Kadic City, near Yumi's house, Monday 7:30 PM: Ulrich and Yumi were walking towards her house alone as the rest of the group had split off and were headed back to school. Without the rest of the group an uncomfortable silence descended on them. Without conversation to occupy her mind Yumi considered her and Ulrich's relationship. He had told her he loved her as he saved her from the digital sea. She had been elated but it didn't last long as they lost Aelita's father to XANA. Now here she was, free to tell Ulrich that she loved him back and she wasn't. She looked over at Ulrich who caught her gaze and looked away, blushing. She looked forward and continued to walk in silence, wishing he would say something.
Ulrich walked alongside Yumi and allowed worry to overwhelm him. Yumi hadn't told him that she loved him and was now walking in total silence. He hoped that she would have told him how she felt. Instead there was silence. Ulrich looked over at Yumi to find her looking at him. He blushed and turned away, wondering again whether they were nothing, friends, or something more. There was only the silence between them.
That silence was shattered by the ring of Ulrich's phone. He groaned as he looked at the screen and saw that it was his father. "Hi Dad" he said, clearly unhappy.
"Ulrich, we need to talk about your grades and your future." Mr. Stern said.
"Um yeah sure but..."
"No. No buts. I've had enough of this. I spoke with the principal and he says that you've made no attempt to improve your grades. What do you have to say for yourself?" Mr. Stern questioned angrily.
"Well dad I'm..."
The response didn't come fast enough and Ulrich's dad cut him off "So you need time to come up with an excuse do you? I'm sure those loser friends of yours are to blame."
Ulrich yelled into the phone "They're not losers, they've treated me better than you ever have."
"Have they. HAVE THEY. Have they paid a small fortune to send you to a boarding school? Have they supported you since you were a little baby? Maybe they've worked hard to ensure that you would have a great job in the corporate world. NO. well then they haven't really taken care of you have they" Mr. Stern yelled back.
"Gee thanks dad, Boarding school so that you can show off to all of your rich friends without having to worry about watching over a kid. And you've lined up a job for me. I'm sure it something that you can use to show off." Ulrich yelled.
"The Stern family legacy is something you should be proud of."
"The Stern family legacy" Ulrich scoffed "More like how can I show off to all my so called friends that I'm better than they are."
"Ok That's enough, you're coming home as soon as I can get a flight out there and back!"
"WHAT!? You can't do that, I won't let you."
"The hell I can't. You're still a child so I own you. I can do whatever I want with you. You're coming home with me."
"Ok Dad" Ulrich spat the word "Maybe your right. Of course you had better be ready for the embarrassment of your life. I'll flunk out wherever you put me and I'll make sure that everyone knows why."
The threat stopped Mr. Stern for a second and when he resumed speaking he sounded much calmer. "Ok, you can stay at Kadic for the rest of the semester. Then you'll come back home and we'll find a more appropriate school for you."
Ulrich countered, also sounding much calmer "What about my friends, I want to stay with them."
"With your grades you don't have time for friends. That's why I want you out of Kadic. You obviously can't handle having school and those loser friends of yours. You're a Stern so it's not that you can't make straight As."
"Hey, there not losers. Two of my friends are the top two students at..."
Ulrich was cut off by his father "Then why aren't you doing better?"
"Because I have issues that you wouldn't"
Again, Ulrich was cut off by his father "I was fourteen once too, I still made straight As in school. All you need is to get rid of those losers"
This time Ulrich cut his father off "You don't even know them, stop condemning them."
Ulrich heard the sound of his mother's voice and then heard the sound of a quick argument though he couldn't understand what was being said. His father came back on the line after a few minutes "Ok, We'll be arranging to fly in sometime after midterms to meet your friends and review your progress. If I'm convinced that you are making progress and that your friends are worthy I'll let you stay on at Kadic."
Ulrich considered, It wasn't likely that he'd get a better deal but then it would be nearly impossible to please his father. On the other hand the longer he stayed away from his father the better. "Ok, deal." Ulrich said as he hung up the phone.
Yumi looked over at Ulrich "So what's going on?" she asked.
"Nothing" he grumbled.
"I overheard enough of the conversation to know that it's not nothing." Yumi said, getting a little angry at his lie.
Since Ulrich didn't answer her she said "Ok fine, I'll tell you what I think is going on here. Your father has finally reached the end of his rope with your grades and wants to take you out of school. Sound about right." Anger plain in her voice now.
"Fine" Ulrich said, frustration apparent in his voice "Your right but he agreed to evaluate my progress and meet you guys. Then he'll decide to take me out of school." He went from frustrated to hopeless as he finished speaking.
"You know it's not over. Jeremy, Aelita, and I can help you study."
"Sure, but after he meets Odd he'll yank me from school for sure." There was still defeat in his voice.
"You can't know that, and you had better not be giving up on me."
"On you?" Ulrich questioned, a bit surprised.
"Yes Ulrich on Me. You said that you loved me on Lyoko. Did you mean it?" Yumi's voice was now tinged with sadness. They had been at this point before and each had backed down. She was hoping for something else but preparing for more of the same.
"Yumi I..." Ulirch hesitated, then continued very uncertain "I do but"
"But, Ulrich... You. love. me. BUT!" She yelled out. "You know what, go... Just go... Get back to school and consider what you want for your future. If it's me then you had better be prepared to fight for it. And if can't then call your father and tell him to take you home now." When Yumi finished she was crying. She ran off towards home, ignoring Ulrich calling to her.
