Author's note: This story diverges from canon by assuming that Jeremy and Yumi have known each other from before Lyoko and did not meet in the first XANA attack as shown on the show.
To my three reviewers, Thank you very much.
Kadic Academy, Aelita's dorm, Tuesday 7:30 AM: Jeremy knocked on Aelita's door and waited for her to answer. "Good morning my love" Jeremy said when she opened the door. Her cheeks took on the same shade of red as Jeremy's as she answered "Good morning and I love you too." Aelita closed her door and locked it, slipping the keys into her pocket then taking Jeremy's hand. Together they walked hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder down to the cafeteria talking softly to each other about what to do for their first date. Quite a few heads turned when they entered the cafeteria but few were actually surprised to see them together. After making their way through the food line they found the usual table and sat down, eating breakfast while they waited for Ulrich and Odd.
Sissy walked over to Jeremy and Aelita's table, having noticed their entrance and feeling a bit jealous. "You know I really don't understand what you two see in each other. I mean Aelita you should know that Jeremy is much more interested in his computer than you. And Jeremy why would you want a girl so pathetic that she has to wake you up in the middle of the night to talk about her bad dreams. Then again she's to whiney to ever keep another boy and your too much of a nerd to get a real woman. Never mind, now I understand perfectly just forget I asked."
Aelita looked over at Jeremy, hurt plain on her face. Sissy had just hit the sorest spot Aelita had ever had. She needed so much from Jeremy, between the work on materializing her, to defeating XANA, to supporting her both emotionally and financially. At times she felt like a terrible burden to him.
"Aelita?" Jeremy whispered softly, breaking her chain of thought.
"Jeremy, what if she's" Aelita started off.
Jeremy stopped her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder . "No, Aelita, I don't want to hear you say it. She's wrong. Sissy has never known true love save that of her father. If she did then she'd know that I'm happy to have you call me when you need to. That no matter what I'll always be there to love and support you and further I'll be glad that's it's me and not someone else you turn to."
"Jeremy, I... Still you've done so much, endured so much for me. It just doesn't seem right. " Aelita said sadly.
Jeremy sighed "Maybe so. But then again maybe everything that's happened has been for the best. The truth is that Sissy was right about me. I could never have gotten a girl like you on my own. And fighting XANA has given me a strength and confidence that I would never have found otherwise."
Aelita's expression brightened as she considered and finally she was smiling at Jeremy. "You know I love you right?" She finished her question with a quick peck on his cheek.
"I know, and I love you too." Both of them now had bright red cheeks.
Odd and Ulrich, noticing that their two friends seemed to be finished sharing their moment sat down at the table. Ulrich was desperately trying to hide his disgust at their little show. Odd didn't notice but did spare Ulrich from being noticed by bringing attention to himself "So I take it you two had a good evening last night."
Aelita, not missing a beat and ignoring the still rising temperature of her cheeks replied "Yes, all in all a very good evening. I learned a couple of very important things last night."
Odd raised his eyebrows. "A couple huh. I think I can guess one. What was the other?" Odd asked in his most accusing voice.
"It was about my father, an understanding of why he chose to sacrifice himself." Aelita replied with an edge of sorrow.
Odd's smile faltered, that had not been the answer he was expecting. "Oh, Um well... I..." Not knowing what to say to that he stopped trying.
"It's ok Odd, you had no way of knowing." Aelita offered. She turned her attention to Ulrich "So Ulrich, how was your evening?"
Though Ulrich managed to hide it, he was still disgusted with himself. He had felt jealous when he saw Jeremy and Aelita say they loved each other with such ease. It was made worse by knowing that even if his father allowed him to stay at kadic he and Yumi might never reach that point. That final thought put a frown on his face that he just couldn't hide.
Aelita looked to Odd "Whats wrong with him?"
"Well"
Before Odd could get any further Ulrich interrupted "Don't say anything Odd" he growled.
"Hey! we had a deal" Odd exclaimed. "You were going to tell them about"
"Shut it Odd" Ulrich warned.
"You know Ulrich, now I'm really curious and I'll bet Yumi will tell me what happened last night if I call and ask" Aelita said softly waving her cell phone for emphasis.
Getting no response she held the phone out towards him and slowly pressed the two key. Her phone's display showed Yumi's number then began to dial. "Ok" Ulrich said, "I'll tell you." Aelita pushed the end call key and put away her phone as Ulrich started his explanation.
"My father called last night, he said that he would be taking me out of school at the end of the semester"
Everyone could tell how much that admission had hurt him. Aelita got up and went over to Ulrich and gave him a hug. "Is there anything we can do?" she asked softly.
"He said I might be able to stay if I get my grades up and if he meets and likes all of you." Ulrich sounded defeated.
"That's not so bad" Jeremy said "Aelita and I can help with your classes and I'm pretty sure we can all become presentable people."
