn’t doing too well against William. She heard him cry out and smack into something hard, but what that was she couldn’t quite tell.

"Ulrich!"

She couldn’t hear him make any sounds and feared that he had been knocked out. Her fears were confirmed when she heard William walking toward her again. As quickly as she could manage, she scrambled to her feet. She felt his hand brush against her arm and quickly drew back. In her mind, she calculated about where he was standing. Hoping that she was right, she lashed out with her foot.

Yumi felt her foot come into contact with his stomach and heard him fall back. She felt victorious, but only momentarily as she heard William get back to his feet and make his way toward her.

However, before he got close enough to hurt her, she heard him yell and a loud splash followed after.

"Yumi!" Ulrich exclaimed in relief. "Yumi, are you alright?"

"I am now." she replied, pushing her wet hair out of her face.

"Come on, let’s get into the factory before he comes to." Ulrich remarked after grabbing Yumi’s arm. Yumi nodded in response as she allowed herself to be pulled away from the spot that she nearly lost her life.

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as Jeremie heard the hiss of the elevator door, he spun around in his chair, expecting the worst. Instead he was relieved to see Ulrich standing inside the elevator helping a soggy Yumi inside the control room.

"Yumi!" Jeremie exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Let’s just say that William tried to convince me to take a swim before heading over here." Yumi commented slyly.

"How’s Odd and Aelita doing?"

Before Jeremie could answer Ulrich’s question, a fast beeping sound came from the computer. Hurriedly, Jeremie turned back to the monitor.

"Aelita!" he cried out. "Three of XANA’s monsters are around!"

Aelita looked around. "Where? I don’t see them."

"They’re showing up on the holo-map."

"I’ll keep on the look out." Aelita reassured as she continued to make her way toward the activated tower on the Overwing. Her eyes kept scanning her surroundings, but other than the pulsations, she found it to be quite quiet. "Jeremie, how far-"

Before she had a chance to complete her question, an unexpected blast hit the Overwing and the vehicle began to devirtualized. The next thing she knew, she fell hard on the ground. "Ow." she whimpered as she rubbed her back, but quickly stood and turned toward the direction the blast had come from.

"Jeremie!" she cried. "I found them!"

She stood in frozen shock as she watched a Block make its way toward her as quick as it could, it’s laser charging. Aelita regained her wits. She turned from the monster and fled as fast as she could only to find that the other end of the path was blocked by another Block.

In a desperate attempt to get away, she spied another plateau that was in jumping distance. She backed up in order to get more speed but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that yet another Block blocked that path.

"Jeremie! I’m trapped!"

*~*~*

"Coming right up."

Almost immediately, another Overboard appeared at Odd’s feet. As he was about to hop on, he stood rigid as a bright light invaded his sense of sight. Immediately following, a sepia-tone scene followed:

Odd stood in the same spot a moment, speechless as the last remnants of his vision faded.

"Odd!" came Jeremie’s scolded voice, snapping him back to attention.

"Jeremie, I just had a vision! Aelita is going to try to get away from the Schyphizoa and end up falling into the Digital Void! Warn her and I’ll be there in no time!"

Without waiting for Jeremie’s answer, Odd flipped onto the Overboard and sped away as fast as he could, trying to beat the Schyphizoa in the race to Aelita.

*~*~*~*~*

Too worried that Odd’s vision would come true, Jeremie ceased work on the return’s files and instead went to biting his lip, praying that Odd would make it to Aelita in time. Behind him, Yumi and Ulrich were doing about the same. Jeremie had warned Aelita about the contents of Odd’s vision and there was nothing more that they could do.

Nobody dared to move…not even to blink as if by not doing so would help things. Yet the moments of stillness did not last as the three of them heard the hiss of the elevator doors opening. Ulrich and Jeremie spun around just in time to see William rushing out of the elevator and toward the three of them…or more specifically Ulrich who did not realize that he was the object of XANA’s assault until it was too late.

