Hey, hope this one makes up for the last one being such a long wait and so short! For this chapter, italics is dreams, it will probably come up again as dreams later in the story and it should be obvious whether it's dream or thought.

--

After an uneventful lunch the group parted ways, Odd and Ulrich disappearing together again, Aelita went to her own dorm, leaving William to be alone with his beat up computer. He pulled the old T-shirt off of the screen to see the silver words bouncing back and forth.

"Mysterious angel," He read aloud, before adding, "I have yet to find, a mysterious angel of a different kind. So understanding she shall be, to see the one, the only me. Of all the places I have sought, all previous efforts were all for naught. My mysterious angel, not so mysterious after all, I've seen her wings, I've seen her fall. I've finally found you my pink angel, or rather, Princess."

--

"Ulrich?" Odd mumbled in his sleep.

"Yes Odd," Ulrich sighed, rolling over and resting his hand on his forehead, eyes shut tight but staring up at the ceiling, not realizing that Odd was actually talking in his sleep.

"I've got something to tell you, it's been bugging me for a while now, twenty-three days actually, that's a while right?" Odd sleep-babbled.

"I suppose so," Ulrich groaned, "Why?"

"Because, I wanted to know how long a while was, and how long until you were sure you loved someone." Odd explained, amazingly he was very good at sleep talking.

"I don't know, it varies from person to person I guess." Ulrich replied, still not opening his eyes, "Your point?"

"I think I love you." Odd finished with a yawn before he rolled over in his sleep and began snoring.

Ulrich lay there, completely shell-shocked, he opened his eyes and, without removing his hand from his forehead he looked over at his snoring friend.

"Odd?" Ulrich asked, "Odd do you know what you just said?"

The only reply the befuddled brown-haired teen got was a rather loud snore from his blonde friend.

"Odd!" Ulrich said loudly, making the other teen wake up and turn to face him.

"What is it Ulrich?" He mumbled sleepily.

"You just told me that you loved me." Ulrich stated.

Odd's face turned a deep crimson and he closed one eye in a wince, "I didn't." He said in disbelief.

"Yes you did." Ulrich replied.

"Sorry bout that," Odd managed to stutter through gritted teeth, he was obviously battling hard against extreme embarrassment.

"Don't worry." Ulrich said comfortingly, "I was beginning to think the same thing about you."

It was Odd's turn to be shocked, "You?" He asked, "Love me?"

"I think so," Ulrich said, his cheeks tainted red.

"Well this makes things easier." Odd muttered to himself, "Goodnight." He stated before curling up and falling into a more peaceful sleep.

"Goodnight." Ulrich said lightly, falling asleep also.

--

Aelita lay asleep on her bed. Her hands grasping the covers tightly and her feet twitched restlessly. Her eyes were shut tightly and she grimaced as she dreamt.

"No!" She screamed as she watched like a specter as she stepped out in front of the bus. "No! Run! The bus!" She yelled again as she watched herself walk out onto the street, not noticing the oncoming bus at all, too wrapped up in talking.

"Jeremie don't do it!" She called to his figure as he ran out, knocking her to the ground. She watched as the wheels of the bus skidded to a halt just after passing over Jeremie's body. She heard his ribs and spine cracking.

"Aelita," He whispered weakly, "Be careful."

She watched as she took his hand and held it, keeping it warm as if it would somehow keep him alive, tears flowing down her cheeks endlessly. Watched the bustle of ambulances and paramedics fill the street. Why? Why did they come if he was already dead? She knew he as dead. They knew he was dead. Yet they still came, they still bustled around and separated Aelita from Jeremie's body.

"Aelita." Came a soft voice from behind her spectral dream-form. She turned to see Jeremie, equally as ghostly as she was, standing behind her on the street.

"Jeremie!" She cried and threw herself at him for a hug. He evaded her, making her face twist with pain, shock, and sadness.

"Why do they come?" Aelita asked, indicating the bustling paramedics.

"They come because they were called." Jeremie replied simply.

"But you weren't going to make it." Aelita responded.

"I knew that, you knew that, the store manager that called them knew that." Jeremie explained.

"Then why were they called?" Aelita asked.

"Because they were supposed to, it was supposed to happen this way." Jeremie said comfortingly.

"No it wasn't!" Aelita cried, tears coming to her eyes, "You were supposed to live and be great and help people."

"No, you are supposed to live and help people. My job was merely to help you this far. You have to be careful now, you're running low on helpers." Jeremie explained.

"What do you mean Jeremie? You're not making sense!" Aelita said loudly, shaking her head as if to dismiss what he had said as a lie.

"You know what I mean." Jeremie replied, his own face turning into a frown of pity as he saw how his words were upsetting her, "You have to live and to help people now, that's your job."

"But Jeremie," Aelita cried, "How do you know this?"

"Everything is written in stone." Jeremie stated simply as his ghostly figure began to fade.

"Jeremie!" Aelita screamed, "No! It's not! Jeremie!"

"Everything is written in stone." Jeremie repeated, though as his figure faded to nothing his whisper could be heard, "I'm sorry Princess, look to the silver lining."

Aelita awoke with a start. That scene had been haunting her for almost a month now, ever since Jeremie's funeral. But this one was different; Jeremie had talked to her. He had told her to look to the silver lining. What could that mean?

--

Yumi's POV

I shouldn't do this. But I have to. I'm not supposed to be here but where else could I go? Nowhere. I should go nowhere and I should stay nowhere in my loneliness. Right, not gonna happen.

"Miss?" asked a person who was rather cheery.

"Sorry sir," I responded flatly, handing him my ticket.

"Have a nice trip." Responded the all too cheery flight attendant as he handed me back my ticket.

"Just happy because you don't have to get on this contraption." I grumbled as I passed her and stepped into the airplane. Nobody was expecting me back until summer, in two months, but I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand not being with anyone, being alone and all but cut off from the gang. I sat down in my seat, which looked an awful lot softer than it felt. How come airplane seats have to be so hard but look so soft? How is that even possible? I'm so glad to be going back to Kadic, to my home that I remember and love so much.