Ulrich awoke with a start, the sounds around him unfamiliar. Lifting his hands to his face he realized they were scar free and much softer than they used to be. His struggling mind came up with only one conclusion; the Return to the Past had worked. Glancing around him he realized that his theory had been correct; the Return to the Past only sent the person's consciousness back in time. After all there is nothing in physics to prevent the transmission of data back in time, at least not in quantum physics anyway. With a happy smile he looked down at himself and realized that he was in his 17-year-old body once again, but then his smile disappeared as he glanced over at Odd. It quickly returned when he saw his friend breathing in his sleep, snoring slightly.
While a normal Return to the Past would not return the dead to life his had. He had found yet another loophole in the program that allowed him to actually reset time to the way it was before the Return to the Past. The program that the gang had been using was a stripped down version that Hopper had created after his trip back a month. During that time a small pet of his had died and he had to live through the pain of Aelita losing that pet twice. Following that he rewrote the program to prevent that, but luckily for Ulrich he had written down the entire Return program code in his notes. Using that information Ulrich was able to rewrite the code and add in a few small changes of his own, mainly the deletion of the entire supercomputer operation system and files, preventing X.A.N.A. or his troops from following him. In retrospect he probably should have added a self-destruct command into the program, but too little too late and all that.
With these wonderful thoughts in mind he looked around for a clock. Finding one he glanced at the date, April 10. He had one week to make it all better without his friends or X.A.N.A. knowing. Letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding he fell back against his pillows, a smile on his face even as his interrupted sleep reclaimed him. With his smile still in place he fell to sleep with the thought that he'd start fixing the mistakes of the past in the morning.
AaAaA
A hand slammed down onto the alarm, silencing it before it could even begin its assigned task of waking the room's occupants. Rolling out of bed he stood and stretched, taking in the scent of his dorm room. It had been far too long since he had smelt this. Memories assaulted him as he breathed, times and laughter shared. Shaking the now not so distant memories from his head he glanced around for some clean clothes. No reason not to keep with his daily tradition.
Taking his towel and clothes he headed to the showers, thinking how he could begin to affect the changes that he needed to make. He knew that the first thing on his list should be taking care of William and Sissi, but for some reason he couldn't work up the effort to care about them at the moment. No, instead his mind was on only one person, Yumi. He knew that she had to be the first thing he changed, but that only created the question of how.
He could always walk right up to her and kiss her, but that was too out of character for him. No, he needed a more subtle way and he had to do it soon. Only after he was secure with his relationship with Yumi could he even begin to focus on stopping X.A.N.A. and his minions. But before he talked with Yumi he had to modify the supercomputer and the only way to do that was at the factory.
Stepping out of the shower he dressed and made his way silently through the early morning to the factory. Taking the elevator down he made his way into the main computer room and sat down at the chair he had just vacated five years into a future that no longer existed.
Pulling up a command window he began modifying the scanning program. While it worked well for what it did, there was much that it didn't scan for. He was going to fix that. He was also adding a subroutine that would send specific alerts to his cell phone. He had to be one-step ahead after all.
After what seemed to be several hours he had finished the modifications, they were so slight that Jeremie would never notice them. He had used the notes left behind in his time to figure out a way to make the scanner work faster and better. While he knew that his knowledge of future events seemed almost contrived there was still so much he didn't know. But what he did he could and would fix, starting with their X.A.N.A. alert.
Saving the program he pushed the chair away from the terminal and stood, popping his spine as he stretched. Smiling he made his way from the factory. As he reached the outside world he realized that he had only been there about an hour. Smiling again he made his way back to the school in time for breakfast, at least he hoped he was in time. After all it had been almost five years since he had eaten anything.
AaAaA
"Ulrich," a voice called from his right as he entered. Glancing that way he saw all his friends eating, even Yumi. Smiling at Odd, for he had been the one to call him, he made his way to the food line.
Returning several minutes later with a tray full of food that made even Odd look at him funny, he sat down with a shrug at their looks.
"What?" he began, "I'm really hungry today?"
His answer seemed to satisfy them, but for some reason it had came out more as a question than a statement.
"I'll say," Yumi said with a smile in his direction, "I don't think I've ever seen Odd eat that much."
"Ha, ha, ha," Odd said as he rolled his eyes.
Ulrich only smiled as he watched his friends bicker about Odd's eating habits. Oh how he had missed this interaction. Noticing that Yumi had looked his way at the rather large smile he wore he turned his attention to his breakfast, hoping to hide the blush that had appeared on his cheeks.
"So," Odd said through a mouth of food, "why are you so happy this morning?"
