A/N: Hello. I'm a few days late. Sorry about that. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Since it's been quite long, I recommend reading chapter 30 again to get into the mood. If you don't, there is a small recap that'll make you remember anyway. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!

The doors to the tenth floor were closing. Ulrich inched closer to Yumi, caressing her cheek before placing his hand behind her ear. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds.

Ulrich gently kissed her left cheek, his heart going crazy.

Yumi felt her temperature rise, her will to stop it non-existent.

He moved to the other side, placing one more kiss.

She swore she could hear their heartbeats throughout the enclosed space.

Ulrich closed the distance in sync with the elevator doors.

They closed their eyes in anticipation.

He faintly heard the final thud of closing doors. One that indicated they failed to get out at the elevator's final destination. Yumi also briefly registered the sound, a chance her body automatically took to let go of the bags she was holding.

Ulrich slowly and softly grazed her lips with his own, testing newly crossed boundaries. He felt Yumi stiffen, then relaxing again. They opened their eyes at the same time.

He let their foreheads touch, to build up courage. Yumi was restless inside. She didn't know where to look, her feelings boiling over the top. Ulrich carefully held her close to him, his other hand on her lower back. She was caged in by all the sensations.

Ulrich leaned in again, stealing a quick kiss from Yumi, surprising her. Out of reflex, she gripped his shirt on the sides. Yumi pulled herself up while holding onto him. She looked at him. He was recovering from his rather bold move, but the tugging on his shirt brought him back to the present. He watched her as she tilted her head, quickly shut her eyes and returned the kiss to him. He smiled at the face she was making and briefly wondered whether he had shown the same seconds ago.

When she wanted to pull back, he paralyzed her with a follow up. He slowly captured her lips, this time lingering a little longer before he repeated the movement. Yumi tightened her grip on him as her breath stilled. In response, Ulrich pulled her even closer. Her heart wanted to escape, finding no room to keep up with the intensity of the situation. The kiss was deepened with a gentle fierceness.

The two of them had completely surrendered to the moment.

It had felt like the countdown on New Year's Eve. The attraction, the longing. How long had they waited for this? How many countdowns had passed? How much had they held themselves back?

A sudden shake of activeness broke them apart. The elevator started moving downwards. They were both startled. Somehow Ulrich remembered he was dropping off Yumi and pressed the button for floor 7 just in time. Yumi hid herself in his chest, still holding on to him with two hands. She wasn't going to look at him, too embarrassed to show herself. Ulrich chuckled. "Are you trying to go through me?" He felt her hit him with her fist. "It won't work like that," he told her.

He took a step back and held her hands, squeezing them slightly. "Are you okay?" Ulrich asked her with a serious, yet soft tone. Yumi nodded. "Good," he breathed out a sigh of relief.

The elevator had reached the floor Yumi lived on.

"Okay, then you may go," he referred to him telling her to stay "a little longer". Ulrich simply handed her the bags she had been carrying earlier. Yumi absent-mindedly accepted the bags. She attempted to speak, but wasn't given the opportunity. Ulrich lightly pushed her out of the elevator, while keeping his finger on the "open doors" button. Yumi wanted him to follow. But what would she say? What were they supposed to do now? "I'll see you on Monday," he said calmly. "Wait, I… I…," she unconsciously grabbed her necklace. She strongly wished for him to know how she felt, yet she couldn't find the words. Ulrich stared at her. His gaze held many emotions and he seemed as conflicted as Yumi was. Their eyes reflected each other's feelings.

He smiled at her. Ulrich wanted to pour out his true feelings as well. However, something blocked him. It was the same insecurity that withheld Yumi from speaking her mind. "Good night Yumi. I hope you'll have a good dream tonight," he said. "You too," she said. He let go of the button and the doors closed soon afterwards. "Wait!" She called out to him. But the doors had already closed and the elevator was continuing its way down.

Yumi reluctantly turned around. If they were too afraid to further their relationship, they would never get anywhere. She knew that. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. Yumi had taken Ulrich seriously when he said he needed time to process her truth. "We may have been lost in the moment, but that doesn't mean he is entirely ready." Yumi recalled Ulrich's final expressions before the doors closed. She sighed and walked towards her apartment.

Ulrich had heard Yumi shout. The elevator was determined to ignore his request to open the doors. He had been late by a few milliseconds. He leaned back against the wall. If his body automatically tried to return to Yumi, why couldn't he move on? Ulrich knew their feelings for each other had spilled over today. There was no going back to a subtle distance. He thought hard. His inner voice broke free of confinement. "How many more days do you want to mope about the past? Haven't you had enough? Let it go. She truly loved only one. You cannot deny any longer. Don't you want a future with her?! Accept it! Go back! Now!"

He abruptly got off when the elevator made stopped on the second floor. He heard the person getting on ask him whether it was going down. Ulrich had answered with a "yes" before turning the corner and opening the door to the stairwell. He sprinted up the stairs while thinking about all he had to say. Everything that he needed to get across.