All the oxygen was expelled from his lungs when William’s fist made contact with the softest part of Ulrich’s stomach. He sputtered a moment before recovering from the attack and lashing out with his own counterattack. William, however, blocked the attack. With Ulrich’s fist securely in his hand, a jolt of electricity passed from the possessed William to Ulrich who had no defense against the assault. Using this to his advantage, William threw him into the wall of the room.

"Ulrich!" Yumi called out, desperately trying to figure out exactly what was going on. "Jeremie?!"

"Yumi! He’s coming after you!"

Yumi frantically tried to back away but she could not tell which direction William was coming from…all the noises were echoing throughout the small enclosure making it nearly impossible to tell which direction the sound had originated. She also knew that she could not just turn around and flee from him; there were too many wires and other things that she could easily trip over.

Panicked, she lashed out again with her foot, hoping to keep him away as she did before, but this time she was unsuccessful. He easily dodged her counterattack and continued toward her. She slowly backed away, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible, but even she knew that the amount of distance really didn’t matter. If XANA wanted, he would get to her easily. As this realization came about her, she felt her back hit one of the walls of the room.

Yumi knew at that moment what a trapped animal must feel like…and she didn’t like it; not one single bit. She knew she was helpless against him and hated the feeling passionately.

"Get away from her!" she suddenly heard Ulrich shout. She let out a relieved sigh as she scooted out of the way. Moments later the sickening sound of bone hitting metal was heard and Yumi feared that XANA had taken care of Ulrich for good this time. She heard someone take steps toward her but she wasn’t sure who it was.

"That’s two you owe me." came Ulrich’s teasing voice. Yumi breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt apprehensive. Ulrich had stopped XANA from killing them this time, but how long could that possibly last?

"Aelita! Hang on! Odd’s almost there!"

"I hope so." Aelita answered, a small amount of fear creeping into her voice. Jeremie warned her of Odd’s vision which frightened her even more.

She could do nothing to save herself. As soon as se tried to get away, one of the Blocks would fire at her, either with it’s lasers or freeze her in place, keeping her still until the Schyphizoa could get there. There was nothing she could do but wait there until help arrived.

But what if it doesn’t? Aelita thought as the seconds slowly ticked by. What if this time no one makes it in time? What if XANA succeeds in getting my memory? Then what will happen to us?

Aelita never told anyone, but these thoughts plagued her every time she stepped foot on Lyoko. They sometimes even haunted her when she was on earth, away from the Schyphizoa.

The sound of the monster drew closer. Aelita could feel the panic well up inside of her. Her green eyes remained wide open as if to watch for XANA’s monster. She didn’t see it.

Odd, please hurry up! She prayed.

"Aelita! The Schyphizoa!" came Jeremie’s frantic voice.

Whirling around, Aelita saw the floating monster looming over her. She gasped in fright and backed away from the tentacles that danced around her. Immediately, she remembered what Jeremie had told her about Odd’s vision and stopped walking.

Exactly what the Schyphizoa wanted.

Aelita could do nothing as a tentacle wrapped around her. She gasped again as she hung there, unable to move; helpless to free herself. She saw the other tentacles making their way around her head and yelped as the monster began sucking her memory from her.

With each piece, she gradually began to feel weaker and weaker. She wanted to free herself from the unbearable feeling of having her memory pumped from her head, but she couldn’t. All she could do was hope that Odd would hurry.

*~*~*~*

Even from afar, Odd could see the familiar sight of the Schyphizoa. It wasn’t a hard thing to miss, being so large and all.

And it had Aelita.

Good thing I can multi-task, Odd mused as he leveled his weapon at his eye level. "Laser arrow!" he shouted as he fired, continuously getting closer to the scene on the Overboard.

Direct hit.

The Schyphizoa dropped Aelita and backed away, but only a little. Aelita scrambled to her feet and tried to run underneath the Schyphizoa, but a Block reminded her of it’s presence. Aelita froze, not wanting to be hit by the laser blasts.

The remaining two Blocks turned their attention to Odd and began a series of rapid firing at him.

