AAAAHHH! Soooo I have totally neglected you all and this story, I'm so sorry guys:( I promise I'll make up for it by writing an extra long and awesome chapter! SOooo it's been like 50 years since I've written for this story, but my love for Odd and Mannie runs so deep in my heart:) I promise you, I won't let you down.

'Til Death Do Us Part

Chapter 3: Miserably Loving You

The dark copy of Mannie looked directly up to her daughter and grinned darkly. She grabbed her scythe and started swinging at her relentlessly. "MOM STOP IT!" Aria yelled as she and Damien ran back in the direction they came from.

"She's not your mother Aria, your mother is back in the hospital. This is a trick." Odd told his daughter, completely furious with XANA, having him and all his friends go through this torture when they were younger was one thing, but to involve his children was a whole other deal. He walked over to the wall and punched it out of anger.

"Odd calm down, getting angry and out of control is not the answer. We need to guide them." Avril told them, she put a hand on his shoulder calming him down.

"You're right.." He said quietly and turned back to the screen. Naomi spoke up, "Let us go in there to help. We may be two girls, but we're strong!" She grinned and pulled her sisters hand and they went down to the virtualizer room .

"Please be careful girls!" Yumi yelled, worried.

"Yeah yeah yeah, mom we'll be fine!" Milee replied rolling her eyes. The two got virtualized into the same zone Aria and Damien were in, they had on matching outfits which were pink shorts, Milee had a black top and Naomi had a white top. They swiftly ran to their comrades to see the Mannie look alike swinging at Aria.

"Don't we get any weapons or anything?" Aria asked him, doing a bunch of back flips dodging her mother's attacks.

"I'm working on it!" Jeremy suddenly remembered a series of codes to type in, and they all got weapons. Milee had a samurai sword, just like Ulrich, Naomi had a giant fan with blades on the end of it, Damien had a giant long sword, and Aria had a bow and arrow. Aria reached behind her and grabbed an arrow shooting it at Mannie who deflected it running up and swinging the scythe almost hitting Aria in the face.

"Why are you doing this to our children? Why can't this just be between me and you?" Mannie yelled at him, watching her daughter almost being killed by her alter ego. "Is this what you did to William? Had him locked up in a room, unable to communicate with anyone just using his body to try and kill us?" Mannie asked him.

"You're a smart one, Mannie. It's no wonder Odd wanted you for himself, beauty and brains. That's too hard to find these days. Too bad you won't be leaving this place." XANA smirked.

Aria looked her mother square in the eyes. She could tell it wasn't actually her, there was no life in those dull gray eyes. 'How can I defeat her…? It won't actually hurt her if I attack her right? She's in the hospital…not here.' "Hey Dad, if I attack Mom, will it hurt her in real life?"

"When I was trapped by XANA I was basically in a coma, I don't remember a thing about it. So I'm guessing she'll be fine." William told them. Aria nodded and looked back at Damien, Milee, and Naomi nodding at them. She pulled back her bow and shot an electric bow at Mannie's body. It sent her flying backward and into a virtual tree, her life points depleted quickly making her body disappear.

"She's definitely not as strong as the real Mannie was." Ulrich noticed and Yumi nodded in agreeance, her arms crossed, thinking. "The thing is though, XANA could always be trying to trick us, mainly the kids because they don't know what to expect from him. I mean, it's not as if he hasn't revived himself and become 100 times stronger before."

Mannie fell to the floor in pain from Aria's attack which felt very real and extremely painful. She winced and then slowly stood up feeling electricity flow through her body. She looked up to XANA who was grinning wildly at her.

"It just brings me so much joy to see you in pain; it pleases me more than anything else I've ever felt before." He rushed towards her at an inhuman speed and grabbed her by the neck holding her against the cold wall. "I exist for nothing else but to see you suffer Manuela." He whispered in her ear and then watched her struggle to breathe, just as she was about to pass out he dropped her, making her gasp for air and he walked into a different room, pleased with himself. Tears started welling up in her eyes, but then she wiped them away. 'No, I need to stay strong for the kids. I will not let XANA have this power over me and know he is winning. I will stay strong for the kids and make it out of this alive.'

The kids devirtualized the tower, after a long and painful explanation from their parents as the only two who had ever actually devirtualized a tower were Aelita and Mannie, and neither of them were there. Luckily Aelita had explained it to Jeremy a couple times and he was able to explain it to Aria. The kids were devirtualized back into the real world, and they were kind of in a frazzled state. The parents ran down to hug their kids and Aria looked up to Odd, "Can we go back to the hospital and visit mom please? I wanna make sure she's okay."

