"I'm gonna miss you, y'know, while you're over in some battlefield getting shot at." Yumi joked. It's all she can do at this point, hide just how worried and upset she truly was at the fact that Ulrich was leaving her. He wanted nothing more than to serve for his country, he always liked being the hero after all, but Yumi understands and doesn't prevent him from pursuing his dream. It just hurt so much, almost unbearably so, to watch him put his life on the line and she can't be there to protect him should anything happen.

"Don't worry about it, Yumi. Nothing's gonna happen to me, I promise."

"You're completely insane."

"I love you and I'll be home soon, alright?"

"Hah, I married a mentally unstable liar...Figures."

"Yumi!"

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Ulrich. Stay safe for me...I trust you."

In the back of his mind, he can hear someone screaming his name. He doesn't recognize the voice, well, not over the gunshots and explosions anyway. He can barely hear it, but it's too late. He'd already reacted by rushing into the fray to cover the two children who had wandered aimlessly into the middle of an all out war. Throwing his body over them in an attempt to shield them from the crossfire, he began leading them away. There's a loud eruption just to his right and the building goes up in flames almost immediately. Glass and metal shrapnel are thrown in their direction, some catching in Ulrich's arm, but a significant piece of metal piercing straight through his leg, burying itself in his flesh. He was concerned that he'd felt the impact, but not the pain. He'd never been so thankful for an adrenaline rush, but it doesn't stop the extreme dizziness that followed from being much too close to that blast. His ears rung and everything in his vision was just a mess of blurred colors and white lights. The nausea hit him like a sucker punch to the stomach and then there's the sudden burning sensation of a bullet grazing his side. The last of the adrenaline wore off and then...

Everything just hurt.

The two children were relatively safe and go running off in the opposite direction, leaving their savior without a simple thank you.

He fell forward, pressing himself into the mud to avoid further fire and his comrade is already sprinting towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist and hoisting him up, carrying him away from the debris and gunfire. It burned, like flames searing his skin, his head spun out of control and he was practically deaf. His fellow soldier's mouth was moving, but his voice was lost. He's barely aware of his weight being shifted from one man to another, hands and fabric pressing against his injuries. Everything became more out of focus and being the stubborn man he was, he fought against it. He wouldn't give in to the pain, he just couldn't admit defeat. But, it's a pain he had never encountered before. So much unlike the aches of training too hard or being devirtualized on Lyoko all those years ago. It's overwhelming and all consuming...He can't hold on. He recognizes the smell of blood...His blood. He wanted more than anything to scream. The last thing that crossed his mind before he drowns in darkness was Yumi wearing that beautiful smile of hers.

When he comes to, he instantly feels cold and exposed. He had been stripped of his uniform and there was an absurd amount of bandages wrapped around his body, all of which were stained with blood. His chest is throbbing and his heart had finally slowed. It all aches, even with the drugs being administered into him through the IV needle, he still feels like he's gonna die at any moment. His eyes take a moment to adjust to the unreasonably white surroundings of what was no doubt the infirmary. He can suddenly feel the stitches running along his leg and the urge to vomit.

When his ranking officer comes to visit, Ulrich makes an attempt to sit up straighter, elbows weak and trembling against the bed in a poor attempt to support his weight. His senior shakes his head, a small grin on his face.

"It's okay, kid, you can relax. I'm just here to inform you that we're releasing you under medical discharge. You'll be heading back home to France for as long as it takes for you to heal up properly. We'll discuss you resuming your duties when the time comes."

Ulrich can only nod and on his ranking officer's advice, he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

It takes a little more than twenty four hours before he's home again in France and his parents at there to greet him at the airport, offering their son a ride to his house. His mother is already showering him in kisses and gentle hugs, unable to contain her tears. His father doesn't say a word, but he does help him into the car. Ulrich insists that he can load his own bags, but thanks his father regardless. They drive him home, his parents trying their best to avoid asking the questions Ulrich knew they wanted answers to, but he's thankful that they're trying to be mindful.

When they arrive at his house, they help him inside and he limps over to his room, opening the door to find a certain black haired girl sitting on his bed. She had been waiting for him.

At first, Ulrich just stares incredulously at her. No. That's impossible. She was just in Japan not two days ago, because he was Skyping with his wife just before he had gone and got injured. She was rubbing in the fact that she was on vacation, but also reminding him how much she'd missed him.

"How?" It was the only coherent word he could manage to get out. Yumi just smiles at him sweetly, getting up from the bed and wrapping her arms around the soldier lightly, comforting, so warm and soothing. He can't help himself from melting into the embrace. He can't believe Yumi was here, in his arms, after months of only seeing her through the screen of a computer miles away. The overwhelming sense of joy forces his heart to swell and he can't help but get teary eyed.

The first of many kisses is gentle, fleeting, just the light press of lips against one another. It calms them both down long enough for Yumi to ease Ulrich onto the couch beside her, his injured leg propped up on the table and Yumi leaning on his right side.

Yumi sets about running her fingertips over the scratches on Ulrich's arm, her warm fingers ghosting over the raised flesh as if it would heal them. It's so heartfelt and sincere that Ulrich faces her and smiles, falling in love with her all over again.

She can't be anything but happy. He was alive and that's all she could ever ask for.

"Ulrich?" Yumi begins, eyeing the bandages wrapped around his stitches.

"Yeah?"

The geisha sighs. It breaks her heart to see him hurt like this. "I'm glad you're safe."

He presses his lips to her forehead, smiling that boyish smile he couldn't contain when he's around her. "I missed you so much, Yumi. I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise."

Yumi tenses for only a moment, but shakes her head in disagreement. "You and I both knew the risks. I'm just glad you're safe...Alive. That's all that matters. You're my everything, my strength and weakness. I trust you...And I love you so much."

Ulrich wraps his arms around Yumi and pulls her in close.

"I love you too, Yumi."