I'm SOOOOO sorry I didn't update sooner! I would have updated at least a month ago, but school unfortunately got in the way, and I was also quite uninspired. Now that school is no longer an issue (it ended just a couple days ago), I should be able to update more. I also didn't update on the thirtieth like I said I would because this chapter was only half-finished. Then I left my house to go on a trip on the thirty-first, came back for less than an hour on June first, and just got back from another trip yesterday. So, I'm wiped, and you are really lucky to get this today.

Anyway, on to the story!

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Chapter 8 – A Change of Form

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"Kirsten! Kirsten, are you alright?"

Kirsten mumbled something incomprehensible and slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed in the infirmary, a heavy weariness pressing down on her. Every muscle ached and moved like molasses. She had never been so tired before. Ulrich, Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi were all looking down at her, various expressions of worry and concern etched on their faces.

"Thank God you're okay," Yumi said with a relieved sigh. "When we went back to the past you were unconscious, and it looked like you just fainted during class."

"How long was I out?" the weary girl mumbled. "Is Odd okay? Did it work?"

"Well, our last class just ended ten minutes ago," Jeremie said, "so you've been unconscious for over five hours."

As much as Kirsten needed to know the answer to that question, Jeremie still hadn't answered the more important one. She didn't really care how long she had been unconscious, not as much as she cared about Odd.

"What about Odd?" she asked, voicing her concerns. "Is he okay?"

"See for yourself," a muffled voice said from the bed to her right. She smiled and looked over to see the telltale spike of blond hair poking out from under the covers. "I feel like crap, but at least I'm alive."

Kirsten let out the breath she had been holding. "You're okay…" she mumbled. "I'm so glad it worked."

"Yeah, no wonder you're so tired," Odd said. "It must have taken a lot to heal me."

"So, what happened?" Aelita asked. "Why did it take so much energy from you two.

"I died," Odd said. The other four occupants of the room froze. He waited a moment, then laughed. "I've always wanted to say something like that!"

"You…died?" Jeremie asked. "Why are you still here?"

"Kirsten," Odd said, before closing his eyes and fell asleep.

"Wait, so you brought him back from hell?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah," Kirsten said with a yawn.

"Hey! I resent that!" Odd managed to say, apparently not as asleep as everybody had thought.

The group shared a good laugh, glad that the crisis was over. Little did they know that more would come.

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Kirsten hummed happily to herself as she wandered down the hall to Odd's dorm. They had finally been released from the infirmary a few hours ago, after getting a full day of rest, and Odd had headed straight for his room to get more sleep, of course.

I swear, if he's still asleep, Kirsten thought, I'll dump water on his face.

She reached the door and was about to knock when she heard a noise from inside. Leaning closer, she realized that it was the sound of somebody sobbing inside. Without taking the time to knock, she opened the door and saw Odd sitting on his bed, head in his hands, crying like there was no tomorrow. Kirsten was taken aback, not expecting the super-happy, always-hyper Odd to be crying like that.

"Odd?" she asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

"I…I can't do it," he said quietly, not surprised at all to see her. "I can't keep acting this way, knowing…knowing what happened…"

Kirsten sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. She realized that they had ironically switched positions and she was comforting him, returning the favor from so many days ago.

"What happened?" she whispered to him. "Why are you so sad?"

"My parents…they're dead," he muttered. "My house burned down, and they were trapped inside. The firemen were too late and only saved me. I've been an orphan for five years now…"

So, that's why he was able to empathize with me so much when I started crying, Kirsten thought. It was true. He had acted like he knew exactly what she was going through. He had known what she was going through. He had gone through something like it himself.

Just thinking about her own loss made her start crying too, so she hugged him tight and they cried into each other's shoulders.

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Several hours later, after several long conversations about nothing in particular, a much happier Kirsten looked up into Odd's blue-purple eyes, her own hazel eyes bright with curiosity.

"Odd," she began, "about what happened in the tunnel…"

Odd didn't even have to wonder what she meant. He knew exactly what she was referring to…

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"I told you, there's no going back for me," Odd said, a sad little smile on his face. "You can still return though. Live without me. Enjoy your life."

"I can't!" she shouted to him. "I can't enjoy life without you! I…I love you!"

