Search for Answers

The fight on the Royal Knight's Temple made the headlines of newspapers throughout the nation. Tabloids and reporters swamped Yumi, Odd, Jeremy, and Theo after they had left the hospital.

Yumi walked out with bandages covering her entire back. The slashes would heal in a week she'd been told. In the meantime, she'd have to go easy on her body so as to not to tear open her wounds. Jeremy suffered from a minor concussion and was temporarily half blind since his glasses had been broken in the panic.

Ulrich's entire torso and arms were wrapped in bandages from the slashes that he'd received from the werewolves during his rescue attempt. He had also dislocated his left shoulder when he had been thrown into the rows of seats. Only Odd and Theo escaped without anything more than a few scratches.

As soon as they could, Odd and Jeremy went for the factory. It was very late in the night, almost dawn in fact, when Yumi finally went to bed. There she waited for the Time Reversal, but after only a few minutes she was asleep.

It came as a great surprise to Yumi and Ulrich to learn that time didn't reverse. They awoke in their beds in early Sunday's afternoon, quite confused, sore, and hungry. After gathering enough strength for the journey, they met Jeremy at the factory.

"This is very bad," he said when they arrived.

With the elevator doors closing behind them, they walked over to him. He sat in his chair in front of a screen of endless computer code. He typed various phrases and words, but a repeated 'ACCESS DENIED' kept appearing on the screen.

"Xana has finally found a way to beat us," Jeremy said angrily. He didn't look at them, knowing what he'd see on their faces. He hated to be outsmarted, especially as badly as he had just been. "That virus hacked into our time-reversal program. I can't access it anymore! The virus Xana installed into the program is far more complex than anything I've ever seen before."

"Can you fix it?" Ulrich asked.

Turning to him, Jeremy growled, "Fix it? What do you think Aelita and I've been trying to do since four in the morning? I just said that this virus is beyond my understanding, and Aelita's!"

"Calm down," Yumi said sternly. When she was sure that he had, she asked, "Where's Odd?"

"I sent him by to Kadic," Jeremy said, turning his attention back to the screen. "He could barely keep himself awake."

"I'll go make sure he made it," Ulrich said as he limped back the elevator.

"You should return too, Yumi," Jeremy said. "You'll be missed. I'll catch up to you later."

"Don't forget to get some sleep," Yumi reminded him as she followed Ulrich before the elevator's doors could close.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resting on their favorite bench, Ulrich sat as far from Yumi as he could. Staring at the ground, a look of deep thought was written on his silent features. Yumi sat near the center of the bench, also thinking. Ulrich's thoughts were filled of nothing but spending time with the Yumi he knew before he left. However his greatest love pondered on the strange warrior boy that had rescued her from the beasts.

Something touched Yumi's shoulder from behind her. Her eyes met Theo's and a large, happy, and relieved smile spread across her face. Vivid in her mind was the memory of Theo pulling her to safety and his struggle to reach her when she was hurt.

"Hey," Theo said as he sat down next to her. Draping his arm gently over her shoulders, he studied her slightly. "What do you want to do today?"

Glancing at the setting sun, she grinned while she answered, "Not much since today is almost over."

Nodding slightly, Theo returned her smile. "Well, how about we do what you were just thinking about?"

Yumi looked at him for moment. He had only a pleasant smile on his face. Then a strange, but familiar burning of her face caused her to realize that she was blushing. In an instant she understood that she was blushing because he knew that she was thinking about the warrior.

"Alright," Yumi said. "I was thinking about that boy who saved us last night."

"I saved you last night," Ulrich mumbled quietly as he fingered his bandages. Theo glanced at him but remained silent. Yumi just flatly ignored him.

"Well," Theo said slumping comfortably on the bench. "I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing him again: to thank him for saving you and us. Speaking of yesterday—" he looked at Yumi with a concerned look as his fingers traced the bandages that were partially visible from the collar of her shirt. "Are you alright?"

With a smug smile, she said, "I'm just fine. Don't worry, in a few days I'll be running circles around you again."

Sighing, Theo nodded. "I wonder if we could figure out who our savior is?"

"Well," Yumi said. "He did leave us a few clues. One; he's likely just a kid our age. Two; he's a master fighter. Three; he has a sword."

"Katana," Ulrich corrected.

"What?" Yumi asked, looking at him for the first time.

"That sword was a katana," Ulrich repeated. Digging into his pocket, he extracted a folded newspaper clipping. He handed it to Theo as he stood, sick of watching Yumi cuddling with Theo. "I think you'll find this interesting."

"Thanks," Theo said timidly. He could understand Ulrich's feelings. He even suspected that if he hadn't been wrapped in bandages and extremely sore, Ulrich would've beat the shit out Theo and laughed about it.

(A/N) Very clever if I do say so myself. Kind of makes you wonder if Xana will pull a stunt like this in the series. Please continue to review.