After taking a shower and putting on his usual nightwear-tank top and boxers-, Ulrich settled down in his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to go to sleep. It had been three full days since Xana attacked and Ulrich had been restless ever since. This time he managed to go to sleep, but was immediately greeted with his unhappy thoughts of the ‘Xana Attack', with a different turn of events.

Yumi and Jeremie watched the computer screen with hope that Aelita would make it to the tower safely, but feared something would go wrong as well.

"Ulrich, Odd, you two only have 40 life points. Aelita, you have 60. Please be careful out there you three. Since you guys are in the Mountain Sector, Xana can send any monster he wants, just about." Jeremie said.

"Chill out Einstein! We'll be fine!" Ulrich said blocking the lasers that one of the three Krabes they faced were aiming at him, with his sword. He then jumped on top of the Krabe with ease and struck his sword in the eye that faced him. He jumped off the Krabe just before the creature exploded. Then he went over to where his sword was laying, grabbed it, and turned towards Aelita.

"Aelita, head for the tower. Odd and I will handle these two monsters." He told her. Aelita nodded and ran off in the direction of the tower. Ulrich then headed over to assist Odd with the two Krabes he was fighting.

"Will she be alright by herself?" Odd asked as he jumped from rock to rock before managing to jump on top of one of the Krabes. "Laser Arrow!" he shouted and shot two arrows into the eye of the creature. He then jumped off and watched as the Krab exploded with satisfaction.

"Nice shot! Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine." Ulrich said, fighting against the last remaining Krabe.

"Um...guys, hate to burst you bubble, but Aelita is being faced by a Megatank at this very moment!" Jeremie said, not sounding happy at all.

"Go take care of Aelita, Odd. I'll take care of this Krabe." Ulrich said.

"Alright, man." Odd said and started running towards Aelita, who was going one-on-one with the Megatank. It wasn't long before Odd reached her. He started shooting arrows at the Megatank just to get its attention off of Aelita.

"Aelita, go hide behind some rocks until the path is clear enough for you to make it to the tower." Odd suggested to her.

"Ok! Be careful, Odd!" Aelita said and ran off to hide.

While Odd had been heading off to defend Aelita from the Megatank, Ulrich had his hands full trying to defeat the Krabe.

"Triangulate!" Ulrich shouted and formed a triangle around the monster, confusing it. It took a while before it tried to shoot at the real Ulrich, which is just what Ulrich had been waiting for. As soon as the fake Ulrich was shot, and the triangle vanished, Ulrich jumped on top of the Krabe, catching the creature by surprise. Ulrich then plunged his sword into the eye, and moments after getting off the Krabe's back, it exploded.

Once he picked up his abandoned sword, Ulrich looked over at the direction Odd had headed and saw Odd battling the Megatank Jeremie had mentioned. He decided he'd be best off to go help out his buddy, for the quicker they got rid of the monster, the quicker Aelita could deactivate the tower.

"Super sprint!" Ulrich yelled out and went as fast as he could to go help Odd. When he got halfway there, he got shot down. He turned around in time to spot two Hornets before being shot again, which caused him to be devirtualized.

Getting out of the scanner with a bit of effort, Ulrich got into the elevator, planning to demand an answer to why Jeremie didn't warn him about the Hornets. He got his answer when the elevator opened up and he saw Jeremie and Yumi standing over a snake that looked like it was knocked out just for the moment.

"We need to get back to the computer now, to check on the others." Jeremie stated and looked up, spotting Ulrich immediately.

"Ulrich! What happened?" Jeremie asked him. Yumi looked up, shocked.

"Hornets caught me by surprise." Ulrich replied. Jeremie nodded and returned to the computer to see that Odd was still fighting the Megatank and Aelita was waiting for the right moment to head for the tower. Ulrich and Yumi stood by him, looking at the screen as well.

"There are some Hornets about, you two." Jeremie warned them. The warning was heard, but neither of the two responded.

