Note: And here we have it, the end of Yumi's list. It's been a wild ride and thank you to everyone who has joined me on this journey - whether you were here from the start or just recently started reading. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I did the characters justice. Stay healthy and safe, everyone!
25. Aelita cried when she showed up to their graduation. (She won't admit that she almost didn't come.)
The video chat is silent when she logs on after work. She frowns at the screen. The gang is together in what looks like Aelita's room this time. Aelita has her back to the bed, a notebook resting on her folded knees, and a highlighter clenched between her teeth. Jeremie is flipping through a textbook next to her while Ulrich flips through flash cards and Odd seems to be sketching something.
"How's it going?" she asks.
Jeremie jerks in surprise, reaching to push his glasses up. "Hi, Yumi," he says.
"Yo," Odd replies, giving a small wave.
"The Bac is next week, huh?" she asks.
"Yup, ten days of Hell," Ulrich agrees.
"You'll do fine," she and Odd say simultaneously. Ulrich glances at each of them and then shakes his head.
"You will," she insists. She remembers her own hell week and the late nights spent studying with Shannon. They had been convinced they were going to fail and had managed to pass with a 16.20 and 15.15 respectively.
Aelita groans and lets her head fall back against the side of the bed. "I just want to skip ahead. I knew I should have started studying earlier."
"You're second in the class," Yumi protests. "You're fine."
Jeremie scrubs a hand through his hair and closes his textbook on advanced computer science. Yumi bites her tongue and doesn't ask why he's bothering to study. After everything he accomplished with Lyoko and Aelita's materialization she's sure that he'd be able to write his own textbook.
"How much is physical education weighted again?" he asks, voice plaintive.
"Less than your science classes, don't worry, Einstein," Odd replies.
"You seem surprisingly at ease, Odd," Yumi says.
Odd shrugs and returns to his sketch. "Probably because I was smart and chose not to specialize in the S Bac unlike these nutters," he replies.
Yumi grins while Jeremie hurls a pillow at Odd's head. It lands short, knocking into Ulrich's knee. Ulrich looks over at the other boy and shakes his head. "Maybe you should study more for physical education after all," he says.
Jeremie glowers and Yumi has to excuse herself to get a snack in order to hide her grin.
/
"Well?" Yumi asks as soon as the video chat connects. The others look exhausted – she hasn't seen the circles around Jeremie's eyes that dark since X.A.N.A. was a thing they had to worry about. "What were the scores?"
Odd glances around at the others before shrugging. "I received a solid 15. Nothing like Mr. and Mrs. Einstein, I'm sure, but the folks will be happy."
She looks at Jeremie and Aelita, eyebrows raised. "How'd you do?"
"19.89," Aelita replies. She leans into the frame, face practically glowing. "Jeremie scored a 21.01!" she exclaims. Jeremie's face flushes a brilliant red and Ulrich punches him lightly in the shoulder while Odd reaches over to ruffle his blonde hair.
"That's amazing!" Yumi exclaims. She grins at them through the screen.
"I have to admit, I am pleasantly surprised," Jeremie replies.
"That's our Einstein, always so modest," Odd says. He nudges the other blonde, grinning. "Let loose a little, you deserve it!"
"And Ulrich, how did you do?" Yumi asks, raising her voice to be heard over Odd.
The others quieten and look at Ulrich expectantly. "No surprise that I didn't do as well as the others." He shrugs, expression serious. Aelita frowns, bottom lip pulled between her teeth. "Thanks to the physical education and labs…I managed a 14.30."
Odd whoops, grabs Ulrich by the shoulders and plants a solid kiss on his mouth. "I told you that you'd do fine!" He shoves Ulrich lightly. "And you thought you'd have to take the oral exam next week!"
Jeremie thumps Ulrich on the shoulder awkwardly while Aelita alternates hugging each of the boys. "That's really great, guys!" Yumi exclaims. "I'm so proud of all of you!"
"I wish you were here!" Aelita exclaims, looking at the camera again. "We'll have to have a proper celebration when you come for graduation," Aelita states. "We could get cupcakes!"
"Yeah," Yumi agrees. She plays with a loose strand of hair. "When is it again?"
Odd rolls his eyes, popping some kind of colorful candy into his mouth. "July 11th," he replies. "It's in the group text."
"It will be so great to all be together again!" Aelita continues. She leans against Jeremie and grins at them all. "It'll be just like old times!"
. . … . .
Aelita wants to know what time we should plan for Saturday.
Do you know what time you'll be arriving?
/
Yumi is sipping her coffee when Georges drops into the seat across from her at Le Dauphin. "Sorry I'm late, Maurice had me working double yesterday and I overslept." He runs a hand through his dark blonde hair and signals the waitress. "Did you order?"
