HSS: Meeting

This is part 3 of a series you don't have to read parts 1 and 2 to understand.

Disclaimer: I own only Hana, Dirt, and Damsel. If I owned everybody else, this would be a real episode.

It had been sixteen years since Ulrich and Yumi had gotten married. They had a beautiful fifteen-year-old daughter who had recently started the tenth grade at Kadic Academy. She had chocolate-brown hair that hit well past her shoulders and striking hazel eyes.

Jeremie and Aelita had gotten married when Hana was six, and, three years later, Aelita had given birth to twins, Derek and Danielle. Odd had moved in with Jeremie and Aelita to watch the twins. He was enjoying the bachelor life, but he'd been seeing Yumi's cousin off and on for years.

Yumi and Ulrich had moved from their tiny apartment when Hana was four, and the others had followed shortly after Jeremie and Aelita were married.

"How did we end up with a daughter like her?" Ulrich asked Yumi after Hana had come home, gabbing on her new cell phone.

"I think she was switched at birth," Yumi replied.

Hana came bounding the stairs a moment later. "Hi Mom. Hi Dad."

"Hi Hana," Ulrich and Yumi chimed.

She sat down at the kitchen table with a sigh, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. "It's Gabrielle," she corrected. "Or Gabby. My friends call me Gabby."

"Gabby?" Ulrich repeated. "Why are you suddenly going by your middle name?"

"Because," she said, "I don't like 'Hana'. It's so…"

"Japanese," Yumi finished. "And German. Which is what you are."

Hana rolled her eyes. "And it'd be a good name if we actually lived in Germany or Japan, but we don't. Besides, Jake thinks that Gabrielle is a prettier name than Hana. He thinks I'm pretty, too. He told Virginia."

"You always did look like your father," Yumi replied.

Hana tilted her head and stared at her mother. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Who's Jake?" asked Ulrich.

"Your father was the heartthrob of the school," said Yumi. "I've told you that before. Do you want to help me with dinner?"

Hana shook her head. "No thanks. I'm going upstairs."

"Don't move, young lady. Who is Jake?" asked Ulrich again.

"Oh, he's this guy at school. He's really cute," Hana replied.

"I almost forgot to tell you," said Yumi. "Uncle Odd, Uncle Jeremie, and Aunt Aelita, Derek, and Danielle are coming over. You'll get to watch the twins after dinner."

Hana rolled her eyes. "Okay," she sighed, and she ran upstairs to her room.

"She's fifteen; she doesn't need to be thinking about boys. I've been in a fifteen-year-old boy's head. It's not a pretty place to be," mumbled Ulrich.

"We met when you were eleven," Yumi reminded him, "and we started dating when you were fifteen and we got married when we were both eighteen. Do I need to continue?"

"No," Ulrich sighed.

"The house telephone rang. "Hello?" asked Yumi. "Oh, hello, Jake. Yeah, she's upstairs, I'll get her." She put the phone on the counter. "Hana!" she called.

Hana ran downstairs, her cell phone pressed to her ear. "Yeah Mom?"

"The phone's for you. It's Jake," said Yumi.

"Virginia, Sophie, I'll have to call you back. Jake called my house. Okay, bye." She hung up her cell phone and grabbed the house phone off the counter. "Hello? Hi Jake. I'll ask, hold on." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "Jake wants to know if I can go to the movies with him tonight."

Yumi shook her head. "You've got to watch the twins."

Hana glared at her mother. "Jake," she told the phone. "I've got to babysit my little cousins tonight. Yeah, maybe tomorrow. Bye." She hung up the phone. "Mom! Why'd you do that? The twins are six, and, besides, why can't their parents watch them?"

Yumi sighed. "Today's the anniversary of the day the five of us met. We celebrate it every year, you know that."

"Whatever," Hana sighed, and she shuffled upstairs.

Ulrich poured himself something to drink. "I remember when she was little and we'd tell her stories about Lyoko. She loved them. I miss those days."

Yumi kissed him softly. "She's a teenager. It's a hard time for her. Trust me, being a teenage girl is no fun."

The oven beeped loudly only seconds before the doorbell rang.

"Hana, they're here!" Ulrich called up the stairs, and he answered the door.

"What's up, buddy?" Odd asked. He hadn't changed much since high school.

"Uncle Odd!" Hana exclaimed, running down the stairs to hug him.

"Hey, Gabby," he replied. Up until recently, he'd been the only one to call her by the nickname. "Dirt, Damsel, get off so I can hug your cousin properly."

Danielle and Derek jumped from Odd's back. "Odd, will you ever stop calling them that?" Aelita asked.

"Probably not," he said. He picked Hana up and hugged her.

She giggled. Uncle Odd was her favorite. To be fair, she hugged her other Uncle and her Aunt. They were cool, too, especially Aunt Aelita with her bubblegum pink hair.

Yumi ran to the doorway to hug her friends. "Can you believe it's been 23 years? That's far too long. I can't believe we're that old."

"Sometimes it feels like yesterday," Jeremie sighed.

"Dinner's ready when you guys are," Yumi said.

"Great!" exclaimed Odd. "My favorite time of the day."

Al eight of them sat down at the table to eat. Yumi had, over the years, become an amazing cook. She could probably make boiling water taste good.

After dinner, the adults went into the living room while Hana played with the twins on the kitchen floor. The adults didn't know that she could hear every word of their conversation.

"Danielle and Derek love our Lyoko stories. They would never guess that they actually happened," said Aelita.

Hana couldn't believe her ears. She, too, had loved the stories of a virtual world called Lyoko hidden in the factory outside her school.

"We all met because of XANA. I can't believe it's been 23 years," said Ulrich.

Something inside Hana burst. She had to go to the Factory and see the Super Computer for herself, if only one time. "Mom, I'm going to take Derek and Danielle on a short walk. We won't be gone too long," Hana yelled into the living room.

"Okay, honey," Yumi replied

Anxious for the next chapter? I know, I know. I've already gotten the whole thing written out, so I know what happens.  I still need to finish typing 48 Hours. That should be updated soon, but this one will probably take priority. Then, the first two parts to this story. R&R