Disclaimer: I don't own anything… All persons, icons, characters, and places belong to the people who created Code: Lyoko… I'm just a fan.

P.S. I leave what happened with Kiwi to the imaginations of you readers!

Code:Lyoko

Mirror, Mirror

Part II: Unveiling

Ulrich shifts under his bed sheets and secretly wishes the alarm clock would blow up, but it's persistent beeping is too much. He reaches from under the covers and turns it off. Ulrich tosses back his covers and yawns. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and, to his amazement, sees that Odd has already gone. "I must still be asleep if Odd is up this early….", he says swinging his feet off the bed and into his sandals. He stands and walks sleepily to his chest of drawers and pulls out his usual attire. He yawns again and scratches his head as he tosses his khakis and shirt over his shoulder and opens the door. As he steps out, he sees Jeremie come out of his room, also in a sleepy stupor.

"Hey, Jeremie."

"Morning, Ulrich. Did you finish studying for your chemistry exam?"

"Yeah, barely. I just hope I'm not too tired to remember any of it."

"How did things go last night at Yumi's house?"

"Well, her mother didn't throw me out of the house, so I guess it went ok. But, man, can Yumi's mom talk. I didn't get back here till almost ten-thirty. And I still stayed up until about twelve forty-five studying. Say, by the way, have you seen Odd? When I woke up, he was gone already."

Jeremie cups his hand over his mouth to shield Ulrich from his yawn and any morning breath he may have before responding. "No, I haven't. Though, I thought I heard him on his cell phone in the hallway the first time I woke. But I can't be too sure. I could have just been dreaming." Ulrich nods slightly and tries to suppress another yawn but fails. The pair walk down the hallway towards the shower room. As they approach, they notice that the line is unusually short. Just then, Herb and Nicholas exit the shower room clutching their damp towels and pajamas with a look of disdain on their faces.

"Idiot.", says Herb.

"And he calls me a moron….", states Nicholas.

"Uh, what's going on?", asks Ulrich, unsure if he wants to get involved.

Nicholas steps up to him and shoves his finger in Ulrich's chest. "He's YOUR friend! YOU need to set him straight before I do!"

"Well, what happened?", asks Jeremie meekly, not wanting to get too involved.

Herb turns to him and replies angrily, "Two words: Dumb Dog."

Ulrich and Jeremie turn to each other and in unison say, "Uh-oh."

Meanwhile, Aelita finishes combing her hair and surveys her reflection in her mirror. She smiles with approval and stands. Aelita congratulates herself on getting herself ready despite waking up just a bit late, though it did help that most of the other girls had already showered, gotten ready, and left for breakfast. She turns to her desk and picks up her text and note books, glances at herself in the mirror to check her looks one last time, and nods again in approval. She hopes that Jeremie will also approve of her new outfit that she picked out. Of course, Yumi had a hand in the process, but it was mostly her choice. Aelita then turns and exits her room, locking it behind her.

"Well, well. Isn't it Aelita. Running a bit late, are we, princess?", comes a voice from farther down the hall with a bit of snootiness and sarcasm. Aelita didn't have to guess to whom the voice belonged.

"Good morning to you too, Elizabeth.", Aelita says with just a hint of sarcasm.

"It's Sissi! How many times do I have to tell you!", replies Sissi growing angry. "You'd think with as smart as you are, you'd learn that by now! I hate Elizabeth!"

"Well, I don't understand why you can't just live with it. After all, it IS your name. Your parents named you that."

Sissi snorts and turns away. "Well, they didn't say that I HAD to keep it! So when I get old enough, I'm having it changed!"

Aelita sighs softly and looks at Sissi in mild pity as Sissi walks off in her usual stuck-up fashion. She still finds it hard to understand how Sissi could be that way. She shakes her head and proceeds down the hall toward the cafeteria.

Yumi enters the cafeteria and quickly scans the room for her boyfriend. She spots all of her friends sitting at a table at the far side and begins to make her way to them. As she gets closer, she sees Jeremie and Ulrich staring at Odd in a bewildered/upset/embarrassed way. Aelita sits next to Jeremie, with an unsure look on her face.

Uh-oh. What has Odd done this time?, she thinks to herself. As she nears, she can hear Ulrich talking to Odd.

"I still can't believe you did that!", Ulrich says.

"You are lucky Jim wasn't around, Odd. If he would have seen….", Jeremie starts but stops himself.

"What?", states Odd innocently.