--
Yumi's house, Yumi's bedroom, 7:57 PM: She had managed to collect herself and make it up to her room without anyone noticing that she had been crying. She took an early shower and let herself cry, her tears lost in the hot water. Afterwards she went straight into her room, locked the door and busied herself with whatever she could come up with. Now after cleaning every surface in her room, rearranging all of her school notes and books, reviewing her past tests and studying it was 10:00 PM. With nothing else to do she laid down on her bed trying and failing to not think about Ulrich.
Everybody she knew except Sissy (and she didn't count) said that Ulrich loved her. She wasn't so sure, he acted indifferent at times, mean at others but on some occasions he was very nice to her. The mixed signals were confusing and had led to far too many fights. But now he had told her he loved her and there was supposed to be no doubt. But there was. He thought he might be dying at the time and people sometimes said things they didn't mean under that type of stress. But he had treated her differently over the course of the day. Then came the phone call from his father. When it came time to prove that he loved her what did he do, he backed down again. Jeremy had stood up to a murderous computer virus for the love of his life. Ulrich would die for her, ending all of his problems in a single noble sacrifice, but he couldn't live for her? What kind of love was that? She sighed and tried to sleep. Ulrich haunted her thoughts and sleep was fitful at best.
--
Kadic Acadmy, Ulrich and Odds room, 8:28 PM: Odd greeted Ulrich who replied with a low mumble then grabbed his shower bag and left. After showering and changing he returned to his room and collapsed unto his bed. "Don't tell me you and Yumi fought." Odd said.
"More like me and my father." Ulrich replied, hoping to keep the full truth from Odd.
"Oh, well isn't it just like parents to go and spoil all their kids fun. So what did he want this time?" Odd asked.
"To yell at me." Ulrich relied. His mood suggested that there was something more going on.
"Come on Ulrich, it had to be worse than that... Wait! You and Yumi didn't get into another fight did you?" Odd was studying Ulrich's face as he asked the question hoping to determine which question got the bigger response.
Ulrich's face did betray him, and Odd assumed the question about Yumi was the reason for his reaction. Odd continued "You did. You know there aren't going to be any more XANA battles or returns to the past to help you two make up. You'd"
Ulrich cut him off, anger in his voice "It doesn't matter. There's no more Yumi, or you or Jeremy or Aelita or Sissy. No more Kadic. Nothing. My father is taking me out of school." He was yelling now.
Odd shrank back in fear and shock, and it took a couple of minutes for Odd to recover after Ulrich's tirade. Once he had he walked over to Ulrich and put a hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry man, I had no idea. Is there anything we can do?"
Ulrich answered him his words dripping with sarcasm. "Oh yeah. My father said that if he met and liked you guys and if my grades improved enough then I'd be able to stay."
Odd ignored the way he said it and chose to look at the positive. "So than you can study and we can all impress your father when he comes down to meet us. Simple."
"No Odd, it's not simple." Ulrich yelled. "Do you have any idea what it would take to impress my father. Nothing short of a miracle. It's hopeless" Ulrich continued, his voice going from loud and angry to small and defeated in the last two words.
"A miracle huh? Well if I thought they would want to be interrupted I'd drag you, kicking and screaming if I had to, up to Aelita's room and make you ask her about miracles." Odd yelled back at Urlich.
"Aelita, what the hell's she got to do with this. She doesn't even need to know about this right now. She's got enough to deal with." Ulrich said matching Odd's tone and volume.
"Everything you idiot. What the hell do you call her being here right now if not a miracle. XANA didn't just give us Aelita and delete itself. Jeremy made all of that happen, with our help."
"Odd, XANA wasn't my father. My father"
Odd interrupted him 'Your father can go straight to hell for all I care. And as for you, Ulrich" Odd spat out his name "You, the great warrior of Lyoko." Sarcasm laced those words. "Ha. Jeremy's braver and stronger than you. He never gave up on Aelita. Not after XANA bound her to itself. Not after she tried to kill herself. Not after their fights." Odd was yelling now "Not ever! "
Ulrich slumped down on his bed, Odd's words having hit a nerve. He was thinking that Odd was right, that his father was right, that he was a failure.
Odd watched Ulrich's reaction and regretted his choice of words. He realized that he had just fed into Ulrich's greatest fear. "What have I done?" flashed through Odds mind over and over as he watched Ulrich settle into his bed.
"Ulrich" Odd said softly was he put his hand again on his friends shoulder "I didn't mean it that way. You're not a total failure I mean upstairs there are two people who are, now and forever, living testaments to that fact."
Getting no response he continued "Both Jeremy and Aelita will help you get your grades up and I can study and be a proper best friend, someone ever your father can like. Come on Ulrich, don't give up."
"Odd, just go away and leave me alone."
"Ok, fine Ulrich. Go ahead and sulk. When you're ready to fight for the life you want then let the rest of us know. We'll all be glad to help you make another miracle happen." Odd said softly in reply. He grabbed his shower kit and headed out the door.
Odd returned to find Ulrich sitting at his desk looking at a picture of Yumi. "You know, that's a powerful motivator you've got there. Just say the word and we'll all jump to your corner buddy."
"And if my father still decides to take me away?" Ulrich asked solemnly.
"Then our two resident geniuses will come up with an alternative plan. I think Aelita's very existence is proof of what they can accomplish when they put their minds to something." Odd answered.
"Ok, Odd. Tomorrow at breakfast I'll tell them what's happened."
"That's the spirit buddy." Odd said smiling brightly.
"Tomorrow is not going to be a good day" Ulrich thought as he went to sleep.