"No reason," Ulrich replied back, hoping that they wouldn't press. After all he really had no idea what to tell them.
"Come on," Yumi said as she touched his hand where it rested on the table. "There has to be something, I've never seen you this happy before."
"It's really nothing; I just woke up this morning and realized that this is the first day of the rest of my life. During my shower I thought about how lucky I was to have friends like you guys."
There was silence for several minutes as they processed this, but it was broken by Odd.
"Who are you and what have you done with the sulky Ulrich?"
Once everyone, even Ulrich, had stopped laughing Yumi spoke up.
"I don't know Odd, I think I like this Ulrich better."
Needless to say his face turned red as a stop sign at her words. He just hung his head to hide his embarrassment. Yumi only grinned at his reaction.
Following that it was easier to get into the old routine of breakfast chatting. Once the bell rang however that's when his smile left him and a realization struck him. A memory of an event that hadn't happened yet tickled his mind and refused to let him be. Giving in to the idea he told Odd to cover for him and that he had to do something in town. With a promise to be back before lunch he left the school grounds and made his way into the surrounding city.
AaAaA
True to his word he returned before lunch, a bag at his side. When asked by Odd what it contained he showed him the materials they would need for the diorama project that had been assigned for history. Odd only grinned and mentioned that he had totally forgotten about that and that he was glad Ulrich had remembered.
Putting the bag in their dorm room he removed a small package before leaving for the cafeteria, slipping the item into his pocket.
Taking a tray he made his way into the lunch line, ignoring when he heard Sissi call his name. To be honest he really didn't hear her, so it was only natural for him to react when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.
Dropping the tray he grabbed the hand and twisted it over and around, forcing the arm up behind the back and halfway up the shoulder. His other hand rose into a striking position should it be needed. Finally glancing down he came face to face with the fear filled eyes of Sissi.
Releasing her and stepping back he only glared and picked up his tray as he returned to line. It goes without saying that Sissi decided to leave him alone for the remainder of that lunch period. But he knew she wouldn't be put off for long.
Arriving at his table with the slop that passed for food he looked at his friends.
"What?" he asked at the surprised looks on their faces.
"That's what we would like to know," Odd said.
"What was that back there?" Jeremie asked.
"What was what?" Ulrich asked playing dumb.
"The thing with Sissi," Yumi said from her position beside him.
"That? She just caught me by surprise, that's all."
"But Ulrich, we've never seen you use any martial arts unless someone was in danger." Odd said after taking a moment to accept his friend's explanation.
"So?"
"So? You could have broken her arm! Not saying that she wouldn't have deserved it what with how she keeps falling all over you." Yumi said with irritation toward the annoying girl that practically threw herself at Ulrich, literally and figuratively.
"Hmm," Ulrich said as he watched Yumi, fork held loosely below his chin as it rested on the top of his hand. "Is that jealousy I hear Yumi?"
"What? No, no!" she began even as a blush rose to her cheeks drawing the laughter of her friends. During their laughter Ulrich leaned over to her to whisper in her ear.
"I need to talk you after lunch. Meet me at the tree," She could only nod in response.
He then pulled away from her and made the excuse that he was finished eating, he rose and left the cafeteria.
Yumi could only stare after him for a few moments. After she caught herself she made her own excuses and left the cafeteria.
Their timely departures caused the others to look at each other and break out laughing once again.
"Should we follow them?" Aelita asked after the laughter had died.
"Nah," Odd said as he glanced at the half eaten meals their departed friends had left. "Besides they left their meals here and there is no reason to let good food go to waste. Plus, if anything happens we'll know soon enough."
With a sigh Aelita conceded that point, but not without having to fight her urge to know what was going on with her friends.
"Aelita," Jeremie said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "They'll tell us what happened should anything happen. Don't worry about it."
Giving him a smile she tried to do as he said, but her curiosity refused to rest.
AaAaA
"Ulrich?" Yumi called as she reached the tree that Ulrich had once claimed as his. Seeing the boy in question was absent she looked up into the tree. Sure enough he was there, standing with one hand on the trunk and the other at his side. The wind whipping through his hair even as the leaves danced around him in a silent ballet.
"You know, I've never stopped to appreciate how beautiful this view really is," he said with a smile as he looked down at her.
Her heart all but stopped at the smile that was on his face. She had never seen anything like it before. There was so much love radiating from it that she felt she could die happy if only she knew that smile were directed at her.
Ulrich took a moment to watch her.
"I'm glad you came." He said, "Give me a minute, I'll be right down."
She only nodded her reply as she swallowed to wet her dried throat, her tongue unconsciously wetting her lips as well.
