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Code LYOKO spoilers ahead

Prologue... and... tidbits... of important information... that you might want to know... ahem

The story line of this fan-fiction takes place between the third and fourth season of Code LYOKO. I have changed a few details within the plot to better suit my story line; for one, the gang was able to stop William in LYOKO, so he did not destroy the core. The virtual realm of LYOKO is still in tact, and the they are still fighting to protect the core from Xana's attacks. Time wise, it's been about 4 weeks since the possessed William tried to destroy the core. There have been no Xana attacks since then, which has Jeremie quite on edge; Indecision and heartbreak plagues Ulrich; Aelita is worried about Jeremie; Yumi is worried about her friends, as well as her parents, and Odd is concerned for Aelita.

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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO CODE LYOKO

Chapter 1: Normality.

It was late morning, 11:30AM, maybe. Jeremie, Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich were all in Ms.Hertz's class. The lecture was quite a bore, at least it was to Odd, whom was fidgeting around, and playing with his pencil, trying, pathetically, to occupy himself. The only thing on his mind, of course, was lunch. 'Just thirty minutes to go,' he thought.

Jeremie, who himself was paying little attention to the discussion at hand, was situated at the back of the class, strangely enough.

Xana had not made an attack in four weeks, which had Jeremie on constant guard, hence the strange behavior. Even though the program on his computer tracked Lyoko constantly for any signs of activated towers, he always wanted to be sure, himself, that it was working properly. Every few minutes, he would lean over to his book-bag, lift his laptop open slightly, and check to see if his program was running. Not surprisingly, his program was running just fine, each and every time he checked. He was becoming utterly paranoid - hell, forget "becoming," he was utterly paranoid.

Sitting next to Jeremie, of course, was Aelita. She didn't seem like her usual self, as well. Jeremie was to blame for that. He had constantly been at his computer, monitoring Lyoko and tweaking his programs, for the past four weeks, devoting little time to his friends, or her; needless to say, she felt uneasy about it. She stared blankly at her text book; obviously, school work was not what was on her mind.

Seated next to the window in the very corner of class was Ulrich. As he did all of the time during class, he looked out the window, his state of mind being in "day dream mode." Ulrich knew that he needed to pay attention, so that he'd make better grades. But, at the same time, he felt like he had bigger problems. Every day, for the past two months, the same line played over and over again in his head, 'I think we should just be friends;' Yumi's words. It devastated him when he first heard it, and he tried his hardest to hide the fact it was bothering him. Even so, the perceptive Odd could see his heartbrokeness. Though, try as he might, there was no satirical remark Odd could make that would cure Ulrich from his "despair;" was there a cure for heart break? It wasn't as if he could just tell it to go away, like Robert Plant. Looking to ditch class, Ulrich unwittingly interrupted Ms.Hertz.

"Excuse me, Ms.Hertz. May I go to the infirmary?" Said Ulrich, trying to sound concerned. Ms.Hertz responded:

"What seems to be the problem, Ulrich?" Her saying this in a rather doubtful fashion. Urich retorted:

"Well, I've had an upset stomach lately, and with lunch approaching, I wanted to make sure I didn't have a fever, or something, before I ate."

His response was pathetic, at best; Ulrich doubted that she would buy it. Quite the contrary, she took the bait:

"Okay, Ulrich, you're excused."

He inwardly 'Yes!'ed, gathered his things, and walked out of class. As these events were unfolding, Odd gave a jealous eye to Ulrich's escape from the classroom. Odd would have asked to go to the infirmary, too, but he knew that he wouldn't get away with it after Ulrich had just asked; Ms.Hertz was not stupid, she would easily catch on to the charade. Jeremie paid no attention to Ulrich's departure, and Aelita, trying to put her concern for Jeremie out of her mind, wondered what was up. Perhaps he was rendezvousing with Yumi? Perhaps he just wanted to leave class? Or, perhaps, he was actually telling the truth, and he really did not feel well? In any case, she hadn't a clue. Trying to dig up a comment from her friends, she said, "I wonder where Ulrich is going," to which, neither Odd nor Jeremie answered.

Minutes later, Ulrich was outside of the school, standing outside of Yumi's classroom's window. He would usually peer through the window to get Yumi's attention, but, this time, he just stood there next to the window, idling around as if waiting for something to happen. He depressingly spoke in soliloquy:

"Sigh... Great, now I can't seem to work up the courage to even get her attention."

He walked to the school's courtyard, where the students usually congregated before and after classes. He continued contemplating his plight until he reached a 'determined' decision; he would speak with her in private the very moment he could.

After a while, the bells rang, and the students were let out for their lunch break. Odd was pretty excited about it as he left class. He asked Jeremie what was for lunch.

"Say, Einstein, do you know what we're havin' today? I'm staved!"

Jeremie irritably retorted:

"No, Odd, I don't know what we're having. I'm not going to lunch, anyway."

