Mid August

The Dream

Yumi saw Aelita dashing for the tower. Unfortunately, she also saw the megatank charging its disk beam, aimed right at Aelita! With the monster's 'eye' facing away from her, Yumi didn't have a target so she did the only thing she could think of. Running as fast as she could, she slammed her shoulder into the black sphere in desperation. The impact managed to turn the trajectory of the disk just enough to cause it to miss the pink-haired virtual girl, and to send the creature tumbling into the digital sea below. Unfortunately, Yumi's momentum carried her tumbling over the edge herself, to where she just barely managed to grasp the sloped edge.

"Jeremy, I can't hold on anymore!" She cried out.

"Aelita's inside the tower now! Hang on Yumi!" Jeremy's voice calls out frantically.

"I can't, I…! Oh!" The girl felt her hand slip just a little bit more.

"Yumi! I'm coming! Yumi!" Ulrich's voice called out over the ridge. Yumi felt a faint glimmer of hope just before her hand slipped the rest of the way and terror gripped her as she plummeted to the digital void below.

"NOOOOOOO!" Ulrich screamed, as he appeared at the edge a moment too late.

"YAHHH!" Yumi yelled, bolting upright in her bed. Taking several deep breaths, she wiped away the cold sweat beaded on her forehead, completely soaking her hand. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she noticed that her pajamas were also drenched. It had been a long time since she'd dreamt of the horrors of the fight with XANA so vividly. She hadn't slept much in the last few weeks due to cramming for exams, but with the pressure of the semester ending yesterday her mind must have reverted back to much older stresses.

After changing into dry pajamas, she laid back down to try to get back to sleep but try as she might her mind wouldn't calm down. If anything, it got worse the longer she lay down and a few tears fell from knowing that she technically died the time she fell into the digital sea. Picking up her phone she saw that it was around 2:30 and she groaned into her pillow. Around fifteen minutes later she just couldn't stand it anymore and opened up her contacts list. Scrolling down the list she came to Ulrich's name with Xavier's just below it. Her finger hovered over the two names, unable to decide which one to try to call first and her indecision started making her feel even worse. Apart from when they hadn't been speaking, Ulrich had always been the one to cheer her up when she needed it. However, with him signaling that he was moving on, perhaps it was time she started leaning on Xavier. He was her boyfriend after all. Making her decision, she pushed call and the phone started ringing.

"Unnggh... Yumi?" She heard Xavier answer with a groan.

"Hi..." she replied sheepishly. Xavier audibly yawned on the other side of the phone.

"It's really late, what's going on?" He asked sleepily.

"I had some bad dreams..." as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how silly that would sound to someone who didn't know the things she'd been through. A slight chuckle came from the phone.

"Ok then, what was it about?" Relieved that he wasn't going to just blow her off, she told him about the part of the dream where she fell, leaving out that it really happened and Ulrich's appearance. "That does sound like a scary dream." It sounded like he was taking her seriously, but in the same way a parent might when their child is afraid of the dark... and that wasn't what she needed. Still, she pressed on hoping that he would come around without her having to tell him everything... though she wasn't very hopeful at this point.

"Yeah, it was... I'm just a bit shook up from it."

"It's alright. Things like that don't happen in real life. There's no void going to swallow you up, things like that don't exist." Yumi's heart sank. Without knowing about Lyoko, he definitely wasn't going to be able to provide her with the kind of reassurance that she needed.

"Yeah... you're right. I guess I'm being a little silly." She said while trying to keep the dismay out of her voice.

"See, it was just a silly dream. You're gonna be ok." He was trying to be encouraging, but how completely wrong his interpretation was just made Yumi feel even worse.

"Yeah, just a dream." She lied. "Thanks for listening. Goodnight, Xavier."

"Goodnight, Yumi."

When she hung up, she felt just as badly before. In her desperation, she almost called him back and told him everything, but stopped herself realizing that there was no way he would even believe her. Even if he did, Yumi remembered how blown away Sissi was when they told her, and if Xavier was anything like that then he wouldn't be of any help right now anyway!

Hugging her knees to her chest, she unlocked her phone again and saw the easy way out taunting her. After hanging up with Xavier her screen had reverted to her contacts list and displayed was Ulrich's name. There was no doubt in her mind that he would talk to her and know just what to say. Deciding that she needed to talk to him she pressed call. When the phone stopped ringing Yumi heard a groan.

"Hi, Ulrich..." she greeted quietly.

"Hey, Yumi. Is something wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" The simple fact that he already knew what was wrong comforted Yumi considerably and she felt herself relax a little.

"Yeah..."

"Was it the one about the cold?" He asked, concern clearly evident in his voice.

"No..." she paused for a moment, knowing that it would only take a couple guesses for him to get it right. As if on cue, Ulrich spoke again.

"The digital sea then?"

"Yeah."

"I remember that. Out of everything, that was probably the scariest thing to ever happen on Lyoko." Sharing the memories meant sharing the pain... pain that Ulrich had always been willing and able to take for her. "I thought you were gone... we thought you were gone."

"Yeah. I don't think I'd ever been so afraid," Yumi confessed.

"I would have been scared too," Ulrich admitted. Yumi heard some rustling, followed by the familiar squeak of Ulrich's desk chair. It sounded like he opened a drawer, then said softly, "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you..." Yumi heard him sigh deeply. The sound of the 'drawer' shutting came through the phone and Ulrich spoke again, this time a bit more clearly. "Anyway, that part of our life is over and done with. XANA is gone, and you don't ever have to go to Lyoko again if you don't want to." Yumi smiled. Comfort and reassurance from someone who understood was exactly what she needed. "We get to live normal lives now."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Ulrich."

"You're welcome, Yumi. I'm always here for you, you know that." Yumi's smile widened.

"Yeah, I know."

"Want to talk about something lighter before we hang up?" Ulrich offered.

"Sure, like what?"

"Uhh... how did your exams go?" He asked and Yumi groaned.

"That's your idea of a lighter topic?" Ulrich chuckled.

"Lighter than life and death!" He retorted cheerfully.

"Umm... still no!" Yumi declined, laughing as well. She stopped laughing as a question came to her mind. Her heart started to pound at the thought of asking it, but she had to know the answer. "How did your date with Anya go?" She sounded a lot more carefree about it than she felt.

"It actually went pretty well. So far, she seems really nice. We're going out again next weekend again, Saturday though so we won't have to miss our Friday night talk again." Yumi's stomach tightened into conflicted knots. On the one hand she wanted him to be happy and thought that moving on was a positive step for him. On the other hand, Yumi was hit with an unexpected wave of jealousy that she used to be so familiar with but hadn't felt in years...

"That's good, I'm happy for you." Yumi said, not feeling that way at all. "Anyway, it's late and we should both get back to sleep. Thanks for being willing to talk, I definitely feel a lot better. Good luck with Anya."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Yumi."

"Goodnight, Ulrich." After the goodbyes, the line went dead as Ulrich hung up.

While it was true that she felt better about her dream, her feelings about everything else were more conflicted than ever. Thinking about it for only a few seconds, Yumi quickly discovered that she was far too tired to try to make sense of them now and instead tried to get some rest. Sleep didn't come easily though, and she found herself tossing and turning for the rest of the night…

A/N: A little shorter than most of the other chapters, but I think this is a good stopping point, and hey, it's a few days early! As always, let me know what you all think!