"Odd's acting innocent again. What's he done this time?", asks Yumi sliding down next to Ulrich. She leans over and kisses him and interjects softly to him, "Good morning, Babe." He glances at her and smiles briefly before returning her kiss, then looks down at his half-eaten scrambled eggs and frowns.

Odd glances around the table and goes on the defensive. "I didn't DO anything!"

Jeremie sighs and replies, "True, technically, YOU didn't do anything, but a certain canine in your possession DID."

Odd blushes and puts on a strained smile. "Well, he's never… done THAT before. Kiwi's always had good control before…." Yumi's eyebrows shoot up and her mouth drops open. "Oh, stop! I don't want to know anymore!", she says raising her hand to Odd. Aelita blushes and turns her head and blinks, trying to get the numerous mental pictures out of her head. "I was hungry, but not anymore.", Aelita says shoving her tray away from her. Odd perks up and turns to eye her rejected food. "Oh, really? That's too bad! Can I have the rest?", he asks hungrily. Jeremie looks sideways through the corner of his oval glasses in disbelief. "How can you still be hungry?" "Yeah, I still don't know how you can eat so much and still be so scrawny.", chimes in Ulrich.

Odd shoots him a hurt and stern glance. "I'm not scrawny! Svelte! I'm svelte!" He reaches over and drags Aelita's leftovers to him and begins to finish them off quickly.

Ulrich sighs heavily and runs his hands down his face. "Whatever. All I know is that I'll never go into the shower room without thinking about…. that." Jeremie nods slightly in agreement and pushes his tray of unfinished breakfast toward Odd. Odd looks up at him and gives him a quizzical look. "Take it. I know you want it. Besides, you just can't let it go to waste." Odd smiles big at him and replies simply, "Got that right!"

Odd shovels the last of the food into his mouth and chews it happily as the bell rings for the first class. As the group stands and collects their things, Yumi leans over to Ulrich and asks, "Well, what happened?" Ulrich looks at her in surprise. "You really want to know?", he asks raising his eyebrows in disbelief. Yumi shrugs and replies, "Well, you've pricked my curiosity." "Later. Like, sometime after my stomach stops churning.", he replies stepping around behind her and taking her hand. She blinks and nods, not knowing what to think. "That bad?", she turns to ask. Ulrich just nods. "Oh.", she says.

Later, during lunch break, Aelita and Jeremie walk hand-in-hand around the courtyard of the school. "So, how do you think you did on the pop quiz in Italian class?", she asks, trying her hardest to sound neutral and not to make Jeremie worry. He frowns and replies, "You'd think a guy who can program a quantum computer, send his friends to a virtual world, and turn back time could learn to understand at least ONE full sentence in any foreign language…" Aelita begins to feel bad about her choice in topics and leans her head against his left shoulder.

"I'm sorry I asked you."

"It's ok. I just… need to work at it harder….", he replies and smiles softly at her. Just then, he hears a beeping from his laptop. The pair stop and Jeremie pulls out his laptop, opens the lid, and taps a key to clear the screensaver. "Please don't let it be…", he murmurs. "…crud." He pulls out his cell phone and Aelita glances at the screen. Her heart sinks to her stomach. Jeremie finishes dialing and waits for Ulrich to answer.

Five minutes later, Odd, Aelita, and Jeremie enter the factory elevator. Jeremie taps in the code on the keypad and the elevator begins descending to the computer room. Finally, the elevator stops and the doors open. Jeremie steps out and turns to Odd and Aelita. "Ok, you two, head on down to the scanner room. Hopefully, Yumi and Ulrich can get away soon to come and help, but for now, do what you can. And… be careful.", he says focusing his gaze onto his girlfriend. Aelita smiles reassuringly at him and replies, "We always are." Odd gives Jeremie a thumbs up and a huge smile as he presses the elevator button. The doors close and Jeremie hears the elevator begin to descend again. He sighs softy to himself and then takes his seat at the keyboard.

"Ok, Jeremie, we're ready!", states Odd.

"Roger. Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Aelita."

Odd feels the familiar tingle throughout his body and, despite the copious times he's been through this process, it still feels…. weird.

"Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Aelita."

Odd smiles to himself. This was the part that he enjoyed the most.

"Virtualization!"

