Ulrich was sitting in his room. Odd had left earlier, though he didn't say where he was going. Ulrich sat down on his bed. He hadn't bothered getting ready yet. There was still time and he was expecting Yumi to come over any minute. He had told her to meet him in his room. Since it was morning, there wasn't any rule forbidding the girls from visiting the boys' room, or vice versa.

He heard the door knock, and he gave the okay for them to open it. He saw Yumi walking in. She still looked pretty tired, like she just woken up, which may have been the case. She rubbed her eyes as she approached the bed and sat down next to Ulrich.

He immediately cut to the chase.

"Yumi, how good are you at interpreting dreams?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi gave him a surprised look. "You got me out of bed and here early just for that question? Why couldn't you ask me over the phone?"

"I didn't want Odd to get involved." Ulrich said. He knew he must have sounded suspicious when he said that. He should have chosen his words more carefully.

Yumi narrowed her eyes. "What did Odd do this time?" That was the first question that came to her mind.

"Nothing. He's been...well..he's been having nightmares." Ulrich said.

Yumi didn't look concerned. She felt as though she just wasted her time. She said, "I thought this was something serious, Ulrich. On the phone, you made it sound so urgent and..."

"This is urgent!" Ulrich turned his head to face her. She could see the worry filling his eyes, the look of pain they had in them. "The dreams are recurring. They happen every other night. He's been waking me up with his screaming. He looks absolutely terrified when he does wake up." He paused for a moment, watching Yumi's expression change to shock. He looked to the ground. "He thinks the dreams are related to Therizino."

"Therizino?!" She cried, snapping her head back. "But didn't she get destroyed?"

Ulrich sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "That was never determined, remember? We believe she was killed, but maybe she didn't. Maybe she survived."

Yumi let this sink in over the next couple moments. The reality of Therizino's possible survival weighed down her. "Oh man..."

"Yeah." Ulrich knew he had to go into more detail about the dreams. He looked up towards the ceiling as he spoke. "Odd says that, in the dream, he's being chased by some kind of shadow creature, more than one, and they would grab him at the last second and..hurt him." Yumi's eyes widened. "And that's not all. He also told me that Therizino's voice started taunting him in the dream, telling him that she would find him even if she were dead."

Yumi put a hand on her mouth to stifle a loud gasp. Now she understood why this was serious. The dream might be just a dream. It might not be anything to worry about. But she understood the devastating effect dreams can have on people. Some are even afraid to go to sleep if the dreams are terrifying enough.

She wasn't sure what she could say. She did have some intuition sometimes with dreams, but she was by no means an expert. Maybe her mom would be able to help...no she wouldn't. Yumi had to remind herself that her mom had little idea about Lyoko, so her interpretation may not help the. And she wasn't about to tell her mom about Lyoko either, unless she wanted to risk being pulled from the team.

"Well there isn't much I can say that you don't already know." Yumi said in a soft voice. "I'm sure you believed that he is having these nightmares because he's still scared of Therizino, am I right?" Ulrich stared at her and gave a nod. "There might not be anything more to it than that. He needs to understand that Therizino is gone and will never hurt him again."

"But what's strange is that these nightmares didn't happen right away, Yumi. They started occurring months after Therizino's defeat." Ulrich said, his voice raised slightly as he tried to get a point across. "I would think that, if he were traumatized by Therizino, he would have the nightmares almost right after her defeat. Why would the nightmares be delayed by months? And why every other night?"

Yumi shrugged her shoulders. "That is strange. But there isn't much more I can think of other than what I told you."

Ulrich sighed, disappointed. "I don't suppose you know what the shadow monsters might mean."

"If this dream is reoccurring, it might be a warning." Yumi said. "There might be more to the dream than I'm thinking. But the information is so vague. I don't know what the shadow monsters mean." She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, Ulrich. Maybe if I were to witness it myself, I could help more."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "You mean witness him tossing and turning as he has a nightmare?"

Yumi nodded. "In a way, yes. But what I'm trying to say is that if I can get Odd to tell me about the dream as soon as he wakes up, I might be able to get more information out of him, perhaps a detail he is forgetting, since dreams are stored in short term memory, not long term."

"Okay." Ulrich was confused, but he didn't want to make Yumi elaborate on it.

"I will be over tomorrow night. I'll find a way to sneak in." Yumi said. "Wake me up when he starts having another nightmare."

"Oh you won't need me to wake you up." Ulrich said, a slight sly tone in his voice.

sss

Yolanda stared at the paperwork she got back from the doctor. The results were in faster than she had expected. She wished it was a mistake. She looked over the information before her, skimming all the data that came out of the blood testing. She rubbed her head and let out a soft groan. She didn't want to do this, but she had to call in Odd to speak to him in person.

In all her years working as the school nurse, very rarely had she ever had to deliver some terrifying news. The last time she had to do so, she hoped that she never would have to do it again. And it was almost like her wishes were answered. It had been ten years since the last time she had to speak to a student about a serious matter.

Now it was time for her to do it again. She didn't know if she could do it. Odd's case, it was the worst she had ever seen. How would she be able to break it to him? Would she be able to handle his reaction when she did? What of his friends? What would they say? And oh man, his parents...

His parents loved all their children very much. They always spoke fondly of Odd. They were very proud of him. To know that he had...this...it would break their hearts. Yolanda bit her lip as she looked up at the clock. It was time for Odd to be here. It was time to shatter his day.

A knock on the door. A familiar voice on the other side. "Nurse Yolanda?" The door cracked open slightly and she could see the faintest hint of Odd's face. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Yolanda said, an air of seriousness in her voice. "Come on in."

Odd felt nervous. He rarely hears Yolanda speak like that unless it was urgent. He felt his chest swell with anxiety. What did she find out?

Yolanda went over to her desk and sat down. She gestured for the young boy to sit in the chair in front of her. She sat in her chair and stared at him for several seconds. She opened her mouth a few times, no words came out.

"What did the results say?" Odd wanted an answer, but he dreaded what it would be.

"Odd, I..." Nurse Yolanda looked away for a second. She looked back. Her eyes had the slightest hint of tears in them. Odd's breathing quickened. Yolanda said, "I'm so sorry..."

"What's...what's wrong?" Odd's voice was trembling. His heart was starting to race. This was going to be worse than he thought.

Yolanda walked up to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. She hesitated, biting her lip. She knelt down and looked at him in the eye. "Odd..." She whispered. Then she delivered the news that nobody ever wanted to hear.

"You have blood cancer."