Fear

A/N: Yay! Ever since I came up with the idea for this fic I've been really excited for it. =D From what I've looked at, there is NO OTHER FIC LIKE IT! It's one of a kind. X3 I wanted to do Disappearance first, though. =3 So, here's chapter one!

"He can't get out himself!" Anna Stern shouted to one of the firefighters standing in front of her burning, childhood home. The house had been in her family since her mother was a child… She was watching all those memories be destroyed… They weren't even sure how the fire started…

"Please remain calm, Ma'am… We have men in there looking for him right now," one of the firefighters that had come told her in a soothing voice, trying to calm the frantic woman.

She clung to her husband's arm and nearly caught herself crying again…

Johan Stern stroked his wife's hair and looked up at the house… Ulrich was on the second floor in his room when the fire started… They'd thought he'd heard the fire alarm going off… "Make sure to cover his eyes when you find him. He won't let anyone touch him out of fear if they're not… He's tremendously afraid of fire…" He kissed his wife's forehead and directed his attention to her. "Don't worry… They'll get him…"

She looked away as the flames engulfed her home… The fire was fighting for a way to the top of the building and it was nearly destroyed…

-Ulrich-

He hugged his knees tightly to his chest, the fire surrounding him shining in his green eyes… Truthfully, he was terrified… He couldn't move… Fear held him still in its iron grip and wouldn't allow him to move or speak as the flames licked the walls and destroyed all his personal possessions.

"I found the kid!" he heard a husky voice yell from the doorway. It was unfamiliar to him… He felt he'd been in this situation before… He shut his eyes tightly. The smoke was starting to burn them…

"Ulrich, honey, your father and I are safe!" he heard his mother shout over the roar of the fire.

"It's okay, kid. We're going to get you out of here and down there to your parents," the man that had been at the door said soothingly as he picked up the fear-stricken boy and proceeded to get him out of the house.

As soon as he was outside and able to steadily stand on his own two feet his mother ran up and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright…?" she asked, checking him over as Mr. Stern walked up.

"J-Just a l-l-little sh-shaken…" he whispered, making sure that he couldn't see the writhing orange and red flames behind him…

"I'm so happy you're alright…" she told him, hugging him tighter and letting go to kiss his forehead. "I'm so sorry… I'm not even sure how that entire fire started… I left the food on the stove for one moment and next thing I know the entire kitchen is on fire…"

"As soon as the firefighters leave we're getting packed up and we'll stay at a hotel tonight and your mother and I will look for a new house tomorrow…" his dad said as the firefighters left, warning them to be more careful next time…

"We'll have to sell the land and clear the rubble so someone can build here again…" his mom said as the three climbed into the car, one of the few things saved from the fire.

"I'll see about that when we get a new house. For now we need to focus on getting somewhere stable to live before the school term starts."

Ulrich leaned his head against the cool glass window and watched the smoldering remnants of his childhood home… For as far back as he could remember he'd lived there… Well, his first memories are from a vacation they'd taken to Japan when he was four. He remembered from somewhere in the middle of the vacation to the end and onwards… He didn't know why it was, it just happened like that.

As they started moving he thought he saw a girl with chocolate brown hair pulled into an elegant bun in between the back and side of her head and a man that looked much older than her looking at the wreckage of their house and then looking back at the car.

(*)(*)(*)(*) A Few Days Later (*)(*)(*)(*)

"Ulrich," his dad stated from their new kitchen table as he walked groggily down the stairs. He'd have trouble getting to sleep the night before and his parents were making him get ready for school… He'd been hoping to get more sleep once they left for work.

"The closest school to here is Kadic Academy. It's a boarding school, but I'm going to give you two options. The school is within walking distance and you could easily make it. Your choices are that you either live at the school or you live here full-time and only go to school when school's in session and then leave," his dad stated simply as he sipped at his coffee.

Ulrich thought about it. He knew that he'd like to see what it was like to live away from his parents. Of course, they were in walking distance of where he'd be so he could easily visit if he got permission. It might be easier to make friends, too, if he was at the school. "I'll be a boarder."

"You'll make friends at your new school, I know it…" his mom whispered as she handed him a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with butter and syrup.

"Thanks, but you know I just don't fit in with other kids, Mom. There's something about me that isn't like them and they get afraid or don't like it so they don't talk to me. I've gotten used to it," he stated as he began eating, hopefully finishing the conversation.

"It doesn't matter if you've gotten used to it or not… Please make an honest effort to make friends…" his mother pleaded as his dad went and rinsed out his cup.

He sighed, rolled his eyes behind her back, and nodded. "I'll try, but I won't promise anything.

(*)(*)(*)(*) Break (*)(*)(*)(*)

In half a year so much had changed… He'd made a great group of friends. Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and Aelita were their names and they were fighting in a virtual universe called Lyoko. Just recently they'd freed Aelita from there.

-Break-

"Zephyr, do you think we'll ever find him again…?" a girl with short chocolate brown hair and piercing green eyes asked the man standing next to her.

Pulling his hand through is red hair, the man sighed. His purple eyes were scanning the new area before the two and he still saw no signs of the family that had owned the property… "I don't know, Aivillia…"

"If people hear you calling me that then we're in trouble…" she whispered as a couple walked up to the wreckage of the old home. "They tried to kill him again…"

"Then we need to get to him," Zephyr explained lightly, acting as if it weren't that big a deal. "We can't let them get him…"

"We don't know where they moved to."

"Look at that couple there," he ordered her, pointing to a man and woman that were standing in the wreckage, helping move the last bits and pieces of the old house out.

"What about them?"

"They're the couple from that car. The one that was driving away with Tristam."

She squinted her eyes and then said bluntly, "I don't see it."

Zephyr sighed and shook his head in defeat. "You are one of the hardest people to talk to."

"And you're one of the hardest people to understand," she huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. "Listen; let's just follow them if you think you're so smart. If he's around we'll find him."

"I have a feeling that they're the right people, Lia… You remember that one time that you ditched him in the forest area and came to find me in the mountains and you could tell exactly where he was even though he'd moved?"

She nodded and gave him a 'so what?' kind of look.

"If you could do that then so can I. I feel that if we follow them that we'll find him… I only have a week till I have to go back. You've got about three, right?"

She nodded and watched as the couple got into the car and everyone else dispersed.

The two began to follow the car. They'd still have to wait for a place to go…

"I have three weeks till I get sick. Next time don't leave early without me," she told him in a scolding tone.

A/N: That's more of a prologue to set the stage. XD So, who is Tristam? Who are Zephyr and Aivillia? Where do they come from? Why is Ulrich afraid of fire? Who are the people trying to get rid of Aivillia and Zephyr's brother? XD That all shall be answered in time my dear reviewers. X3 I love all your input, so hit that little blue button down there. X3 Oh, and Aivillia is pronounced eye-ee-vee-lee-uh. Though, I'm thinking it'll be eye-vee-lee-uh. It's easier to pronounce. XD

Read and review!

~MoonlitxAngel