Odd feels the sensation of floating and opens his eyes. For a split second, the panoramic view of the mountain region fills his vision. Then, he focuses on his landing. He glances around and sees Aelita rise from her squat. He stands and surveys the landscape. "Alright, Jeremie, where's the tower at?", he asks. "It's approximately 75 meters south by south-west of your position, but be careful. That section of the mountain sector has lots of sheer drop-offs and numerous hiding places. Not to mention, plenty of narrow passages to go through!", Jeremie replies. Odd turns to Aelita and asks, "Ready to go, Princess?" Aelita nods and sees the Overboard materialize. Odd turns and smiles. "A bit slow bringing the Overboard online, are we, Jeremie?", he says playfully. "Hey, cut me some slack, ok? I'm doing five different things here. Besides, the computer seems to be running unusually slow.", replies Jeremie. "Relax, Einstein. Just giving you a hard time." Jeremie grunts and frowns. "As usual. Look, just get to the tower quickly. I'm not sure what X.A.N.A. is up to just yet." "Roger that.", Odd says and hops onto the Overboard. Aelita hops on behind him and the two take off toward the tower.

Jeremie pecks away at the keyboard. "Now what could be using that much processing power?", he whispers to himself as he pours over the computer logs. Then, the cell phone icon on the screen enlarges and begins ringing. He clicks on it and an avatar of Yumi sides from it's left side.

"Yumi! Where are you guys?"

"We're still stuck in gym class. History class was cancelled and Jim got the bright idea for an extended workout.", she replies whispering. "It'll be awhile before we even get a chance to get away!"

Jeremie frowns in disgust. "Figures. Leave it to Jim to get an idea. Well, try to get here. If Odd runs into trouble, he'll need your help."

"Odd's tough. I'm sure he can hold out until we get there. Look, I gotta go! Jim'll take my phone if he catches me using it! Bye!"

Yumi's picture slides away and the phone icon returns to its previous size. Jeremie adjusts his glasses and pulls up the scan of the area where Odd and Aelita are in.

"Bad news, guys. You're going to be on your own for a while."

"Why? Where are Yumi and Ulrich? Are they ok?", asks Aelita, concerned.

"Well, if you call being in an extended gym class with Jim 'ok', then, yes, they are. It's going to take them quite a while to get here. You are going to have to hold out until they get here."

"That figures. We'll do our best, Jeremie. Don't worry about that!" , replies Odd.

"Strange. There are no monsters after us."

Aelita's observation hits Jeremie and he realizes it too. "Just like… before…" He shudders as memories flood his mind.

Odd frowns and scans the path before him intensely for any sign of X.A.N.A.'s creatures. Suddenly, a vision of the future blinds him. The shock of the vision coming to him causes him to swerve violently, nearly slamming into the rock face. He somehow regains control and lands. Odd watches the vision play out in his mind. He sees a dark figure…. and… what are those? Claws? Aelita can be seen in the background with a horrified look on her face. Then, in a blur of motion, he sees two swipes of claws toward him and hears a scream….

Odd realizes that it is himself that is screaming. He stops and looks down at his chest wide-eyed. Aelita is next to him, gripping his shoulders, trying to shake him back to his senses.

"Odd! Snap out of it!", she says loudly.

He gasps and looks up at her. She gasps as she sees the fear and bewilderment on his face.

"Wha—What did you see?", Aelita asks, trying to calm both him and herself down.

"I—I saw a figure. And a pair of claws. It attacked me! I—felt them hit me! I've never felt anything through a vision before! Nor have I ever had one this powerful!"

"You… felt the attack? How can that happen?", states Aelita.

"I don't know, but something bad's gonna happen to me!", he states, still trying to absorb all that the vision showed him.

"What can you tell me about the figure? Maybe we can use that to our advantage.", Aelita says releasing him.

Odd blinks for a minute, trying to collect all that he can about the figure. "Nothing, really. Except…. That it was very familiar to me… I don't know why it was, er, will be, rather. I just can't place it."

"Well, I'd advise you to proceed with extreme caution from here on out. Remember, you two are the only hope of deactivating the tower right now, so don't take any unnecessary risks.", states Jeremie firmly.

Odd blinks again and slowly nods as he refocuses his energy to the task at hand. "Right. Protect Aelita until she deactivates the tower. Gotcha." He turns to Aelita and sees the worry in her face. He puts on a big smile and hopes that it reassures her. "Well, are you ready to continue on?" Aelita nods slightly and the two get back on the Overboard and take to the air again.

Upon arriving at the tower, Odd, Aelita, and Jeremie watch as the tower suddenly deactivates by itself.

"What the…? Not again!", exclaims Odd in bewilderment. Aelita frowns and looks around the immediate area. Jeremie, equally baffled, runs another scan and confirms that the tower is indeed deactivated.

