Just a reminder that while I will never own Code Lyoko, I do own Beatrix, Neville, and Eloise.

Early September

Surprises!

Yumi woke up the next morning to the sound of grinding coffee beans and a splitting headache. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was, but after a few seconds she was able to pierce through the murkiness clouding her head and remembered the events of the day before. Swinging her feet over the edge of the couch, she started to stretch but stopped when she felt a stab of pain in her belly and she cursed out Jacques. Getting off the couch she walked to the kitchen and found Sissi fiddling a coffee grinder.

"Morning Yumi," the younger woman greeted. "Coffee?" She asked, pouring boiling water into her French Press along with the beans she had just finished grinding.

"Please," grunted Yumi.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"No..." She groaned. "I've got a massive headache... and my face really hurts."

"Oh no," Sissi muttered sympathetically and she pulled a granola bar out of the cupboard. "Here, eat this and I'll also get you some pain medicine." Yumi watched her friend's retreating form and sat down at the dining room table to eat her granola bar just before Odd walked out of the bedroom.

"Morning, Yumi!" He greeted cheerfully.

"Morning..." Yumi muttered, feeling bad about her sour mood as Odd approached her.

"Sissi's told me about everything, and I just wanted to wish you good luck," he said quietly. Yumi smiled with the half of her face that wasn't sore, despite her mood.

"Thanks."

"And if you need the Einstein's distracted so you can get a moment alone with Ulrich, you can leave it to me!" Yumi didn't doubt it and chuckled. Sissi walked back into the kitchen and handed Yumi a couple of the same pills that Ulrich gotten her the day before with some water to wash it down with. While Odd poured two cups of coffee.

"Thanks," said Yumi, directing it at both of them before noticing Sissi peering at her awkwardly. "Uhh... what?" Sissi hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

"I know you normally don't like wearing makeup, but would you like me to try to cover up the bruising?" Yumi took a sip of her coffee and sighed in mild contentment as the hot, bitter liquid warmed all the way to her belly.

"I'd appreciate that, thanks." The two girls made their way to the bathroom and Yumi sat on the closed toilet seat while Sissi started applying foundation.

"I don't have anything in exactly your coloring, but I'll do the best I can." Several unpleasant minutes later she was done. "Ok, go ahead and take a look." Yumi turned toward the mirror. While it wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, it was definitely enough to hide anything wrong from casual observation and it was better than anything she could have done herself.

"Thanks, Sissi. It looks a lot better." They headed back to the dining area and sat back down with Odd.

Knock, knock

All three of them turned toward the entrance to the apartment.

"That's probably Ulrich," said Odd as he got up to get the door. The two friends could be heard greeting each other before they walked into the kitchen. Yumi gasped when she saw him. His hair was still a bit unkempt like before, but he had shaved off every bit of hair off his face... She tried not to read too much into it, but part of her heart was filled with hope. The moment was abruptly interrupted when Sissi groaned audibly and stood up.

"Well, I'm glad that chin-fur is gone because that needed to go! But if you're going to keep your hair longer, then you need to take better care of it!" She grabbed him by the wrist and led/dragged him to the bathroom. "Sit!" She commanded, causing both Yumi and Odd to chuckle.

"OW! That hurts!" Ulrich could be heard yelling.

"Well, If you ran a brush through it more often it wouldn't get this knotted and wouldn't be so bad!"

"You didn't seem to-OW-care yesterday!"

"Yeah, well, I did. I just let it go because you and Yumi were in that fight!" The sound of a spray bottle could be heard.

"Ahh! What was that!? It's cold!"

"Stop fussing! It's just water!"

After a few more grunts from the bathroom and several more laughs from Odd and Yumi, Sissi and Ulrich walked out of the bathroom. When Yumi saw Ulrich, her breath caught in her throat. Sissi didn't do much too much, she just brushed the knots out and gave him a defined side-part, but Yumi thought he looked amazing! When she managed to wrestle her gaze away from Ulrich, she glanced at Sissi. The tall woman had clearly noticed Yumi's staring and winked, causing her to blush.

"Hey! You look like a civilized human being again!" Odd exclaimed, interrupting the moment. "Just in time too. You guys had better finish your coffees because we're supposed to be meeting Einstein and Princess soon!" The two girls looked at their phones and just about guzzled the contents of their mugs when they saw how late in the morning it was. A couple minutes later the four of them walked out the door and headed for the park where they had agreed to meet up with Jeremy and Aelita.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived and the park and sat down at a picnic table. Odd and Sissi on one side, and Yumi and Ulrich on the other. It was like old times again, and the knowledge that the geniuses were coming soon only added to the nostalgia. On multiple occasions Yumi and Ulrich found their eyes locking briefly before they both turned away blushing. It felt like how they were before they had started dating in the first place... it was as if Anya wasn't even in the picture and Yumi couldn't keep hope from trickling in.

