1Disclaimer: Don't own Code Lyoko

Pairings: UxY

Author's Note: Sorry I couldn't update yesterday...I was soooo tired. Beyond tired, I was dead and buried, but oh well, I'm updating today/tonight!

That night they listened mournfully as the trumpets blew the final fanfare and then with a thunderous roar the cannon went off, signaling the end of the Faire. "Guess we better head back," Yumi said after a few moments. They nodded and Odd hugged Elizabeth quickly, kissing her cheek.

"See you tomorrow Elizabeth," he told her softly. She nodded then smiled at them.

"I'll see you all on the morrow. Good luck with your parents," she said, looking at Yumi. "Thanks, I'll need it," Yumi replied. They walked slowly back to the hotel and Yumi stretched stiffly. "I'll be so glad to get out of this corset," she muttered.

"Here," Ulrich said, he stepped behind her, loosening it as they walked and she sighed.

"Thanks, that feels so much better," she sighed.

Aelita grinned. "That's why I've been wearing a bodice. Not as restricting," she said. They laughed and Odd did a cartwheel.

"And that's why I'm glad I'm not a girl. No corsets or bodices," he joked. They all laughed before falling silent as they walked up to the front of the hotel. They all remembered what awaited them - Yumi - inside.

"Yumi, your parents wish to see you before dinner. They're staying in room 113," Jim said as soon as they entered the lobby.

"Alright Jim, I just want to change first," she said. He nodded, walking off now that his job was done. "A few more minutes of freedom," she sighed.

"Don't talk like that, I'm sure they'll understand," Jeremie said. She laughed weakly as they entered the elevator and rode up to the second floor.

"If I don't see you before I see them...I want white flowers at my wake and I want to be buried at -"

"Stop it," Ulrich said, looking at her sternly. "Don't talk like that, otherwise things will go just as badly as you predict them to go." She nodded as they walked to their rooms. "I'll see you in...twenty minutes?" She nodded again and he smiled, kissing her lightly.

Yumi finished combing the braids out of her hair and cringed when she saw the crinkles in it. "Never again," she muttered, shaking her head. She pulled on a t-shirt and jeans, debating on the best way to deal with her hair. Ponytail...or...down? I hate ponytails and I can't stand looking at it while it's down and crinkled... her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Coming!" she called.

The shower was still on as Aelita scrubbed the dirt off her so she slipped on her sandals and opened the door, expecting to find Ulrich. Instead she gave a small gasp. Her parents stood there, glaring at her. "Mom...dad..." she said in surprise.

"Yumi, we told your teacher that we wished to speak to you," her father said sternly.

"He told me, I just wanted to get changed first," she replied. She glanced around, nothing incriminating or embarrassing lying around. "Come in," she said.

They entered and took a seat on the two chairs facing her bed. She hesitated before taking a seat across from them. "Yumi, we are very disappointed in you. We trusted you and you broke that trust, how could you?" her mother asked.

"I didn't. I can explain everything, well almost everything..." she said. She heard the bathroom door open and Aelita walked out, a towel wrapped around her, gasped and quickly ran back into the bathroom.

"Yumi!" she shrieked. "Can you get me my clothes?"

Yumi stood quickly, grabbing the clothes Aelita had picked out and hurried to the bathroom, knocking on the door. It opened a crack and Aelita looked out. "Can you get dressed quickly and go next door, tell Ulrich that my parents are here?" she asked quietly. Aelita nodded, taking the clothes as Yumi turned and went back to her parents.

"You can explain the pictures? The letters? The 'hand latching?'"

"Hand-fasting," Yumi corrected quietly, absentmindedly twisting the coil of rope around her wrist. How could her father make something that was so innocent and fun sound so...dirty...? At that moment she heard the door open and turned. Ulrich was walking in, she had never heard Aelita leave.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama," he greeted them. Her father grunted and her mother nodded. "I, uh, came to help sort things out," he said.

"Good, because sorting out is exactly what this mess you two have created needs," her father said, standing up and looking out the window.

"Sir, if I may, we've done nothing wrong. This whole hand-fasting thing was a joke, and it looked fun. It involves nothing physical and it's completely fake," he explained.

"Yes, Jim, your teacher, explained this to us. But what about the pictures and other e-mails?" he demanded.

"I didn't send them!" Yumi exclaimed. She stood just as suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself. "Don't you know me better than that? I didn't send them. I'd never send things like that!"

"I don't know what pictures you've seen, but there's a girl here at this school that I've rejected to go out with many times. I'm pretty sure she's the one who sent them to you, not Yumi. And I'm sure she's done it for the same reasons as you, she's jealous because she thinks that there's something more than friendship between Yumi and myself," Ulrich explained. "Yumi is my best friend, I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt her!" he exclaimed.

"The truth is, we don't know who sent the pictures. As far as we know there was only the hand-fasting that's real," her mother said, looking at her father. "And unless we have absolute proof, we are condemning them on circumstantial evidence."

"Circumstantial but highly significant, and this isn't the first time may I add. Remember the last sleep over? When I came downstairs and found her in his arms?" her father demanded.

"We were sleeping! I must've gotten cold and rolled into him!" Yumi said, exasperated.

Her parents exchanged looks. "I told you that when you first got mad," her mother said. Her father grunted and her mother stood, taking her husband's arm. "You should get some dinner Yumi. You don't want to go to bed with an empty stomach, and you want to get a good night's sleep for Faire tomorrow, right? Your father and I would like to see it for ourselves." Her parents left and Yumi closed the door, leaning against it.

"That...went...well," Ulrich said after a few minutes. She laughed bitterly and went over, wrapping her arms around him and leaning against him.

"Yeah, real well..." she muttered into his chest.

"I think they're considering what we said though," he told her. She nodded and he tilted her face up, capturing her lips with his. She sighed and ran her hands over his back as he threaded his fingers through her hair. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she gasped before pressing herself against him. She half expected aelita to walk in again, but their luck held out.

Finally, she pulled away, smiling at him about twenty minutes later. "As much as I enjoy this, I think we really should get some food," she said. He nodded.

"Guess your right," he replied. He was sitting on her bed, his back pressed against her headboard and she was snuggled up in his lap. "I don't want to get up."

"Neither do I. I want to stay this way forever," she sighed, leaning against him. At that moment, Aelita walked in, carrying a plate with fruit on it and pasta salad.

"I didn't think you'd be coming down." She handed them the plate as Odd came in with two glasses of water and Jeremie followed with two dessert plates. "We'll be in the boy's rooms, see you later," she said. They exited and Yumi and Ulrich exchanged looks, laughing.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoy. Read and Review! You know the formula by now!