A/N: As you might have read on my profile page, I'm finally back. Updates should return to the usual bi-weekly rate. Thanks for reading :D and your continued support. Enjoy the chapter :). Next time, we go back to Yumi and Ulrich! Byeee (no ending A/N this time)!

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

A few days had passed since Kelly had been brought home by his best friend. Odd knew she was already feeling better, but thought it safe to wait one more day before she could up and running again. The latest project he was participating in had finished yesterday. There were only a few formalities left to take care off, which he would finalize on Monday. "I'm off," he told Kelly before heading out. It was Sunday and Odd would head to the skate park. A friend started to give lessons to children who wanted to learn how to ride a skateboard, inline skates or anything similar. Odd had offered to be his assistant. His friend had happily accepted. "Have fun," Kelly said. "I'll be back early today. Then we can laze around some more," he said. She nodded. Odd smiled, then left.

Once outside, his smile faltered. Having decided on sharing part of their life story with Kelly had been nagging at him for a long time. These days he was even lacking sleep because of it. He figured it must be because of him being the first and (most likely) only one who would was willingly telling an 'outsider' about what they had been through.

They had sworn to take the secret with them to their graves. Everyone was really set on that. Of course, they had prepared for this exception. However, it still didn't ease the job.

He sighed and hoped he would feel more confident in the afternoon. Today was the day after all.

Meanwhile at Ulrich's apartment…

"You think Odd will be able to say everything like we planned so many years ago?" Yumi asked him. She had come over to spend some time with her boyfriend and was walking to and fro behind Ulrich. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room. "Well, he's always been good at keeping secrets, so I guess he's nervous about spilling a half," he replied hesitantly, folding his hands together. "Understandable," Yumi commented. "We can't help him either. At least, not at first. Seeing that he's the only one who will ever have to do this probably works against him. And if they break up-," Ulrich was cut off by a slap on his arm. "Hey!" He rubbed his arm. "I said "if" not "when", it's not like I wish for them to break up," he defended himself. "Yeah, well, phrasing," she shrugged. "Anyway, IF, for some INEXPLICABLE reason, they do break up, Odd might have to tell someone else all over again. I believe there are a lot of thoughts going round and round in his mind now," Ulrich finished speaking.

Yumi hummed. "If that inexplicable reason decides to say hi and Odd enters a new relationship, it might not be necessary. Kelly went to school with us, so she has too much background information. We always stood out for one thing. I doubt someone else (not from Kadic) would have an equal amount of trouble dealing with our circle of friends," she explained.

"Trouble?" Ulrich looked amused. "Are we that troublesome?"

She eyed him. "You bet." Yumi and Ulrich laughed.

"Let's call him a little later. We can always wish him luck," Ulrich suggested.

Yumi nodded in agreement.

Three hours later, Kelly heard the front door open again. "I'm home," she heard Odd say. "And? Did the youngest one manage the harder trick?" She asked him. "Almost. Just a little more practice," Odd answered while entering the living room. "Do you want hot chocolate?" He asked her. "Yes, a large cup." Odd hummed a song while preparing two hot cups. When he came back, his phone rang.

"Hello Odd," Jeremie sounded a little tired. "Hey Einstein! What's up?"

"Nothing. We're a little overworked because of the new contracts that are flying around. I just called to remind you not to use names in your story. I don't want to stop you, but I still have to warn you about the possible consequences."

Odd felt a little pressured. Although, he also understood Jeremie meant well. The genius was always thinking ahead. "Of course, I won't break the promise. I'll stick to the basics. Besides, it's not like I know as much as you do," he joked.

"Good luck, Odd," Jeremie said. "Bye." Odd hung up only for it to ring once more. Kelly was surprised. He shrugged, then pressed the green phone to answer the call.

"Hey Odd," Yumi sounded a lot more energetic than Jeremie. He frowned. "Isn't this Ulrich's number?" He heard her chuckle. "Yes, I'm at his place. We wanted to say good luck, but you don't really need luck since it's just a storytelling." Odd rolled his eyes. "Wow, you guys really amaze me with your words of encouragement. What's next? The don't do it part?"

"So, break a leg buddy," Ulrich told him. "Thanks.." He heard them laugh and it strangely took away some of his nervousness. "We won't disturb you any more. We'll talk later," the brunet said. Odd ended the call after hearing Yumi's 'bye'. He spotted a message from Aelita, who wished for things to go well today. He smiled at the only normal message of the day.

"Is there something special going on?" Kelly asked him, intrigued by his behaviour.

"You could say so, yes," he firmly replied, holding on to his confidence as he put away his phone. "Are you cold?" He saw her look at herself wrapped in a blanket. "No," she plainly responded. "No headache?" She shook her head. "No pains?" She rose one eyebrow and looked at him. "You're acting weird," came the comment. "Ha-ha," Odd said as he sat next to her. "I'm always weird." She eyed him, not buying it. "Well, me too, but you're suspiciously weird now," she rephrased her sentence.

"Because…," Odd dragged out the word.

"Because?" Kelly repeated after him.

"I have a story to tell," he used Yumi's wording. "Usually, I'm great at storytelling, but this one is a little harder."

Kelly tensed after realizing Odd was serious. "So, I know we haven't been on the same page lately," Odd began. She heard his first words and decided to completely hear him out before reacting. "And you said you felt like that for a much longer time already." He breathed in and out. "I've done a lot of thinking and," he saw her eyes enlarge due to shock, "I've decided to share why I am as close to the others as you've noticed or heard of." He watched her facial expression go back to a neutral one.

"It's not sudden. I've been brooding over this for a long time. Even before I met you. Because it's not something others are supposed to know. Hence, it might all sound a little vague. I also don't have proof to show you. But I hope you still want to listen to what I have to say," he said. Kelly gave a small nod.

