Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko whatsoever. If I did, then there would be about thirty seasons out right now, and it would be on air everywhere.
Title: Nights Like These
Summary: The Lyoko Warriors were pushed too hard, and two of them decide to express their true feelings for once, after many months of dancing around what could be.
Pairings: Ulrich/Yumi, hinted Jeremie/Aelita
Dedicated to: SecretCodeLyokan
Author's note: This has been one of the many ideas I have been wanting to write out since I rediscovered my love for Code Lyoko. SecretCodeLyokan gave me lots of inspiration by writing together and talking about moments shared between characters. I don't think I'd do this if it wasn't for her. Due to 'something' today, I decided to hurry and finish this up for us.
Second author's note: This takes place somewhere around season four. Ulrich's a little taller than Yumi now, and they've been dancing between the lines for a while.
The group had been pushed too hard tonight. X.A.N.A had controlled the factory and knocked Jeremie out, leaving the four warriors on their own on Lyoko with no guidance whatsoever. There had been too many monsters to fight off, involving two ambushes, and that eventually left Yumi on her own to fight off William and the rest of the monsters while keeping Aelita safe. Aelita had so little life points left that it was a miracle that she had made it to the tower in time before major damage was done at the factory and the three teens.
No matter how many times Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich claimed that they were fine, the group still debated to do a return trip, but the majority voted against it. All five felt the aches and pains of tonight's battle, and they felt exhausted.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to head back to the dorms and go to bed," Odd said, his voice full of exhaustion. "I will catch you all later."
The group watched their friend go in silence, all unsure of what to say. The only noise loud enough to hear over the silence was the supercomputer. After a couple of minutes had passed, Aelita broke the silence. "Jeremie, we should go, too. It won't do us any good, if we stay up. There's nothing else we can do tonight," she said, trying to convince him. It was always difficult to get him away from the computer on nights like these.
"Aelita's right, Jeremie," Yumi added, hoping her input would help.
Jeremie rubbed the side of his arm, which was most likely bruised, and looked at Aelita. "You go on ahead, and I'll meet you back."
"Jeremie . . ." Aelita frowned.
He saw the concerned look on her face and sighed. "Alright, but tomorrow-"
"Of course," Aelita interrupted and smiled, knowing exactly what he was going to say.
"Uh, Yumi," Ulrich began, running a hand through his hair. "I can walk you home if you want . . ."
"Okay," Yumi said. She pulled out her phone and checked the time, seeing it was nearly three in the morning. She was glad her parents were a couple hours away, attending one of her father's work parties. They wouldn't be back until the next day, leaving Hiroki at Johnny's for a sleepover. She wouldn't have looked forward to the many questions her parents would have asked had they been home and found out about her disappearance like before.
The four began to make their way out of the factory and reached the main bridge. "Goodnight," Aelita said.
"Goodnight," Yumi said. "I'll see you both tomorrow."
"Okay." Aelita smiled and Jeremie nodded in agreement. They two began their walk back to the school grounds, leaving Ulrich and Yumi alone.
In the distance, Ulrich and Yumi saw Aelita twine her arm with Jeremie's and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well . . . that's new," Ulrich said after a moment.
"Not really," Yumi said, smiling at the couple.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"They've been like that for a couple weeks now. They're just trying to keep quiet about it for now," she said, recalling the day she saw them holding each other in Aelita's room.
"Oh," was all he could say, wondering how he missed those signs, and why Odd never teased the Einsteins about it. But then again, he was busy thinking about an ebon-haired girl with beautiful white skin instead of more important things.
The cool air felt colder than it did only an hour ago when they made it to the factory for an emergency. Ulrich saw Yumi shiver, making him want to wrap his arm around, pull her close, and keep her warm. He knew she usually brought a jacket on the cool, late nights, but he assumed it was the adrenaline that made her forget like how he sometimes did.
Ulrich decided to fight against his urges, unsure of how she would have taken his offer. We're just friends, he reminded himself. Her house isn't too far away, then she'll be warm. But he still felt like he should do something. He sighed heavily.
Yumi shivered again and crossed her arms, trying to keep warm. She didn't remember it being this cold, or maybe she hadn't felt it at the time. Her body ached, and she still felt the pains from the lasers and the sword on Lyoko. The cold wasn't helping at all.
"Here," Ulrich said, breaking her thoughts.
