The Soul of a Warrior

By: Tellemicus Sundance

Chapter 14--I'm Not Him

The sun had reached its zenith by the time that Odd had finished. None of them could speak; there was nothing to say. Odd just glanced sadly down at the pile of wrappers that had accumulated during his story telling. Even with all that chocolate in his stomach, he was very hungry.

Aelita sat with a sad expression on her face. She loved life. And while she knew of hundreds of examples in human history that men killed men for pleasure, she never thought that one of her friends would be a victim or witness.

Yumi and Jeremy just watched their friend thoughtfully. He had his back to them during the entire tale. With a slumped figure, he looked blissfully out at the park. The shade of the fern patch they sat in was quite comfortable in the moist heat of early summer.

But what caught Yumi's attention on her best friend was the band of black cloth that was bound tightly around his forehead. She finally understood why Ulrich still wore it, even long after he no longer needed it. He wore it to remember his friend Taki.

At the thought of what the girl had done to Ulrich brought a ping of jealousy from her. Taki had been Ulrich's first kiss! Despite how much Yumi may have respected the mystery girl for saving her best friend, she couldn't help but to resent her slightly for that.

But Ulrich wasn't your first kiss either, whispered a voice inside her. How do you think he felt when he saw you do it with Theo? Besides you did it on purpose! So you're even.

"Did that fight really happen like Odd said, Ulrich?" Jeremy asked. Being a genius of physics, it didn't seem logical that people could move at the speeds that Odd had clearly implied.

Ulrich, after a moment, raised a hand to his face, brushing aside a stray tear. Turning back to his friends, he looked at each one of them. It had been painful for him to tell that tale to Odd, but to have to repeat it yet again was just devastating.

Standing abruptly, Ulrich motioned for them to follow him. Without looking back, he heard them climb to their feet and quickly follow him. Leading the way, he marched himself to the lake. The walk to it was quiet for them, each with their own thoughts.

Kneeling down to water's surface, Ulrich lowered his hands into it. The cool water felt quite nice in the warm summer sunlight. Then, absentmindedly, he began scrubbing his hands, trying to remove the concealor he had on his hand.

Watching his back, Jeremy thought back on his story. As he was reviewing it, something clicked in his mind. It was surprising, but it made perfect sense all of a sudden.

"Now I get it," Jeremy said. They all glanced at him curiously. "There was a time not even a few days before you came back that we had to reverse time."

The memory suddenly blossomed in their minds. Yumi smiled and glanced down at Ulrich. "That's right," she said. "We had no idea what Xana was doing because nothing was wrong…here."

"Looks like it was a good thing we listened to you, Aelita," Odd said.

Aelita blushed slightly. She had strongly insisted that they reverse time, even if nothing seemed to be wrong; Xana could not be trusted to act without a purpose.

Rising slowly, Ulrich turned towards his friends. They returned their attentions to him as he raised a clenched fist.

"To answer your question, Jeremy," he said as he opened his fist and rotated his palm upward. "This should be proof enough."

There, contrasting badly with the tanned flesh of his hand, was a long white line. It ran from the corner of his palm to between his thumb and index finger: a battle scar from his mindless assault on the ninjas.

The afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on their bare shoulders as the two boys fought. Wearing only their pants and sandals, Ulrich and Odd clashed violently against each other. Backing away panting from his opponent, the blonde-purple haired boy panted hard. Ulrich merely crossed his arms as a small smile spread his face.

Off on the sidelines, their other friends watched the training session. It was clear that Ulrich wasn't even trying, which could've been a good thing. Odd, drenched in sweat, was slouched over as he tried to maintain standing.

"I don't feel…so good," Odd complained as he gently rubbed his convulsing stomach. He was leaning heavily on his bo, barely able to remain standing.

"You don't look too good either," Yumi commented.

Ulrich watched his pupil. Odd wasn't very fast, but seemed to possess surprising skills with the bo that he carried. But he couldn't take the fight serious, like it was all a joke to him. That thought brought a smile to his face; it was so like Odd to think it was all a game.

Glancing up at the cloudless sky, Ulrich sighed. This couldn't even have been considered a warm-up for him, but it was clear that Odd couldn't stand too much longer. Looking back at him, Ulrich cast his own bo aside as he said, "That's enough for now."

Odd was panting too heavily to reply. He just watched as Ulrich turned his back to walk back to the girls. Nodding his head toward the roof, he dropped to his knees. The roof of the factory was very hot under him and he could see the heat waves dancing around him and burning through his pants. He felt truly exhausted, far more than he'd ever felt in his life.

