Epilogue

"Long time no see, buddy…."

He stood there, remembering the way he'd stabbed Aelita. It effectively killed her, and Odd had followed closely after. The person behind him didn't even register until he got ready to leave and turned.

"Hey…. You're not going to attack me, right? I'll have to kill you if you don't. I don't want to do that," Odd said, in front of him in the flesh.

"You…. You're alive….?" He asked, standing up carefully.

"Yeah, and I saw you. You were upset about their deaths…. My best friend is still in there somewhere…." Odd whispered, stepping closer.

Ulrich flinched back and waited for the voice in his head to tell him to kill Odd, apparently again since it didn't work the first time, but it never came.

"You didn't mess anything up, Ulrich. You couldn't bring yourself to kill me. Xana just made you think you had so you'd do what it wanted. I've lived all these years, and he probably regrets it just about now. I'm sorry. We would've done something sooner, but we couldn't. We tried. I came to apologize. We didn't wanna leave you like this for so long, Ulrich, but we had to…."

"Who's we?" Ulrich asked as he looked around for someone else.

"They're not here with me, but you know them. William and Sam. William disappeared for awhile after you killed Yumi. He was devastated after Yumi was killed. Sam's my girlfriend. Do you remember anything about our past?"

Ulrich held his head as memories flooded into his mind. Times spent laughing with them. Times spent saving them. Times spent just all of them together. He nodded. "A little…. We were… friends?"

Odd nodded and motioned for Ulrich to follow. "We were best friends brought together by our fight against Xana. Xana was evil, Ulrich. It wanted the world to be destroyed. I mean, look at how things are now and you'll see."

Ulrich looked around at the dilapidated buildings surrounding the two. The streetlights that flickered. The darkness inside all the buildings. "Things were supposed to be different…."

"Yeah, Xana tends to do that. He'll lie. He promises the world, but he gives you nothing. So, how long have you been like this? Not knowing who we all were?"

"It was after I killed Yumi…. I asked him to lock away my memories, because it hurt too much…. I loved her, Odd…. I still do…. There was any point in fighting Xana after that to me, because I'd lost her….. I messed up bad, Odd…."

Odd turned and hugged Ulrich. "Don't beat yourself up, buddy. I understand, because you really did love Yumi."

"All of my memories of our partnership-"

"Friendship. It was a friendship."

"Friendship. All of my memories of our friendship were locked away. I only knew what Xana wanted me to have. It helped, but I guess you guys probably could have saved me before anyone else died if I hadn't…. I had to obey whatever he said, or I was put in excruciating pain…. I'm so sorry, Odd…."

"It's done and over with, and you're the Ulrich I knew before. Xana was shut off right when I got here. William and Sam told me."

Ulrich nodded. That explained it. "I assumed that was the case. I can't hear him anymore. He was focused on you guys earlier, and that's why I was able to get to the graveyard, I guess. He didn't let me go there. I wasn't allowed."

"Yeah, he probably thought that you'd get your memories back. It worked a bit, didn't it? It took you a bit to respond after I spoke."

"Yeah….. I started remembering bits and pieces then….. Odd, knowing everything, I don't wanna live anymore….. There's nothing left here for me anymore….. I mean, there's you and William and Sam, but everyone hates me. I'm just the hand of the oppressor, and I don't think I'll be able to dig myself out of that….."

Odd sighed and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, we thought that you'd decide that. You were never close to William or Sam. I'm all that's left of the past, and I'm not enough to keep you here. I'm not trying to get you to pity me or anything, either. I agree with you. I know if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't wanna be living anymore either. It's a heavy burden to bear, and you'd have to bear it all alone."

Ulrich showed his agreement, and the two walked in relative silence for a little while.

"I was really outgoing back when we first met….. You hated me, but we became friends when you found out about the supercomputer. You found Jeremie, and you stole my dog to test the scanners on. I went to Lyoko instead of Kiwi, and it all started from there…."

"Yeah, I vaguely remember that…." Ulrich chuckled and looked up at the night sky as the rain pelted his face. "I'm sorry I screwed things up so bad in the past, Odd…."

"I thought we went over this? You're forgiven. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Ulrich smiled a little and nodded. His thoughts drifted to the memories that were floating back into this head and he singled one out of all of them. "Odd, whatever happened to Kiwi?"

"Nothin'. He's fine. You remember that time where I tried to bring Kiwi along to Lyoko with us?" Odd asked with a big ol' grin plastered across his face.

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah, weren't you basically turning into a dog because of it? Jeremie couldn't figure out what exactly it was that caused it, but you eventually 'fessed up, didn't you?"

"I think so. I don't really remember, but it's funny thinking about it. Do you remember Sissi? We used to tease her *so* much!" Odd nearly burst out laughing at something that crossed his mind, and Ulrich left him to the memory as new ones came to mind.

The two took their time getting to their destination, sharing stories and regaling each other with funny events that had taken place while they were apart. Xana wasn't always horrible, and it did have a sense of humor when it was in a good mood. They wanted the mood to be light before something that it turned out neither of them wanted to happen were to happen.