"Shield!" Odd shouted. Immediately a purple shield came up from his wrist and deflected the blasts. He lowered the shield and returned the favor.

Jeremie watched the spectacle from his seat in the control room, biting his index finger hard enough to cause a small abrasion. "Hurry…" he muttered under his breath, not noticing. Yumi and Ulrich stood behind him, both as anxious as he was.

"Odd! The Schyphizoa is going after Aelita again!" Jeremie warned.

"Just a little problem to take care of first!" Odd retorted as he dodged more laser fire. Man, I really hate these stupid Blocks!

His strong dislike of the monsters elevated when the two spun around so that a different side was facing him…the fire ring side.

"Great…" Odd growled under his breath. The fire-rings were shot out at him. Odd successfully dodged the first three by rising into the air, but the second Block realized this and decided to shoot continuous rings at different angles.

It was a bit trickier to dodge, but miraculously the cat-boy managed. "Laser Arrow!" he shouted as he again launched an assault. This time the arrows penetrated XANA’s mark on the Block that had stationed itself on another plateau. "Yes!" he said triumphantly. His glee turned to horror as he watched Aelita back away from the Schyphizoa, getting closer and closer to the edge.

No!

*~*~*~*

Aelita knew that Odd was around and doing his best to get to her, but the thought didn’t stay too long on her mind as she concentrated on getting away from the Schyphizoa. Even the thoughts of Odd’s vision faded away as she saw the monster’s ominous body looming over her. She could do nothing but back away.

Suddenly she felt her foot slip. Frantically she glanced back to see that her foot was no longer on the plateau but rather hanging over the Void. Desperately she tried to regain her balance in any way she could, but it was no use.

The next feeling she got was of her falling…

"Aelita!" Jeremie cried out as he watched helplessly.

"No!" Ulrich echoed Jeremie’s horror. Yumi gasped, knowing that Odd’s vision was coming true just by the way Ulrich and Jeremie were acting. A groan came from behind her.

"XANA…" Ulrich growled.

Odd saw what was happening. Another laser arrow hit one of the remaining Blocks, but he didn’t care. He pushed the Overboard as fast as it could, racing to Aelita’s falling form before the Void claimed her as a victim.

He was closing in. He was close enough to see the genuine fear in her eyes. He didn’t say a word as he began his downward trajectory, spinning in order to gain more momentum.

Odd was under her, but barely. He didn’t have time to get any farther down. He leveled the Overboard out and scooted forward as Aelita’s petite frame slammed into the back of the board. Odd held out his hand and helped her to a standing position; a large sigh of relief reflected everywhere on his body - including his tail.

"Next time you feel like leaving your buddies there, Princess, let me know first. I can give you a safer ride home." he joked as he winked at her.

Aelita giggled in response as she grabbed his waist, afraid of falling back toward the Void.

"Nice job Odd!" came Jeremie’s relieved voice.

Odd zipped away from the site. "Next stop: the activated tower!"

*~*~*~*

The Return’s files looked completely normal to Jeremie as he searched through them. Everything seemed to be in place and nothing appeared to be missing. But Jeremie was certain XANA had somehow corrupted the files; and he was going to find out just what it was.

Behind him he heard William slowly get to his feet. Jeremie turned in his chair to face Ulrich, who was already getting ready for the battle that was certain to ensue.

"Can you handle him?" he asked.

Ulrich waved his hand carelessly. "Yeah sure. No problem. Look after Yumi."

Jeremie turned to the girl who he was referring, expecting to hear her protest Ulrich’s order and insist that she was capable of looking after herself. To his surprise she said nothing and instead took a step closer to the supercalculator.

She must realize how serious this is, Jeremie mused. "Right." he said in reply to Ulrich. Turning back to the monitor, he glanced a moment to see Odd and Aelita’s progress.

"Odd, Aelita, how are you doing?"

"Well…actually it’s pretty quiet." Odd replied as he and Aelita continued to make their way toward the tower.

