Look Before You Seek

Chapter 24

Ulrich sat on the cold hard ground, rocking the sleeping Minnie. The others had left around an hour ago, but had said nothing. It had been an awkward situation, and they didn't know what to say. Ulrich stared at the wall, but wasn't really looking at it, as his mind was wandering beyond the wall, thinking. He thought about Minnie, and he thought about Yumi. Both of them disliked him, yet he couldn't help liking them both. He wasn't sure what to do about the current situation with Yumi, as she was angry at him, and it wasn't wise to pester her. But he could do something about Minnie. She was scared of him, so he would have to be gentle and patient.

He sat there holding Minnie all night, willing her to wake so he could speak to her, yet wanting her to sleep still, as he didn't want her to flee in fear, or see a negative response. After a while, he started to dose, half awake, half asleep. There were no windows, yet he found himself waking at sunrise. Minnie started to stir. He panicked, but controlled himself. He knew she would panic, and he knew she would be confused and frightened, and he knew she wouldn't say a word to him.

Minnie's eyes fluttered open, and she rubbed her eyes, which were still sore and red from crying so much. She sniffed a few times, and then started to take in her surroundings. She turned her neck to see in a different direction, and saw Ulrich immediately. But she didn't panic; she didn't scream or jump up. Ulrich saw no fear in her eyes. Instead, she smiled at him, then rested her head against his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Ulrich felt a shiver run down his spine. Minnie wasn't scared of him anymore.

"Thank you," she whispered so quietly that Ulrich wondered if he had imagined it. He said nothing, and stroked her hair. After a few peaceful moments, Minnie sat bolt upright, looking slightly agitated. "What time is it?" She asked quickly. Ulrich checked his watch.

"Uh, it's 8:30," he replied.

"Oh great, we're going to be late," she announced. She stood up and walk towards the elevator, half stumbling. She then turned back to look at Ulrich, who had not moved from his place on the floor. "Are you coming?" She asked impatiently.

"I don't know," he said, looking at his outstretched legs in interest. "I think you killed my legs." Minnie rolled her eyes, chuckling lightly as she walked over to him.

"Up you get," she said, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to his feet. But he was stronger than her, and he purposely pulled her back down, and she fell on her backside next to him. She shook her head, chuckling, and tried to get back up, but Ulrich pulled her down again.

"We're going to be late," she said again, but less stressfully.

"I don't really care if we're late," Ulrich said, lying on his back.

"Well get into trouble," Minnie replied, but she lay down next to him all the same. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head onto his chest.

"I don't really care if we get into trouble," Ulrich whispered.

"Neither do I," Minnie whispered back. They lied there, silently for a few minutes, before Ulrich said something.

"Minnie," he said, his tone was nervous. "I… I think, I think I love you." She sat up and looked down at him.

"What about Yumi?" She asked, giving him a mixture of emotions.

"What about Yumi," he said, trying to sound laid-back, but through gritted teeth.

"You and Yumi had, you know, you had a thing." She was struggling to describe exactly what she through Ulrich and Yumi had.

"We had a thing?" He asked humorously. "We had a thing. Past tense." He half wanted to believe what he was saying, but the other half wanted to have Yumi back. Everything was so confusing now. But Minnie could see through this, see that he was struggling, see that he wasn't telling the whole truth. She stood up and looked down at him.

"I'm not sure you telling the truth," she told him, to his surprise. The last thing he had expected was for her to stand up to him, who just a few hours ago she was afraid of. "I'm going to go, and let you sort things out for yourself." It was as if she understood him better than he did. And so she left him by himself, to think. He had been thinking all night, and he could thing all day, and still not know what to do, still not understand.

Meanwhile, Aelita, Odd and Jeremie were down at the Lunch room, eating their breakfast in silence. They didn't know what to say to each other. Aelita hadn't said a word since being materialized, but Odd had talked in his sleep, as he kept reliving the horrible moments from Aelita's fall. Jeremie, on the other hand, hadn't slept at all. He was up for the remainder of the night, trying to reconstruct the aspects of the Supercomputer and Lyoko that X.A.N.A. deleted. During that time he had mumbled to himself, talking to himself for no particular reason. All three of them has gotten little to no sleep.