He had forgiven Yumi for her great escape. William was out of the way. To Ulrich, he was already well into the past. Most important of all, he could not – would not – make the same mistake twice. Otherwise both Yumi and Ulrich would keep running in circles. They had to move on, together.

Ulrich was slightly out of breath. This was it. After a short wait Yumi opened the door, while failing to check the hole again. "Ulrich?"

"Hey," he paused and remembered Yumi had called out to him. "What did you want to tell me?"

Yumi looked surprised. "Oh, uhm.. your gift." She went to the living room while telling him to come inside. Ulrich closed the door and waited in the hall.

She returned with a bag. "This is for you," she told him, handing it over. "I noticed you often rub your neck. And last time you fell asleep in that awkward position. So maybe this will help to destress? It came as a set, so that's why there is more than one."

"Thanks," he accepted the gift, but put it aside immediately afterwards. Yumi watched him and rose one eyebrow. She crossed her arms. "You're welcome." The words sounded a little bitter.

He glanced at the bag and back to Yumi. "No, I really do appreciate it! Don't get me wrong," he emphasized. "I came back to say something else," he announced.

"Remember when I told you we were going to become unbreakable?" He saw her nod. "I want that. Not merely as friends." Yumi's uncrossed her arms. "Or good friends." Ulrich determinedly faced her. "Or best friends." Her expectations rose.

"Yumi," he stepped forward, taking hold of her hands. "You and I have been going from here," he lowered their hands, "to there," he raised their hands high, "and in between, repeatedly over time. Like one of those way-too-hard-to-understand graphical display things that come up when Jeremie is busy being a genius." Yumi giggled at that comparison as Ulrich brought their hands to their original position.

"I can't promise it won't be like that. Because you will be you and I will be me," Ulrich smiled a little and her expression showed she followed. "Our strength," he put his finger to the hanger on her necklace, "proves we can be taken apart, allowing us to be lost, but we will always come together again." Ulrich squeezed her hand and breathed in and out once. Yumi was currently as nervous as the man in front of her.

"My feelings for you have never faded. It's not like I granted myself that opportunity," he avoided eye contact. Yumi had a grim look on her face. Thoughts about their negative phases in life momentarily roaming through her had. "At the time I couldn't bring myself to move forward, like the King in chess. That doesn't mean I gave up. I just struggled… a lot. Eventually, I realized that I was stuck in this endless loop of trying to get through to you, but not wanting to disrespect your decisions. After that came a long road of finding matters that would block my way. We both carry that fear, right? What if things go wrong?"

"I'm sure it will be unsteady at first. Actually, I can already think of a problem.. or two," he pondered for a second. Yumi guessed she knew about at least one of those possible problems.

"Will you trust me?" He looked at her directly.

"I never really stopped," she smiled at him.

"Yumi," he paused. "Will you go out with me?" Ulrich tried to remain calm, but he knew he was blushing. He was warm all over, yet frozen by excitement at the same time.

She hadn't been able to brace herself. That tingling feeling had already spread throughout her entire body. Ulrich's honesty had deeply penetrated her more than once in the last few months. And she had saved all those feelings in her heart. Now that the moment was there, it seemed to tell her: Love him with all you've got.

"Yes," she breathed out and moved forward. Her arms softly encircled his torso underneath his jacket as she hugged him tightly.

Ulrich embraced her in return. "Finally," he whispered to her, "I got it right." He smiled.

Yumi spoke up without looking up. "When I wanted you to wait, I wished for myself to state my feelings aloud. A majority of my time was spent brooding about my decisions, my past and my shortcomings. Like you, I kept blocking off ways that could have led our relationship to this point sooner. Now we're here and I'm wondering. Why don't we ever take the easy path?" She glanced up.

Ulrich had a pensive face. "Because we like a good challenge?"

She laughed at that. "Seems like it." He let go of her. There was a sudden awkward silence.

"Do I go home now?" Ulrich thought to himself.

"Should I ask him to stay over?" Yumi questioned in her mind.

They stared at each other with neutral expressions on their faces. Ulrich relaxed first.

He ruffled her hair. "Thanks for today. I'm serious." Yumi stopped his hand from moving and nodded. Then she gave his hand a squeeze before loosening her grip. Ulrich picked up the bag she had given to him earlier. "I'm off. I just have to try this as soon as possible." He raised his hand that held the bag.

She smiled. "Goodnight Ulrich."

He opened the door. "Goodnight Yumi."

This day marked the beginning of their new relationship. Although Yumi and Ulrich were definitely not prepared, they would support each other one hundred percent with anything that would come their way.

"Let's keep going strong Yumi." The words surfaced in their thoughts.

And that's what they were going to do. After all, their bond was unbreakable.

A/N: Thank you for reading :)! See you next time.