Chapter One - Mourning

Yumi awoke to find herself in Ulrich's arms. Was she really alive? Did they really save her, or did Ulrich? Why…she jumped into the digital void, why did he save her? She would have died anyways, no cure for radiation, or at least none had been invented yet, nor would they be able to invent one in enough time to save her. Yumi looked around at her surroundings; she was in the scanner room, and only Ulrich was there with her.

"Ulrich, why am I still alive!? I jumped into the digital void, why save me; I'm going to die in time anyways!" She exclaimed, looking up at him. She tried to get up but he gently pushed her back down.

"No you won't Yumi; X.A.N.A. has done his job already. And besides, everyone else is dead in your family; I didn't want to lose you too." Ulrich said turning away so Yumi didn't see his face.

"But I- Wait…what did you say" Yumi asked as horror stuck her face. She noticed Ulrich's red eyes begin to brim with tears.

"Yumi, your parents are dead…"

She wanted to be dead to the real world. Just like her parents and her little brother, only they were gone for good, all because of X.A.N.A. She lie on her bed in her dorm; face covered in tears and eyes red rimmed and glossy.

'Why me…' She cried, 'Why did this have to happen to me…?

A soft rapping on the door filled her head and jumped her back into reality. She already had a good idea on who it was, but she let him come in anyways.

"It's open," Yumi said in a teary voice. A brown headed boy poked his head into the room and saw his friend lying on the bed.

"Yumi?" He said "The dinner bell just rang, are you coming down?"

"No, I'm not hungry." The sound of Ulrich's voice reminded her of her little brother, Hiroki, and made visions of her family pop into her head once again. This made the tears stream harder down her pale face. Ulrich walked over and sat down next to her on the bed, his hand touched her back. She let it stay there.

"Yumi, I know this is hard for you but, be thankful you have parents that care about you. I mean, all my parents care about is for me to get top grades and to become lawyers like them." Ulrich said. Realizing he hadn't helped much, he fixed it to a happy ending, "What I'm trying to say Yumi is that your parents love you and care about you, and I would do anything to have parents like yours."

"You mean, did." Yumi corrected him. Before Yumi could finish what she was about to say, Odd Della-Robia popped his head into the room finding Ulrich and Yumi. While Odd would normally crack jokes about the two, especially with how close they were, he knew that now wasn't the right time.

"Hey Ulrich, Yumi, come on the dinner bell has rung, are you comin' or not?"

"I'm more tired than I am hungry; I think I'll just stay in my room." Yumi said. Ulrich glanced down at Yumi; debating whether to go or not. Yumi answered for him.

"Just go Ulrich; I'd rather be alone anyways." She faced her pillow again.

"If you're sure Yumi…" He still debated whether to go or not.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Yumi said sternly. Finally convinced that Yumi was not in the mood, the boys decided to respect her privacy and mourning and head to dinner.

Before getting up, Ulrich slid his hand up to Yumi's shoulder. Leaning down, Ulrich whispered in his best friend's ear: "I'll always be here if you need to talk. Remember that." And with that, the young teenager got up to join his friend for dinner.

When the boys left, Yumi sat up, and started to dig for something under her bed. Like Ulrich, she also kept a diary but only wrote about the bad stuff that has happened in her life; like the day she moved from Japan to France when she was five. Only that bad time turned into something good; in seventh grade, Yumi met Ulrich and the rest of the gang. She had trouble finding a blank page in her book, seeing how she's had this book for over twelve years now. Though most of the bad situations that were written were either stupid or turned into something good; Yumi knew that this was the only journal entry that would stay as sullen as the day she wrote it.

Picking up her pen, Yumi began a new journal entry:

April 26, 2005

My parents are dead and Aelita has finally been materialized. We shut down Lyoko tomorrow for good. Personally, I wish I was still on Lyoko and being shut down with it. Of course, I knew Ulrich wouldn't have allowed that to happen. He's always worried about me and does whatever he can to protect me. It's as if he doesn't think I can make decisions on my own.

I know my writing sounds like I hate Ulrich and all, but I really don't. He cares for me like I care for him. I guess I'm just taking the death of my parents harder than I expected; especially Hiroki's death. I mean sure, we fight with each other when he gets into my personal life and such, but every sibling does that, I even do that with my friends.

I guess I should be happy my grandparents are paying for me to stay in a dorm at Kadic. Sometimes I want to move back to Japan, but I know moving will only remind me what I have lost.

Yumi heard then dinner bell ring again ending dinner.

I know my life has been severely and emotionally scarred, but I can't help but to agree that Ulrich is right. Though my parents and little brother a big pains sometime, I know it's because they loved me and cared about me and were willing to anything to keep me safe. I just wished they didn't have to die to prove it.

Yumi closed her journal and put it back under her bed. Slowly, she climbed out of her messy and unmade bed, kicking piles of dirty clothes, books, and other supplies out of her way as she went to her closet. Though she was raised on cleanliness, Yumi didn't find keeping a tidy room an important matter at this time. She stripped off her day clothes, dropping them on the floor, and pulled on her pajamas. Making her way back to her bed, the young Asian girl pulled her wrinkled covers over her head and slowly closed her eyes.

Hello Readers,

I'm sorry I have neglected this story for the past three years. In my hopes that those of you who are still following will forgive me, I have re-written From the Ashes Grow the Roses and will promise to update as frequently as I can. Thank you for all the reviews, I will do my best to finish it.

[BR0KEN-TYPE-WRITER]