With an economy of movement Ulrich seemed to just let go of the tree and freefall the few feet to the ground, landing as though he hadn't just fallen 10 feet from a tree. She watched as he straightened from the crouch he had adopted to absorb the shock of the landing.
"I'm glad you came," he said again as he took her hand and pulled the surprised Yumi toward the shade of the tree.
"So," she began but trailed off as her voice failed her. She had never seen this side of Ulrich before; normally he would blush and pull away if he touched her. Not this time though, now he took her hand and led her to a log sitting in the shade of his tree and sat her down.
"I'm sure you want to know why I asked you to meet me," he began, cutting off her chance to ask that very question. So in response she only nodded and licked her lips again.
"I need to talk to you, away from the others."
"What is it? Are you ok?" her fear that he may be in some kind of trouble drove her to speak. He only smiled at her with that heart-melting smile she had seen before.
"I'm fine Yumi. But I wanted to talk about us."
"Us?" she parroted, confused by the turn of conversation.
"Yes, us. I like you Yumi, I really do. I just want you to know that, whatever may happen in the future I want you to know that I love you." Here he had to stop, the tears in his eyes needed tending to. His words brought memories of her funeral to mind once again.
"I went into town today to have a talk with your father," at this her heart stopped. She knew that her father would prevent her from being able to see Ulrich; he had never much cared for the boy. She forced the tears down as she heard him continue to speak.
"I know that you were raised with traditional values and that any suitor had to go through your father first. I also know that William and Theo didn't do this. He and I had a nice little talk about that to say the least." He said with a rueful grin to indicate what the 'little talk' consisted of.
"Ulrich, I'm sorry for whatever he said to you. I love you too; I have for a long time. But without his approval I can't see you." This time she didn't stop the tears; they flowed freely down her face and soaked into her shirt. Soon she felt strong arms wrap around her and felt another's shirt absorb the tears.
"Don't be sorry Yumi, I'm not. He told me very honestly that he was surprised that anyone would have enough respect for him to actually ask for his approval. Oh he was viscous in his questioning but after almost half an hour he gave his blessing. Turns out he actually likes me and thinks I would be good for you."
He looked down to see her face and saw that she hadn't heard what he said. Deciding that actions speak louder than words he took action. Gently lifting her chin he kissed her, softly but with a subtle passion that she couldn't help but notice. Soon her tears had stopped and her clenched fists had made their way around his neck as she returned the kiss just as passionately if not as soft.
He pulled away when the need for air became too overwhelming, leaning over he put his lips to her ear and whispered.
"He gave me his blessing." He said before he softly kissed her ear, his kisses moving along the side of her face and jaw to once again reclaim her lips. Even as they kissed again he could feel the smile she wore and the heat of the tears she cried. But this time he knew they were tears of joy for he too was shedding them.
Once they had surfaced from this latest kiss he pulled away from her, instantly she missed the warmth he provided. But soon she was distracted by a small box that appeared before her.
"What is it?" she asked as she took it from his proffered hand.
"Open it," he said with a smile. She did so with trembling hands, inside was a small band with a tiny black gem inlaid into it.
Taking the box from her he removed the ring and held it before her eyes.
"This is a black diamond," he explained even as the facets caught and reflected the light in all directions. "The band is white gold."
"Is it… is it an engagement ring?" she asked with a mixture of fear, surprise and hope. Not once did her mind ever fall onto the topic of how he could afford something like this.
"No," he said with a shake of his head, his smile still in place. "I know that we're too young for that. This is a promise ring. I promise you that when we are old enough and we're both ready; I will replace this with a wedding ring. Yumi will you accept this promise, this ring and my love?"
Taking her eyes off the ring she settled them on Ulrich. There in his eyes she could see his soul. He was dead serious about everything he had said. He wanted to marry her; he wanted to love her and only her. In that moment time seemed to stand still, cliché as it sounded. For Yumi her life passed before her eyes, a life with Ulrich beside her, their children, college, jobs. In a flash it was replaced by a series of images of life without him, sure she had the same things but with someone else. In the life without him she felt no happiness; only a longing to have what could have been and could now never be.
In that split second she made up her mind, not that it was too difficult for her.
Throwing her arms around his neck once again she cried softly into his ear one simple word. "Yes."
With a smile that could warm Paris on the coldest winter's night he pulled away and placed the ring on her right hand ring finger.
"One day soon," he said as he kissed her softly once again, "I'll move that ring to your left hand."
"I'll be counting the days," she said as she wrapped her arms around him again and leaned in for another kiss.