"That's not the point" Ulrich just about yelled "There's no pleasing my father. Nothing I do is ever good enough." There was still defeat in his voice.
"Well then I'm sure Yumi will get over you eventually." Odd put in "I bet William will make her forget about you real quick."
Odd would have gotten a punch in the face for his comment but Aelita saved him by putting a restraining hand on Ulrich's shoulder. Using her most soothing voice Aelita said "Jeremy and I owe you more than we can ever hope to repay. We'll do everything in our power to help you. And we do have quite a bit of power at our disposal, including the ability to reverse time."
"That doesn't really help with"
Ulrich was interrupted by Odd "It helped with my grades that one time."
Without bringing up his troubles with Yumi he was out of excuses and finally submitted "Ok, I'll work with you and try to stay here."
"Great" Aelita exclaimed, returning to Jeremy. "We'll work out a plan tonight with Yumi. I'm sure she'll want to help keep you motivated" Aelita said with a smirk. Ulrich rolled his eyes, inside he was not looking forward to this. With that they finished breakfast and went to their first class.
--
Kadic Academy, Front gates, Tuesday 8:00 AM: Yumi arrived at Kadic to find William waiting for her "Good morning Yumi, how are you?" he greeted.
"Just fine. Thanks for asking" she snapped.
"You don't sound fine." William replied. "Did you and Ulrich fight after we left you two last night" He asked.
"No." She lied as she started to walk away.
William ran after Yumi and tapped on her the shoulder, narrowly escaping having his arm caught and twisted around behind his back. "What do you want William?" Yumi asked angrily.
"An answer, just an honest answer" William replied, keeping his voice level.
"And the question?" Yumi asked, sounding impatient on top of angry.
"How come you're so attached to Ulrich when he's incapable of showing that he cares?"
The question stung Yumi, bringing back everything she had managed to bury last night. Ulrich could care, he had comforted her when her parents were fighting, would fight for her, would die for her. But whenever he felt hurt he retreated, unless it involved her. Then he attacked her with the most effective weapon he could find, her own heart. She hadn't really made things between them any better though, she tended to do the exact same thing. Now it was coming back to bite both of them, hard.
"Yumi?" William called, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"I... " She fell silent, she didn't have an answer and didn't want to say it.
"You know I love you and I'll never have any trouble proving that to you or to anyone else." William said to fill in the silence.
She had heard that line before. Enough times to know that he meant it. But could she trust him? It was so easy for William to say that, did that mean he was really, really in love or did it mean that he really didn't care and thought she'd be a nice trophy for a while. She was trapped, caught between the emotionally abusive Ulrich (although that wasn't totally fair since she could be just as bad) and William who she just couldn't bring herself to trust. She started to walk away but could feel William walking after her.
He caught up to her and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Look Yumi, I know you and Ulrich have been through a lot together but is that really love? "
Yumi growled and grabbed his hand, twisting his arm behind his back in a single, lightening quick movement. She kicked the back of his knee, sending him down to the ground. Then she ran off trying to escape the confusion he had reawakened. This had been so much easier in the past. In a way XANA was healing. The focus and worry and adrenaline of facing XANA seemed to make everything different. Their other problems were small by comparison and now? Now it wasn't there, nothing to take her mind off of the negatives of her relationship with Ulrich.
The sound of a bell brought her back to herself. Classes were starting, she suddenly realized. Swearing under her breath she ran back towards the science building and her first class. Perhaps someone could help her sort this out. All she had to do is get up the nerve to ask.
--
Kadic Academy, Science building, Tuesday, Lunchtime: Aelita looked over at Jeremy as his cell phone began to ring. Releasing Aelita's hand he took it out of his pocket and looked at the display "Hi Yumi" he said after flipping it open.
"Hi Jeremy, Um if you don't mind could you meet me at your room, I've got something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Sure, no problem" Jeremy replied then hung up. He looked over to Aelita "Yumi wants to meet me at my room to talk."
"About?" Aelita asked, curious.
"She didn't say, she sounded stressed though. Probably about Ulrich leaving. She didn't hear us convince him to try and stay so maybe she's worried."
"Well tell her not to worry, as long as Ulrich is willing to work we can get him up to speed with his classes." As an afterthought she added "If you two don't make it back to the cafeteria I'll save something for the both of you."
Jeremy looked at Aelita and gave her a peck on the cheek, enjoying the feeling of doing that even as his cheeks stared burning, "Thanks princess, see you at our next class if not before."
Sissy overheard enough of that to allow her mind to formulate a plan. All she had to do was enter the cafeteria from the direction of the dorms and find Ulrich.
--
Kadic Academy, Cafeteria, Tuesday, Lunchtime: Aelita found her way to the usual table and found Sissy talking to Ulrich. "... With Jeremy. You know it makes perfect sense when you think about it. They're both intelligent and she is more mature than Aelita."
