Kadic Academy, Jeremy's dorm, Lunchtime: Jeremy looked up and into the taller girls eyes, wondering if she could see just how hard this was going to be. "Before you condemn Ulrich completely consider that you've been the same way at times."
"I know, Jeremy. Believe me I know." She replied sadly and shaking her head. "And now..." Her voice trailed off.
Still holding eye contact Jeremy said "Yumi you can talk to me. I've known you longer than anyone else in our group and I know what kind of heart you have under that tough shell of really hurt and I can see it. And you won't heal without help."
Yumi considered. She had indeed known Jeremy longer than the rest of the group and finally decided that she could, and needed to, open up to him. Hesitantly she started out "Ok, I... Um, Jeremy, where do I start?"
"Where ever you're most comfortable."
"But I'm not comfortable at all Jeremy. I'm the one who gives advice. I'm the one who is supposed to be helping you and Aelita. Or Odd and whoever."
Jeremy chuckled "Odd and whoever. You know helping Odd with girls is a lost cause, right?"
"Is that why I feel so frustrated?" Yumi replied only partially joking.
"No" Jeremy replied. "You're probably frustrated because you expected to be able to tell Ulrich how you feel and can't. And because you really don't want to feel anything for William but since you run to him when there's trouble with Ulrich you're wondering if there is something there."
"I can't tell Ulrich because of William?" Yumi asked, a bit surprised at Jeremy's analysis.
"No that's only part of it. You also wonder if there's anything between him and Sissy. "
"That isn't very helpful, that's all stuff I could have told you."
"Well, if you wanted something you couldn't have told me you should have come to me with a computer problem."
"Yeah, right. Thanks Jeremy." Yumi replied sarcastically.
Jeremy frowned "In all seriousness though, both you and Ulrich have inflected far too much pain on each other. You want to tell Ulrich you love him but every memory of him with Sissy, of him running to Sissy when William makes an advance on you, it makes you wonder how love can last. Then you have William and I have to wonder. Why go to him whenever Ulrich or Sissy hurts you?"
Yumi looked over Jeremy "So how do I fix this?"
"You didn't answer the question. Why go to William when your hurt?"
"I don't have an answer for that."
"Yes you do, you just don't want to admit it."
"I just want to know how to fix this Jeremy. I didn't come here to be psychoanalyzed."
"Yes you did." Jeremy replied flatly. "But now that your here you're finding it to be so much harder than you anticipated."
Yumi sat down on one of the computer chairs in the room. "At first it was a good way to get even with Ulrich. He hurt me, I hurt him. It's childish but, the thing is it worked. He was always nicer to me afterwards. It became a habit, just a thing we did. The consequences didn't matter, there was always a XANA attack to pull us back together, show us just how good we were together."
"Like a drug." Jeremy said, remembering the time he had tried to use the return to the past program to boost his cognitive ability. The effect was impressive at first but gradually destroyed his mind, making him push away Aelita when he had needed her most. "Remember when you had to rescue me from that contraption I used to boost my brainpower with the return to the past program?"
"I'd prefer not to. You really scared all of us with that one. Did you even realize what you were doing to yours..." Yumi stopped, suddenly seeing the point. He had used the device to try and save Aelita. Instead he had hurt her. She wanted Ulrich to express his feelings and seeing him jealous and willing to fight for her was almost like hearing him say he loved her. But it was poison to both of them, sowing mistrust and artificially inflating feelings towards William and Sissy while simultaneously giving them the wrong ideas. Yumi began to cry.
"Yumi, what are you thinking?" Jeremy asked quietly, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"How stupid I was. I couldn't tell him, I was afraid so I..." her voice trailed off.
"You used William to get a show of Ulrich's true feelings?"
"Yes" Yumi replied, her voice choked with sorrow and loss.
"Yumi, it's not entirely your fault. Ulrich's done the exact same thing."