She looked over and saw him holding out his light jacket. "Uh, thanks, but you should keep it. You're going to be out here longer than I am. I can manage."
"Yumi," he said. His voice had a hint of pleading in it. "Just take it." It came out a little harsher than he intended it to, making him feel bad. "Sorry," he apologized quickly, his face flushing. "You need it more than I do. I'll be fine without it for a little while."
"Okay," she said, taking his jacket. She was surprised by his urgency, but she saw where he was coming from, and she was glad by it. Once she slipped on his jacket, she immediately felt warm by it and felt her cheeks blush. It wasn't the first time he offered her his jacket, but it was the first time she actually wore it. Her senses were filled of him, and she felt warm inside.
The rest of the walk was in silence, both unsure of what to say to each other. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward either. Both were just too deep in thought at the night's events and their feelings for each other. They reached Yumi's house quickly, though time felt like it was dragging on.
When they reached the porch, she got the spare key out of her pocket to unlock the door. Once the door was unlocked, she put the key back in her pocket and gave Ulrich back his jacket. "Thank you again for letting me borrow it," she said, her face blushing again. She was happy there was no moon light or porch light to reveal her flaming face.
"You're welcome," he stammered, his own face turning red. "I...I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah, if my parents don't keep me home tomorrow. I have a paper I need to write for English."
"Okay."
Neither one moved or said anything. They only stared at each other, a million questions going through their minds.
"Ulrich . . ."
"Yeah, Yumi?" he said hesitantly.
"Do you . . ." she stopped, not sure if she should ask what she was about to ask. It was late and he needed to go back before he got caught by Jim. She let out a quiet sigh. "Do you want to come inside for a second?"
Ulrich couldn't believe she was asking him that. He didn't know what to say, feeling afraid if her parents found out. "I . . . uh . . . okay."
"Okay." Yumi didn't know what she was doing. She had thought she should give him a couple of minutes to warm up before he went back into the cold, but now she felt really nervous. "You can take a look around. There's some soda in the fridge if you'd like one," she began to ramble. "I'll be right back."
Before he could say anything, she was gone, leaving him alone in the living room. He let out a quiet sigh and began to look around the place, never really seeing the place besides her bedroom. There was only one picture of her parents together in a photo on the mantle, leaving him wondering if things were better between her parents or not. She hadn't mentioned them in a while, making him decide to ask her about how things were at a better time.
The rest of the pictures were of Yumi and Hiroki at different ages. It was more pictures than his own parents had out at his house, he decided, though his family rarely took the time to take photos. There was one picture of Yumi that stood out to him, the one with her wearing a burgundy t-shirt. He remembered that it had been retakes for picture day, and her mother made her wear the dark red shirt instead of her usual black turtleneck. She had looked beautiful in it, and he wanted to tell her, but they were friends and nothing more, feeling the compliment might push her away from him somehow.
"Here you go," she said, entering the living room. She saw him staring at her pictures, causing her to begin to blush. She felt like an idiot for doing such a thing. "Oh."
"Sorry," he said quickly, turning around. His face turned red again.
"No, don't be. It's okay." She smiled at him. "I thought that you might need this," she said, holding out a heavier jacket than his own. "It's one of mine. Hopefully it isn't too small for you."
Ulrich knew he shouldn't protest when he felt like ice, and after the night they had, he knew Yumi was doing everything she could to protect him just like how he was doing with seeing her home safely and making sure she was settled for the night. "Thanks," he said, taking the jacket and putting it on. Surprisingly it was a good fit.
She gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes and he frowned, growing concerned for her. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the answer was obvious. They stared at each other for a few minutes, both waiting for the other to say something and not wanting to part. Yumi then made the move and began to zip up her jacket on him. She didn't know why she was doing it, but she wanted to keep him safe and warm like he did for her. She tried ignoring the blush on her cheeks.
When she zipped halfway up his chest, Ulrich gently grabbed hold of her wrists and brought them down to her sides. It suddenly began to feel a lot warmer even with the chills she had. Her heart began to race as his eyes darkened and stared down at her.
Ulrich was gazing into her gray eyes that were filled with questions. He cupped her cheek in his hand and felt her cheek warm, bringing him back to his senses. Her face turned redder, and he started to pull back his hand, but he felt Yumi keeping it there with her own.