"Of course baby, we'll go back right now." Odd smiled at his daughter. The twins and Damien went back to school, not before giving Aria a reassuring hug, though. "Text me." Damien smiled to her, and she nodded. Yumi, Ulrich, William, Jeremy, and Avril all went back to their jobs and Odd and Aria went back to the ER hospital. When they got back to Mannie's room she was still fast asleep and Aelita was cradling Kody in her arms. She stood up and turned to the door when she heard the door open, and rushed over to Odd.

"I've been in the nursery with Kody and I heard a bunch of commotion over here. Mannie went into cardiac arrest for about five minutes, but they stabilized her and she's been fine ever since and Kody's been fast asleep through the whole thing. You know, it's strange to me how the XANA attack affected her when she is in a coma here in a hospital. But I really don't doubt he has the power to, we've all seen how completely devastating his attacks can be…" Aelita handed Odd his son, and Aria walked over and sat next to her mother. Aria grabbed her hand and felt a small squeeze in response and Aria's eyes filled with tears. Kody opened his bright green eyes and smiled seeing his father's face, he made a gurgling sound and then a giggle. He reached his little hands up to reach for Odd's face and Odd held his son against his chest, rubbing and patting his back and he felt his sons' hands squeeze his shirt and his head resting on his shoulder. 'Thank God you're okay.' Odd sighed in relief.

"I hate seeing Mom like this." Aria said quietly Odd turned and looked to her. "It's not fair.. she's so strong.. this shouldn't have happened to her." Odd walked over to his daughter and hugged her with his free arm.
"She's a strong person Aria, just like you. She'll make it through this, I promise. She's been in plenty of worse situations." Odd smiled, reassuring his daughter. 'You better make it out of this Mannie, I can't do this without you. Forever and always remember?' Odd stared down at his wife's emotionless face. "How about we go grab some dinner and then spend the rest of the day together at the house? You pick where we eat." Odd smiled at Aria again. She nodded and kissed her mom on the cheek, and Odd bent down and kissed Mannie on the forehead. "I love you Mannie."

Mannie's mind was taken (kind of like an out of body experience) from XANA's lair to where she was with her family at their house. Her eyes widened, maybe it was all a dream!

"Odd!" She ran up to him, but he didn't respond to her. She could see and hear them, but they couldn't see or hear her. Aria was cuddled up next to Odd, they were watching The Blind Side, her favorite movie, and Mannie reached out to touch her daughters head, but her hand went right through Aria's head. She heard Odd's voice 'Please Mannie, I need you. Please come back to me…' Oddly enough, his lips weren't movie, but he had a painful look on his face. 'Did I just hear his thoughts?' She heard the front doorbell ring and ran to go see was there. Odd handed Kody to Aria and went to answer the door, and then Aria's vision went black again… and she was back in the same room. She slammed her hand against the wall in frustration and buried her head in her arms.

When Odd opened the door his eyes widened in surprise, the person standing in front of him was definitely someone he was not expecting to see, Sam was leaning against the doorway with a sly smile on her face. Her hair was a dark brunette color with red tips and red bangs and it came down to her elbows, being slightly naturally curly. Her skin was a light caramel chocolate color and she was around the same height as him. She was wearing loose jean capris and a white babydoll t-shirt.

"It's been too long, Odd." She took a long pause before she said his name, and it sent chills up his spine.

"Aria, watch over Kody!" He yelled as he shut the door behind him and heard his daughter yelling from inside, something that sounded like "Whaaaat? Why!" Odd looked back at Sam who then grabbed him in a big tight hug, which he didn't return. "What the fuck are you doing here Sam? I told you to stay away from me and my family." He told her in an angry tone and pushed her away from him.

"I just heard about what happened to Mannie and decided to come deliver my condolences to you personally." She grinned grabbing his hand which he pulled away immediately.

"She's not dead Sam." He gave her a dark look, and she crossed her arms and gave him a smug look in return.

"Yet, Odd but who knows. She may never come out of that coma, and even if she does who knows if she will even be mobile. What if she's a vegetable and you have to pull the plug on her ever so disappointing and pointless life? I always knew deep down in my heart that we'd have another shot at being together and this is our chance Odd! If she dies, think of all the possibilities." Sam's eyes shined and Odd looked at her with disgust.