"What is going on here!", exclaims Odd as he lands the Overboard. "This is twice X.A.N.A. has activated a tower and then deactivated it when we get here! What's he doing?" Aelita touches his arm and says, "What is that?" Odd turns to see Aelita pointing at a large pod of some sort partially obscured from view and propped up against a boulder. "I don't know. Jeremie?" Jeremie looks at the screen in confusion. He hears the elevator door open and two sets of footsteps coming towards him, but he ignores them. "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it nor have I read about any king of 'pods' in Franz Hopper's diaries. This is something completely new…" Ulrich clears his throat. "We came as soon as we could. What have we missed?", asks Ulrich, trying to get a glimpse of the computer screen, but Jeremie's head is so close to the screen that it blocks his view. Jeremie glances at him quickly and replies. "A lot. X.A.N.A. once again deactivated the tower when Odd and Aelita arrived. But that's not the half of it. Odd had a vision that he actually felt an attack in. Now, Aelita has discovered a strange pod partially hidden in the boulders."

Odd hops up on top of the boulders and peers down at the pod. "It's open! As if there was something in it!"

Jeremie gasps and sits back in his chair. Yumi and Ulrich stand there next to him in awe. "Odd! Get away from there! Whatever came out of the pod could still be close by!", he exclaims. Just then, the scanner registers three more towers going active. "Oh, no! Three more towers just activated! Yumi, Ulrich, get to the scanner room, quickly! Odd, Aelita, head towards the passage tower to the desert sector and deactivate that tower. Yumi, I'm sending you to the forest sector and Ulrich to the Glacier. Hold off any monsters there…. if any… and await Aelita's arrival to deactivate those towers." Odd hops down from the boulder and says, "Yeah, if they stay activated long enough TO deactivate…"

Minutes later, Yumi stands before the forest tower, glowering up at it. Dang it! Just like the other tower! X.A.N.A. deactivated it when I got here!, she thinks to herself. She surveys the surrounding area, looking for signs of life. Then, she notices a strange pod nearby, similar to the one Odd discovered.

Ulrich jabs his katana into the icy ground in disgust. He growls in anger and wishes X.A.N.A. would stop playing games and just show up. He lets out a quick sigh and scans the barren, icy landscape. Then, he too notices an open pod.

Odd shoots a rock nearby five times to let off some steam. Aelita touches his shoulder to try and calm him down. "X.A.N.A., you coward! Come out and fight!", he screams up at the digital sky. Then, he hears a noise from a dark outcropping. The scanner suddenly registers another life-sign in the area. Jeremie looks at the signature in utter bewilderment.

"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get….", says a strangely familiar voice from the outcropping. Odd sees a figure in the shadows and gasps as he realizes that this is what he saw in his vision. Aelita turns toward the voice and freezes in fear. There is a sound of metallic claws extending quickly. Odd stands frozen in fear as the figure crouches, almost feline-like; almost like—him. Then, in a blur of blindingly quick speed, the figure attacks Odd.

Two swipes. Only two. No more. And it was over. The first struck Odd in a downward motion across the chest. The other came up across his chest from underneath and sent him airborne. But he never came down. Odd de-virtualized almost immediately after the second attack sent him airborne. He didn't have time to scream this time…

Jeremie nearly shoves the doors to the scanner open quicker than they can actually open. He sees Odd lying on the floor of the scanner unconscious. "ODD!", he yells and crouches down next to him. Odd lays motionless for what seems like an eternity before stirring. Suddenly, Odd bursts into a scream of pain and clutches his chest. Tears begin to pour from his eyes as Jeremie looks dumbfounded at him, trying to get his brain to work. Odd sobs violently then gasps for air. He opens his teary, red eyes and realizes that Jeremie is above him. "Odd! Are you alright?", Jeremie asks, barely containing his own outburst of emotion. Odd tries to sit up, but is too weak and slumps back to the floor. Jeremie helps him up and notices that Odd is unusually quiet. I've never seen him so shaken. But then again, considering what attacked him, I can understand why he is so shaken., Jeremie thinks. The pair return to the computer room and Jeremie gently lays his friend on the floor, then retakes his seat.

Aelita stands before the figure shocked and frozen with fear herself. "No… it can't be….", she manages to get out. The figure smiles deviously and narrows it's eyes at her. "Oh, it is, Aelita.", it says. Then, from behind the figure, comes a sound of footsteps. The footsteps stop at the edge of the shadow. Aelita shakes her head in dismay.