"Yes. But now what. Is there any way to fix this Jeremy?"
Yumi could almost see the apology in Jeremy's blue eyes as he said "There's no way for you alone to fix this. It's something that both you and Ulrich will have to fix together."
"How, when Ulrich can't trust me and I can't trust him." Yumi asked.
"Yumi, we've all been through more in the past couple of years then many will face in their entire lives. Maybe what you and Ulrich need is a vacation. Take time away from each other and use that time to settle your emotions. I can't make either of you forget the past but if you both can let go of it then maybe you two can start again."
"And what about William and Sissy?"
"They'll still be William and Sissy. The rest of us will try to help but we can't keep either of them away." Jeremy paused and took a breath then continued "Ulrich's probably going to hate me for this but you might consider giving whatever feelings you have for William an honest look as well. If there's something there it might be best to know that before it comes between you and Ulrich or before William gives up and you regret it."
"So after all this" Yumi said gesturing to her tears "your advice is to go home, pretend Ulrich doesn't exist and think about William!?" Her voice beginning to show some anger.
"No I suggest you sort out what and how you feel about Ulrich and William and try to separate it from the game you've been playing with them. If, without everything you two have inflicted on each other, you still feel you can't trust Ulrich then you can't have a successful relationship. If you can learn to trust him and think he can trust you then start dating and try to make it work."
"And if not then let him go?" Yumi said sadly but also with understanding and finality.
Jeremy just nodded, there was nothing more to say.
--
Kadic Academy, Outside Jeremy's dorm, Lunchtime: "Aelita I really want Yumi. She's like no one else I've ever met but this is it. How can I get her back after this?" Ulrich said as he started to walk off.
"You don't want to find out what Jeremy's telling Yumi?" Aelita asked, not yet needing to raise her voice.
"Why?" Ulrich turned and snapped at her. "What could he tell her other than leave me and find someone who can be trusted, who can trust her." Ulrich snapped back.
Aelita looked back towards Jeremy's door. "You're probably right about the last part. I guess it's up to you if you can be both trusting and trustworthy. That's not all it'll take, but it's a start."
"How?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita looked at him strangely, unsure how to answer. She and Jeremy had been through some rough times and they were mostly his fault. But there was never any bad intent behind those fights. The responsibility of supporting her and fighting XANA and saving her father weighed heavily on him. It was a burden that she understood that perfectly, since it was one that she felt herself. Any consequences of a XANA attack would be her fault just as much as they would have been Jeremy's. "I don't have an answer for you Ulrich. I can't say that Jeremy and I have had a perfect relationship but we've never tried deliberately harming one another. And before you ask, no the fake kiss with Odd doesn't count. Neither does Jeremy's short lived attraction to Sissy's cousin."
"What about the time you and Odd went to Lyoko together after the fight with Jeremy?" Ulrich accused.
"I needed evidence for Jeremy. And yes I did briefly consider Odd, until he reminded me that Jeremy 'really liked' me." Aelita stressed the words really and liked to make it clear that that there was more to that phrase.
"Great, so no help from you then."
"Sorry." Aelita replied with sincerity. With that she went over to the wall beside Jeremy's door and sat down cross-legged on the floor and leaned back against the wall. "You can have a seat and wait for them" she said as she gestured to the wall beside her.
Ulrich looked at Jeremy's closed door, wondering just what was going on in there. He looked back to Aelita. She was now calm, the anger having left her. He looked back towards the door then down the hall. He still had the same two choices, stay and try to win back Yumi or go and forget her. Aelita had given him nothing to make that decision any easier. In fact, all she did was make it harder. She and Jeremy were going to be real couple, dating and talking easily and hugging and kissing. They would remind him of everything he wouldn't be getting while he tried to fix things with Yumi. Of course he could go join Sissy's little gang. She would give him all of that attention, and she could be a nice person at times. But in the end she wasn't Yumi. Ulrich sat down beside Aelita "I'll wait for Yumi."