They didn't notice as the principal approached their table. They had not been present at the school, as they should have, due to the crises in Lyoko, and they hadn't made a return trip, as it had been in a file that X.A.N.A. deleted. Both Minnie and Ulrich were still at the factory at this point, and the school was currently deciding whether or not it was necessary to call their parents.

"Where have you been?" The principal asked sternly. "And where are Stern and the New student?" He still hadn't grasped onto her last name.

They all looked at each other and shrugged. They couldn't tell the truth, as it would sound absurd, so they had to lie. Odd was quick to pitch in.

"We were working on a project down at the factory, making a movie, and it took a really long time. Ulrich and Minnie dosed off after a few hours, and we thought it would be rude to wake them. It was a Saturday, we didn't think that we'd cause that much of a stir." This certainly did not sound like Odd, but it seemed to convince the Principal, at least.

"Well, you got back late, and I suspect that the other two are still at that old factory. I'll let it slide this time, but I don't want it to happen again. And I don't want to see you at that old factory either, it's dangerous." He was acting strangely nice, perhaps it was because of the prior 'visit' that Ulrich had made to Sissi, which had made her strangely happy, even if they had gotten into trouble for it. Perhaps he hadn't heard about that situation yet. Either way, he was acting strangely nice, although the others didn't dwell on it for too long. They had too much on their mind already.

Jeremie, who had hardly eaten anything, stood up and left abruptly. Odd noticed that they had been holding hands under the table, as Aelita's hand had trailed after Jeremie. He almost felt angry, but what he felt was more of an overpowering sadness at the thought that Aelita would always love Jeremie; she would always be Jeremie's, never his. Aelita didn't notice the sadness in Odd's see, or the fact that he was staring at her, partly because she was still staring after Jeremie, partly because her own mind was wandering beyond the Lunch room, thinking about all that had happened the pervious week.

Thinking about how everything had changed.

"Are you okay?" Odd's voice brought her back down to earth. He sounded strangely concerned. She looked towards him, then away again.

"Everything has changed," she said in her quiet, gentle voice.

Odd almost laughed. A lot of things had happened, but not everything had changed. At least, not from his point of view. Aelita still had no idea that he liked her more than a friend, and he had n o way of telling her. He didn't want to make things awkward for her. He knew that she cared for Jeremie, but deep down, he still hoped that she might see him in a different light one day. But he could only hope.

"Not everything has changed," he said. He wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yes, everything has changed. We met Minnie, and then Yumi left, and she's hanging out with that William guy. I think Ulrich is confused and sad, and Jeremie is- well, he's become sort of detached." He voice had risen slightly above the quiet, gentle tone she usually kept, which was the closest tone she could get to yelling.

"I haven't changed," Odd said, reaching out and holding her hand. She looked down at his hand, and then looked up at his face. She was very close to tears, and his face looked so kindly and understanding. Without talking, they both left the Lunch room and headed towards Aelita's room, still holding hands.

Once they arrived, Aelita entered her room and they slowly released the others hand. Aelita swallowed hard, and tried to say good bye to Odd, but she couldn't. The lump in her throat was locking her words, and ears started to pour down her face. She tried to blink the tears away, but the emotion was to strong. Before she realised it, she was sobbing into Odd shoulder, and he was holding her, stroking her hair and trying to comfort her.

After a short time, she freed herself from Odd's grasp and shook her head, saying

"Sorry," over and over again. Odd cocked his head to one side and brushed away a tear from her cheek. He slowly and awkwardly put his lips to Aelita's cheek, kissing her lightly. She stood there, staring at him. He turned to leave, but Aelita caught his arm and pulled him back. She kissed him, and he kissed her back.

Aelita suddenly pulled away, muttering about how it was wrong, and how she was sorry. Odd looked at her, but didn't attempt to touch her again. She entered her dorm and closed the door behind her. Odd place his hand to his mouth, his mouth that had touched her perfect lips.

Inside Aelita's dorm, Aelita brought her fingers to her own lips, her lips that had touch his. It had felt good, she had enjoyed it, but she regretted it now that she had done it. She was confused. She didn't know whether to be sad or happy or sorry. She was completely confused.

It was that small act that had changed everything.

Story's almost over. Very close to completion. Please review. Any idea's or corrections are nice. Any comments are read with great interest.

Thanx!

OcyTaviAh