.:/AN/:. I'm sorry, this and the next chapter are kind of short. But it creates tention and I love tention. Hee, hee, hee! So, here you go! Oh, and about the whole thank you thing? I think I'll do that at the end of the whole story, which is coming up soon. Sorry! And, about that whole sequal thing... I'll have to think about it. And you'll have to tell me if I can do a sequal. Just wait and see. Here's your next chappie.---

Chapter 12: Huh?

Yumi's POV:

During History class, I glanced up from my doodle, yet again, to see Lance outside of the door, watching me. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Go figure. Sometimes I tricked myself and said, that if I were to look up, I'd see Ulrich there instead of Lance. But that made me hurt. Ulrich didn't care about us anymore. He didn't care about me anymore.

I remember walking down the hallway, finally able to get rid of Lance, and I saw him leaning against the brick pillar. He looked bored. Then I saw Sissi.

Huh, no wonder, I said to myself.

Then, he looked at me. It was like he already knew I was there. And he brightened up. He looked happy to see me. But, like always, the look faded and it became dark and bored yet again. He started to talk to Sissi and basically pretended like I wasn't there.

Yeah, I was just hurting myself thinking about him...

Then my phone beeped. Someone was paging me. At first I thought it was Lance, saying, yet again, that he loved me. I made sure that I never said 'I love you' back. I would just nod at him and continue with my work. But this time...

The X.A.N.A. symbol on my screen was enough for me to realize that it was either Odd or Jeremie. Most likely Jeremie.

"Yes, Yumi, what is it?" my teacher asked me.

I put down my waving hand and asked, "Can I please go to the bathroom? It's kind of urgent."

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I met up with Jeremie, Odd and... Lance outside on the school grounds. We automatically headed towards the factory without a word. We climbed down the hatch after making sure that we weren't being followed and got ourselves to the factory.

"So, Jer, what is it this time?" Odd asked him as Jeremie settled down in his chair.

"I'm not sure, but if it really is a X.A.N.A. attack, Aelita may be in danger.

"Relax, Einstein, I'm sure your girlfriend's fine!" replied Odd.

Jeremie blushed.

"Score!" Odd cheered.

"Right, whatever," I said, brushing off the matter. "C'mon, we got to get to Lyoko."

Odd silently followed me over to the elevator, Lance walking behind.

"You okay?" he asked me after a moment of silence.

"What makes you think that I'm not?" I asked him, dodging the question.

"Well, it's just... you don't seem to be yourself after Ulrich left."

I could sense Lance tensing up at the mention of his name.

I sighed. "In truth Odd, I haven't been myself. I haven't felt happy in a long time. I haven't eaten a lot for a while. I haven't really enjoyed life ever since he left."

"Yumi, you just got to learn to move on. Yeah, so it's somewhat more fun when Ulrich was here, but until he decides to come back, we need to get over it."

"Your right, Odd. I'm sorry for acting like this. I'll try to relax more, okay?"

"Good," he replied, smiling.

We had this whole conversation in front of Lance and it was like we didn't even notice him. It was nice to relax a little instead of being tense, since Lance is always around us, especially me.

We reached the Scanner Room and stepped inside of the scanners and waited for Jeremie to send us in.

"The activated tower is in the Polar Region. Aelita is heading there now. Be careful. There aren't any monsters yet, but there will so let's get as far as we can without them."

"Right," I said under my breath.

The scanners closed.

"Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Lance. Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Yumi. Transfer: Lance. Virtualization!"

We materialized and landed on a patch of ice, near a tunnel/cave that lead the way to Aelita and the tower.

"Let's go," Lance said.

He ran ahead and Odd and I followed shortly. We were running, until we reached the opening. There were a couple of crabs waiting for us.

We were able to dodge the lasers, but it was too close for comfort.

"Jeremie, why didn't you tell us we had company?" I asked him, kind of pissed at him.

"Oh, sorry guys, I was watching out for Aelita. She's close to you. Once you dispose of the crabs, just take a left and you'll get to her no sweat."

"Thanks, Jer," Odd said.

"Too bad that we're not going to see her. At least, you guys won't," Lance said.

We were quiet, then-

"Huh?" Odd and I asked at the same time.

.:/AN/:. 'Huh?' is right. The next chapter won't help you much, but it's fun to read your frustrated e-mails and reviews. codelyoko2004 knows what I'm talkin about. Right? Well, stay tuned!