OddObsessed- Yes, this is my first real fanfiction. My other one was a bit of a dud, because it wasn't really a fanfiction, but my own creation. This is the first time I've written a story about something that already exists! I'm not that big on using other peoples ideas. Thanks for reviewing!

ON WITH THE STORY!

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 12

One of Minnie's many tweaks was her obsession with her drink bottle. Back in Australia, she took one with her to school everyday, and she was very protective of it. No-one but her was allowed to touch it. But the ironic thing was that Minnie was constantly losing her drink bottle, and needed it replaced. They were only cheap, plastic water bottles you bought from the store with water already inside. Still, her drink bottles were very important to her, even if she had gone through 50 in the past year.

It was on this Friday that Minnie woke up a had a sudden yearning for her drink bottle. She had packed it in one of the bags that she hadn't unpack yet. It was still very early morning, too early to even be light yet, but she got up anyway, and she searched through the bag until she came across her cheap, slightly disfigured drink bottle. She then went to fill it with water.

This was one change.

Minnie took her drink bottle with her when she went down to the woods that morning, but she didn't take her book bag. She didn't feel like reading or writing. She didn't even feel like thinking. She just wandered around aimlessly with her drink bottle clutched tightly in her right hand.

It was still too early to be light. Minnie wasn't sure how early it was exactly, as she hadn't checked the time when she woke up, or as she left. She also didn't know that Ulrich was also wandering in the woods that morning. He wasn't able to sleep. He had been thinking of Yumi. He did know the time, because he was wearing a watch. It was only 4:30.

This was another change.

At around 5:00, Ulrich grew tired of walking, and he sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a tree trunk, his head in his hands. He was frustrated with himself, not knowing what to do about Yumi. At that moment, Minnie walked past the tree where Ulrich was sitting.

Minnie might not have noticed that Ulrich was there. She was completely zoned out. But Ulrich definitely noticed Minnie! He felt something brush past him, and he looked up. It took him a few moments for his eyes to adjust, but then he saw long, frizzy brown hair, and he thought of only one person, Minnie.

He scrambled to his feet and started after her. He wanted her to understand everything that she had cause, he wanted to make her hurt as much as he was hurting. His hands clenched and unclenched as he stared after her. He wanted her to disappear, he wanted her to be gone. He wished that she had never come to Kadic, he wished that she hadn't come to France. He wished she hadn't been born. He wished for everything to be back the way it was before they met her.

Ulrich didn't go after Minnie, he just stared after her, until he couldn't see her anymore. Then he turned and ran. He wanted to keep running, running to get away from it all, but he couldn't. So he just ran back to his dorm instead.

Odd heard him come in. He heard the door shut behind Ulrich. He heard the bed squeak as Ulrich sat down on it. It was still dark. Odd groaned and rolled over. He checked the clock. it wasn't even 5:30 yet! What had he been doing? Odd felt tired, but he was awake, and he was interested in knowing where Ulrich had been.

"Where have you been?" He mumbled, only just louder than a whisper. He suddenly sat bolt upright. "Have you been with Yumi?" He asked with curiosity.

"No," Ulrich said, slightly annoyed at Odd for mentioning her. "I was in the forest."

"At this time of night?" Odd asked, yawning.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep." Ulrich was rubbing his eyes as he spoke.

"Thinking about Yumi?" Odd asked.

"Something like that," Ulrich said, not really wanting to spill his guts to Odd, who was more likely to mock him that be of any help. "Minnie was down there too," he added with absolutely no tone.

"Really? What was she doing down there? Wait, are you and her..."

"No!" Ulrich said, almost angry at Odd. But he was Odd, and it was like him to jump to conclusions like that.

By this time, Kiwi was awake. He was sitting next to Odd, looking at him and whimpering for food. Kiwi was quite a bit like Odd, where eating was concerned. But Ulrich was never sure where Odd got the food to feed Kiwi, but he was still alive, so he must have a way of getting the food.

Odd was absent-absentmindedly patting Kiwi. "So," He continued. "What was she doing down there?"

"I don't know," Ulrich replied. He hadn't thought about why she was down there. "I suppose she has her own problems."

"Maybe she's been possessed by X.A.N.A.?" Odd added helpfully.

"No, Jeremie would have alerted us if there was an attack. Plus, she's been to Lyoko. X.A.N.A. can't posses someone who's been to Lyoko." Ulrich said this as though it was a bad thing.

"Well, what do you think she was doing down there?" Odd just wouldn't let it go.

"I don't know," Ulrich said, starting to lose his temper. "Let's hope she does everyone a favor and runs away," he added, kicking off his shoes and rolled over, his back to Odd.

"You don't like Minnie much, do you?" Odd was determined to continue the conversation.

"Well, let's just say things would be better if we had never met her," Ulrich said in a warning tone that finished the conversation.

Odd sighed and rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Minnie was still wandering around aimlessly. She didn't even know if she was really think anything. It was as though all meaning had left her body and had gone somewhere else, leaving an empty body to roam. She wasn't taking in her surroundings, she wasn't even sure where she was anymore.

Then, something happened to bring her back down to earth. She walked into a tree. She hit it rather hard, and fell backwards, landing flat on her back. She was winded for what felt like hours, but was really only seconds. It took her a few moments to remember anything at all, like she had sudden temporary amnesia from not thinking for so long. Then again, it may have been the shock that brought her back that did it, but we can never be sure.

Then, like you might read in books, her thoughts came rushing back to her, sweeping over her like a huge wave. She got up and had a good look around. All she could see was trees. She started to panic, not knowing which way to go to get out of this maze of trees. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. In just a few moments, she had gone from being relaxed, to confused, to scared.

She started running in one direction, although she had no idea where she might end up. She didn't get to find out anyway, because she tripped over her own feet in her panic. As she fell, her hands shot out in front of her. The drink bottle was released from the grip of her right hand, and landed on the ground the same time she did. It bounced once or twice, before rolling away.

In a flash, Minnie was on her feet and after her drink bottle. She didn't want to lose her drink bottle. It was hers, and it was still full of water, so she ran after it. As Minnie ran in pursuit of her drink bottle, she noticed that if Minnie sped up, the drink bottle rolled faster, but it never got so far that she lost sight of it, and if she slowed down, so did the drink bottle, but she still couldn't catch it. The strangest thing was that the drink bottle seemed to go just as fast up hill as it did down hill. It was very strange indeed.

Minnie wasn't sure how long she chased after her drink bottle, but it seemed like an awfully long time. It finally did stop rolling, just in front of a stone wall. Minnie rush over to it and picked it up, grateful that the wall had stopped it. She had had her eyes on her drink bottle for the entire time while she had been running, and it was only now, after she had it again, that she really looked at where she was. It had gotten light enough to see, but she didn't know where she was.

She definitely wasn't at Kadic any more, she knew that much. But where was she? She seemed to be in a little suburb. There were neat little houses side by side, all with perfectly mowed lawns and beautiful gardens. She can't have gone very far from Kadic, could she? I mean, her drink bottle can't have rolled all that far by itself, could it?

You could call it fate, you could call it destiny, or you could call it an accident,all I can tell you is the cold, hard facts. I will let you decide what brought Minnie to that small suburb on the morning of the day that she had decided would be her last day at Kadic. All I can tell you is that, as Minnie pondered over where she was and how she would get back, someone walked out of one of the small suburb houses, calling something to the people still in the house. Minnie looked up, and instantly froze at who she saw.

Yumi.

Minnie and Yumi.

Sworn enemies.

What will happen?

You'll just haveto wait for chapter 13!

Please Review

Thanx!

OcyTaviAh