You probably could stop reading this right now and not miss anything. But you wouldn't do that to me, would you? I put a lot of hard work into the end of this. I would like your comments for the somewhat crummy poem I/Eva wrote about the LYOKO warriors. Thank you! XD.

Kayla sat next to the bed in the infirmary. Eva was out like a light. Kayla couldn't remember a time when Eva actually slept more than three hours at a time. She was always tossing and turning in her sleep.

"May I come in?" Matt Bluestone asked.

Kayla nodded. "I don't think she'll be waking up anytime soon," she said quietly.

"I wanted to know what her story was," Matt said. "In the hospital, the doctor told me her body was covering in scars. Was she abused?"

Kayla nodded. "She was. She probably doesn't want me to tell you about it."

"I understand that," he said. "But if there is something that I can do to help her."

"There isn't," Kayla said. "Don't worry about it. Eva's strong. She's endured everything thrown at her and sent it right back at life."

"Let's let her sleep in peace," said Matt.

Kayla agreed and they left the room.

Aelita woke up screaming in the middle of the night. As soon as she realized where she was she clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her cries. Drying her eyes, she got out of bed and walked down to the infirmary where Eva was sleeping.

Eva was sleeping peacefully. Aelita didn't want to wake her up so she sat in the chair Kayla occupied earlier that night.

"Hey," came a raspy whisper. Aelita looked up to see Eva looking at her with half-closed eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep," Aelita said. "Nightmares."

Eva moved over to the far edge of the bed. "Get up here," she said.

Aelita crawled into bed beside Eva. Eva put her arm around Aelita and Aelita let her head fall on Eva's shoulder.

"Comfy?" Eva asked.

"Yes," Aelita replied. "Good night."

Odd and Ulrich stayed up late to watch television with Hudson, the eldest of the gargoyles. Bronx, the gargoyle dog, laid at his master's feet with a large bone.

Odd grumbled while he watched the television, hanging off the sofa. He kicked off his shoes. Ulrich, who was sitting beside him, gagged.

"Oh, Odd!" he yelled, pinching his nose shut. "Are you crazy?"

"Will you two be quiet?" Hudson asked. "I'm trying to—" Hudson sniffed the air. "Och! What is that stench?"

"Odd's feet," replied Ulrich, opening the door to get some fresh air.

Bronx whined and covered his face with his paws.

"That's enough to raise the dead and kill them again!" Hudson exclaimed, getting up from his chair to open the windows.

"All right, I get it!" Odd cried. "My feet stink. It's not like I can help it."

"Regular bathing should help," Hudson said.

"He's tried that," said Ulrich. "It doesn't work."

Yumi, Jeremy, and Kayla returned to the Plaza Hotel and met up with Robbins. They told him what had happened and Kayla and Yumi took him and Gilly home.

Jeremy went back to the bedroom and tried to call Yin again.

"Hello?"

"Yin? I'm so glad I got a hold of you," Jeremy said with a sigh of relief.

"I'm guessing that you called earlier," said Yin.

"I did," said Jeremy. "You didn't answer. We were starting to get a little worried about you."

"Sorry," said Yin. "I was in the middle of something. You defeated William?"

"Yeah, the baby's fine," Jeremy answered.

"Good. I got my guy as well," Yin told him. "Hey, listen. I'm going to busy the next couple of days. Do you mind staying in New York for a little while longer? It'll only be a week or so."

"No problem," said Jeremy. "As long as we get back to school."

"Don't worry about that," said Yin. "I'll have that all taken care of. And tell Odd that Kiwi's fine. He's a little angel."

"I will," said Jeremy. "I'll call you in a few days."

"Bye."

Yin hung up her mobile and looked at Yang.

"You are such a liar," Yang said.

Yin laughed nervously. "Do you think Maj will ever forgive me for leaving the dog with her?"

"If you replace the tapestry he shredded, maybe she will," said Yang.

Yin shrugged. "At least he didn't piddle."

The twins laughed.

