This is just a little one-shot I felt like writing between chapters of my other story Odd's Secret. I also have an idea for another Code Lyoko story that I might start writing soon. We'll see how that goes, though.

Read and review!

25-year-old Yumi Ishyama-Stern woke to the sound of birds chirping outside of her bedroom window. She sighed and rolled over towards her husband's side of the bed, opening her eyes to see that he was not there. Seeing that the clock on the bedside table read 8:38, she assumed that he must have been in the kitchen drinking his coffee while reading the paper, a habit he'd picked up through the five years of their marriage.

Yumi smiled at the thought of Ulrich. After knowing him for over a decade, she was still deeply in love with him, and being his wife made her the happiest woman alive. Their life together had, however, become much different than she, or anyone else, had expected. No one could have predicted that Yumi would have become a stay-home mother and housewife, but then again, their son hadn't been predicted either. After about two years as a full-time college student, she'd become only a part-time student at the birth of her son. She'd received a teaching degree, but hadn't really used it. She planned to become a teacher eventually, and having a college degree satisfied her enough for the time-being.Sure, Ulrich's big soccer-coaching job provided more than enough for the family, but Yumi liked to feel more useful.

The young Japanese woman sat in bed a few more moments lazily, remembering that their friends would be arriving for the weekend at 10:00. Aelita and Jeremie had been married just a few months shorter than Ulrich and Yumi, and their daughter was a year younger than Yumi's son. Aelita had become a perfect little housewife while Jeremie designed computer programs for some big company. They lived about 3 hours away, but every year on this day, Christmas Eve, the two families got together for the holidays.

Yumi picked up a dual picture frame from the nightstand. On one side was her wedding picture, and on the other there was a photo taken of the Lyoko gang on a Christmas Eve six years earlier, just before Xana had been shut down for good. In fact, that picture had been taken the day before Xana's defeat, which also happened to be the day that they'd lost Odd. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered that horrible Christmas night and Xana's ultimate attack.

It had been the others' senior year at Kadic High School, and they'd still been fighting Franz Hopper's computer program. Yes, Aelita had been freed from Lyoko, but so had Xana. The years had proven, though, that the war was almost at an end and that Xana was the loser. Of course, Xana hadn't taken it so lightly, and he'd developed one final strike against them, the possession of Odd Della Robbia. Mind control, having been a personal favorite of Xana's, had been even easier since his release into the real world during their eight grade year and Xana had been able to finally take over Odd. He'd used Odd's body to attack the rest of the gang, but Jeremie had countered the attack by using Lyoko's connection to the real world to materialize Yumi and Ulrich's Lyoko forms. During the fight, Odd, trying to get past the two warriors to kill Aelita, had broken Yumi's ankle and nearly knocked her unconscious. Through her blurred sight, Yumi had seen Odd fight Xana's control over him, and she'd heard him plead to Ulrich for help.

The memory of that night was still etched into her mind, and it brought her so much pain to recall it.

Flashback

Yumi looked up from where she was lying on the cold ground as someone called her name. Jeremie and Aelita had run up beside her and were trying to help her to her feet, but she felt pain shoot up her right leg. "It's broken," Jeremie said worriedly.

Yumi sat back down on the ground and tilted her head down groggily. "Aelita… you should… hide…" She tried to draw her fan in front of her, but she was too uncoordinated.

"I'm fine," Aelita assured her. "Odd's fighting it. It's all going to be ok."

"What happened?" Yumi mumbled incoherently as she looked up.

Sure enough, Odd was on his knees, gritting his teeth together and grabbing his head. He kept muttering the word 'please.'. Ulrich was standing in front of him, holding his sword to the side, a lost expression on his face. It was then that Yumi realized what Odd was saying. "You have to do it!" Odd yelled desperately. "Please, Ulrich… I can't fight this too much longer…"

Ulrich shook his head. "No," he said. "I won't do it…" He looked over at the others hopefully. "Jeremie, how do we get Xana out of him?"

Jeremie looked at him blankly. "I don't know… There's no tower to deactivate. Xana is physically in him."

"See?" Odd said. "You have to kill me! You can't let me hurt anyone else!" Suddenly his eyes shot open widely and he tightened the grasp on his head. "No!" he cried. "I won't let you… take… me again…"

Aelita stood and watched the boy sadly. "Ulrich," she said. "If Odd dies, he and Xana will both return to Lyoko, and Xana won't be able to get to the real world freely. It will be like it was before he got the keys to Lyoko."

