A/N: This is for my brother, Lyoko fan extraordinaire and one of the many who were very sad to see it end. Including myself, admittedly.
Summary: XANA is gone, the Supercomputer has been shut down, but many of the loose ends have yet to be tied. Ulrich wants the first day without XANA in their lives to be special, especially for Yumi. UlrichxYumi
He stuttered, his voice a mix between sadness and nervousness, "I-It's been so great, I just don't want it to end." Her smile was gentle, full of knowing and understanding. She of all people knew exactly what he meant. After all the adventure, all of the heroism, the ups, the downs, and everything in between… it seemed almost blasphemous to let it all go.
"There will be plenty of other good times, even without Lyoko," she assured him, taking his hands in her own and giving them a light squeeze.
With a hopeful sound in his voice, he asked, almost shyly, "You promise?"
Her smile grew wider and she gave a single nod, her eyes soft. "I swear."
Ulrich stared out of the window, his eyes glassy. That same moment played over and over in his mind, where it was just him and her, her and him, standing there hand in hand.
I swear, she told him. She swore there would be good times, no Lyoko to count on. He just wondered if that would be the case, most of their friendships based on the fact that they met because of the threat of XANA. He and Odd might not have been friends, he and Jeremie, certainly would never have been friends, Aelita would be a nonentity and Yumi… he and Yumi would not be nearly as close.
He sighed. But how close were they? The two of them told each other they would be just friends, but why did it irk him so whenever she talked to the newly recovered William? Did it bother her when Sissi came out of the woodwork to flirt with him? He couldn't tell.
"Psst, Ulrich! Hey!" Ulrich snapped out of his reverie, glancing back to an irritated Ms. Hertz who looked as if she were waiting for something. Odd elbowed him again, whispering, "She asked you a question, dude!" His mouth was slightly open as he stared at his science teacher, anything he ever learned on the subject drifting from his brain, his mind as clean as Odd's lunch plate.
"Uh…" Before he could embarrass himself further, the bell rang, and Ms. Hertz slammed the book she was reading from shut.
"Mr. Stern," she told him in annoyance. "I expect a little more attentiveness in my classroom, young man. This is a very important subject that—"
Odd interrupted smoothly, ushering Ulrich from the room, "I totally agree Ms. Hertz, and I'll help him work on that. See you later!" The best friends were out of the room quicker than she could blink and she let out an irritated sigh, shaking her head.
"What's up with you, Ulrich? Even I'm not that spacey." He glanced to his blond friend, the ostentatious hairstyle he sported still getting a few weird glances from a few of the students. They sat at the table, the first of their group to arrive, and Odd watched Ulrich with unusual attentiveness, not bothering to even pick up a lunch tray yet.
Ulrich was silent, staring at the table uncomfortably. Odd was his best friend, but did he trust him with this piece of information? For a moment he watched the blond, running a hand through his brown hair before resting his forehead against his palms. "Odd…" he started, looking up from under his bangs at him. "Do you think we'll lose our friendship because there's no more Lyoko?"
"Of course not!" Odd replied with a burst of laughter, socking Ulrich in the arm. "What makes you think that?" He examined the brunet's face for a moment, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. Ulrich was acting strange today. Odd tilted his head to the side slightly, furrowing his brow. "Is this about Yumi?"
Ulrich's face flushed, and he glared determinedly at his hands. "No," he replied unconvincingly.
"You're such a bad liar," he told him cheerfully with a wave of his hand. Ulrich gave him a disparaging glance and went back to burying his face in his hands. "Oh, come on, Ulrich. You don't really think that do you?"
He responded downheartedly, "It's like Jeremie said, it was the one thing that brought us all together. Now that it's gone for good… we might let each other go. What if Yumi falls for William or something?" For a moment Odd stared at him, then a strange choking sound emitted from him, and it took Ulrich a second to understand that he was bursting with laughter. "I'm serious, Odd!"
"I know!" he gasped, pounding his fist on the table. "That's what's so funny! Yumi… falling… William!"
"Wow, Odd, you might want to get that checked out," an amused voice commented, and Ulrich glanced up to see a black clad Japanese girl standing with a rather unappetizing lunch tray, her onyx eyes fixed on Odd. "Hey Ulrich," she greeted him, taking the seat beside him. "What's up? You look a little down."
Ulrich gave her a smile and shrugged. "I'm just not hungry. Catch you guys later." He passed Aelita and Jeremie without a word, pushing his way out into the sunshine. Odd and Yumi glanced to each other, the latter looking worried for Ulrich.
He sighed as he walked to the vending machines, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to change for the worse now that Lyoko was gone and XANA obliterated. The boy didn't know if he could take it.
"What are you doing out here, Ulrich?"
"Leave me alone, William, I'm not in the mood."
William cocked an eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest, offended. "What's got your panties in a bunch?" he questioned flatly. "Did they kick you out of the group like you did to me?"
He snapped, starting to walk away from William, "No, there's nothing wrong. Just get off my back, okay?"
"Just so you know," he told him, placing himself in front of Ulrich. He balled his hands into fists, ready for a fight. "If you're worried about Yumi," Ulrich blinked, turning to look at William in surprise as his hands grew slack, "don't be. She already told me it was a lost cause. But I'm not going to stop fighting Ulrich." His eyes were narrowed, his crossed hands clenched into fists now. Ulrich was shocked; William always had some uncanny ability to know what was wrong, he just never knew how annoying it could be. "I already knew I didn't have a chance with her. Wanna know why?"