"Just the coffee."
She smiles as the waitress appears at their table. They place their orders and the waitress disappears back inside the café. It's unseasonably warm for June and Yumi watches residents and tourists alike mill about the Place de Dauphine, dressed in shorts or sundresses. Georges yawns widely and stretches.
"Maurice said you were scheduled for Saturday," he comments idly.
"I saw," she replies. She takes another sip as the waitress brings Georges his espresso.
"Don't you have something that weekend?"
"I haven't decided if I'm going," she says. She looks down at her half-empty coffee, contemplates ordering another. It's a hot day though and she already feels sweat beading at the back of her neck. She adjusts the cutlery in front of her; finally looks up to meet Georges's steady stare. "What?"
"Maurice will let you off – he likes you."
Yumi waits while the waitress sets their crepes down in front of them. She pokes her food with the fork tines and sighs. Georges takes a large bite of his. "It's not that. I just don't want it to be weird."
"Why would it be weird?" Georges asks around the mouthful of crepe. "They're your friends, aren't they?"
"Yes, of course they are." She cuts her crepe into manageable pieces, chews thoughtfully. "It's been a whole year, Georges," she says finally. She sits back in the wooden chair and fiddles with the cutlery again. "A whole year where they've been there and I've been…here."
Georges stares at her again, then shakes his head. "You've kept in touch though. You said you did those Friday-night Skype calls, no?"
"Yes, but that's not the same." Georges shrugs and takes another bite. "Aelita…she thinks everything will be the same, but it won't. They have a whole year's worth of memories that I don't."
"So it might be a bit awkward, so what?" Georges asks. "You go home, you see your friends, you have fun. If you don't, then you know not to do so in the future." Yumi finishes off her coffee, pours cool water from the carafe into a glass. "If you don't go, Yumi, then this will be one more memory they have and you don't."
Yumi downs half the glass of water and then returns to eating. She feels Georges watching her and frowns at him. "What?"
He gives her a wide, lazy smile in return. "I'll tell Maurice you won't be in this weekend."
"You're impossible."
/
Mom wants 2 no if ur coming home this wknd
4 the ceremony thing
U no 4 ur friends
I've told you to text properly.
Dude whatever
U coming home or not?
Hello?
Ugh fine u deal with mom
. . … . .
The new headmistress gives the speech this year. Yumi can't remember the woman's name, but she has dark hair and a warm smile, and Yumi spends the whole speech comparing her to Delmas. She finds she misses the older man more than she realized she would. She's seated next to Emily Leduc of all people. They had run into each other in the courtyard, Emily looking the same as always even if she was dressed in a lavender sundress and had her hair pinned up in some kind of braid Yumi had never been patient enough to master.
"How have you been?" Emily had asked, camera in hand and small smile on her face.
"I've been okay," Yumi had answered, surprised at the honesty in her voice. Emily's smile had widened and Yumi found herself returning it. "How are you, Emily?"
"Oh, you know," Emily had responded. She'd waved a hand in a half-distracted, fluttery motion. "University is its own experience, isn't it?" They looked over as Jim got on the bullhorn and started calling people into the auditorium. "Looks like they're starting…do you have anyone to sit with?"
Yumi had glanced around at the assembled families. She had recognized Ulrich's sister, and could make a guess that the blondes were Odd's family. "No, not really," she replied. "Would you mind if I sat with you?"
Emily had smiled brightly. "Not at all," she had replied.
Yumi hadn't asked then, and she hadn't asked during the speech either, what had brought Emily back to Kadic. She had a feeling that she already knew. After the speech and handing out of the certifications, they are dismissed. Emily gives her a sidelong look. "She isn't bad," Emily says, "but I miss Delmas."
"Yeah," Yumi agrees. "Me too."
They follow the crowd of spectators out into the warm July afternoon. The staff have set out small tables with hors d'oeuvres that the families gather around. Yumi isn't all that surprised when Emily excuses herself to go speak with Ulrich. She also isn't that surprised to see the two of them disappear in the direction of the forest. She still doesn't understand their friendship, but she's surprised to find that anger and annoyance has faded over the last year.
"Yumi!"
She has enough time to brace herself before Aelita has her wrapped up in a hug tight enough to stop her from breathing. Aelita's hair is a tangle of blonde-and-pink and she's crying when she pulls back. "I know it's stupid," she says, "but I was so worried you wouldn't be able to make it."
"Yumers!" Odd shouts.
"Don't call me that!" She's pulled from Aelita's embrace into Odd's. The blonde boy is taller than she is now, which is even stranger than Hiroki's growth spurt. She pushes back from Odd, laughing. "What are you even wearing?"