Aelita scanned the neighboring paths as Odd guided the vehicle through the wooded sector. Nothing in sight. Then again, they just had a large battle…

"I think I’ve found something!" Jeremie suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Aelita asked, having no clue what he what he was searching through.

"The return…I think I found the file that XANA corrupted!" he replied, almost sounding relieved.

"Great!" Aelita replied. "Now we just have to get to the activated tower."

"Good luck!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Relief surged through Jeremie like he had never felt before. Everything was almost all right again. Now, he just had to pick out the individual file and fix it.

Suddenly a loud thud was heard behind him. Jeremie spun around and saw Ulrich laying limp against the wall beside him. Ulrich didn’t get to his feet this time, however. This time he was out cold.

Jeremie gritted his teeth as he glanced at the monitor. He was so close to finding the file, but hadn’t determined which of the remaining three it was and with William drawing closer to Yumi, he realized he didn’t have time to search. He had to decide which one he was going to have the super computer fix and set up the data for the return trip. If he chose the wrong file to "fix", they all could be in worse shape then they were now. He wasn’t exactly sure how, but it was XANA’s doing. Anything could happen.

Suddenly everything made sense to Jeremie. It was as if a curtain was lifted from his face. XANA had altered the return’s files just before the attack on Yumi. He had merely injured her so that Jeremie would launch a return trip thus carrying out the first part of his evil plot. Then later, once he had the chance to get a hold of the helpless Yumi, he took her to the factory to act as though he was going to kill her, forcing one of the others to come to her rescue, preventing that person from going to Lyoko. Then XANA knew that the two of them would head to the control room where Jeremie would be working on the return files. There, in the small enclosure XANA would strike again, this time getting rid of the third person leaving only Jeremie and Yumi - two easy targets. Knowing Jeremie would be in the predicament that he was in now, XANA would sabotage one file and mess up something in the past, causing major troubles for the rest of them. What those were, Jeremie wasn’t yet sure of nor did he want to find out.

He saw William get closer and closer to Yumi and knew that he had to do exactly what XANA had planned.

He glanced nervously at the three remaining files. He was certain XANA had meant to stop him long before he had narrowed it down to three, but there was still a good chance Jeremie would choose the wrong file. Time was running out.

He clicked the second one to run the automatic repair program before leaping out of his chair and grabbing Yumi by the arm. Dragging her behind him, he ran to the elevator praying that he had chose correctly.

But, when it came to luck, Jeremie had always had the short end of the deal.

*~*~*~*~*

Odd was beginning to believe that they would no longer have any more battles to fight and that they had already defeated all of XANA’s monsters. It seemed that way…after all, no more of XANA’s mechanical minions had made their appearance as of late.

But he had no idea that his overseer had just fled for his - and Yumi’s - lives and could no longer help them. He wasn’t even thinking of the possibility despite the fact that it happened quite often. That was why he was so surprised when a laser blast shot him in the shoulder, throwing him off balance on the Overboard.

However, his cat-like agility allowed him to quickly regain the lost balance and straighten out. Glancing around wildly, he was shocked to see a Tarantula a few steps away from him.

"What the -?! Thanks for the warning Jeremie!" Odd shot, annoyed that the boy had not warned them about the danger.

No reply.

"Jeremie? Jeremie?! Are you there?!" Aelita asked, worriedly.

Still no response.

"Great!" Odd sighed sarcastically. "Now where has he disappeared to?"

"Something’s wrong." Aelita replied after dodging another blast. "We have to get to the tower fast!"

"Just a little something to take care of first." Odd commented as he raised his arm, aiming at the moving monster. "Laser arrow!"

The Tarantula swung around as Odd’s arrow missed it’s target and hit the monster’s back. Annoyed, it sat back on two legs and raised the other two into the air and returned fire, only more rapidly than Odd could match.

That did not mean, however, that he wasn’t able to avoid the blasts. Of course that didn’t mean he dodged them all either. As he prepared to fire back, one of the lasers hit him in the right wrist.