Back in Lyoko, Odd was struggling with the Megatank. For some strange reason, Odd noticed that they were getting closer and closer to the edge of the sector. He also noticed that the Megatank had stopped shooting and was just rolling towards him instead.

"Aelita! Head for the tower! Now!" Odd shouted, just as he felt the Megatank push him.

Aelita, realizing Odd was in trouble, ran as fast as she could towards the tower, hoping that she could deactivate the tower and the return to the past would take effect before things got worse.  

Just as Aelita entered inside the tower, Odd had just been pushed to the very edge of the sector and was trapped. He then saw the Megatank back up. Odd relaxed, thinking the creature gave up, seeing that Aelita had entered the tower and it was all over now. He was wrong. Before he knew it, the Megatank, rolling really fast, pushed itself and Odd over the edge.

"NO!" Odd cried just before disappearing into the Digital Sea.

"ODD!" Ulrich called out. At that very moment, Aelita had deactivated the tower, and the return to the past had taken place.

The group stood by the computer, all of them appearing sad seeing as one of their teammates had been taken away by the Digital Sea.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ulrich asked, wanting his friend back badly.

"All I can do Ulrich is to try and find a way to bring Odd back. But I don't know..." Jeremie stopped mid-sentence, feeling very unsure if he could bring their friend back in Lyoko, let alone back to Earth.

"I'm sure you can bring him back, Jeremie." Yumi said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "You managed to bring Aelita to Earth. You also brought me back when I was taken up by the Digital Sea. I'm really sure you can bring Odd back as well."

Jeremie nodded and looked up at Yumi.

"Yes, but at those times I had the materialization code at hand and could easily bring you guys to earth. Now that Aelita doesn't need the code anymore, I think I just tossed it away somewhere. I don't know if I can find it now..."

Now, Ulrich remembered exactly what happened after that. So after this moment, he expected Jeremie finding the CD containing the code in his room, bringing it back into action, and managing to find Odd and bring him back to Earth.

But his nightmare thought otherwise...

A few days later, a very upset Jeremie talked to an even more upset group of friends.

"We've searched the whole entire factory, as well as the school! I know I didn't throw it away! I swear I didn't! But materials like that just don't grow legs and walk away!" Jeremie placed his head in his hands, trying to hold back tears.

"I hate to say this, but I'm afraid we've lost Odd."

"NO! We can't give up! We got to keep searching!" Ulrich complained, a tear escaping his own eyes.

"What's the use? We've searched everywhere, and we've all came up with nothing." Aelita said.

"But..." Ulrich tried to argue back.

"Forget it Ulrich. We've tried our best, but we'll never bring Odd back without that code. I'm sorry, but we'll just have to move on without him." Jeremie stated. Both Aelita and Yumi nodded sadly in agreement.

Ulrich shook his head vigorously and sank down to his knees.

"No...No...NO!"

Ulrich woke up immediately, feeling someone shaking him awake. Then he heard that someone speak.

"Ulrich! Wake up man! If we don't hurry, we'll miss breakfast!" that someone said. Ulrich then realized who that someone was.

Odd.

Ulrich opened his eyes, and lightly pushed his buddy off of him.

"Ok! I'm up. Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a bit." He said.

Odd nodded and, grabbing a change of clothes, headed out the door.

"See you at the showers!" Ulrich heard his friend say before hearing the door close. It was then he just realized how deeply relieved he was to realize that what he just went through was a dream and Odd was alive and ok. He also realized how much hurt he felt in his dream when he thought he would never see his best friend again. Except, it felt like losing more than just a best friend. It felt more like he was losing his very own...

"What am I thinking?" Ulrich said to himself as he gathered up some clothes, walked outside of his room, and closed the door behind himself.

"And more importantly...Why?"

"Hey you guys! I was beginning to wonder if you were coming," Jeremie said with a laugh as Ulrich and Odd came to the table, both holding a tray of food.

"And miss out on breakfast? No way, man!" Odd said, sat down, and started chowing down on his pancakes. Ulrich shook his head as he sat down as well, but he wasn't in the mood to eat. He just raked the pancakes with his fork lightly as he thought about the nightmare he had last night. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't hear Jeremie ask if he was ok.

