Not mine

"Miss... Miss Jenna?" asked Odd incredulously.

She smiled at him. "Oh, it really is you, Odd!" she exclaimed, circling around from the desk and giving him a hug.

He was stunned. All those years of searching, and here she was. She didn't look much different, either. Granted, there were a few age lines on her face, and her hair was not her natural brown, but more of a red, but it all suited her, actually.

He saw her right hand. It sported a gold band and a diamond ring on her ring finger. So she was married. "H-how are you, Miss Jenna?" he asked.

She smiled. "I've been doing great, actually. I've been married for the past two years to a man named Doug Herman-"

"Any kids?" asked Odd bluntly.

Miss Jenna laughed, used to his bluntness. "Not yet, Odd. But we're thinking about it."

Odd sat down on a nearby chair. He was still feeling a bit dizzy. "I can't believe it... I thought I'd NEVER see you again... Why'd you come back?"

"Hannah is actually Doug's sister. She and I were talking one night, and she started talking about this odd boy dressed in purple, and I knew right away that she was talking about you," explained Miss Jenna.

"Wait, I thought everything I said was supposed to be confidential!" exclaimed Odd, appalled that his innermost emotions were being passed around like Sunday-Evening gossip.

"It is," said Miss Hannah quickly. "I never spoke a word of anything you said. You know I'd never, Odd. Not unless you were going to do something to harm yourself or others."

"Then why," asked Odd, "were you talking about me?"

"I was telling Jenny that I had a boy who dressed very peculiarly, that's all." said Miss Hannah, biting her bottom lip.

Odd leaned back in his chair, still suspicious. But Miss Jenna knew all about his past. So he didn't mind. Not that much, anyway.

Relieved that odd was going to let it slide, Miss Hannah continued on. "Anyways, Jenny's come here to see you. Shouldn't you introduce her to your friends, or something?"

Odd slipped off the chair and nodded. "Okay, Miss Hannah."

He got up and headed towards the door. "Would you like to come meet my friends, Miss Jenna?"

She nodded. "I'd love to, Odd."

Odd led her through the lobby, then through the walkway into the woods to the courtyard. His friends were all hanging out on the bench. Jeremie was sitting with Aelita on his lap, and he was whispering something in her ear, which was causing her to laugh. Yumi and Ulrich took up the other part of the bench and were laughing at a joke Cali was saying, who was sitting on top of the back of the bench.

All it was missing, Odd realized with a sudden jolt, was him. He would be sprawled out at the foot of the bench, making them all laugh. But he wasn't there. Instead, he was spending all his time in the Guidance Counselor's office, talking about his past. For, he realized, the fun of it. Not to help himself out, but because he liked dumping out all his problems on people and have them figure it out. He liked the fact that he'd had no responsibility for anything over the past few weeks.

And now a new emotion was surging through him. Not the loneliness of before, but guilt. He needed to fix what he'd done. He saw, when he walked over there, Cali. He saw her laughs were fake. He saw purple circles under her eyes. She hadn't been getting any sleep. And it was because she was worried about him. Well, I'll just have to fix that, Odd thought as he came to a stop at the bench.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet someone," he said finally.

It was Cali who recovered the quickest from Odd's bringing a woman over to them. And she had a pretty good feeling exactly who it was.

"You're Miss Jenna, aren't you?" she asked, jumping off the back of the bench and walking over.

Taken aback, Miss Jenna looked at her. "How do you know?"

"Simple. Odd's got that look in his eye, one that boys solely reserve for their mothers. And I know that the only person he ever thought as ever being his mother was an old guidance counselor, Miss Jenna. Of course, I was guessing as well," stated Cali.

"Ah. So you must be Cali, then?" asked the woman.

Cali just nodded. "That's me."

Odd chuckled a bit. That was SO like Cali. Miss Jenna, this is Jeremie, Cali's twin brother, and Aelita." They looked up and smiled, finally noticing that they were being spoken to. "And Yumi and Ulrich." Yumi gave a feeble wave and Ulrich nodded.

"Well, I am Jenna Herman. I live in Bordeaux, about a seven hour drive from here."

(A/N: Assuming, Kadic College is in Paris, Bordeaux being about 600 KM away from Paris, that would be about right, I should think...)