On the supercalculator, his virtual model flashed red and on his ID card, his life points went from 60 to 50. However, there was no one there to warn him. He could only guess on the amount of life points he had remaining.

"Aelita, get to the tower. I’ll hold him off." Odd commanded the girl that was still flying near him.

She glanced at him, then at the Tarantula almost as if she were sizing the monster up. Without a word, she turned the Overwing away from the danger and toward the activated tower as Odd stayed behind, keeping the monster away from her so that she could achieve her goal and save her friends.

Odd watched her go for a moment before turning his attention back to XANA’s monster. He desperately wished Ulrich was on Lyoko right now to help him out, but the fact was he was on his own…again.

Odd knew he could fight against XANA’s monsters unaided by either Ulrich or Yumi. He had already beaten 3 each of Kankrelots and Blocks, not to mention the Schyphizoa without significant point loss, but he was uneasy about that. He should be on his last few points now.

Must be getting better, he mused. The moment of egocentrism was cut short when another blast penetrated his defenses.

Down to 20 life points. Odd knew another hit would mean devirtualization. Shifting his weight so that he could obtain better aim, he momentary looked in the direction Aelita had left only to not see her.

I hope she’s not in any danger… he thought as he turned his attention back at the Tarantula. With a deep breath he fired....and missed. The Tarantula swung and fired.

Odd was immediately devirtualized.

Aelita glanced back only once to check on Odd’s progress. From what she could tell, he was making none. Knowing that he had to have had few life points left, she continued speeding over the path that lay out in front of her. She could see the activated tower not far off in the distance, but while she was closing in, she also had a long way to go.

*~*~*~*

Heart beating, and breath coming at a rapid pace, Yumi clutched tightly to Jeremie. He was her eyes now and the only one that could get both of them out of this situation. She knew that she had to have complete faith in him and trust that he knew what it was he was doing, even if he really didn’t.

Not a word was uttered between them as they sat there, hidden in the shadows of some metal object. She could feel the coldness radiate toward her, causing her to shiver, and her muscles began to cramp from kneeling in the same position without moving. But she made no protest. Jeremie did what he could under the pressing circumstances and she appreciated it.

Abruptly she heard the sound of footfalls. She moved her arm a tad, just enough to alert Jeremie. She could tell by his response that he had also heard the steps and she felt him press his hand down on her back. He wanted her to crouch down lower. She complied with the direction and felt him do the same. She tried to slow down her breathing which had since become erratic. Sweat trickled down from her forehead as she sat in the uncomfortable position, not knowing what to expect next.

The seconds felt as though they were hours as she kept still, listening as those steps drew closer, then faded off in the distance, and came back again. He knew they were in here somewhere, and soon he would run out of other places to look. William would surely find them then. Then what?

Yumi didn’t even want to think about that. As she repressed a shudder she realized that this was how Jeremie must have felt all those other times he fell victim to XANA’s attacks while the rest of them were on Lyoko. She made a mental note: next time Jeremie tells us to ‘hurry up’, super-sprint Aelita to the tower.

Provided, of course, that there was a next time.

William’s footsteps came closer to their hideout than they had before. This time, however, he didn’t turn away. Yumi held her breath in suspense. He was just behind them. Would he peek over the metal barrier between them?

She heard Jeremie shout. XANA saw them. Yumi felt herself being pulled by Jeremie away from their once-safe hiding place. The stiffness in her legs caused Yumi problems. She stumbled, but Jeremie refused to let her fall to the ground. Hoisting her back to her feet, he continued running. Yumi followed, trusting that he wasn’t going to something dangerous. Her life was in his hands now and she knew he knew it. Now she just had to trust that they’d get out of this mess alive.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jeremie kept glancing over his shoulder to see how far away William was. To his dismay, every time he looked back, William was drawing closer and closer to them. He knew that they - or more specifically he - wouldn’t be able to hold out at this pace much longer. He prayed that Aelita was already in the tower…that’s really all he could do.