Jeremie looked worriedly at Aelita, who was sitting right beside him, who also noticed Ulrich's mood. She nodded at Jeremie, reached across the table and lightly touched Ulrich's hand. She felt Ulrich jump a little then look up at her.

"You ok, Ulrich?" she asked him, a look of concern in her eyes. Ulrich hesitated in answering as he looked between Aelita and Jeremie, noticing they were both concern. He then took a deep breath.

"I just had a bad dream last night," he managed to say. Aelita nodded, and Jeremie sighed in relief.

"You want to talk about it?" Aelita asked. She still looked worried. Ulrich could tell very easily. He looked over at Odd, who was paying no mind to the conversation going on as he was still eating. Ulrich then looked back at Aelita.

"I'll talk to you about it later," he promised. Aelita nodded again and went back to eating her breakfast. Ulrich stared back down at his breakfast, which looked a bit scarred from the fork.

"Hey Ulrich! You going to eat that?" Odd asked. Ulrich shook his head and pushed his tray over to Odd. Odd grinned at Ulrich, and then started eating the food on the tray.

Classes went like normal; Odd falling asleep, Jeremie giving the right answers to the teachers' questions along with Aelita, and Ulrich off in daydream land as usual. At lunch time, though, Ulrich disappeared. His friends were worried as to where he went, and what was wrong. That was until Aelita felt her phone vibrate. She grabbed it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.

"No worries, guys. It seems Ulrich has texted me," she said.

"Well, hurry and tell us what it says!" Odd said. He was the most worried in the group, seeing as this was his best buddy that disappeared.

"Well, just a second, Odd," Aelita said as she read the message silently to herself. A slight frown formed on her face once she was done.

"He wants me to meet him. I'm sorry, guys, but I can't tell you where. He wants me to keep that private. He needs to talk to me, now, about this morning. So, I'll have to go. I'll see you all later," Aelita said, and quickly put her phone away.

"Well, at least tell him we are all worried about him, please?" Yumi pleaded.

"I will," Aelita said, grabbed her books, and headed out of the dining hall.

Ulrich paced helplessly, impatient, and nervous for Aelita to get to the Hermitage. He hoped that the others would not follow her, or that she would tell them where she was going. Sure, the Hermitage seemed like an obvious place to meet, besides the factory that is, but he could think of no where else to talk to Aelita privately.

Suddenly he heard some knocking on the door behind him. He stopped his pacing.

"Ulrich?" came the voice he had hoped for.

"I'm here, Aelita," he said and walked over to the door, opening it so Aelita could walk in.

"Well, I have to admit, you chose a nice place to meet. And my old room, none-the-less,"Aelita said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"It was about the only place where I thought we could have some privacy. You didn't..." Ulrich couldn't finish.

"No, Ulrich, I didn't tell them where I was going. They are worried about you, though." Aelita reassured him. Ulrich sighed in relief.

"I'm worried about myself as well. It's all thanks to the nightmare I had, too," he said, sounding very upset.

"Let me guess...your nightmare was involved somehow with the last Xana attack in which Odd had fallen into the Digital Sea?" Aelita asked. Ulrich was shocked at how accurate she was on her first guess, but only reacted by nodding.

"Except, this time, Jeremie didn't find the materialization code, so Odd was lost forever," he paused, part of him not wanting to go on. Aelita seemed to understand.

"Let's sit down, then you can explain more if you wish," she suggested and led Ulrich over to the bed. Ulrich complied and sat down. Aelita then did the same. It was a long while before any of them spoke.

"Aelita...in my dream, it felt as though...I was losing more than just my best friend."  

"I hate to sound like a therapist over here, but what were you exactly feeling when you found out Odd wasn't coming back?" Aelita asked.