--
The door opened, and both Yumi and Jeremy stepped out. Aelita greeted Jeremy with a hug, which he gladly returned, and an apology. Jeremy pulled her down the hall and accepted her apology. They went down to the cafeteria together and Aelita didn't ask what had happened in his room. If Yumi wanted to tell her she would. If Jeremy needed to tell her he would. Otherwise, if what happened needed to stay between him and Yumi that was fine with her.
"You're not even curious?" Jeremy asked a bit playfully as they sat down to what remained of lunch in the cafeteria.
"I am, but once we got back on campus all you needed to hear about the fake kiss with Odd was that it really was fake. I assume you and Yumi had a good chat?"
"We did. Enlightening and hopefully it will help those two get a fresh start."
"Then that's all I need to know." Aelita said before returning her attention to lunch.
Jeremy smiled back at Aelita, enjoying knowing that she trusted him as he trusted her.
--
Ulrich looked at Yumi and wondered, again, what had happened in Jeremy's room. Yumi's eyes were puffy and dark, and there were traces of tears on her cheeks. Her normally proud and tall posture was gone, replaced by a bowed head and slumped shoulders. She looked at Ulrich through sad and distressed eyes "We need to talk."
Those were words he had hoped he'd never hear again. "I assume we can use Jeremy's room?" Ulrich managed to keep his voice level.
Yumi nodded and followed Ulrich in then shut the door. "We can't keep doing this to each other" she said flatly, straining to keep her voice from breaking.
"Then what do you suggest?" Ulrich asked, defeated.
"I suggest we stop. Jeremy thinks we should take a little vacation from each other. Use the time to consider and sort out our feelings. If after that you think you can trust me and I think I can trust you we can try starting again."
"So Jeremy did tell you to break up with me." Ulrich was getting angry and it showed in his voice.
"Ulrich, what do you think I meant when I said that we can't keep doing this to each other?" Yumi asked annoyed.
"Not trusting each other."
"No, he thinks that we've been using Sissy and William to confirm our feelings. I hurt you, you go to Sissy, you see me jealous of Sissy and willing to fight to get you back, you know I love you. It works the same way with me."
"Yumi, you love me?" Shock apparent in Ulrich's voice.
"Yes, but we've both poisoned this love with our attempts to force it out into the open. And now..." Yumi paused, gathering her strength for what she was about to say "now we need to take a step back and see if we can develop the trust we both need."
"Yumi, why? Now that I know I can"
Yumi cut him off "You can't change overnight, neither can I. We've always relied on XANA to pull us back together regardless of what happened. There's no more XANA, no more returns to the past. If we screw this up there may not be another chance. I can't risk it, can you?"
As Ulrich considered Yumi started to speak again. "Suppose we left this room, went to the cafeteria and declared our love for each other. Would you really trust me if you saw me talking to William at dinner?"
"Of course I would" Ulrich said with fake confidence. Yumi looked into his eyes but he couldn't meet hers. The thought of her even being friends with William was still eating him up even though he wasn't about to admit it. He realized that it was a trap, proof that he was still going to lie to her.
Yumi shook her head "I want us to work. I really do but it can't, not like this. You won't trust me to be true to you. You won't trust me to be understanding that you're human and will have jealousy and anger and pride, and all those other potentially dangerous emotions. Ulrich do me a favor will you."
Now it was Ulrich's turn to break "Yumi don't ask, please." He pleaded.
"I have to. Let me have a week or two. For what it's worth this isn't going to be easy on me. Use the time to study and improve your grades. When we come back together we can start again. Leave everything in the past and see if it works."
Ulrich looked at Yumi, he supposed he didn't deserve easy. Jeremy and Aelita didn't have it easy. Odd did but then his relationships lasted a number of weeks. "Ok, I'll give you your space. Just stay away from William, will you."