"You look so much like…" ,she starts before getting cut off.

The first figure's smile disappears and says, "No. I AM."

Aelita shakes her head in disbelief. "No! You can't be! It's impossible!"

The smile returns. "Nah, not really."

"But you look exactly like…Odd!"

The figure takes a step toward her and laughs devilishly, "No, it's deeper than that. I AM Odd!" The figure pauses. "Well, actually my name is Dod. Kind of a stupid name, if you ask me. Shoulda been named something like Reaper. But no, had to have been a ridiculous anagram of Odd's name. Humph." Dod turns to the second figure that is still concealed by the shadow of the outcropping. "You want me to take her out too?", he asks. Aelita looks over Dod's appearance. It is very similar to Odd's uniform except the yellow dog isn't in the middle of the chest. The tail is, she notices, seems to be a bit more functional and manipulative than Odd's tail, which seems almost, at times, merely decorative.

"No, I will deal with her myself. Stay out of my way, Dod."

The voice of the second figure snaps Aelita back to her senses as she realizes the voice is extremely close to hers. The figure steps out of the shadows and pauses dramatically. Aelita nearly faints as she sees a nearly perfect reflection of herself in the second figure. Only the clothes are different. The woman is wearing a black top with red trim similar to Aelita's except she doesn't have on an undershirt, thus showing her naval and a good portion of her chest, to which Aelita blushes slightly. Never would have she dressed like that. The skirt is red with black trim and her leggings are black with red straps and shoes. The figure stands with an evil gleam in her eye and places her left hand on her hip.

"Oh, finally deciding to get you precious hands dirty, are we, Princess Atilea?", mocks Dod with a smirk on his face. Atilea shoots him a glance. "Shut up, you half-wit.", she replies with a scowl. Atilea raises her right hand to her side and smiles at Aelita. She begins to chuckle and Aelita sees a rather large rock form mid-air above Atilea's outstretched hand. "Surprised I could do that? And it took so little effort!", Atilea says in a tone that slightly mocks Aelita. "Here, let me show you something else I can do!" The next thing Aelita sees is the rock flying towards her, but she's too gripped with shock to move. The rock connects with her chest and sends her flying backwards. Atilea walks over to where Aelita landed. Aelita forces her eyes open and, through the haze, sees Atilea standing over her. "Humph. I thought you would've been more of a challenge than that. Oh, wait. That's right. You have never really, truly fought back, have you? Pity. Oh, well!" Atilea raises both her hands above her head and smiles deviously. "Time to end this! Say good-bye, Princess. Or rather, Pauper!" At this, a massive boulder forms above Atilea's hands. Aelita grows wide-eyed and tries to get her body to move, but it's too late. Atilea simply steps back and lets the boulder drop.

Yumi stares in awe at this newcomer who is almost a mirror image of herself. There are differences, though. The uniform, for one, is still similar to her own, except the coloration is different and this look-a-like has no white facial makeup. The mid-sash is red, as opposed to her own golden one. The boots are cut lower to just below her knees and are solid black with no wraps on them. The tights are still red, like Yumi's, and the top is blue with white flowers.

Yumi opens her fans and grimaces. Her twin smiles in mild amusement and raises an eyebrow. "Ooh, feisty, aren't we?", she says. "Allow me to get the introductions over with. My name is Imuy. Yours is now Mud!" Imuy pulls out her own fans and opens them up. Yumi gasps at the site of her twin's fans. They are bigger than hers and have sharp tips at the ends of the stokes. "Impressive, aren't they? Betcha they would get Ulrich to change his mind about which one of us to got out with!", Imuy says, taunting her. Yumi frowns in anger and tosses her fans. Imuy smiles in mild amusement again and easily deflects the fans with one hand. Yumi gasps and steps backwards. "Well, that was futile. Allow me to show you the true power of the fan!", says Imuy and crosses her arms, putting her fans on the opposite side. The fans begin to glow with power and Imuy begins to concentrate more to pour more power into them. Yumi then finds herself defenseless as the two fans suddenly fly toward her, glowing and pulsating with power. They strike her head on and she starts to fly backwards but de-virtualizes before hitting the ground.

Ulrich feels digital sweat run down the side of his face as he stares intently at his twin. The twin is exactly like him, even in the voice, with the exception that the twin is clothed in a black with red trim ninja gi and holds a short ninjitsu sword. His head band is solid black and undecorated. Ulrich has also discovered that his twin is holding back his true top speed. He tried to outrun the twin but found that the twin could easily match him. Then showed signs that there was more where that came from.