"I...I felt very empty inside, and very lost. It's almost like as soon as I found out Odd was gone for good, darkness seemed to cloud over me, and I could no longer see where I was, or where I was heading. I didn't like that feeling. I didn't like it at all..." Ulrich confessed, trying to hold back tears that were threatening to fall. Aelita did not say a word, knowing there was more to come.

"I felt very relieved to wake up to the Odd's annoying wake-up call. It's as though all those horrible feelings vanished as soon as I saw those mischievous looking eyes of his. Could it be that...?" He stopped right there, not wanting to say exactly what he thought he was feeling. Aelita took this moment to speak.

"Yes, it could very well be that. I can't tell you if it is true or not, though. You will have to find that out for yourself, Ulrich. I'm not trying to be cruel, but you know as well as I do that I can't control anyone's love life except for my own," she stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I wish you the best of luck, though, in trying to find your true feelings. If you ever need someone to speak to, you can always call me up. I'll be here for you Ulrich, to help you when you need it."

Ulrich nodded and stood up as well. He then embraced Aelita into a hug.

"Thanks Aelita. Just talking to you has helped clear things up a lot. It also tells me I've got a lot to think about as well. Thanks for listening me out. I hope I make the right decision on what my thoughts are trying to tell me. I probably will call you up again soon though," he assumed. Aelita hugged him back and then looked down at her cell phone.

"The bell is about to ring. We best be heading back so we won't be late for our next class." She informed him.

"Yes, let's," Ulrich agreed, and they both started their way back to Kadic.

The rest of the day Ulrich thought about the conversation that he and Aelita had, and finally came up with a decision.

"I'm going to talk to Odd, tell him how I really feel about him, and just hope he doesn't thing I'm crazy," he told Aelita as they walked to the cafeteria together. Aelita placed an arm around his shoulder.

"I doubt he'll think you're crazy. He'd probably be surprised about how you feel for him though. Don't worry too much. He's your best pal. What's the worse that could happen?" Aelita said, not knowing that her question put a knot of fear in Ulrich's stomach.

"Y-yeah, what's the worse that could happen?" he asked himself. As they entered the cafeteria, Ulrich spotted Odd and took a deep breath.

"You can do it, Ulrich. Remember, he's your best friend." Aelita prompted him and gave him a pat on the back. Ulrich nodded and walked over to Odd.

"Hi buddy, how's it going?" Odd asked as Ulrich showed up right beside him. Ulrich placed a hand on Odd's shoulder and looked Odd straight in the eye.

"I'd like to talk to you, in private, if you don't mind," he said.

"Sure." Odd said and got up.

"Let's go to the Hermitage." Ulrich suggested. Odd nodded and they headed off in that direction. It was a long, silent hike to the empty house as neither of the boys felt the urge to speak.

The long walk soon became short as Ulrich realized that they were now at the Hermitage. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves once again, Ulrich walked to the front door and held it open for Odd, then walked inside himself. He then spotted a couch in the used-to-be living room. Ulrich motioned in that direction to show Odd that that's where they could sit and talk. Odd nodded and walked over to the couch and sat down. Ulrich followed immediately afterwards.

Silence continued a bit longer as the boys sat there, each not looking at the other. It was Odd that broke the quiet atmosphere.

"So...what's up, buddy?"

Ulrich looked down at the floor, unable to look at Odd, and murmured a few words incoherently. Odd frowned, wondering what was getting Ulrich so nervous and why he wouldn't look at him.

"I'm sorry Ulrich, but you are going to have to repeat that." Odd said, sounding a tad bit impatient to know what all the fuss was about.

"Odd...I have a...a crush on you." Ulrich said softly, but loud enough so a now shocked Odd could hear. Ulrich blushed and remained looking at the ground, afraid of what Odd's response was going to be.

"Wow...strange, because I've been having the same feelings for you for quite some time." Odd said. He was glad he was able to spit out the truth as well, making him feel less of an idiot by saying it, and knowing that Ulrich was feeling the same way.

Ulrich, surprised at Odd's response, finally looked up at Odd with a hint of happiness and hope in his eyes.

