I do not own Code Lyoko or any other already invented characters that work their way into my story. I do own new characters, though.

This takes place a few years after Xana's been shut down. The gang now attends the high school, Spring Grove, that Kadic feeds into and Yumi was accepted at Oxford.

He walked along the lake, hands tucked carelessly in the pockets of his blue jeans and stared at nothing in the depths of the water. Scuffing his toe along the bank, he stopped exactly thirty yards from the pier and stared deeper into the water. He could of sworn he saw something glittering on the bottom, but he brushed it off and stared across the lake. He let the events of the day slide through his mind, discarding almost everything. The days have been quiet recently, and he was beginning to wonder what he'd do when he graduated. There would be really no point for him to remain here, but he couldn't just abandon his friends.

The wind picked up, and he could almost hear his best friend whisper in his ear. He shook his head, not in the mood to have his thoughts examined, even when he was the one examining them. He glanced into the depths of the lake again. Staring back at him was a young man with unruly brown hair, somber brown eyes, and eyebrows knitted together in thought. Wondering who it was, he suddenly remembered that it was him. 'I've changed a lot since I've last been here,' he thought, lifting his head again. Last time he was there he was nothing more than a child, his brown hair still unruly, but his eyes were full of joy and he didn't have nearly as much on his mind.

The glint of light caught his eye again, and this time he rolled up his pants and waded in to see what it was. Scooping up a handful of sand, he saw a small, ovalish object in the middle of his hand. Carefully rinsing it off, he held it up to the moonlight and watched as a pale blue light danced over the ground. Smiling at a deeper significance, Ulrich Stern carefully tucked the gem into his jean pocket and headed back into the woods, pausing only once to glance behind him at the calm water.

He had been gone barely ten minutes when the water churned where he had stood. An odd, shimmery light appeared from the bottom of the lake, and the water churned even more. Suddenly it stopped, leaving no sign behind. A light summer breeze picked up a wayward leaf and tossed it into the lake, the moonlight played over it, and a fish jumped in the middle of the lake. A flash of light illuminated the bank briefly, showing another gem, this time orange, had settled in the place where the previous gem had been.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ulrich leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He was almost done with his history report, he just had to write the conclusion, but he couldn't concentrate with his roommate yacking on the phone with his current girlfriend. Worse, the two had been in a conversation for the better part of twenty minutes now and seemed to have no intentions of hanging up anytime soon. Sighing, Ulrich bent his head over his paper again, intent on at least trying to finish the paper before midnight. His walk had done him good, but a decent night's sleep would do even better.

Pencil poised over the paper, Ulrich began to think of his history. He has kept so much of his past secret from his friends. It was almost time to let them know the truth. He sighed, tilting his chair back again. He either had to tell his friends the truth or he had to pack up and leave. His best friend was good at packing up and leaving. Shaking his head at that thought, he slipped his hand into his pocket to clench the gem. At the touch of his fingers, though, the gem lit up again with a light brilliant enough to shine through the denim of his pocket. Hastily, Ulrich removed his hand from his pocket and tossed his blonde roommate a glance.

Thankfully, Odd DellaRobbia was so absorbed in his conversation he hadn't noticed anything. Sighing yet again, Ulrich carefully landed his chair on all four legs, stood up, stretched, and walked to the door. Carefully opening it, he slipped into the quiet hall and walked down to the bathroom. Once safely in the bathroom, Ulrich pulled the gem out of his pocket. The light danced again, illuminating the dark bathroom with such brilliance that Ulrich had to squint in order to see.

An image swirled in the light, its back towards him. Ulrich made out a young woman with shoulder length hair wearing a halter style evening gown before the image turned to face him. With a start, Ulrich recognized the facial structure of his best friend. He hadn't seen her in years, not since they had to separate to protect each other.

Ulrich watched as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared off into the distance, her hazel eyes intent. Deep in thought, she didn't notice when a strand of her copper hair fell into her face. Carelessly, she flicked her hand over her face, sending the hair back into place before crossing her arms again. The white of her dress shone against her tanned skin, and Ulrich found himself wondering why she was dressed in such finery. He hoped she had found a place to settle for awhile as well, but knew that the odds were slim. She would pick up and leave at the slightest hint of danger.

Eventually, Ulrich decided it would be best if he returned to his room. Tucking the gem once more in his pocket, Ulrich crept from the bathroom to his room, carefully making as little sound as possible. Slipping his door open, Ulrich entered, expecting Odd to still be on the phone with his girlfriend. Instead, he saw Odd standing over his desk, looking at his paper.

"Have you even started yours?" Ulrich asked, moving in behind his friend and pulling the paper gently from his hands.

"Of course I did," Odd scoffed, moving towards his own desk. "I was just seeing if we had any of the same thoughts."

"I doubt it," Ulrich said, sitting down. "Our lives have been influenced differently before Xana, remember?" Pulling out his pencil again, Ulrich scratched something down. Seeing her again, if only a reflection, had given Ulrich a clarity of the mind he hadn't felt in years.

"Still," Odd said as he pulled out a bundle of papers, "we could have had some same ideas."

Ulrich laughed as he tucked his essay into a folder and under his mattress. "Don't try to get it out," he said as he got ready for bed. "You need to do your own work." Flopping under the covers, Ulrich stared at the ceiling with his arms behind his head. "Besides, you're the one who was talking to Clarice since I got back from my walk. You need to organize your time better."

"My time is organized," Odd squeeked indignantly. "It just got a little messed up tonight, that's it. Where did you go just now, anyway? You were gone an awfully long time."

"I had to use the bathroom," Ulrich fibbed. "Dinner didn't agree with me very well."

"Whatever," Odd drawled, rolling his eyes. "You ask me, you've been acting really strange lately."

"Strange how?" Ulrich turned to look at Odd. For some reason, Odd was avoiding looking in Ulrich's direction.

"You always taking walks alone," Odd said. "You eat in a hurry and you don't come back to the room until really late. At night you mumble to yourself." Odd turned to look at his friend. "We're worried about you, Ulrich. Yumi wants to come back from college to make sure you're all right because you haven't called her in weeks."

At the name of his girlfriend, Ulrich's stomach clenched. In all his worries about packing up and leaving or letting his friends know the truth, he forgot about Yumi. He had been meaning to call her, but he always got distracted. "I've been meaning to call her," he mumbled.

"'Meaning to call her' and calling her are two separate things, Ulrich," Odd said as he turned back to his desk. "I don't know, Ulrich. Maybe its you who needs to organize their time better."

Ulrich waited awhile, just in case Odd had anything to add. When it seemed he would add nothing more, Ulrich rolled over and fell asleep, his thoughts drifting carelessly to Yumi and his best friend.