After introductions were made, Jeremie offered to take everyone out for ice cream. Everyone paid for theirs, of course. Well, they tried to. But finally Jeremie ended up paying for Aelita, while Odd paid for Cali, and tried to pay for Miss Jenna, who just laughed and wouldn't let him. And, of course, Ulrich paid for Yumi, who tried to protest but ended up shrugging.

When they came back, Odd insisted on escorting Miss Jenna out to her car.

"Odd," said Miss Jenna, fidgeting a bit with her purse in her hands.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was just wondering... You know, if you wanted to come live with me and Doug. You don't have to, of course. But, I... Well, I've always thought of you as a son, and-"

"Are you kidding, Miss Jenna? I'd LOVE that! Imagine me, Odd Della Robbia, with a REAL family!" exclaimed Odd.

Miss Jenna smiled. "Wonderful, Odd. This semester ends next wekk, so I'll come and pick you up then!"

Odd watched her go, waving with a huge smile plastered to his face. He was finally going to have a mother.

.:Next Day:.

Odd walked into breakfast with a smile on his face. His smile didn't even falter when he saw the rubbery oatmeal they were serving. He took it in stride and slurped it all up. Then Cali's, as well.

"What are you so happy about, Odd?" Cali finally asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Miss Jenna asked me to live with her! She and her husband, Doug are going to adopt me! Isn't it great!"

Everyone began patting him on the back and telling him congratulations. Cali hung back, though.

"Odd?" she started. He turned to her and his smiled faltered.

"What's wrong, Cali? Aren't you happy for me?" he asked.

"I am. It's just... Didn't Miss Jenna say she lived in Bordeaux? That's about a seven hour drive from here..." Cali bit her lip.

Odd's smile vanished. "But Cali, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. Don't you think I should take it? I'm probably NEVER going to have a family..."

Cali took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. You're right. I am happy for you, Odd. But... if you go to Bordeaux... I hope you know that that means we ought to break up."

"Break up? Cali, no. I don't want to," said Odd.

"Neither do I, Odd. But long-distance relationships. You can't really think we could make it work, do you?"

"Cali, don't do this to me. Don't make this about you."

"I'm not, Odd! I truly am happy for you! But I'm not going to do the long-distance relationship thing! It would be too constricting, too depressing." Everyone was staring at Odd and Cali now.

Odd hung his head. "Somehow, I knew you were going to say that... I suppose you're right. I will miss you, though, Cali."

She nodded, blinking back her tears. "Yeah, Odd. I will, too. When are you leaving?"

"Next week."

"I know you're going to love it with Miss Jenna and her husband."

Odd looked at Cali. "Wait, we're not breaking up right now, are we?"

Cali nodded, letting the tears fall now. "Might as well, Odd. It'll be harder if we pretend like it's not going to happen for the rest of the week."

"But Cali! I-"

He was cut off by a kiss. "I'll see you around, Odd." Cali walked out of the room leaving what was left of her tray that Odd hadn't eaten untouched.

The others were looking at him with pity now. "I don't need this, you guys. I don't want your pity."

"Cali does have a point, though," commented Jeremie.

"What? You guys can't break up with me, we aren't dating," said Odd.

Ulrich cracked a grin. "No, what he means is, what about XANA? You can't just up and leave."

"You guys have been taking care of XANA pretty well without me. You've got Cali anyways," Odd said.

"You won't tell Miss Jenna about it, will you then?" asked Jeremie.

"Of course I won't, Jeremie." Odd got up, too. "I need some air. I'll see you guys later."

Jeremie sighed and looked at the others. "This is not good..."

Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich nodded.

"Me and Aelita'll go talk to Cali," said Yumi, getting up.

Jeremie and Ulrich watched them go. "Somehow, I had a feeling this would happen," said Jeremie finally.

Ulrich looked at him. "What? Odd leaving?"

Jeremie shook his head. "No. The group splitting up."

Ulrich gave him a confused look. "We're not splitting up. Well, Odd and Cali are, but..."

Jeremie sighed. "Two words, my dear friend. Chain Reaction."

He got up to leave as well, leaving Ulrich confused.

Whoa, took me long enough to get another chapter up, eh? Well, here it is. Albeit short, but here all the same. I'll hope to get the next chapter up soon, and hopefully it'll be longer. I'm afraid there are only a few chapters left, but rest assured, you'll like them, hopefully. Now the plot is really rolling.

Review kids.

Lady Epur out