"R-really?" he stuttered, feeling that if he said the wrong thing at the moment, it would ruin the special bond that was happening. He really didn't want that to happen.

"Yeah, it's kinda a shock, isn't it? It took me a while to realize why going out with all the girls I went out with did not fulfill my desires. Plus, it caught me by surprise when I realized that I was gay, and not only that, but I was having feelings for you as well. I just didn't know how to express my feelings to you, not knowing if you were feeling the same way or not, or that you would think that I was crazy. But now that I know how you feel, I can safely say...I love you, Ulrich." Odd stated. Ulrich didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. Odd, taking the silence the wrong way, thought up of a plan, and fast.

"Want me to prove it to you?" Odd asked.

"How?" Ulrich said, shocked that Odd would ask such a question.

"Just one thing: Do you trust me?" Odd asked as he pushed Ulrich into lying down on the couch. It took Ulrich a moment to think what was going on, before he answered.

"Yes, I trust you, Odd."

"Then, relax and enjoy." Odd said with a soft smile that reached his eyes. Ulrich relaxed at that gaze and just nodded weakly.

Odd lightly touched Ulrich's face with his fingers and let them travel down to his over shirt, which he calmly, and carefully slid off of Ulrich. He then started unbuttoning the shirt that was underneath and effortlessly slipped that off as well, which left the tank top.

"Mind taking that off for me, hon?" Odd asked. Ulrich shook his head, sat up, and took his tank top off with ease. Now bare from the waist up, he laid back down, letting Odd have control again.

The first thing that caught Odd's attention was his nipples, in which Odd teased mercilessly with his fingers, causing Ulrich to moan lightly. While his fingers did their job at arousing Ulrich sexually, Odd's mouth decided to make acquaintance with Ulrich's, and the boys found themselves kissing each other deeply. This made Ulrich very excited, which caused his cock to harden with desire. Odd felt it as well and, deciding to push Ulrich's trust in him just a little more, let his hands travel down to Ulrich's pants as he continued to kiss him. Slowly, and confidently, Odd unbuttoned and unzipped the pants and slid them down to Ulrich's ankles. He then released himself from the kiss, panting hard, and knowing Ulrich was panting hard himself.

"Still trust me?" Odd asked as he lightly placed his hand right of top of Ulrich's boxer-clad, erect cock. He heard Ulrich gasp at the touch.

"Yes," Ulrich said, sounding just as excited as he felt. Odd gave him a smile then focused his attention to Ulrich's boxers, gently easing them down to join the pants. The sight he saw was very awe-inspiring, and he froze.

All this time, Odd had been dreaming of seeing his friend's cock, but his dreams now seemed pale to what he was seeing at this moment. His friend's 6 inch erection was a sight to see, and Odd was more than eager to put it in his mouth.

Ulrich seemed to know what was on Odd's mind, but also saw that he was a bit hesitant, as if he didn't know if it was safe to do it.

"I trust you." Ulrich said, a reassuring smile on his face when Odd looked up at him.

"If it gets to be too much, just let me know." Odd said, then, after seeing Ulrich nod in agreement, slowly took Ulrich's erection into his mouth. Ulrich gasped and closed his eyes, getting more excited at the moment. Odd took the reaction in a good way and started teasing Ulrich's cock with his tongue as if it was a lollipop.

"Oh...please...don't stop!" Ulrich managed to say, not able to breathe normally with Odd teasing him the way he was. Odd obeyed that command with no complaint, enjoying pleasing his new lover. He continued to give Ulrich the best blow job he could ever imagine, taking his cock deep into his mouth and sucking on it eagerly, wanting the special treat that he knew was inside and ready to come out. His hands wanted to help out as well, taking a firm hold of Ulrich's balls and stroking them.

"Oh...my...God!" Ulrich shouted, on the verge of coming. Odd understood, but kept his friend's cock in his mouth, wanting to taste his friend. His hand's continued to stroke as well as tickle Ulrich's ball sac.