If it was just him, he might have been able to manage something that could have bought him more time, but he was also safeguarding Yumi. Her life was in his hands, and that was nothing he could just shake away. He realized how the others must have felt while fighting on Lyoko, knowing that so many lives rested in the palm of their hands.

"Come on." he urged Yumi as she again stumbled. He was determined not to let her fall. She regained her footing and kept pace with Jeremie. He knew that had she had her sight, she’d be the one dragging him.

Jeremie glanced back once again only to find that William was nowhere in sight. Surprised and worried he turned back in front of him just in time to see William land directly in their path. With a startled yelp, Jeremie stopped dead in his tracks. Yumi, not anticipating the sudden stop, plowed into the back of Jeremie. Not noticing, Jeremie turned and fled in the opposite direction.

The turn was so sudden that this time Yumi fell. William was on top of them in moments. Jeremie tried to help her back to her feet but by this time it was too late. William backhanded Jeremie who flew a few feet away from Yumi. Standing between them, William glanced at each before his gaze finally rested on one of them. A yelp of agony quickly followed.

"Jeremie?!"

*~*~*~*

The tower loomed right in front of her. She was close enough that she could see the markings on it…and the Megatank that was guarding it.

Aelita grunted in annoyance. She didn’t know where Odd was or if he was even still on Lyoko. She knew that she had to fend for herself this time.

The Megatank spotted her and fired. With a grim, but determined face, Aelita expertly maneuvered the Overwing out of danger. A plan began to form in her mind. All she needed to do was hit it in the eye. But she had no weapon.

Or did she?

She glanced down at the Overwing and a smile sprang to her lips. In order to pull it off, however, she had to time it just right.

The Megatank fired again. As soon as the beam went back in, Aelita sped straight toward the monster. It would take it a while to prepare it’s laser again, giving Aelita the perfect opportunity to pull her plan off.

She was closing in. Faster and faster. The laser was closer to being charged. Aelita could afford no mistakes.

At the last possible second she could, she jumped off the vehicle. She rolled end over end a couple of times before finally stopping. She glanced up just in time to see the Overwing collide with the Megatank, it’s bottom striking the monster right in the mark. Instantly the thing exploded.

Now she was free and clear and wasted no time running toward the tower. She could only pray that it wasn’t too late.

Yumi could hear Jeremie’s cries of pain. Crawling on her hands and knees, she tried to make her way over to him, but a sharp kick in the ribs prevented her from moving any closer. Her breath left her in a hiss. Despite the fact that she couldn’t see him, Yumi felt herself glare intensely at William. It was really all she could do. The cries continued.

She couldn’t take it any longer. Regardless of whether William saw her or not, she struggled to her feet, the big-sister instinct she had toward the boy genius beginning to take over her actions. Before she even knew what it was that she was doing, she launched herself at William and was surprised when she felt her hands over his face. Part of her ached inside. She was attacking a friend.

Yet this friend, at the moment, could kill her and the others and never receive a scratch from any of her attacks. Regardless of who it was, she just couldn’t stand by and allow him to kill off any of her friends. Jeremie held a certain place in her heart. He was like the perfect younger brother to her, the one she could talk to when she was having doubts about herself, about XANA…about Ulrich. She couldn’t just sit idly by and allow him to continue in this agony. Not while she was there anyway.

"Run!" she urged the boy.

"I’m not leaving you." he said stubbornly, but weakly. Yumi knew that if XANA attacked him again, he wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Hands gripped her upper arms enough to bruise them. She winced as William pulled her off of him. The next feeling she had was of flying through the air. That is until her back slammed into some hard, metal object behind her. This time all the air contained in her lungs was expelled. She wheezed as she sat there for a moment, dazed. Jeremie let out another cry of pain.

Aelita, please hurry!

The wall of the tower gave way as soon as Aelita put her hands through. The rest of her body followed as she passed into the tower. Walking into the center of the first platform, she could only hope that Jeremie, Yumi, and Ulrich were alright as she leaned her head back and floated up toward the second platform.

Jeremie felt only agony. Agony that he was unable to free himself from. He glanced over at Yumi’s dazed figure just in time to see her body become surrounded by the blue electricity he found himself in. She cried out.