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"Kirsten, did you mean what you said?" he asked her, cutting off whatever she would have said. "Did you really mean it?"

Kirsten looked down at her lap. "Yes," she said, almost too quiet to hear. "Yes, I meant what I said… I still do… Did you?"

Odd nodded slowly. "Yes, yes I did."

Kirsten grinned. "Well then. I guess we're going out then!"

"Don't get too smug," Odd warned with a touch of sarcasm. "I've dated nearly every girl in our grade, as I'm sure the rumors tell you."

"Yep, everybody except Sissi the sissy and Aelita," Kirsten responded, trying not to laugh. "I figured it was just a matter of time before you asked me out too! But, have you ever loved any of them."

"More than you," Odd joked. Kirsten punched him.

"No, really?" she asked.

"Well, I guess not. I loved a couple of them, but nowhere near as much as you. They all hate me now anyway."

She just grinned at him. "Good, I don't want you cheating on me now."

"Hey!" Odd exclaimed indignantly. "Just who do you think I am?"

"Odd Della Robbia, infamous throughout the school for dating over three girls at once," she responded succinctly.

"Hehe," Odd muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with embarrassment. "I didn't realize you knew about that…"

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"Hey, Odd," Kirsten asked as they wandered down the almost-empty hall, "isn't there a dance coming up soon?"

"Yeah," he replied. "It's on December first, but they decided to make it have a Halloween theme because the Halloween Dance was cancelled. We have to dress up too…"

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Let's dress up like we're on Lyoko!"

Odd sighed. "How will I ever find a cat costume though?" he asked. "That idea probably won't work…"

"Spoilsport," Kirsten muttered as she yawned and glanced at her watch. "Huh? Only eight? It's WAY too early to be tired! I need coffee!!!" She ran off down the hall.

"Don't drink too much!" Odd shouted as she disappeared around a corner. "I really hope she doesn't get hyper again. She really scared us last time…"

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Despite Odd's hopes, Kirsten was twitching horribly as she wandered back to her dorm room, loaded up on so much caffeine that she couldn't stand still. When she reached her dorm, she spent a full minute trying to steady her hand enough to unlock the door. She finally managed it and went inside. Aelita was off somewhere with Jeremie, so she had the room to herself.

Since there was nobody there to listen, she started talking rapidly, the caffeine speeding up her speech until it was practically impossible for anybody to understand.

"Lyoko's such a weird place and there are monsters and XANA I wonder what's that stupid virus' problem and why it keeps attacking us all the time and why I keep getting possessed and…" she muttered quickly, still twitching.

Aelita opened the door, saw Kirsten sitting on her bed ranting in a mixture of French and English, and decided to just leave her friend alone until she was somewhat sane. Kirsten's rant eventually moved on to other subjects. She talked about her friends and what they looked like on Lyoko, and finally about how Aelita deactivates towers.

"…and then she enters the code which is…um…Code Lyoko and…woah!"

She cut herself off when she noticed that her whole body was glowing a bright blue. She held in a shout as she began to float about a foot off the ground. The glow flashed a bright white, then faded away. When she looked down at her body, she saw that she was dressed in her Lyoko outfit, complete with her naginata!

"Ohmygodwhattheheckhappenedtome?" she asked, still on a caffeine high and speaking faster than ever because of the adrenaline now pumping through her veins. "Ijustsaidcodelyokoandthen…"

Her body glowed and flashed again, and she turned back to normal. Immediately she threw open her door and ran down the hall.

"OhwowIhavetotellOddsohecanhaveacostumeforthedanceand…"

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Hehe…I found a HUGE plot hole in chapter 2 while I was rereading it. I implied that Kirsten's dad wasn't actually dead, which is definitely wrong. I haven't fixed it yet, but I will sometime today. If anybody else finds a plot hole, big or small, please don't hesitate to let me know so I can fix it right away! I'm also going through all of the chapters, fixing small errors here and there. If you spot ANYTHING, let me know, okay?

Anyway, kind of a short chapter (by my current standards), but the next one will be better, and up much sooner than this one was. I'm SOOOO sorry you guys had to wait so long! I'll do my best to keep you from having to wait that long ever again, okay? Anyway, please review and all that stuff!