"And without you being bound to Lyoko, we can finally shut it down!" Ulrich concluded. He then raised his sword in front of him, holding it with both hands. "I'll have to do it then…" He looked at his best friend, afraid to do run a blade through him, but he felt a bit of relief at being able to materialize him back.

Odd laughed, but not his normal laugh. It was low and evil and it made Ulrich feel sick in the pit of his stomach. His eyes were shining a frightening red. "Oh yes, you fool, do it," Xana's voice hissed through Odd's mouth. "Kill your best friend. Actually, you might want to wait to hear the rest."

Ulrich looked back at Aelita in confusion, waiting for an explanation, but Jeremie was the one to answer his silent question. "Odd won't have a physical body to return to, and I won't be able to make up any kind of materialization program to fix that."

Ulrich lowered his sword again and Xana laughed, holding up one hand with electricity surging through it. "So you want the rest of your friends to die then?" he mocked.

Ulrich shook his head in frustration. "Odd, fight this!" he shouted. "Please! I don't want to hurt you! Fight this long enough for Jeremie to find some other plan!"

Xana just glared at him, though a flicker of Odd appeared in his eyes.

"Odd, don't let Xana win!" Aelita cried out. Behind her, Yumi was watching fearfully from the ground.

The red began to fade from Odd's eyes as he fell again to one knee. He cried out in pain and bit his lip. "Ulrich… please…"

"No…" Tears filled Ulrich's eyes as he was being given such a big decision. "Odd, I can't kill you!"

Odd walked up to him slowly, visibly fighting back against the entity trying to control him. "He made me hurt Yumi," he said. "I don't want to do that to anyone else…" He offered a small smile to Ulrich before hugging him. "It's all going to be ok Ulrich. You're my best friend. I wouldn't lie to you."

The other three watched nervously as Ulrich cried into Odd's shoulder. Yumi was afraid that Odd might lose control and kill her boyfriend, but she and the other couple said nothing, just watching silently. "I… can't…" Ulrich whispered.

"You can." Then Odd pulled away from his roommate. "Do it, and make sure that Jeremie goes straight to the factory to shut down the supercomputer. Promise me you guys will shut it down Ulrich."

Ulrich sobbed and shook his head miserably. Odd shook his shoulders roughly. "Promise me, damn it!" he yelled more angrily than he meant to, Xana's control making him more aggressive than usual.

Ulrich tightened the grip on his sword and sniffed. "I… promise…"

Odd grabbed the boy's right arm, forcing it to hold the sword out towards him. Taking a step back, Odd spread his arms out to the sides and closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Ulrich."

Ulrich sobbed as he pulled the sword back in preparation. "Goodbye…"

Aelita buried her head into Jeremie's chest and Yumi covered her face with her hands. Ulrich too closed his eyes, unable to watch his own actions. In one swift movement, he struck Odd, crying out as he thrust the sword. He opened his eyes when he heard a small gasp escape Odd's mouth. "Odd," he whispered numbly, as he withdrew the sword and threw it to the ground.

Odd smiled at him before collapsing to the ground. Ulrich knelt next to him and held him to his chest. "I'm so sorry Odd!" he whispered. "I'm so sorry!"

Odd shook his head. "Thank you," he said. "It's all going to be ok…" Then his eyes shut and his heart ceased its beating forever.

"No!" Aelita cried.

Yumi's dizziness finally overcame her as she realized what had just happened, and she lost consciousness.

End Flashback

Jeremie had attempted to locate Odd on Lyoko, but he'd only been added as data to the system. After one last return trip to the past, Ulrich had kept his promise to Odd by convincing Jeremie to shut down the program forever. Odd had been found in his dorm room, seemingly unharmed, but it had been clear that there was no breath left in him. After an autopsy, the cause of death had been decided as internal bleeding of unknown cause.

Yumi wiped the tears from her eyes and got out of bed to take a shower. She stared at her large stomach in the mirror and sighed. "It's a miracle Ulrich still loves me,"she joked to herself.When she was finished getting ready she went into her son's bedroom and found him still sleeping in his airplane-decorated bed. She smiled at his serene expression as his dark brown hair lay sloppily on his forehead. She kissed him on the cheek and sat beside him. "Time to get up," she said.