"ODD! I'M GONNA...!" and at that very second he came, fast and hard. Odd expected it, and swallowed it all cleanly, only having a bit of stray semen on the corners of his mouth by the time his friend was done. He released his friend's now small, non-erect cock from his mouth and tenderly kissed the tip of it before looking up at his friend. The expression he saw on Ulrich's face told him everything.

"Odd...that was wonderful! I never...ever came that hard before! Then again, the only times I did I was stroking my own self. That was nothing like this! Oh Odd...!" Ulrich sat up and kissed his friend hard, tasting himself in his friend's mouth. He then pulled away, looking Odd right in the eye.

"I love you." Ulrich then looked down at his friend's crotch and then looked back into Odd's eyes.

"Fuck me...please!" Odd was about to reject that very idea, thinking that it was too soon, but those puppy dog eyes his friend pinned him with made him resist arguing. Plus, his own erection, which he had completely ignored until now, seemed to agree with Ulrich's request.

"Well, it's a good thing I carry these babies around with me," he said, reached into his pocket, and pulled out some condoms and a container of lube. Ulrich eyed them with excitement.

"Let's go to Aelita's old room, though, where there's a bed. It will be a whole lot more comfortable than this old couch." Ulrich nodded, and after the progress of pulling his boxers and pants back up, Odd lead him in the direction they were to go, an arm around Ulrich's shoulders.

"It's been about an hour. Where the heck are they?" Jeremie said, looking at Aelita suspiciously.

"Hey, don't look at me that way. I have no clue as to what's keeping them," she said. But I have a slight idea as to what is, she thought.

"Can't you at least tell me what they had to talk about?" Jeremie asked. Aelita shook her head.

"I wasn't sworn to secrecy, but I'm definitely positive Ulrich wouldn't want me to tell. If he and Odd want to tell you then let them tell you, not me." Aelita said firmly.

"I believe you, honey. Sorry." Jeremie said and wrapped his arm around her in a hug.

"Just promise me one thing. If you ask, and they don't want to tell, don't push them, ok? What they have to talk about is very serious to them, and I don't know if they want to spread the news just yet." Aelita stated.

"Okay." Jeremie said with a nod.

"Thank you." Aelita said.

An hour later, after they each fucked one another, Ulrich and Odd laid down on the bed, embracing each other.

"God, I feel like I'm dead. Two orgasms in one day. That's a lot to take." Odd sighed. Ulrich laughed weakly.

"You think you're tired!? Try to experience three orgasms in at least an hour, then you can tell me that you feel dead," he said. Odd smiled and lightly kissed his love on the forehead.

"I believe you, sweetheart." He said, brushing away some hair from his partner's face.

"So, does this mean...?" Ulrich couldn't finish his question.

"Yes, this means we're lovers, partners, soul mates, whatever you want to call us." Odd answered.

"But, we're now termed Gay. Aren't you afraid we'll get caught and picked on?" Ulrich asked, worry in his eyes.

"We'll worry about that later on down the road. Right now, let's just enjoy each other's company."

"Ok..." Ulrich said. Odd chuckled softly when he saw Ulrich yawn and his eyelids grow heavy.

"Here, sweetie, lay your head on my chest." Odd invited, and Ulrich complied, letting himself relax against Odd. His eyelids started feeling heavier by the second.

"Don't...don't we need to...get back to...school?" he complained lightly as Odd rubbed his back in a circular motion.

"Who cares? Tomorrow is Sunday anyways, meaning no classes. So we can sleep in late. Now relax, hon, and go to sleep." Odd said.

Ulrich realized Odd was right, and started to relax even more. Just before falling into a deep sleep, he looked up at Odd and whispered, "I love you, my partner."

Odd smiled as he heard those words and whispered, "I love you, too," in Ulrich's ear just as Ulrich's eyes closed and he was off to dreamland. He looks like an angel, Odd thought as he watched his partner sleep. He then grabbed the blanket at the end of his feet and pulled it over both his and Ulrich's naked bodies.

"Sweet dreams, my love," he said softly, before falling into dreamland himself.