Aelita responded to Jeremie, in a rather worried manner:

"But, Jeremie, aren't you hungry? You skipped breakfast this morning."

Jeremie, turning to walk down another corridor, rudely retorted to Aelita:

"Don't worry about me. I'm going to my room."

Aelita frowned as she watched Jeremie walk down the other corridor to the dorm rooms. She stared at the ground slightly as she walked towards the lunch room with Odd. Her facial expression connoted pure dismay; Odd noticed this immediately - he was no fool to her preculiar mannerisms. He asked, in his usual flamboyant manner:

"Anything wrong, Princess?"

She was somewhat uplifted by the fact that someone was concerned about her, but she didn't feel like giving him an honest answer. She responded, in her adorably meek manner:

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just... hungry, is all"

Odd knew she was lying. Aelita never got upset about trivial things like "hunger." Trying to dig into what was bothering her, he gave it his best guess.

"It's Jeremie, isn't it? "

Aelita didn't answer. She shifted her eyes in the opposite direction of where Odd was walking, and sighed under her breath. Odd thought to himself, 'I knew it...'

As Odd and Aelita approached Ulrich at the bench on which he was sitting, they noticed Yumi approaching, as well. Odd was the first one to speak.

"Well, Ms.Hertz's class was certainly exhilarating, I think I might have actually learned something."

His sarcastic comment garnered him not one laugh. He responded to this with another frivolous remark.

"Tough crowd."

Ulrich looked over at Yumi, whom was just standing there, somberly looking off in another direction. He felt the need to spark a conversation with her.

"Hey, Yumi, are you okay? You seem a bit out of it today."

Yumi looked over at Ulrich, a hint of a smile on her face. She responded:

"I'm fine. I've just been having a few problems with my parents lately."

Talking about her family wasn't something she normally did, but it showed that it wasn't something that was really bothering her, since she was willing to say something to them about it. She said to Ulrich:

"You don't seem like yourself, either. Why were you here before the others?"

Ulrich was reluctant to answer her. Although, if he didn't say anything, the pretentious joker Odd would.

"I managed to get out of class early. I went by your class' window, but I decided not to bother you. That's when I came here."

A disappointed look came over Yumi after she heard Ulrich's response. She said, rather sadly:

"... Well, it's not like I would have minded if... if you did, you know? "

The somewhat flushed Ulrich couldn't seem to come up with a retort to this remark - he could barely look at her, disappointed as she was.

Yumi, noticing that her remark wasn't exactly a statement to which he could respond, tried to take her attention away from the situation at hand, and looked around, to noticed that Jeremie, once again, was not joining them.

"So, is Jeremie in his room?"

Odd retorted:

"Yeah. I know he wants to make sure Lyoko's safe, and all, but he's got to stop locking himself up in his room all of the time."

Odd looked over at Aelita, whom still seemed dismayed; perhaps even more dismayed than before. The topic at hand sure wasn't helping. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and said:

"Don't worry, Aelita. I'm sure that Jeremie will come around, soon. Don't forget that he's fighting to protect the entire world! A large burden like that could really get to a guy - give him a heavy workload, you know?"

His words didn't seem to comfort her very much. Her worry was rather stoic, and it didn't seem like there was anything Odd could say that would soothe it. Trying a different approach at cheering her up, he said:

"C'mon, Aelita, let's eat! After we're done, we can take a tray of food to Jeremie."

The somewhat uplifted Aelita, as well as Odd, walked off to the lunch room. Yumi began following after them. Ulrich knew that this was his chance.

"Uh... Yumi..."

She turned around, responding with a, "hmm?", and looked at Ulrich with a perplexed demeanor. Ulrich, looking towards the ground, and with an advantageous voice, said:

"Well, I was wondering, maybe..."

His hesitation was a stab in the throat. Now he felt as though he would not be able to say anything to Yumi at all, and the poor, indecisive, devil decided to back off from his original plan, entirely.

"Erm.. Never mind!"

He quickly walked passed the confused Yumi, and set his sights on the lunch room. All of the sudden, he felt a tug at his arm, and fearfully looked back. Yumi held him by the arm, and gazed at him rather seriously. She said with concern:

"What's up with you, Ulrich? You don't usually act like this."

Ulrich was a bit stuck for words. He simply pulled away, turned around with his back facing her, and solemnly said:

"... I'm sorry..."

Ulrich continued walking to the lunch room, leaving Yumi by herself. The things going through her mind - about Jeremie shutting himself off; about Aelita being really worried about Jeremie; about Ulrich's strange behavior - caused her to question the meaning of "normality" amongst the five. With a sigh, she walked to the lunchroom.

(End of chapter 1)

--- Yeah, not very great. But, it will get better, though I can't guarantee it. As said before, any kind of advice or criticism is welcomed.