"Hey guys!" The four at the table turned to see Jeremy and Aelita, but they were accompanied by Jeremy's parents and an elderly couple. Sissi and Odd immediately jumped out of their seats and ran over to greet the Einstein's, and Ulrich and Yumi weren't very far behind them. There was a lot of hugging all around as this was the first time in two years that all six of them were together. When things settled down, Jeremy's introduced, and reintroduced as appropriate, his parents to the group, but then he stepped to the side, and Aelita took the hand of the elderly woman

"I'd like you all to meet my grandparents, Neville and Beatrix Hopper" Aelita's grandparents waved.

"Hello everyone," Beatrix began, her jaw trembling slightly. "We can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for Aelita." Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and, Sissi all glanced around nervously between each other and Jeremy's parents. Noticing this, Aelita spoke up.

"We told Jeremy's parents everything." The four youths were clearly shocked, but pink-haired young woman continued. "It's part of my history, and if I'm going to be part of their family I thought they had the right to know."

"That and we were never told that Michael and Eloise didn't know about Waldo's machine so I let slip some things that I probably shouldn't have. After that there was no sense in hiding the rest of the story!" Beatrix said with a laugh.

"We're not going to say anything. Honestly, we're just blown away with what you all managed to accomplish." Eloise chimed in, and with that reassurance, everyone relaxed a bit.

"At such a young age too." added Micheal. "Anyway, we're just here to take Neville and Beatrix back to the ferry station later, as I'm sure you all will probably be together for most of the evening catching up... amongst other things..." He glanced at Sissi and smiled for some reason. "In the meantime we've got some errands to run." After that him and his wife walked off, then Beatrix spoke up.

"We just wanted to meet the people who saved our granddaughter." Yumi had just noticed an absence next to her and glanced around just in time to watch Sissi sit down at a nearby picnic table. Yumi unobtrusively left rest of the group and followed her friend.

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked after catching up.

"I'm alright," Sissi replied with a sigh. "It's just that this," she gestured to Aelita's grandparents, "isn't for me. It's for you guys." Seeing the confused look on Yumi's face, she continued. "I didn't fight for Aelita, or the world. You guys did and I just antagonized you the whole time." Yumi opened her mouth to try to remind Sissi of the times she helped, but before she could, Sissi held up her hand to cut her off. "It's ok, really. It's a little hard being reminded like this, but I came to terms with who I used to be and the consequences of that years ago. When I think back on it, sometimes I'm still surprised that you guys decided to trust me with something so huge, but it still means so much to me that you did." At a loss for words now, Yumi shut her mouth. "So, go. I'll come back after the initial meet-and-greet."

"You're sure?" Sissi smiled genuinely.

"Yes. You guys are heroes. I've admired that about all of you since I found out, and it's about time you got some recognition for it."

"Ok then. Just don't stay away for too long." The two looked over to see Odd starting to walk toward them.

"I won't," replied Sissi. "If nothing else, I think I'll probably need to be introduced as the future Mrs. Della Robbia!" She said with a giggle and smile. Yumi laughed lightly herself, then got up and rejoined the gathering. She passed Odd in the process, but he came back over shortly too. It was several minutes before Sissi rejoined the group and was, as predicted, introduced as Odd's fiance!

The rest of the time spent with Neville and Beatrix was enjoyable, with stories of various things (most of them involving Aelita in some way, from which she grew increasingly embarrassed, to everyone's good-natured amusement) being told by all. A couple hours later Jeremy's parents came back and farewells were said before Neville and Beatrix left.

"Your grandparents are really nice," said Sissi after they had left, and Aelita grinned.

"I know. I'm so glad that we found each other."

"And that's not the only surprise we've got today," chimed Jeremy, getting everyone's attention. Him and Aelita looked straight at Sissi. "We completed what we call Project: Recovery." Sissi took Odd's hand and squeezed it tightly and Aelita spoke next.

"If you want, we can unlock your memories tonight."

A/N: This chapter is a little slower and shorter, but this is three weekends in a row that I've posted and the gang's all here and it's go-time for Sissi! You guys know what to do!