"Look Sam, I have a family with Mannie. She is my wife and I love her more than anything in this whole world, aside from my children. No one ever could or will replace her in my life. You need to go find someone else who will think that way about you." He turned to go back inside.

"Well you could at least invite me inside to meet your kids, I'm practically their aunt!" Odd sighed.

"Fine. But you can stay an hour tops." Sam nodded and followed him inside. Her eyes widened at how beautiful the house was. "And before you ask, yes Aria designed and decorated the house." It was magnificent. Beside the doorway were two identical water fountains, they were about waist height and had LED lights that flashed different colors. All around the room were pictures. Pictures of their family, Ulrich and Avril's family, Aelita and Jeremy's family, and Yumi and William's family. In the very middle of the room was a portrait of everyone together. He led her into the family room which had two black leather sofa's a love seat and a chaise lounge couch which Aria was sitting on holding Kody. Their TV was giant and above a fire place which was lit, they had a black glass coffee table in front of the chaise lounge couch which had some candles on top of it along with some magazines. Odd and Sam walked up to Aria and Kody, and Aria turned around.

"Who is that?" Aria asked her father.

"Aria, this is Sam, an old friend of mine from high school. And Sam this is Mannie and my daughter Aria, and son Kody." Aria eyed Sam, and instantly got a bad feeling. 'I don't like the looks of her…' But Aria smiled at her anyways and nodded turning around. Sam walked up to Aria and Kody and picked Kody up, he reached out for Aria then turned to look at the person holding him. He blinked and then started crying, he blurted out the word "Mama!" And started waving his arms and legs around. Aria stood back up and grabbed her brother. "If you will excuse us." And then left the room to calm down her brother. Odd grinned foolishly and sat down on the couch.

"So what have you been up to these past fifteen years?" Odd asked her, changing the subject.

Things had been calm for quite some time, no XANA attacks and everyone visited Mannie every other day if not every day. Her hospital room was filled with flowers, cards, and stuffed animals. It was the day of their 16th year anniversary. Odd woke up from his deep slumber and sighed. "I never realized how much I took you for granted my love." He rolled over and put his hand on her side of the bed, it was cold and her shape was no longer imprinted into the bed. He spotted a picture of them from their wedding on her nightstand and closed his eyes thinking back to that day. He remembered being the most nervous he had ever been in his life. They chose to have their wedding on the French Riviera and he remembered going outside to catch his breath and get some air multiple times. Ulrich came up to him and reassured him he would be okay. Odd was wearing a black tux with a purple tie and he had his hair up in its usual manner.

"I've never seen anyone in love as deeply as you and Mannie are. You two would do anything for each other and nothing will ever change that. I know she's probably freaking out just as much as you are. Don't worry about it man, you two will be together forever." Ulrich slapped him on the back and grinned. "Plus just think about tonight, all your worries will be gone." Odd laughed nervously.

"Yeah I guess you're right, just wait until you and Avril get married, you're gonna shit your pants too."

Mannie was inside one of the rooms of the chateau they were staying at, getting ready. She had decided to keep her hair down in curls, at this time her hair reached her midback. She dyed the underneath longer part dark brown and the top part was blonde, she had bangs that came down to right below her eyebrows. She was wearing a white strapless dress that had a long trail on the ground and had gold fabric on her waste with an intricate beaded design on her chest. She had a small tiara with a veil that covered her face. "I'm ready…" She said quietly. Yumi, Aelita, and Avril were all in the room with her praising her.

"You look amazing."

"Odd's the luckiest guy on this planet!"

"He's going to cry when he sees how gorgeous you are!" They all chorused and she laughed. "Thanks guys." Mannie's mom come in and handed Mannie a little box.

"What is it?" She asked her.

"Well open it and look!" Celestine told her daughter with a bright smile on her face. Inside was a gold necklace with a tiny diamond.

"Mom! This is grandma's necklace?" Mannie asked her. Celestine nodded. She grabbed the necklace from the box and placed it on her neck.

"I thought you should wear it today, and I was right. It's perfect." Celestine hugged Mannie.

"Mom do you think I should do this?" Mannie asked her.

"Well what does your heart tell you baby?"

"That I should…I want to spend the rest of my life with him!" Mannie nodded.

"Then that's your answer! I can't imagine a more perfect couple or a man who could love you more." Celestine smiled. Her phone started buzzing. "Ah, it's time! Come on girls! Mannie, your father is waiting outside the door, you have five minutes!" She hustled everyone out of the room and Mannie sat on a nearby cream leather stool taking deep breaths. 'This is it… after this I am Odd's and he is mine…forever... and that's all I could ever ask for. I love him so much..' Mannie smiled and walked over to the door taking another deep break, spotting her father and nodded.