"I'm not your property. You can't tell me who my friends are. Do you still not see why I don't think this can work out if things just stay the same" Yumi yelled.
"Then I hope you don't expect me to stay away from Sissy." Ulrich retorted.
Yumi calmed herself with several slow breaths, this fight was not what she wanted. "Ulrich, we've been through too much, more than many would experience throughout their entire lives, in fact. Now we need time to recover and I'd like to do that with you. Thing is all we end up doing is fighting over William and Sissy. Please, trust me to come back to you and let me trust you to be there when I'm ready."
"Ok, fine. If that's the way you want it then fine." Ulrich stormed out the door.
--
Kadic Academy, Cafeteria, Dinner: Ulrich sat down at the usual table with Jeremy, Aelita and Odd and began picking at his food. Aelita looked over at him and said "Come on, Ulrich it can't be that bad" as she started eating her spaghetti.
Ulrich gave her a disgusted look and replied "Yes it can."
"Oh come on buddy, it's not like you and Yumi having it out hasn't happened before." Odd said, guessing about the root of Ulrich's problems since the food was ok, judging by the way the others were eating.
"Fights and breakups may be old had to you but" Ulrich shut up as he realized what he had just said.
"Yumi didn't break up with you." Jeremy replied harshly.
Sissy butted in "You sure Jeremy? I mean if she doesn't want to be around you, Ulrich dear then I'd say it's her loss. Come over to my table, I'll give you all the attention you could ever want."
"Sounds tempting, can I come too?" Odd asked, staring at her with a fake pout.
"Hmph, none of my friends want to smell those feet of yours. Besides you get all the attention you need from that stupid dog of yours." Sissy replied.
"Ulrich needs to study, Elizabeth." Jeremy cut into the conversation.
Sissy glared at him and would have responded if her father had not joined the conversation. "Mr Stern, might I have a moment of your time?"
"Of course sir." Ulrich replied.
--
Kadic Academy, Odd's room, 8:37 PM: Ulrich got back to his room to find Jeremy, Aelita and Odd waiting for him. On speakerphone was Yumi. "So how did the meeting with principal Delmas go?"
"just great. My father told him about his plan to take me out of school if I didn't improve and so the school counselor helped me make a plan to improve my grades."
"Well let's have a look." Jeremy said as Aelita took the sheets of paper out of Ulrich's hand.
"This looks doable", Aelita said after she and Jeremy had skimmed the plan.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Yumi asked, her voice distorted and tinny.
Odd smirked, "Yeah sure. You can offer..." Odd started off. "Ouch, hey what'd you do that for?" he yelled as Aelita smacked him.
"Yumi, maybe you can help out with literature and by proofreading some of Ulrich's reports. Jeremy and I can handle math and science." Aelita offered.
"I think I can handle that." Yumi replied "And thanks for shutting Odd up before he said something stupid."
Aelita chuckled "Your welcome."
"What about staying away from each other?" Ulrich asked while glaring at Jeremy. Aelita looked at the exchange and decided to ask what that was about later.
"What!? You two were going to stay away from each other!" Odd exclaimed.
"Both Ulrich and Yumi used Sissy and William to make each other jealous because they took the jealousy as an admission of their feelings. It's badly damaged their ability to trust one another." Jeremy explained.
"So you suggested that they take a break and come back fresh, hopefully ready to trust one another." Aelita finished for him. Aelita continued, her voice sounding sweet "You know studying together may help. Working on programs together helped me and Jeremy understand each other better and let us get comfortable with our feelings without undue pressure."
Jeremy smiled at Aelita, wondering why he hadn't thought of that while he and Yumi were talking. "I agree with Aelita."
Odd looked at Jeremy "You would. But so do I so I guess it's ok."
"So I get study dates with Yumi in return for letting Jeremy and Aelita torture me with math and science?" Ulrich asked, happy at the thought of not having to go a week or more without Yumi.
"Yeah, sounds like it." Odd replied.