Then thoughts of what Ulrich had been through came creeping through his mind. Odd could barely imagine the gruesome circumstances his friend must've been through during his training. He had to train from dawn to dusk with an opponent who didn't care if he was injured or not.

He's going easy on me, he quickly realized. No! Though he could understand why Ulrich didn't want to hurt him, Odd was determined to become as good a fighter as him. That was why he asked him to train him.

Pushing himself forcefully to his feet, Odd willed his unsteady legs to carry him forward. As he rushed Ulrich's back, he let out a shout, bringing his bo up to attack. Ulrich merely glanced behind him in a slightly surprised manner before he moved. Catching the descending staff, Ulrich used Odd's momentum to pull him into a swing.

Whirling around on his heels, Ulrich grinned at Odd's shocked expression. Looking down to the ground, Odd, in his opinion, saw it passing much too fast underneath him.

"Whoa, whoa!" he stammered. Ulrich seemed to spin faster with each revolution and he was finding it harder to hang on to his bo. "Major spin cycle—WHOA!"

Yumi fell back laughing at Odd as he was whirled around. Jeremy and Aelita wore smiles on their faces as well, even though Aelita was concerned for her friend. If Ulrich built up enough momentum, he could send his friend flying off the edge of the roof.

But Odd wasn't done yelling yet. "Maybe I shouldn't have had that last candybar—" Then Ulrich released him.

Flying almost twenty feet away, Odd landed on his back and went careening out of control for almost another five paces, head over heels the entire way. Coming to rest near the others, Odd rolled over on to his hands and knees, trying to shake the dizziness from him.

Standing up on disoriented legs, he wobbled several paces forward in a circular motion. "Now I know what a postal package feels like," he groaned.

He ignored the bouts of laughter behind him as he dropped ungracefully onto his buttocks. Yumi's uncontrollable laughter and Aelita's quiet giggles, however, were leaving a ringing sensation in his ears as he noticed Ulrich approaching him.

Nodding respectfully to him, Ulrich said, "Not bad for your first time. But you shouldn't push yourself so hard; fight to find your limits right now. Then we'll work on increasing them."

Smiling, Odd returned his nod as he lay down on the roof, enjoying a light breeze. As he lay there thinking, an abrupt memory flashed through his mind. Looking over at Ulrich who now stood next to Yumi, he said, "Ulrich, are you that warrior of legend guy?"

Stiffening visibly, his friend's face dropped slightly as his four friends watched him. Then, abruptly, he lifted his head with a full joyous smile. He shook his head heartily.

"I don't see how I can be," he said happily. "I'm no great fighter, and I'm not obsessed with the samurai code of honor."

"But… what about never losing a fight?" Yumi asked. "Ever since you've come back, you haven't lost a single one yet."

"That doesn't mean anything," he reasoned, shaking his head. "I'm no more a hero than any of you. I'm just…me."

With a small grin, Aelita said, "And that's just how I like you, too."

All of them smiled as a small blush lit up the pink-haired girl's face.

The stars gleamed down on them the couple from their position. Ulrich sat with Yumi in the park at the lakeshore. She was resting her head on his shoulder as he watched the stars' reflections on the lake surface. Neither spoke, enjoying the peace and comfort from the other's presence.

They were content with the cool night air and warm breeze. It felt so nice to have their dearest friend so close them. The built-up muscle in Ulrich's shoulder proved to be quite comfortable to Yumi and, at that thought, she smiled.

With his arm draped around her waist, Ulrich watched her face from the corner of his eye. He loved the various shadings that the stars, moon, and city cast down on her features. If only she had a halo, she'd be the angel of his dreams.

"You know," he said quietly, breaking their silence. "There is something that I've been wanting to ask you, Yumi."

She glanced up at him as she answered, "What?"

"Would you like to dance?" he couldn't help but to blush, despite his trying to restrain it.

"Now?" she asked, surprised. "What brought this on?"

His blush deepened as he laughed nervously for a moment. Sighing, he looked her in the eye as he answered. "I never got last year."

Yumi smiled and stood, pulling him up with her. Resting her hand on his shoulder, she grasped his hand with her other. Then, as he draped his hand hesitantly around her waist and back, they started dancing to a silent music that only they could hear.

THE END

(A/N)Unless there are any remaining questions about this story after this chapter, this will most likely be the final chapterI know many of you don't want me to end it: I don't want to end it! Don't worry! I already have plans for a new story. However, I can't put any date on when it will be posted (or even if it'll be posted).

I have to stop here because the next few months are going to be very chaotic for me. I'd be very surprised if I ever get to post again between now and November! So just let me say before I go, I'm beyond overjoyed that you all have read my stories and seemed to enjoy them.