"Hi Ulrich, Elizabeth." Aelita greeted, slightly stressing Sissy's given name.
"Its Sissy. But I guess since you just lost your boyfriend I can let that one go." She replied smugly.
"Oh, hey Aelita..." Ulrich replied, uncertain of what more he should say.
"Come on Ulrich, Aelita probably wants to be alone right now." Sissy said as she pulled on Ulrich's shirt.
"Ulrich you can't possibly believe that Jeremy would do that to the both of us." Aelita said, now angry with Sissy.
"What's so difficult about believing that he and Yumi are a couple. He's known her longer than you and she's more mature. She's not exactly the kind of catch that I am but then it's not like Jeremy could ever get a girl like me." Sissy was clearly having fun with this.
"Like he'd want someone as fake and shallow as you. And if a girl can't look past his appearance to see the man behind the glasses then they don't deserve to have him." Aelita retorted. She turned her attention to Ulrich "Jeremy is talking with his oldest friend and he will be rejoining with me later. As for you." Now Aelita was glaring at him "Are you really going to trust Sissy more than Jeremy and Yumi?"
"You both know how close those two are. Is it really that hard to believe that they'd eventually be more than friends?" Sissy asked calmly.
Ulrich was starting to look convinced. Aelita shook her head in disbelief. "Ulrich you can't really believe Sissy, can you? Haven't you been through this enough times to know that she'd say anything to get her hands on you?"
"Aelita I know it's hard for you, especially after this morning but" Ulrich started.
"I don't believe this" she said harshly, "Come on Ulrich" disdain creeping into her voice "I suppose we just have to do this the hard way."
With that she pulled Ulrich towards the exit and then to the dorms. Sissy followed at a discreet distance, trying to formulate a way to turn this to her advantage. Aelita led Ulrich to Jeremy's door and crossed her fingers as she gently and silently pushed it open. Sissy hung back trying to determine what was going on inside from the reactions of Ulrich and Aelita. Aelita's mind was racing as the door swung slowly open. She was violating the privacy of her boyfriend and de facto sister to reassure Ulrich because of Sissy and now that she was here it seemed like a much worse idea than it had when she left the cafeteria.
Sissy came up and spoke loudly "What's the matter Aelita, Ulrich? You surprised to learn that I was right when I said that Jeremy and Yumi had decided to start a relationship right under your noses."
Both Jeremy and Yumi jerked up and turned around to face the now open door. Seeing the guilt and apology in Aelita's expression Jeremy flashed her a reassuring smile silently accepting her apology and telling her that he was not upset, with her anyway. Yumi had at least a little sympathy for Aelita but she was staring daggers at Ulrich. He started to apologize but Yumi was now beyond words. She turned away, ignoring everyone. Jeremy put his hand on her shoulder and tried to console her. Aelita reached in and pulled the door closed.
Sissy called sweetly to Ulrich and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Aelita. "Ulrich stop!" Aelita commanded. He stopped and turned around, surprised at the tone she had just used. Ulrich shivered under a gaze that any of XANA's blocks would have been proud to have as their freeze ray. Her normally inviting green eyes had taken an ugly color that reminded him of the absolute worst thunderstorms. Her smile, once broad and bright was now a small, dark frown frozen on her face. Her whole body was tense with anger.
Aelita looked past Ulrich to Sissy who shrank away from her stare. Far more calmly than should have been possible given her appearance Aelita said "Get out of my sight before I beat you into something your father wouldn't recognize." Sissy didn't need to be told twice and took off running. Ulrich considered running after her but stayed put as Aelita returned her gaze to him.
"You can go after Sissy if you want" Aelita began "Or you can stay and try to fix this mess." Now the anger was starting to reach her voice "Staying is not going to be easy. In fact convincing Yumi that you even deserve to be her friend will probably make pleasing your father look easy." Now she was just about yelling "And if you aren't up for that then leave now and don't come back."
Ulrich had the 'deer caught in headlights' look as his eyes met the floor. "This might really be it" he thought as he considered. He had just proven beyond any doubt that he would trust Sissy over Yumi, over Jeremy and over Aelita. He looked down the empty hallway where Sissy had retreated after Aelita's threat. He looked back at Aelita then towards Jeremy's closed door. Sissy would welcome him with open arms. The retired Lyoko warriors on the other hand would treat him with suspicion and caution. If he could manage that he just might get the girl of his dreams. If he couldn't he could turn and go to Sissy, hoping that she would turn out to be the kind, brave girl he knew she could be. "This isn't fair. Yumi's hurt me too, believing Sissy over me and using William to hurt me."
"True enough and if it was you and me talking in my room and Jeremy and Yumi getting caught spying then they'd be the ones having this conversation. But it wasn't. So what is your decision?" Aelita replied calmly. Ulrich noticed that her stance had softened and her eyes were returning to normal. She was still giving him a hard, cold stare though.