Eva woke the next morning wondering where she was. She was about to jump up when she realized that Aelita was sleeping next to her. Slowly, Eva got out of bed and looked around.

The last thing she remembered was Puck telling her to sleep. She had no memory of coming here and Aelita crawling into bed with her. At least she knew Aelita was safe.

Eva noticed something else. Her pain was gone. In the past couple of days, she had been hit by a car, gotten into a fight with one of the residence of this castle, been knocked in the head, thrown off the roof, and had her shoulder dislocated. Pain was something Eva was accustomed to feeling every morning when she got out of bed. This morning there was none. She was in an infirmary. Could someone have dosed her with painkillers? Eva looked herself over for injection marks and found none. So what happened?

The man she had fought with last night came in. "Miss Maverick," he started to say.

Eva grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the infirmary. "Aelita's still asleep," she explained.

"I came to inform you that your friends Mr. Belpois, Miss Olson, and Miss Ishiyama returned to the Plaza Hotel last night. Mr. Stern and Mr. Della Robbia stayed, as well as Miss Stones," he said.

"Thank you . . . Owen, right?" Eva asked, trying to remember the moments before she got whacked in the head.

"Yes," he replied.

Eva let out a sigh of relief. Her memory was still good.

"Is your shoulder causing you pain?" Owen asked.

Eva looked up at him. She looked at her bad shoulder and found that she was rubbing it. She let her hand drop to her side.

"No, it doesn't hurt," said Eva. "That's what's bothering me. After what I went through last night, I figured I would be limping out of bed this morning."

"You would have, if it were not for Puck," Owen answered.

Eva gave him an incredulous look. "After what I did to you last night? I figured you wouldn't help me."

"You saved his life," Owen said.

"And he saved mine. We were even. You didn't have to do anything after that."

"Puck thought differently," Owen said.

"Thanks, anyway," Eva said. "What you did is appreciated."

Owen bowed his head in appreciation. Eva gave him a light punch in the arm.

"You got one heck of right cross by the way," Eva said with a smirk.

Owen cleared his throat. "Breakfast will be served in the dining hall in thirty minutes. There is a bathroom down the hall if you wish to take a shower."

"Thanks, Owen," said Eva.

Eva walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. She closed the door and pressed her back against it. Sighing, she looked around the spacious room. There was a bathtub big enough for two, a large vanity with two sinks, a toilet in the corner, and a huge shower with a frosted glass door.

Stripping down, Eva placed her clothes on the chair next to the shower. She stepped into the tiled stall and turned on the showerhead. Hot water fell on her head and shoulders. Eva hissed with pain, but body quickly adjusted to the temperature and she relaxed.

Odd and Ulrich were awake. They were walking to the infirmary to see if Eva was up. Aelita wasn't in her room, so they guessed she spent the night with Eva.

"Do you think Eva's going to be in a good mood?" asked Odd. "She didn't seem too happy last night."

"Who can tell?" asked Ulrich. "She went through a lot. I mean, getting dropped from a skyscraper isn't fun. Maybe you can cheer her up."

"Me?" Odd laughed. "Now that's funny. I never heard Eva laugh before. Did you?"

Ulrich shrugged. "Good point."

There was a scream. The boys rushed to the infirmary to find Aelita thrashing and screaming in the bed Eva was supposed to be occupying.

"Aelita!" Odd jumped on the bed and shook her awake. "Wake up, Aelita!"

Aelita opened her eyes and saw where she was. She started crying and clung to Odd.

"It's okay, princess," he soothed. "It was just a nightmare."

"Is everything all right in here?" Owen asked.

The three of them jumped. They hadn't heard him enter.

"I heard screaming."

They all turned to see Eva standing in the doorway, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel. The way her hair was pushed back, all her scars along her hairline and on her shoulders and back were visible.

"Aelita had a bad dream," said Ulrich.

Eva nodded and looked at Aelita. "Okay," she said quietly and walked away.