"Ulrich," she murmured, turning her cheek to place a kiss in his palm, then laced her fingers with his own.
His other hand came up to her face, his fingers partly in her silky, soft hair. He tilted her head back, lowered his head, and kissed her lips gently.
Yumi felt her body freeze. She couldn't believe that Ulrich was kissing her and that he made the move first. Was this really happening? Was he really kissing her? Was this only a dream? She felt him start to let go of her, but she quickly brought her hands around his neck and tangled her fingers in his brown hair.
Ulrich's arm snaked around her waist, brining her closer to him, while one hand still held her face. He couldn't believe he had made his move, but it had felt right, and timing meant everything for them, especially when they had so little of it.
Yumi was the one to break the kiss, leaving them both breathless. Their faces were flushed red, but neither of them looked embarrassed or ashamed. They didn't look away from each other either. His brown eyes were searching her gray ones. "I-" he began.
"Shh," she told him. "I know." Yumi smiled at him before she tugged on the sides of the jacket, bringing him closer to her. His arms went back around her waist, pulling her ever closer to him again. Her lips then met his, and her fingers tangled back in his hair.
The kiss became deeper and demanding quickly, but it was still soft. Yumi was in pure bliss. After months of waiting and longing and wondering, it was finally happening for them. She felt happy and relieved at the same time. Her heart was soaring, her body feeling like it was on fire. She held onto him tighter, causing Ulrich to let out a low groan. Yumi's face flamed more at the sound, but she didn't want to stop, not when they just started.
It was Ulrich who broke the kiss shortly after. His lips grazed her forehead, then he hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go.
"Ulrich," she whispered into his chest. It's now or never, she told herself.
"Hmm?" He released her slightly and looked at her.
"What does this mean for us now?" She hated to ask the question. She felt like the answer was obvious. They just kissed, but yet no words were spoken of why or of what. She snuggled back into his arms with her head resting on his chest, avoiding his gaze.
"I . . . I'm not sure. Honestly." He cringed at himself, knowing that was probably the wrong thing to say, but he didn't know. He didn't really plan on kissing her. He thought about it, yes, but tonight? No. It was something that happened, that felt right, which probably just ruined their friendship completely. He let out a quiet sigh.
"Me either," she admitted. Yumi was happy they felt the same way but wished one of them had some sort of idea of what was next for them. "Maybe . . ."
"Maybe . . ." he repeated.
"Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow?" she suggested hopefully.
"We . . . we can do that," Ulrich said. Why was he feeling so shy all of a sudden?
"Okay." She smiled and blushed.
"I . . ." He knew it was really late and that he needed to get going, but he hated to leave her in this state, after what just happened tonight and what happened between them only moments ago. Ulrich only hope she'd understand. "I need to get going before I get into some serious trouble. Believe me, it would be worth it, but I already have four hours of detention . . ." He hated to bring that up again. The cause of it was stupid. Thanks a lot, Odd. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"I understand." Yumi moved back just a little, but their arms stayed around each other. She stared into his eyes again and wanted to be kissed again. 'Again?'
Ulrich felt like she was asking to be kissed again by the way she looked, but he was unsure. They hadn't really established being a couple yet, but they already moved out of the friend zone. He decided to take the chance again and kiss her. He gave her a slow, soft kiss that seemed to be over too quickly, but no one complained. Yumi had sighed happily, and that was all he needed to hear.
After a couple of minutes of holding each other, they decided it was enough for the night. They released their hold on each other and made their way to the front door. "Goodnight, Yumi," Ulrich said. He then kissed her cheek, making her blush once again.
"Goodnight, Ulrich," she replied, smiling like a fool. "Be careful on your way back."
"I will. I promise." He smiled reassuring smile at her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay." Yumi smiled back at him. She watched him leave and head toward the school for a couple of seconds before she closed and locked the door in front of her.
She turned off the lights and headed up toward her bedroom, processing the nights events. She had to make sure that they talked about their feelings tomorrow. They couldn't treat it like another incident, or one of their fights where they ignored it the next day and moved on like nothing happened. It was something that they couldn't ignore, and she knew that they were both tired of those situations. She had hoped things would change for the better, that everything would turn out alright, and that they could move out of the friend zone. She sighed at the thought. It was just one of those times where she was happy for nights like these that made things really important click.