"What's the matter? Not tired already?", says the twin. Ulrich frowns and realizes his twin is right. He wasted too much energy trying to outrun him. "Pity. I was hoping for a good fight, but it seems you've ran out of gas." Ulrich growls softly and grips the handle of his katana tightly. "I still have plenty of fight left, H'cirlu!" H'cirlu smirks in defiance. "I doubt that. In fact, I'm so confident of it that I won't even need my sword to beat you!", he replies and sheaths his sword. "Come on! Attack me!" Ulrich yells and then charges at H'cirlu, his katana raised to strike. H'cirlu snorts in disdain and flicks his wrist quickly. Ulrich doesn't even see the shuriken leave his opponent's hand before he feels them hit his chest, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. Ulrich then realizes that he can't move. He hears H'cirlu chuckle. "Well that was stupid; charging head on like that. You should know better." Ulrich tries to lower his hands but can't. "Oh, by the way, I hit specific pressure points on your body to cause you to be paralyzed right where you stand. Now that I've had my fun, it's time to end this.", replies H'cirlu and walks up to the paralyzed Ulrich. He grabs Ulrich's hands and smiles devilishly. "Let's see, I believe you once used your opponent's weapon against them. Similar to this!", states H'cirlu and brings Ulrich's hands down sharply. At the same time, he twists the katana in Ulrich's hands causing the blade to point toward Ulrich's stomach. Then, in a swift jab, the full length of the blade slides effortlessly into Ulrich's abdomen. Ulrich starts to yell out in pain but it is silenced by him de-virtualizing.

Yumi forces the doors to the scanner open and sees Ulrich curled into a ball on the floor. "ULRICH!", she screams and drops down next to him. He moans as she tries to wake him. Ulrich finally opens his eyes and sees Yumi's worried face. He groans and lets her help him sit up. "Yumi….", he says weakly, leaning his head against her chest. She wraps her arms around him, tears flowing from her eyes. "Oh, Ulrich….", she whispers to him. "I saw what it did to you. I thought… Jeremie wasn't going to be able to bring you back home." He strains to lift his arms and to wrap them around Yumi's waist. He didn't feel like responding. Besides, he didn't have any words to describe what he felt. He was just happy to see Yumi.

That evening, Ulrich and Odd slowly walk towards their dorm room. Both of them are still feeling the affects of the attack of their twins and were barely able to finish the school day out. Fortunately, tomorrow was the start of the weekend and they could get some extra rest. As Ulrich fumbles to unlock the door, Odd leans up against the wall to keep from falling over. "Come on, Odd. Let's go to bed.", Ulrich states and helps his weak friend into the room and over to his respective bed. As Ulrich lays Odd down onto the bed, Odd grabs his collar and stares into his eyes intently. "Ulrich, I have never been attacked like that. Never, in all the time that we have been to Lyoko, have I -- we been so… outmatched!" Ulrich blinks at his friend's statement. Never had he heard Odd be so pessimistic or shaken by an ordeal. He pries Odd's hand off his collar and replies, "Just try and get some rest, ok?" Then he hears his cell phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Ulrich? Did you make it home alright? I was worried…"

"Yeah, we made it home ok, Yumi. Odd's still a bit shaken, though, but we're alright. How are you?"

"I'm… better. Still a little shaken myself, but I'll be fine. Listen, my mother and father are going out of town this weekend and Hiroki is staying at a friend's house the entire weekend too. I… was wondering if you and Odd would like to come over to my house and stay for a while. I've already talked to Jeremie and Aelita and they said they'd come."

"Sure, I'll come but…" Ulrich glances over at Odd and sees that he's sound asleep. "… I'll have to ask Odd in the morning. He's already asleep and I don't want to wake him. I'm pretty sure he'll join us, though. Well, as long as there is food in the house, he'll be there." He hears Yumi giggle on the other end.

"Ulrich?"

"Yes, Yumi?"

"I…. love you…."

"And I love you, too, Sweetheart. Now, try to get some sleep, ok?"

"I will if you will.", she replies playfully.

He chuckles softly. "Deal. G'night, Yumi. Love you."

"Love you to, Baby. Night."

Ulrich hangs up and sighs with fatigue as he sets the phone down on his nightstand. She removed his shoes and pulls back the covers on his bed and slides in between the sheets. He falls asleep the moment his head hits the pillow.