"Then, I guess I'll jump straight into it. As you might remember from the days at Kadic, Aelita is an orphan who is my cousin. At least, that's how she's registered now. Everyone knows that if you're born you must have had a mother and father. Of course, Aelita had them too. Her father is truly dead now. There has been no news of her mother, as far as we know. Those two were her real family, but could not stay with her mainly due to the job of her father. He was a scientist that worked on highly confidential projects. For instance, the ability to virtualize human beings. Basically, turning them into something digital, which could eventually be reverted again.

The organization her father worked for wanted exclusive rights to his findings. Probably not for the good of the world. Her mother was kidnapped by those bad guys, leaving her alone with her father. Eventually her father decided to escape from them forever by trying out the virtualization on the two of them." Odd checked whether Kelly followed along. She seemed to be listening intently.

"Which succeeded. No one found them." Odd paused.

"This part might sound unbelievable. I'll continue nonetheless. So, Aelita and her father had become digital beings inside a computer program. Of course the organization had access to that same program, but we later found out that her father coded things in such a way that they were able to protect themselves to some degree.

Years later, Jeremie happened to stumble upon the program Aelita's father wrote. You know Jeremie. He's a genius. He's also the one who would be able to explain this in detail. I'll spare you the theoretic talk though. It's not something that fits my brain capacity. Anyway, Jeremie was searching for computer parts, when he found a computer that ran that very program. That's where he met Aelita. She was suffering from memory loss, as in her real life memories. She was still an intelligent being. I didn't know why, but Jeremie fell for Aelita and he wanted to break her out of there. Along the way, he recruited Ulrich, who (indirectly) recruited me and later Yumi. Recruited, because he required people who wouldn't 'mind' becoming digital beings to 'fight' in the program, as well as fight real people.

Those were people related to that organization. Starting up the entire process had activated a few programs and set off alarm bells. Basically, it triggered the position on the battlefield and anyone was capable of finding us.

It took longer than a year to retrieve Aelita and to return her to her human state. After that, it took us a while longer to defeat our remaining enemies, before everything went back to normal. The police were never involved. And for some reason, the organization stopped pursuing us."

Odd finished his summarized story. If Kelly had any questions about points on which he could elaborate, he would. "Do you have any questions?" He asked.

"I have some questions, yes. But first… well... it certainly sounds out of this world. And I'm assuming you left out as much as you did," she held up a hand to stop him from speaking, "because it's all supposed to stay a secret." Odd nodded. "That's why I mentioned it would sound vague. It's just, these guys aren't some friends from some place. We formed bonds that can't be severed. We've climbed to peaks and ploughed through valleys. Our motives might have been different, but we had one goal we strived to fulfil. They were tough times, but I would do it again if I had to," he admitted.

"Because of the same reason?" She asked him, despite not knowing why he even agreed to something so outrageous.

"In the past, it was something I agreed to because I wanted to have fun. Do something crazy. Now, it would be purely because of the people involved. If they need me, I'll be there." He answered. "That goes for you as well."

Kelly nodded to herself. "I think, we're two people with completely different priorities. We both worry about others first, then about ourselves. I think you're higher in my list than I am in yours," she concluded.

"I think that's fine. Being in a relationship doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. I'm starting to see it's actually okay not to be each other's constant number one priority," Kelly said, putting down her now empty cup. "If you've been struggling with this and you've mustered up courage to tell me a part of your treasured secret, then I can try as well. I just don't believe in not giving it my all to make things work," she said, then smiled.

"I was afraid that you weren't properly taking me into consideration. It might be because of my tendency to worry too much. I automatically dwell on topics for too long, then get depressed. Now that I've seen and heard your efforts, I actually feel a little bad. Sorry."

Odd flicked her forehead. "Ouch." She pouted and rubbed the spot. "There is a limit to how much you can doubt your boyfriend," he said. "I'm so amazing. What could possibly be wrong with me?"

"I can name a few things," she began. "Height, strength, hairdo, fashion sense-" Odd cut her off. "Hey! The first two apply to you as well!" He crossed his arms. She laughed.

Kelly suddenly thought of something. "Ah, is that why Jeremie and Aelita founded their current company?" Odd pondered. "It probably inspired them, yes. But they are so talented, they can make anything happen." She hummed in agreement. "I guess so."

"Do you mind if I ask some other questions too?" She looked at him.

"Go ahead. I'll see to what extend I can answer," Odd told her.

Kelly agreed to that. "So you're not Aelita's cousin?" She asked. "Nope," he answered. "Do you feel like they are you brothers and sisters?" Odd shook his head. "They're family, but I don't see them as siblings. I most likely would be able to give them 'a higher place' on the list than my actual siblings though," he revealed. Kelly thought for a while then continued. Like that, the two of them sat there talking about Odd's past for a long time. Sometimes, they would deviate from the topic completely before getting back to Odd's story.

He pulled her closer when she asked her one of her last questions. "How many relationships have you been in? Must not have been easy to manage with your ninja like job on the side." He deserved that one. "I honestly don't know. If it eases your mind, there was only one serious one." Kelly turned around. He immediately carried on. "That was long ago. You and me are in one now. That's what counts." He hugged her and she relaxed in his arms. "Right," she said.

After a couple of other questions, Kelly started to yawn. "Tired?" Odd adjusted himself in such a way that she could lean more comfortably against him. "A little," she said as she closed her eyes.

"Sleep well," he whispered.

Odd felt content. Sure, it hadn't been the entire truth, but a promise is a promise. After all, Odd Della Robia was a man of his word. He was glad his relationship was still intact and he couldn't wait to tell his friends about it. It was true Kelly was now one of the people most important to him. She shared that category with his friends. However, at this moment, she was his most important person and he was going to make sure she understood his feelings.