"Yumi…" he could only mutter as he felt himself beginning to slip out of consciousness.

Landing on the second platform, Aelita strode over to the center where an interface immediately popped up. She reached out and set her hand on the interface. The thing recognized her instantly and her name flashed on the screen for a few seconds. AELITA…

Yumi struggled to keep awake. Jeremie’s cries had begun to subside and she feared he was on the verge of death. Or he already was dead.

She felt a lump rise in her throat. No, he was fine. Aelita had to be deactivating the tower now and at any moment now XANA’s attack would stop.

But the electricity just kept coming.

Aelita’s name disappeared off the interface. CODE:

The windows that had been activated each began to close down.

"Tower, deactivated." Aelita announced as she took a step back from the interface. She watched as all the windows finished shutting down.

William’s eyes returned to normal and he collapsed to the ground. Yumi and Jeremie also fell and laid there for a moment, dazed.

"Jeremie?" Yumi asked, making sure he was alright. She received no answer and instead heard labored breathing. On her hands and knees she crawled toward the sound and finally stumbled on his limp figure. He breath was shallow…he was nearly dead. "Please tell me you launched a return…" she said gravely even though she knew that he couldn’t hear her.

A white light sprung up from the bottom of the tower. Aelita was the first to feel the effects as it engulfed her, then all of Lyoko, Odd, the lab, Ulrich, the factory, Yumi and Jeremie, and the entire city. As time was being reversed Odd frantically prayed that Ulrich, Jeremie, and Yumi were all alright.

After the blinding light passed, Yumi, Jeremie, and the others found themselves back in time nearly a week back. Jeremie looked around apprehensively, wondering if he had chose the right file. Everything looked normal…apparentally he had chosen correctly. Jeremie sighed in relief. No one said as word and the only sounds that could be heard was the sound of random chattering from other children that stood nearby. Odd was the first one to break the silence.

"Great!" he whined as he realized how far the return had put them. "We’re going to have to relive a week?!"

Nobody paid the slightest attention to his comment. Yumi turned her head toward each of them before she stopped at Ulrich. "Nice to see you again, Ulrich." she said with a smile.

"Y-you can see me?" Ulrich exclaimed, almost breathless. Yumi nodded and laughed. "That’s great!"

Before he realized what he was doing, he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her. Yumi was at first shocked at this sudden show of happiness, but she had to admit, she didn’t mind it. As if realizing what it was he had done, Ulrich let go and backed away, his face crimson. Yumi felt a twinge of disappointment that the embrace had been cut off so quickly, but she refused to show it. Her face, however, told another story. It was a shade lighter than Ulrich's, but the others could tell that they were both delighted by what Ulrich had done.

"Don’t worry Odd." Jeremie commented after seeing Ulrich and Yumi's reaction. "I have the feeling that it’s going to be quite different this time."

Meanwhile, Sissi had made her way to Ulrich. "Oh Ulrich!" she called out in a sing-song manner.

"Oh great." Ulrich muttered under his breath as his face returned to normal. "What do you want?"

"Ulrich guess what?"

Odd piped up before any answer could be made. "The Subsonics are playing in town this weekend and you have 2 front row tickets."

A shocked look came across Sissi’s face. "But, how did you know that?"

"I have my ways."

This time it was Ulrich’s turn to speak up. "No, Sissi, I will not go with you."

"What?!" Sissi exclaimed incredulously. "Why…?!"

"I have my reasons." he replied as he turned to Yumi and smiled. Yumi continued to blush but smiled back.

"Erg!" Sissi growled.

"Hey, Sissi, why don’t you ask Herb? I’m sure he’d be delighted." Aelita suggested with a small laugh.

Sissi’s face grew red as she stormed away. Odd glanced over at Ulrich and Yumi who were once again beat red before finally turning to Jeremie. "You know, Jeremie, I think you’re right." he said with a sly smile. "This week is definitely not going to be the same."

THE END