"What, don't think it's stylish?" he retorts.
"Sure, if I was colorblind, maybe." Odd grins at her, then grabs Aelita and spins her in a circle. They lean against each other, laughing and grinning and Yumi is struck again by how similar they do look to each other. "Hey, Einstein!"
Jeremie joins them, dressed more conservatively in a dark suit compared to Odd's own outrageous one. "Congratulations, mister highest-Bac-score-ever," Yumi says. "The news article was really awesome."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Jeremie replies, face turning red. She pulls him into a hug. "Thanks," he mumbles and she smiles. "Where's Ulrich?"
"With Emily," Odd replies. He nods toward where their families are gathered. "Let's put in an appearance while we wait, then I can't wait to change and get to the fun stuff."
"How long are you staying in town?" Aelita questions as they cross the field.
"Unfortunately just until the last train tonight," she replies. "I have work tomorrow."
"No matter," Aelita states, "I'm just so happy you're here." She loops an arm through Yumi's and grins at her.
Yumi sees Sissi standing with Ulrich's family, chatting with his sister. She's never spent much time with his family and it's fascinating to see the ways in which he and his sister differ. Ulrich is usually deceptively stoic, quiet and restrained in a way that's different from Jeremie's own quiet nature. His sister is all smiles and hand movements and Yumi remembers that she's a musician.
"I'm glad to be here too," she replies. She feels Aelita squeeze her arm lightly and smiles.
/
The others had rented a hotel room in town for the night. Yumi joins them after stopping home to change into something more comfortable than the dress she'd worn to the ceremony. Odd opens the door when she knocks and she has to blink for a moment. He's changed out of the purple trousers into jeans, and lost the jacket and tie, but he's still in the iridescent paisley waistcoat. He grins when he sees her, specifically when he notices the box in her hands.
"Pastries?" he asks as he steps aside.
"For everyone," she stresses.
"You've always been my favorite, you know that right?"
"Careful or you'll make Ulrich jealous," Yumi warns. Odd follows her into the room and she sees Jeremie and Aelita through the balcony doors talking.
"What will make me jealous?" Ulrich asks. He's seated on the small sofa, messing with something on his phone. Yumi drops into the empty space next to him and he looks over. "Pastries?"
"Pastries," she confirms. Jeremie looks at her through the glass doors and she waves. He returns the wave and Aelita turns to see her. "Everything okay?" she asks, head inclined toward the balcony.
"Eh," Odd shrugs. He perches on the armrest next to her. "Things have been a bit tense between the Einsteins lately."
"Why?" She tries to keep the frown from her face. "They haven't mentioned anything."
"Jer had a hard time accepting Aelita's decision not to go to university straight away."
"She was accepted to l'X too," Odd adds. Yumi shakes her head and Odd nods knowingly. "It'll be good for her, seeing the world and all. Einstein knows it."
"He just doesn't want to admit it," Ulrich adds. He puts his phone away and reaches for the pastry box. The balcony doors open and Jeremie and Aelita enter. "Yumi brought pastries," Ulrich calls. He fishes out a napoleon and Odd grabs one of the chocolate operas.
"Excellent," Jeremie says. "Thank you." He approaches and takes one of the éclairs while Aelita fishes out a fruit tarte. Yumi feels a small rush of pleasure that she'd been able to accurately predict each pastry they would take.
Aelita toes off her lime green sneakers before sitting cross-legged on one of the beds. "Gosh, I missed this," she says brightly. "The video chats just weren't enough."
"The gang does feel complete again, huh?" Odd asks. He reaches for another opera.
"I'm glad you could make it," Ulrich says, squeezing her shoulder. She looks over at him and she knows he suspects that she almost didn't. She musters a smile and relaxes against the sofa, swats Odd's hand away when he goes for a third pastry. "Kadic wasn't the same without you."
"I'm really happy I could make it, too," she replies.
And she means it. Looking at their faces, watching the way Jeremie stares adoringly at Aelita, or the way Aelita's hand grasps Jeremie's, even listening to Odd and Ulrich bicker over the pastries…she feels like no time has passed. Like she's just stepped back into her life from a year ago. It's a ridiculous feeling. In a couple hours she'll be catching the train back into Paris. Tomorrow the gang will be splitting up as well – Jeremie to Reims and then Paris, Odd and Aelita to Norway, and Ulrich back to Germany before heading to Scotland. They'll be more separated than they were this past year.
She fishes a cream puff out of the pastry box, snapping it shut before Odd can swipe another one. It's strangely reassuring that no matter what, some things never change. "So, when's our next get-together going to be?" she asks brightly.