Ulrich gritted his teeth, wishing William would just go away. "Why don't you enlighten me, William?"
William jabbed his finger into Ulrich's chest. "Because of you." He was rendered speechless, the taller boy letting his arms fall to his sides. "It's always been you, Ulrich. I've been hoping that she'd give it up when you didn't see how much she liked you. But she never did, so I thought I'd fill you in, because I don't think she ever will give up." He gave Ulrich a small smile before turning on heel with his hands in his pockets, whistling a tune.
Ulrich asked sharply, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
For a moment William pondered that, before answering, "I was never meant for her."
…:oOo:…
"Hey, Odd, have you seen Ulrich anywhere?" Yumi asked, tickling Kiwi's belly. The blond was sitting at Jeremie's desk, compiling something on his computer; it was probably a new movie, she noted, taking in a few of the Kadic students running for their lives.
"Nope," he replied, stringing two scenes together. "Haven't seen him since lunch today."
"That's strange," she commented, helping a wriggling Kiwi onto his feet. "I'm going to go look for him, see you later." As the door shut behind her, a relieved Odd rested his head onto the desk, giving Kiwi a withering expression. Picking his dog up with two hands, he held the rather strange faced pooch high in the air.
He told his dog, "You know, you're lucky you are so cute Kiwi, otherwise Yumi would've known I was lying."
Yumi walked down the hallway, her boots clunking loudly on the tile floor as she reached the exit to the dormitories. Before she went anywhere else, her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she saw that Jeremie had sent her a text message. "SOS XANA?" she pondered, wondering if it was a residual text or if he had sent it accidentally. Shaking her head, and saying, "This is stupid," Yumi ran off to the park, and took the familiar climb down the manhole.
Her skateboard was resting against the sewer walls, and a strange sense of déjà vu came over her as she flew down the drain quickly. At the end she climbed up a separate manhole, sliding aside the cover and stepping out onto the long suspension bridge. She sat at the edge of the aperture, the wind ruffling her dark hair, memories flickering through her mind. "This is the last time," she told herself, shaking her head. "Last time."
With a resounding thud Yumi closed the cover and ran into the old factory, leaping onto a rope and propelling herself to the floor. Her shoes slid slightly on the linoleum, and when she steadied herself she ran into the elevator straight ahead. Her fist went into the red down button, the clanking of the grate as it shut in front of her was almost like music to her ears. It was so familiar, she had just done this same routine only yesterday, after all. And the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that, and…
The lift came to a stop in the familiar computer room, but there was no Jeremie in sight, just a large manual resting on the computer chair, and the computer itself, for some reason, was on. She walked over to it, not able to believe her eyes, the familiar script prompts the Jeremie worked so well were flying across the screen like they usually did. No, like they used to. Furrowing her brow, she spotted a note with her name on it, and picked it up.
Yumi,
Get to the scanner room, XANAs not as gone as we presumed. I'm in the room with the Supercomputer; Ulrich will meet you in Lyoko. Launch yourself a delayed virtualization.
Jeremie
For a moment Yumi was shocked, but she shook her head clear of any pessimistic thoughts. "Well, I finally know where Ulrich's been," she commented, pressing the correct keys and hopping back into the elevator. She reached the scanner room and stepped into one just as the countdown hit zero, the scanner doors closing around her.
She dropped to the ground and nearly lost her balance. Yumi blinked and glanced around; she was in the Desert Sector, the very, very real desert sector. "Ulrich?" she called, started to walk, and nearly lost her balance again. Glancing down, she nearly had a heart attack; she was wearing her old costume, the original one with the boots and the kimono, the obi and the bandages.
"Jeremie?" she asked, "What's going on here?"
"Yumi!" She glanced over and saw Ulrich sprinting towards her, in his samurai garb. "You're here, I thought you'd never come."
She replied, "What's going on Ulrich? Jeremie loaded our old outfits, and I don't see a monster in sight." Ulrich's expression was strange, almost… sheepish? Her expression turned flat, the pieces falling into place. "It was you!" she accused, her hands against her hips. "You did this, didn't you? You turned the Supercomputer back on! Did you even bother to check if that was okay?"
Ulrich bit his lip, staring at his sandals. "Jeremie… said it was okay, just this once. Yumi… I wanted to be in Lyoko with you one last time. Just you and me. Do you remember… when I saved you in the Desert Sector?" Yumi's eyes fell to her own shoes, the moment replaying in her mind. It was just before the return to the past, Ulrich had saved her life but after that… Her cheeks flushed.
"Yes." She nodded, glancing to the tower that stood tall before them. He smiled, taking her hand slowly.
Ulrich squeezed her hand, and pulled her into a hug. Yumi's face turned into a blank mask of shock. "I want our first day without XANA to be special, Yumi," he whispered, and she stared over his shoulder, her eyes glassed over with tears. "And I want you to know, that I've always loved you."
"Ulrich…" She pulled back slightly, water glistening on her cheeks. He stood taller, and pressed his lips to hers.
…:oOo:…
"All shut down," Ulrich convinced Jeremie, his smile brighter than any of them have ever seen it. Yumi was blushing, her chin in her hand and staring out the cafeteria window. Odd and Aelita glanced to her and back to each other, knowing expressions on their faces.
Ulrich felt a pat on his back, and glanced up to see William walking by. He smiled and took Yumi's hand.
There would be lots of good times. He just knew it.