Ulrick's POV:
"Nice outfit." I said when I saw Alita. Since she & Jane were roughly the same size, Alita was able to borrow one of Jane's nightgowns. Of course, on Alita it looked like some weird Halloween costume…
"Don't worry. I heard Jane & her mom talking. They're gonna try & see if they can borrow some clothes for you from the next farm over…" Alita said as she sat down on her "bed" of hay. We were lucky that we were able to spend the night in the barn. It's not like we had any other place to go…
"So…Do you have any idea about how we got here?" I asked.
"XANA." Alita said. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"But time travel? I didn't think that was possible…"
"The Return to the Past is sort of like time travel." Alita pointed out. "It wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that the supercomputer would be able to go farther through time then just a day or two…"
"Obviously." I said. Then a thought hit me. "What if this isn't 1862? What if this is like that time that XANA tried to trap you on Lyoko by making a bubble with the Hermitage inside it?"
"It's not." she said. "I have a connection with Lyoko, remember? I can tell the difference." She looked up at me. "But you're right about one thing: This is a XANA trap."
"What I don't get is why he did he send us here, & this time period?" I asked. "It's not like XANA to just do something randomly…"
"…You don't pay attention in history class, do you?"
"I'm lucky if I'm awake in history class."
"The Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest days of the American Civil War." Alita explained. "By the end of the battle, more than 22,000 soldiers were missing, wounded, or dead."
"When dos it happen?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.
"September 17, 1862."
"What?" I said. "But that's the day after tomorrow!"
"I know."
Frustrated, I punched the wall next to me. One of the bricks moved!
"…I'm sure that brick was probably like that already." I said, since Alita was staring at me wide eyed. I looked closer at it as I tried to move the brick back in place.
"Can you bring the light over?" I asked. "I think there's something back here…" It took a little effort, but I was able to slide the brick out. There were a bunch of papers hiding behind the brick.
"What do you think these are?" I asked Alita, who was sitting next to me. She held the candle up so we were both able to see.
Dearest Jane,
I am so grateful to your father for the fact that we are both skilled in reading & writing. I know you take as much pleasure in these notes as I do. I know that it seems like something out of one of the books that I'm "always" reading, but it's so nice to have a method of communication that we can keep completely private.
I know you fear for my decision to be a part of this war, but I feel as if it's my duty. It is the only way to make sure that you will be safe, so that we may have a future together.
When I write to you next, I'll be with my brothers in the Union Army.
With love,
Adam
"These are love letters." Alita said. "We probably shouldn't be reading them…" Alita moved back to her bed as I put everything back how we found it.
"We should probably get some sleep." Alita said, blowing out the candle. "It'll be a long day tomorrow…"
As always, I'm terrible at physical descriptions, so there's a picture of Jane on my profile (in her day clothes, not her nightgown). I'm still working on trying to find a picture of what boys would have worn during this time period, but I'll try to get that up soon…
Please review!