He opened his slightly oriental-looking, green eyes, the color of his father's, and smiled at her. "Good morning Mommy," he said.

"Good morning, sweetie." Yumi ruffled his hair affectionately and stood up. "Let's go downstairs. I'll make you waffles."

He jumped out of bed excitedly and followed her down to the kitchen, where Ulrich was still drinking his coffee in somewhat of a daze. It still amused Yumi to see him do so. She'd always think of him as the 13-year-old boy she first fell in love with, and his boyish good looks didn't help deter her from the idea either. "Daddy!" their son yelled as he jumped into his father's lap. Ulrich laughed as he hugged the little boy. "Hey there kiddo," he said. He smiled as Yumi stood beside him and hugged his shoulder. He looked at her for a moment adoringly. "Yumi, you are so beautiful."

Yumi blushed wildly, resting a hand on her stomach. "Liar," she said softly.

Ulrich shook his head. "You know I mean it. You will always be the most gorgeous person in the world. And that little girl is going to be just as beautiful." He concluded his statement by kissing her stomach lovingly.

"Ew!" their son cried, causing them to laugh as Yumi went straight to her cabinets to get out the waffle iron and the rest of the utensils she needed. "Mommy is going to make waffles!"

"Really?" Ulrich asked sneakily, knowing that Yumi hated to make such sugary breakfasts for their hyper son. "What do you think are the chances of getting a scoop of ice cream on top?"

"Ulrich!" Yumi pointed a large wooden spoon at him playfully. "Don't even start him on that one!"

Ulrich simply laughed as he set his son down on the chair beside his. "Sorry, buddy, I tried."

"Odd, do you want blueberries in you waffles?" Yumi asked, while mixing the batter.

"Yes!" the little boy replied enthusiastically.

When Yumi was done with the waffles and had set them down in front of who she called her 'two favorite men,' she sat down on her husband's other side and picked at her own breakfast. She watched Ulrich for a moment, noticing the far-off look in his eye curiously. She then realized that the newspaper was nowhere to be seen and wondered what he had been doing that entire time. Little Odd's happy voice broke her from her thoughts as he yelled out, "Done!"

"Put your dish in the sink and then wash your hands and your face," Yumi told him with a smile. "You're all sticky!"

Odd nodded and jumped up to do as he was told, humming a song as he did so. Yumi looked back at Ulrich and saw him staring at his empty plate. "A penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

Ulrich looked up at her and smiled softly. "Just remembering…"

Yumi nodded and sat on his lap. She leaned against him and ran her fingers through his hair, which was still in the same style as years before. Ulrich sighed. "His parents actually sent us a Christmas card this year," he said. "I found it in the mail this morning."

Yumi looked at him strangely. The Della Robbias had become very depressed after the loss of their only son, and they really didn't like to keep in touch with his old friends.Still, every year,Mr. and Mrs. UlrichStern had made their caring attempt tobe there for their old friend's parents."How are they doing?" she asked.

"It says they're doing fine," Ulrich said. "We are too right?"

Yumi smiled and hugged him again, about to answer, but then the doorbell rang.

"They're here!" Odd's voice shouted from the hall as they heard his little feet running against the floor.

Yumi rolled her eyes and stood. "How many times do I have to tell you not to open the door!" she yelled as she walked towards the door with Ulrich behind her. "It could be a stranger!"

"It's Uncle Jeremie and Aunt Aelita and Julie!" Odd babbled excitedly as he opened the door, despite his mother's objections.

The family outside of the door smiled warmly. "Hello there," Aelita giggled as Odd hugged her legs tightly.

Yumi laughed as she and Ulrich watched. She turned to her husband and grabbed his hand. "You know what? I think we're doing amazingly… And that's just the way he would have wanted it."

Hope you all liked it! Please review! And tell me if you would like me to write a sequel (after my other stories are done) about Yumi and Ulrich's son at Kadic! I think I want little Odd Sternand Julie (Jeremie's genius daughter)to discover Lyoko with some friends (Sissi's daughters maybe?)and become the new warriors of Lyoko, along with a virtual being, also named Odd (hint, hint... Aelita lost her memory on Lyoko before too...), who has the power to deactivate towers (becoming one with the Lyoko system has given him the keys to Lyoko). They'll keep the virtual world a secret, until weird happenings call the attention of their parents, especially of Yumi, Kadic's newest math teacher. If you do like this idea and have any suggestions to add, let me know!