"Are you ready?" He asked her linking her arm with his.

"More ready than I've ever been."

Odd was standing up next to the priest and looked over the crowd. There was a bunch of hushed whispers and popular music playing. The turnout was amazing; almost everyone they knew from school was there, but in all honesty he just wanted to get it all over with. While in deep thought he heard the music change from casual pop to the ever so familiar 'Here Comes the Bride' tune, but more classical because Mannie had wanted it that way. Looking out he saw the most beautiful woman of his life walking toward him, he could feel a smile growing across his face and the only person he could see was her. Finally after what felt like an eternity to him, she made it up to where he was standing and he lifted the veil to see the smile on her face.

"Thank you all for making it out today…." He heard the priest start.

Odd opened his eyes and sighed rolling back over to his side of the bed and opened a little black box he had resting on his nightstand. Inside was a ring covered in diamonds; he was going to ask Mannie to renew their vows…but never got a chance to. He got out of bed and got ready in a gray pant suit with a light pink undershirt Mannie had gotten him about a year before. Aria was already awake and had Kody ready and made breakfast. She quickly stepped up to the plate to help around the house, noticing how Odd's mood had been shifting to be more and more depressed as time went on.

"Is today the day?" Aria asked him. He nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, today's the day sweetie. You ready?" She nodded and grabbed Kody and his diaper bag and they headed to the hospital. They didn't have to check in at the front desk, all the nurses already knew them and they went up to Mannie's room. Odd sat down in the chair next to Mannie and grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Hi baby, it's me Odd. Well, today's our 16th year anniversary and I wrote you a song that I want to sing to you. We all miss you so much and we think of you every day." He put her hand back on the bed and grabbed his guitar from their things. Aria and Kody were sitting near their father watching him. (This song is called Miserably Loving You by Artist VS. Poet, if you haven't heard it go listen to it while you read. It's a beautiful song and I feel like it fits perfectly. I did kind of change some of the lyrics to fit the situation better… but yeah:) lemme know what you thought!) Odd started to strum the guitar and looked at his wife while he started to sing.

'Another day, another day I decide to
Waste away and contemplate how
Everything has changed.
And though we tried, not to compromise what burns inside
Your complex mind that changes every day.

These deep breaths repeating
(My heart stops its beating)
And I don't know why these deep breaths repeating
(My heart stops its beating)
The sun has yet to set and you've already said good night.' Odd's eyes started to tear up, but his voice stayed firm.

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.
Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.
Mannie, please, just get closer to me.

A month went by, a month that I can't describe,
A month I've been trying to push aside and forget in time.
And now we are inches away, but we're miles apart,
So I'll dream of the day and how we felt at the start.
But dreams don't come easy these days,
And the colors, they fade into grays.

These deep breaths repeating
(My heart stops its beating)
She's determined to stay alive.
These deep breaths repeating
(My heart stops its beating)
The sun has yet to set and you're not here to say good night.

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.
Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.
Mannie, c'mon, this was going somewhere,
I won't let go of what we had
'Cause I'm a broken record that keeps on skipping back.
And I still miss you.

And I never thought that you'd leave me here all on my own.
And I never thought you'd be willing to take away my home.
'Cause there's no one to call and I'm so sick of being all alone.
Miserably loving you.

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.
Do anything you want, but don't leave me out...
Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.
Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.
Mannie, c'mon, this was going somewhere,
I won't let go of what we had.
Now I'm a broken record that keeps on skipping back.
Mannie, please, come back to me.' He put the guitar down and sat on the bed next to his wife and grabbed her body hugging it close to him, and he felt her hand squeeze his arm. His eyes started pouring out tears and he lost all control he had. Ulrich and Avril walked in that moment and saw him and Ulrich ran over to comfort his friend. Avril set down the white lilies she had got for them and saw Aria starting to cry as well and hugged her tight.

"Mannie please, I need you here. Come back to me…" Odd was sobbing holding his wife. Mannie was watching all of this from her point of view again…

"I can hear you Odd… I'm trying as hard as I can." She said, starting to break down as well.

WOOOOOO I FINALLY UPDATED! I'm so sorry y'all I've had writers block on this story for SOO long, but yaaay. Please review and another chapter will be up shortly! I really hope you liked this chapter, it was really hard for me to write because I kept getting emotional, haha. Blah, well review review review! :D