As they reached the old factory, Odd stopped him. He brought him into a hug and held on tightly. "Dead or alive, we're always going to be best friends, Ulrich. Always."

Ulrich nodded, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He needed to do this, because he'd never absolve himself for the wrongs he'd committed while under Xana's control. He would never forget the way he killed Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita. It would always be there. If there were a way to make it go away, he'd stay. He just couldn't knowing that he was a murderer.

"It all started here, y'know?" Odd asked, his gaze drifting to the factory then back to Ulrich.

He nodded. "Yeah…. Our entire friendship is surrounded by Jeremie finding the factory…. Our story as the Lyoko Warriors started here…."

"And I guess this is where it's going to end now, too…."

Yet again he nodded his head. Before turning to face the factory, he hugged Odd again. "You'll always remember me for who I really was, right?"

Odd nodded and looked up at the sky. He looked like he was searching for something, but he quickly pointed out a collection of three stars. "That's them. It's Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita. They're watching us right now…. They'll let you in. I know they will…. Then you guys can wait for me…. We'll all be back together someday, buddy…. It might not be any time soon, but we'll get there…."

"Thanks…. Good-bye, Odd…. I'm grateful that you were always my friend…." Ulrich said, turning to face the factory.

"It's nothing, Ulrich…. I knew you'd come back to us, even if it was just for a little while…." He turned to face the bridge and both started walking at the same time.

Odd walked home to where his friends were….. He needed to tell them all the good news. They needed to know that Ulrich's mind had been made up as soon as Xana had been shut down…. Life would move on, and it would re-build itself now that Xana's reign of terror was over.

Ulrich walked to the factory and up to its roof. He decided that this would be the best way to go. He'd hit the water, and it would all be over. No one would save him because of all the things he'd done as Xana's pawn. He looked up at the three stars that Odd had pointed out and smiled. "Guys, I'm coming to join you…. I'm so sorry….."

(*)(*)(*)(*) A Few Years Later…. (*)(*)(*)(*)

Odd took his young son out of the car seat and carried him to the graves of his friends. After Ulrich had taken his own life, Odd made sure that a proper funeral was held for him. It had just been him, Sissi, Sam, and William; but it was at least something to honor him. All of them had the mark of a Lyoko Warrior on them. Odd and William had come up with it once Xana's takeover had started.

"Daddy…?" the little boy questioned, rubbing his chocolate brown eyes. All he knew was that Daddy's friends were here, and they were visiting them.

Odd put the boy down and ruffled his deep brown almost black hair. "What's up, buddy?"

The child pointed a pudgy finger toward a gravestone sharing his name. "That's my name…." It was clear to him that the little boy was confused, so he kissed his forehead and started explaining.

"Ulrich was my best friend. My friends and I fought hard against the evils that were around in the world for a long time, and it got to him. He's a fighter, and he was one of the strongest people I know. That's why I named you after him…. I really miss him…." Odd whispered, hugging his son.

"Daddy, it gonna be 'kay," the little boy said with a smile. He handed his father his blanket and smiled. "Blanket wubs you, and I do, too. We here for oo." He hugged his father awkwardly since his little arms couldn't reach all the way around.

Odd kissed his forehead and smiled a little. "Mommy and I love you, too…."

It wasn't long before the boy's mother joined the two. "Odd, you know I can't move as fast…." She spoke softly, rubbing her swollen stomach. She was seven months pregnant with their second child, and she couldn't be happier.

"Sorry Sam, but little Ulrich couldn't wait!" he said, picking the small boy up and hoisting him up on his shoulders. Ulrich giggled and grabbed two fistfuls of his father's hair.

She smiled and kissed Odd's cheek to the sound of 'eewie' from their son above them. "I hope that this little one's a girl…. I wanna choose between Yumi and Aelita, though."

Odd shrugs and kisses her back. "I told you, you can name the first girl…."

"Let's go! Hungry, Daddy!" Ulrich called from atop the blonde's head.

Odd grabbed hold of Ulrich's legs and jumped up a little bit, startling him for a second before laughter was let loose. "Let's go before he dies of starvation, Sam!"

She rolled her eyes and smiled. Today was perfect, and there wasn't anything that could have changed that. She was married to the most wonderful man, and their son was perfect. Life was good for the little family, and the world had changed. Things were going to be good from here on out….

A/N: Kinda sad, but it's ends on a good note. =3 I tried so hard to write this out to where Ulrich lived in the ending, but he wouldn't let me. Things would have been too difficult if he'd continued. There wouldn't have been many people that would have even let him have a job. He had been Xana's right-hand man for so long that there wasn't any going back.

I'm sorry that this story took so long to finish. I may go on hiatus now from writing and try to fix up some of my old stories. I haven't officially decided yet.

Thank you to those that stuck through this entire story with me. I love you guys, and I hope you'll read the next thing I post.

~MoonlitxAngel