Aelita wiped her eyes and looked at Owen. Ulrich and Odd saw the startled and horrified look in Owen's eyes, though he tried to hide it.

"We know," said Ulrich.

Owen turned to him.

"We don't know the whole story, but it was really bad for her," Aelita said.

The four of them went to the dining hall and had breakfast together.

"So what do you want to do today?" asked Odd.

"I want to see the Statue of Liberty," said Aelita.

"I want to go to a Broadway show," said Ulrich.

"You should take Yumi with you," said Odd.

"Be quiet," said Ulrich.

"What about you, Eva?" asked Aelita. "Anything you want to see?"

"Not that I can think of," said Eva. She got up from her seat and left.

"What's eating her?" asked Odd.

"You?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita's mobile beeped. She took it from her pocket and read the text message she received. It was from Jeremy telling them that he, Yumi, and Kayla would be coming back soon.

Eva was in the library. She had been there since breakfast either reading or writing. At the moment, she half-stood, half-sat on the ladder to the high bookshelves. She had enough of light from outside to read by. Since breakfast, Eva had read Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She had read them before, the latter being one of Mackenzie's favorite stories. With her locket hanging open, Eva whispered the words Shakespeare wrote almost four hundred years ago. This was how she told her little sister bedtime stories. For fear of being heard and beaten, Eva would climb into Mackenzie's bed and quietly read a scene in her sister's ear.

"'If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended-

That you have but slumb'red here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend.

If you pardon, we will mend.

And, as I am an honest Puck,

If we have unearned luck

Now to scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends ere long;

Else the Puck a liar call.

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends.'"

Eva closed the book and put it back on the shelf. "Ah, Puck," she whispered. "He was always your favorite, wasn't he, Macaroon?" Eva held her locket in her hand, staring at the smiling face of her sister. "Mine, too. You know, he saved my life last night. He took my pain away, too. He may be a trickster, but there is some good in him."

The door to the library opened and Odd wandered in.

"Eva, you in here?" he called.

Eva climbed down the ladder and walked over to Odd. "What do you want?"

Odd nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped around and smiled. "Jeez, phantasm! You really know how to scare someone."

"Sorry," said Eva.

Odd grinned and noticed something on the floor. It was sheet of notebook paper. He bent down and picked it up. It was Eva's handwriting, Odd was sure of that. It read:

All have reason to do what they do,

Everyone wants a life that is full.

We wish to be remembered when we are gone,

Desire something be left of us at the coming dawn.

Only the great are immortalized and revered,

But there are those who are more than they appear.

We exist in the background not in the fore,

Most others think we are simply bores.

Too true for the seven of us in the past,

We did not see it wasn't about to last.

From average life, we were torn asunder,

Was it chance, fate, or only a blunder?

An ordinary day suddenly turned stranger,

When he learned the LYOKO princess was in danger.

Her life he took into his hands,

Wished to get her away from that land.

He sent the odd cat and the stern samurai,

The quiet geisha; they stood side by side

Determined to save the world they loved,

Fought underground for the above.

Time passed and things went awry,

All were injured on the inside.

Drastic measures were forced to be taken,

Another warrior, one the world had forsaken.

Phantasm was crafty, but another was needed,

One with the will never to be beaten.

With the princess's double, they were whole,

They all fight with the same goal:

Usurp the usurper, re-throne the king,

Knowing there will never be a song of them to sing.

Not that it matters, as said before,

We are in the background, not the fore.

"Wow, Eva," said Odd. "You wrote this?"

"I left out a few things, but I didn't find them important," said Eva. "If you like, I can write more."

"You are amazing," said Odd. "Can I keep this?"

Eva nodded. "I have it memorized," she said.

Odd folded it up and put it in his pocket. "Come on," he said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Kayla's here. She wants to check up on you."

Eva and Odd walked out of the library and looked for Kayla.

If you skipped my note at the beginning, I'll reiterate: Please, PLEASE, give me feedback on the LYOKO warriors poem. Thank you.